Ahhhh space...

• The Old Town and Old Town Square. Sooooo beautiful. Stuff Big Ben, the Czech's have the most beautiful clock I have ever seen. Cobbled streets and old buildings twist amongst narrow streets - I felt like I was really experiencing a European city. The downside? Most of these beautiful old buildings houses tacky tourist shops.
• The Torture Museum. Macabe, but oh so fascinating! We saw The Rack, the Iron Maiden and a good 50 or more other medieval torture instruments. The one that probably shocked me the most was The Saw, an enormous saw about a metre and a half long, used to saw a person in half. The best bit was, you we hung upside down, so not only were your genitals the first place to be ripped in half, but the blood flowing to your head meant you were conscious long enough to experience your grisly death. Charming!
• Sean Lennon. There's only one thing better than seeing a good gig and that's seeing a good gig in a foreign country. We just happened to be in Prague when Sean Lennon (yes, that's John Lennon's son) was touring. He put on a great show, and was very likeable - he happily drank red wine and chatted to the audience in between songs, even bummed ciggies off people in the front row. Nice guy.
• Prague Nightclubs. We found a few places, but the best would have to be Roxy. Yes, the most terrible name for a nightclub, but suprisingly a great place. We walked in without paying, the cloakroom costs less than 50c and the drinks - woo! Cheap! I was buying lemon and vodka's for about $5, which is better than the $15 I paid at Fabric. All of this AND they had a decent DJ who played a good mix of dance and electro, and could actually MIX, not just press 'fade' between songs. Good stuff.

BERLIN

Ahhh... Berlin. Out of all the places we went to, I think this is the place I most want to visit again, and soon preferably! I loved the fact that the city was so modern (mainly because 90% of it was bombed to the ground), but there is still so much history. Many highlights...

• Walking tour. We went on the best tour ever, our guide was a friendly young American guy who showed us all around the city in one afternoon, filling us in on history and trivia along the way. I think I learnt more about Germany and the war in those four hours than I have in my entire life. We saw Brandenburg Gate (which looks like Arch de Triumph - but way bigger, way better and with way more history) The Reichstag (house of parliament - with the most fantastic glass dome on top, that allows you to have a view of not only the entire city, but the politicians under your feet). The Memorial for Murdered Jews was the most striking memorial I have ever seen. Over two thousand slabs of concrete sticking out of the ground, all different shapes and sizes. The memorial looks unimpressive from the outside, but as you walk through the maze of blocks, the ground falls away from you and suddenly you're surrounded my grey concrete. There's not a single word, inscription or name on this entire memorial... but I think it says more than words ever could. We saw the what's left of the Berlin wall,  the site of Hitler's bunker, Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin University, Museum Island. Another really striking memorial was in front of the university and library - where Hitler's men burnt every book in the library that was Jewish, free-thinking or basically something Adolf didn't like. At that spot is a slab of glass in the ground, that looks into a white room, full of empty bookcases under the ground. Once again, this memorial has no inscription, except for a plaque a few metres away, that has a passage from a book my Heinrich Heine, written in 1820. The passage translates into something along the lines of 'they started by burning books, but ended up burning people.' Very eerie.
• Museum Island. A little island in the middle of the river that has four different museums, and the best bit is, on Thursday nights, they have free entry! Got to see an awesome Egyptian exhibition amongst some great classical sculpture, realism etc. Far too much to see in one night though!
• Checkpoint Charlie Museum. Great museum all about the lengths people went to just to get across the Berlin Wall. Highlights included seeing pictures and items used in some great escapes - like using a flying fox, hiding in a giant fake cow/two suitcases/big speaker/digging enormous tunnels undergound/flying trikes. Fascinating stuff.

HAMBURG

Beautiful city! Unfortunately, we only had one full day here, and this day was ridiculously cold. So after a bit of exploring, we went and did some serious shopping. That night we hit the Reeperbahn - the sin street of Hamburg. Sex shops and hookers galore, but amongst the perversion were some good restaurants, clubs and plenty of nightlife. Something interesting we noticed - the ladies of the night didn't wear revealing clothes, or high heels, or anything like that - it's snowing for christ's sake. So instead they dress like playboy snow bunnies - pastel coloured ski outfits, big ugg-boot thingies, bumbags and earmuffs (ha, muffs). Fascinating. We found a small, but nonetheless good club that played a lot of electro music, much to my liking. And people were getting really into it (admittedly, a lot of them were gay guys). Another club wasn't so crash hot, but not terrible. It's nice to know you can travel half way around the world, and there will still be girls in halterneck tops dancing there lil hearts and bringing SexyBack.

AMSTERDAM

The city of all guilty pleasures. Booze, drugs, sex - it's all here, and mainly outside our doorstep, since we were staying in the red light district. But that aside, Amsterdam was an incredibly beautiful city, and so different to anywhere else I had ever been.

• Bicycles. Everyone rides bicycles - there are bicycles chained to anything that will stand still long enough to lasoo a chain around it. And sure, it's kinda annoying nearly getting wiped out by cyclists everywhere you go - but its a much more eco-friendly and peaceful means of travel than cars.
• Anne Frank House. A tourist must-see, and well worth the dosh. Even if you've read her diary, it can't describe what the secret annexe was really like. And surprisingly - it was much bigger than I thought it would be! Still, I wouldn't want to spend two or so years there. After seeing the house, I was inspired to re-read Anne's diary. Now when I read it, I can imagine what it must've been like!
• Van Gogh Museum. Yes, a whole museum dedicated to the bloke - brilliant! It also had work by artists who influenced him, and work by artists whom he influenced. It traced the art at each stage of his life. A pretty sad life admittedly, if only he has known there would be a museum built in his honour...
• The Grasshopper. A coffeshop/bar/fine dining steakhouse... yes a strange combination I know. But it was just a block from our house, had comfy lounges and was the perfect place to enjoy a, er, 'coffee'....
• The Winston. A very Aussie-friendly hostel where we spent four nights. Had a great bar with great burgers, great wallpaper, a resident chess set and was open very late. Every room in the hostel was decorated in a unique way. Our first room had black walls and a collage of black and white photographs that seemed to tell a story (I'm not sure though... an hour or two at the Grasshopper and anything can tell a story!) We swapped to a different room on the top floor that had a vaulted ceiling and a very pretty chandelier thingo.
• Red Light Disctrict. Despite the negative hype, I loved wandering through the red light district each night. There's always plenty of people around, even though most of them want to sell you 'ecstsy-c-caine' (the dealer's catchcry, muttered under the breath) or steal your wallet. Or entice you into a banana show (don't ask, trust me, you don't want to know). Walking down the alleys looking at the countless scantily-clad girls was always interesting, and after a few nights, we started to recognise some of them. 'Oh look, its the cute chubby blonde one! Oh, remember her, the serious-looking brunette? Oh, those two barbie peroxide blondes. Oh man, fat-lady-corner! That's right, the middle-aged mum. EEK, the freaky heroin-addict chick. Ahhh! The Thai he-she!' And I'm not even making those titles up - you want variety? The red light district has it. The best part about the red light district? Not the sex, the women, the drugs or the smut... but a single, pure white swan that sailed along the canals each night through the filthy, litter-strewn water and the filthy, smutty streets above, completely oblivious to its physically and morally dirty surrounds. The best juxtaposition I have ever seen.

So there you have it. One month. Nine cities. A gazillion memories.

• Riding the undergound - such a quick, efficient means of travel and best of all you never have to wait more than a few minutes for a train (unless the line is not running that day - which seems to happen a lot). Mind the gap!
• Topshop. Oh. My. God. If only we had it here in Australia! It has eeeeeeeverything: guys, girls, shoes, lingerie, acessories - even a vintage section! And it is reasonably priced (or dirt cheap by London standards). I was in heaven!
• Fabric. It's rather large and a few stories underground. Minimalistic and industrial feel. International DJ's play regularly.  Pendulum, Meat Katie and Evil Nine were playing the night before we went (we'd fallen asleep due to jetlag and didn't make it, for shame!!!) It may have cost a small fortune to get in, but hey it had a totally different feel and sound compared to any other club I'd ever been to.
• Madame Tussaud's. They look so freakin' real, it does your head in. It's like walking through an issue of NW - Britney, Christina, Brangelina, TomKat (well I didn't see Katie but I saw Tom). I rubbed shoulders with Johnny Depp - sure his shoulder was waxy but who cares? :)

PARIS

Paris was beautiful, and I enjoyed myself immensely there, but after seeing a few other places in Europe I decided it was not my favourite place, and I'm not dying to go back. That said, we had a ball and there were many highlights.

• The meal we had the first night in Paris was one of the best I have ever had. A cosy, classy little reastaurant with very friendly waitstaff who translated the menu for us. I had the most delicious piece of grilled fish topped with marmalade (strange, but it worked together so well!) Jess had the 'best steak of his life.' And creme brulee... mmmmmmmm!
• The Eiffel Tower. Over a hundred years old and she's still a breathtaking piece of architecture. I thought I was going to have a heart attack climbing the stairs, but the view (and vertigo) was worth it. From the top level, it felt like you could see forever!
• The Louvre. A simply enormous building, and contrary to some opinion, I love the glass pyramid addition. It was great to see the Mona Lisa, but having said that, I wonder what it is about this painting that makes it world reknowned? It's beautiful, but it's not the most impressive painting, especially behind bulletproof glass. Meanwhile, Napoleon's Apartment was absolutely breathtaking and just oozed grandeur - it was like taking a step back in time.
• EuroDisney. My first time to Disneyland was just magical, just like being a kid again. Highlights were Space Mountain (even though I felt sick as a dog after all those loop the loops) and Star Tours. Pirates of the Caribbean and Phantom Manor were a treat too. We got thoroughly lost in Alice's Curious Labyrinth, and went around the globe (and nearly insane) in It's a Small World After All. We went to Walt Disney Studios as well which was much less crowded, and had the best ride of the day. I forget it's name but appartently it was the fastest rollercoaster in the world for a while, and for shizz was it fast! I didn't know if I was upside down, right side up or what was happening... all I knew was that I was screaming and laughing the whole time!

 BERN

Bern was the most beautiful little city... and such a nice change from the rush-push of big old London and Paris.

• Rosti. One of the most enjoyable ways to ensure yourself an early heartattack and grave. A big serving of fried potato, kinda like a smooshed hash brown, usually served with bratwurst sausages. Got oil? Rosti does. Hey, you gotta try it one.... or twice...
• Snow. The only time I saw REAL snow in Europe... I mean like mountain snow, not black-gutter-half-melted-snow. The air at the top of the mountain was crisp and clean, you could see forever, the mountains in the distance looked like something from a postcard... and tobogganing was the most fun I'd had for $5 in ages.
• Not so cool: Einstein Museum was due to re-open the day after we left. The apartment where he had lived for a few years, and where he wrote the the Theory of Relativity (E=mc2) had been turned into a museum about his life and work. Sigh! Would've been rather nice to have seen but oh well.

ZURICH

We only spent one night in Zurich (mainly because finding any form of accomodation under $150 per night is impossible!) but we did manage to cram some nice experiences into the day.

• Bahnhofstrasse. Our apartment was basically on this street - the main street of Zurich. A lovely wide street, with all kinds of shops and things to tempt you. From Deli's to H&M, to Sprungli Chocolate Shop and Louis Vuitton... it's all there! And at the end of the street you have Lake Zurich - simply beautiful!
• Kunsthaus Zurich. Terrible name, fabulous art gallery. Due to time restraints, we made a beeline for Impressionists and Surrealism. I got to see Monet's Waterlillies - mesmerising! Like so many Impressionist paintings, it was almost like a magic eye - finding that right focal distance to let you see the scene through foggy glasses, and then losing it and just seeing brushstrokes. Not to mention some of van Gogh's portraits. And Dali. A real treat for the eyes, and best of all, the day we went the museum had FREE entry, yay!
• Moods. A jazz bar in an old shipbuilding in the middle of the industrial area. We were pleasantly surprised by the cosy atmosphere and extremely talented Christian Munchinger Quartet. Gimme five minutes of jazz and I'm smiling and tapping my foot like a crazy person.

MUNICH

Germany was definitely a highlight of the trip, and we were lucky enough to visit three cities, all with their subtle differences. The hostel we stayed in was great - bright, young, fun and the rooms were like something from an Ikea ad. Only problem is, we were across the road from a beer brewery, and the smell seeped into everything!

• Dachau. Although not the cheeriest destination of our trip, I'm really glad we visited Dachau Concentration camp. It was so efficient that its methods and setup were used as a template for most of the other concentration camps. Jesse and I lost ourselves in the museum - there was just so much information, photographs, film and it was so well presented - we wanted to read and see everything. Just walking through the vacant camp was chilling. The sunny day turned overcast upon our arrival, leafless skeletal trees lined the grey gravel path, and crows were the only birds that seemed to visit Dachau. It really was an eerie and sad experience. Visiting Bunker X which housed the gas chamber and crematorium was fascinating in the most macabe of ways, but difficult to comprehend the fact that people actually died in there. The gas chamber itself was tiled, low ceilinged and fitted with showerheads. Victims entered this room thinking they were about to have a shower, not meet their maker. As for the crematorium... the furnaces certainly sent a shiver down my spine and reminded me of my own mortality, which is never a pleasant thought.

I felt almost guilty leaving Dachau and walking through those gates - because for so many Dachau was a one way ticket. The German inscription on the gate translated to 'Work will set you free', a cruel insult that must have mocked the people inside every day as they worked themselves to the bone. And as cliched as it sounds... I have never felt so free as when we were walking out of Dachau. After spending a few hours immersed in the history of Dachau you almost forget you can just walk out, just like that. And fuck, it felt great. Walking back to the bus, we were silent. What can you say after you leave a place like that? Whatever you say is going to snap you back to the reality of your own, cushy, fortunate life. What do you say? 'Um... wow?' 'Ahh... that was... nice?' The only thing I could think to say was 'well... should we get some lunch?'  It felt so wrong saying it.

• On a completely different note, Lili. I'm not exactly a fan of German punk-pop, but hey it was worth a look. Their energy was infectious and there's something to be said about music in a different language. It makes you listen more intently, rather than listening lazily to the lyrics. Oh, and they finished their set with the German version of 'Hey Ya!' There's something so amusing about a blonde, miniskirt-clad girl singing 'Haaaaayyyy Yaaaaaaaarrrrr' in a deep, stern German accent!

Check back soon... I'll tell you about Prague, Berlin, Hamburg and Amsterdam v soon.