LONDON IS...

London is exactly like most major cities and what you see on television is close to what you get on the tourist trail. Royal Palaces, grandiose architecture, extravagant museums, red telephone booths and everything else you would expect to find. It is truly one of the most pleasant and majestic cities in the world to have a walk about with no itinerary or map in hand. Whichever direction you set out you are sure to find something worth a visit!

Amsterdam

A cold, wet and boastful city where self proclaimed artists sip on overpriced coffee with their equally arrogant counterparts. The idea of “going green” is not so much to help the earth but for an ego boost. Tourists flock from around the world to smoke marijuana and waste their days away in dark and dingy cafes and then to use other elicit drugs to give them the unhealthy energy boost to dance the nights away.

If you can remove your attention from the shallow individuals within the buildings and rather focus on the city itself, it does have small city charm. The man made canals radiate out from the city center and are lined with colorful and historic buildings including the infamous Anne Frank house. Tour boats cruise the waterways and church steeples overtake the sky. Amsterdam is whatever you want it to be!

The New Berlin

Although Berlin was divided for over 45 years into two drastically different places, East Berlin under communist Russia's control and West Berlin under democratic French, US and UK control, today they are united and stronger than ever. It has only been a little over a decade since the Berlin Wall came down and families could finally reunite, crossing from one side to the other freely without being killed.

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Taking a look around Berlin today it is hard to believe such little time has passed but how much has changed. Just a small portion of the Berlin Wall remains intact as a remembrance of the difficult times during separation. Today the rapidly growing city is home to new economic development, skyscrapers rising up, hip night clubs and shopping centers opening in addition to so much more. Below this modern facade however still lies a historically rich Berlin packed full of sites, museums and education opportunities not to be missed by those passing through.  

 

STARK CONTRASTS

Hitler's Bunker vs Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Left below this parking lot is the site where Hitler spent his final days leading up to his suicide. Marked only buy a small sign erected by the residents in the surrounding apartments to put an end to tourists knocking on their doors asking if their homes were Hitler's bunker. A sheer sign of how the people of Germany chose to remember their heinous dictator.

Adjacent to this site is the controversial Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. A vast expanse of large gray blocks of varying heights, stand row after row to be interpreted however the millions of visitor each year wish.The controversy is that it is only to remember the Jews murdered and no other group. Smaller and far less impressive memorials were later built nearby for groups like the Romas and Homosexuals also murdered in the holocaust, leaving much to debate today.

               

Dresden

Best remembered by the book Slaughter House-Five, the fact remains that Dresden was decimated for reasons still debated today. Whatever the reason one thing is for certain, that Dresden went from charming German city to a hole in the ground in the hands of allied bombers and over 40 years of occupation by the Soviet Union.

Today the city has been rebuilt much the way decimated Warsaw was. Colorful buildings, new in age but old in style, now line the cobblestone streets where ruins once lay. The river Elbe winds through this now bustling city packed full of modern shopping centers. Dresden is a city where palaces have been rebuilt, populations have increased and the economy seems to have taken off, although it still remains one of Germany's cheapest cities to visit.

   

A Fairy Tale City

A city made for fairy tales, Prague boasts a hilltop castle overlooking narrow cobblestone streets lined with vibrant shops and teeming with life. The castle houses ancient crypts, Gothic churches protected by gargoyles, thrones of Bohemian kings, long rested medieval armor and weaponry, and surprises around every corner. The streets and extravagant bridges are filled with vendors, artists, and street performers while enjoying the sweet smells being released from bakeries and coffee shops.

The best was to take it all in is from Petrin Hill just before noon on a Sunday. The brisk walk to the top leaves you with a full view down upon the castle, boats cruising along the winding Vltava River, and the town seemingly at a standstill below. At the stroke of noon bells begin to rise above the silent autumn air. For over 10 minutes church bells ring from all around echoing through the streets and up to the heavens. With each vibration reaching the hill and warming your inner spirits, it takes ones imagination back in time for a truly surreal experience.

Where Did WWII Begin?

Gliwice Radio Tower, formerly located in southeast Germany but today a part of Poland, is the second tallest wooden structure in the world connected only by brass bolts. On August 31, 1939 German SS men dressed as Polish soldiers staged a false siege on the radio tower and broadcast anti-German propaganda over the radio. This ploy was in turn used as propaganda by the Germans that Poland was showing hostilities and aggression towards Germany. The next day, on September 1, 1939 Hitler began his invasion of Poland and the subsequent start of WWII.