History, architecture, art, music, and a little nature
On most of my trips I have tried to mix visits to urban areas, complete with their wealth of cultural experiences, and time to enjoy the outdoors in places of scenic beauty.
This trip emphasized the former and had little of the latter. In fact, all my destinations were cities, and except for one day trip to a national park, I had a very small taste of nature.
The saving grace was that the large cities were magnificent, and the smaller cities had their own visual charms.
Prague and Berlin had been at or near the top of my bucket list for a while, so when I decided to build a trip including those two cities, it was an easy decision to include Poland. In the end, fully half the trip was in Poland.
Photo Albums
As usual, I took way too many photos, but I have made some highlight albums for those who don’t want to see the same thing from every possible angle. Just be aware that there are a lot of great pictures that didn’t make it into the “Best Of” albums, so limit yourself at your own peril!
| Top 100 | |
| Prague (291 items) | Best of Prague (96 items) |
| Dresden (148 items) | Best of Dresden (29 items) |
| Leipzig (89 items) | Best of Leipzig (23 items) |
| Saxon and Bohemian Switzerland (172 items) | Best of Saxon and Bohemian Switzerland (24 items) |
| Görlitz (32 items) | |
| Berlin (335 items) | Best of Berlin (86 items) |
| Potsdam (72 items) | Best of Potsdam (15 items) |
| Warsaw (228 items) | Best of Warsaw (83 items) |
| Krakow (205 items) | Best of Krakow (55 items) |
| Wroclaw (85 items) Wroclaw’s Dwarfs (19 items) |
Best of Wroclaw (28 items) |
| Torun (108 items) | Best of Torun (29 items) |
| Gdansk (189 items) | Best of Gdansk (35 items) |
| Malbork (94 items) | |
Blog Posts
My (Updated) Central Europe Itinerary (2/22/2019) - (Update to a version originally published July 23, 2018)Today I sent in my final payment for my upcoming trip. I had most of the general itinerary locked in last July, and now I have added a lot of activities, local… more…
Sleep Deprivation Prague-style (4/2/2019) - Monday, April 1, 10:00 pm It is difficult to believe I’ve only been here in Prague for a day and a half. That’s partly because I have been on the go so much and seen and done so many things… more…
Prague Wrap-up (4/5/2019) - I’m in Dresden now. I’m just bad at keeping up with the blog. Either I’m on the go, too tired, or busy planning what to do next. So I’ll give a few highlights from my last two days in Prague.… more…
New shoes in Dresden (4/5/2019) - The best part of my day today was buying new shoes. Okay, that’s completely not true, except it kind of is. I only brought one pair of shoes on this trip, as I typically do when I travel. I don’t… more…
A day in Leipzig, a night at the Semperoper (4/7/2019) - Okay, so I’ve been in Dresden since Thursday and haven’t written anything about it yet (except for my new shoes I bought here). But I will. Yesterday I went to Leipzig, so since that’s over and done, I’ll write about… more…
Dresden (4/8/2019) - Monday, April 8, 4:00 pm Today is my last day in Dresden. I’m taking an afternoon break after a short (very short) day trip to Görlitz, a town on the Polish border I’d heard was worth visiting. I found that… more…
Home away from home (4/9/2019) - Fast Travel The first half of this trip is some of the slowest travel I’ve ever done in Europe. The first two weeks I am spending in just three locations: Prague for four nights, Dresden and Berlin for five each.… more…
Berlin Story (4/10/2019) - I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking. —Christopher Isherwood Sometimes when I’m traveling, I feel that way. I like to observe a little from a distance. I like seeing what I see. My actual… more…
Berlin Retrospective (4/15/2019) - It’s Sunday, April 14. I’m currently on a train from Berlin to Warsaw. We just departed, and the journey will be over six hours, so I have plenty of time to make up for not blogging during most of my… more…
First day in Warsaw (4/16/2019) - I have to confess, as I was getting toward the end of my visit to Berlin, I was starting to have doubts about having planned a four-week trip. I found myself getting worn out and worn down. And I was… more…
Warsaw Wrap-up (4/18/2019) - I was trying to pick a representative photo for the “featured image” of this post, and I settled on the Palace of Science and Culture, perhaps the ugliest building I’ve ever see. Built in the early 1950s, the locals consider… more…
Not the next Prague (4/18/2019) - Of all the Eastern European cities laying claim to the boast, “the next Prague,” Krakow is for real. So writes Rick Steves in his Krakow, Warsaw, and Gdansk guidebook. What a crock! First, this isn’t “Eastern Europe.” Although it’s hard to… more…
Auschwitz-Birkenau (4/19/2019) - I have very little to say about my visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau. I took only the one photo, at the entrance to Auschwitz II-Birkenau. What kind of monsters can perpetrate crimes of such enormity, of such depravity? There’s an excellent article… more…
Random Krakow (4/21/2019) - Planty The Old Town of Krakow used to be surrounded by a wall, and that wall used to be surrounded by a moat. In the early 19th century they tore down most of the wall and filled in the moat,… more…
It’s Where the Train Stopped (4/23/2019) - “This is what I want you to understand,” said Mateusz as he drew lines and dots on his crude map of Poland. Early History 10:30 am. We were sitting in a coffee shop in Stare Miasto (Old Town). They weren’t… more…
Heroes (4/23/2019) - Note: I began writing this post while I was traveling in Poland in April 2019. I didn’t finish during the trip, and have finally completed writing about these heroes now in July. Most of my research comes from Wikipedia. Oskar… more…
Pretty Cities, Plus History (4/25/2019) - If I had to pick my two favorite things to discover when I travel, it would be beauty and history. Though I’d give the edge to natural beauty over urban beauty, I’m happy to have ended this trip in some… more…