Destination #10-Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Day 5 of this Topdeck tour began early as we made our way over to The Netherlands, which would prove to be a long journey. Our first stop worth talking about was at a random farm owned by a crazy Dutchman. This crazy Dutchman gave us a tour of his family business of making cheese and clogs. To be honest, it was actually interesting and the Dutchman provided some great comedy along the way. At the end, I bought a block of pepper flavoured cheese because the stuff was legit my friends. I have brought it home with me and I can’t wait to crack it open. After the demo, we made our way to Amsterdam.

We checked into the hostel that night and uhhh, it was interesting. A few years back, the hostel was named the worst hostel in Europe, or at least I heard it was. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't spectacular. After we got settled in, our Topdeck leader, Chris, gave us a small walking tour of Amsterdam and the Red Light District. I was actually quite shocked at how attractive and beautiful the girls were in the windows. For some reason, I was expecting Hastings Street Vancouver type quality, but I understand now that it is a legitimate profession in Amsterdam and somewhat respected industry. After walking around, the crew went to a sex show. I will not go into detail about what happened but let’s just say everyone, including me, left with a wide-eyed expression and confused look on their face.

Now, it’s Amsterdam (it’s legal Mom), I was thinking about enjoying a certain type of brownie, but at this point I was coughing, my voice was still gone, my throat still sore, and my right ear was plugged. So this night I decided to go to bed early. It’s definitely not fun being sick on a trip where you have limited time to see everything and all you want to do is sleep!

The next day started with a bike tour of Amsterdam and I was kind of nervous. I had not rode a bike in years and even then, I didn't ride a bike a whole lot as a kid! It was also raining so that put a damper on the day….anyone? I have to say, after it was all said and done, this was actually probably my highlight of the trip. If you don’t know, riding a bike in Amsterdam is probably more popular than walking. Amsterdam is also a really a cool sight with all the canals and bikes everywhere. After the bike tour, the gang headed over to the Anne Frank Huis to see what the line was like. The gang was disappointed. The line was massive and as we were on limited time, we decided to skip it. Instead, we went out for lunch. After this, we decided to make our way over to the Heineken Brewery, except we ended up just going around in a circle and ended up back at Anne Frank Huis where the line was still just as big. We then corrected our path and made our way over to the brewery. The tour was pretty mediocre but hey, you get 2 beers at the end plus a free glass. Later on that night, we had a group dinner at a Chinese restaurant that floats on the canal. It was perfect timing as well because the Liang family back home was celebrating Chinese New Year the same weekend. The meal was amazing because there was so much food and everyone stuffed their face. Afterwards, we went on a canal cruise that was a little disappointing. I think because it was our last night, I was hoping it would be more like a party boat. However, it was small and had tables so we were all sitting down the whole time. We also couldn't see anything out the windows because it was raining. It was open bar though so that was good. After the cruise, we all went for a few drinks and some dancing.

On the last day of our trip, we made the journey back to London. We made a small stop in Bruges, in which I have visited before. I made sure I got some fries and chocolate before we left again. We arrived in London around dinner time and it was time to say goodbye to everyone. The Gang shared some hugs but it was sweet sorrow because all 6 of us actually live in or around London! So I'm sure the Gang will reunite someday. By the end of this trip, I had fit the profile of “Coughdeck”, which is not a good thing.

Amsterdam was another city that I don’t believe I got a fulfilling amount of time in. So I would love to go back, especially in the summer time. The trip itself was a lot of fun filled with great people, lots of laughs, and amazing sights. I'm thinking about doing at least one more of these types of trips because travelling with 45 people rather than just by yourself can be a lot more fun. The only downfall is the limited amount of time you get in each city. I don’t have a favourite out of the 3 cities as they’re all unique in their own way but I loved all of them. 

Destination #9-Berlin, Germany

Day 3 of this Topdeck tour started off with me waking up to no voice K. This was legitimately the first time in my life that I had lost my voice. Of course, I also still had a sore throat. I also never mentioned that because the majority of the Topdeck crew was sick, we were given the name “Coughdeck”. So I was pretty much doomed.

Our bus was headed for Berlin but along the way, we stopped in a city called Dresden which is also in Germany. It was here that our fearless Topdeck leader, Chris, showed us some sights and Currywurst (spicy sausage). At this particular vender we went to, you could choose your level of spiciness, rated 1 to 7. I went with 4 and I’m glad I did. As some of you may know, I love spicy food and if I had gone any higher, I would have been crying. Some crazy people tried 7, including Josh. He was in so much pain that he ran to McDonalds to get a milkshake! After Dresden, we made our way to Berlin. When we arrived, Chris gave us a driving tour of Berlin. Unlike Prague, Berlin is a huge city, so trying to see all the sights on foot would be difficult. The vibe for this city was quite different as well as a lot of the sights and historical monuments were related to World War II and the Holocaust. Once we had checked into the hostel and settled into our rooms, we enjoyed a German meal at the hostel that included schnitzels and pretzels. That night, almost the entire crew decided to take it easy and call it a night. However, a few of us decided to go a grab a drink at a local bar.

The next day started with a walking tour of Berlin where we saw the Reichstag, the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma victims of National Socialism, Brandenburg Gate, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, and many other interesting sights. Afterwards, “The Gang” grabbed some coffee and headed over to the Topography of Terror, a museum located on the site of buildings which during the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945 were the headquarters of the Gestapo and the SS. Next, we went back to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This is a very interesting memorial as the design is open to interpretation. 2,711 concrete slabs are arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field and I got the feeling of isolation whilst in there. Underneath the memorial is another museum in which we visited. Both this museum and the Topography of Terror were difficult to visit as you can imagine and the gang members were in solemn moods by the end of it. Unfortunately, the day had gone by quickly and it was time to head back to the hostel. Luckily, I had a little bit of time to get pictures of the Berlin Wall which was located just outside our hostel. We decided to have dinner at the hostel that night and we weren't very good at timing. When our food hit the table, we had like 5 minutes to scarf it down and meet the rest of the Topdeck crew for a pub crawl. I won’t give you the gory details of the pub crawl, only that I didn't go to bed until probably 3:30am to have to wake up at 7:00am the next morning.

Berlin was great but I do not feel like I spent as much time as I would have liked in the city. It is definitely on my list to go back.

To be continued….

Currywurst

Reichstag

The Gang

Berlin Wall

Destination #8-Prague, Czech Republic

Day 1 of this Topdeck tour started off very early Sunday morning. I had booked the cheapest flight possible, as you do, that departed London at 6:45am. This meant waking up at 3:00am and heading to the bus stop. Luckily, a bus that goes to the airport comes pretty much right by my flat. However, this particular bus decided to be mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 55 minutes late! In true Liang family fashion, I was running late for my flight. Side note: this trip started off with a sore throat as well, which you will hear more about later. I arrived at the airport with minimal time to spare and of course the line to check in was ginormous. I also tried to fit my carry-on bag into the measurement box the airline provides and it would not fit!! Luckily, absolutely no one noticed and I got on my flight in time and was able to carry on my above-average size backpack.

I arrived in Prague at about 10:00am local time and knew I had a bit of a long day ahead of me as a.) I would have to carry around my heavy bag until 5pm when the rest of the Topdeck crew was joining us and b.) I was running on almost no sleep. My first stop was Prague Castle where I decided it was a good idea to climb to the very top. Stunning views but I was reminded as to just how out of shape I am. After I left Prague castle, I made my way towards Charles Bridge where I found a cool little market. On display was a dead Pig sliced in half….and this is where I proceeded to buy a sausage and some mulled wine. I must say, it was delicious and it was nice to sit down and enjoy the moment for a bit. Afterwards, I searched for the John Lennon wall, a wall since the 1980s that has been filled with John Lennon-inspired graffiti and pieces of lyrics from Beatles' songs. I knew it was close by but I forgot to give myself directions to the exact location. After a solid 20 minutes of looking, I finally found the wall only to realize it was basically right beside where I had my sausage. Afterwards, I walked the Charles Bridge and visited the Old Town square and the Jewish Quarter. At this point, I was exhausted and didn’t really know where else to go and explore. I made my way over to the hostel and luckily, they let me chill in the lounge before the rest of the crew arrived. While I was waiting, I met another Canadian who would be joining the Topdeck crew for the trip as well. Once acquainted and the Topdeck crew arrived, we got settled into our rooms and enjoyed a Czech meal at the hostel, which appeared to be a lot of chicken. Later on that evening, our Topdeck leader, Chris, took us on a walking tour of the city. I was so exhausted by the end of it, that many others and I decided to call it a night and go back to the hostel.

Today started off with my sore throat being 10x worse. After breakfast, Chris took us on a walking tour again (mainly for those that missed the previous nights) and this time went to Prague castle. We watched the changing of the guard and my buddy, Josh, and I went and shot a crossbow as well. We were both naturals ;). Afterwards, we visited Old Town square and the Jewish Quarter again before heading over to Wenceslas Square. It was shortly after where Josh decided to buy a trombone…it took me a while to wrap my head around it but props to the kid for doing whatever the hell he wanted to. Later on that evening, I went out to dinner with what was now “The Gang”. The Gang consisted of me, Josh (Aussie), Valerie (the Canadian I met), and 3 other Aussies: Nerida, Flick, and Rhiannon. That was another thing about EVERYBODY on this trip was that they all had unique names. I had a pretty hard time learning them all. In fact, by the end of the trip, I definitely didn’t remember everyone’s names. Also, I’m pretty sure like 96% of the people on this trip were from Australia…and there was like 45 people?? I digress! Dinner was great with “The Gang” (Flick created this name…um) and the night ended with the some bar hopping and my favourite was a 5 story nightclub that played different music on each level. Everyone’s favourite was the Oldies level.

To be continued….

View of Prague from the top of the castle

John Lennon wall

Charles Bridge

Wenceslas Square

Josh and his trombone