Berlin

I wasn't expecting to go to Berlin but since I have a few days in Hamburg before I return to the US, I decided to take a bus there. The bus trip takes about 3 hours and it costs 45 euros round-trip. They have buses almost every hour so it's very convenient.
I was in Berlin about 12 years ago and I don't remember much from that trip. What I remember was seeing some buildings that were gray and boring on the East Berlin side. That was only a few years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Today you can hardly tell where it used to be east or west Berlin. The city has many modern buildings and there are a lot of small retail shops. There are also a lot of restaurants and coffee shops. What you don't see are strip malls like you have in a lot of American cities.. This is a very pedestrian-friendly city and public transportation is widely used.  Therefore, Berliners tend to stroll the streets and shop that way rather than drive to a strip mall to shop.  Like many European cities that we've been to, you have the option of a tram (usually for the older part of town or city center), buses, metro or subway, and suburban trains. Bicycles are also popular.
When you think Berlin, a few things come to mind: Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, etc. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, followed by the reunification of East and West Germany, the city has been transforming itself into a modern and vibrant city. It is now the capital of Germany and also the headquarters of many big German companies. Like other European cities, you also find a diversified population: Turks, Asians, Indians, Blacks, etc. There are many Turks in Germany because they were brought to Germany as low-wage workers in the 60s' and 70s'.
 One admiring thing that the Germans have done is admit to the mistakes of World War II. I went to two museums that is almost solely dedicated to the holocaust. It has a lot of photographs and first-hand stories of the Jews that were persecuted and killed in concentration camps.

What is Darth Vader doing at Brandeburg Gate?

Artists were invited to paint on the remaining 1.5 km of the Berlin Wall

Checkpoint Charlie with 2 fake soldiers.  2 euros to take a picture with them.

What Checkpoint Charlie used to look like

One of the museums

Bundestag or German Parliament

Memorial to the Murdered Jews.  Also a museum

Favorite Berlin food:  Curry Wurst with frieds

Hustlers trying to scam tourists

Bruxelles

Believe it or not, this is the last stop on our 2-month European trip. Today is the last day of our Eurail Pass. After Brussels, we'll be taking the last Eurail Pass train ride back to Hamburg, where we started 2 months ago. If you've been following my blog, thank you for reading it. I still have a few more posts - at least one to summarize this wonderful once-in-a-lifetime trip. I will be Hamburg for a few more days before flying back to Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday, October 30th.
 I've been through Belgium a few times but never actually stop in Brussels. Being one of the biggest cities in Europe, I often wonderful what it's like. We took a long-winded train from Paris. Long-winded because the direct, fast train from Paris to Brussels would costs us 42 euros each, even with the Eurail Pass. I don't know why the French train charge so much. However, we took 3 slower trains and paid only about 6 euros each but it took almost 3 hours to get to Brussels.
We took a 20-minute walk from Brussels' Midi Station on Stalingrad Avenue to the hotel.  I was surprised by the diversity of the people on the street.  I expected to see mostly white Europeans but I saw many light-skinned Arabs.  I assume they are from Tunisia or Algeria.  I also saw quite a few Asians (including Indians) and Blacks on the street and businesses.  The Arabs run mostly the produce stores and some restaurants.
We've been staying in hostels all along but once in a while it is difficult to find hostels in a city.  Brussels is one of them.  We checked into the Hotel Mirabeau but the hotel didn't look too good.  I went upstairs to check the room and found that I can't close the window.  The room didn't look too good either.  I immediately came downstairs and told the hotel clerk.  I told him I can't take the room because it is in bad condition. He got his boss to agree to give me a refund, including the deposit.  I was surprised but definitely delighted.
So we started walking towards the Grand Place, which is the major tourist attraction in Brussels.  I've seen a few hostels on hostelworld.com that look promising.  Unfortunately, we didn't come across any. We passed a police station and I went in to ask if they know of a hostel nearby.  I think the clerk at the station misunderstood me and thought I was looking for a hotel.  She pointed me in the direction where I can find a hotel.  We found the hotel but it was full but there was a hotel next door that has a room available.  So, for 79 euros we slept in a 2-star hotel that is not in the best shape.  The lights in the bathroom did not work (I think it was shorted out).  For that amount of money we could've stayed in a hostel for 2 nights.  At least they had a pretty good breakfast.
Brussels is probably one of the least interesting cities that we've been to on this trip.  Other than the area around the Grand Place, there is not much to see.  The Grand Place is just a square with a few beautiful old buildings.  Around this square are narrow streets with restaurants and tourist shops, a lot of them selling chocolates.  Another must-see in Brussels is Le Manneken Pis or "Little Man Piss."  It's a 2-foot high statue built in 1619.  They dress him in different costumes out of a collection of about 600 that are kept in a museum.  On the day that I was there, he was naked, as shown in the 2nd picture below.  For whatever reason, this little statue attracts throngs of tourists from all over the world.
Besides the above tourist attractions, Belgium is most famous for its waffles, chocolates and beer.  You can buy waffles from a small waffle shop for 1 euro.  I added a little strawberry topping to mine for 2 euros.  There are chocolate shops everywhere.  I didn't try any as I am not a big chocolate fan and they are pricey as well.
We tasted local beer wherever we went on this trip.  Whenever I asked Europeans who they think brew the best beer, Belgian beer is always on the list.  Their most famous brand is Stella Artois, which is sold  in the US.  Other countries that are frequently mentioned are Czech, German and Dutch.  On who has the best wine, most would say French, Hungarian, and Portuguese.  Even among our French friends that we met in Paris, they agree on this list as well.

Sunset View of buildings in Grand Palace

Manneken Piss

Waffles with strawberry

A chocolate shop

Leff Beer

J'aime Paris!

Ah......Paris. The City of Lights, Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, Notre Dame Cathedral, Arc de Triomphe, Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Montmarte, etc. It needs no introduction. People used to say "All Roads Lead to Rome." Today, I think all European travel leads to Paris. To me every American must visit New York City and Washington, DC, at least once in their lifetime. Likewise, every international traveler must visit Paris at least once in their lifetime.  Besides the monuments and history, you find excellent food and wine, interesting people, wonderful shopping if you have a lot of money, and an efficient  metro system.  The only drawback I find is not being able to speak and understand French.  However, nowadays you find more and more French, especially the younger generation, speaking English.  The other negative is that it is an expensive city.  But, so is everywhere in western Europe.
We were very fortunate to have a place to stay in Paris.  Our gracious hostess, Sophie, has a beautiful apartment in north Paris.  She and her sister, Katherine, are old friends of Ralph.  They even took us to a real French restaurant in Sophie's neighborhood.  All I did was enjoy the food and wine because I didn't understand anything on the menu nor what was spoken between the waiter and the others.  Ralph, by the way, speaks fluent French, because he studied at the University of Paris many years ago.
Unfortunately, Ralph was sick while we were on the way to Paris.  So I walked around Paris most of the time by myself.  Since I have been there many times, I am kind of familiar with the city center.
I enjoyed walking down the Champs Elysee from the Arc de Triomphe all the way to the Louvre Museum, then continue along the River Seine to the Notre Dame Cathedral.  Then cross the street to the Latin Quarter to have a nice prix fixe French meal for 10 to 20 euros.  
I've been to most of the interesting tourist places in Paris except Versailles.  This time I made it a point to visit the palace.  Versailles is about a 45-minute train ride to the suburbs of Paris.  The ostentation, opulence, wastefulness, of this palace cannot be topped anywhere.  Obviously, no expense is spared in building this palace.  No wonder the French had a revolution to topple the monarchy in the late 18th century.

The real Moulin Rouge on Boulevard de Clichy

Sacre Couer Basilica on Montmarte

Artists selling their works on Montmarte

Macaroons are popular and expensive in Paris

Crepes

Snails or Escargot?

River Seine, where many Paris landmarks are located on both sides

A metro station

One of the rooms at the Versailles Palace

A Chinese couple taking their wedding pictures by the Eiffel Tower

San Sebastian

San Sebastian is in northeastern Spain, next to the border with France.  It was not in our travel plan but in order for us to go from Madrid to Paris, it was best for us to stop in San Sebastian, take the local tram to Hendaye, which is just across the border in France, and then take the train to Paris.  We ended up spending a night and about a day in San Sebastian.
This place is considered Basque country.  The Basques' are a minority group in Spain that has been fighting for their autonomy for years.  In fact, their terrorist organization, ETA, has just announced that they will stop all violence after 50 years of fighting for their independence.  A lot of the people in this area speak Basque, which is a very different language from Spanish.
We were quite surprised as to how beautiful this city is.  It looks more like a northern European city than a Spanish town or city.  It's clean and most of the buildings are quite new and beautiful.  The city is very green as they get a lot of rain here and the streets are well maintained.
As in most coastal cities, I presume fishing is a big industry here.  I understand that they also grow a lot of vegetables here because of the rain.

Santiago de Compostela:  This city is at the northwestern tip of Spain.  It's the destination for the pilgrimage of the Way of St. James.  Legend has it that the apostle James was buried in this town.  We were thinking of going to this city but we ran out of time.  However, I understand that many pilgrims on the way to Santiago de Compostela pass through San Sebastian or one of the nearby towns.  I met one of the pilgrims while waiting for our train to Paris.  Pilgrims hang a shell on their backpack to indicate they are on this pilgrimage.  Below is a picture of the pilgrim I met and a close-up shot of the shell.

Town Hall

Waterfront

Fishermen in the Bahia de la Concha

A produce store

Lots of fish in the market

A Pilgrim to Santiago de Compostela

Shell indicating that she is a pilgrm

Lisboa

When I was in high-school studying European history, I learned about the great adventures of Portuguese sailors like Vasco da Gama.  Portugal and Spain were the superpowers of the 15th and 16th centuries.  Portuguese influence were all over Asia. Today you still some of the influence in Macau, China; Malacca, Malaysia; East Timor, Indonesia, India, etc.  Portugal is the western-most country in Europe.  It was settled by Romans in its early history, then by northern European settlers, who were conquered by the Muslim Moors of northern Africa and eventually reconquered by the Christian Crusaders.
Lisbon or Lisboa (as it's known in the local language) is the capital city of Portugal and is one of the oldest cities in Europe.   You can see evidence of its past history in different parts of the city.  An area of the city where you still see a lot of the Muslim influence is the Alfama area, where the streets are narrow and you see a lot of Moorish design in buildings.  I took a walking tour of Lisbon and we walked through this very interesting area.  Today you see a lot of immigrants, like Indians, living in this area.  Many tourist take Tram No. 28 just to see the uniqueness of this area.
The city is very hilly.  They have elevators to take residents who live up the hills.  The trams also climb the hilly streets.  This reminds me of the cable-cars and streets of San Francisco.
Another thing that is popular in this area are nightclubs playing Fado music.  Fado is uniquely Portuguese.  It's a kind of sad ballad sung by a Fado singer accompanied by someone playing a Portuguese guitar.  Here is more information on Fado:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fado
I also took a 45-minute train ride west to the town of Sintra, where there are a few tourist sites.  Two that I visited are the Moor Castle and the Palace.  There are a couple of pictures below that show what they look like.
I enjoyed Portuguese food very much.  It's not heavy or saucy.  They have a lot of seafood on the menu.  Understandably, since they are surrounded by the Atlantic ocean to the west and the Mediterranean sea to the south.  They either grill or deep-fry their fish.  The grilled fish, especially sardines, are very good.  I had grilled grouper for lunch and it was one of the best fish I've ever had.  It was fresh and tasty.  They also serve a lot of squid or octopus and shell-fish.
Portugese wine is very good too, especially those from the northern part of Portugal.  Over lunch, I sat next to someone who works for the Portuguese Railway and he was explaining to me all the goodness of Portuguese wine.  They are also known for their port wine, which derived it's name from the city of Porto.  We had planned to visit Porto but because we are running out of time and Porto being out of the way of most major train lines, decided to skip it.
From Lisbon, our plan is to head north towards Paris and return to Hamburg, Germany by June 25th.  That is the last day of our Eurail pass.  If we have time, we may squeeze in Brussels for a day or two.

Praca do Comercis - one of the main city squares

Map of Portugal's Conquests in 15th and 16th Centuries

An elevator that takes residents to streets on the hill

Trams also take residents to those living on the hills.

Moorish design in a building

Moor Castle in Sintra

Summer Palace in Sintra

Place for seniors to hangout.  Sign on wall has a negative connotation

A residential building in Alfama

A flea market in Alfama

Grilled Grouper

Madrid

We arrived in Madrid after spending a couple of nights in Denia, a small town on the mediterranean coast of southern Spain. Denia is popular among German and British tourists. Some of them own apartments there and some rent for the week or month. It was nice to have a day on the beach, relaxing and catching up on some sleep and laundry. From Denia, we took a local tram (or light rail) to Alicante, then took a high-speed train to Madrid in 3 hours. The first-class coach on the train served a nice lunch, just like what you get on a commercial flight. The lunch was very good and they even served beer or wine with your meal. This is the first time on this trip that we were served food on a train.
While Barcelona has most of the tourist attractions spread out over a big area of the city, Madrid has most of them in the city center. That makes it easy to see most of them on foot. I took a 3-hour "free" walking tour and the British-born tour guide did a good job explain Spanish history and culture besides some of the buildings on the tour. We stayed at a hostel called Way Hostel, which is within walking distance of most of the tourist attractions. Nearby there are also a lot of local shops and restaurants. At night the area is full of patrons going to many of the bars and restaurants in the area. On Saturday while walking around, there were many football (real football, not American football) fans attending a Real Madrid game. For those not familiar with football, Real Madrid is one of the top football teams in the world.
I really enjoyed my time in Spain.  It's just a nice and easy-going lifestyle.  It has a rich and interesting history and culture.  I got to try most of the uniquely Spanish things - paella, tapas, bocadillos (sandwiches), sangria, Spanish art by Goya, Picasso, Velasquez, etc.  The two things that I wanted to try but didn't get a chance to are flamenco dancing and bullfighting.  I understand that bullfighting will be banned starting next year.
I also wish I have time to go to other well-known smaller Spanish cities:  Toledo, Seville, Granada, Salamanca, Cordoba, Santiago de Compostela, Valencia, etc.  They all each have their own interesting history and culture.  For example, I heard that Granada had a strong Moorish influence so you see a lot of that in their architecture.
Next on the trip is Lisbon.

Royal Palace Grounds

Paellas' are very popular in Spain

Seafood Paella - rice, spices and seafood

Tapas for 1 euro each.  Free at places when you order a drink

Picture of a bullfighter being gored through the throat

Famous Prado Museum

Mercado de San Miguel - has all kinds of food

A gypsy woman begging

Playa de Mayor - a big square with a lot of restaurants