Day 345: Stranded outside of Barcelona; Thanks BlaBlaCar!

We weren’t about to take another Eurolines bus in Europe. Two times was more than enough. It was expensive, it would be fifteen hours, and we knew it would be ridiculously uncomfortable… So when Andrew found a ride on BlaBlaCar from just outside of Barcelona to Paris on the day we had planned to leave, we were elated with not only the timing, but the price it would be to share a ride! We got up around five to take three different trains to Granollers where we were supposed to meet our ride at eight for the twelve hour drive to Paris.

Halfway through the commute, we got lost trying to find our way from one metro station to the train station. We spent about fifteen minutes walking up and down a street looking for signs, asking for directions, and then waiting for the next train to Granollers. We were going to be late, but not by much, and I couldn’t imagine an arranged ride (from one country to another) leaving without us. We were paying 40 euros each for the ride! Who would leave without 80 euros of help towards gas? Unfortunately I couldn’t have been more wrong.

We ended up being roughly fifteen minutes late. We walked out of the train station and no one was there. We combed the parking lot. We looked through the taxi line. Andrew walked all over town until he found an open wifi network and tried to send our ride a message. Our ride, Noel G (if you use BlaBlaCar, avoid this guy) had left us a message. He couldn’t wait. (FIFTEEN MINUTES!) He left without us. 

Andrew was upset. I was incredulous. Who would do that? Who would arrange a ride with strangers and then not be able to wait fifteen minutes when they were traveling two hours just to meet you for a ride? Why would someone like that even use BlaBlaCar?

We stood outside of the train station weighing our options. Then we lugged all of our bags further into town to stand outside of an apartment building to continue weighing our options on the open wifi network. We had a free place to stay the following evening in Paris- for three nights. If we waited until the next Eurolines bus left, we would have to cancel our hotel reservation for the night and we would probably be too late to meet up to get keys to our free three nights.

“Let’s just book a flight to Paris.” I said and started looking up flights out of Barcelona. Andrew booked our flight on his phone.

One more train ride, and an hour later, we were going through security at the airport. Before dusk, we were walking to our hotel wondering where in France Noel G might be and what time he would arrive to Paris.

Over take out pizza in bed (one of my guilty-I-kinda-wish-I-was-home pleasures) I told Andrew, “If he left after fifteen minutes, he probably would have dropped us off at the first metro stop he saw in Paris and then we would have had to spend another hour or two getting to our hotel!” I grimaced at the thought of our first (and probably last?) experience with BlaBlaCar.

Day 344: Picasso and Pinchos

Picasso Museum Round Two was a success! We introduced Nat to Bo de B (and got another salmon salad of course) and then headed to the Picasso Museum to see how crazy the line was and if we were up for waiting. It was long, but it moved surprisingly fast. The museum contained a LOT of Picasso’s first works and pieces that I’ve never seen before, yet there was a huge gap of Picasso’s life and works that are obviously in other museums throughout the world that I think everyone (me included) are more familiar with. We bummed around the Born and Gothic districts again before meeting up with Nat for another round of tapas! This time, we opted for pinchos! Tapas served on bread, count. me. in.

Have I told you lately how much I love the Born and Gothic neighborhoods (districts?) because I do! Check out the latest street art sightings just around the corner from the Picasso Museum! I also looked up some recommended vintage and boutique stores and popped into “The Box” which was also right around the corner from the Picasso Museum. Suuuper cute store! Also, Can I just say for the record that I love it when owners welcome me taking pictures! The boutique was so photogenic I couldn’t help myself!

We ducked into a few other boutiques, and one was really neat and very well designed- lots of vintage signage and props scattered around the store- along with ‘No Photos’ signs. As a photographer, this always annoys me. As a consumer, it makes me not want to buy anything! The Box on the other hand, was warm and welcoming and if the picture below doesn’t make you want to stop by and buy a few bow ties… something might be wrong with you!

 These cookies looked like they were to die for in the window, we opted for the carrot cake instead. It was delicious -a bit overpriced – but delicious nonetheless.

I was kicking myself for missing a previous photo opportunity of an accordion player roaming the streets of the Gothic district. When this musician passed by us this afternoon I was so excited, Andrew was rolling his eyes. Who doesn’t love a second chance, especially when it comes to taking a photo!

We sat in a square and people watched for a little while, killing some time before we met up with Nat one last time. Directly in front of the bench I was sitting on (while Andrew went off searching for some Dr. Peppers for us) a little girl only about two or three years old walked up to a younger boy in a stroller. She was completely enthralled by the younger boy. She put her face in his and attempted to touch his hand and then remembered there were others watching and looked up. Her father was standing behind her, encouraging her to say ‘Hola’ while the obviously non-Spanish speaking tourists laughed and encouraged their son to wave back. We all watched, amused at the miniature confrontation before one of the parents decided it was time to part ways. I marveled at how brave and innocent the little girl was walking up to a “stranger” and immediately touching his face. While I recounted the event to Andrew when he returned empty handed, I couldn’t help but wonder at what point do others become “strangers.” And then I was distracted by this family walking by with children slung over their shoulders like bags of rice, and all I could think of was how much I love people.

Day 343: La Sagrada Familia

La Sagrada Familia inside is a whole other world. The outside is somewhat dark (in a way) and a bit chaotic. It’s unfinished. It’s busy. It looks like wax was dripped over it from afar. But inside… inside is bright and organized. It’s finished. It’s clean. It looks like every detail was designed with a specific purpose. It’s not as much of a collage as the exterior. And it’s huge. It makes you nod your head when someone says “Gaudi is a genius.” Because one step inside of La Sagrada Familia will make you agree.

Honestly, from the outside when we visited the other day, I was like “Yea, this is big… It’s unfinished… I guess Gaudi was an amazing architect…” But as soon as you step inside La Sagrada Familia, you feel small. Small is probably an understatement. You feel TINY and for once, you’re not as bothered by the vast amount of tourists surrounding you because it seems impossible to fill the space that Gaudi designed to be held up by tree-like columns. You’re practically in a forest. It’s pretty magical, and even more striking than the infamous exterior. At least, that’s what I think. I had a greater appreciation for the outside once I saw the inside… and I had even more of a greater appreciation for Gaudi once I stood in his forest of a church.

The Glory Facade was still under construction during our visit, but we were able to duck outside in a little enclosed area to view the doors from the outside. So. impressive. (I might not be able to say that enough about La Sagrada Familia!) Andrew and I always hunt for the Korean when different languages are represented. I think Korean tourists are always amused when they hear us read or speak Korean to each other. I’m pretty sure the LOUD Korean couple sitting behind us inside the church were downright shocked when I turned around and told them to be quiet – in Korean.

We sat for awhile, as we usually do when ducking into a church or mosque (if I’m allowed) or temple. It always makes for interesting people-watching. In this case, it was mostly watching one of the staff members try to remain calm with all of the tourists talking – or stopping to take pictures – or sitting where/when they shouldn’t have been. Behind the main altar were several smaller side altars, views of another altar below, and these giant organ pipes. Wandering back out to the center nave and I was immediately struck by the light coming through the stained glass and bouncing off of the columns. Kinda within the church, an exhibition of how Gaudi was inspired by nature was beautifully presented. As if I wasn’t already blown away by his mansions, Park Guell, and La Sagrada Familia itself- to see the comparisons between the different kinds of plants, flowers, trees, even honeycomb… and how he integrated nature into his work was ah-mazing.

We walked out to see the Nativity Façade and looking up, you tried to imagine how one would have thought of integrating so much into one façade, let alone completing the construction of it all! We walked through the exhibition of how La Sagrada Familia was realized and sometimes found ourselves just standing in front of something completely dumbfounded at how Gaudi hung bags of sand to see how he could construct La Sagrada Familia by reversing what was hanging. I’m not sure if that makes sense, and maybe you can see it behind Andrew in the video- but it was genius. That’s all there is to it. After La Sagrada Familia, we went back towards the Gothic and Born areas for an early dinner at what was to become (possibly) our favorite restaurant in Barcelona; Bo de B. If you find yourself in Barcelona, go here. Get the salmon salad. You won’t be disappointed. Well, maybe you will when you have to leave, but just walk around and look at the gorgeous street art and that should make you feel better…

We headed over to La Boqueria, the main market in Barcelona. Unfortunately, we were stuffed from our salmon salad and burger that we couldn’t even think about trying any of the food in the market! That was silly of us… But it was still fun to walk through, despite so many of the shops being closed for the summer holiday!

I’m not sure if you know this about me and Andrew (possibly even more true of Andrew) but we love gummy candy. And this stall was heaven. So much heaven that we stood in front of it for a full five minutes looking at how BIG the gummies were before we remembered we were still stuffed from Bo de B and didn’t need anymore food in our bellies.

And then, we made our way to the beach. Once we got there, I was a little amazed at how many people were crowded onto one small area. We lucked out hitting Greece before the tourist season picked up. Zanzibar was rather low-key and even Goa during Christmas was downright quiet compared to Barcelona Beach in the middle of August. And we went well after peak hours!

Day 342: Museu Picasso on a Sunday

Just don’t do it. I know you’ll be tempted…  Museu Picasso on a Sunday is free after three! But unless you get there at noon, to stand in line for three hours to get in for free at three, then you’re better off just going another day… Because chances are the line will be long and you won’t even have enough time to stand in it allowing you enough time to actually see the museum once you get inside. It’s bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. Our plans foiled, we did what we do best: wandered around town, searching for street art, ducking into churches, people watching, and in general soaking up the city du jour.

Our day didn’t start off the smoothest. Perhaps I should backtrack to us finding out a few nights prior that we couldn’t stay in the same place and had to frantically find another place at the last minute. Europe in August (aside from our wonderful few days in Burgundy) was proving to be difficult. Couchsurfers were either fully booked or out of town. Hostels were expensive. Hotels were even more expensive and/or full. It was stressful to say the least. We finally managed to find a place on Air BnB (not our favorite site) had to pack up our things, move across town, and were very warily welcomed into the house of a stereotypical Frenchman (i.e. the complete opposite of all of my lovely, welcoming, warm French friends) and his overly sweet Columbian girlfriend. It was strange, and even though we looked forward to exploring the city, we didn’t exactly look forward to returning to our rented room at night… It’s a great thing Barcelona is such a wonderful city to get lost in!

I don’t know what it is about light fixtures and this trip, but for some reason I keep finding myself drawn to them! I saw this one in the window of a restaurant and thought it was so clever! Note to self: I want to figure out how to make this for my future kitchen!

We snuck inside Santa Maria del Mar thinking it would be calm, cool, and quiet. It wasn’t exactly cool nor quiet, but it was beautiful and the stained glass was impressive. Despite the heat, Andrew and I sat inside for awhile taking the architecture in.

Party in the street! Now, where are all of the people? I couldn’t get enough of this festive street! We then remembered the Museum of History was free today as well, so we thought we’d give it a shot, knowing we might walk away from it just like we did at the Picasso Museum. I guess not as many people are interested in history as they are in Picasso because there was no line and we were able to walk around freely! Unfortunately, the museum offered few descriptions in English- most were in both Spanish and Catalan and we were at a bit of a loss looking at some of the exhibits. It surrounded (and was under) Placa del Rei, so it made for a nice entry and exit past the same steps I mentioned during our Old City walking tour.

We walked around town some more, heading towards a restaurant for an early (by Barcelona standards) dinner. I’m not sure what this sign means in English, but thought it was pretty regardless if I understood it’s meaning or not.

Day 341: Get ready for some Gaudi!

“I never knew this guy existed!” Andrew said as we started the tour. ‘This guy’ was Antoni Gaudi (1852 – 1926) and in case you haven’t heard of him either: He was a Catalan architect fueled by nature and religion and incorporated a variety of crafts (ceramics, stained glass, ironwork, and carpentry) into his work. He has a crazy distinct style and most of his work is concentrated in or around Barcelona. He’s most famous for La Sagrada Familia, the unfinished church that some say looks like wax was poured over it in the middle of the city.

I knew of him, but I didn’t really know the extent of his awesomeness until today. Perhaps that’s how everyone is… until they go to Barcelona and get their minds practically blown by Gaudi’s creativity. Which is what happened to us.Again, I might have gone overboard on the photos, but I just couldn’t help myself. We began the day with another RunnerBean Free Walking Tour (this time devoted to Gaudi) and ended the day in Park Güell marveling at the incredible amount of architecture and design and just plain awesome (yep, I said it again) art.

First stop: Palau Güell is a mansion built for Eusebi Güell between 1885–1890. We stopped on the sidewalk outside of the beautifully ornate building and heard about how expensive it was to build and how Gaudi simply didn’t care how much money he went through when designing and building the house. I think he drove the poor guy bankrupt when designing and building this house! We heard about how the first floor was where the horses would enter and the floor above was where the family received guests. I would have loved to go in, but there was a long wait and we were on to the next stop before I knew it.

Second stop: Casa Batlló (maybe my favorite house by Gaudi!) is also a mansion designed for the Batlló family between 1904–1906. It was a redesign and we were told that the interior not only reflected similar design aesthetics of the outside (curvy lines, mosaics, etc.). Even the sidewalk outside reflected the same design! The bone shaped windows and the mosaics (of course) were my favorite. I couldn’t get enough of either. At the top of the building, there was a tiny little balcony that you would see a couple every once in awhile step out onto for a picture that would be taken automatically by a camera positioned on a rod outside of the building. If I had to pick only one of Gaudi’s houses to go in, it would be this one! Why don’t more architects design crazy houses like this one!

Third stop: Casa Milà was yet another mansion built for Roser Segimon and Pere Milà between 1906–1912. As much as I loved Casa Batlló, I loved the story behind this mansion even more. We were told by our guide that when it was built, mothers would cover their children’s eyes as they passed because they thought it was shameful or something! Ha! Also the wife, Pere Milà sounded like a real piece of work. In other words, she hated the design. So much so that she even altered some of the interior design. We were pointed out a beautiful interior ceiling from the sidewalk outside, it looked like an ocean of white waves. She hated it and ordered it to be covered up.

Andrew nudged me and asked if I thought it resembled Cappadocia. I nodded, and quickly after, Andrew asked our guide if Gaudi had ever been to Turkey. He hadn’t, but our guide knew exactly what he was thinking and quickly opened his binder up to show a picture of the same fairy chimneys we visited in Turkey a few months ago! It was one of those moments where we both felt a little bit smart, and a bit of ‘We really ARE learning things on this trip!’

Fourth stop: La Sagrada Familia and no, it’s not a mansion. It’s the huge (HUGE) unfinished church that Gaudi worked on starting in 1883 until he died in 1926. According to our guide, the Roman Catholic church will be finished in 2026 (100 years after Gaudi’s death) but he seemed to roll his eyes that it actually will be finished by then. I have to say, I might be somewhat surprised as well considering how much is finished compared to the pictures of what was left to go.

Again, we stayed on the outside of the church hearing all about it, knowing we would come back another day to spend more time exploring the interior. I have to point out though, some of the designs on the outside reminded me a bit of Star Wars characters. Can you see it? I just love seeing and wondering of the possibility of all of these different artistic influences. Ancient fairy chimneys in the middle of Turkey influencing Gaudi… in turn influencing George Lucas… Maybe it’s a stretch, maybe it’s not, either way it’s fun to fantasize about the connections.

Outside the church, vendors lined up with the usual fare. A few made use of their time by sneaking in a chess game. En route to our next stop, I couldn’t help observe this out of place balcony in Barcelona. Where is the laundry? The Catalan flag? The pretty chairs and potted plants? What’s going on with this larger than life barbie?

Fifth stop: of our own, not a part of the tour, we picked up some picnic food and headed to… Park Güell! It was actually a perfect idea because it fit in nicely with our Gaudi themed day and it turned out to be such a lovely place to sit and eat and people watch! I couldn’t resist snapping a picture of this “Free Park Güell” graffiti because park officials (or maybe city officials?) are debating charging an entrance fee to the currently free park. After our visit, and considering how expensive it is to get inside any of Gaudi’s houses and/or La Sagrada Familia, it would be such a shame to charge an entrance fee to this beautiful park!

We actually sat in the lower court, enjoying the cool concrete and shade for awhile. I couldn’t get enough of the mosaics on the ceiling. Aren’t they gorgeous? Groups of tourists would try to take pictures of themselves with the ornate circles, but I was more keen on placing my camera on the ground to get a good shot with my long lens.

Afterwards we headed to the colonnaded footpath with huge rock pillars twisting up to support the roof above similar to the pillars supporting La Sagrada Familia. It was beautiful, and even more beautiful when we walked down a bit further away from the crowd and it suddenly felt like we had the place to ourselves- that is, after I politely shouted in Korean to the Korean girls looking at pictures of themselves to please move out of my shot. 

The main square was lined with a snake-like mosaic bench and provided a beautiful view of Barcelona below. Park Güell was actually supposed to be a housing community, but only two houses were built- one of which can be seen at the main entrance to the park and the other bought and lived in by Gaudi.

Gaudi’s house has since been turned into a museum and features some furniture that he designed for others, furniture that he himself used in the house, and some drawings and plans by Gaudi himself.

We walked around some more, and then eventually made our way out of the park through the main entrance, past the multicolored mosaic salamander (the dragon), and a boatload of people taking their picture with it. It seemed like a bit of a circus and I thought it was a bit funny to see people posing with so many others in their picture! So, I took a picture of everyone taking pictures. You know, getting all of the madness in before we left.

Day 340: Barcelona Old City Walking Tour

Anxious to get out of bed, but still a bit sleepy, we headed across town to join the Runner Bean Barcelona Old City Walking Tour in the morning. It was great, but it was also very similar to other ‘old city walking tours’ that we’ve been on lately, and my attention wavered more than it should have. I tried to focus on what pretty pictures I could take of Barcelona Old City, and tried to forget that I was still a bit sleep deprived, but I wasn’t always so successful. After the tour, we meandered down by the seaport and walked around to some different eateries in hopes that our friend, Nat would be game to hopping around to a few for tapas at night. She was! We were all thrilled to see each other again (we met in Tanzania a few months ago) and spent a good deal of time trying to sort out where our respective travels have taken us since Arusha!

We met in Plaça Reial by the water fountain and soon we were winding our way through the little streets of the old town towards another square with a big church, and this beautiful still-intact building façade. While everyone couldn’t get enough of the facade and the church, I couldn’t get enough of the scissors and knife shop below.

We walked by a shrine to a young woman who refused to renounce her Catholic faith, then through the Jewish district and finally to one of the more major squares with political buildings on either side. Despite the tour being wonderful and our guide being very knowledgeable, I think Andrew and I were more keen on finding coffee.

We were told this is the most photographed bridge in Barcelona. A pedestrian one at that, the Carrer del Bisbe Irurita is between two buildings in a narrow alleyway in the Gothic Quarter of the Old City. It was beautiful and I could see why it is so popular to photograph. I’m always blown away by such intricate marble and wood carving and how they have survived over the years.

An interesting thing I noticed throughout our tour: all graffiti seemed to be contained to the doors. The beautiful stone buildings were left virtually untouched, but the doors would be COVERED with paint. If I hadn’t been to Greece, I would think it was a shame, but after seeing how everything was covered in Greece, I thought it was somewhat respectful that the walls weren’t covered with tags on top of the doors.

We made our way outside of the Barcelona Cathedral. I’m still working with one lens and knew I didn’t have a chance to fit the whole façade in using it, so I tried to get as much in as possible from where we were standing, looking up. It was immense. There were a lot of people. Instead of fighting our way through, we walked on, past another church, past several mouth-watering tapas restaurants and learned a little bit more about Barcelona Old City, but wasn’t able to retain it over my hunger and need for caffeine. (Sorry, friends)

One stop that I would have not known had it not been for this tour, was inside a small courtyard featuring three old Roman columns. Everyone filtered in, stopped to take them in, mostly in awe of them still being so well preserved, snapped a few pictures, and then we made our way out. One family still lives in one of the apartments surrounding the courtyard. I bet that’s fun dealing with a steady stream of visitors everyday… Afterwards, we made our way to Plaça del Rei (King’s Square) which is most well known for the steps where it is believed that Ferdinand and Isabella welcomed Columbus when he arrived home from his first voyage. Our guide didn’t seem to take a lot of stock in this story, insisting somewhat that it was more likely he was received at sea instead. But who knows! The steps were pretty and grand, so it makes for a good story regardless. Our tour ended not long after and we wandered through the backstreets in a similar direction from where we started. Of course, I was drawn to the street art and then this massive art installation in the middle of a side square. Unfortunately there wasn’t any information (that I saw) about it!

I couldn’t stop taking in the beauty of the apartment buildings. Someone somewhere said that ‘Barcelona knows how to do laundry’ or something similar, and I couldn’t agree more. Laundry, plants, even colorful plastic chairs… It all looks prettier in Barcelona! Close to the port, another modern sculpture dominated a square, otherwise surrounded by traffic. Getting a close up of the colors against the bright blue sky made crossing the street worth it.

Passing the time to meet our friend, we walked through more streets, and looked for suggested tapas restaurants to check out later. When we met Nat, we knew exactly where to go and which places we wanted to try out! We started at Bodega Biarritz for sangria and tapas and then hopped in and out of places we liked the looks of as we walked around the Born and Gothic neighborhoods. Nat told us that the pinchos were tapas put on bread so patrons could cover their drinks so flies wouldn’t get in! So clever! Some of the restaurants were so busy, we couldn’t even get an order in- at one, we actually gave up and went elsewhere because after fifteen minutes or so of trying to get to the counter, we didn’t have any luck! Even though eating so late could take some getting used to, I love the idea of tapas and getting to sample so many different tastes in one sitting. Restaurant hopping to try even more settings and sangria made the evening even better!

Day 339: Barcelona!

You know it’s a bad bus ride when you’re nostalgic for the buses in Vietnam, and (despite the dirt) even those in India. That being said, I do NOT recommend Eurolines when traveling through Europe. Our bus was nearly two hours late. It was full. The lights stayed on. And it was as if every kind of crazy decided to journey to Spain that night. Right on par with the Greyhound these days back home. Not. my. favorite. Needless to say, we were exhausted when we arrived in Barcelona in the morning.

Visiting Barcelona in the summertime turned out to be just like Prague. We had a really really hard time finding a place to stay. Luckily, at the last minute, a couchsurfer messaged us with a room for 10 euros each per night. Not exactly couchsurfing etiquette, but it was better than a 40 euro per night per bunk in a hostel otherwise. This is when I bemoan the fact that Africa absolutely killed our budget. And then Andrew reminds me the safari was worth it.

We slept. for awhile. So long, that when we woke up and realized we hadn’t eaten anything in over 24 hours, Andrew talked me out of wanting to go back to sleep and talked me into going out to find some food. It was roughly 8 or so at night. Spain 101: no one eats until at least 10. Restaurants weren’t even open! We found a sidewalk cafe and ordered a few tapas with a drink while we waited. Filled up on them and when Andrew was satisfied I had enough food to hold me over until the morning, we made our way back to bed. Some of these overnight bus rides take us a few days to get over. We’re getting better than we were at the start of this trip, but that doesn’t make them any easier. It’s like jet-lag only worse because you feel like you shouldn’t be having such a hard time getting over one night of not sleeping…

I was excited to be in Barcelona, but more excited to sleep our first night. My first impression of the city though, was how beautiful the buildings were. I have to admit, I’m somewhat cheating with this post- so you don’t have to suffer through one minute of us sleeping, I’ve compiled some video of buildings throughout the city I shot on other days instead.

Day 338: a wine tasting at Pierre Andre

While Andrew is more of a beer kinda guy, I think I like beer and wine equally. After Julie and Antoine so generously shared a fair amount of their wine with us during our visit, it was icing on the cake when they announced we were going to visit Pierre Andre, a local winery and have a tasting. It was a much more intimate experience than our wine tasting in South Africa and we were so grateful to the young man (I have to say young man because he was so much younger than us and sooo much more knowledgeable about wine!) who poured our wine for us and explained what we were tasting. A tip of the hat towards this winery, because while the ones I’ve experienced (South Africa somewhat included) tended to be on the snooty side, Pierre Andre was anything BUT snooty. They were kind and welcoming and really downright lovely. Next time we visit Burgundy (and we’re not jumping several countries before going ‘home’) we’ll be back and chances are, we’re going to leave with a couple of cases of wine!

It was our last day in Burgundy, so it made perfect sense to be at the winery before lunch! We wandered through the cellars before making our way back upstairs for a really great tasting. We had more than the usual (I think around 4-5 different wines has been my experience elsewhere) and we were able to get more if we wanted!

I kept trying to photograph the dimly lit cavern with my lens and it wasn’t having it. You can see Julie catching me putting my camera on the table (above) but the light was simply not in my favor. Julie also got these pictures of me and Andrew – which is quite nice to have a few photos of us that we haven’t taken ‘selca (selfie) style’ of ourselves on one of our i-devices!

I was really quite sad to leave, although I’ve been getting better at not letting it show as much. Sometimes Andrew has to deal with me tearing up on a bus or plane after saying goodbye, but I think it was a little bit easier than most times because New York to France seems much more feasible than South Korea to France (or vice versa). So instead of going on and on about how much I hate goodbyes, I’ll instead indulge us all with a ridiculous amount of pictures of thefour six (dogs included) of us!

Day 337: Chateauneuf en Auxois

Chateauneuf en Auxois turned out to be one of the most photogenic places! It didn’t hurt that it was overcast- we were a little bit chilled, but it was fairly glorious to photograph all of the colors of doors and flowers and trees under the cloudy sky. We visited the fortification first, strolled through the town to the church, then strolled through again before the sun peeked out and we were able to enjoy another picnic lunch outside before making our way to Saint-Victor-sur-Ouche, where Antoine used to visit his grandparents! We watched a river cruise boat pull into a lock, walked down the lane, and even waded in the shallow river long enough to cool off, but not get too cold from the mountain spring water. Again, the day was wonderful!

I felt a little restricted not having a wider lens, so there were many times that I would curse the lens that I had, and back up as far as I could to take a shot. But the weather was working in my favor. We were chilled, but the grey sky made the colors really pop for these photos of Chateauneuf en Auxois and the little village surrounding it.

Inside Chateauneuf en Auxois, I was most impressed with the patterns of the wallpaper, or on the fireplace cover, or even the bedding in some of the rooms. The photos I took of the rooms themselves were too cropped, and quite simply didn’t do the rooms justice, so we’ll just stick with sharing the beautiful colors and patters found inside instead. I got a few (slightly cropped still) shots of the outside that do give the courtyard a bit of justice. How beautiful is this rose covered wall?

Perhaps you can hear me whispering excitedly to Andrew about the ‘murder holes’ we found overlooking the town below. Have I mentioned before on the blog that Andrew has teased me about installing these in our future home in America?

I’m sure we won’t run into any building code problems whatsoever in New York City if/when we ever request a few of these…

I might have gone off the deep end photographing the town. I just could not get enough of it. The ivy growing on houses, the rock walls, the bright yellow van parked in front of the bright red door… Needless to say, I was always tagging along behind everyone else or running to catch up after taking copious amounts of photos of the same yellow van and red door.

After a lovely picnic lunch, we headed to Saint-Victor-sur-Ouche. This little (and equally adorable) town was right alongside a canal. Cruises go up and down the canal. We had timed it somewhat perfectly to see a little ‘ship’ arrive to the lock and then move up the river. We found out that the cruises last one week, but if you were to drive the same distance, it would only take about two hours or so. When the boat was going through the lock, the passengers got off with bikes to go around and explore. I’m on the fence about cruises in general, so I’m wondering if one of these (very) leisurely canal cruises would be something I would like or not… Maybe I need to try a regular cruise first? Perhaps one (or both) will be part of our next Round-the-World trip?

Realizing we didn’t have very many group shots, I arranged my camera on my backpack, set the self timer, and ran (awkwardly ran) into the water to take a group picture. These are the best ones we managed to get. Afterwards, we (I) had a bit of trouble getting up the sharp slope back to the car. Andrew decided to help, and Julie documented it. (Nice job, Julie!) Later that night in the garden, Julie also documented how well Roule and I got on. She was a little camera shy though, and once she caught on to Julie photographing us, she ran off!

Day 336: A day in Dijon

I remember Dijon the most from my first trip to visit Julie. It was fun to be back and see how it’s changed- it mostly felt bigger than it did last time, which I suppose is true about nearly everywhere these days. We walked around, we took pictures, we ate croque madames et monsieurs, we introduced Julie and Antoine to the ‘selca’ shot (this is Korean speak for ‘selfie’ back home, it can be seen in my Instagram feed) and then when we were too hot and tired, we headed back to the garden for more glorious French food and wine. You have no idea how spoiled Andrew and I felt throughout our visit and stay with Antoine and Julie!

I managed to get everyone else in the “day in a minute” video making a wish and touching the owl for good luck. Julie managed to get a picture of me! Actually, thanks to her, there are more pictures of me up than usual! Since Andrew’s camera battery charger died, I’ve mostly been behind the lens rather than in front of it. Since Andrew’s camera went missing in Prague, unless I specifically hand it over, sometimes this blog reads more like ‘This Wisconsin Boy’ rather than ‘This Kentucky Girl.’ He pretends he doesn’t like it, but we all know that is far from the truth. It’s fun to share some pictures of me for a change! Merci beaucoup encore Julie!

I caught Antoine sitting in between these two pillars waiting for us to catch up. So. adorable. Then things got even better when he pretended to be a gargoyle. The one of him laughing is probably a bit better (and more flattering) than the one of him actually pretending he’s a gargoyle. Somehow mouth open, bent over doesn’t scream ‘I’m a gargoyle’ as much as it screams ‘I’m getting sick!’ (ha!) The streets were a bit empty, being August in France- most people are on vacation. It made for a very leisurely (and enjoyable) stroll. I even found some street art along the way that I quite enjoyed. The heart is probably my favorite.

Julie and I spotted an old sign in what was basically a driveway leading to a back courtyard. Julie and I both share a love of older prints and lettering. So, of course we had to take a few pictures. I experimented with a close up shot of the sign, but I’m not sure if it does the typography justice.

She led us past an old church that had been converted into a theater, into another church, and while I was in the midst of photographing the interior, my second lens of the trip decided to stop working. This is one aspect of the trip that I had not properly prepared for: the general wear and tear that would happen to our computers, cameras, and related electronic gear. I’ve had a lot of issues with my external hard drive (where all of my photos and videos from the trip- for the blog- and my portfolio reside) and a few lens issues. Were I to do this trip again, again, I’d travel with a camera bag instead of a ‘backpacker’s daypack’ and I’d have more of a backup plan in mind. Extra money set aside for broken lenses. An extra camera perhaps. Definitely an additional external hard drive. (I worry more its whereabouts than I do of my passport!)

I really wanted to travel with a high quality point and shoot in addition to my DSLR- but Andrew talked me out of it… He nsisted my iphone/DSLR combo was enough. For those not obsessed with taking pictures, this would have been sound advice. Unfortunately- I am obsessed. (Perhaps you’ve noticed?) Usually I travel (on shorter trips) with at least three cameras: a digital, an analog, an i-phone, and sometimes even a polaroid. From now on, I will always travel with a small (yet hopefully advanced) point and shoot.

Perhaps sand got into my daypack and then into my other lens. Perhaps I would have gotten even more footage and pictures having a point and shoot. Perhaps having a point and shoot more accessible would let me keep my DSLR tucked away when kayaking, trekking, etc. etc. My point is- if you’re a photographer, and you’re going on a trip around the world. Invest in a point and shoot in addition to your normal gear. You won’t regret it. Especially when your second wide angle lens of the trip bottoms out and you have to make a choice of what to get fixed and/or what to buy as a replacement!

We thought it would be appropriate if we take a group picture in front of the plaque solidifying American-French friendship. When we asked someone nearby to take the picture, they were a little confused as to why we would want our picture taken with the plaque- that is, until we told him of our own American-French friendship.

And then… guess where we had dinner? In the garden, of course!

Every night, Swing and Roule would want to come into our room. They weren’t allowed, but this did not stop them from trying. I managed to catch this picture of Roule in the morning just checking things out, seeing what we were up to…

Day 335: Burgundy

Bienvenue a Burgundy! Antoine and Julie took the reins during our stay and with our second day in the region, we headed to Autun and Beaune. Autun for a festival celebrating the people who first inhabited the area. Think Asterix, only not so animated. It reminded both Andrew and me of The Renaissance Festivals back home. After lunch, we headed to Beaune – mostly to see the Hospices de Beaune, an old hospital most known for its beautiful roof and perhaps to some, a charity wine auction. It was a lovely afternoon, but an almost better (?) evening when we were back in the garden dining on Julie’s homemade French dishes complete with more wine, bread, and cheese. We found ourselves again in food heaven.

We headed to Autun early, and made it just in time for some (gladiator arena-style-fight) reenactments. The performance – about four different battles- didn’t last long. Afterwards, we found Julie and Antoine asking one of the men questions. I tried to follow along as best as I could, but practicing my listening comprehension for the first time in a long long while proved to be rather difficult.

Julie prepared a wonderful picnic that we enjoyed in an old Roman colosseum- well, what was left of it. We brought along the dogs; Swing and Roulle. Roulle (Julie’s parents’ dog) took a liking to us. Andrew and I always argue over which one of us dogs like more. He won this time around. Roulle rested her head on his knee during at least half of our picnic. (You have no idea how much we’re looking forward to having a dog of our own when we get back. Like, almost as much as I’m looking forward to having a bed I get to sleep in for more than three nights in row.

I remember visiting the Hospices de Beaune in high-school. The roof is just as pretty as it was fifteen years ago. Would you believe this hospital was for the poor? Can you imagine if hospitals in America looked like this today?

We didn’t stay long in Beaune. Andrew and I weren’t disappointed, I mean- it was beautiful, and we appreciated it (of course) but, we had a feeling another wonderful dinner was in store for us back ‘home’ in the garden! And sure enough, it was. When Antoine handed us each a half of an avocado to start, Andrew and I were skeptical. But then we were introduced to quite possibly my new most favorite thing to eat. He then proceeded to pour olive oil into where the pit once resided, sprinkled a bit of salt on top and then mashed it up before eating it with some baguette. It was pretty amazing, and if you’re anything like me (lover of avocados. olive oil. bread.) you’ll quickly find yourself addicted. Oh behalf of Antoine, you’re welcome.

Day 334: a French reunion

Nearly fifteen years ago (ohmigoodness. fifteen whole years.) a lovely French girl, Julie, came to Kentucky to stay with me and my family for two weeks. A few months later, I found myself in France staying with her and her family. Fortunately we got along incredibly well. (The same cannot be said for all who participated in this exchange between our high-schools.) We got along so well in fact, that we’ve kept photo-albums and scrapbooks of our exchange. We sent each other Christmas presents for a few years after. I spent an Easter during my semester abroad in Italy with her and her family. Needless to say, when she heard about our trip around the world, she was insistent we stop by for another visit. Of course, I immediately said ‘yes’ and despite not seeing each other for eight years, I wasn’t exactly surprised when we were picked up (at 4:30 in the morning) Julie and I carried on like we just saw each other yesterday. Her and her wonderful husband, Antoine whisked us away to their beautiful home in the French countryside, let us crawl into bed for a few hours and then (little did we know) began to spoil us with a ridiculous amount of delicious French baguettes, cheeses, wines… and this was just the start of so much more goodness to come!

After a very leisurely lunch out back, in beautiful French fashion (olives and bread to nibble on with drinks, then the main course, then cheese, then fruit) all with wonderful wine, I hardly felt like a backpacker and instead, felt like a girl who just happened to be visiting her close friend in the French countryside for a few days. (I’m. so. lucky.) We went to a local rummage sale and then back to their abode to meet friends before being treated to a really wonderful dinner. Wonderful is an understatement. It was the nicest meal we’ve had during this entire trip. I was so excited, I had to take a picture of every course. I was thatgirl photographing her food. And her boyfriend’s food. I know I should have been more like ‘yea, I’m a world-traveler… I do this all. the. time.‘ with a flip of the hair of course… But obviously (if you’ve been following along) we don’t. Some nights bread and cheese is our dinner, not just the last course. (My standards have become increasingly low- especially after some of the less developed countries.)

Enjoy the beautiful food pictures below, and maybe you won’t blame me for going a bit bananas documenting our best meal! Julian (I hope I’m spelling that right!) enjoyed teasing me for being that girl taking pictures of her food. He asked if I wanted to take a picture of his desert as well. I said yes, as long as he was in it too!

Day 333: The Astronomical Clock Chime

One of my favorite pictures is one that I took when I lived in Prague from the Astronomical Clock tower. It was raining and I got lucky with a beautiful shot full of umbrellas. Sometimes I like to revisit a picture and take it again. It wasn’t raining today, but I still enjoyed the people below… perhaps a little too much because I kept taking pictures of the crowd growing and growing and…

The chime of the astronomical clock isn’t terribly exciting, nor does it last very long, so it always gives me a little chuckle to see how large the crowd gets to see something that lasts all of fifteen seconds on the hour, every hour. I could watch the crowd from below or above for hours though. So many tourists from so many different places makes for great people watching!

We started the day at the farmer’s market right around the corner from Petr’s house. It was perfect. A coffee. A crepe. A Slovakian potato salad. all under a tree in a park with Petr and Andrew of course. If you look closely (above), you can see both Andrew and Petr in their red shirts in the middle of the crowd below! 

OK, so I was a little obsessed with how pretty the crowd looked below. (You should see how many raw images I have!) I finally tore myself away after the clock chimed to walk around the astronomical clock tower for some different views, both of the square below and the town surrounding. And then I realized Andrew and Petr were waiting below and we had a bus to catch to Dijon! I scooted back down the tower, glad I got the chance to go up the astronomical clock tower once more. Aside from the view from Letna, I think the view of Prague from the top of the astronomical clock tower is the best in the city. Maybe it has a special place in my heart though because I visited it with a close friend from college who came all the way to Prague to visit me!

Day 332: What’s a chlebicky?

Today’s to-do: See Fred and Ginger (also known as The Dancing House) and pick up Andrew’s passport. You’ve probably been thinking ‘Woah, they’ve been in Prague forever!’ -at least one friend was, confused by our length of stay… But it’s been prolonged mostly because Andrew needed to get extra pages added to his passport. Instead of just getting more pages for one year left until expiration, he went ahead and got a whole new passport- which took a week. Having mostly exhausted the sights (or having been mostly exhausted by the sights) we had a low key day and walked around town with Petr, stopping in a few new places and trying chlebicky for the first time(!) instead of pushing ourselves to do more.

No matter how long you live in a city or a country, there is always something new to be discovered. For me, today, it was not only Lokal restaurant (again, this time in a different location) but trying a Czech chlebicky. I didn’t even notice these little open faced sandwiches in some of the cafes and bistro windows until Andrew asked Petr what they were. Basically, they are an open-faced deli sandwich. And they are delicious. Petr took us to a rather famous place just in between Narodni Divadlo and Narodni Trida to try some.

It’s like the Czech version of tapas… kinda. Petr said they are popular at parties, and I can see why! But perhaps only if there’s quite a variety, because that’s where I think the fun is- getting to try as many different ones as possible. We saved room for take out Vietnamese in his neighborhood instead of going crazy with the chlebicky. Another new thing to me: Vietnamese food in Prague is abundant and awesome.

Day 331: Burgers and Absinth

Whenever we couchsurf, I can’t stop thinking that there are sooo many nice people in the world. It’s a really special feeling (especially after our experience at Hostel Florenc) to say the least. So often throughout this trip something terrible happens to someone in a country we happen to be in and it worries our families and friends… It helps to put our faith back in the world so to speak when we can meet a perfect stranger, drop our bags off at his (or her) house and then go out for coffee, a drink, or dinner together. This is exactly what happened when we met our new friend, Petr – except, we did all three. My favorite part of the evening was going to an Absintherie in the old town. It was Andrew’s first time drinking Absinth, and my first time in an Absintherie. Probably my last time drinking Absinth straight, but fun nonetheless.

Petr showed us around his neighborhood, Vinohrady before heading to dinner. I’m not as familiar with Vinohrady (I lived on the other side of the river) and Prague as a whole has changed so much in terms of eateries and chic coffee shops that it was fun to explore a different side of the city. Part of this little tour included a break from the typical Czech fare for an old fashioned American burger at The Tavern. I had heard that the owners were from Kentucky, so as soon as we sat down, I asked our waiter if there was anyone from Kentucky there at the moment. I told him that I, too, was from Kentucky and would love to meet them. Later, he came up and jokingly whispered to our table “The people from Kentucky are HERE!”

Not a minute after, Lori came up to our table and introduced herself to me and sweetly asked what we were doing in Prague. Sweetly is an understatement, because she seemed to be the kind of person you immediately wanted to hug and ask if you could be best friends forever. Because we’re both from Kentucky, I think she would agree to be my BFF. I hope. The cutest part of our conversation was when she said “I just got done working with George Clooney!” in a What a coincidence! kinda way – as if I knew him or he was a friend of mine as well –  you know, because of Kentucky. That’s when I decided had I still lived in Prague, we would indeed be BFFs today!

After she left, I turned to Petr with a wink and simply said “Kentucky” with a big smile.

After some delicious burgers, we wandered down to the old town for some drinks, stopped in to see Petr’s mom working at the Moser shop (fancy Czech glass and crystal) and then headed to the Absintherie.

I’ve never been to an Absintherie before, much less had an entire glass of Absinth. It was quite the production and even if I wasn’t a huge fan of drinking it straight (I prefer a smidge in a B52 shot) the little bar was perfectly designed and decorated and it was definitely different from the typical Czech watering hole. The trick is to get lots of water to chase your sips with. Otherwise it kinda tastes like the worst cold medicine ever. Which is why, I’ve always preferred drinking it with Kahlúa and Baileys Irish Cream. The fun part is when the Absinth is set on fire and you drink the shot through a straw. You don’t have time to really taste the strength of the Absinth when it’s done like this!

We stopped at a few more places- tried to have a more fancy drink on a rooftop in the Old Town, but got shooed away because Petr was speaking Czech. They seemed to prefer tourists only. We introduced Petr to Usudu (the cave-like bar from a few posts earlier) which was great until we were suddenly surrounded by a pub crawl. On our walk ‘home’ Petr took us down the red light district before one final stop in a brand new bar that was designed in the old communist style around the corner from his house. I LOVED the aesthetic (a little bit you can see in the video) and looked forward to returning the next afternoon for lunch, as Petr promised!

Day 330: I love you Prague, but you’re bringing me down (Thanks, Hostel Florenc)

Having lived in Prague for a year, I can honestly say that being a tourist in this wonderful (glorious, beautiful, fabulous) city is not the same. But perhaps, it had a lot to do with where we were staying: Enter Hostel Florenc, located conveniently practically inside the Florenc bus terminal in Prague. We hadn’t planned to stay here. Instead, we had made arrangements to stay in a studio apartment in the old town for our entire week (turned two) stay. That is, before the owner of the flat decided the price was in euros instead of dollars (as it was stated online). We tried couchsurfing. We tried AirBnB. But ended up at Hostel Florenc because it was the cheapest, included breakfast, and advertised decent wi-fi (something that is increasingly important for a girl trying to put up a daily blog post about her trip around the world).

I didn’t realize how tolerant Andrew and I have become along this trip until today. I mean, sure, I’ve chuckled at ourselves throughout incredibly uncomfortable bus rides through Africa. I continue to make fun of Andrew for getting frustrated over teeny cups of coffee that come with milk when he had specifically asked for black. He continues to make fun of me for getting frustrated over the lack of dipping sauce when I order calamari, or there’s no lettuce in my Greek salad, or the bed isn’t made, or his bag explodes all over our tiny room for the night… (I just asked him what he makes fun of me for, and couldn’t stop him from listing every. single. thing.) One of us gets worked up. The other rolls their eyes and laughs. We get over it.

But after one full week of staying at Hostel Florenc, a stay that included a missing camera (mostly our fault), a clogged drain in a dirty, shared bathroom, an oven-like room, 4AM wake up calls thanks to construction noise and dozens of buses starting up outside our window, internet speeds so slow they rivaled those in Africa… When we got back late last night, I opened my big backpack to discover its contents soaked – including the inside of a binder full of women electronic outlets, camera accessories, and the worst part: a paper bag full of ticket stubs, travel pamphlets, and one full travel journal… I could no longer tolerate Hostel Florenc and followed Andrew down to reception, completely disappointed with not only Hostel Florenc, but that our week long stay in Prague was not nearly as glorious as my year residing in the city had been. To try to make up for our disastrous accommodation, Andrew acquiesced to an afternoon of thrift and vintage shop hopping in and around Vinohrady and Žižkov.

After stumbling upon some fun stores in Budapest, I decided to put a little more effort into looking for fun thrift and vintage stores in Prague. I found some good articles and lists, did a bit of cross referencing, and tried to go to an area where it looked like the most were. (You can check all of the inks out here, here, and here!) We ended up starting in Vinohrady and I ducked into several hoping to find some new (to me) clothes that would fit into my budget.

First stop: Second Street Boutique

I found several things, but they were all on the regular priced racks and I couldn’t justify spending the equivalent of $10.00 on a second hand shirt. I didn’t realize the bargain bins were such a bargain until I had already been inside for fifteen minutes- if you go, head to those first! Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything. If I weren’t traveling around the world- living out of a backpack (and trying my hardest to stick to a budget) I would have bought a few things, but… if I bought something I’d have to give up that much of my daily budget annnd I’d have to figure out how to stuff it into my backpack… I walked out empty handed.

Second stop: Second Hand Fox’s

This was set up more like a boutique, which kinda meant there wasn’t tooo much to choose from. It’s right smack in the middle of lots of other choices, so it’s worth stopping, but don’t get your hopes up.

Third stop: Second Móda

Random stop in between other shops on the list. I went in because there was a giant (not exactly friendly in the end) dog I wanted to be friends with and it looked properly packed. There were piles. and stacks. and disorganized racks of clothes. It was great. But possibly too vintagey for this trip?

Fourth stop: Praha Thrift Store

This one reminded me most of my favorite back home. It was organized. It was full. There were even weekly discounts (although none applied to me). It wasn’t terribly expensive, but I just couldn’t find anything… I started to feel a little disappointed, but reminded myself it was all about the adventure of it instead of the final purchase today.

Fifth stop: Bohemian Retro

This was probably the most vintagey (and fun) store on the list. There was even a ‘man chair’ for Andrew and a lovely American (I believe it’s his wife’s shop) who had been living in Prague for awhile to chat to while I mulled over a bag and if I could take it around South America with me. In the end, I decided the bag wouldn’t work on the road and we headed back towards Old Town for some langosš (you can see him eating it in the video above) and a photography exhibit.

I was a little bit bummed that we went to sooo many places and I was returning back to Hostel Florenc empty-handed. And then I remembered that my bag got soaked the night before and if I were to get something fabulous, the way this trip has been going, chances are it something would have happened to it… It was a good day of distraction (from our hostel nightmare) and one that wasn’t as touristy as our other days in Prague have been.

The photography exhibit; Viktor Kolář: A Retrospective was nice- well, that’s just it- it was nice. It probably shouldn’t have been called a ‘retrospective’ in my very humble opinion, and that it wasn’t arranged in chronological order was a bit strange… Disconnects like these make me curious how the show was curated. But I always feel like I learn a bit more about photography and what I like and dislike when looking at others’ works, exhibitions, and even ‘retrospectives.’

Back at Hostel Florenc, we were greeted by the worst reception girl on the whole of this trip. Seriously, she was that awful. I’m jumping ahead a bit, (simply because I don’t want to talk about Hostel Florenc in another post) but the reason we stayed so long at Hostel Florenc in the first place (despite less than lovely conditions) was because all of the other women at the front desk were so nice! Apparently this woman (with bright red dyed hair I might add) was not in the same training session. When we went to check out and ask if the manager had anything for us to make up for my soaking bag (we were hoping for at least a refund for one or two nights stay) she muttered under her breath the entire time about how we left the window open (we didn’t) and it was our fault (it wasn’t). Had she simply followed the typical customer/hospitality rules of apologizing and being nice about an unfortunate situation, I would have chalked the whole thing up to the joys of travel… and our plain bad luck some times.

Instead, she decided to be a horrible person and I walked out in shock at how terribly she spoke to us before we left- after staying for (and paying for) eight nights! I was fuming as we crossed town to meet our couchsurfer host for the night (Thank God for him!) and if the hostel wasn’t located in such a crap location (in the middle of the Florenc Bus Station) I probably would have marched back in to give her a piece of my mind. Instead, I took to Trip Advisor and left quite possibly the worst review I have on this entire (nearly one year) trip.

They of course, responded and said I lied. While I fumed- again- at Hostel Florenc, Andrew laughed at how absurd they were and took to writing a Trip Advisor review for them of his own. A few days later, in Barcelona we met up with a friend of ours who had stayed in the same place and had a similar (terrible) experience with them as well. We commiserated. Andrew showed her our list of what we would include in our future boutique hostel/guesthouse (investors wanted). She approved.

We all agreed hospitality is key. All Hostel Florenc had to do was apologize profusely for the inconvenience. Perhaps offer a dryer. Maybe even some complimentary tea or coffee after I spent an hour trying to clean up a mess that wasn’t my fault. But noooo, they shot us dirty looks, talked badly about us under their breath, and didn’t even thank us for our week long stay! My only hope is that others stumble across our reviews and possibly this post so they realize it’s worth it in the end to pay more to stay elsewhere!

Day 329: Museum of Communism oh, and another walking tour

I have a small obsession with Communism. You may remember I’m a big fan of old communist propaganda prints? I’ve been to this museum before, but obviously, in order to feed my obsession I didn’t mind returning! The Museum of Communism isn’t nearly as thought out or artistically designed as… say, The House of Terror in Budapest was, but it’s not as bad as some of the Trip Advisor reviews say it is. It is in desperate need of some updating (or at least a discount until it is updated?) but if you’re into history, you might enjoy it. Afterwards, wanting to make up for two bookkeeping (planning/blogging/escaping the heat) days, we joined anotherfree walking tour through Prague. We were so pleased it turned out to be sooo much better than the worst ‘free’ walking tour we took a few days ago. Our guide, David was so nice (and educated and certified!) we ended up sticking around for the second part of the tour on the other side of the river!

The Museum of Communism was just as I remembered, not fun to pay for (a bit overpriced for an exhibition space so outdated in my opinion) but fun to see nonetheless. I think one of the downsides to this trip (in a way) is that we’re exposed to so many great museums that when we come across one that isn’t up to par with some others around the world, we get a little disappointed. At least I do.

I looked the museum up just now to find out some more information and was a bit surprised to discover the founder is also responsible for Bohemia Bagel (an old favorite) and U Malého Glena (a jazz club that was right across the street from my old apartment). Bohemia Bagel was one of the few (at the time you could count on one hand) places where you could get a good internet connection and a western style breakfast or brunch. It was great. These days it’s full of backpackers on a the free walking tour associated with the restaurant or signing up the affiliated pub crawl. I’m wondering if the same owner is responsible for this… If so, I’d like to shake his hand for the good bagel sandwiches six years ago and wring his neck for putting my old favorites on the average 19 year old backpacker’s to do list today. (If you’re interested in reading more about the American born entrepreneur, you can do so here, and here.)

During the first half of the free walking tour, we covered much of the same ground (and information) as we did during the first one. Old Town Square, the Astronomical Clock, the Clock Tower, the stables next to and behind Tyn Church, the Jewish Quarter, and stopped short of Charles Bridge. The group was not so large, and aside from the weird American family (working for the state department abroad) it was a great group to talk to. The weird family took off early, and the guide was so sweet, we decided to stick continue on with the tour on the lesser side (Mala Strana) for the second half of the tour. Although, I really appreciated that there was a break and an option halfway through to continue on, or leave, or perhaps pick up with the tour on another day!

The tour ended within the walls of Czech Castle. We had just enough time to sneak down to the gardens for a view of the city below before it started to rain during our walk back across the river. We ran into two girls from the tour at the same restaurant our guide suggested. As they were from South Korea, they were a bit flabbergasted to find out we had lived there for so long, knew where they went to school, and could even do spot on ajjushi impersonations for them. I never think this is crazy, half of my friends are from my time in Korea. When you’re surrounded by similar people or at least doing similar things, it doesn’t seem as unique. It was my life. It just happened to be in a country not everyone would think a girl from Kentucky would pick to reside in. Chatting with these two tonight made me wonder what reactions will be when we move back to America. Are we really that unique for having lived in South Korea for so long? I don’t really think so, but I’m sure we’ll find out in a few months!

We managed to escape the torrential rain (perhaps you can tell by the gloomy sky above?) but our room, despite having all of its windows shut, did not. Neither did my backpack- full of clothes, souvenir ticket stubs, tourist pamphlets, and one of my travel journals full from this trip. But we’ll get to that tomorrow. Don’t be surprised when Day 330’s blog post is titled For SHAME, Hostel Florenc, For SHAME!

Day 328: The day we almost got arrested.

It’s not nearly as exciting as getting arrested could (should?) be. But it happened nonetheless. In Prague, of all places…

A little backstory: the metro and tram system in Prague require a ticket to be punched upon entry, but there aren’t turnstiles or even people watching, so it’s quite easy to sneak into the metro or onto a tram without a ticket. The clincher is that metro police (sometimes in plainclothes- at least when I lived in Prague they would often be in plainclothes) ride the trams, trains, and sometimes stand at the exit of a station to check for tickets. If you don’t have a ticket, you have to pay a fine. If you don’t have money to pay the fine, you will be escorted to an ATM to withdraw the appropriate amount. If you refuse this, you will be arrested.

This is where we got into a little bit of trouble, even though we tried multiple times to buy a ticket…

I’ve been adamant that we buy tickets for the metro. I told Andrew all about the police and how a few of my friends were caught. I might have even been caught as well when I was pick-pocketed and my monthly pass was taken in my wallet! Anyway, I’m all for sticking it to the man, but not when it come to the Prague metro.

We got down to the metro station without any change for the machines and an unmanned metro office. So we bought some expensive water to break a bigger bill and promptly returned to the machine and slipped in a 50 koruna coin for two tickets. The machine ate our coin. No worries- there was a person behind the ticket office now, we could get help! No dice. The woman refused to listen to us, going so far as to hold up her arms in the Korean-style “X.”

Twenty minutes had passed trying to do the right thing by getting a stupid ticket, the machine ate more than enough for two tickets worth, and now we didn’t have any change (again) to get tickets from the machine that could possibly eat more of our money.

“Let’s just go.” I suggested, annoyed and not wanting to lose any more money in a broken machine.

Two stops later, coming up out of the escalator tunnel, two metro men in uniform were checking for tickets. Of course. The one and only time we didn’t have a ticket, they stop us. I prepare myself to spend an hour looking through my backpack until the officers get bored and let me go. Andrew, had another idea. He wanted to be all honest about it… like it would work or something…

“We tried to buy a ticket, but the machine ate our money, and no one would help us.” he started to explain.

“But you got on the metro without a ticket! You have to pay the fine. Why would you get on without a ticket?” The metro officer asked.

“Because we paid for the tickets! And it’s the hottest day of the year!” I responded, as it was, really, the hottest day of the year in Prague.

There was a lot of back and forth. Andrew started walking towards the ATM machine to withdraw the equivalent of $80.00 to pay the fine for both of us. But then I got indignant. If I really hadn’t gone to such lengths to buy a ticket, let alone lost my money in the process, I would have immediately withdrawn the money. But we really did try to buy a ticket and the machine really did eat our money and the woman really did refuse to help us!

“Andrew, NO! Don’t get money out. I want to talk to the police!” I called over to him halfway across the station and the metro policeman got on his phone.

“They are on my side.” The metro policeman told me.

“Ok.” I said, as Andrew started pacing and going into a bit of a silent panic (he later told me he was trying to play it up, although I’m not so sure…) in front of the officers. I pulled out my camera and asked if I could take their picture while we waited. They declined. I didn’t ask about taking video…

Andrew sat down. I stood next to the officers, clearly not making any attempts to go anywhere, filming the process of checking tickets, and occasionally haggling them a bit when they missed checking someone.

“If you don’t pay, you go to the station, you can spend the night and call your embassy tomorrow” One of the metro men threatened.

“Ok.” I responded, rolling my eyes at the thought of calling my embassy. I wondered how long Andrew would let me be indignant. Would we really ride in a police car to the station? Would I be able to take pictures? How long would we stay at the station? Would I be able to video the station? Would there be an ATM inside the station for Andrew to withdraw money when he got tired of my antics?

And then a wave of commuters came up the escalator and the other metro policeman quietly, but rather sharply told me to “Leave immediately.”

I said thank you, signaled to Andrew, and we left. I have to admit, I was slightly disappointed I didn’t get to see what would happen once the police showed up, but I was excited to return to Radost FX for a delicious brunch and an overpriced (and under liquored) bloody mary instead.

Day 327: Yes, we do have planning days.

A friend recently asked if we ever had these days – devoted to planning. The answer is a huge (HUGE!) “YES!” We were in desperate need of one today because we had to figure out a rough itinerary for Peru in case my Momma was going to book a ticket to come and meet us there. It ended up taking up most of the afternoon, and isn’t going to make for a very fun blog post for you. But, perhaps these pictures of Andrew will make up for it? He’s probably going to kill me (he’s sitting right next to me as I type this out, completely unaware I’m going to put up this glorious photo shoot we had in our oven of a hotel room before we left for the day. It all started when I spotted him getting ready with his bandana around his neck (like a proper prepster) on top of his collared shirt. I begged him to let me take his picture. He relented, even though it was really hard for him to keep a straight face.

Day 326: Mala Strana (part 2) Kampa Museum

We’re baaack in Mala Strana, more specifically; Kampa. I just can’t get enough. Andrew apparently can’t get enough of contemporary art either, because he insisted we go to another museum. Ok, so maybe insisted is the wrong word, but there was a Gerald Scarf exhibition at the Kampa Museum he was keen on seeing and I was not one to complain. We headed straight for the museum (I went a little crazy taking pictures of the pieces I liked most) and then strolled past the Lennon Wall before having dinner at another old haunt, The Hanging Coffee and making an appearance (and a rather weak performance) at a local English trivia night!

I don’t often photograph art – in museums – like I did today. For some reason, I just couldn’t help myself. I really liked some of the pieces and some I just thought were really fun to play with the juxtaposition and depth of field. Unfortunately, I didn’t jot down all of the artists’ names. I feel a bit bad about this. But I’m pretty sure everything I photographed is part of the permanent collection. Except the Gerald Scarf prints. I don’t know if I have a preference between Kampa Museum and the DOX Museum. They were a bit different, and I have a feeling that bigger traveling exhibitions circulate through the DOX. I wasn’t terribly impressed with the Judith on Kampa exhibition featuring works by Klimpt, Mucha, and Kupka- but that’s mostly because it wasn’t a very large collection, and I’m a bigger fan of Mucha (not so much Klimpt, Kupka is ok I guess, although I don’t know much about him) But bottom line is- if you want to see Mucha, then you should go to the Mucha Museum (in Prague) instead.

The personal collection was cool though, and perhaps had I known better, and if Andrew hadn’t wanted to see some Pink Floyd artwork, we would have only paid to see the permanent collection. I always tease Andrew (and maybe I’ve mentioned it on the blog before?) that I only want to be rich so I can be all ‘Pretty Woman’ (Big Mistake. HUGE.) to snooty sales clerks in high end stores. Now, I would also like to have a small fortune to my name so I can collect random modern art pieces and have a ‘collection.’ I think Andrew is down for both- watching me pretend I’m ‘Pretty Woman’ and buying lots and lots of art.

There were a few pieces of Gerald Scarf’s works that really spoke to me. Like, for instance, the one above: from Pink Floyd’s We Don’t Need No Education: the teacher is throwing up into the students’ mouths. Hey! Teacher! Leave those kids alone! 

The Lennon Wall! Once upon a time, my name resided here. I’m sure it’s still there, buried under layers and layers of paint. Andrew usually surprises me with restaurants on this trip, or places he thinks I’ll like that I didn’t look up (and he did) so it was really fun for me to be able to surprise him all over Prague. Had I been really thinking, I would have made it a point to stop and get some spray paint on our way…

Another surprise was climbing up the hill towards the castle, but turning off and taking Andrew to The Hanging Coffee instead. I think Alex (my old roommate) introduced this restaurant to us back in the day, but I can’t be so sure. Either way, it has really great food. We usually went for dinner and drinks, but I hear the coffee is good (and unlimited)! My favorite part is that everyone else there spoke Czech. No pub crawl coming through here, yet… After dinner, we joined an English trivia night, and we made the most epically dismal display of knowledge ever. There was a bridges category- with pictures of bridges around the world and you had to name them.

“I’ve been there. Wherever that bridge is, I know I’ve seen it. But I can’t remember where…” I insisted to Andrew giving me a complete blank expression. We later found out it was in Bratislava. The city we were in RIGHT BEFORE PRAGUE! We didn’t win, but we didn’t come in last – and that’s almost as good as winning some nights, right?

On the way home we waited for the tram with a beautiful view of St. Nicholas lit up at night. I, of course, got super nostalgic. I used to walk home looking at the same view night after night during my year in Prague. I darted out in the middle of the street to take a picture. How lucky was (am) I?