paris

Photos now, text to follow.... well, probably not.
If you're after details, Deb's got it covered here.

From Berlin, we caught a quick train to Mannheim to connect to an even quicker train to Paris:


The apartment was still being cleaned when we arrived at 6pm, so we went for a wander to fill in an hour.

The Louvre was still there. No golden arches over it as yet.




We went to a local bistro for dinner (steak tartare thank you very much) and after a few hours watching the world go by, we finished our wine and called it quits for the night.

The next morning we took off to Montmartre for the day.

Sacre Coeur


And a bit of exotic foreign culture for good measure


We had lunch at romantic Montmartre cemetery, beers somewhere else and ice creams at yet another place before wandering home and out again for more food.


The next day it was overcast and rainy, so we went to the laundromat, and had pastries for breakfast while we waited. After checking out some local scenery, eg:

Notre Dame



we hit the shops (read: Deb hit the shops)

It was raining again that night, but instead of staying inside, we went Space Invader hunting.







We had a crack at some night photos of the Eiffel Tower as well.


I think Deb managed to step in every puddle between our apartment and here, so it was time to head back in preparation for Day Four: Proper tourist day.

Pompidou Centre


Pont Notre Dame


And Notre Dame itself, sans rain.


We cruised up to the Pantheon, and had lunch in the Luxembourg gardens:


A lot of the more familiar paintings at Musee d'Orsay were surrounded by people trying to get a photo. Most barely even looked at them first, so this photo is dedicated to them. In case you're wondering, it's Renoir's Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette.


This was taken on the museum roof while we were drinking our €3.30 ($6 AU) Cokes:



The obligatory Eiffel Tower shot (with space invader for good measure)


Then a (long) walk to the Arc de Triomphe to try and see some cars crash into each other. It never happened, so instead here's a photo of us, with my holiday jowls starting to creep in. Why is bad food the tastiest?


The next morning we caught the train to Avignon. More to follow soon...

berlin

Ok, so I didn't get around to updating this as often as I thought. Too much else to do I suppose!

Berlin really surprised me, there's a lot more going on there than I expected. Loads of museums, cool bars, funky shops. Well done Berlin!

Anyway, here's some stuff we saw there. They're in chronological order, so probably don't flow as well as they could, but that's how we do things here.

The German flag flying outside the Reichstag


Scary looking dude near the Siegessäule


The Siegessäule itself.


Loads of buildings and monuments have bullet and shrapnel holes in them from the war.


View from the Siegessäule looking towards Brandenbuger Tor


A Soviet War Memorial in Tiergarten


The Brandenburger Tor was commissioned as a sign of peace. Looks pretty damn imposing if you ask me!


Stormtrooper. There's really not much else to say about this guy.


This is a few pics of the "Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe".
I guess they didn't feel the need to sugar coat the name at all. Apart from the bus loads of school kids running through the place, it's pretty overwhelming.







A chunk of the Berlin wall in Potsdamer Platz


“Mother with Dead Son”. A memorial to the victims of war and tyranny


Berliner Dom in the evening.


You can tell you're in Paris when you can see the Eiffel Tower. This tells you you're in Berlin


A random head shot from the Bode museum. He's a saint or something.


This was a ball carved inside a ball, inside a ball etc etc


Another from the Bode Museum. It's the locking mechanism inside a chest. Very cool.


Yeah, Zeus. As in father of Apollo, god of Mount Olympus, don't fuck with me or I'll shove a lightning bolt up your ass, Zeus! *


Detail of a prayer niche from the Maidân Mosque (in the Pergamon Museum)


A bust of Nefertiti from 1300 or so BC. This was supposedly found in the artist's workshop, but an art historian has recently claimed it's a copy dating from 1912.
Whatever, it's still older than me.


The Berlin ball (Fernsehturm) looking from the Marx-Engel Forum


Marx, Engel, Parker


Part of the old Berlin Wall running through the Invalidenfriedhof cemetery. Some of the headstones were moved so the border guards had a clear line of sight.


And that's Berlin. Will hopefully have a few minutes one evening to get some Paris photos up, but it's looking more likely that they'll have to wait till we get home.


*Die Hard reference

prague

I really didn't know what to expect in Prague. Was it going to be a run down, grey city? Was our apartment going to have no hot water and an armed guard on the door?
Turns out I was pretty wrong.

Prague is the sixth most visited city in Europe, so really has it's shit together. We had a massive apartment, a new gas kitchen and wifi.

Again, I was going to do a proper write up, but really can't be bothered. We just finished a day wandering through Berlin and after a few pints in town and a bottle of wine at home I don't have a lot of words left in me.

Prague Museum looking down Wesceslas Square


The Municipal Building


Detail of the Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square


Church of Our Lady Before Týn


View from the Old Town Hall


It rained for a few hours, so we had to find shelter :)


Rear view of St Vitus Cathedral, Prague Castle


Check out the look on this Prague Castle Guard's face. One hard dude!


Deb and I looking over the castle wall


Detail of a sarcophagus in St Vitus Cathedral


Bibles in St Vitus


This is the crazy retro panelling that's in loads of the tube stations


Part of the 80,000 names that are written on the walls of Pinkas Synagogue. This was actually really moving as it gives the holocaust some scale.


And some pics from the Old Jewish Cemetery