Bikes, Beer and Berlin

It was time for us to leave the English speaking world temporarily and find out what the Europe fuss was all about.

We arrived in Amsterdam after an overnight flight from Boston, via Dublin, a little tired but excited about the adventures that lay ahead. First thing was to put on some warmer clothes as it was about 10deg cooler in The Netherlands than Boston. We had arrived about 1pm and so made our way to the hotel. This turned out to be easy due to a user friendly public transport system. As we had an overnight flight where we lost 6 hours we had a rest/nap/watching the Tour de France in Dutch before heading out.  We headed into the main part of Amsterdam and had a look around. The city is a network of Canals and roads. It was/is amazing.

Amsterdam Canal

 

Amsterdam City Living

We wandered down Damstrak (main road) and through the Red Light District before going to get some frittes for dinner (fries with a mayo type of sauce). Following this we found a small bar to sit and have a few beers, got an eyeful of the window girls and watched the revellers go by.

Start of Amsterdam's Red Light District

Our ssecond day in Amsterdam we woke up a bit late due to jet lag and we headed back into the city centre.

When we got in there we decided to rent bikes and follow the route of a site seeing tour. Firstly we went to Centraal station, the main station, and then onto Nemo (science centre) where you could get good views of Amsterdam from the roof. We then biked around past a big old hotel and on to a windmill. Further on we found the Dapper street market and had a look around there. Back on the bikes we made our way around to Heineken Brewery.

Biking in Amsterdam

 

Erin in Amsterdam

 

Heineken Brewery

The Heineken brewery had a tour that took us about 2.5 hours and covered history, how they brew beer, some interactive games and tastings. After having a look at the gift shop we got back on the bikes and made our way back to the bike store, stopping a few times on the way to take photos.  After we dropped our bikes off we walked back to an area we had been earlier to find some dinner and to visit the Icebar. The Icebar was -10C and we got our beers in a glass made of ice. We had to wear these coat things and gloves. Following this we went to the Magnum Ice-cream place where they made custom Magnum's. After we had immensely enjoyed our ice-cream we headed back out to the hotel.

At the Ice Bar

 

Magnum

For our last day in Amsterdam we went to see the Anne Frank House to look at the house, the diary that she wrote her story in and the infamous Justin Beiber comment in the visitor’s book. Following this we went to a Pancake bakery for lunch before going to Vondelpark. Vondelpark was a big city park where you could walk, cycle or just chill out on the lawn.

Anne Frank House

Vondelpark

 

A bit later we made our way to the bus terminal in order to get the overnight bus to Berlin, Germany.

Following a long overnight bus trip with one of the finalists from ‘Angriest Bus Driver in the World’ competition, we arrived in Berlin at 7.30am and found our way into the city centre. After dropping off our bags and picking up some tourist brochures we decided to go wandering.

Loosely following a site seeing bus tour route we wandered down to the main area looking at the buildings as we went by. As we were so tired, it was hot and we had a few days in Berlin we didn't really go into anywhere, just looked around, before heading to our hotel.  Unfortunately much
closer to the Polish border than Berlin than we had originally hoped and an hour later we arrived.

 

 

Our first stop on our first full day in Berlin was to the East Side Gallery, which was a section of The Wall that had been painted/graffitied on during the cold war era. We walked along here and then made our way to Alexanderplatz, mall area. After a brief look around here, including the world clock, we then made our way to the famous Checkpoint Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie was a gate in the wall which allowed access between East and West Berlin. It was the only checkpoint in the middle of Berlin and was the main one that the Allied Forces (USA, UK, France) used.

 

 

 

After reading all about this we made our way to the Holocaust memorial but instead came across another section of the wall as well as the Topographie of Terror. The Topographie of Terror outlined Hitler and the Nazi's rise to power in 1933-1934. This had some terrifying stories about what the Nazi's did in order to get into power. Suitably shocked and shaken we made our way to the Holocaust memorial. Because it was late we decided not to do the information centre but had a look around the grey "steales".

 

 

To lighten things up a bit we went to the Ritter Sport Chocolate store and had a look at how the chocolate is made. Of course we were required to buy and taste chocolate after the little tour. We found a place to have some dinner, Schnitzels and Beer, before heading back out to the hotel.

On Friday we got up and went to check out the Holocaust memorial we missed the day before and read about the horrifying events of the Genocide of the Jews in Germany.

Following this we had currywurst (a curried sausage) for lunch before going to the Berlin Museum. The museum showed the history of Berlin from the 1200s through to today, including the World War I and II and The Berlin Wall.

We then decided we needed a break from all the heavy stuff and went for a walk through Tiergarten to a shopping area. Coming back from this brought us round to Potsdamer Platz where there was a lookout on one of the buildings. We went up and got some good photos of Berlin and read about the history of Potsdamer Platz. Following this we found some dinner before going back out to the hotel.

 

Our final full day in Berlin had us heading to the Reichstag building (Parliament) which we could go into and look at the dome in the building. Normally you need to make an appointment but we were lucky and a group had cancelled so we could go in straight away. After a brief elevator ride we were at the roof terrace and we climbed the dome. It gave some really good views of Berlin.

Following this we had some lunch and then walked toward the Berliner Dom. The Berliner Dom is the Berlin cathedral and therefore a massive church. We had a look around the church and the dome. We could walk around the dome, on the outside, and have some more good views of Berlin.

After this we relaxed for a bit in Lustgarten before going to find some beer at Alexanderplatz. We found a craft brewery, Brauhaus Mitte, where we tried a few of their beers.

The Sunday was a travel day to Munich so we packed up and went into the Hauptbahnhof (central station).  We arrived in Munich about 9pm and found our way to the hotel.

Munich

We woke up early and after breakfast headed into Munich. At the hotel we had found a brochure for a hop on/hop off bus tour so we set about walking that tour. First we returned to the Munich Hauptbahnhof and started from there. On our improvised walking tour we went past Konigsplatz, Odeonsplatz, English Gardens, Isartor, and Stachus to name a few of the sites.
 

One of the highlights was a river at English Gardens where people surf which we watched for a while. During our walk we also found an open air market, Viktualienmarkt, which had food, beer vendors and lots of trestle tables. We had lunch here, Bratwurst and beer, and consequently ended up back here for dinner.

Before dinner however we walked through the Main Street onto Marienplatz which had the city hall with a big glockenspiel. Nearby was St. Peters Church which had a tower we could climb that had good views of the city. Following this we went to Hofbrauhaus, a massive beer hall, for a (large) beer and then made our way back to the market for dinner and more beer.

On our second day in Munich we headed to the infamous Dachau Concentration Camp. This was the first camp to be set up for political prisoners during the Nazi Reign. It is also where the Concentration Camp model for all the other camps was established and where all the SS guards were trained.

We had access to the whole camp, which they have rebuilt since it has undergone other uses since the war. We first had a look through the museum, which was very extensive, covering the Nazi's rise to power and the time at Dachau Concentration Camp. This took us 3 hours. After this we had a look around the grounds where they had the bunker (prison) and they had reconstructed one of the barracks. They still had all the foundations for the other barracks there. They also had some chapels for different religions. We then made our way to the crematorium.   Although the museum was very detailed on the evil that had occurred at the prison, it was the crematorium that really hit home the pain and suffering that occurred at the camp. It is difficult to explain in words how horrible it was to walk through those buildings that were designed for extermination of humans.

Following all of this we went back into Munich to catch up with an old friend of Marty’s (Aaron Callegari and his wife, Sarah) for dinner at the Hofbrauhaus.

We decided that on the Wednesday we would have a day enjoying the Sun and Beer of Munich. So after running a few errands in the morning and seeing the Glockenspiel in Marienplatz we headed to Englisher Gartens. English Gardens is a huge park not far from the main part of Munich. There were heaps of people around. English Gardens is also known for being a nudist area, so lots of ‘naturists’. We had organised food for a picnic with some beers so we sat at the park, by a river, for the afternoon reading, eating and drinking beer.

About mid arvo we then went around to a Beirgarten, Seehaus, on a lake, for more beers and dinner into the evening to celebrate our last night in Germany.

 

New York, New York (and Toronto and Boston)

G’day all,

The third leg of our trip was 10 days on the East Coast of Canada and America. After returning to Vancouver we got a flight to Toronto, before going to New York and finishing up in Boston.

Toronto

As Erin had already been to Toronto in February for work, this stop turned into Erin showing Marty around re-visiting a few sites as well as seeing some new ones.

Toronto Skyline

 On our first day Erin took Marty on a walking tour around the downtown and old town of Toronto. During the morning we went to St Lawrence market and the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Hockey Hall of Fame had displays on all the NHL teams as well as American and International hockey and the Stanley cup. After the Hockey hall of fame we walked around the sport stadiums before going to the distillery district in order to try out the Mill Street Brewery. Following this we made our way to Chinatown for dinner and some drinks to finish the day off.

Marty with the coveted NHL Stanley Cup

Old School Aussie Hockey Jersey

Beers at Mill Street

 

On Saturday we got up early in order to catch a bus to Niagara Falls. We arrived in Niagara about 11am and headed towards the falls. After checking out the falls and taking some pictures we had a look around at the tourist park they had created there. They had a wax museum, Ripley's museum, planet Hollywood as well as other theme parks. It was crazy. When we got back to Toronto we decided we wanted to watch the Chicago v Boston Stanley Cup playoff hockey game so we went to Wayne Gretzky's bar in the entertainment district. Gretzky is a very famous hockey player.

Niagara Falls



At Niagara Falls

 

Sunday was our last day in Toronto but as we were not leaving till that night we were in no hurry. After getting up late ,our Airbnb hosts, Antoniella and Orlando, had cooked us a Jamaican style breakfast, with sawfish and ackee. We sat around for a while and ate and chatted with them.

Once we got into downtown we decided to check out the Toronto Islands.  So we got the ferry over to Hanlan's Point and walked from there around to Ward's point. On the way we checked out Centre Island, where there was a dragon boat festival on.  When we got back to the Toronto waterfront we discovered a festival celebrating 1812 (not sure why) but there was old tallships and we watched as they did a parade of them all, even firing cannons.

Toronto Islands

Old Tall Ship

 

That night we got on an overnight bus to New York. Toronto was our last stop for Canada and we had an awesome time in our 14months living there!

New York

After the overnight bus ride we arrived in New York about 9am. As we could not check into our hotel we dropped our bags off at a luggage storage place and had a look around the city.

First we walked through the Broadway section of the city, 42nd street towards 5th avenue, and were completely overwhelmed by the insanity of New York. We wandered towards Bryant Park and had a look at the New York library. From here we went to check out Grand Central station. After Grand Central we headed towards the Empire State Building followed by Madison Square Garden. We then went and checked out Times Square. 

New York Library

Grand Central Stataion

Times Square

 
 
The heat and lack of sleep started to take its toll at this point so we picked up our bags and headed to our hotel.

On the Tuesday we had decided to explore Central Park so we got off the subway near there and rented some bikes. We first did a lap of Central Park stopping every now and then to look at things, the reservoir, lake etc. After this lap and some lunch we headed towards the Central Park Zoo. At the zoo we saw birds, snakes, tortoise's, sealions, monkeys, a snow leopard, red pandas, lemurs and penguins. We watched a Sealion's feeding as well.

At Central Park

Hungry Seals

After some dinner we headed out to Yankee stadium to see New York Yankees play Texas Rangers. This was a Major League Baseball game and very exciting. Yankees ended up winning but it took a home run in the bottom of the ninth to clinch it, winning 4 runs to 3.

At a Yankees Game

New York Yankees vs Texas Rangers, Yankees won.

 

On the Wednesday we had another day of sightseeing so we got up a bit earlier and went back into New York. First we went up the Empire State Building and got a bird’s eye view of New York. The Empire State was built in just over a year, in the early 1930s. All the info about it was very impressive and we got some good photos from the top. Following this we walked down toward Battery Park to get a look at the Statue of Liberty. We decided to do a cruise around the harbour which included the statue, Ellis island, Brooklyn Bridge and the area around lower Manhattan. We then had a look around Battery Park before heading up to Wall Street. At Wall Street there was the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Hall where George Washington became president. We then went to the 9/11 memorial at ground zero/world trade centre. The 9/11 memorial includes two massive pit waterfalls which are in the places of the twin towers that fell in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It is in a park like setting and around the waterfalls are the names of all those that died because of the attacks.

Empire State Building

Erin with the Statue of Liberty

9/11 Memorial

Following this we headed to little Italy and Chinatown for some dinner. We then got the subway and went to the Nederlands Theatre on Broadway to see 'The Newsies' musical. This is the same story as The News Boys movie and was very good. There were a few changes to the movie but all the actors were amazing and the crowd very vocal in their appreciation.

THE NEWSIES!!!

Boston

Thursday morning we got up early and headed to Boston. When we arrived we made our way out to our Airbnb place and had a rest for the afternoon, as well as planning time for Europe.

On Friday we headed into Boston and started on a walking tour we had found a brochure for. This tour took us to the Paul Revere house. Paul Revere was the man who is known for warning the Americans that the British were coming during the war of independence. After this we walked up through little Italy and over the Columbus bridge. About this point we started following the Freedom Trail which took us on to Bunker Hill where a major battle between the Americans and the British took place during the War of Independence. Still following the freedom trail we then went to see a ship, the USS Constitution, one of the oldest US Navy ships. Heading back over the bridge we went to TD Garden and the sports museum, to look at Boston Bruins (NHL), Boston Celtics (NBA), Boston Red Sox (MLB), New England Patriots (NFL) and other Boston sports related memorabilia.

Little Italy in Boston

Bunker Hill

TD Stadium, 2 days after the Boston Bruins lost in the Stanley Cup Playoffs

We then jumped on the subway and headed out to Sam Adams which is a Boston Brewery. We did a tour there and some tastings before heading to Doyle’s Irish pub nearby to try some more of the Sam Adams beers. After Irish Nachos (potato chips instead of corn chips) for dinner we headed back into town. We then went to visit the Cheers bar and had another beer there before retiring for the evening.

Samual Adams Brewery

Saturday was our last day in Boston but as we were not flying out till that night we did some more sightseeing. Firstly we went to the Fenuil and Quincy Market for look. We then went out to Harvard and checked out the uni. It was big and had lots of very old buildings. Even though it was summer holidays there were still a lot of people around. After walking around the uni and the town of Cambridge we headed back into downtown Boston.

Market

Harvard University

 

After this we got our luggage and headed to the airport for the next part of our adventure, Europe.

We had a lot of fun in Toronto, New York and Boston, although it was very exhausting and we were very excited about the next part of our trip, starting with Amsterdam. 

Cheers, Erin and Marty

Rocky Mountain Road Tripping

G’day all,

Our second leg of our trip was a camping trip through the Canadian and American Rocky Mountains. The same day we disembarked our Alaskan cruise we picked up a car, supplies and headed off. During this leg of the trip we got to see waterfalls, mountains, plains, glaciers, geysers, lakes and canyons, as well as some wildlife. Our plan when we left was to head east to Kelowna and then onto Banff before making our way down the Rockies. Our plans slightly changed as we went but overall we still got to see a lot of what we wanted to see.

First stop: Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada

About 5 hours of amazing scenery after we left Vancouver we arrived at Bear Creek Provincial Park Campgrounds, just outside of Kelowna, where we were to spend the next 2 days. Our campsite was right on the lake and gave a fantastic view of the lake and surrounding mountains.

Okanagan Lake from the Campground

On the Thursday morning, after a surprisingly late sleep in (8am), we got up and had breakfast before heading into the Kelowna visitors centre to find out about some hikes nearby and then, after picking up some food, we headed out to Okanagan Mountain for some hiking. We decided to do a series of trails that let to Goode's Basin and this ended up being a 15km round trip that took us 4.5 hours to complete. It was very different terrain than what we were used to in Vancouver, very rocky and a lot of undergrowth, although it did give some very good views of Okanagan Lake and the surrounds.

Okanagan Lake from Mount Okanagan

To reward our efforts we went to try a few beers at a local brewery, Tree Brewing Company, with some to take back to the campsite with us. When we returned to the campsite we decided it was warm enough to attempt a dip in the lake (the lake didn’t comply and was rather cold) before sorting our dinner and a fire.

Tree Brewery Tasters

Friday morning we packed up and headed off to our next destination, Banff.

Second stop: Banff, Alberta, Canada

Six and a half hours later, after a break in Revelstoke for lunch, we arrived at Johnston Canyon Campground. The drive through Glacier National Park and Yoho National Park, before arriving in Banff National Park, was spectacular. We set up our tent and went into Banff to get some supplies but due to a few stops unplanned stops, when we saw Elk, Deer and a Coyote on the roadside, this took a bit longer than planned.

Yoho National Park

A bull Elk on the road outside Banff

Coyote having a wander around

That Friday night was very cold and we were both very glad we bought our thermals with us. The next morning we had planned to do a hike at Johnston Canyon, just down the road from the campsite. The Johnston Canyon hike was a path and catwalk along the inside of the canyon that went to first the lower falls and then the upper falls. This gave some amazing views of Johnston creek and the two falls. This hike was about 5.5 km and took us 1hr 15mins.



Johnston Canyon Lower Falls

This was planned as our morning hike so late morning we jumped back into the car and went to check out the famous Lake Louise. At Lake Louise we did a hike called the Plain of Six Glaciers. This hike took us around the lake and then into the valley behind it. At the end of the lake were the ice fields and glaciers that feed Lake Louise. At the top there was a tea house and if you went further it went to a view point 1km from the glaciers. We had to hike over a lot of snow, it felt like winter again. This hike was 14km round trip and took us 3hrs 45mins. It was tough at times but the views were incredible.

Lake Louise

The Valley and the Glaciers

This wore us out and we headed back to the campground. The next morning we again packed up and headed off to our next destination in Montana.

Third Stop: Lincoln, Montana, USA

When we left Banff we didn’t exactly know where we were going, just somewhere in the mountains in the Montana area. So we headed off in that general direction and after doing some research we ended up heading to a small town called Lincoln. Lincoln was in the Rockies in Montana, not far from Missoula and Helena.

Montana Plains

Therefore after a nine and a half hour drive we arrived in the town of Lincoln. It has heaps of motels, saloons/bars and 2 casinos. We headed towards the RV Park where we got a campsite on a small creek. After setting up the tent and having dinner we started a fire and sat around toasting marshmallows and having a few beers.

Campsite by Creek

The Monday morning, after a visit to the Rangers Station to get hiking information, we headed to a trailhead for a hike to Heart Lake. Heart Lake was in the Scapegoat Wilderness behind Helena National Forest. It was a 16km round trip and took us 4 hours. It was a fairly easy hike with rolling hills but the actual lake was spectacular, very blue.

Heart Lake

Tuesday morning again saw us getting up and packing the tent for our next drive, this time the destination was Yellowstone National Park.

 Fourth Stop: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA

After a full day of driving we arrived at Bridge Bay Campsite about 7pm. This was slightly delayed once we had entered the National Park because we would be stopping every kilometre to take photos of animals. Between entering the National Park and the campgrounds we saw Elk, Bison (Buffalo), Coyote and Deer.

Bison in Yellowstone

On the Wednesday we weren't sure what we were going to do so we headed to the visitors centre in Fishing Bridge after breakfast. Due to forecast predicting thunderstorms we decided to do a drive around Yellowstone National Park. This drive was about 250km and, including stops, took us 10 hours. It gave awesome views of lakes, mountains, valleys, geysers, hot springs, a canyon and waterfalls.  We visited the famous Old Faithful Geyser, which erupts every 90mins and sends water 100ft into the air. We also had a look at some of the smaller geysers. During our drive we were also wildlife spotting. We again saw Bison, Elk and Deer and we may have seen two spots that were supposedly bears (we didn't have binoculars, but we were told they were by the people with telescopes).

Old Faithful Geyser

Thursday was our hiking day in Yellowstone. We had decided to do Observation Peak, which is in the Canyon area of the Park. This hike was a 16km round trip with the second 4km of the 8km out being a 425m climb to the peak. We completed this hike in 3hrs 45mins, a bit shorter than the estimated 7hrs. The first 4km went to Cascade Lake and then the second 4km was a climb up to Observation Peak and is the highest altitude we have ever been, getting up to 2864m. We had lunch at the peak which had 270 degree views of the Yellowstone wilderness.

Yellowstone Wilderness from Observation Point

After we finished this hike it was early afternoon so we decided we had time for another short hike. This time we were keen to see some wildlife so we headed to a hike called Storm Point, near Fishing Village. This was grizzly bear area but we didn't see any grizzlies. We did see some yellow-bellied marmots at storm point. Storm point gave some really good view of Yellowstone Lake and surrounding mountains.

Yellowstone Lake from Stormy Point

On this night, as we were getting ready for bed, the campsite host came around to tell everyone that they were expecting 60 mph winds and to put the fire out and do everything to keep the tent down. We got in it. Although after that we had a very wet, cold and windy night.

When we woke up on the Friday morning we were very wet and cold so we packed up quickly and headed off early to our next destination which turned out to be Idaho.

Fifth Stop: Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA

When we left Yellowstone we were planning on going to the Sawtooth National Park which is in southern Idaho. After a weather check of this we discovered that it was going to get down to -7C overnight. We decided this was not going to happen so we instead made a beeline for Coeur d’Alene which is northern Idaho. This turned out to be a long drive but it would mean we would have more days in Coeur d’Alene which turned out to be worth it. We therefore reached the campground about 7pm, after taking into account the change in time zone.

Around the campsite

 

Saturday we had decided to do a hike so we went into town to get information. When we got into Coeur d'Alene we discovered there was a car show on and the Main Street was shut. We found the visitors centre and ended up deciding on a hike near Beauty Creek. The hike was supposedly to the top of Coeur d'Alene Mountain, although turned out to be not quite the top. It was 16km round trip, had a climb of about 600m and took us about 3 hrs 45 mins.

Lake Coeur d'Alene from Coeur d'Alene Mountain

After this we found a brewery back in Coeur d'Alene and tried their taster set, it had summer, blonde, amber, brown, IPA and extra Pale ale. It was called Tricksters and they had good summer and amber beers. When we got back to the campsite we had the best campfire meal so far, fish cooked on the fire with chips (from scratch, shallow fried) and salad, it was awesome. We then had some toasted marshmallows and fruit before bed.

Sunday we had another day in Coeur d'Alene and decided to spend it playing by the lake. We went for a walk along the lake and found a place that rented kayaks so we grabbed one and off we went. After a while of kayaking we found a little beach where we stopped for lunch before heading back to the rental place to return to the kayak. We followed this up with some swimming and lying on the beach and then some ice-cream before returning to the campsite.

Lake Coeur d'Alene

As we had a short drive to our last stop, Leavenworth, Marty repeated our hike as a trail run in the morning before heading off.

Sixth Stop: Leavenworth, Washington, USA

About four and a half hours later we arrived in Leavenworth. Leavenworth is set up as a Bavarian village with all the buildings built in the Bavarian style. This is the same town Erin went to last year with friends for Oktoberfest. After finding a place to stay we had a look around and then went to do some tasters at Icicle brewing company.

Festival Hall in Leavenworth
 

Tuesday we had a day in Leavenworth and Marty decided to mix it up and go for a Mountain Bike in the morning. While he was riding Erin went for a walk around town some more. After Marty came back to the site we had lunch and then headed out for a short hike around the winter Nordic ski trails. We didn't have any maps so we wandered for a while before heading back to camp.

Marty before Mountain Biking

Wednesday was the last day of the trip and the day we were heading back to Vancouver. We woke up early and cleaned and packed everything up.

Overall we had a fantastic trip, seeing many things we had never seen before. We still haven’t managed to see a Moose and the bears keep running away from Erin, but all in all we had a great time.

The next part of the trip is travelling the east coast, through Toronto, New York and Boston.

Cheers, Erin and Marty