UK: End of the Trip

(Author note: You're probably aware how late this post is. I traveled in 2013, and it is now 2016! This is what depression and procrastination gives you. Hopefully it won't take this long for me to post travel pictures in the future)
Open the below for my 2013 UK trip with lots of photos.

Berlin Day 3: Hanging Out With Maria

My last day in Berlin was spent hanging out with Maria, the writer of the blog Deus Ex Machina. It was really great meeting her, and I also met her boyfriend Boris but he was busy on the Saturday that me and Maria hung out together. She wrote her own blog post about meeting me [here].

Because it's taken me nearly a year to write up my post, I've kind of forgotten a lot of what we did. I know that we traveled to Potsdamer Platz, and we visited the Jewish Memorial. I also bought some nice postcards to send to friends.

Maria at the Jewish Memorial

Brandenburg Gate

Adlon Hotel, where Michael Jackson hung his baby from the balcony (remember that?). I'm not a fan of Jackson, but Maria pointed this fact out to me.

Towards the East Side Gallery. We had to sit down because I stupidly hurt my ankle on a dip in the road. My ankle was still very tender from when I twisted it in Rome, and I thought I had really hurt it again. Luckily, I could hobble around still.

While we were sitting down I got to take a few photos!

Alexanderplatz TV Tower

We sat under this and I ate currywurst while Maria ate noodles. I also got to eat her noodles when she got full :P

I really enjoyed my day out with Maria, even though I hurt my ankle. I loved talking about her life in different countries, especially Berlin. I was so thankful of her German skills, she even ordered my currywurst for me because I was too shy.

I love meeting friends from other countries. I had to explain to Maria about jaywalking, and I'm sure Maria had to explain German things to me :) It was nice to be able to talk to someone, because my trip was very much lonely. I hope to see Maria and her boyfriend, Boris, again in the future!

The next day I left for the UK, which took a very long time to travel to via train.

2013 Trip:

Paris Day 1 [here]

Paris Day 2 [here]

Paris Day 3 [here]

Rome Day 1 [here]

Rome Day 3 [here]

Rome Day 3 [here]

Vienna Day 1 [here]

Vienna Day 2 [here]

Vienna Day 3 [here]

Berlin Day 1 [here]

Berlin Day 2 [here]

Berlin Day 3 [here]

UK [here]

Berlin Day 2: Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

The Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp tour was very sobering, as it should be. I booked the tour through Insider Tour Berlin, and I paid 12euro because I'm under 26 years old. The tour met up near my hostel at the train station at 10am. Once the group was ready we caught the train to the camp.
I did not take any photographs.

Entrance to the camp (photo source)

Our tour guide, Roy, was great and very knowledgable. He was also from the UK, so it was nice hearing an English voice.

Wikipedia has this to say about the camp:

The camp was established in 1936. It was located 35 kilometres north of Berlin, which gave it a primary position among the German concentration camps: the administrative centre of all concentration camps was located in Oranienburg, and Sachsenhausen became a training centre for Schutzstaffel (SS) officers (who would often be sent to oversee other camps afterwards). Executions took place at Sachsenhausen, especially of Soviet prisoners of war. 

Among the prisoners, there was a "hierarchy": at the top, criminals (rapists, murderers), then Communists (red triangles), then homosexuals (pink triangles), Jehovah's Witnesses (purple triangles), and Jews (yellow triangles). 

During the earlier stages of the camp's existence the executions were done in a trench, either by shooting or by hanging. A large task force of prisoners was used from the camp to work in nearby brickworks to meet Albert Speer's vision of rebuilding Berlin. 

Sachsenhausen was originally not intended as an extermination camp—instead, the systematic murder was conducted in camps to the east. In 1942 large numbers of Jewish inmates were relocated to Auschwitz. However the construction of a gas chamber and ovens by camp-commandant Anton Kaindl in March 1943 facilitated the means to kill larger numbers of prisoners.

After the camp tour I got to meet a friend, Maria, who reads my blog and writes one of her own. She is a really cool chick and I'm glad we got to hang out. Day 3 in Berlin was spent with her and I had an awesome time to end my stay in Berlin.

2013 Trip:

Paris Day 1 [here]

Paris Day 2 [here]

Paris Day 3 [here]

Rome Day 1 [here]

Rome Day 3 [here]

Rome Day 3 [here]

Vienna Day 1 [here]

Vienna Day 2 [here]

Vienna Day 3 [here]

Berlin Day 1 [here]

Berlin Day 2 [here]

Berlin Day 3 [here]

UK [here]

Berlin Day 1: Medizinhistorisches Museum and Museum für Naturkunde

I arrived in Berlin after a day of travelling on the train from Vienna. I really loved the countryside, and we stopped at Prague on the way through. I would like to visit Prague one day.

I stayed at Citystay Hostel Berlin, which sadly did not have a girls only dorm. It was a nice hostel, cheap and near public transport. It was also near Alexanderplatz, which is a central gathering place. The hostel is also near a grocery store, which I always value because it's nice to pick up a bread roll or something for dinner.

During my stay I also got to visit Maria and her boyfriend Boris, Maria is one of my readers and also writes her own blog.

Once I had put all my stuff away in the hostel, I went on a walk to visit a medical museum in a university (or hospital, I don't know which). I'll let the website speak for itself:
"The Berlin Museum of Medical History seeks to offer visitors insights into the fascinating history of medicine over the last four centuries. The permanent collection currently shows some 750 objects comprising pathological-anatomical wet and dry specimens as well as models and graphics from central medical locations: e.g. the anatomical theater, the laboratory and the patients ward."

It cost me 7euro to enter, and sadly no photography was allowed. Although I've included a photograph from the internet after the page break.

Vienna Day 3: Kunsthistorisches Museum

You know, the one museum I didn't get to visit was the Funeral Museum. The museum is current changing locations, and I would have loved to see it. Maybe I'll have to visit Vienna again :) what a nice thought.

Vienna is also home to the Art Nouveau movement, with Gustav Klimt and other artists creating works around Vienna. I didn't get to view many Art Nouveau areas or artworks while in Vienna, so I would love to do that next time.

The last day in Vienna was spent at the Art History Museum which is called the Kunsthistorisches Museum. It is right across the courtyard from the Natural History Museum. There was an exhibition on Lucian Freud, and entry to the museum included the exhibition. There is a Lucian Freud painting at the Perth Art Gallery, Perth is following me yet again!! Lucian is the grandson of Sigmund Freud, who was born in Vienna.
Lucian's artwork depicts humans as the subject matter, many who are nude. Sadly, I was not allowed to take any photos of the exhibition.

After Cézanne, 1999–2000, Lucian Freud, National Gallery of Australia

Kunsthistorisches Museum

Vienna Day 2: Natural History Museum

I started out early to visit the Natural History Museum, or Naturhistorisches Museum. It is housed in the museum district of Vienna, which was a short 15 minute walk from my hostel. It faces the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Art History Museum, and both buildings are very similar and wonderful.

I really enjoy Vienna. There was a grocery store near my hostel, and chocolate was only 1euro. It was much easier to shop around compared to Rome. I wanted to try all of the different things.

I highly suggest visiting the Naturhistorisches Museum, it's the best museum I have ever visited. There are loads of specimens, taxidermy and dinosaurs. The museum also houses the Venus of Willendorf.

Vienna Day 1: Vienna Crime Museum and Torture Museum

I arrived in Vienna early on a Sunday morning. The overnight train ride was pretty horrible, but I was glad to be in Vienna.

I'm not even kidding, but Vienna by Ultravox played on my ipod as we pulled into the station. Ironic, no?

The weather was such a relief from Rome, it was nice and cool and sunny. The public transport was really easy to figure out, so much better than Rome. I made my way to my hostel, Wombat's at the Naschmarkt, which I chose because it was cheap and close to the museums I wanted to visit. The hostel was really nice, it caters towards backpackers so there were lots of young people around. I chose an all female dorm again.

View from my window

Once I dropped off my stuff, I caught the train to the Vienna Crime Museum.

The lady at the counter didn't speak English, and I speak very little German. I used to have German lessons in primary school, so a few words came back to me like "danke schon" which means "thank you very much". Luckily, she seemed to know what I was talking about when I asked for a ticket. It cost 6euro for me to get in, including an english booklet as the exhibitions were in German.
I was the only person in the museum. The museum features crime and murders from Medieval times to today. Overall, it wasn't as good as the Rome Crime Museum, but it was still really interesting.
There are lots of photos after the page break, there is some gory crime scene photos, death masks and preserved heads. If you're too squeamish, please skip this post.

Rome Day 3: The Vatican

I booked a Vatican tour through my travel agent before I left Australia. It was a three hour English speaking tour through the company Enjoy Rome.

I've said before, I don't enjoy group tours. It's not something that I can place, but I guess maybe I don't enjoy being around people that I don't know.

I think a tour is a good idea for the Vatican, because there is so much to look at. It would take more than a day to look at everything, and a tour group focuses on the more interesting things.

This tour skipped the main line for the Vatican, which is good because the main line was very long.

Rome Day 2: Rome Crime Museum and Capuchin Crypt

I woke up nice and early to visit the Rome Museum of Criminology before joining a crypt tour in the afternoon.

The Crime Museum was really close to my hostel, just across the river (Here is the article in Atlas Obscura). It was only 2euros and I highly recommend a visit. I was the only one there, totally awesome to get away from the tourists.

The museum is housed at the back of an old police station and features reproduction and real items from crimes in Italy. The items are have Italian descriptions, some with a translation into English. It's hard for me to describe all of the items, some are from real crimes and others are about dealing with criminals. Hopefully my photos will help!

Rome Day 1: Colosseum and Roman Forum

I was on the train from Paris to Rome all day. My whole trip around Europe was by train, which I both loved and hated. I loved the views but hated how long it took. Read more after the page break!

Paris Day 3: Notre Dame and Goodbye Merissa!

Aaah, our last day in Paris. We woke up early and headed to Notre Dame which was very quiet in the morning. It was always really busy in the afternoon and filled with tourists and scammers.

It was lovely walking around such a historical place. There was a church service going on (mass?) so we got to hear lovely singing, which sent shivers down my spine. It's easy to lose yourself in the history while there is singing going on. One of the first Gothic novels I read was The Hunchback of Notre Dame, so Notre Dame has always had a place in my heart.

This was the last day before Merissa had to head back to the UK and go to work. We visited the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, and a few people tried to scam us! Read ahead for photos and details!

Paris Day 2: Paris Catacombs

I was very excited to see the Paris catacombs. I took so many photos!

Paris Day 1: Versailles

I'm back from my Euro trip, safe and sound. Here is the first set of my photos. Hope you like them! The photos will be after the break, because there are so many of them.