Europe 2024

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Europe Travel 2024

The Norwegian Fjords trip came to an end and I disembarked the ship in Rotterdam. I decided to take a taxi to my hotel in Amsterdam. The Grand, which is a luxury historical property near the "red light" district. Let me take you through the next few days as I make my way to Prague.

Day one in Amsterdam

After dropping my bags off at the hotel, I used the spa facilities for a bit, using the early afternoon to catch up on some rest and relaxation. The Sofitel Grand was an amazing hotel, I highly recommend it.

After getting rested and cleaned up, I walked around the city a bit and just enjoyed the sights and sounds of Amsterdam. The Leidseplein had plenty of music, food & bars and sights to fill the day.

The next day I did a bike ride around the city with VIator. We had about 8 people in our group and explored the city sights via bike. We rode through the Vondelpark and some of the "hidden" neighborhoods of Amsterdam. I enjoyed seeing the city. Of course you will see the Vangogh museum and the Anne Frank house. In the evening, I had a private walking tour though the red light district with an expat from Iowa. He had been living in Amsterdam since college and had good knowledge of the area. After a short walk around the red light district with some historical points, We ended up just grabbing a few beers and talking about Amsterdam and how things around the city function. The city of canals did not disappoint.

The next day, I hopped on a train to Brussels.

In Brussels, I stayed at HOTEL DES GALERIES

A nice, but quaint hotel in the city center. I dropped my bags and then went and found my tour. This was an all day walking tour that included; chocolate, whisky and waffles. The Belgium trifecta! I wasn't really a believer until the tour where I tasted some of the best chocolate I have ever had. It was very smooth and flavorful. The beer and whisky really have an interesting history, brewed and distilled by monks, the story is really interesting. The tour was kinda long, but it covered a lot of the area and culture of Brussels.

The next day I just used as a relaxing day and walked around and enjoyed the sights. I had to leave early the next day on a flight to Berlin.

I arrived in Berlin and stayed at a Max Browne for two nights. I happened to stay in a quiet area away from the hustle and bustle, but it worked out.

My first tour was a 3 hour bike ride around Berlin, checking out the major sights; The Berlin Wall, Check point Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, TV tower and the Holocaust memorial. It was a nice ride and gave a good quick glimpse around Berlin. After the tour, I decided to join up with some other people on the bike ride and do a pub crawl. It was a bit too full, but it was pretty fun.

The next day I decided to go to the UEFA Soccer match at the OlympiaStadion between Italy and the Netherlands. Quite the match which the Netherlands won 2-0. My short time in Berlin was coming to an end. I had to get up early the next morning to catch my car to Prague.

As I left Berlin, I kinda felt like I had missed out on some of the sights, and sounds, but it was nice to see Berlin. My ride picked me up from the hotel and we had about a 4 hour ride to Prague. We stopped in Dresden, which was leveled during world war two. A lot of the grounds had been rebuilt, and it was interesting to see some of the world war two history. I also stopped at Moritzburg Castle, lots of horses and locals bustling about.

Early that evening, I reached Prague, which I will discuss in the final part of this series as it connects to my river cruise and bike riding tour through the Danube river valley. Stay tuned!

Pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/raffles/albums/72177720324454980

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