I’m celebrating today, feel free to join me. Why the celebration? I hit a big milestone that I’m excited about…. Drumroll please…. 50 Countries! My tally of places I’ve seen is somewhere between a fifth and a quarter of all the countries in the world, depending on which method you use to count. (The number is contested: you could say there are 195 according to the UN, or you could go with the Olympic committee that recognizes 206, or the ISO Standard list that has every (current) overseas territory listed separately and say 249.) I guess I need to go with the largest number since I have places like Greenland and Gibraltar in my count despite them technically being part of another country. Either way you slice it, I’ve been a lot of places but I have waaaay more to look forward to!
One thing that I’m most immediately looking forward to is seeing more of Colombia, where I am currently. I’ve now had 2 full days here and I’m hooked. The city of Cartagena is the perfect mix of Caribbean and Latin flair with stunning colonial buildings painted vibrant colours in the old walled city, and modern skyscrapers like in Miami or Vancouver to contrast and add interest to the skyline.
Lots more to come from my time here in another post. Stay tuned!
I have a confession to make. I have been avoiding this blog for a week, even though I still have lots to say and even though I really do love writing it. That’s weird, right? I would want to sit down and start a post telling you about all the great things I saw on my last trip, (finishing off the post I started in Naming New York ) but then I would open YouTube or Pinterest instead, or watch a movie or pick up a book, pretty much anything to avoid productivity. I’ve also managed to avoid laundry and vacuuming through these same tactics. But I think it’s about time for me to wrap up this little brain break I’ve given myself and get back to seeing how much I can accomplish in my day instead of how little. Do you know the feeling – have you ever had a chance to just let yourself be a blob for a while? (Not counting any times prior to your 23rd birthday! I remember lots of us choosing to be brainless at times before the full pressures of adulthood kicked in!)
So here we go. I think I’ll still start off with something easy, though, and keep this to a pretty simple recounting of the time I had in New York with my girls last week.
Four childhood friends from a small town are set loose in a big city where they discover new adventures and new things about each other. If you didn’t read that last sentence in an exaggerated movie-trailer-narrative voice then please go back and read it again the way it was meant. Or skip it entirely – lines that cheesy aren’t meant to be taken seriously!! But actually…. that pretty much sums up my 5 days in New York. The four childhood friends are myself and 3 of my cousins that I grew up with, and we really did keep busy with exploring for the entire trip.
Amanda, Erin, Julie, and yours trulyWe’re not always so elegant… That photo was just before the one Broadway show we were able to see. And side note – go see Cirque Du Soleil PARAMOUR if you ever get the chance. I loved it sooooo much!! I think my exuberance to see the show must have caught the attention of Karma, because when we arrived at the theatre to pick up our tickets, (cheapest ones available and at the top back of the room) we were given an upgrade and watched the show from nearly the best seats in the house! Made my night!!
Another highlight was going to Yankee Stadium to watch a baseball game, again made even better when our team won! Go Jays! We had jokingly wondered before if it would be a problem cheering for the visiting team, but when we got to the stadium we saw almost as many Toronto fans as there were for the Yankees. It was incredible to sit out in the sunshine with about 37,400 or so other people and cheer on the teams.
On a day that was slightly less hot and sunny, we chose to be a little more active than we had been previously so we found some bicycles to rent and cruised our way through Central Park. I still find it amazing that a park so big can be in the middle of 8.5 million people… and there were times where it felt like we were the only ones there! Beautiful! As we were making our way through the park, Julie saw signs leading to a castle in the park so we made our way to go see it. Now, the part that I really want to convey other than the fact that an almost secret mini castle exists, is the fun coincidence that this is Belvedere Castle. If you’ve been reading my other posts, you may remember that I was just at Belvedere Palace in Poland with two other friends. Unless I was just the only one that hadn’t realized Belvedere was a major global name, this seems an unlikely parallelism. Not that I’m reading anything into it – I doubt the universe is trying to get me to drink more Belvedere Vodka! – but it’s made me smile none the less.
Part of Central Park’s Belvedere Castle in New York
So activeOther things we did during our days there: Ate a lot of ice cream. Gawked at the crowds in Times Square. Walked through SoHo and countless other communities. Shopped on 5th Ave. Saw the Statue of Liberty. Took a moment to reflect at the 9/11 Memorial site. Rode the subway. Noticed two rats. Marvelled at the Brooklyn Bridge. Gossiped together while getting pedicures. Laughed at the “Pretty Lady Discount” we were offered by creative vendors. Took a ton of pictures of the four of us together. Further cemented our bond as friends for life.
New York City. Those three words together are almost certain to evoke a reaction whenever they’re used. Clearly more than just a mark on a map, New York has a persona of its own, and in the realm of cities, New York is an A-list celebrity that everyone recognizes and wants a part of. The fame of this city makes it seem completely familiar, but with an edge and enough mystery to keep us intrigued.
I’m here with 3 other girlfriends, and I am soooo happy to have their company on this trip! Always happy to see them, but especially now after travelling alone for the past 6+ weeks!! Having their excitement and seeing their view of NY along with the way they’ve relayed that to their own friends back home has been fascinating for me. It’s fun to have another perspective – a reminder of what it’s like to experience the hum of the Big Apple for the first time.
For me, it’s the rush I feel just as I step outside the theatre after watching a great Broadway show that keeps me coming back. Having so many sounds and sensations saturating my nervous system is the best intoxication for me, and I’m floating on that energy for the rest of the night. The skill of the performers; the set, costumes and lights and music; then to walk outside into the crowds – sirens and horns and bike bells and street hawkers and advertisements all blaring; the sizzle of hot dogs and kebabs lingering over it all. This is New York. Not the mountains of garbage on the curbs or the smells on the subway platforms, those seem to fade away to the background of what I notice or remember. And that, in my opinion, is what really makes any A-lister, whether city or celebrity: that certain magic equation where the good is so great that it subtracts away the negative.
It’s funny how quickly situations in life can change sometimes. Not long ago I was bemoaning the loneliness that can set in with solo travel, and then in the metaphorical blink of an eye I found myself so busy socializing that I could barely manage the time to keep up with my writing. (A problem I will happily choose any time!) My other big change has been location again…. Yes, I realize this is a travel blog and so it’s not news that I’ve travelled… But I’ve left Europe and I think that any continent change deserves specific mention. Friday morning I flew out of Warsaw, enjoyed a 5 hour layover in Amsterdam, and wound up clearing customs in Edmonton. This city isn’t home for me, but close enough that I have my own people here. People like Tricia, who will be in most of my stories this post. I’ll give a visual to help while you continue reading; she’s the blue-eyed beauty on the left. You’re welcome. 😉
And a little foreshadowing… she’ll feature prominently in this blog when we go to another new continent, Asia, this fall.
When I set out on my travels I had people say to me “aren’t you worried about the dangers?”, and my answer was always along the lines of “of course I am, but I’ll be careful. Plus who says home is safer anyway??” So not that I’m keeping score or anything, but I have two new examples proving MY point on this issue.
Number 1 – Crime: It seemed like a man was following us in a store last night, and just after we started paying closer attention he set down his basket full to the brim with items and bent over it for a moment as if looking for something. Suddenly he’s dashing straight out the door and into an SUV that screeched up to the entrance. My theory is that he was using us as a distraction cover while he boldly shoplifted a ton of stuff. Jerk.
Number 2 – Wildlife: I still can’t quite believe this happened, and it happened to me, with witnesses! Walking along the river valley in an Edmonton park, on a paved pathway through the trees, I nearly stepped on a snake. (!!!!!!) Good thing the snake was fast, and it disappeared away into the bushes along the path before my heart was able to resume beating. It was BIG! And black with a bright green/yellow stripe down the length of it. As my foot was about to come down on it, and it began to move away I gave a startled yelp and hopped back/over away. That’s how I remember it, but another version is that I ‘screamed like a girl’ and jolted over to the other side of the path. Sounds a little dramatic to me…. I prefer to think I kept a bit of dignity in that moment, but who knows?! One thing for sure is I was awfully jumpy for the next hour. A Google search has me convinced this was a Prairie Garter Snake, which can grow to be about a metre long. I had no idea there were snakes like this in Alberta. I think I liked it better in that ignorance.
So since I’ve established that home (home province) does not equal an automatically safer environment, it’s easier to announce that my next trip begins in a day from now. I’ll be on my way to another country again early Tuesday morning. See what I mean about change happening quickly?
This morning I’m sitting in Warsaw, and thrilled to be here except for the tiny little wish that I could have kept the weather I’ve gotten used to – I’ve been so lucky with sunny days and 30• heat for several weeks now – and it’s cold here! Thankfully at least the sun is out.
In a few minutes my friends will be arriving to meet me and start another day of exploring the city. Until then I’ll try to get a few of my thoughts written down here.
One of the countless beautiful buildings in Warsaw
One thing I love about travelling is how it challenges me to be a better person, by allowing my eyes to be opened to things I may have never otherwise thought of. The other day was a perfect example: I’ve been on the go for a while, and the wallet I’ve been using was already old and worn out. It’s ripped and torn, and missing a zipper. I grabbed my wallet at a cash register and ended up with coins fallingout and clattering all over the place. As 3 people stooped to help me collect my money I made a comment in my embarrassment along the lines of how I needed to get rid of my gross ghetto wallet. And instantly as I heard the words come out of my mouth I was horrified with myself, as I had JUST finished touring through a museum exhibit of the atrocities of the Warsaw Jewish Ghetto… I can really be an insensitive ass sometimes…. It never occurred to me that the origins of the word are so awful; it was an adjective I used to sprinkle in my speech as a way of joking about anything I own that’s in less than perfect condition. So that stops now.
Speaking of the museum, anyone travelling through Warsaw should make a stop at the Warsaw Uprising Museum. It’s full of detail and wildly interactive, if a little confusing to find the correct order of walking through the exhibits. I wonder if that was intentional… It IS commemorating a period in history full of chaos, after all…
At the Warsaw Uprising Museum
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My friends that I mentioned at the beginning arrived, and this part of the post is being written more than a day later than the top of the page was. (Thought I’d better explain that in case I start to confuse you with a mix of past and present tenses in my writing.) So I introduce you to Jeff and Jeanette, two great goofballs and my official guides in Warsaw. Who, by the way, seem to be very connected in the city – in the hours we were out we bumped into different people they knew four times, plus she still has family here. Keep in mind there are over 2 million inhabitants so it’s not just some little village where everyone generally knows everyone else… Jeff joked a couple times about how he could arrange for me to end up stranded somewhere so I’d have an interesting story to write about…. I’m just glad they chose to have their people stand down!! Ha!
During the two days I had in Warsaw, I think we did a pretty decent job of hitting the city highlights. We ate a lot (and you already know my love affair with food!) walked in calm city parks, and ogled the architectural achievements of the city. Oh plus we accidentally wandered into the middle of a political demonstration at night. All of a sudden we were surrounded by a noisy crowd and the lights from tv news vans, and in the time it took us to get to the other side of the gathering the noise had become organized into a demanding chant – we took that as our cue to make a hasty exit before things got out of control.
Back to the food again, where it’s so easy to get a sense of an area’s culture by seeing what may be unique, and being able to contrast that with tastes that are pretty much universally enjoyed. I can’t picture a scenario that would have me choosing to eat raw beef at home, but in order to test out culture I dipped my raw hamburger in a raw egg too! It was kinda good, actually…. At least not awful when I got over the fear of eating it. So far so good – no food poisoning! And on the other side of the scale we have chocolate. Lunch was at Warsaw’s original chocolatier, and cumulated in Chocolate Perogies! Delicious!
This grin looked a little devious to me, so I didn’t take a bite until after I watched her eat it first!
E. Wedel’s ChocolateThe palace on the label of Belvedere VodkaPoland loves its churches
Winding down in Warsaw…. Definitely not physically since I was busy the entire time, but this is the end of my European jaunt. I’ve had a blast exploring places I never expected to see, and am already looking forward to (hopefully) having a chance to come back, but it’s back to North America for me again now.
I’m stuck trying to figure out what to write about now, but it’s kinda the opposite of writer’s block. I have too much to say about everything I’ve experienced in the past few days and I don’t know where to start or how to weed it down to keep it interesting for you! Do I go back and finish gushing about Budapest, or do I move on and try to catch up to my current events??!? Dilemma….
Ok. Current city stories it is.
I have just finished almost 3 days in Kraków, Poland, and am feeling refreshed and energized again. I decided to come here on the advice of a friend specifically to see Auschwitz. And like I’ve said before of other monuments, this is both awful and awesome to experience. Rather than regurgitate everything and risk losing you in a dusty history lesson I’ll just try to convey a few of my emotions.
Flowers laid at the entranceArriving by rail to the camp, most were optimistic it was only a temporary displacementSuitcaes packed in a more hopeful timeAlways surrounded by double fences, barbed and electricFaces of concentration camp prisoners
3 levels of beds, often with 8 people living on every level. These barracks house 700-1000 people eachCobwebs and reflections of history
We saw the gas chambers and furnaces that were used, viewed photos and read accounts of the ruthless way more than a million people were lead to their death. I learned so much more from this day than I hadlearned from school and movies, and being here experiencing the emotional impact still in the air is exactly why I think everyone should try to see this once if possible.
This day at the concentration camp museum was certainly the main event for my time in Kraków, but it wasn’t the only one. I saw a salt mine that has been used for centuries, and witnessed the art and ingenuity that people are capable of. I met some really great people and spent a couple days just seeing the sights of the town as we found them.
Salt carvings deep within the salt mineCanadians!
Next blog post is already late even before this one is officially posted….. Stay tuned for what I see in Warsaw!
I have so much to catch up on after 4 days of sightseeing in Budapest that it’s almost a bit daunting to start this post. I guess if last time I had Pretty Prague this would be Beautiful Budapest… Ha, maybe not my most clever line but it’s so fitting I can’t resist! Here’s a quick peek first:
One of the first things I set out to find after I arrived was a Holocaust monument I had read about. In 1944-45 Hungarian Jews were forced to line up at the edge of the river, step out of their shoes and set all valuables inside. Then were fired upon and left to fall into the river. I still can’t understand how humans could do this to each other… Shoes on the Danube, a simple memorial of bronze shoes created in 2005, left a mark on my soul.
Being here, on a spot that these incomprehensible acts took place, made me so much more aware that this was real, not just distant stories from history and another world.
After paying my respects here I made a very deliberate effort to notice the great things around me, and that quickly was easy to do with so much to take in. Budapest is full of pedestrian friendly avenues and these are packed with cafes and parks. Everywhere I went the sun was shining, birds were chirping and people whistling a happy tune. (Or maybe not that last part…)
The city is also a little quirky, but really, what else could you expect from a place that that has been inhabited “since pre-history times”? Entirely by accident as I was walking around I found the entrance to the labyrinth that was used as a prison for Dracula – the real Vlad Dracul; a Houdini museum; Sputnik and soviet communism shops and tours; and Ruin Bars. It’s a whole thing here where PopUp bars are opened in abandoned buildings right in the middle of residential neighbourhoods. Somehow it really works!
And CASTLES! Everywhere I turned I’d see another one!! While that might not be technically true, as a Canadian without much to compare it too, these are castles in my vocabulary. I’ll admit, it was enough to wake my inner princess…. I was tempted to find a ball gown to put on and a dragon to slay!
Honestly I’m a little surprised Budapest wasn’t completely overrun with tourists like I had grown accustomed to after Barcelona, London, Amsterdam and Prague. I kinda think Budapest is better! But let’s keep this our little secret for a while longer….
“Two things to remember in life: Take care of your thoughts when you are alone; and, Take care of your words when you are with people” Author unknown
I have had this quote scribbled on a note page for a long time but it was one of those things that I would always forget about until each time I happened to see it again. Do you ever do that – collect little things or thoughts because you have a hunch that one day they’ll mean more to you? That’s what this was.
I’ve been alone a lot lately, and for an extrovert like myself it’s difficult to spend so much time only in my own company. Don’t get me wrong, I like my own company, but I have a brain that is wired to get energy and ideas from external sources. I come to life after being surrounded by conversation. That’s why the first part of this quote struck me tonight, because I don’t want to risk ruining this time by wallowing in the fear that I might fade away into nothing if I don’t connect with someone soon. They say travelling alone is the best way to find yourself – well I have and I know I need groups of friends around me!
Our thoughts steer us so much more than we realize, just like our words can have a bigger impact on people than we know. I admit to being careless with this sometimes, too. Is it narcissistic to sometimes forget that others think differently than I do? I’ve hurt people with comments I’ve said before the thought was fully formed, or not seeing that it might come across other than I had intended. I’m sorry, and I’m working on it!
I haven’t met any new buddies this past week while I’ve been travelling, and for me it gets harder to do so the longer it goes on this way. There have been friendly conversations at dinner and with people sharing my hostel room, but no one that I’ve connected with enough to make us want to hang out more. And I miss that. Thankfully I have a couple lifelines at home, and a good conversation with my best friend is all I needed to feel better again.
If you like this quote too, feel free to use the image I made. (The background picture is from my walk on the Charles Bridge in Prague yesterday morning, in case you were wondering… ) Oh, and if you know where this quote originally came from please tell me!
Pretty Prague. It would have been easy to stay here longer, but I’m on a roll and want to keep moving before my next bout of inertia hits.
This capital city really is impressive, though, and the old architecture has been beautifully preserved leaving it easy to see all the intricate details of the baroque and gothic buildings. I learned from another blog that most of Prague was spared from destruction during the wars, and I could feel the history charge the air as I strolled through the city. Walking under the gargoyles I imagined some of the ancient Czechs as pretty fearsome people, judging by the art that remains today….. I should clarify here that I differenciate that from modern Czechs – they were lovely. The hostel owner told me “you’re safe here. I’d let my mother walk any street at 3am! Someone may try to steal your wallet but definitely no one will hurt you.”
Threat of death guarding the old castleSee? Fearsome ancients here
Beyond the breathtaking sights (that we’ll get back to later) there is the food. The air around the plaza was sizzling with enough aromas to make me wish I could eat quadruple the meals I was actually capable of. One snack I did indulge in was a fresh baked pastry cone spun in cinnamon sugar and almonds and filled with ice cream. Ah-maz-ing! I didn’t even care for a second that it likely contained my calorie quota for 3 days!
Fresh pastry cone baked over open flames for the TrdelníkMy Trdelník treat
And some of my Prague experiences seemed straight out of a movie casting call: 1) Have dimly lit restaurants play “Rah Rah Rasputin” and early 90’s pop hits from tinny speakers. 2) Fill the scene with burly men wearing colour-block neon track pants, and give everyone a beer stein. 3) Place some women with up-to-the-minute modern designer wear in for contrast.
I’m sorry to perpetuate stereotypes, but it was all so fabulously fun that I couldn’t help but notice. Of course there is so much more to culture here than that. Please know no offence intended!
Maybe I’ll just get back to how pretty the city is, and end it with my visuals of Prague.
aimlessly ali 