More time in Europe

I am AWFUL at blogging. I said I would do it about 3 weeks, and 12 cities ago. There is obviously a lot of info to divulge, but I'll try to stay to what I find most important. Which will probably be boring to you, the likely non-existant reader.

Kelly wrote about London, and from there we flew to Paris. We liked Paris enough, but I really don't understand what all the fuss is about. It's great, but it's not the greatest city in Europe in my mind. One reason for the overrating: The Louvre.

I had several problems with this place. It's ridiculous size was not one of them. I guess my frustrations started with the labelling. Everything was only in French, which I suppose is defensible (although EVERY other museum in every city we visited has had at least 2 languages, 1 usually being English) and I should be able to make out what the labels say with my limited French knowledge and my can-do attitude. Not the case. There was no formula to the labels, the artist's name, lifespan, painting name and date all seem like relevant info, but they were not always given, and not always in the same order. There were lamanted info sheets in the corner of many rooms, written in many different languages, but the English supply was low and I didn't really find them all that enlightening.
Problem 2: The layout of the art. It seemed like everything was just slapped on the walls haphazardly, no symmetry, no flow from piece to piece. It made for some confused and awkward viewing.
Problem 3: The paintings simply aren't that interesting. It seemed like everything was from the Renaissance period - which is a fine period to be sure - but it provides very little variety. We were able to finally learn how Jesus died (on a cross....who knew!) since it was depicted every 3rd painting or so, and that little angel babies can be cute, and that artists find bare breasted ladies intriguing for some reason. There were a few battle scenes and male portraits, but the first 3 were dominant. It was so bloody repetitive, the differences in the artists and time periods so minute that you required an audioguide to sort out the details. And I don't like being forced into an audioguide.
All-in-all the whole place just had a "we're the Louvre, we can do whatever the f--- we want" feel about it. You had to be a real afficianado to appreciate most of it. Not my style.

More my style was the Musee d'Orsay, which housed some amazing paintings. It was more of a timelife of art, paintings mostly, that had great pieces by Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Sisley, Pissaro, and many others. Those mentioned were my favourites, and this place is much more interesting for a casual art fans like myself and Kelly.

From Paris we went to Belgium (Bruges, Antwerp and Brussels) where we stayed with and were toured by our Laurier friend Jess. She was an incredible hostess and an even better tour guide. She showed me all the best beers in Belgium (which are somehow both the best and cheapest in Western Europe), my favourite of which being Duvel and Chimay. She also showed us the famed 'secret beer', called Westvlaken I think, that is not supposed to be for commercial sale. There are 5 or 6 Abbeys in the world where monks brew beer and sell it to support their cause. Chimay is a commercialized one, but Westvlaken has strict rules where it can only sell as much as the Abbey needs. So it is very limited, you must go up near the Belgian-Dutch border I believe to get it, and it is restricted to 1 case per car. Jess knows of 2 bars that sell it, and we found one in Leuven, where she lives and goes to school. It was good, but I actually preferred the commercial Chimay.

From Belgium we went to Berlin, which is obviously rife with 20th century history. We went on a free walking tour with a cool Canadian guide Donald who showed us the big sites, some smaller ones, and told us very interesting stories. In Berlin we saw the Reichstag (parliament buildings where a 1933 fire allowed Hitler to gain total authoritarian control), Memorial to the Murdered Jews & musuem, The Story of Berlin museum, Checkpoint Charlie area, East Side Gallery (the largest remaining portion of the wall, all beautifully portraited), and Pergamon musuem, with has a partially original gate to the city of Babylon reconstructed in it. The coolest part was just walking around, learning the history, seeing the sights. It was a really cool city.

After Berlin was Dresden, which was obliterated by the US 3 days before the official end of WWII (although it was already over for all intents and purposes). It has been rebuilt nicely, and I was a little disappointed that a guided tour was the only way to get to know about any of the devestation that took place. There were no plaques, memorials, etc.

Then we went to Prague. Holy Moses there were 4 tourists for every local I think. The place was an absolute zoo, and the city just seemed like a caricature (the same type that line the famous St. Charles bridge). It was fairly cheap, although not as cheap as advertised, and it did have some cool stuff, but I just couldn't get into it. The best thing we saw while we were there was in Kampa park while we were slightly hungover. It was like a travelling circus. There was a group of guys making like Tom Cruise in cocktail, tossing 1 bottle and 1 martini shaker around like maniacs, some of the best hacky sackers I've ever seen (they were too good to kick the sack, and instead just juggled 2 with their feet, around their heads, between their legs, completing spins, you name it), a fantastic 4 man juggling troupe with a couple other solos off to the side, bagpipes, violins, and dogs playing everywhere, led by these 2 little brown and white guys that made sure to keep everyone involved. It was all hilarious. If in Prague, go to Kampa park (south end, away from the bridge....less touristy=more locals).

From Prague we went to Munich and enjoyed the stereotypical German experience. Bratwurst, sourkraut, laderhosen, and beer halls. Again we took a free walking tour (they're great, done in 8 cities across Europe I think on a tips-only basis) and learned about the start of the Nazis, some more WWII info, and a little about the Pope. Benny's from Munich. We also met our friends Till and Christine, whom we met in Malaysia on our last Korean vacation, and they showed us a few off-the-beaten-path things too. They were nice enough to meet us at a beer hall one night, then have us over for dinner the next. Unfortunately I delayed the proceedings by 2 hours since I was walking around Munich with no clue. I finally found it, and dinner was delicious. They gave us a few tips for Iceland too, which was nice.

Munich led us to Salzburg, which loves Mozart and Sound of Music tours (but only in English, the Austrians have never seen it), and a little taste of the Alps. A cool castle there gives you a good view of the city, but Kelly liked it more than I did, in no small part due to her having actually seen The Sound of Music.

From Salzburg we went to Vienna where get finally got a taste of the elusive Gustav Klimt. While in our hostel in Salzburg we shared a room with 2 young ladies who are studying in Austria. They were nice enough, but seemed quite happy with their accumulated knowledge. While talking about Vienna, one asked me innocuously "Are you a fan of Klimt?" Not knowing what it/what/who Klimt was, I just sort of shrugged. She mentioned that he is an artist. I asked "Is he an old guy?" just seeking a general era or timeframe of his work. Their response: "Hmmm...how would you describe his work?" "Oh gosh, I don't.....hmmm....wasn't he part of the Maxis Strauss (ridiculous name made up) movement" "Oh yes, now that you say it, I think he was". Of course, Klimt of the Strauss movement!! How could I have forgotten!?!? Well the next day we saw Klimt and it would've been entirely forgettable had we not been part of this exchange. We also bought post cards. Vienna was cool, unfortunately they had big stages set up everywhere for EuroCup2008, obstructing the view of some of the nicest buildings. I could've spent an extra day there.

From Vienna we went to Budapest, then Bratislava, Slovakia, and now we're in Florence. I think that's enough for today. I hope you feel caught up.