Been There Done That

               This post will be short and sweet just like our visit to Istanbul. We only had 22 hours in the city itself, and most of those were not spent touring. 2 and a half were spent driving from the airport to the hotel which ended up being by far the worst traffic jam I have ever been in. There’s always something new to experience. After arriving at the hotel, we went out to eat. I really couldn’t decide between all of the different kebabs they had, so I got the combination platter, which both was and wasn’t a mistake. The good thing about it was that the food was amazing! And the bad thing about it was that the food was amazing! I ate so much that I felt like I was going to pop.

               We woke up the next morning and quickly saw the outsides of both the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. In my opinion, the Blue Mosque looked way cooler, but I’ve heard the interior of the Hagia Sophia is quite spectacular. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to wait for the opening because our plane was leaving. Maybe another day.

               We are now pretty much settled in back in the States and have begun the tedious process of looking for jobs. Although I’m sure there will be many more adventures to come, this will be the last one on this blog. I hope that you all have enjoyed following along on our trip. If I may, I would like to impart some lessons that both Hannah and I have learned from our experiences:

1)      It’s best not to go to Southeast Asia.

2)      Macedonian and Turkish food is amazing.

3)      Just because tests say you’re healthy doesn’t mean that you are.

4)      Trust God to provide.

5)      Traveling to different countries can be fun.

6)      It’s best not to go to Southeast Asia.

Almost There

               Obviously, I decided to take a short break from blogging. I figured I would combine the week spent with my parents into one post. Our journey from Prague to Munich where we met them was, of course, an experience. I think I now have a feeling of what it is like to be a cow on one of those trains where they are carting them to their impending slaughter. Or maybe just how it feels to be a soldier on a transport train. There was no room. Luckily, we did book a seat; however, it took us more than 30 minutes of squeezing around people and their luggage to get there. If I wanted to go forward, the person in front of me was certain to want to go backwards. It also didn’t help that all the train announcements were in German once we got into Germany. No more English. I guess the Germans also have a thing for “If you’re in my country you’ll speak my language!”

               The next day, we set out for a 2-hour car trip to Salzburg. Unfortunately, it was raining that day, and as a result, there wasn’t much to see. However, we did all frolic around the fountain used in The Sound of Music while singing “Doe a Deer.” OK, maybe Mom did with Hannah in tow, but I decided a long time ago that I would not condone any Sound of Music activities while in Salzburg. (For those that want to make your brain bleed out your eardrums, I did find a singing Sound of Music tour that you can go on where the guide sings to you.) After getting that out of the way, we stopped by Salzburg castle and after eating a lunch of schnitzel, we went to Mozart’s house.

               The next day found us going to Neuschwanstein Castle. Many of you might recognize this castle as being the inspiration for the Disney castle seen in every Disney movie. It didn’t look like much from a distance, but the closer we got, the more spectacular it appeared. My favorite view of the castle was probably one from a hiking trail nearby. Since it is up in the mountains, it had a nice overview of the valley and lake below. I definitely recommend visiting if you’re in the area. After stopping there, we headed down to Innsbruck which is a small town surrounded by the Alps. Since we only spent a night there, it’s hard to say what the city is really like, but I could see myself going back there someday.

               From Innsbruck we traveled to Florence. I’ve never seen so much marble anywhere else in the world as I did in Italy. Trying to think about how they built such impressive structures gives me a headache, and I’m sure lots of people died in the process. We saw a copy of the famous David statue by Michelangelo, and also saw one of the most impressive cathedrals of the trip to that point. I felt like an ant standing next to it as I was realizing that the marble bricks used were bigger than I was. Words can’t really describe it. The Duomo in Florence is just something you really have to see for yourself.

               Now, we get to the highlight of my trip: Rome. I had been looking forward to this since we started planning our trip back at the beginning of the year. Well, I’ve probably been looking forward to it ever since I was a little kid playing Age of Empires on the computer. I could build Rome in a day on that game, but the city was no comparison. Everywhere we turned, there was some extravagant marble building, some cool fountain or statue, or some very old building or relic. We got into the city around sunset on the first day, and it was gorgeous. If you are ever in Rome, I highly recommend climbing to an observation point of some kind to watch the sun go down over the ancient buildings and domes of the city. It’s something you won’t soon forget.

               On our second day, we took a tour of the Vatican. Before the tour, our guide was explaining about how you can spend weeks in the museums there, and I have to say I really didn’t believe her. Minutes in a museum is enough to rot the flesh off my skin, but I was wrong. There is so much history there including statues dating back to the 1^st century BC! Everywhere you looked, there was history in the form of art. I’ve really never considered myself an art person, but I would enjoy going back to those museums to just look at some of the ancient statues. Of course, we passed through the Sistine Chapel, and it does live up to its hype. You don’t really realize how big it is until you are there yourself looking up at the ceiling and wondering, “How on earth does someone have the patience to paint this for 4 years?” Our last stop on the tour was a visit to the largest cathedral, St. Peter’s Basilica. The opulence is mind-blowing. Looking around, I can only imagine what the reformers must have been thinking when battling the church. They were going up against vast wealth and power beyond description. I guess one good thing about the church’s greed and corruption back then is that we now have a lot of preserved history and art as a result.

               From the Vatican, we wandered over to the Pantheon (which was converted into a church later on by some jerk pope. I think it would’ve been SUPER cool to see the original statues of the Roman gods in there, but instead there were statues of saints and Biblical figures. Like there aren’t enough of those already.) I think the coolest thing about the Pantheon was the dome. It is super huge, and again, I can’t figure out how they must have built it. Those Romans were some pretty smart dudes. From there, we went to the Spanish Steps. I’m really not sure why these are famous… maybe it’s because it’s in Italy, built by the French, and sits below the Spanish embassy. Or it’s just a bunch of marble steps with a good overlook of Rome. Either way, been there done that.

               Our last day in Rome was spent touring the Colosseum and Forum. Both were really cool, but again, the church had to go and do its thing. Apparently, a lot of the marble used to build the buildings was repossessed during the Middle Ages to build opulent churches. History is destroyed to create new history, and the cycle continues. The ruins are still spectacular though. The amount of engineering and architecture that went into designing the Colosseum is spectacular, and the grand scale of the Forum and surrounding buildings is mind-blowing. I can only imagine what it looked like back when all of the buildings were standing WITH their marble exteriors.

               I was also able to cross off something on my bucket list: eating gelato on a cobble stone street in a Roman plaza while people watching. Don’t ask me how this got on there. Maybe it’s cause that’s what I always see cool people doing in movies. Maybe it’s just cause it is in and of itself cool. Either way, eating a gelato on the steps of the Pantheon: check!

               Our last day was spent driving up to Milan. We made a stop in Pisa to see the tower: check! Got a picture of me pushing the tower over (onto Hannah): check! Had a guy offer to watch the car if we bought something from him… OK, that one wasn’t on my list, but it made for an interesting experience. Upon arriving in Milan, we went out for a bite, and then Hannah and I made the 40-minute walk to the Duomo in Milan. It was probably the coolest exterior of a cathedral I have seen on this trip. (We couldn’t go inside cause it was closed.) The doors were huge (probably made of brass) and contained different Biblical scenes. All around the outside of the church were different people (some dying). We’re guessing that they are martyrs or saints. Gargoyles at the top with cool pointy-roof-thingies (to use the technical term). It was all marble!

               We are currently waiting for a plane to our last stop before Chicago: Istanbul!

Living History

               Of all of the cities I have been to, Prague ranks either 1^st or at the very least in the top 5. I could list any number of reasons for this. The incredible history and how many of the streets and buildings have remained the same; the beauty of the architecture; the character of the cobblestone streets; the amazingly cheap and efficient public transportation. The list goes on. However, the food doesn’t even come close to Macedonia which goes to show that you can’t get everything you want. They do make up for it in their desserts though…

               After arriving on our first day, we took a quick nap and decided to explore the city. We started in Old Town which is aptly named because it is, well, old. Many of the buildings there were constructed in the 1400s or before. (Some information may be slightly inaccurate because I hate tours and just looked some stuff up on Wikipedia.) In the middle of the square is a statue to John Huss, and it was surreal to think that I was walking on the same streets as he had walked on, and those before and after him. Many of the buildings were the same ones there when he was alive, minus the tourists of course.

               Hannah did a good job of showing me around except for all the times she got lost. :p But she did also help me know which foods to try and which ones really weren’t worth it. Another cool thing about Prague is that it seems as if every building has some cool history behind it. As we were walking, we decided to duck into a church to see what was inside. It was gorgeous! I’m sure to those living in Europe, it is nothing new. But when your exposure to gothic style comes from a picture in a book, walking around inside and experiencing it for yourself is not something you’ll soon forget. Huge ornate statues layered in gold, high vaulted ceilings, and everything decked out to the nines. I would give a lot to be able to play the pipe organs in those churches.

               Prague castle is supposedly the biggest castle in the Western world, but it wasn’t that special. The cathedral inside of it though, was a different story. Hannah and I agreed that the outside of it was way more impressive than the inside, especially after the one church we had already visited where the opposite was true. We climbed a spiral, stone staircase to the top to enjoy a great view of Prague. Not far from there, we visited a monastic library that was used as a model in Beauty and the Beast. Seriously, I feel I could spend a very long time in this city checking out different things and never run out of things to see or do.

               Hannah and I are now getting ready to depart for Munich where we will meet up with my parents. It seems that whatever mystery disease I had is rearing its ugly head one last time to give me a bad cold (which is nothing compared to its previous rearings). It’s time to leave former communism and Slavic languages behind as we venture into Western Europe.

A Breath of Fresh Air

               I don’t know if it will ever be possible to top our China story. In my experience, the more interesting story is usually made by what goes wrong rather than what goes right. There’s not much to be said for “We walked on the Great Wall, and the view was gorgeous!” other than throwing in your favorite vocabulary words to try and spice up a bland event. That being said, I really enjoyed my time in Macedonia. As I’ve been traveling, I have been keeping a mental list of countries that I wouldn’t mind living in. Don’t ask me what the criteria are because there aren’t any other than a general impression. Macedonia makes the list (along with Singapore), but I would of course prefer the former if for nothing else than Singapore is really hot all the time.

               Since we had to book a plane ticket last minute from China, we ended up flying into the capital of Bulgaria instead of Skopje. On the flight, they handed out sandwiches. After eyeing mine with a suspicious look, I decided it couldn’t hurt that much and downed it. No negative reaction. They had also handed me a piece of chocolate that was just begging to be tried. I could almost hear it calling, “You’re feeling better now and haven’t had anything sweet in weeks. What harm could I do?” A lot. I didn’t immediately regret my decision much like a child doesn’t immediately regret what he/she has done until the mother and father arrive on scene. However, on our bumpy decent down into Bulgaria, my stomach started to churn, and the acid reflux I had been fighting began to rebel. After landing, we headed for the baggage claim, and that’s when it hit me. The familiar feeling of nausea accompanied by the same feeling of regret previously said child would feel. Exiting out of baggage, you can imagine my mixed feelings when seeing Mom and Dad. In my mind, it was a “Hey! I’m so glad to see you guys again!” mixed with a “I just wanna not be conscious until this goes away.” Fortunately, over the course of our 4-hour drive back to Skopje, the feeling slowly resided. I like to joke that Macedonia healed me. It was as if crossing the border just lifted my symptoms right out of me. And by dinner, I ate a full portion of food (which I think had been a first in over 3 weeks.)

               I’ve loved being able to experience the places of all of Hannah’s childhood memories. It’s always great for my mind to have a picture along with a story. Tell me a story in an unfamiliar setting, and I’ll forget it. Tell me a story where I can picture something, and it’s trapped in my mind. We even visited Hannah’s childhood apartment and found her name written on the wall outside the door. She claims she didn’t write it though. While walking through her old neighborhood, we met a world famous concert pianist on a walk with his kids. For those of you in Chicago, he will be playing at Ravinia with the Chicago Symphony on July 16^th of next year.

               They also took me to the sights of Macedonia. Granted, it was nothing quite as exquisite as the limestone cliffs of Thailand or the architecture of Singapore. But it did have its own charm. OK, maybe there were a few too many statues cluttering the city, but to a simple American, it’s not always a bad thing. We took a cable car up the mountain to overlook the city and countryside which was also pretty nice. We also visited a place called Matka. It reminded me a lot of the kind of scenery Hannah and I would see on our Korean hikes: lots of rocky mountains next to a river. The only difference being that we shared the trail with people that didn’t stare at us for being white. It’s nice to blend in and enjoy nature. I almost feel camouflaged here in Europe. No one seems to notice me behind my white skin.

               One of the many highlights of this trip was the food; for several reasons. First, I hadn’t actually eaten anything with taste since about September 5^th. (I am of course discounting the chocolate on the plane.) When stuck to a diet of blah for that long, just about anything will taste heavenly. Second, the food is actually quite amazing. Whose mouth wouldn’t water with the whispering drifts of cheese filled chicken wrapped in bacon? With a side of freshly baked and seasoned bread? With a pepper paste and cheese? And with drinkable yogurt to wash it all down? OK, well maybe those of the lactose intolerant persuasion wouldn’t find it the most enjoyable, but I was digging in for sure. Up until Macedonia, I had lost roughly 17 pounds from my mystery disease, and I think I gained a good 5-6 pounds of it back in the week I was there. Now Hannah and I can crave Macedonian food together throughout the rest of our lives. I feel her pain.

               The week flew by the quickest in our vacation so far. I really wish that we had more time to spend there with friends and family, but things are what they are. Onwards and upwards as they say to one of the most beautiful cities in the world: Prague.