A Castle Here, A Castle There, A Castle Everywhere.

My oh my what a busy couple days it has been. Since I missed out on all the turkey we ventured from Vienna to Munich and now we are currently in Zurich. In the span of less than a week we managed to visit not one, not two but three castles/palaces. 

Our first palace being Schobrunn palace which was described in the previous blog. With the extravagance and elegance of the place you couldn't help be envious of the people who got to live there. It is said to be a smaller Versailles, something I will get to actually compare as we are going to Versailles in late November. I can't understand how it could be a smaller Versailles considering it had 40 rooms we were allowed to see and who knows how many more we weren't. It would be the absolute best place to play what I could imagine would be the longest game of hide and seek. 

From Vienna we went to Munich where we didn't get much chance to actually explore the city itself as we went on two separate day trips. The first day trip followed the castle path of king Ludwig the second. If there was ever a man over compensating for something it was Ludwig. We went to his first castle where he spent the most of his time: Linderhof castle. This castle was for lack of a better word: gaudy. To give some context this "castle" was in fact not really a castle, it was  small but inside made up for it. Some of the highlights of this place include: 300 porcelain vases, two porcelain mirror frames that framed a mirror taller than two of me, a table that dropped - you know to avoid Ludwig to have to engage with his servants - 5-6 kilograms of gold leaf plastered on wooden carvings throughout the entire place and the most extravagant piece: an ivory chandelier from India.  You leave the castle speechless trying to comprehend and put comparisons to the things you've seen but there are none. 

A quick drive led us to the best place in the world: Neuschwanstein Castle, Ludwig's second castle. This castle was downplayed significantly but where it didn't have the extravagance of Linderhof it made up for it in size. This castle was exactly that: a castle. It was the castle that inspired Sleeping Beauty's castle and was massive. The inside of the castle was a dedication to the opera composer and musician: Richard Wagner. Now Ludwig made sure that all the rooms were a dedication to different operas created by Wagner with beautiful paintings surrounding all the walls within the third and fourth floor of the castle. Ludwig died before the completion of the castle so as a result only the third and fourth floors were completed. Either way it is a beautiful castle rightly contributing to Ludwig's nickname: the fairytale king. It was a one of those days that you know you'll never forget. 

I feel that my patience is running thin with the people around me. I have never been an overly social person and often considered snobby or not cool by some. The reality of the situation being that I have never mastered the art of subtlety with my dislike often plastered on my face. 

The behaviours of people that have left me banging my head on the wall include: roommates in multibed dorms having little consideration to the fact they are sharing a room with other people. We had a man who thought it was okay to slam the bathroom door in the middle of the night multiple times and my anger boiling over to the point where I was snapping my fingers at him in the dark whisper-yelling at him to not slam the door. Another roommate thought it was necessary to constantly close the window in the stuffy room, she had pants and a sweater on as she slept. I get it she was cold but keep your overly dressed self under the blankets well the rest of us are barely covering up due to the heat desperate for the coolness of the opened window. She also was the roommate who would knock on the wall of the man who snored too loud instead of ignoring it like the rest of us. If you are going to knock might as well touch buddy, it was dark like he would know who touched him in the night just avoid eye contact in the morning. Finally the woman on our day trip who thought it was a good idea to walk away from our bus to the bathroom after already being 5 minutes and trying to take sneaky pictures with her phone in the places it wasn't allowed. The angle in which she was taking them I couldn't understand the point, I could picture her conversation now: if you squint and turn your head to the right you could see the painting of Jesus. The logic of some. 

There are a lot of times where we try to blend in but our mannerisms make us obvious tourists. If you don't want to stand out as a tourist I would suggest against these few things: 1. large amounts of PDA. My travel partner and I have always been that couple that people often throw looks of disgust to unable to be proper in the display of our affections. What can I say our love is so strong. Eww, jokes. Another tip: avoid playing games. My travel partner can often be seen playing games of our own creation including a game where we stand behind a large object and guess what side the other is going to exit from, another a game of who can tackle hug the other the hardest often leaving people assuming we are abusing one another. My favourite standby game being the death drop. This involves me throwing myself at him and dropping dead weight in hopes he would catch me. 3. Don't try and talk to the animals. I've always been that person who pays more attention to your pet more than you and that is something that doesn't happen often here. The dogs are indifferent to my attempts of affection and the ducks only coming to me for the chance of food not my calling quacks. Also avoid using phrases like: let's get our day started. Apparently no one in Europe feels the need to have phrases for life but I like my phrases: respect is key, bad life choices and my new favourite to the annoyance of my travel partner: let's get our day started. Finally do not wave your hands obnoxiously to avoid the cigarette smoke. Europe has yet to join Canada in the anti smoking campaign with children who look like they belong in junior high smoking. So by waving your hands to avoid inhaling secondhand smoke people know you don't belong here. 

Saturday we are off to Venice, the city of the canals. I am excited about this, I enjoyed Venice before even though it smelled terrible. One thing i am hoping for is that there is enough pasta to fill up my travel partner to avoid a subway conversation. If I have to eat one more sub I swear...

Turkey Day But I'm So Far Away...

October 12, thanksgiving weekend in the motherland. There is something about spending a holiday away from home that leaves you pining for some kind of familiarity. My family was never one to make a huge deal out of thanksgiving, each parent giving their own version of the holiday dinner. With my mom it meant praying before the meal and the sheer joy of a family dinner evident in her face, a smile that wouldn't come off her face for weeks. For my dad it is helping him often cutting up the vegetables for salads discussing things we have spent hours already discussing usually catching up on gossip. 

Thanksgiving is a holiday in which we give a moments thought and express what it is we are grateful for. My family has always been a fairly tight knit family never needing to voice that we are thankful for each other because it has always been something shared expressed usually in the comfort of just being with each other. The beauty of growing up with five siblings in cramped quarters, long summer vacations and cozy holidays you have no choice but to be close and thankful for one another. 

This is the first thanksgiving that I am away from family and it brings to the surface the feelings of being homesick. In the first years of college my dad always made the effort to come see me and bring me wherever he was spending the holiday weekend, once I hit university it meant spending it with my mom and step dad with one fun occasion of drinking my first terrible martini. 

It is the funny the places life seems to take you and having a holiday abroad forces you to sit and reflect on what family means and why must we be thankful for it. After giving it some thought I say that I am spending this holiday sans family but really as I sit on this train I am not without family. The natural course in life allows for the dependency and comfort of family to transfer to the dependency of a partner, the beginning of a new family. There will never be a point where I will not need my family but there seems to be a transition in my relationship with my travel partner that gives a glimpse on what the rest of our lives will look like. We are transitioning from being simply boyfriend and girlfriend to being partners, friends and most importantly family. This of course being nothing new in the grand scheme of life, it is something that was bound to happen sooner or later. I am thankful that at 23 I am so lucky to be so sure of something. 

Our travels in the past week have consisted of Praha (Prague), Wien (Vienna) ans we are currently en route to Munich. Prague offered a kind of beauty that to describe would not be enough. The street lined with a variety of shops selling everything from jewellery, marionettes and absenth. It is a city that uses any chance to boast its beauty with huge spotlights lighting up the city to give it a new look once the sun went down. You could spend hours on hills looking out onto the city, the view never getting tiresome. 

In Prague there was a ice pub which is exactly as it sounds a pub made of ice. I was contemplating asking my travel partner to go there but his response would undoubtedly go something like: "you want to go an ice pub? When we get home I'll just throw you outside with a beer and it will be the same thing." 

We ventured from Prague to Vienna where we booked a private suit. Now the hostel seem to take our desire for a private suite quite literally as we weren't even in the same building as the hostel. We were housed down the street and around the corner in a converted apartment building. 

We seem to be experiencing a little bit of burn out. The constant walking, trying to learn as much history and context as possible are leaving us mentally and physically exhausted. It doesn't help that apparently the people of Austria do nit believe in restaurants. For two little fatties not eating right on schedule often leads to a kind of hostile environment that can only be cured with food. True to fatty form we spent the majority of our time looking for food. 

The highlight of Vienna was Schobrunn Palace the palace of the last holy Roman emperor. On the grounds was immaculate gardens, massive fountains and a zoo. My travel partner who talked non stop about the zoo and the pandas was disappointed by the refusal of the pandas to turn around and look at us. Here's hoping for better furballs in Madrid. 

We are on our way to Munich and set to see Dachu and Cinderella's castle. Wishing family and friends a very turkey filled thanksgiving and a relaxing long weekend. 

What I've Learned So Far...

Ending in Prague wraps up roughly a third of our trip and there is a lot that I've learned from exploring this part of the world that have given me great insights on this thing we call life, 

1. There Will Always Be That One Assshole/Weirdo/Jackass 

This lesson has been learned through our various adventures in the hostels we have been staying in. In Liverpool we were lucky enough to have buddy who thought it was okay to hover over people's beds in the middle of the night but he also thought it was okay to put his hands down his pants, honestly buddy. There was never a moment before in life that I have been more mortified to be in a space. In Dublin and Berlin we were blessed with the worlds largest idiots who thought coming in at three in the morning and being as loud as humanly possible was okay. I had to get my teachers voice out at that point and reprimand them with a shh and a very bitchy reminder of the time. All this not evening mentioning the jack asses on the street who throw garbage every where, grab coffee cups out of street peoples hand's and the people who just push you around without even apologizing. It is hard to not call them all assholes while walking around but that wouldn't be very Canadian of me. 

2. The Holocaust is so much bigger than you can imagine. 

Growing up we learned a good chunk of European history in high school but it was such a small fraction that it could be argued as neligible. Today we ventured into the old Jewish sector of Prague where the old ghetto was still in tact from world war 2. One of the buildings here was a synagogue full of names marking the Jewish people killed during world war 2. Imagine your kitchen or living room wall full of names of people old enough to be your grandparents or young enough to be your kids with their  death dates falling on the time where they had no freedom. A building full of names of just young children and older people, people who could not defend themselves, the truly vulnerable. The worst part? This was only the people from Prague. Overall numbers in a textbook give none of it justice nor does it truly explain the depth of so many innocent lives taken so heinously. 

3. Life is only as fun as the people you share it with. 

I've noticed a big thing to do here is a trip with friends. There are a lot of moments when I see these groups of friends and I undoubtly get a bit envious. I am not jealous because I am unsatisfied with my travel partner but because there are nurmerous moments in a day where I know people in my very small social circle would enjoy something. There is so much in this world to see and the experience is only made better by the people you decide to share it all with. I am lucky in the sense that my travel partner is my best friend and the lessons we are learning together about the world and each other will be lessons that will stick with us for the rest of our lives as a couple. I am lucky that  my antics don't unnerve him and he is lucky that on my best days I have the patience of a saint. (Kind of)

4. No matter which way you cut it I am not an Olympic athlete nor am I built like one. 

Getting ready for this trip I decided I was going to get in better shapes to best prepare myself for this trip. The reality of my preparations just brought to light that although I did play soccer competitively for a long time I have managed to allow myself to get a little fat and a lot out of shape. Carrying around packs that are around 30-35 pounds for an hour or more  and endless kilometres leaves me sweaty and out of breath. There is no need to pretend that I carry my pack as peaceful and graceful as a swam carrying it's wings that is just not the case. The best scenario I am a hippo marching it's way around with a mouth of a sailor. The very best thing to come from this trip apart from it being a once in a lifetime experience is that I am able to shed a few unwanted pounds. If that does not happen I will just have to throw in the towel and embrace the obesity and just work more at home to become a fitter person. 

5. Flexibitilty and compromise will get you far in life. 

I would really like to think that what we are doing is backpacking through Europe, we have the backpacks and we are staying in hostels but that's where it stops. My idea of backpacking is living as cheap as possible to free up money else where but my idea does not match my travel partner's idea. My travel partner is very particular in what he eats so eating from the food trucks/stalls is probably the equivalent of eating off the ground. I hold very tightly to my purse strings so this is the biggest clash we are having. I am also easily bribed so as long as the overpriced dinners are not coming out of my pocket I can be flexible. 

6. Don't lose sight on how lucky you are.

There are undoubtably moments where I look at people's lives and think there is a better use of my time than doing this. It is in those very foolish thoughts I forget about how lucky I am to be here and see how beautiful the world is. It is very easy to get caught up in worrying about the money, transportation and food and forget that I am here and lucky to be. It doesn't take much to remind myself though, all it takes is one look at my travel partner willing to take a hiatus from work and the scenery and buildings overflowing with history and beauty. Getting down to the reality is that of course the grass seems greener on the employed side of life but being broke in Europe isn't half bad either. 

My final lesson so far: my view is infinitely better than yours. 

Three Countries, One Week.

In the past week my travel partner and I have managed to be in three different countries: Dublin, Ireland, Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Berlin, Germany. It has been a very busy week but it has also allowed for some beautiful scenery.

Our adventure in Ireland was much busier than anywhere else we have visited (besides London). On our first true day we decided to go all out and my feet paid the ultimate price. In Liverpool we discovered the beauty of free tours and ever since that has been the best way we have been able to see the highlights of the city and avoid looking like idiots doing so. The great thing about free tours is that we tip what we want and what we valued the tour. Us being the good Canadians we noticed we were tipping quite a bit better than the other people but when someone talks basically non stop they deserve good money for it. 

After our three hour walking tour of Dublin we went to explore Trinity College where we went and saw the Book of Kells which is the oldest book that the Old Library houses and is an illustrated version of the New Testament in Latin. It is a beautiful book even if you are only exposed to a couple pages. The Old. Library itself is every book lovers dreams, it is stacks upon stacks of old books. There is a smell of old books the minute you enter the long library and it is a collection that puts Belle's (Beauty and the Beast) to shame. I've decided if my travel partner does go ahead with his plans on building me a shack it will need to contain a library just as grand. (Kidding, sort of) After pulling me away from the library we went off to the Guiness Storehouse. If you want to go into a building that stinks and houses nasty beer that is the place for you! That is all I have to say about the Guiness Storehouse, my travel partner enjoyed it. 

We booked two outings back to back which was definitely a mistake because we were exhausted by the end of the second day. The first outing we went out to the city of Galway and to the Cliffs of Moher. In a three hour drive we drove the entire width of the country, back at home you are lucky if three hours gets you within a paved road. Although it was a lot of driving it was well worth getting up at 6:00am to go. We did a quick tour of Galway which was a small city and apparently is the home of the claggaugh ring. My travel partner said he would buy me one (in return for subway obviously) but the idea of wearing one because we went there seemed too much like a cliche to me. I will save my jewellery present for Prague. The Cliffs Of Moher at its highest point is 214m. Before embarking on our adventure my dad had told my travel partner that I better come back in one piece or he would kill him and I think the threat was taken too seriously. Every time I ventured close to the edge well out of any kind of danger zone my travel partner was behind me holding on to my waist band pulling me closer. The picture below is after I tried to get close but was told no and he was helping me up despite my annoyance with him. 

The Cliffs stretched out for 8km and fun little HP fact they filmed part of the sixth movie there! It was in one of the cliff's faces where Voldemort's family ring which was actually a hoxcrux. Oh that Voldemort. The only downside of the trip was the people who shared the bus with us which was a strong majority of students who were partaking in an American program: A Semester At Sea. These students talked non stop impressively for three hours, said the word like about a thousand times (per person) amd had great tidbits of facts. For example a shark can swallow a human whole and lions are totally chill (her word) and you can total walk up to one. The great American education system folks. 

The second day was a day spent in Wicklow National Park, there is so much beauty in Ireland that it really too bad we didn't stay there longer. It has been agreed that we will go back to Ireland one day. Wicklow National Park is 127kms long and movies that have been filmed there include: Braveheart, Reign of Fire and my favourite P.S. I Love You. We drove along the winding roads of the park, saw massive lakes, extravagant houses and waterfalls. All around us we saw green and it was one of those places you didn't want to leave. 

We left the land of the leprechauns and ventured into the land of the red light district and things that start with C: cannibus and canals. The last time I was in Amsterdam the smell of weed gave me a headache that lasted my entire stay, the place made me feel dirty. It was here after a long couple weeks in dorm hostels we finally had a private suit. It may be a sign you have stayed in dorms too long when the sight of a private bathroom and shower and personal TV makes you gitty.  My travel partner who grew up in a smaller family and never went on school/sport trips has never known what it meant to share personal space so entering that room for him was like entering the holy land. 

Amsterdam had not changed much since the last time I was there, there was still the smell of weed all over the place, the canals still smelt bad and women still stood behind doors under red lights. Our first night I introduced my travel partner to pieces of the red light district and much like my own initial reaction two years ago it was a mix of pity and disgust. There is no point in talking too much like the red light district if there is any interest a simple google search can answer all questions. The canals with the houses dating way back to the early 1200's still managed to awe me. Every time I come across places with such historical pride it always impresses me. We have historical sites back at home but the Europeans have plastered their proud of their history and culture in everything. The Europeans and the way they display their pride is something we as Canadians should be envious of. To have such pride and desire to learn to much about something is the kind of passion I want to have in life about something. I see people doing walking tours of cities and you can see the love that they have for their job and the things they talk about and I can only hope to eventually do something that drives me with that kind of energy. 

We have made it to Berlin and after a very long train ride we finally made it to Germany. We have now gone back to dorms much to my travel partners dismay but it is nice to come back to cities I was in a couple years ago. It is a little bittersweet to be here without my sister and walking around the places I have visited with her last time without her reminds me of how much I miss her and her impressive ability to pressure me out of my comfort zone. My travel partner and I have dated long enough that the temptation to sit around after a long day is the first thing that comes to mind. I am aiming for us to push each other out of our comfort zones but as of yet we have failed to do so and seeing as I am the more pushy one I don't anticipate a change. Oktoberfest is currently happening in the centre of Berlin and we will see where the weekend takes us, I would like to push past the point of being tourists and become true travellers.