A bit more time with Portuguese

Corona has been rambling around over the last few months. But we made it to the end of the school year and the next one is about to come. School often means a routine. And routine has always been hard for me to stand. So, before the semester begins, I knew I needed to cross the borders one more time. But where to? I had only 2 weeks left and many countries were still closed. Europe will must do! 

As I traveled with my finger on a map my phone beeped. So, I opened the messages and saw this tanned smiley familiar face. The lightbulb above my head lit up. That’s it! Few messages, and I found myself buying a ticket. Final destination: Portugal. 

Every time we travel, we meet new people right? Naturally. Sometimes we talk to them, share stories or laugh. With some, we get along better than with others, or even better than we ever expected. We can give each other our contacts, an empty promise of staying in touch. But let’s be honest. How long will it take till we use all the mutual topics? How many weeks till we lose common ground? When will we become quiet and our conversation will get lost too low to scroll down to?

I met many people who I still love to talk to. But from long conversations we came to a short text once a week. Week became month and now we’re only on a happy birthday and Merry Christmas wish. It may seem sad at first, but indeed, it is beautiful how people come and go. Making space for new ones to take place and teach us. 

I shared a room for one night with this girl, during my travel in Spain. And 5 hours were clearly enough for me to decide that I want to keep her for a bit longer. So, when her face popped up in my messages, I knew what I had to do.

Portugal is a place I had never been to before, but I did hear about its beauty. Sea and sun, wine and parties. I flew to Porto and took a train to Aveiro, where my personal guide was patiently expecting me. I was happy to see her. Truly. Is that strange if we met for only for 5 hours about a month ago? Couchsurfing let me down, but there I was, staying with a stranger. This is the way to go! 

We decided to turn those 5 hours into 5 days and I don’t think it could go any better. She let me stay at her place over 4 nights and spent 5 full days with me. I always found it really challenging to spend 24hours a day with someone for more than 3 days in row. But I have to step back now, and say – it is possible. She took me to a few places around Portugal, so let me share a bit of that with you…

Aveiro

A whole new world. Small city, packed with beautifully painted and tiled houses that give you the urge to stare, take pictures and keep on wandering through the streets. Beaches with magical sunsets, walks and lighthouses. Fields of salt getting on the local workers’ mood. But the dirty jokes on each of the moliceiro boat bring the laughs back, and those majestic eucalyptus trees are freshening up the air. 

Coimbra

City clearly dominated by an university full of history and telling stories on its own. No umbrellas but carpets and lacy curtains hanging above narrow streets. Great view on the city upon a hill washed by the Mondego river.

Passadiços do Paiva Trailhead

With a bit of confusion, we reached a gorgeous valley taking us 7 kilometers alongside a river, we could dip in. Trees along the boardwalk and a long staircase to finish us up. So peaceful, so relaxing and with 20k in legs, we knew they won’t thank us later.

Porto

You wouldn’t be the first, nor last, to fall for this beautiful hilly city. Promenades on both sides of the river full of restaurants, people and street artists showing their talent in exchange for a few cents. Nice old buildings and green parks, but also an ocean washing the shore and lighthouses sticking out in it. A really great ending to my trip.

So if you ask me what Portugal is about, I would say tiles. Tiles with different colors and patterns or those with blue and white drawings. Eucalyptus trees bringing as much beauty and fresh air as fear of quickly spreading fires. Short people with tan, colorful beach houses, fishy smell and the ocean.

5 days staying just outside of Aveiro with this lovely portuguese girl. Could it go wrong? I can think about 100 ways only. Is it weird to stay with a stranger? The question is, was she a stranger since we met before? Whatever you may say or think, I am glad I went. I am more than thankful I had a personal guide giving me an insider look. And I know for sure that without her, I wouldn’t enjoy Portugal as much. We spend some great time together, stupid laughs and deeper talks, finding out how similar we are, and how similar we all may be. It was only 5 days, but I left richer. I got my little lesson learnt, a new piece of that enormous puzzle uncovered. I found understanding, inspiration and motivation in this short, tanned always smiling girl, with beautiful mind, strong passion and desire to work hard without ever giving up. It was such an honor to meet you. 

So, go out there and talk to strangers you feel comfortable with. Make temporary contacts or long-lasting friendships. I’m not saying that you will ever meet someone like her or that you will learn and found what I did. I’m only passing on the message, that every single person has something to teach us. Story of their own we all can learn from, or words that help us understand a bit better to ourselves. I don’t know if these meetings are random or meant to be. Either of us could travel on different dates or be assigned to another room. But we weren’t. And I can be nothing, but thankful for it. Now I know that we have a bit more time from the moment we came until we shall go.

Spain, from capital to castle

„Summer 2020, what a great time “… said no traveler ever?! No, summer 2020 wasn’t the most generous to us. All that COVID19 stuff, bans, restrictions, adapting to temporary changes or super high temperatures. It took some of our freedom away, some of the things we took for granted. Perhaps we got to know the real value of all the possibilities we have a bit better. We got to take a closer look at what our parents always talked about. I was annoyed by all the close-downs as you probably were too. The borders were no longer opened, travels had to be put aside and many plans were canceled. However just when everything got a bit better, I slipped away, crossed the borders and went on a trip I had been postponing for a while.

Please be over soon

The „first wave“ in my home country was slowly coming to an end, we didn’t have to wear masks in the streets anymore, only in stores or public transport. Some of the borders were being opened. So, as you have probably guessed I took my chances and just a week after this great news came out, I went abroad. Just to our neighbors (since they were one of the first to open) to climb some ferratas I happened to be obsessed with over that summer. This article is not about that though…

Just when I came back, I got a message from my favorite Spaniard. She said: „Hey, my parents are going to the shore in a month, would you like to come over and stay with me?“ This girl is my international sister (from another mister), we spent a year in America together, and I haven’t seen her for 4 long years. How could I possibly turn down an offer like that? The borders were opened, I wanted to go, there were no questions. So, I got my tickets, packed some stuff, grabbed a few masks and there I went, heading to a country which’s language I’ve been struggling with for a few years.

MADRID

The great enemy is back

The first thing you notice once you arrive in Madrid – HOT. It was about 30°C most of the days in my hometown. But in Madrid, it reached 38°C every single day. The sun was a killer, but it always is to me. I’m not a fan of hot weather, but somehow, I always handle it. This time, there wasn’t even an ocean breeze (how could there be, when there is no ocean?). The ACs in stores were quite helpful as much as narrow streets with tall buildings and parks full of trees. But those 30s were hard to handle, and the mask over my mouth didn’t make it any better, So I came up with a plan – I went out early in the morning, around 7a.m., explore the city till 3p.m. and stayed in my hostel room with an AC on until the temperature outside was bearable again. That usually wasn’t before 8p.m. though. It took a lot of time out of my day, which was quite disappointing. However, it turned out not being such a problem after all.

And what now?

I felt pretty down when I realized that I will spend 5 hours every day locked in a room while being in such a beautiful city. I had my map flagged with many places I was excited to see. So, I woke up every morning more than ready to get out and explore. Madrid is such a magical place. It’s full of old buildings, statues, puertas, parks, plazas and even street art. Plus at that time, when most of the people were still scared to travel and the locals were already working, the streets were so easy to walk. No packed tourist spots, no queues at the entrances, empty benches to sit and chill on. I was just happy to walk the whole city. YES, I WALKED THE WHOLE CITY CENTER. That wasn’t the problem at all. But I WALKED THE WHOLE CITY CENTER IN 3 DAYS. And it wasn’t even 3 full days. I do walk quite fast, but I still stopped and enjoyed every sight I wanted to see. I didn’t run, I wasn’t just passing by. I didn’t take the metro and I even had my headphones off most of the time. How the hell could I see more than 20 spots in 3 half days?

Where to spend your time

The city of Madrid is meant to be walked slowly. No rush, enjoy the streets you walk through, peak into little vintage stores you’re passing by. This city is full of great places that are definitely worth seeing. Sure, there is the statue of El Oso y el Madroño, Plaza Mayor, El Rastro or Puerta de Alcalá, but there is so much more to this beautiful city! So, let me point out at least a few of the places that found a way to my heart.

  • El Retiro – Probably my favorite place in the whole Madrid. It is a huge park that you can wander through for hours. You’ll see many locals as well as tourists doing all sorts of activities from running, over yoga, chilling, having picnic, working out, reading to walking their dogs or dancing with fans. It has a huge lake with a historic monument reminding me of Rome. But what I loved the most there, was Palacio de Cristal and La Rosaleda.
    • Palacio de Cristal is a huge glasshouse that was filled with enormous fake flowers when I was there. I think that it was a part of some exhibition, so I cannot guarantee that it will be the same once you come. But there was a small pond right behind it, with many ducks and pigeons surrounded by bushes, which was right form a fairy tale.
    • La Rosaleda is a rose garden located in the south part of Retiro. It was built by a king who loved roses and wanted to grow some from as many different countries as he could. It’s just a cute mazy garden full of roses of all colors.
  • Barrio de las Lettras – An authentic neighborhood with streets that give you a feel of history, tall houses, antique stores, boutiques, tapas bars and book stores. Many famous writers were inspired or even lived in this part of Madrid. As you walk through, you will pass by some pavings with quotes by artists such as Miguel Cervantes or Lope de Vega. You will also most definitely end up at the Plaza Santa Ana with a sculpture of Fredrico Garcia Lorca freeing a bird.
  • Lavapiés – A vibrant, artsy district full of life, museums and street art. I did visit a couple of museums throughout my trip, because I do love art. I went to, and can recommend, Museo Reina Sofía and Caixa Forum in which both I paid the entrance of about 6 euros (they do have student discounts) and later, I found out about two smaller ones – La Casa Encendida and La Tabacalera, which both were really nice, had great exhibitions and free entrance. I did not go to Prado since I’m more into contemporary art and part of this famous museum was still closed due to corona.
  • Templo de Debod – An ancient Egyptian temple given to Madrid for helping to save other temples back in time. Watching this sight, I didn’t really feel like I’m in Madrid, however it is really nice and interesting monument to see.
  • Parque Juan Carlos I – If you happen to be further on the east side of Madrid, make sure to visit this lovely park. It is a place where a lot of people meet, hang out, have a picnic or do some sports mainly in the evening hours. There are several monuments, lake with turtles and many olive trees. It is such an amazing place to relax and live up with the locals for a while

If you’re into architecture and buildings, check out Palacio de Cibeles, Palacio Real, or Catedral se Santa María la Real de la Almudena.

The reunion

I know that you may not be as interested in this part, but it was an important one for me. And so I have to write a few lines about it. I was really excited and incredibly happy to see my international sister after 4 years again. And once I spotted her, everything felt like the old times. I didn’t have that feeling of „OMG this is amazing we have to get the most out of every single minute we spend together “. It felt more like nothing really changed, like we never left each other and like everything is just right. We had a really great time walking through the city, messing around or having a picnic where she introduced me to her lovely friends. I really liked to hang out with them and I could even practice my Spanish with them a bit. We watched movies, took the Teleférico over the Casa de Campo, cooked, ate a lot of fruit, I tried Tortilla de patatas for the first time, and everything felt just great! I’m so thankful for her, and for the opportunity to stay at her place, that was given to me by her family. It was really helpful since the Couchsurfing was down due to COVID and hostels in Madrid are not the cheapest. Thank you for the great time and for showing me, that no matter how far apart we are, nothing between us really changes.

Toledo

Since I walked Madrid in 3 days, I decided to spend another 3 days in Toledo. What is Toledo? It is a historical city full of medieval monuments just about an hour from Madrid… Well, it’s a castle. I felt like I’m spending 3 days in a freakin castle. What a dream! I couldn’t pick a better place to spend those few days at. Stepping out of the bus, climbing that hill, I came into another world. I walked through a bricky gate, dragged my luggage up a stony staircase. I was just ready to meet the knights riding horses through the streets where car could barely fit, or perhaps meet the king. To my disappointment, there was none, but the architecture was incredible! Bunch of places were still closed due to the pandemic but let me write down a few spots you shouldn’t miss.

  • Puente de Alcántara – Bridge with a tower and a gate that gives you an outstanding view on the whole „castle“ part of Toledo. It just feels like the main entrance to me.
  • Paseo de La Vega – small park just behind the gate with many benches and trees. Perfect if you want to get out of the city to read, chill or hang out but you don’t feel like going far.
  • Circo Romano – An acient romain circus build in the 1st century. I would say it’s more of a ruin. Bunch of gates next to each other located in a park nearby.

Architecturewise I would recommend Puerte de Bisagra, Zocodover, Plaza del Ayuntamiento or Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes.

There are also a few museums if you feel like digging more into history of this armor making city or just cooling down from the sun.

I stayed in an Oasis hostel, which is located right in the center and I can definitely recommend it. The stuff was really nice and helpful, nice clean rooms and I couldn’t ask for better roommate (she’s not included in the hostel though). Yes, I met this wonderful and super fun girl who I talked to and laughed with till 3 a.m. as well as one really nice guy at a local restaurant who I got to hang out with for a while.

Conclusion and Recommendations

So maybe I do not need Couchsurfing to meet great people afterall. My international sisters’ friends (her and her dog, him and his basketball skills at 1 am), taco guy with a great story to share or this Toledo roomie, who looked for a banana at 3 am.

People, talk to strangers! It’ s such an amazing and fun thing to do!

If you are planning a trip to Madrid, I recommend to plan up 3-5 days. Unless you really want to go into every single building you see, you won’t have places to explore no more. But do have to admit that I could be in Retiro every single day without getting tired of it. Also, if you go, pick some not so hot month. Because over the summer, even the locals are leaving to the coast.

And last but not least,

TRAVEL! Anywhere and anytime. Get out and experience something new.

That’s all I got to say 🙂

Expedition Pemi Loop

One of the most physically challenging, yet most amazing things I have ever done so far. It was probably the first trail I have ever hiked, and it definitely won‘t be the last one! I loved it, I hated it, I laughed and I wanted to cry. It had it all.

Pre-hike

Two days after I entered the United States of America, I met up with my hiking buddy Ari in Philadelphia, PA. Saying our hellos, I got in his car with my huge backpack and our well-planned trip/road trip was about to begin. We drove through New York right to our first stop –Devil’s Hopyard State Park, CT. I just got my new GoPro camera that day, and I was more than ready to take its first shots. We wandered through the forest looking for a cave, and chilled by a waterfall, but it didn‘t last long before it was time to hit the road again. We only stopped at a gas station for a huge bag of pretzels as we crossed Massachusetts going all the way to New Hampshire where we found a perfect couchsurfing host. We made some guacamole, played The Settlers of Catan, talked about hiking and went to sleep to get ready for the big day.

We woke up at 7, filled up our water bottles, packed just what was necessary, and made the 20minute drive to the White Mountains. I tied up my shoes, put on that backpack, and it was 8 o’clock when we locked the car and made our first steps towards the forest.

Hike

First hour was just fine. It was mostly flat with a slight elevation. Ari is a great company, so we just talked about nonsense and joked around. I was super excited about this whole hiking idea. But the next hour brought unexpected.

Crisis no.1

My legs were getting super sore. My calves and thighs were hurting with every step as the trail got steeper and steeper. Ari told me to make smaller steps, but I just wanted to be at the top, so I wasn’t listening. Mount Flume was giving me a really hard time, and as my buddy saw that my enthusiasm somehow disappeared, he started to ask questions.

Fun fact – most of the people finish this trail in 3 days, but as I read that some can do it in one, I told Ari that we should do it in two, it’s just 30miles (50km) that’s totally doable right?

As I told him that this was my first hike of such a distance, he couldn‘t believe it. “Why didn’t you tell me? I thought you are a good hiker since you asked me to this this in 2 days”. Questioning myself, I thought that I may not be able to this. We hadn’t even reached the first peak and I was already done. Should I just turn and go back to the car? I didn’t even know if I could walk these 2 hours back. My muscles were really sore. But I couldn’t! I couldn’t do this to Ari! I couldn’t do this to myself! Mental fight, maybe even a little break down, but I stayed on my feet and we reached the first peak. What a great feeling! What a great view! 15minute break to enjoy that moment and I had all my energy back. This can really fill your batteries.

One foot in the front of the other

So, we just kept on going… Mt Liberty, Little Haystack, Lincoln and Lafayette. We always stopped at the top for a while just to take a little break and soak everything up. We sat on those cold rocks staring down into the wavy sea of trees, looking so endless, like an enormous green blanket fading in the distance. Walking up and down, stepping on stones and dirt and those logs that kept os off the mud. We filled our water bottles twice, adding the great lemony tasting water filters so we wouldn’t die. We kept each others company with our great stories and stupid comments. We hurried to climb Mt Garfield – the half-way point of our trail – as the sun went down, so we could see the sunset from the top. And we made it. And it was amazing. The sky colored in orange, pink and yellow. Us and two other hikers stared at it with no words, just being there on the best spot at the right time, getting the most out of nature‘s light show.

The night

When the sun left us, we decided to keep on going and looking for a place to camp. But we had no idea what was about to come. After a couple minutes of walking we noticed a sound of running water, which was getting louder and louder till we actually reached a waterfall. “Ari, did we get lost?” He checked the map, looking for any other possible paths, but there were none. “No, we are supposed to walk down the waterfall”. What a great idea to walk down this slippery waterfall at night. I was hugging every tree lining the waterfall, hoping the wet stones would hold me. Ari slipped with one foot into the water, but neither of us lost our sense of humor. It kinda sucks when it’s dark, and you are in the middle of the forest walking down the waterfall knowing that the next few kilometers are still a restricted area where you are not allowed to camp. But we found a great place not far from the route. So we hung our hammocks, got our cooker out and made some quinoa. Ari hid our food on the top of a tree so it wouldn’t attract any animals. The empty bowl from quinoa stayed right underneath our hammocks but whatever right? I was super excited to sleep in a hammock for the first time. Well, it was terrible. I got one solid hour of sleep after 13 hours of hiking and the next 13 hours were about to come. What a great morning!

Day 2

7:30 am. Let’s pack our stuff, eat some tortillas with peanut butter and pretzels (which was surprisingly great) and let‘s get going. Meeting some hikers on the way, we got our first bad news – The trail around South Twin mountain may be closed due to snow. We wanted to try it anyways, so we got some fresh water in a hut we walked around, and climbed the South Twin. It had quite a lot of spots of snow, but it was totally walkable, since we didn’t mind wetting our socks a little. As we walked across Guyot, Bond and Bondcliff, the views didn’t stop amazing me and Aris stories didn’t stop making me laugh. But there was something bothering me.

Crisis no.2

With every step up my thighs were getting tense, but with every step down my knees were letting me know that something is not ok. My joints are not in the best condition, but I almost forgot about it since I hadn‘t challenged them much lately. As we walked down those hills one of my knees just didn’t want to take it. I was slowing down, asking Ari to take more breaks, but after a while, I didn’t want to bother him anymore. So I just went with it.

It was after the steepest part of our last peak when all I could think about was how to make it stop hurting. I tried every weird way possible to make it easier for that one knee. Last 5km, and my legs just stopped. I was just standing in the middle of the road waiting to fall down. My knee gave up, and I didn’t even try to do anything. Ari, who was one step ahead of me, just turned and pushed me to sit down on a log by the road. “What was that? You looked like you are about to collapse” I just said that it’s the knee, so I wrapped it up by a bondage I had, and with a really slow pace we kept on going toward the end.

We did it

This Ari guy is so great, and I gave him such a hell on those last kilometers. He tried to help and I was just mean. He tried to get my mind off the pain by making up some stories. It was probably a good idea, but telling me how the ear works when I was just pulling one of my legs behind me was apparently not. After a little arguing, and the longest 90 minutes of walking, there we were. We were in the front of the car just before it went dark. Ari didn’t want to sleep in the car at first, but after the 10hour sleep, he had to admit that it was a great idea.

After-hike

I couldn’t really move the whole night because of the pain from my knee, but maybe that’s why I slept so well. In the morning, I washed my face in the sink of a public bathroom, and warmed up my hands underneath its hand dryer. We did a little hike to Arethusa falls, because we obviously hadn’t hiked enough, and it was totally worth it. This huge, majestically standing rock pouring out liters of water every second was simply magnificent. Two hours later, we got back to the car and steered to Boston, MA. We met Ari‘s lovely friend Keira there, who took us for an ice cream, and let us take a shower, which felt really nice after 3 days. We spent a night at her place, and walked the city center in the morning.

In the end

Listening to the radio and digesting this whole 5 day long experience, we drove back to Philadelphia. We got lunch there, and I thanked Ari for taking me on such a trip. It’s amazing how we still had something to talk about even after 5 full days with each other. We barely knew each other. We had only spent one day together before, and that was a year ago, but it felt like we were childhood friends. He helped me out and got me through this exhausting, but outstanding hike. We walked through mud, climbed huge stones, drank dirty water, ate mainly pretzels, bars and peanut butter and sat on a cliff letting our feet hang down. We shared our stories, and he gave me tips and showed me how to hike. (btw I forgot to say that he is a leader of the hiking club at his uni. But not a big deal, right?). I am definitely really thankful for this whole experience and it took me a while to process it all, but I am so happy that I had the possibility to do it, and that I had Ari who helped me through. This hike was a highlight of that summer and it got me excited to walk more trails like this one.

GERAUSIT – the road trip

Meaning: GERmany, AUStria, ITaly

Hitting the road for the first time in my life (2018), with my sister by my side in our lovely Felicia… I mean, can you even wish for more? Three full days and two not so comfortable nights in a freezing car, which is slowly falling apart, accompanied by a person who can either make it the best trip ever, or it can end up with a huge fight. Why not, right? What can possibly go wrong? You only have no idea if your car is gonna make it, and you´ll spend 24h a day with your own sister. That’s a totally great idea. Well, sometimes you just need to take risks, because sometimes, it pays off.

  • Let’s get this craziness started (Prague)

    Sleepover at my sister’s place in Prague, early packing up/ stacking our Felicia and we were on the road. Our first stop – Salzburg, Austria. Tip no.1: The most essential thing for a road trip is a great playlist for the way. The drive went pretty smoothly, planning, singing along, we just needed to stop by a supermarket to get some food. Our choice was Lidl in Germany (yes, we were crossing the Austria-Germany borders about 4 times before we reached Italy). We got a huge bag of apples, some kind of bread, hummus, nuts, tortilla chips, dark chocolate, bunch of water bottles, and my sister got some yoghurt and cheese. Why am I naming all the food items? Because that´s basically all we ate during that road trip. I went big on apples and pastry.

  • Salzburg

    When we reached Salzburg, it was a late afternoon, so we just parked our box on wheels and walked through the city. There were some Mozart’s memorials (million stores selling his balls – no idea), some cool sculptures, squares like Domplatz, a bridge full of locks and light signs. As it was getting dark, we decided to go to the Hohensalzburg fortress. When we finally climbed up, we saw the beautifully lighted city and there was almost no one around. We met just 3 people leaving the gate as we walked in. Well, maybe we should have taken it as a sign, because once we wanted to get out, the gate was closed. When we saw it from the distance, we freaked out a little. Did they really lock us up in a fortress? Thankfully, I figured out that there is a small door in the huge locked gate door, so we could peacefully walk back to our car and get going. We drove back to Germany, specifically to a parking lot by the Königssee.

  • Königssee

    The parking there was paid. Should we pay the parking if we came after 11p.m. and nobody is here? The guard is not gonna come till 7 or 8a.m. So, should we? We parked strategically behind a gas station, trying to hide in between a few cars parking there. We brushed our teeth, put on sweaters and warm socks. Muffled in a sleeping bag, we tried to get some sleep in that limited space. Switching spots about twice that night.

    In the morning, we paid for the parking and went directly to the trail leading up the viewpoint at Malerwinkel. It was amazing there. Just like a scene from a movie. One bench behind a wooden railing, with a view on the sky-blue lake surrounded by mountains. AMAZING! After a little break and enjoying the view, we kept on walking those little forest paths. It didn’t take us long and went off the trail.

    Königsbach waterfall is an incredible place. Many people miss it just because it’s off the trail. But trust me, you don’t want to miss that! How many times will you get a chance to get an amazing view from the middle level of a waterfall? You can literary sit on the edge of it and just stare at the opposite mountain and the river down below. This waterfall has several levels and we ended up somewhere in the middle, where it creates small and crystal-clear pools. During the summer you can probably go ahead and soak in those little pools, but they were kinda freezing when we were there. Anyways, INCREDIBLE! Tip no.2: If you are ever around, please, do not miss this place, that would be such a shame.

  • Not everything went as planned

    Time went by fast and we had to take off. Stopping by a gas station and a little market to get anything we were running low on. The next stop was Krimmel Waterfall where we albeit took a little walk, however we didn’t go to the falls. We found out that the entrance is paid and it seemed to us like a nonsense to pay that amount of money to see something created by nature. Also, the one we’ve been to before was hundred times better. Tip no.3: Get some good information about the place you want to go to before you actually go. So, we just walked around a small village, where every house had a huge field with grass so bright green that it almost hurt the eye and horses or cows or sheep running around freely. And then? Back to the car and straight to our final destination! Maky with her Baby shark and me with my Hakuna Matata still in the mood, still with a smile, back on the road.

  • Largo di Braies

    And there we were, in the middle of the night parking for free on a paid parking lot again. This time it wasn’t up to us though. No ticket machine and the guard collecting the money wasn’t there neither. We got out to check out the lake, and I know that I am using too many superlatives, but you have never seen anything like this. I was amazed even though it was really dark outside. We sat there on a log at a small stony beach, sipping on the fresh mountain air. After a while my sister wanted to leave, but I was too stunned by the deeply dark sky with millions of tiny little lights. I have never seen such a magnificent night sky. The stars were countless. I could sit there for years. I was there, I was in that moment; sitting on a wet log next to the sparkly lake reflecting the light of the moon, guarded by tall mountains and a piece of art above me. Boy, that was perhaps the most beautiful place I have ever been to. Some time after my sister left, I did too. But I couldn’t get the sky off my mind. Stretching a little to get ready for another car sleepover, I got into our beloved Felicia. You may expect me to complain about the night, but hey, we were pros by now. We knew exactly what position we should take to have a chance to fall asleep. Tip no.4: If you plan to sleep in a car take some extra blankets to fill the gaps and cover the hard parts of the car so you can be more comfy.

    We woke up early when not many people could interrupt our morning walk. We paid for the parking to some older Italian man and walked back to the lake. There was a couple of people with cameras, but we just ignored them and went for a walk around the lake. Blue water, dark green trees and white mountains above it. Clear sky when we heard a gunshot and a woman’s scream. We both made a sharp move as we looked back from where the sound came. We didn’t understand at all. It turned out that the people with cameras had a whole crew there, and they were shooting a movie. Laughing at our reaction we enjoyed our walk and the stunning views as we slowly walked back to the car. We found a book to leave our signs in, I got to say goodbye to the lake and the mountains that majestically stood above, and we were about to drive back.

  • Return (Innsbruck)

    On our way back we decided to stop in Innsbruck for a while. Just so my sister could take a break from driving and I could take a look at the city from the Tirol Panorama. We had a little argue there, but a couple jokes and songs on our way back to Czech made it up. Endless road ahead of us, we were singing out loud, stealing corn and pumpkins from the fields we passed by and we approached Prague by the sunset.

This was the first road trip I have ever done, and it was incredible! No, it wasn’t perfect, but what is? Our little Felicia made it even though no one except us believed in her! I am thankful to my big sister for going on such a journey with me. This whole trip is simply unforgettable. The views… mother nature is magical! So, here is my last tip for this post. Tip no.5: pack your bags get a buddy and fill the gas, because a road trip is something you just need to experience.

For more visuals chceck out story “Felčou kolem světa” on my instagram 🙂 and if you have any tips for great road trips, please leave them in comments down below, I´ll be glad for any recomendations 🙂

Philly two ways

Two days in Philadelphia showed me that your travel experience depends more on how you plan the trip based on what you want out of it than on the destination itself. One place, two days, two totally different outcomes; both nice, both good, both useful.

Even new can feel old

Halfway through my 2018 Work and Travel stay, I started to feel like the days were becoming all the same, like I was just creating another routine. Since I simply can’t stay in any routine for too long, I decided that it was time to take a break from it. I had just one day off every week, so I had to ask my employer for an extra one. Once she agreed, I decided on the destination and planned it all out. I picked Philadelphia because it wasn’t too far from where I was staying, so I could reach it by bus in three and half hours hours. Earlier that year, I heard about an app where people let you sleep in their house for free and I decided to try it out. It wasn’t easy to find someone, since I was new there, and I had no references. After a week, though, I found a guy named Ari who accepted my request for one night.

Day 1

I left at 6 in the morning so I could be in Philly early and have as much of the day as possible. Once I got on the bus it started to drizzle, but the closer I got to the final station, the harder it poured. When I got off the bus, I received a message on my phone: “Flash Flood Alert”. My phone had never showed me anything like that before, so it threw me off a little. As I walked through the station, I looked out at the road, and it wasn’t a road anymore; it was a river. The wheels of the cars parked there were about 1/3 under water. I had no idea what to do. I was stuck at the bus station in shorts and a T-shirt without any jacket or raincoat. “Whatever, I am not letting the weather ruin my trip!” So I went out and ran to the closest CVS to buy an umbrella, and I walked out with it proudly.

The plan for the day was to see most of the sights on my list. I just put my Beats on and followed my offline maps. I walked in between huge dominos in the Board Game Art Park, heading to Love Park to take a picture by the famos statue. There I actually had a small talk with three sisters who took a picture of me, since I took theirs. I saw a museum and a few old buildings and fountains on the way to the Rocky statue. I asked a stranger to take a video of me running the steps like Rocky did. I saw a golden statue of Joan of Arc. The park was great. After that, I was heading to meet the stranger who invited me to stay over.

Once I got to his house, it was kinda awkward. We had no idea what to talk about, but after a short while, I felt like we had known each other for years, like we are old friends. We talked all night, and it was about 3 a.m. when we decided to go climbing together in the morning.

Day 2

We woke up around 8 and went straight to the climbing wall. I don’t know if Ari just had nothing better to do, but he wanted to spend the whole day with me. He took me to Edgar Allan Poe’s house, where I had really wanted to go. But with him, it was much more fun than if I had gone there alone. We watched a short movie about E.A. Poe’s life, and walked through the house reading a guide we were given. Reading the true story, editing it with our funny comments; it simply became my favorite memory of Philly.

“I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity “

Edgar Allan Poe

After that, we went to a few parks and we ended up in Chinatown buying some food items we had never seen in our life (if you ever have the opportunity to try longan, do it! It’s yummy) and sharing them on a park bench while saying our thank you’s and goodbye’s because I had to catch the last bus.

On my way back, I was just thinking how great that day actually was, even though we were just planning it as it went. I never imagined it to be like that and I couldn’t ask for more. That’s when I realized how totally different these two days were, despite the fact that I was still in the same city.

Conclusion

The first day was great, I was just walking around with my Beats on, seeing all the sights I wanted to see. The plans were just up to me. I could do whatever I wanted to do, I could go wherever I wanted to go to see whatever I wanted to see. I went to places I had never been to before. I learned a bit of history so I understood the city a little better, and it was quite a chill day. On the second day, I had someone to share those fun moments with. It was not as much about getting to know those places as having fun and enjoying whatever we did. I would normally say that going climbing in a new city, where you only have 2 days, is a waste of time because you can do it anywhere. But for this trip, it was just that one piece I needed to complete the puzzle.

On the scale from touristy to fun, I was on both ends during that trip. (touristy-Rocky stairs, fun-climbing). But there must be a perfect ratio of those two where you simply enjoy getting to know new places. For me, it was right in the Edgar Allan Poe’s house.

The third wheel in London

In October 2017 we decided to see what this well-known city has to offer. So we packed our backpacks with stuff for 4 days and got on the plane. Our crew had 3 members. My sister with her pink glasses and perfect vision for this backpacking trip, her boyfriend, who was ready to spend this weekend with her and film it all and then there was me, making sure this trip is more cool and fun than romantic.

Sights and nights

On our way from the airport, as we walked through the city center towards the place we rented over Airbnb, we passed by many sights. We saw the Tower Bridge, Tower of London, London Wall, The Monument, even the Shakespeare’s Globe. My sister was slightly disappointed because we saw about half of the places she planned to go to during the following day, but we got her some food and she got through it.

We spent a night in a 3floor tall house, where each floor had just 2 rooms. Our bedroom was right next to the bathroom. Lucky us, that we got to prepare a breakfast upstairs and our neighbors were taking shower right behind a paper-thin wall.

Crossing the Westminster bridge, we walked to the London Eye and to the under reconstruction Big Ben. After a little confusion about the Buckingham palace and a statement that the palace should be the other building, because it simply looks better, we walked a few parks and chilled with all the animals they had there.

For the next night we booked a hotel, and since I had quite enough by the end of the day, I just stayed there and let our lovely couple to go and enjoy a cup of tea just by themselves. In the morning, we got free breakfast in the hotel, which was great because we got to prepare even a snack for later and we were good to go.

We watched some performances of street artists, musicians and living statues. We went to the Twinings store, M&M’s house and got lunch in China town. One of my favorite places we explored was the Nomadic Community Garden. It is a place with graffiti all around and a garden made out of garbage with a little café. Incredible and unexpectable.

We spend the third night in a so called hotel on a busy street, where the only great thing was the fact, that I found a storage in the kitchen with a big amount of Lotus cookies. So, I ate about half of them.

The last day, we rented bikes so we could see the city form a different perspective. Well, instead of the perspective, we got some solid argue going on. Riding on the other side of the road confused not only one of us, but since Milka (my sisters boyfriend) was riding first, the responsibility fell on his shoulders, and he had to take some not so nice words out of my sister’s mouth. I got yelled at for trying to stop them fighting or maybe for being pain in the ass from the very beginning, I don’t even know. Anyways, we got to the Sky Garden from where we had an outstanding view on the whole city – At least that perspective we got.

Food

Maky (my sister) got what she was excited about the most – her first fish and chips, on the very first day of our stay. According to her words, “It was great” and the fry I stole from her was good too. I mean, it was a regular fry. One of the best places we found there was the Borough Market. It had hundreds of stands, situated as a maze so we could just wonder through. We all got something to bite into. Maky got her first fudge, Milka got a doughnut and I got some rice with a spicy indian sauce and chickpeas in it. The next time we came, Milka tried different types of exotic meat (hopefully not just to make me mad) and we were all just munching on some fresh rosemary pastry. Chinese food in Chinatown and some fruit on the way. Oh, and we tried tamarind for the first time. Ehm, we didn’t like it at all.

The highlights

My favorite thing was probably feeding the squirrels in a park. One of them even climbed up my leg! But as soon as she realized that I’m just fooling her, she ran away. I also loved the Borough Market as well as the Twinings store, where we were just sniffing different types of tea for about an hour straight. The street artists were great and the Nomadic Community Garden amazed me. The view from the Sky Garden was spectacular and the Tower Bridge is just classic.

There is definitely a lot to see and a lot to experience. We went really low-cost this whole trip, but if you are willing to invest in it, you’re gonna have a whole different experience. But low-cost or pricy, London has a lot to offer.

The rhythm of my life

My life sounds like a heartbeat. I know what you think… “Cliché”, “thank you, next”… But there is more into this statement than you may think, let me explain and then you can decide if it really is such a cliché.

http://ritvikmath.com/images/coverbeat.jpeg

The first reason is obvious. Life is defined by a beating heart. If you’re lying on ground unable to breathe, what is the first thing they are gonna check? The heartbeat. Having a heartbeat means you are alive. After an accident, in the hospital, … until your heart gives up you are still here.

Then there is the flatline. You know those machines that actually shows your heartbeat on a display? How does it go? Can you imagine it? It’s up and down, even more up and much deeper down and then up again and down and so on. That’s my life. My life is filled with ups and down. Some are bigger than other but it never goes flat for long.

Thirdly, this sound is exactly the only thing I can hear on those bigger moments in my life. When I get super excited, nervous, scared, when I am under a pressure, when the adrenalin is pumped into my blood, when I’m anxious or really down or when I am having the best time of my life, this is what I’m forced to hear. The sound of life. It may not be the only sound at that time, but it is the loudest one.

And so maybe if you feel lost sometime or feel like there is too much going on and someone tells you to listen to your heart. Try to take it literary. How? Water will help you. Go under the water because that isolates you from all the outside noise and the only sound you will be able to hear is the heartbeat. The sound of your life will overpower everything else and you will literary listen to your heart.

Travel Fever

How do you feel when you travel? In my case, it really depends on the destination, people around and just the overall circumstances. But I have to say that most of the time, there is something all my travels have in common.

Preparations

There is this phase before every single trip when most of the people are freaking out. They become super nervous and kinda ruin this nice „looking forward“ time by making it stressful. Well, that’s not my case.

I am usually planning my trip a little more ahead. How long ahead? That depends on the kind of the trip. If it is a program (WaT, Erasmus, Exchange) I have to start planning it out even more than half year before I actually leave. If it is a roadtrip, few weeks or a month should be enough. This gives me a lot of time to put everything in line and get ready for the trip. Buying tickets ahead saves you money, making plans for the destinations and googling things and places you want to see makes you even more excited. Booking some housing, making budgets, searching for more information, it all helps and starting with all this sooner saves you from the nerve wracking situations.

The only part that can stress me out a little is packing. But even that is not as bad. Because after all, if you forget something,y can always buy it in your final destination. You will always have bigger regrets about stuff you packed and didn’t need than stuff you forgot. Unless it’s something you were supposed to bring for someone or something essential like documents or a camera.

Goodbyes

I am one of the people who don’t really feel like they are leaving until they are actually on the plane, or even in the final destination. The day before my departure for a year in America, I went out with my schoolmate and talk to her like nothing exciting is going on. On the evenings before leaving for my 3months stays I went climbing. My departure day usually feels like any other day, eventhough I have to say that I came into this state over time. My first few travels put a little pressure on me. Pressure that was gradating as the big day was getting closer. But it wasn’t anything crazy. Since it never really felt like I’m leaving, or like I’m gonna be gone for long, there never were any hard goodbyes.

I am usually pretty chill on my departure day. It’s more about me telling my mom and my sister that I am gonna be back soon and that everything is gonna be ok then about stressing out.

On the plane

There is just one moment I really like while on board and it is probably the main reason why I like to fly. Actually, there is two – taking off and landing. I love the feeling of being pushed deeper into the seat and resisting the gravitation for once. The pressure in my head that usually makes people sick gives me adrenalin. I love looking out of the little window watching all the buildings changing in size. It always makes me think about how tiny part of the world we really are.

Besides that, there is nothing much going on once you are boarded. To me it’s usually just a lot of listening to music, turning around, finding some comfortable position, sore limbs and many, many, failed attempts to fall asleep. Sometimes I talk to people sitting next to me or watch a movie or read a book. But it’s more of a chill time than anything else.

Hello there

Once you get out of the airport the first thing that hits you is the warmth and humid (unless you’re traveling to some cold destination). It always slaps me in the face, because it’s usually really freezing on the plane as well as at the airport.

Saying your hellos is one of the most exciting things about travelling. It’s one of the reasons why I travel. Because I want to experience something new. See new places, meet new people, try new food. Just get out of the daily routine and really be out there.

Overall feeling

Sometimes, even I don’t know why do I go on all those trips. Am I looking for something I haven’t found yet? Is it because I am bored? Because I really want to see that place? Or experience that culture? Is it just an escape from my everyday life? Are there just better opportunities? There are hundreds of those questions and the answer to all of them is simply “I DON’T KNOW”. It can be all of it or none of it, it can be a combination of many or just a few. I just don’t know. But the one thing I know for sure is that if I wouldn’t want to go, I would just not go. I would not spend hours planning it out and I wouldn’t invest any money in it. I know that going abroad is gonna bring me some new experiences and if they are good, it will make me happy, if they are bad, I will learn from them. Either way it will help me to move forward. It will allow me to take a rest from my everyday problems. I will be coming back knowing what I didn’t know and having some great new stories to tell.

How did I start to travel

Where did I get this passion for traveling? To be honest, I don’t really know. Maybe it was always somewhere deep inside. I think that it has all started before I even knew it.

First time abroad

Since I was 9 we used to go skiing to Italy during our winter holidays. At the age of 10 I took my first flight which was directed to Tunisia. We went to Germany with my secondary school a couple times. But I don’t think that that was it. Alps in Italy, hotel in Tunis I haven’t even left during that week, I was thinking about both of these experiences just as a family vacation. We could have gone to the mountains in my home country or any other huge hotel with pools and outdoor activities and I would probably feel the same.

An early challenge

I think that one of the breaking points was my first international basketball tournament. It was spring 2009 and I was attending 5th grade when our coach came with the news that we were invited to a tournament in France. Everybody got so excited and a few months later we were all in a van crossing the borders. We were so happy to go to another country and there was only one thing I was concerned about… the housing. The reason for that was the fact, that we were not going to stay in a hotel or dorm. They were about to place us in French families who could barely speak any English and let’s be honest, how good can an 11 years old girl be in a foreign language? I went to a few English camps before, but we always had a teacher and a translator to tell us what to do. This was the first time when I was in contact with people from different country who I had to depend on and who I wasn’t really able to communicate with besides the basics. It was a big challenge and I probably didn’t know it back then, but this was a really good experience that gave me a lot.

Foreigners

The second thing is probably the fact that I always found it really interesting how different people from different countries live. This is really individual and every person has his own way of living but there is this cultural aspect that bonds most of them together and differs them from the rest. The language, the morals, the food, the traditions, values, beliefs, … There is just so much to experience and I always thought that if I learn about it, it may help me to understand this world a little better. So, I liked to talk to people from different countries. When I was little, I was fascinated by America so I was attending English camps with amazing people from Minnesota or even Canada, later on I went to Softball camps which were led by these amazing guys from Tennessee. And I never wanted to miss an opportunity to talk to them. Even when we went on tournaments in Poland or Hungary or Bulgaria I always tried to talk to the players from other teams because I found it very cool that they are not from the same place as I am.

The game changer

The biggest step for me as a traveler was an exchange program in America. I went to the US by myself to live in a host family and to attend local high school for a whole year. Getting that confidence, I went on a few work and travels, Erasmus, and some trips around Europe and even further. But if you want to know more about that, just go ahead and pick one of my posts, because that’s exactly what this blog is about.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started