Bratislava (Slovakia) in the blink of an eye

Second smallest building in Europe at only 150 cm (51 in)!

 On our way from Vienna to Budapest, we made a lunch and tour stop in Bratislavia, Slovakia. The old town has a small town feel with it's monuments and buildings. The two most interesting buildings were the second narrowest building in Europe, which houses a kebab shop. It is only 130 cm (51 inches) wide!

On the left side of the window is the cannonball shot by Napoleon in 1809

The second interesting building is a the Town Hall, in which one a cannonball is still lodged. Our tour manager told us that it was because the Bratislavans didn't buy Napoleon a birthday present. However, wikipedia seems to suggest otherwise.

Leftover monument of Russia liberating Bratislava in 1945

We had a lovely lunch in an old hospital turned restaurant. Then, we visited a monument left over from the Communist regime depicting the liberation of Bratislava at the end of WWII.

Flower boxes and posts for former benches

Finally, we headed back to the bus station to wait for our increasingly late train. Along the road up to the train station, there were brightly painted cement flower boxes. In between were posts for benches. However, there were no benches.

Vienna

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Vienna was such a beautiful city! It is full of majestic buildings from the peak of the Austro-Hungarian empire during the end of the 19th century. These buildings are still kept in good, working condition today. Vienna overall takes very good care of it's buildings. There is a lot of normal wear and tear as well as a lot of damage during WWII. However, everywhere, we saw fresh, old buildings with constant conservation taking place. One of the most obvious examples is St. Stephen's Cathedral. It even has a piece of old and reconstructed portions outside the front entrance in order to ask for conservation donations.

"Death and Life" by Gustav Klimt

While Austria is the city of music, whether it be operas, symphonies or some other classical form, the season doesn't start until September. During the summer, there are only tourist shows. This just means that I'll need to return to Vienna during the season. Vienna was also the home of intellectuals and artists during the turn of the century (19th to 20th) such as Gustav Klimt (artist) and Sigmund Freud (philosopher). To see some of these artists, visit Museums Quarter and the Leopold Museum. It's largest collection is of Egon Schiele. In addition, it has a plethora of works by his contemporaries. On Thursday nights, there is a discount ticket that covers Leopold Museum, mumok and Kunsthalle. mumok and Kunsthalle exhibit modern art. It can be interesting and/or disconcerting.

Venus of Willendorf

During our full day in Vienna, I started at the Natural History Museum. It has room after room of minerals, fossils and stuffed animals. However, my main interest was the Venus of Willendorf. It is a small statue (11 cm) that was discovered in Willendorf, Austria. It is 25,000 years old! This museum has good information and some interactive sections, such as a moving, roaring model of an allosaur. The newer sections have English translations. The older collections do not. The topmost section carries special exhibits. When I visited, there was a photography exhibit of Chernobyl by a German photographer.

Looking down on Vienna from the winery

In the afternoon, I took the 38A tram to the end of the line in Kahlenberger. There is an international school up there as well as an adventure park with zip lines. But, I was just looking for a good hike. There were several good trails up above the city for panoramic views. On the way down, I stopped next to the house where the musician Franz Schubert was born. Then, it was up through vineyards back toward the bus stop. One of the vineyards had a few picnic tables and a little food for sale. It was a gorgeous, sprinkling afternoon to enjoy the fresh wine, food and the view.

Cesky Krumlov (Czech Republic)

Overlooking Cesky Krumlov

Cesky Krumlov is a town of 14,000 in the Czech Republic. We spent a full day there after visiting the Czech capital, Prague. We arrived to the weather we are becoming accustomed to: overcast skies with occasional drizzle and sometimes rain. Our driver unloaded us and our luggage. Then, we followed him up the jagged cobblestone, inside the castle walls, then down some steps, through a marionette shop and up a steep staircase to our rooms. Talk about an auspicious beginning! We wandered through this tiny town, taking in the church (St. Vitus), the frescoes, liquid chocolate, the castle, the royal gardens. Then, we were free to start planning for our full day the next day.

Inside the castle

The next day, we woke up bright and early enough to purchase our tickets for the Cesky Krumlov Castle Tour I. The castle has been owned by various families over the years. Since WWII, it has been nationalized and the Czech Republic up keeps it. Although you can walk through the castle grounds and the garden for free, in order to see inside the castle, you will need to pay for a tour. We signed up for Tour I. Our guide unlocked each door; we all entered each room; and, she locked the door behind us. No photos were allowed. It was interesting to see the different rooms staged with furnishings from the different royal families. We noticed a painting of a young girl with an adult face. At the time it was painted, it was considered bad luck to paint the children with their actual faces. In order to prevent their untimely deaths, adult faces were painted on children instead. We also learned why beds were so much shorter -- there was also a belief that if one laid down while sleeping, he/she would die. All these royalty slept sitting up to prevent death! The most beautiful room was the last, the Masquerade Hall. It is painted in Rococo style. The entire room is painted party-goers in their masks and costumes. There is even a boy peeking into one of the mirrors; and, his image is painted on the mirror looking back at us.

Masquerade Hall

The most popular attraction in Cesky Krumlov is the Baroque Theater. The stage actually rotates so that the back stage can set up scenes behind the curtains while another scene is playing out in front of the crowd. Since it is one of few Baroque Theaters in Europe (and, since there isn't much to do in Cesky Krumlov), the shows sell out far in advance. I checked for tickets; and, the entire week was sold out. However, there was a music festival going on in Cesky Krumlov while we were there. I was able to purchase a ticket to see a trio (piano, cello, violin) play in the Masquerade Hall. They played music by Czech composers (including Antonin Dvorak). What excellent musicianship! And, what a great venue! It was the perfect way to end my stay in Cesky Krumlov.

My faves to eat:
Laibon -- vegetarian. Delicious red lentil soup, rice pudding, sabje, hummus, and spiced wine. Not spicy enough to be truly Indian; but, the perfect amount of spice for this Midwesterner. :)
Bon Bon -- liquid dark and milk chocolate in a cup or cone. Need I say more?
Cesky Pernik (Old Bohemian Gingerbread) -- watch them make gingerbread in front of the shop or purchase some of the pressed gingerbread inside. It's all yummy!
Zapa Cocktail Bar -- we went for the "penicillin" and stayed for all the good drinks. Try out the fig infused vodka.

Prague

Charles Bridge over Vltava River

Prague, city of never ending rain. It was either about to rain, sprinkling or raining the entire time that we visited. The evening that we arrived was late and way past dinner time. All the fun touring started the next day.

Astronomical clock

Prague has many interesting sights to see. However, I was most looking forward to the astronomical clock. It was my first stop on our first full day in Prague. It was originally built in 1410. While it may just look like two dials, it is actually quite complex. Bohemia (a state in Czech Republic) has it's own time keeping system with the hours starting to count at sun down each night. The clock's outer dial shows Bohemian time, which rotates around the next dial with 24 Roman numerals that correspond to that hours we follow today. The clock's innermost cycle shows the cycle of the moon. In between these three rings, the clock displays sunrise and sunset, changing throughout the year to match shorter and longer days. Quite an amazing feat for a clock in 1410! Between the hours of 9 am and 9 pm, the figures around and above the clock do a little dance on each hour. It's fun but not as amazing as the ingenious time keeping of the clock.

Cathedral inside castle complex

The Prague castle complex has it's origins in the 9th century. Did you know that Good King Wenceslas of Christmas carol fame was actually one of the first Czech royalty? Even though he was killed in the 10th century, there is a chapel honoring him in the large St. Vitus Cathedral in the center of the Prague Castle complex. The Cathedral is the dominating feature of the castle. The palace portions are now used by various governmental offices. None are as impressive as the Cathedral. There is still a street with original old houses in the castle complex. There are lots of souvenir shops squeezed in there as well as an upstairs armor display. While you can walk through the general castle grounds for free, there are charges to see the gardens, the cathedral, the little side street. We went through Sandmann's castle tour and were able to enter all except the gardens. One more interesting note about the castle -- the guards' uniforms were designed by the Czech costume designer who did the costumes for the movie Amadeus.

Schwarzenberg Palace decorated in scraffito

For a good overview of Prague, I highly recommend the free walking tour. (Tour guides work for tips and/or for you to sign up for one of their paid tours.) We really enjoyed our tour with the guide. He told us about the history of different buildings of monuments. For example, did you know that Mozart's "Don Giovanni" premiered in Prague? Or that there is still a golem in the attic of a Jewish synagogue? Or that Jan Hus translated the Bible from Latin into the local language and preached in the local language long before Martin Luther and his Reformation? Or, have you ever seen buildings covered in the decorative art of sgraffito?

Krakow (Poland) and Auschwitz

Krakow Square with St. Mary's church

While Krakow may be best known to Western tourists as the city from which to visit the infamous WWII concentration camp Auschwitz, Krakow is actually a very charming city in and of itself. Krakow has even been likened to Prague several years ago, before Prague became so commercial. I really enjoyed staying in Krakow for a day. I tasted a variety of Polish food, caught the Tour de Pologne and walked around the city. I also took the tour of Auschwitz.

Krakow pretzel

On our arrival to Krakow, we settled into our hotel and then headed off on a walking food tour. It was great to have a local person tell us the history of different foods and get us fresh samples. We ate Krakow pretzels, called Obwarzanki, which must be a certain size and coated with salt, poppy seeds or sesame seeds. For only 1.5 PLN (about $0.50), you can purchase one. Some of my other favorite foods on this tour included pickled herring, cold beet soup and pierogi.  Pierogi are dumplings stuffed with either savory or sweet fillings. The first that I tried were cabbage and mushroom. However, I quickly discovered that I liked the strawberry and blueberry filled pierogi even better! On this walking food tour, we also tried two types of vodka and were given a recommendation of kvass, a soda like drink made from yeast. Kvass doesn't taste so good at first (tastes like sweet beer) but gets better near the bottom of the bottle. Wawel Chocolate was another recommendation. Named after Wawel Castle in Krakow, there was quite a variety of chocolates to choose from. The walking tour lasted three hours and ended at a local food market where we ate sauerkraut and dill pickles, bread, mozzarella cheese and Lisiecka sausage, from a specific town in Poland. We paid about 20 PLN/person for all the samples in all the different stores during this three hour tour. Well worth it! Our guide was from a company called "Krakow Tours" or "Point Travel".

Krakow Old Town Square after dark

That evening, we enjoyed an unexpected festival with live music in St. Mary's Square. We wandered through the food stalls, sampled some roasted chestnuts and listened to choral and band music. The squares are beautifully lit at night.

Tree that started growing in 3rd or 2nd BC and died 300 years later.
"Fossil Oak" used to reconstruct parts of Wawel Castle.

The next morning, we were up early to walk around Krakow. We started wandering along the park that circles old Krakow. Originally, this was a moat that ran around the city. It has subsequently been filled in and made into a park. A sign post stopped me for a photo. It announced that this street was part of Jacob's Way, the pilgrimage trail to Santiago de Compostela! Now I can say that I've walked the pilgrimage in two countries. The next distracting sign took us on a side trip through the Botanical Gardens. There was quite a variety of plants here, including roses and a very old tree trunk used for restoration on part of Wawel Castle. There were a couple of carnivorous plants in the garden. Although not caged, the plants were too far off the path for me to feed.

Wawel Cathedral

We continued on toward Wawel Castle, stopping to admire some sculptures in the park as well as the barbican. Eventually, we sloped upward into the Wawel Castle grounds. It is an enormous complex that includes palace buildings, a cathedral and various museums. The view of the river and of Krakow are beautiful from the castle. I attempted a quick tour of the cathedral but was hindered by tour groups on guided tours stopping at each interesting object. In the castle, the oldest tomb that I saw was from the Polish king Wladyslaw I, who moved the capital to Krakow and was crowned in Wawel Castle in 1320. The church is beautiful; however, it is quite small for the influx of tourists.

choldnik (cold beet soup)

By now it was time for lunch. We navigated the many gates blocking off streets for the Tour de Pologne bicycle race and found a place to eat in the Old Square. We dined on pickled herring, cold beet soup (chlodnik) and Redd's (which, unfortunately, is South African and not Polish). The chef even sent us out complementary sauerkraut and dill pickles. From our table, we watched the kids race their bicycles in time trials. Quite a cultural event!

After lunch, it was time for the tour that I'd been looking forward to and dreading at the same time -- Auschwitz and Birkenau. It was very sobering to be walking through the WWII concentration and extermination camps. We even stood in a gas chamber where people were killed with Zyklon B gas and walked past the kilns where they were cremated. We saw collections of the items that were found in Auschwitz-Birkenau, a mountain of suitcases with peoples names and birthdates written on them. Rooms full of shoes. It was all a very chilling reminder of the evil in humanity that humans would kill so many other humans. In Auschwitz-Birkenau alone, 1.3 million people were killed, 1.1 million of them were Jews. Currently, you can only visit Auschwitz via a guided tour (which you can sign up for once you reach Auschwitz). It's about three hours to see both sites.

Zakopane (Poland)

View from around Zakopane

We had a wonderful (albeit rainy) time in the little Polish town of Zakopane. Set among the foothills of the Tatra mountains, Zakopane is a quaint town with beautiful views. It was also the beginning of my love for Polish food and vodka. While Zakopane might be famous for its cheeses, wooden churches and limited skiing, we enjoyed the hiking, soup and the Tour de Pologne.

Tour de Pologne racers through Zakopane streets

On my European adventure, I've accidentally stumbled upon two different bicycle road races, the Tour de France and now the Tour de Pologne. The Tour de Pologne appears to be sponsored by Mini (Coopers) and Nutella. The streets in Zakopane were not fenced. Instead, we waited along the sidewalk while team cars passed by with waving passengers. Finally, with police sirens leading the way, the Tour de Pologne cyclists speed by on the road slick with rain.

Crossing a stream while hiking around Zakopane

During the day, we hiked the hills surrounding Zakopane. There is supposedly a well marked walking trail from the Butorwoy Wierch chair lift back down to Zakopane. (Take the gondola up from Zakopane market, then, walk along the vendor lined path to Butorwoy Wierch chair lift.) However, we had to ask a couple people where exactly the trail was. Thankfully, one of our party speaks Polish! One man led us off into the woods behind the chair lift and pointed out painted markings on trees. We hiked along following the arrows and markings. Eventually, we came to a stream that needed crossing. Could this really be the right trail? But, we crossed gingerly on rocks (with one of our party going barefoot). Up the hill from the stream, we asked a couple of farmers if this was the hiking trail. We had been following the mountain biking trail! With new directions, we hiked up a paved hill in order to turn onto a paved walking path. As we hiked on to the main road to turn back, the rain started up. Soon, our feet headed back to our dry hotel as the rain pelted us. It was a great outdoor adventure!

Zurek soup and Polish beer

After all that fresh air, we were hungry. We headed off to a restaurant recommended by our tour guide, Karcma U Wnuka. Although there was only one server, he did a great job of taking care of us. We warmed up with some Polish beer. Our starters arrived of pickled herring, grilled cheese and cheesy spinach dumplings. Delicious! Then, our soups arrived. My new favorite soup is zurek, a white, slightly creamy soup with a bit of potatoes and sausage. I also tried beet borscht. It was a flavorful combination of beet broth and soup meat bullion. My new favorite salad is cucumber salad, which is usually sliced cucumbers in a creamy dill sauce. We ate and ate and even had a shot of Polish vodka.  What a great way to spend a day in Zakopane!

Warsaw

Old square in Warsaw

I fear that there is not much to say about Warsaw. We were only there overnight. We had a quick walk around the old downtown square area. It was all destroyed during WWII. The city has done a great job of reconstructing it to period style. Below is a collection of photos of other interesting things we saw on our quick stop.

Barbicon fortress wall

Warsaw Uprising Monument

Remainder of wall from WWII Jewish Ghetto

Final resting place for Chopin's heart.

Palace of Culture, a building built by Stalin for Warsaw during Communism
(the Poles considered this building quite ugly when it was built)

Berlin

Countryside between Hamburg and Berlin

My first impression of Berlin began on the bus from Hamburg. On the three hour ride, we encountered endless traffic. Finally, our driver got on the intercom and uttered a statement in German. Then, we were turning off onto a small town and bumping along on country roads. Even with all his attempts, we still reached Berlin an hour late.

Berlin wall with Luftwafte building behind it

The next day, I purchased a day pass and braved the metro system to get to the 9 am free walking tour. Arriving at the Brandenburg Gate 10 minutes late, I bounced from tour to tour until finding the free walking tour group at the site where Hitler committed suicide. It is today a parking lot. We continued on to the building that housed the Luftwafte during WWII. It is one of the largest buildings in Berlin from that era; and, it was barely damaged. Today, it houses Berlin's tax office. Next, we stopped at a section of wall that has been preserved to remember the division of East and West Germany. Along the wall, there is currently an exhibition entitled "Topography of Terror" that describes Germany's campaigns against Warsaw during WWII. It is a sobering exhibit. We walked on to the Checkpoint Charlie memorial, which does not stand where Checkpoint Charlie actually was (but, close enough). The original wall is marked all around Berlin in the streets with commemorative plaques.

Concert House

Our next stop on the tour was a large square flanked by two different churches with a Concert House in between. One of the churches was built for the French Huguenots, who made up a quarter of Berlin's population in the early 17th century. During WWII, these three buildings were heavily bombed. The buildings today are reconstructions. However, many of the statues are originals that were removed and protected during WWII. During WWII, books were burned in this square. Today, there is a memorial of empty bookshelves underneath the pavement representing all the books burned. A quote from Heinrich Heine is on a plaque nearby. It translates to "Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings." This quote was from the 1800s, long before WWI or WWII.

Kathe Kollwitz sculpture in Victims of War Memorial

We passed Humboldt University as we continued our tour. Humboldt University, named for Alexander von Humboldt, a man (according to the Cologne Chocolate Museum) who helped popularize chocolate in Europe. Famous students who studied at Humboldt include Albert Einstein. The tour continued on to the Victims of War Memorial. Kathe Kollwitz created the central sculpture of a mother cradling her son. In this memorial, an unknown concentration camp prisoner and an unknown soldier are buried. As we continued on, we passed something that I found even more interesting than finishing the tour, the German History Museum.

Albrecht Durer potrait of Charlemagne

A day in the Germany History Museum wouldn't be enough. Two hours didn't even scratch the surface. I spent most of my time in the section of pre-1500 Germany. There was a large map that showed how different people groups spread across Europe. A beautiful painting by Albrecht Durer in the 15th century stylized Charlemagne, who reigned over Germany as part of the Roman Empire in the 800s. After visiting so many Catholic churches on my travels, it was intriguing to learn about the Reformation and Martin Luther. The German Museum even has the portraits painted by Lunas Cranach of Martin Luther and his wife. Did you know that there were Bibles translated into German before Martin Luther? Some of these Bibles were on display, as was an announcement from 1517 showing Martin Luther nailing his 92 thesis to the church door. Regretfully, I had to leave too soon in order to meet my tour group at the Reichstag.

Inside the Reichstag dome, the mirrored cone that lights the Bundestag chamber

The Reichstag is the home of Germany's legislative body, the Bundestag. The Reichstag building was originally built in 1894. However, after Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933, the building was burned (arson). The building wasn't restored until 1973. After the Berlin wall fell in 1989, the first elected Bundestag of both East and West Germany was held in the Reichstag in 1990. The Reichstag was one of the buildings that artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped before it's latest restoration. The reconstruction included a glass dome that has a cone of mirrors that reflect sunlight into the main legislative hall as well as many other environmentally conscious features. If you return to the Reichstag around 9:30, there is a movie about it's history that plays at 9:45 and 10:15 pm. It's free and outdoors.

Currywurst with French Fries (pom frites)

By this time, I was quite hungry. I walked to Museum Island and sat near the river and enjoyed some currywurst. It's a sausage with a curried type of sauce. This is also about the time that I realized that I am quite sick of sausage and french fries! But, the curry wurst was pretty delicious. I ate everything off my plate.

Ishtar Gate from Babylon

My next stop was a museum that came highly recommended from some German friends. The Pergamon Museum is a collection of architectural marvels. There is a bit of a wait. If you are a planner, you can purchase tickets the day before and choose your entry time. I got in line just before 4:30, at which time they closed the gate for any further people. (The museum is open until 6.) Audio guides are included in the price of admission (12 Euros). When I was finally situated with ticket in hand in audio guide attuned, I ascended to the first floor of the exhibit. On the right side, glazed brick of blue and green loomed to the ceiling! It was an amazing sight to behold. These were the bricks from the Ishtar Gate of Babylon from 570 BC! None of my photos do the gate any justice. And, this is just the smaller gate. The larger gate that was behind this isn't even on display.

Pergamon Altar

However, the Ishtar Gate is not the only architectural treasure in the Pergamon. There is an entire room that is filled with a 2nd century BC temple excavated from Pergamon, Turkey. The friezes from around the temple adorn the room walls. You climb the original stairs between two little platforms, replete with friezes, to reach the top altar. Walking up and down the steps is a bit of a time warp. It's amazing to have the entire altar area reconstructed within the museum room!  The Pergamon houses other monumental architecture works. If you only have a chance to visit one museum in Berlin, I highly recommend the Pergamon.

Hamburg (Germany)

View of Hamburg from St. Michael's bell tower

Hamburg may have stolen my heart. Possibly because I had the best local guide ever who shared his passion about the city and the ships. Hamburg is a port town. It has the largest port in Germany and the second largest in Europe (after Rotterdam, Amsterdam). But, you'd never know that this is a city of over 1.5 million people. Starting near the airport; and, we easily rode bicycles about 40 minutes along tree lined paths to central Hamburg. In fact, bicycles are almost favored over cars here. We passed one street which will soon be closed to cars and only be available for cyclists.

Inside St. Michael's church

Our first tourist stop downtown was St. Michael's church. The church traces it's origins from 1600. However, today's edifice was completed in 2009. It's a beautiful, if modern, building. Entrance is free; and, there's a 5 Euro charge to summit the bell tower (whether stairs or elevator). Instead of waiting in the long elevator line, we climbed the 452 steps. Along the way, we stopped off on a platform to see the mechanism that makes the bells ring in the tower. It was also a nice break from the steps! Once we reached the platform, we enjoyed panoramic views of Hamburg.

Our next stop was an old cargo ship, the Cap San Diego. It's a magnificent vessel that was built in the 1960s, before the era of containers. Today, it is kept in working condition almost entirely by volunteers. For 7 Euros, you can walk around the various floors of the ship and even into the engine room. While we were there, the engine was warming up for a run the following day. It was hot in the engine compartment. I feel much more sympathy for sailors. We also saw the original swimming pool; and, we walked into the ship's bridge. If you do visit, make sure to bring someone along who knows ships or who can translate German, as all information is in German.

Watching one of the largest container ships in the world pull into Hamburg port

For lunch, we took a ferry down to a stop along the port with various restaurants. We enjoyed traditional wiener schnitzel; and, I enjoyed a rhubarb soda. While we were dining, we had a viewing treat. One of the largest container vessels in the world was pulling into Hamburg port. It made ships like the Cap San Diego look tiny. Container ships today are built mainly in Korea. The one that pulled in was the latest Hyundai model. Even more surprising is that these gargantuan ships are run by a crew of only 24.

Iced matcha at Messner Tea

Our afternoon and evening stops emphasized the livability of Hamburg. We enjoyed fancy tea at Messner Momentum tea shop. It is truly gourmet. My tea was an iced matcha green tea. Plus, with every beverage purchase, you get to take home three tea bags. Thankfully, the tea is sold on Amazon and not just at the store. The store also has a small history of tea exhibit with audio guides in English.

Alster

Next, we rode our bicycles along the Elbe and stopped for some refreshing Alster, a combination of beer, lemonade and soda. Most of you know how much I don't like beer. But, this was delicious! Plus, it was perfect people watching at this little kiosk. Everyone was out and about enjoying the beautiful weather.

Finally, we ended the night with some delicious tapas, proving that you can get most any type of food in this German town. If you get a chance, schedule a visit to Hamburg!

Cologne (Germany)

Cologne Cathedral

With only a few hours in Cologne, I settled for seeing only two places in Cologne, the cathedral and the chocolate museum and factory. Yet, this is a disservice to the beautiful city. If you have a chance, stay a few days near the cathedral and enjoy walking the through the old town. Although much of Cologne was destroyed during WWII, it has been beautifully reconstructed.

Band playing outside Cathedral

The old town skyline is dominated by one main building that survived the destruction of WWII, the cathedral. It is a beautiful, gothic structure started after Notre Dame but not completed until the 1800s. It's vaulted ceilings send its spires soaring skyward. I headed inside to walk around the beautiful church. Entrance is free. There is an additional charge if you'd like to climb the cathedral's tower or descend to its' treasury. After touring the inside, I enjoyed eating sandwiches with an outside view of the cathedral. Nearby, a band was playing Beethoven's 5th as well as Canon in D. One of the best lunch views and accompaniments!

Toblerone packing machine

After lunch, I headed to the Chocolate Museum and Factory. It is sponsored almost entirely by Lindt. However, it gave a great overview of the history of chocolate as well as providing information on (mostly German) chocolate brands throughout the years. Lindt even makes and packages small milk chocolates as one of the exhibits in the museum. I'm glad I'm not the employee who has to work behind the glass walls bagging chocolates! For anyone who loves chocolate, I'd highly recommend this museum! (9 Euros)

Brussels

Bronze helmet from 1200-1000 BC at the Cinquantenaire Museum

Belgium, that tiny country tucked between France, the Netherlands and Germany. A quick stop in the capital gave me only a chance to visit the Cinquantenaire Museum. It has an amazing collection of Belgian pre-history, Merovingian, Mediterranean and even Islamic Art. Unfortunately, there are no English signs or descriptions. All signs are in Dutch and French. The staff does provide one brochure in English with photos of some of the iconic pieces. The brochure at least gave me an overview of each museum gallery.

Easter Island Maoi at the Cinquantenaire Museum

After attempting very hard to understand the French and Dutch signs at the Cinquantenaire Museum, I was ready for a walk in the beautiful sunny, blue sky day. I headed to the subway and took it back to old town Brussels. There, the tourists thronged the streets checking out the old buildings and tasting Belgian waffles. There was quite a selection, including 1 Euro waffles.

Belgian waffles

There are many old buildings to see in Brussels square. There are also random monuments, like the sculpture of a boy peeing, which is a fountain, fondly listed on maps as the "Pissing Man". No idea the significance. Brussels is also a site for comic strips. Most of them, I had never heard of. However, Brussels has a "strip" museum dedicated to comic strips. Many buildings in the downtown area are painted with a variety of comic characters in gigantic format.

There were many comics painted on the sides of buildings in Brussels