Malaga, Spain

After another week of work, I met back up again with Jenelle in Hannover on Friday, May 30. From the main train station in Hannover, we rode to Weeze airport near Duesseldorf. We arrived at the airport around 2:30 in the afternoon, checked in with our passports, and boarded our plane. By 8:00, we had landed in Malaga, right on the Costa del Sol!

At the info desk in the airport, we were able to find directions to the nearby train station so that we could get to our hostel. Of course, things are as never as simple as they should be, and the train we needed was not running due to construction. So, we took our chances and headed towards the city center on a bus. We got off near the city center, found a decent map, and walked to another bus stop nearby, which ran close to where we were staying. When we arrived at the Melting Pot Backpacker’s Hostel, we were pleased with the hostel we chose. The woman at the front desk gave us a tour of the hostel, and we put our luggage in our lockers. When we went back out to the living room, the bartender had free shots waiting for us, to welcome us in the right way!

Before it got too dark, we checked out the roof of the hostel, from where we could see the beach along the Mediterranean, just across the street. Then, we went across and checked out the beach for a while. When we got back to the hostel, everyone there was all together heading out as a group for the night. We decided to join in, and had a few drinks with them at the hostel bar. Soon after, we all went to a bar and night club just down the road. Since it had been a long day of travel for us, however, we didn’t stay out too long. After a while, we headed back to the hostel and went to bed.

We woke up early the next morning, and got ourselves ready to head out for the day. Since it was only a short walk to the city center, we began by heading across the street to the beach, and walking along the water. The path along the beach, running between palm trees, offered a beautiful view. On one side of us stood the tall buildings of the city, while on the other side the Mediterranean stretched out into the distance. As far as you could see, huge mountains bordered the coastline.

The first main tourist attraction we came to was the Plaza de Toros bullfighting arena. The large, circular building is still used today for bullfighting events. In fact, there was a bullfight the Sunday we were there. We looked into tickets, but it started only a couple of hours before our flight home, so we were not able to make it. Around the side of the arena, we found a monument to Anotonio Ordonez, who was considered the greatest bullfighter of the 1950’s.

From the arena, we continued our way along to the Ayuntamiento, the city hall of Malaga. The building, built in the 19th century, was surrounded by beautiful gardens and fountains. The gardens also offered a terrific view of the two forts, the Alcazaba and Gibralfaro Castle, high above the city on the nearby hilltops.

Next, we crossed the street, and began the hike up to the Alcazaba. The Alcazaba was extremely old, dating back to the Moors in the 8th century. It looked awesome surrounded by palm trees and gardens.

From there, we continued our way up the hill to Gibralfaro Castle. By showing our student IDs, we paid a small student price to get inside the castle. Unfortunately, I only had my German student ID, so we got stuck with German information pamphlets. I guess we can pass as German to some people!

We walked through the center of the fortress, and along the wall of ramparts and turrets. The view was absolutely amazing. Not only could we overlook the entire city, but we could get a bird’s eye view of both the Port of Malaga and the Plaza de Toros as well. Before continuing on, we stopped at a small pub built at the top of the hill for a breakfast of Spanish beer.

To make our way back down into the city, we followed a path out of Gibralfaro Castle, winding down to some small side streets. We followed the streets to the Plaza de la Merced, where we stopped to have a quick bite for lunch across from the giant obelisk. Lunch was delicious, and we continued on, passing by the Casa Natal de Picasso, the birthplace of Pablo Picasso.

Soon, we arrived at the Picasso Museum. Since we got a student discount, we decided to go in. The museum had 155 Picasso works, and the difference between them all was huge. His earlier paintings were actually really impressive, in my opinion. But, Picasso’s later paintings became very child-like…the style he is best remembered for.

After walking through the entire gallery, we began to head back towards the beach. Along the way, we passed the Cathedral of Malaga and the Aduana Palace.

Once we hit the beach, we decided to get some food at a small restaurant right on the beach. The restaurants on the beach all looked really neat, and they were all smoking freshly caught fish on grills. Unfortunately, due to the daily siesta, meal times in Malaga were much different than we are used to, and the restaurant was just about to close. However, we were able to get a small dish of tapas.

We were still hungry when we made it back to the hostel, so we ordered some shish kabob and drinks. We ate out on the roof-top balcony, where we talked to a handful of other people staying at the hostel for a couple of hours. While most guests in the hostel were our age, there was one older man from Germany who had just retired. He was riding a bicycle all over Europe!

Later on that night, we headed back out to a night club with the people from the hostel. After an hour or so, however, me, Jenelle, and Dan, another kid from the US, went off to look for a pub instead. We ended up finding a small sports Irish sports bar, where we stayed for a few drinks before heading back to the hostel to get some sleep.

We woke up early again the next morning, hoping to get in some sightseeing before our afternoon flight. We looked into taking the ferry to Morocco; unfortunately the ferry only ran once a day. So, joined by Dan, we ended up heading back into the city. Since we had already seen most of the main sights in the city, we decided to spend the day between the port and the beach. First, we walked down to the harbor, which was full of boats. Just beyond the harbor were dozens of sailboats.

We began to walk along the side of the harbor, and we could see hundreds of sea urchins through the crystal clear water. I even spotted a school of small baitfish, and another small striped fish.

Further along, the fish we were seeing kept getting bigger and bigger. Soon, we were watching a big school of a couple of dozen fish, all of which were probably over 20 inches long. It was really cool, and I took about a million pictures!

Next, we walked further down the harbor, to a large jut-out in the port. There, we watched dozens and dozens of fishermen. Just like as in Malta, the fishermen all had poles over 20 feet long. The poles didn’t even have reels or eyes. Instead, a 10 yard length of fishing line was tied to their tips. The fishermen just held the poles over the edge of the harbor. We watched for a while, but nobody caught anything. So, we headed back to the beach to have seafood paella for lunch.

After lunch, we headed down to the water, and enjoyed the beach for a couple of hours. Soon, however, we had to head back to the hostel and pick up our luggage. Of course, before leaving, the owner of the hostel sent us off with more free shots.

We made it to the Malaga airport in plenty of time to catch our 8:25 pm flight to Duesseldorf. The flight went fine, but that’s where things went downhill. We arrived in Duesseldorf just in time to miss the last train out for the night. So, with nowhere to go, we spent 6 hours outside on the train station bench. I never thought I would be so happy to get on a train as when I was when it finally arrived the next morning.

We made it back to Braunschweig, napped for a bit, then headed to Hannover to spend the night in the train station McDonald’s. We headed out on the earliest train to the airport the next morning, and caught our flight to the US for Rachel’s graduation.

Krakow, Poland

I took a small piece of luggage with me to work in Hannover on May 23, excited to get out and head to Krakow, Poland. After a somewhat short day of work, my supervisor drove me to a nearby Bahn stop, and I took a Straβenbahn to the Hannover Hauptbahnhof. The timing was perfect, and as soon as I stepped into the train station, I bumped into Jenelle, who had arrived in Germany only minutes before.

Since we still had a few hours before our train to Poland arrived, we left our luggage in the lockers at the train station and headed out to wander the city. It was nice to see so much of Hannover, as I have been to the city dozens of times, but have never really done any exploring. There were a lot more interesting sites than I had imagined. We stopped into a couple of bookstores, where I bought the book Finding Nemo in German, and we even got to see some fish in one of the small rivers.

We headed back to the train station in time to grab a quick sandwich for supper, grab our bags, and make it to our train. Once we boarded the train, we headed towards our seats, which were actually beds in a sleeping cart. I had never been in a sleeping cart before, so I didn’t know what to expect. I had even brought my laptop along, hoping to work on my big paper. Unfortunately, the compartment was very small, and all six beds were taken. So, there was little room to move, let alone work. That made the decision easy for me, and I went straight to sleep.

The train ride was very long, lasting over 13 hours, since we had to drive all the way through Warsaw to get to Krakow. But, it went by rather quickly sleeping through it all. In the morning, the conductor woke us up when we were within 20 minutes of Krakow, so that we could prepare our luggage.

We arrived at the main train station in Krakow relatively early, and got directions from a booth for our hostel, Mama’s Hostel. It was only a short walk from the station, and we made our way through the Old Town Market Square. When we arrived at the hostel, we checked in, got our keys to our lockers, and set aside our luggage. Everyone was still sleeping in our room, so after exchanging some Euros for Zloty, we headed out to see the city. Finally, I had found an inexpensive currency. After using Euros all year, the Zloty was greatly welcomed. I exchanged 150.00 euros for over 455.63 Zloty….awesome! I already liked the city!

On the way out, we also grabbed a map of Krakow, which also displayed the pronunciation of some typical Polish words and phrases. Some words were helpful, such as the number 1 (Yeah-den) and “hi” (Chess). Others, we hoped, were not so helpful, such as “Please may I fondle your buttocks?” (Pro-Shem Tch-mog oun Pog wad-itch tvoy Me-yen-key toh-veh-cheque?).

As we began our exploring, we first walked through the Old Town Main Market Square more thoroughly. The Market Square, the largest medieval square in Europe, was absolutely beautiful. It was full of people, as well as market tents and booths, selling everything from flowers to freshly baked bread, to souvenirs.

In the center of the Market Square, three main buildings stood out among everything else. The largest, Krakow’s Sukiennice or Cloth Hall, was in the direct center of everything. Once a center for international trade and barter, it was absolutely packed with tourists looking through its numerous stalls for souvenirs.

Directly in front of the Cloth Hall stood a statue of a strange giant head, as well as a large monument of the national poet, Adamowi Mickiewiczowi, who was considered one of the greatest Polish poets of the 19th century. Unfortunately, this was not the original statue, as it had been destroyed by Nazi forces in 1940.

The tallest building, located behind the Cloth Hall, was the Town Hall Tower. This tower was very unique, as it was easily seen that it was slightly leaning. After a bad storm, the 70m tower, which once held a medieval prison and torture chamber, tilted 55cm.

On the other side of the Cloth House, St. Mary’s Basilica stood tall. If the Basilica was not already impressive from the outside, the inside was even more amazing. As like every other building in Krakow, St. Mary’s had a story as well. Evidently, in the 13th century, the Mongols began an attack on the city of Krakow. A trumpeter on one of the towers of St. Mary’s Basilica began to sound the alarm, but he was quickly shot in the throat. In order to commemorate the event, a trumpet is played from the tallest tower of St. Mary’s on every hour. The trumpet suddenly stops in mid-tune.

Also tucked away to the side of the square was the Church of St. Wojciech, or St. Adalbert's Church.

Next, we passed through St. Mary’s Square, and headed towards the Vistula River. Along the way, we stopped at Wawel Cathedral on Wawel Hill. The famous burial site for Polish monarchs had two large domes around its entryway. The gold dome on the right covered Sigismund’s Chapel, while the green dome on the left covered the Vasa Dynasty Chapel.

Continuing our way up the hill, we passed through the gate to Wawel Castle.

Near the top of the hill, we took a small winding staircase down into Smok’s Cave. As the legend goes, Smok Wawelski was known as the Dragon of Wawel Hill. Smok caused fear and destruction in the city each and every day, by eating civilians, livestock, and especially tasty children. In an effort to stop this destruction, King Krakus, the founder of the city, offered his daughter’s hand in marriage to anyone who could kill the dragon. Knight after knight fell to Smok, before a poor cobbler’s apprentice could outsmart them all. He stuffed a lamb with sulfur, sewed its stomach back up, and placed it in front of Smok’s cave. When the dragon woke up and devoured the lamb, he soon became very thirsty. He drank half of the Vistula River before swelling up and exploding. The poor boy, Skuba Dratewka, married the king’s daughter as he was promised, and the city was named after the king.

Directly outside the cave stood a large statue of Smok. While we did not see it happen, it evidently really shoots fire out of its mouth every five minutes.

Finally, as we walked further towards the river, we could look back and see Wawel Castle itself, set high atop the hill.

As we neared the Vistula, we turned and began to walk towards the Jewish section of Krakow. There, we saw the Old Synagogue and the High Synagogue, before stopping for a small lunch. Nearby, we also stopped at a small flea market, which was selling all kinds of old knick-knacks.

As we continued our way back towards our hostel, we stopped as a small park for a while to play Frisbee. From there, on the remaining walk back, we passed the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre, a portion of Jagiellonian University, Corpus Christi Church, Peter and Paul’s Church, the Franciscan Church, and St. Andrew’s Church.

We even passed by a fishing shop, but unfortunately it had just closed for the day.

Once we arrived at our hostel, we grabbed sweatshirts and headed back to the Market Square to buy a few souvenirs. The square was absolutely packed, and we soon learned that there would soon be a speed walking competition, followed by a short concert. We stayed a few minutes into the race, but it was definitely not the most thrilling spectacle. So, we headed off to find some Polish food for supper.

Along the way to the recommended U Babci Maliny restaurant, we passed by St. Florian’s Gate and the Barbican of Krakow. We found the restaurant no problem, and ordered a dinner of delicious mixed pierogi, which came served on a bread plate. We also tried our first Polish beer, Tyskie, which I also enjoyed.

After dinner, we headed back down towards the Vistula River, passing by the monument of Dzok the Dog. We went straight down to the bank of the river, and sat down for a while on a docked boat, where we ordered a second great type of Polish beer, Zywiec.

After enjoying the view of the river, as well as the beer, we headed back to the hostel to get some sleep. I headed 13 hours back to Braunschweig the following morning, while Jenelle met up with some friends in Berlin.

Krakow turned out to be yet another great trip, and was well worth the ride!

Athens, Greece - Day 2

We finally arrived in the port of Pireas by 5:00am on Sunday, and took the metro to our hostel. Luckily, even though it was so early, our room in the hostel was available. So, we slept for a couple of hours, before going out to find a gyro shop for lunch.

After lunch, we took the metro to downtown Athens, where we headed towards the Acropolis. As we neared the ruins, the Acropolis looked enormous, set nearly 500 feet above the rest of Athens, overlooking the city. Since we had all day to explore, we decided to walk to the top. Just our luck, the day was a special National Museum Day, so we were able to walk up for free.

As we began walking up the hill towards the Acropolis, we passed by dozens of ancient ruins, including the Stoa of Eumenes. The first main sight we saw was the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, which is a large theater. While the walls of the theater were almost completely in ruins, the stage and seating had been restored. In fact, the theater is still home to some performances.

We finally made our way to the top of the rocky hill, where we hit the Monument of Agrippa as well as the Propylaea, the gateway to the Acropolis. As we walked through the Propylaea, the steep hill opened to a wide open, flat surface. It was also very slippery on the smooth, rocky surface. I can’t imagine how one could even walk on it in the rain.

The Acropolis was covered in ancient ruins, but a few still remained relatively intact. Directly in front of us stood the Parthenon, the famous temple to Athena, the Greek Goddess. The Parthenon looked larger than life, with dozens upon dozens of huge marble pillars.

On our left, we could see the Erechtheum, another pillared, ancient Greek temple

But, the best part about the Acropolis was the view. The highest point in Athens, we could see the entire city, all the way to the ocean. We could see Mount Lycabettus with the Chapel of St. George in the distance, as well as Philopappos Hill with the Gaius Julius Antiochus Philopappos Monument. Far below the Acropolis, we could make out the ruins of the Theatre of Dionysus, as well as the ruins of the Temple of Olympian Zeus.

Behind the Parthenon, a huge Greek flag stood on a rocky viewing area at the furthest outreach of the Acropolis. From this point, we could look straight down the steep Acropolis walls to the city below.

After wandering around the Acropolis, we headed back down into the city, towards the ruins of the Temple of Olympian Zeus. This temple was impressive even being in the sate it was. While only a dozen or so columns were still actually standing, those that were made it easy to visualize what the temple must once have looked like. The temple, which took over 650 years to complete, once took up nearly 4500 square meters of ground. It consisted of 104 columns, each with a diameter of 2 meters and a height of 17 meters.

While only a small corner of the structure remained standing, it was still a sight to behold. A handful of single-standing columns were still present as well. However, one column was toppled on the ground before the others. It was said to have collapsed during a terrible storm in 1852.

Nearby the temple we spotted Hadrian’s Gate, an archway that led from the old city of Athens to the Roman portion.

From the gateway, we moved on to the many ruins of Hadrian’s Library.

After wandering through the ruins, we passed the Mikrí Mitropolí, an old, tiny church, and headed into the National Garden. There, we walked along paths shaded by huge palm trees, and we passed numerous statues and monuments. We even stopped at a couple of small pools filled with turtles.

Once outside of the gardens, we passed the Zappeion and St. Pauls’s Church, and headed towards the Agora of Athens to see the Stoa of Attalos. This marble and limestone building, full of statues and other artwork, was once again absolutely enormous. It stretched out 115 meters by 20 meters, and was very impressive.

Off in the distance, we could see the Temple of Hephaestus and Athena Ergane set on Agoraios Kolonos Hill.

After walking around the Agora of Athens, we took a metro back into the city to see the Greek Parliament at Syndagma Square. There, we saw the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which was guarded by Evzones. While the Evzones looked rather funny in their strange uniforms, it is said that they are recruited from only the absolute best of the Greek Army.

Finally, after a long day, we headed back in the direction of our hotel, stopping along the way for a dinner of Souvlaki. When we arrived at the hostel, we packed up our luggage, prepared for an early flight the next morning, and went to bed.

We woke up at 4:30am the next morning, and headed out in the city in search of a taxi, which we found quite easily for that time in the morning. The taxi brought us back to Syndagma Square, where we caught a bus to the airport. After a long flight, as well as a layover in Munich, we landed in Hannover around 7:45 at night. We took the next train to the Hannover Hauptbahnhoff, and then finally headed back to Braunschweig. It was an amazing trip between Austria and Greece, but it felt great to be home after all that travel!

Heraklion, Crete, Greece - Day 3

We slept in a bit more on Saturday morning, packed up our luggage, and checked out of our hotel by 11:00am. A taxi met us outside our hotel, and we drove about 20 minutes back into the city of Heraklion. As soon as we arrived, we booked our tickets on the Minoan Lines ferry between Heraklion and Pireas, the port near Athens. As the ferry was not set to leave until later on that evening, we had the entire day to explore.

It was a very hot day already, so we began by walking through the city, where we stopped at one restaurant for ice cream, and a few other pubs for drinks. We also passed by the Church of St. Titus, and then made our way to the ferry, just so we knew where it was.

After finding the ferry, we made our way along the port in Heraklion, which was once again beautiful, with bright blue water, sailboats, and mountains stretching in the background. We made our way along the breakwater, and out to the ruins at the point, where we sat and watched a handful of fishermen for a while. Unfortunately, nothing was going on, so we continued on our way.

After spending hours near the harbor, we decided to go to the McDonald’s across the street to pick up some cheap food before the ferry ride, and to get out of the heat. Since it was air conditioned inside, we ended up staying there for a while and playing cards. About an hour before the ferry was set to leave, we walked down to the loading dock and boarded.

We walked around the ship for a while, and sat on one of the decks to play cards while we had a few drinks. We could see fish down below from the top deck of the ferry, and the view of the sunset was amazing.

The ferry finally left the dock, and we got ourselves settled in for the 9 hour ride to Pireas. It was weird seeing people sprawled out all over the floors and hallways in sleeping bags. It was tough to sleep, but it was beautiful outside, so I spent most of my time out on the upper deck. At one point, I even got to see dolphins or some type of large fish jumping next to the boat. It was too dark to tell for sure what they were, but it was still pretty neat.

Finally, I managed to fall asleep. When I woke up, I would be back in Athens, ready to explore the city.