After over a week in Italy, we were off to our next stop: Germany. Our train from Venice had a changeover in Verona which I so desperately wanted to go to, unfortunately, the layover was only 23 minutes. Whilst on this train we were annoyed to find out it only went part of the way to Verona. Therefore, we had to get a replacement bus the rest of the way. This made us very late for our next train so we didn’t end up getting to Munich until after 7 pm. But when we got there we noticed a huge difference in the vibe immediately. It was ridiculously cold and snowing, but most importantly no one was staring at us! The city was as alternative as any Australian city, probably even more. Piercings, tattoos and alternative clothing. It was fantastic. Brodi fit right in (she has a lot of tattoos which Italian men aren’t used to). Back to the cold part, we were in awe of the snow.
After checking in our immediate course of action was food (as usual let’s be real). Right around the corner, there was a cute little Christmas market and we found what seemed to be a traditional German pub. We ordered a litre of beer and I got a schnitzel. I have never burped so much in my life and struggled to finish that beer. We went back to the hostel bar to make some friends and I was definitely drunk from that one drink (it was a litre though).
We went shopping on our first day for some warmer clothes. The shopping complex we went to had a whole floor simply for coats, and the floor was not small by any means. Brodi found a fluffy jacket which was perfect and I picked up a scarf and beanie. Now we were ready for sightseeing. After a few hours we were so frozen we just headed back to the hostel to defrost. That night we went out to a German bar with some people we met at the hostel and had a great time.
Then it was time to make our way to Prague. Now, this is where it gets awkward. Maybe an hour into the train ride we had our tickets checked. The inspector informed us that we were in the wrong seats because the carriage we were on was not going to Prague. So we moved a few carriages down and all was fine… for a bit. A few stops down the track the train gets busy, and I mean busy. Eventually, we had people claiming we were in their ‘reserved seats’ and were forced to move. I’m not going to lie, that was probably the most awkward 10 minutes of my life. People were everywhere, we were holding up the aisle traffic and everyone was looking at us. Luckily we found some ‘priority’ seats which weren’t being used so we sat there for the remainder of the ride. So yeah, make sure you book your seat reservations, and if the website says you don’t need reservations it's probably lying.
The city, however, was beautiful. Not far from the hostel was an amazing Christmas market that we explored every night. It had some of the coolest stalls I’ve ever seen, we even witnessed jewellery being freshly made. Interestingly, we did not make any friends the whole time we were there. It just shows how the hostel can make such a difference. This one had the tiniest social area and no events. Don’t get me wrong the rooms were nice, but probably not the best place for making friends and socialising.
I thought it would be a good idea to do a free walking tour since the city is so big. We have never been so cold in our lives. It was snowing practically the whole time and the guide proceeded to tell us it only snows 5 days a year in Prague. You’ve got to be kidding me. The novelty of snow had worn off by this point. We joked about slipping the whole time because it turns out Dr Martens are not good snowshoes. Brodi dropped her tissue and when she went to pick it up her legs gave in. It was the funniest thing ever and we were laughing about it so much that a random lady on the tour asked me “is she drunk??” This just made us laugh more. Aside from freezing and slipping multiple times, the walking tour was awesome. We saw a large part of the city over the three hours and the guide was fantastic. It was interesting learning about the Jewish culture and the history of the city. The Old Jewish Cemetery was particularly interesting. It is one of the only cemeteries like it in Europe and has over 40,000 people in it, over 12 layers. Yes, you read that correctly, 12 layers of bodies.
We also booked another tour for the catacombs and mediaeval dungeons the next day. It was a decent tour but there were definitely no catacombs. Also, all the information the guide recited was pretty much exactly what we had heard the day before. But we were partly inside this time so at least we weren’t cold. Also, I have to mention this cute little cafe we went to called Chloe's Cafe. Everything was pink and the food was delicious. I had a pink latte which I thought was cool.
Another cool experience we had was going to The Museum of Senses. If you have been to Amaze ‘n’ Things in Phillip Island, it is very similar to that. Lots of puzzles, psychology tricks and optical illusions. We got lots of cute photos and had lots of fun here. Aside from the cold, I have to say Prague was my favourite place during the whole trip. I would love to go back during summer/spring to explore more of the city. The people were lovely and seeing it during Christmas time was truly special.
When we arrived in Berlin I realised it is very similar to Munich just on a larger scale. We found it had a similar sort of culture and people. This probably sounds obvious because they are both German cities, but in France and Italy, the different cities were so unalike. We were ready to do our washing and have a quiet night when we arrived. Curveball, the laundry was broken at the hostel and the nearest Laundromat was ages away. I was forced to handwash some underwear and socks in the sink just to get by until we went to Amsterdam in 4 days. The elevator was also broken so we had to climb up the four flights of stairs many times a day. The toilet for our room was also outside the room for some silly reason. Brodi got locked in there by accident which was hilarious. Defeated, we went down to the bar to play some cards. We made friends with these cute New Zealand Girls and talked with them about how much we disliked soccer.
I got us some more tickets to do a bus tour. If you get some decently priced tickets (when you book a bit more in advance) I genuinely think getting the pass is worth it. It allows you to get on and off the buses as many times as you want throughout the day. We put in some music or listened to the audio guide and just enjoyed exploring the city. We ended up getting off to see the Natural Body Museum which displays internal body systems and the functions of the human body, all made from real humans. They have been preserved and displayed to understand and appreciate the wonders of the human body. It was both disturbing and amazing at the same time. After the museum, we happened to be right out the front of another Christmas market (shocker they are everywhere). This was the best one we’d been to yet by far! However, if you do go to any markets in Germany make sure to bring cash because stalls rarely take card payments.
We decided to do a pub crawl because we weren’t sure where to go in the city for clubs/bars. After we got all dolled up we went to have some drinks down at the hostel bar. Some guy kept staring at me so I stared back. He then came over and told us he was the security guard there and he would protect us from our ‘harassers’ since we would clearly have some because we are so beautiful. We were kind of flattered but also creeped out. Anyways, the pub crawl started at 9 and when we arrived at the first stop there was pretty much no one there. Luckily, people eventually started turning up and we met some really cool people. Specifically some Australian girls and a girl from London. The group of us ended up ditching the pub crawl and going straight to a famous underground electro club. We waited about an hour in line to get in while we were all freezing. I wasn’t the biggest fan of techno music, but we all had a fun night.
We went to another weird museum called Illuseum. We realised that when you cover the first three letters it just spells museum. That blew my mind when Brodi showed me. They had this puzzle (called a Klotski Puzzle) which I spent far too long on. But I was so proud of myself when I solved it. The aim of the puzzle is to slide out a big piece by sliding the other pieces around. It sounds simple, but even the employee was impressed when I got it. Also, I love puzzles so it bothered me that I couldn’t work it out immediately.
On the last day, we were recovering from the night before. But we managed to book Brodi’s flight back to Australia which was good. We went to the coolest Mexican restaurant (I know we were eating Mexican food in Germany, I’m sorry). In general though, Berlin and Munich both had fantastic food options. We didn’t have a bad experience and there was a diverse range of cuisines and options everywhere you went. Brodi went out clubbing again and I decided to go to bed and call some family from home. I thought I’d have a peaceful time, maybe watch a movie and have an early night. Our first two nights the people in the room were having sex below me (shaking the bloody bed ) so I was keen to get a good night's rest. What was I thinking, I couldn’t have that sort of luck. Some American girls decided to be ridiculously loud all night. They were singing, slamming doors, and speaking so loud until like 1 am. Just my luck.
Overall, Germany and Prague were probably the highlights of our backpacking trip and I highly recommend them to anyone. Prague is a beautiful city with so much history. It is also very affordable for a beginner traveller. Germany on the other hand can become quite expensive. However, if you get the chance, it is worthwhile to visit!
Thank you, love Amy ♡
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