VOYAGER GROS @voyagergros - Tumblr Blog

staying at home in stockholm

Hmm, I don’t know if I can do a proper post about Stockholm? Most of what we did looked like this:

And then I would do some of this:

And Curtis would do some of that:

Stockholm is a pretty expensive city compared to most of the places we’ve visited on our trip. One subway ride is $4.25 and you’re lucky if a ‘cheap eat’ lands under 12 dollars. Since our airbnb was a bit outside the center, it meant spending $8.50 just to be downtown. If we then wanted to do something, it was $10/15 on top of that. Add food and I would basically have been broke.

And our airbnb was one of my favorites yet. It had large windows and was always full of light. The décor mixed Ikea with East Asian elements. There were plants! And incense to burn! And twinkly lights! If ever a time to be a homebody, this was it. And after 8 months of non-stop movement, it was nice to stay in for a bit (and catch up on movies – The Great Gatsby, Straight Outta Compton, Fan Girl, and Frances Ha).

On the days (just two :) ) that we did venture into the city, we mostly just walked around and took in the views. Stockholm is a city of islands and so you don’t have to go far to hit water. A city on water is a quaint city.

We visited the Vasamuseet – a museum that showcases an enormous warship that sank on its maiden voyage in the Stockholm harbor in 1628 and was almost entirely salvaged in 1961, after 333 years of being underwater. The boat has since been meticulously restored and stands tall and long at 69 meters. The Vasa is the only preserved seventeenth-century ship in the world and was impressive to behold. We walked down and around and admired the craftsmanship. Even though it was intended for war, its intimidating ornamentation of sea monsters are a true treasure of art.

A lot of the people we interacted with in downtown Stockholm left a bit more to be desired. They weren’t rude at all, but almost disinterested, a general lack of curiosity. Maybe a bit too concerned about what others thought of them? Which brings me back to our airbnb – people in the suburbs were so nice! The cashier at the grocery store and the barista at the local coffee shop were fantastic. And the man who ran the corner store near us was a shining star. He gave us free candy and I found this in his shop one day! Now I know that baby black French bulldogs are my canine soulmates.

Serendipity struck while we were in Stockholm – Margaret, a friend from New York, happened to be there at the exact same time! I found out once we were already there – one of those frequencies being aligned in the universe things.

We enjoyed fika with Margaret and her mama at Vete-Katten. It’s a Swedish custom of enjoying a coffee, a sweet, and a chat among friends. And to Stockholm’s credit, Margaret and Ma loved their time there and found the people to be particularly wonderful. Maybe Curtis and I were just unlucky downtown. Or maybe we were seeing what we wanted to see as an excuse to be homebodies :0…

We did have a splendid working meal at Café Cronan. Go there for their wifi and stay for the mushroom soup and pasta. The only ‘real’ eating out I did was a hotdog (cheapest street food you can find), but I must say it was delicious.

So I don’t really think we did Stockholm correctly. I think we did Stockholm correctly for where we were in our journey and in our minds. But I would love to go back to Sweden. And especially visit the wilderness bits. From the little I know, I think it sounds like the Swedes have good values when it comes to family and quality of life. Definitely worth a second chance (both Sweden for me, and me for Sweden).

music in the streets of budapest

We arrived to Budapest in the late afternoon on a Saturday, and as soon as I hit the streets I was so happy to be back. I visited Budapest for a couple days back in 2010 when studying abroad in Paris. I remember really liking it then, but that was during winter, with a couple snow flurries peppering the trip. Exploring the city now, in the hot swells of summer, was amazing - you can't walk down a street without running into some sort of live music performance, whether it just be on a street corner, on the patio of a cafe, or on display in a proper outdoor amphitheater. It felt like all of Budapest was outside with an instrument in their hands.

We took one day to explore the Buda side of the city. Sitting on hilly landscape, it was quite the workout to climb up to Gellert Hill and then over to Buda Castle and Fisherman’s Bastion. We started at the bottom:

Made it to the top:

And then moved to the side:

We ventured into the National Hungarian Gallery, which is now housed in Buda Castle and discovered a couple cool artists. Ones I loved: Hugo Scheiber, Armand Schönberger, and Feber Laszlo. There was a great typography exhibit about Antal Gunda. Below is Farewell (1962) by Ákos Szabó.

The view from the top dome of the gallery is incredible, giving you eye-access to the three bridges. Here’s the lovely Chain Bridge:

After seeing how alive Budapest was, we looked up live events/festivals that were going on in the city while we were there (we should do this everywhere we go, duh..) and we found a short film festival! Busho! (like Budapest Shorts!) They hosted free night screenings at this really cool bar Corvintető that had a rooftop cinema. It had been a while since I attended a festival and it filled me with very happy feelings. We saw some great films over three nights. Ones I don’t want to forget: The Best Sound in the World and I Love Hooligans.

As our guesthouse didn't have air conditioning and the wifi wasn't the strongest, we adopted Solinfo Cafe as our home away from home. It's the pet project of Solinfo Lighting next door, a lighting design company, so it's decor is on point. And, like mostly everywhere in Budapest, their prices were very affordable. I'm usually one to insist on trying as many places as possible, but Solinfo won me over. We went five days in a row! By day three we realized that this was a regulars kind-of-place and on our last day in Budapest we actually said a bittersweet goodbye to our fellow coffice-ers.

While my diet mostly consisted of Solinfo cafe food, I did venture into Hungarian bites a few times. They like their sweets, and two delicious ones I tried were ischler cookies, basically a linzer cookie covered in chocolate (dynamite) and eszterházy torta, a walnut-y layered celebration.

On the savory front I tried Lecsó, a vegetable stew with a heavy dose of red peppers and paprika. And at Kazimir Bistro, they serve it with sausage, miam.

We attended an organ concert at St Stephen's Basilica, which proudly plays an active role in the musicality of the city. The concert was about two hours long and I think Curtis and I were the youngest in the audience. The centerpiece is obviously the organ player, but depending on the piece, there would be an accompaniment by a violinist, a trumpet, or two vocalists. We honestly didn't know what we were stepping into when we arrived, but we thought there would maybe be a fuller ensemble on stage. And until about half way through, we kept thinking that it was just, well, just okay. But then the organist caught his groove. The sounds of the instrument could easily fill the entirety of the basilica, and it felt like the notes were even resonating inside our bones. My favorite piece was C.M. Widor’s Toccata from Organ Symphony No. 5 (Op. 42, No. 1). Spot the teensy organ player at the bottom of the photo:

We spent our last evening in Budapest the way one should - with music. And we chose the opera! Carmen was playing at Erkel Theater as part of the program of the State Opera House. When we arrived we saw pearls, heels, and suit jackets and realized we were terribly underdressed. Fortunately they allowed us in with our chubby backpacks carrying laptops and computer cords, and we settled into our third row seats. The show was great. We thankfully had read the short novella that the opera is based on beforehand. The singing parts were in French (which means I could maybe understand every fifth word as they usually skip quickly over the consonants to get back to the "oohs" and "aaaaahs") and the speaking bits were in Hungarian. We were still lost in a couple parts that deviated from the short story, but the actors sang and the orchestra played with great passion.

Our week in Budapest was so fun. I could really see myself living there. We did so many cool things and it was so easy! With very little planning, we probably had our most cultural week yet. Unfortunately the only part of the city that I didn’t really dive deep into was the Hungarian people. We mostly only interacted with service people, and we weren’t always greeted with a smile. But, given all the incredible things that were happening in the city, there’s no way a bunch of grumpy people are organizing them.

Important side note – our time in Budapest coincided with the start of the migrant crisis spark and the shutting down of Keleti railway station. We surprisingly didn’t experience much of this, besides hearing far-off sounds of chanting marchers. It’s really heartbreaking to know that an entire community of people was being so mal-treated in a city that brought us so much joy. I don’t know nearly enough to have an opinion on what should be done to help this issue, but my instinct says that Germany and Austria took the right first steps.

istanbul, city full of everything

When Curtis, Evan, and I first arrived in Istanbul we were dropped off on Istiklal Street, often referred to as a main artery of the city. It is one of the most dynamic streets I’ve ever experienced. It hits you on all senses: every fifteen paces you smell the sesame fragrance of a food cart selling simit, you hear the sounds of a brass instrument or guitar playing unfamiliar Turkish melodies, you see young kids hanging from the back of an overflowing old red trolley car, all the while you’re weaving in and out of animated shoppers carrying big bags of treasure. You instantly feel that you’re not in Western Europe anymore. Excited to be in this particularly new place, we dropped our luggage off at our airbnb and headed to the Bosphorous for evidence of our straddling of two continents - the river divides Istanbul between its European and Asian sides.

We jumped on a sunset ferry and slowly made our way towards the Black Sea. During the hour and half ride you have the opportunity to see major riverfront sites and compare the feel of the city’s two continents. The Asian side is very green and generally feels pretty calm. We stopped at Anadolu Kavagi, a petite fishing village, for a seafood dinner. Similar to restaurateurs in South America, hosts stand outside and (politely but aggressively) try to coax you into their establishment. We were quickly won over by the place that was literally right in front of the ferry station – easy targets. A tray of fresh caught fish was presented to the table and we chose a healthy looking dorade to share between the three of us.

The European side of Istanbul is split by the Golden Horn. To largely oversimplify things, to the north you have the younger side of the city with the aforementioned bustling Istiklal Street, and to the south you have the old city with many of the touristic sights. We spent a large part of a day discovering the old city. To arrive there you must cross the Galata Bridge, which is always lined with fisherman eagerly awaiting the next catch. On both sides of the bridge you can snag some killer fresh fish sandwiches.

Once crossed over to the old city, we visited a mosque that Janek (from Amsterdam) had recommended - Rüstem Paşa Camii. It is well known for the beautiful İznik tiles that decorate its interior and exterior.

We crossed through the ever-busy Egyptian spice market where dried fruits and teas and spices overflow from every surface. We had a taste of Turkish delight or lokum made with honey (instead of sugar). I believe it was stall 46 (or 64 :/) that gave us a sample of pomegranate with pistachio… it was drop to your knees delicious, or should I say… delightful ;)

We visited the Basilica Cistern, an underground water reservoir that was forgotten about for centuries and was opened to the public just thirty years ago. As you walk around the 336 columns that support its subterranean roof, trickles of cool water drip down on you. Featured in various movies, it definitely has a distinct mysterious feel.

We visited the Sultan Ahmet Camii or Blue Mosque, a must-see in Istanbul. A sultan built it in the 1600s to assert Ottoman power and to surpass the grandeur of the Hagia Sophia that it faces (a Christian basilica turned imperial mosque, and now a museum). It’s huge and beautiful.

Whenever you enter a mosque, you’re of course asked to wear the correct attire, and to take off your shoes. Mosques are carpeted on the inside and this rule ensures its cleanliness. I’m not often in carpeted places, especially public ones, and especially without shoes on. It marked me. There’s something very humbling about it.

We finished with an incredibly refreshing scrub at the Turkish bath Çemberlitas Hamamı. Although it’s located in one of the most touristic areas of the city, as soon as you pass through its stone walls, you’re transported into a new world. There are separate areas for men and women so I navigated this experience all alone. But at every stop along the way, before you have the chance to feel lost and confused, there is an attendant waiting to show you the next step in the process. They scrub you and wash you and you’re surrounded by warmth and steam and it’s just fantastic. And Curtis enjoyed his trip through the men’s side. If only all of our bathing could happen at a Turkish bath.. I at least kept my scrub cloth!

All of our nights were spent near our airbnb on Istiklal Street. It’s evening ambience is an even more bustling version of its daytime activities. You can smoke shisha at a nargile café like Kafeka (and order the Salep in accompaniment, a mesmerizing milk and orchid drink), you can dance at one of its side street clubs or at a fancy rooftop bar like Mama Shelter, or you can jam to live rock at one of the bars on Solakzade Sokak like Mr. Bliss or Araf. Oh, and of course you should eat dinner, like a meze feast at Ficcin, or famous streetfood at Durumzade.

We spent a half day in the Kadıköy area on the Asian side of Istanbul. The first area you walk into feels similar to pedestrian streets near Istiklal, but once you push past that, you arrive in a calm hipster hood. We mooched WiFi at Walter's Coffee Roastery, played backgammon at Faydem Nargile Café, and listened to the heart of a singer songwriter at Dora King. AND Curtis made his most important purchase since we left the states! No longer will he be tied to flat feet when exploring the world... now he has wheelz !!

One of the last things we visited in Istanbul was the Grand Bazaar. This world famous covered market has 61 of its own streets and over 3,000 shops. While I was expecting an experience similar to the spice market, the Grand Bazaar is actually quite contained. It’s not just temporary stalls with products oozing off of every surface and hanging off of every hook. The streets are wide and the shops are real shops with real walls. Everything feels pretty organized. It gives you the opportunity to calmly look at all of the beautiful things for sale like these glass lanterns.

A couple weeks before our arrival in Istanbul, two members of a far-left terrorist group opened fire at the US Consulate. No one was killed, and we monitored the news and alerts about safety for american tourists. We ultimately decided to continue with our travel plans (obviously). But because of the shooting, I was hyper on-guard during our stay. I must say that not once did I feel unsafe, and if anything, I felt very welcomed. Instead of brushing us off as another annoying tourist, the turks we met were kind and genuinely interested to hear about us and where we were from.

Istanbul is a city full of everything. It’s energy can be heard, tasted, listened to, and seen. It’s big and beautiful and we only saw a small part of it. I would love to go back.

**ah and I just realized I forgot to mention the sumptuous cheesy desert künefe and the refreshing orange-pomegranate juice stands on Istiklal street – each could merit a post on their own !!**

grecian holiday

Next to the month and a half stay with my grandmother in Montpellier, Greece was our longest visit in Europe – 17 days! We were a little apprehensive to go due to the financial crisis, but, from my perspective, a tourist’s experience of the country hasn’t been hit in any type of way. We were more careful to pay in cash vs credit, but that’s about it.

Most of our time in Greece was spent on the islands, which is what I would recommend! The only mainland city we saw was Athens, which, although it pales in comparison to the deep blue water and authentic feel of the islands, was a great starting point for leaning into Greek culture. We stayed a bit outside of the main touristy area, in a neighborhood just west of the Filopappos Hill with lots of adorable bars and restaurants. My favorite was Aster which specializes in Cretan dishes. We rarely ran into non-Greeks when we went out in the area, which was awesome.

The initial shocker of being in Greece was the language/alphabet – all the extra letters made it almost impossible to remember the names of spots we liked. And even learning how to say thank you – efcharisto - was a challenge. But people were really nice and we learned to communicate lil by lil.

The must-do sightseeing activity in Athens is the Acropolis. It is an ancient fortified city in the center of Athens that stands high on a rocky hill. It holds the remains of several historically and architecturally important buildings, including the Parthenon! It is the symbol of political, artistic, and scientific thought of Classical Greece. Seeing all of the structures in ruins is quite impressive. We went close to sunset and there was this alluring blue glow over everything.

Athens is where we were introduced to Greek food, mmm. I’ll never look at Greek salad the same. Hallelujah for fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, and feta. Vegetables often accompany your meal in Greece, which I’m finding is pretty rare in most places, so that was A+. And then there was the cold coffee. Just as doner kebab was an integral part of our visit to Germany, freddo espresso was a cornerstone of our time in Greece. I kept hearing freddo this and freddo that whenever we went to a café, and I assumed it was some coffee brand that was taking over. But I’m silly - “freddo” just means iced, and Greece offers delicious iced coffees that I’m still dreaming about. Whether you order one in a fancy restaurant or in a grimy ferry cafe, they are always frothy and beautiful.

See that incredible scenery behind the coffee - let’s move on to the islands. Our experience of the Cyclades will forever be tied to a crazy Belgian-Irish skipper named Christian. I was hunting online for affordable housing (again, didn’t really feel the effects of the financial crisis with average double room prices hitting at $350/night) and stumbled upon a Coushsurfing listing for a sailboat. You got to sleep on the boat, sail the boat, and eat two meals while island hopping in Greece for 50 euro a day – not bad! We had two free weekends during our trip, so we booked two sailing excursions with this unknown “Christian.”

For the first weekend, we were accompanied by Leon and Diana (who we had traveled with in Berlin and Amsterdam!). Per Christian’s instructions, the four of us took a ferry from Athens to Paros and sat down at the restaurant of Hotel Livadia where we awaited our skipper with great anticipation. ‘Are ya Claire?’ – and there he was - burnt tan, faded Hawaiian shirt, cigarette hanging out of his mouth - gushing broken English with a cavernous Irish accent.

We climbed onto his 42-foot yacht and met Jessica, an awesome French Canadian and fellow Couchsurfer who we got to share the trip with. Little by little we learned Christian’s rules for the boat ‘Remember, one hand for you and one hand for the boat!’ and got a feel for the man himself. He’s a bit vulgar but just sincere and funny enough that it passes. He had a bunch of New Zealanders on his boat before us, and when they pronounce deck, it sounds like "dick" - so it was all ‘Don't spill on my dick!’ ‘Please give my dick a scrub..’ ‘Do you like laying on my dick..’

We navigated the waves of Christian’s character as we sailed (and motored… there were some times when the wind wasn’t so cooperative) around the Cyclades. First up was the island of Sifnos. We anchored at Platis Gialos after a 4-hour night sail from Paros. A quick dinghy ride to shore and we were privy to the most delicious moussaka of Greece at the restaurant Cyclades.

Instead of being the nauseous nightmare I feared, the first night proved that boat-sleeping is like getting rocked to sleep by your mama – gentle and smooth. It’s fun to arrive somewhere at night cause then in the morning it’s an incredible surprise when you realize that you’re surrounded by the bluest of water and you can jump in it !!!

That afternoon we sailed to Kimolos. A couple weeks prior, Christian had found a secluded beach with a secluded restaurant, ‘My favorite place in the world.’ It was admittedly magical. We arrived just as the sun was setting. We anchored down and shut off the motor. There wasn’t a sound except the lapping of the waves against the yacht.

We dinghy-ed over to the only other vessel in the water - a fisherman’s boat. It was the father of the restaurant, catching our dinner. For the dreamily remote location of the place, Kalamitsi Ventouris was remarkably busy – we even had to wait for a table! Once we were full of rabbit (they raise their own), fried squid (fresh caught, obviously), and chilled red wine (homemade), we moved to the beach and laid on the blankets Christian had brought to shore. The homemade chilled red wine kept flowing, this time from 1.5L plastic bottles. And of course we had some good ol’ Sailor Jerry.

With a quick trip back to Sifnos and a ferry back to Athens, our first sailing excursion was complete. We bid adieu to Leon and Diana and waited eagerly for a new guest to arrive… Curtis’ brother Evan had never been out of the country and joined our exploration of Greece. Brothers, united!

We scooped him up, and after a couple days in Athens, headed back to Paros to meet our trusted skipper once again. This time we would have more company on the boat. Austrian couple Amrita and Niki had been sailing for a couple days before we arrived. Swedish Johan and Canadian Rachel were joining along with us three musketeers. As previously mentioned, Christian’s character can be difficult to swallow at times, and it seemed that Amrita and Niki were at the end of their tolerance. We sailed over to Naoussa, on the north side of Paros. Again, the bluest water.

Naoussa is said to be the locals’ choice for nightlife (vs Parikia, the port town) and we had quite an entertaining night with Christian and an adorable English skipper named Mark. We met Greek friends of Christian, got lots of free booze, and bar hopped to the beat of forgotten American rock.

Our sailmates had opted to go back to the boat right after dinner, and in the morning, Amrita and Niki decided to abort ship (forfeiting their money). I realized that when taken to heart, there are some people’s antics that you just can’t handle, and Amrita and Niki were disinterested in giving away any more of their lives to Christian. I really liked them, they were kind and smart, but the mood on the boat did lighten when they departed. Some things mesh and some don’t.

The rest of the day we spent at the other side of the bay – Monastiri. With less people and less noise, we were once again in a secluded Grecian oasis. We split our time between the boat, the water, and the beach.

And then we did what I thought would be impossible, prepared a meal on the boat! The kitchen is so tiny and bouncy, but we were privy to a feast. Johan is a chef back in Sweden and he masterminded the whole thing. He made a yummy vegetable sauce with rice and noodles and then we barbecued chicken on the beach !!

We spent our last day with Christian sailing to Ios. Before we set off, we had picked up two new sailmates – honeymooners! We started off around 5pm, which is when Christian likes to set sail as it’s not smoldering hot outside. But this means that, if you’re going far (Ios was about 25 miles away), you’ll do a good bit of night-sailing. It’s much easier to get queasy at night because you don’t have a horizon to stabilize on. And unfortunately for the honeymooners, there was a boisterous swell that evening, and instead of a nice mama rock, falling asleep on the boat was more like a sport. I started off by sleeping on the deck because it’s nice and cool out there, but after the second time of being rocked off the bench, I decided it was safest to sleep in our cabin.

When the morning came, the honeymooners decided sailing wasn’t for them, and so aborted ship three days early (forfeiting their money, again, some things mesh, some don’t). This was also our departure. Saying goodbye to Christian for us was bittersweet. After so many others had not made it through, we felt like we had accomplished something by seeing out our sails until the very end. Christian opened up a world to us. We discovered places we would have never known existed. We discovered a lifestyle that we hadn’t even thought of. And no matter how many dick jokes, that’s something that I’m very grateful to Christian for.

From Ios we caught a ferry to famous Santorini. Due to its incredible cliffs, it has a different feel from the islands we had been frequenting. We rented mopeds which gave us full access to the landscape. ..And full access to likely death - weaving in and out of turns, traffic, shrubs, etc. We chased the tourist crowd north of the island to Oia, known for its fantastic sunset. We arrived a tad too late for first-rate photographic evidence, so just google “Oia sunset” and you’ll understand.

We climbed up a cliff nearby our hotel in Perissa and landed at Panagia Katefiani, a tiny chapel that overlooks the black sand beaches.

We planned our stint in Santorini so that we could meet up with Curtis’ friend Christian and his girlfriend Ashley. Although Santorini isn’t known to be a “party island,” we found the loudest bar and danced our hearts out with them and their super groovy friends Andre, Vic, and Betty.

We spent our last night in Greece on a terrace in Fira, Santorini. I drank ouzo looking down on the Caldera, where boats, small and large, made soft ripples on the surface of the sea. And just like magic, fireworks! The perfect celebration to conclude the perfect holiday.

extraordinary amsterdam

I had been to Amsterdam about five years ago while I was studying abroad in Paris. It was a short trip, maybe three days, and I definitely remember really liking the city. But holy moly, this time around I ABSOLUTELY ADORED IT. The first half of the week we were in our group of six hoodlums and did Amsterdam like vacationers. We walked through the city’s quaint canals and were surprised again and again by how sweet and wonderful the dutch are.

Our airbnb was situated right near the Jordaan district, so we were privy to charming petite streets and a delightful assortment of cafes, bars, and restaurants.

We visited the Anne Frank House, which was very moving. Our experience was different than most because we happened to go on the day of the Gay Pride parade. So while we were walking through this house of gloomy history, the techno from the procession outside was beating through the windows. But Curtis made a good point - it was actually quite fitting. There’s a quote from Anne’s father Otto in the pamphlet, “I believe that it's everyone's responsibility to fight prejudice.”

As a majestic sayonara, we spent our last night with Rob and Taz, Leon and Diana at Dekmental Festival. I am so so so happy we were able to merge our travel plans for one week of debauchery in two of the most fun cities we’ve visited.

For the second half of our visit, we did Amsterdam at a calmer pace. We stayed with my dad’s cousin Cécile who I had never met before. She is a translator and works from home. During the day we cozied our computers up next to hers and dutifully worked alongside one another. Around 6pm, she would start putting dinner together and offer Curtis and I a beer and some snacks. We would ease into conversation about travels and world affairs and would finally close our laptops when Janeck, Cecile’s dutch companion, arrived from downstairs. They have traveled a lot – Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, Cambodia, Vietnam.. – and we learned about these parts of the world that had seemed so closed to us. We talked about voyages and politics and lifestyle choices over food and wine.

I am incredibly grateful for our travels because we are discovering parts of the world that used to be giant question marks to us. But, and without downplaying the glory of it, that discovery is expected, we know it’s going to happen. Beyond that, it’s the unexpected moments like these - three days spent with a relative I had never met, in a country that wasn’t even her own, sharing tales from the road and thoughts on the world – that keep an ear-to-ear smile on my face and make my heart aflutter.

berlin: complex history, cool scenes, and kebab

We had only been in Berlin for about two hours when Curtis decided he really liked the city. While he can quickly come to conclusions “People here are interesting - aloof but confident without being condescending,” I usually form opinions after a couple days. Well, on day three, when I was cycling along the Landwehr Canal, imagining myself speaking German at a cool underground cafe, I came around too. Berlin is the first city we’ve visited where I could see myself living.

We spent a whole day at the Berlin Zoo, admiring the elegance of other creatures.

We then had a history day where we took in everything this city has gone through in the last century. Our path wasn’t chronological, but the impact still hit. The East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall was so bright and dynamic – the diverse reactions of the people popping off its graffiti.

The Topography of Terror museum walked us through the horrors of the Nazi Germany. As I was reading about Hitler’s rationale for extinguishing certain communities, I realized that some of his thoughts are just the extreme of maxims that are still being used today. He wanted to kill the unemployed (or "work shy”) because they contributed nothing to society. That opinion is still widely held today – it’s just an immediate killing versus bitter negligence. Food for thought. I haven’t formed any real opinions yet.

We visited a more northern part of the Berlin Wall, and peaked through a death strip. There were cracks in the wall so that you could see slivers of life just beyond it. I can’t imagine what that would be like. There was also a section on Bernauer Straße where houses were literally touching the wall, and we read stories of people in East Berlin risking their lives to jump across, usually to reach close family members who by chance lived in West Berlin.

We spent some time sitting on the concrete slabs of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The structures are arranged in a grid and stand on a sloping field so that they look the same height from above, but when you walk below you see all the inconsistencies. The design is said to represent an ordered system that has lost touch with human reason.

Our experience of Berlin shifted when friends from across the pond arrived – Rob and Taz from New York, and Leon, Curtis’ friend from Maryland, and his wife Diana. The rhythm of our travel is usually work Monday through Friday, and explore WiFi-less places on the weekend – so we don’t go out a whole lot. When our friends arrived in full vacation mode, the party started.

Berlin is known for its nightlife, so we were excited to jump in. We danced our hearts out for two nights at Matrix and Chalet. Chalet wins the cake though, for its various vibe offerings – chill outside by a fire, dance inside with house music, or chat in their most comfortable hammocks (see photo below - we may or may not have stayed until the sun came up :)).

We also loved Golgatha, a laid back beer garden in Victoria Park.

A blog post on Berlin wouldn’t be complete without a couple words for the almighty doner kebab. Apparently it was born in Berlin, which makes sense since you find a spit of slow roasting beef or chicken on every street corner (there are actually 1000 shops in Berlin, and doner kebabs generate €3.5 billion annually in Germany..) I think I might have had five of these sandwich delights in the seven-day span of our visit. They’re cheap (3 euro), they’re filling, AND they always come with a nice array of veggies inside their perfectly toasted bread. I was too busy gobbling, so here’s the internet’s best:

Berlin was awesome, and it was spectacular that we were able to share our visit of the city with friends from home. But we weren’t done yet! The six of us piled in an airport taxi one fine morning – destination: Amsterdam!!

layover in lyon

Our next flight was out of Lyon and so we arrived a couple days early to visit the city. As it was during the work week, a lot of our time was spent inside on our computers, however we were able to get out a bit.

A highlight was walking through the Traboules. These are old hidden passageways which lead from one street to the next via covered corridors through residences. While they were built much earlier, in the 1800s they were used by silk workers to transport textiles through the city while remaining sheltered from inclement weather.

Another highlight was the Musée Miniature et Cinéma, which has fun exhibits on film special effects and a collection of miniature models that are insanely realistic looking. I want to live in this apartment, mostly thanks to the shoutout to Niki de Saint Phalle:

Now off to Germany!

vergouniac

After a plane from Croatia, a train from Marseilles, and a car ride from Beziers, we were back in France and arrived in Vergouniac – my heart in the black mountain. Every time I reach the terrace of my family’s mountain house, I take the deepest breath of fresh air, look down at the raspberry bushes and across the green hills, and run back inside to my cheery relatives.

There were about ten of us there for the week, twenty including the neighbors (extended family), and we spent our time eating sunny meals outside, cleaning up the property, picking berries, and walking the land. My dad renovated (read: gutted and re-built) the inside of the house last year, and so we also brainstormed ideas for the finishing touches. And, of course, practiced our petanque skills.

Over the weekend we did a quick trip to my aunt’s horse farm, about two hours away, to see cousins and jam the night away at a local festival where friends of the family were playing with their group, Le Skeleton Band. Their music has been described as Black Folk, Metaphysical Bayou, and Fighting Blues. It’s Tom Waits-like and incredibly fun to listen and dance to. Their stage presence is somewhere between quirky, scary, and funny.

Back at Vergouniac, we were privy to a mouclade !! Mussels, mussels, and more mussels are fired up on a grill, doused with white wine, oil, and garlic, and gobbled up as soon as they hit the table.

This food event was started by my grandfather and has now become a tradition perfected by my father. It’s even made its way across the Atlantic, where my uncle on my mom’s side hosts Moulefest at his home in North Carolina. I hope it keeps spreading because the whole world deserves this kind of muscle lovin’.

It was very bittersweet to leave after a week in this mountain top oasis. Our projected travel plans for the upcoming year won’t swing us back through France, and so I don’t know when I will next see these lovely people and this lovely place. Thank goodness for Skype..

croatia: EDM and the sea

The ferry to Split was the biggest and longest boat ride of my life – 10,000 tons (completely guessing – but it was huge) for 10 hours. We had reserved reclining seats, but they were rubbish so instead we moved around some armchairs and made a sleeping fort! We fell into a pretty deep sleep and were one of the last ones off the boat. When we finally reached fresh air, it was like waking up to a dream. The water was a delicate sparkly blue and the shore was built up with ancient fortress-like structures. We later found out that the historic center of Split lies in and around what used to be Roman Emperor Diocletian's Palace, makes sense.

I was a bit nervous about our accommodation in Split because we were being hosted by an airbnb-er who hadn’t gotten any reviews yet, a first in our airbnb career. She offered to pick us up at the port, but out of fear that she would just drive us to the basement of the Croatian mafia headquarters, we chose to take a taxi to the house… to verify that there was in fact, a house. As soon as we stepped foot in the door, I realized I was an idiot and that Marica was the kindest, most welcoming host yet. We had fun jumping over language barriers, petting her dog, and eating the delicious food she cooked for us.

We weren’t the only guests to stay with Marica – all her rooms were booked thanks to Ultra Europe, the main event of our Split sojourn (and when I say all her rooms, I mean it, I’m pretty sure she slept on the couch). The city’s population doubled between July 9th and 12th when 150,000 EDM-loving festivalgoers descended on its coast. You’d think that locals would feel animosity towards us strangers, but just like Marica, everyone we interacted with was very kind. It was as if we had became part of Split for those four days instead of just being an enormous tumor on its side. We met a waiter (at Bistro Toć, A+ food and service) who would work a noon to 10pm shift, finish the evening at Ultra, wake up for work at 11am, and repeat.

The festival was held at Poljud stadium, and while there were technically three stages, I don’t think anyone really left the main stage where all the headliners were playing. It felt electric to be in the crowd, surrounded by so many moving bodies from all over the world. This was Ultra Europe, so everyone patriotically waved their country’s flag high in the sky to show that they too were here.

As soon as you left the heart of the crowd and climbed up the stadium’s steps, you were faced with the view of this colossal amoeba of people. You don’t really realize how big it is when you’re down in the nucleus, but when you see it from above, it is almost nerve-racking to take in its size.

But besides the minor shoulder bump or mal-placed foot, I don’t think anyone was trampled. And I felt like people were looking out for one another – everyone realized that personal bubbles had ceased to exist, and were seeking to have a bouncin’ time cozied up to their neighbor.

So every night we would become part of this mammoth party, do the 45 minute walk back home around 5am, knock ever so gently on the door, and Marica would let us in for a nap until noon. After three nights, we had seen Tiësto, David Guetta, Martin Garrix, Nicky Romero, Zedd, and Armin Van Buuren, among many others. I liked the vibe of Tiësto and David Guetta the best – you could tell everyone was happy jamming with them on the stage.

Once we had done as much damage to our eardrums as we could, we had two days in Zadar (three hours north of Split) before flying out. We did a lot of working and resting. We only ventured into the small historic center for a fraction of an hour before we realized that we had had our share of crowds for the moment – whether they be amoeba-like and dancing, or map-toting and touristic. I did take the time to snag some mouth-watering Croatian chocolate at Vitlov – go for the red pepper or coffee flavored chocolate bars.

As our experience of Croatia was quick and mostly geared towards an international festival, it’s definitely a country I would like to get to know again. We missed Dubrovnik and Paklenica National Park and Plitvice Lakes and more coastal landscapes like these:

road trip through tuscany

Pretty much ever since I saw fields of sunflowers in Under The Tuscan Sun, I’ve been dreaming of taking the time to visit the region of sprawling olive groves and vineyards. When we were figuring out how we would get from Trieste to (spoiler alert) Croatia, we decided that driving though Tuscany was a little detour worth taking. So we grabbed our adorably petite and matching luggage and hopped in our black Fiat Qubo.

Our Tuscan adventure spanned four full days of driving, wine tasting, and sweating. Temperatures stood steady in the 95 to 100°F range. But summer is what we’re chasing anyway, right?

I had put a couple dots on the map of wineries and “must-see” towns of Tuscany. First up, San Gimignano – a well-preserved hilltop town known for its medieval architecture, and whose historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Just like Trieste was an off-the-beaten-path delight, San Gimi was an on-the-beaten-path misfortune. As soon as we set foot beyond its admittedly Middle Aged-looking walls, we felt like we were in an amusement park. It didn’t feel like it existed, or had any life, beyond the camera lens of its tourists. And it was really hot with no shade. After a solid seven minutes of ‘giving it a try,’ we hurried back to the car and kept moving.

Thankfully, the rest of the day was fantastic, and mostly spent in very random places that weren’t necessarily part of every traveler’s guide to Tuscany. We had an afternoon appointment at Poggio Antico winery and so stopped for lunch in nearby Montalcino. We had just enough time to dine and click at Enoteca Osteria Osticcio, a lovely lovely spot - both the restaurant and the town.

The wine tour and tasting were fun and informative. There was a small group of Anglophones with whom we shared the experience. And yeah, there was a bit of the feeling that they were herding us around like the tourist cattle that we were, but maybe thanks to their manner, or maybe thanks to the wine, it was a tourist level that I was comfortable with. And their product was good!

I had emailed a bunch of wineries prior to the trip, and it just so happened that Palazzo Vecchio near Montepulciano was hosting a live music event that evening. We almost didn’t make it due to a hailstorm, check the lightning:

The sun ended up coming back out and we ventured forth. We arrived at the vineyard and stumbled upon three intimidating but friendly dogs and a Romanian woman that may or may not have actually worked there. She was very upfront about her lack of knowledge/enthusiasm for wine. She liked to bake cakes. But she was very welcoming and hospitable and took us into the dark tasting room, which had lost power due to the storm. While sipping on a taste of the Riserva (a wine which more-than-likely was not usually offered up for free wine tastings), we asked if this was the place with the music? Oh, no, it’s down the road, here come outside with me and I’ll point it out. We were only about 500 grape vines and a rainbow away.

When we arrived at the correct place, we were greeting by a beautiful sunset, a peppering of delicious Italian nibbles, and a delightful acoustic guitar – at last, my Tuscan dream come true.

Unfortunately we rushed through Florence the next day because of time/work limitations, but we did have a nice glimpse at Ponte Vecchio and David.

We had a very relaxing last day in Gragnone, where we lucked out with a perfect agriturismo/workplace and one last Italian feast across the road at La Botteghina di Gragnone. The last leg of the trip was the drive to Ancona, where we awaited a ferry to cross the Adriatic en route for Split!

trieste: treasure in the north of Italy

Our next stop was Italy to catch up with cousin Capucine. She has set up shop in Trieste, the hometown of her Italian boo Lele. We knew nothing of the area except that it was very north, very close to Slovenia, and when we mentioned it to folks, we would often be asked “Why are you going there??,” as if hitting a place that Lonely Planet hasn’t yet published about is a grand no-no. Well I say no no to you haters cause Trieste is awesome !!!

We were lucky because to start, Capu and Lele’s apartment was superb. And then they were excellent hosts. We visited local treasures like the Miramare Castle. It was built in the 1860s by an Austrian monarch who, shortly after the completion of the build, was appointed emperor of Mexico. He moved there, and after three years of power, his empire collapsed and he was executed. Legend says that his wife’s grief drove her insane and she committed suicide here. Kind of like the Îles du Salut in French Guiana, it was hard to imagine such a haunted history in such a beautiful place.

Then there was the Grotta Giganta, a natural wonder of a cave that is one of the world's largest. It took an hour to walk through its enormous hall, home to beautifully large stalactites and stalagmites.

Trieste itself is low-key spectacular. It’s a land of Aperol Spritz, breezy evenings, and tourist-free Italian living. Capu and I went out to a casual dinner one night and ended up with this:

On our last day, we jetted off to Slovenia! A quick 15 minute drive and bam! you’re in a different country. This is the first country we visited that fell outside of T-Mobile’s global plan, so we really felt like we were going off the reservation. We started off with the capital, Ljubljana. Having just left Belgium, canals were no novelty to us, but these looked so different from the dutch style we had just seen! It goes to show that even common architectural elements become drastically different when imbued with the soul of a country.

We had fun with the symbol of Ljubljana - the dragon. Here we are harnessing power, courage, and greatness on the Dragon Bridge.

We spent our Slovenian afternoon in Piran, a coastal town very close to the Italian border. We climbed to the top of its fortified walls dating from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Then we headed south to its shores and splashed in the sea !!

And climbed on the rocks !!

I couldn’t be happier with our visit to Trieste. Just as some of the most touristy places can disappoint, some of the most off-the-radar places can surprise and delight. We bittersweetly said arrivederci to Lele and Capu, hopped in a rental car, and headed for the vineyards of Tuscany.

belgium: tripel karmeliet and dutch canals

I had spoken with my cousin Capucine about a month earlier and heard that she was flying to Brussels to celebrate her sister/my cousin Luna’s birthday. These are the bits of news that help us nail down our itinerary. Surprise birthday party? We’re there! We took the Eurostar through the Chunnel and arrived a day prior to the big event. We stayed with Capu’s friend Candice (perfect host award) and hid indoors for a day so we didn’t accidentally run into Luna in the streets. Luna’s boyfriend Carlos invited her to a couple’s birthday dinner, and little did she know there were 20 of us waiting for her !! And as a last-minute addition, cousin Marion attended too !! It was unexpected and very festive. We had a mushroom-filled meal at Café Des Spores, yum. AND at the end of the meal, Luna and Carlos announced that they are getting married !!!!!!

The next day us girls went to the spa! We’re talking steam rooms, saunas, and pools galore! After our relaxing day of cleansing, we ate a homemade ceviche for dinner and then went to an awesome arts venue – Atelier 210. They were celebrating the end of their 2014-15 season and the party was A+. This is where I first tried Tripel Karmeliet – the best beer ever (it’s won awards). At 8.4%, it’s a golden Belgian beer that uses wheat, oats, and barley and has hints of banana. I never thought I’d drool over beer, but this one is special.

Saturday the whole troupe took a short train ride to Ghent. We visited its charming Dutch canals by boat. And then we stumbled into a block party with beer and rock n roll!

Capucine and Marion left Brussels early the next morning and Curtis and I were in “why not” mode so we took a train to Bruges! It’s a bit further than Ghent, a bit smaller, and a bit more touristy. To put us in the mood, we watched In Bruges on the train ride over. I advise this system to everyone because once there, we discovered the town via treasure hunt. Oh! That’s where he shot him! Oo! This is the pub where they bonded! One of Curtis’ coworkers had recently been to Bruges and mentioned that she had done a lovely bike ride to the nearby village of Damme. Off to Damme we went! The ride was surprisingly nature-ful, in three minutes you’re out of the tourist microcosm and suddenly riding through fields of wheat and cows.

We were feeling tight on money, so instead of a fancy dinner, we opted for a cheap meal..

... with a nice view.

It reminded me of how my affordable apartment in Paris was not the most attractive, but my window gave out onto the most beautiful typical Haussmann architecture just across the street. We finished off our mystery-meat burgers and crispy-yet-melty fries (even the cheapest of places in Belgium has killer fries), and headed over to bar Het Zwarte Huis and the even greater bar Le Trappiste. This is where I discovered Gulden Draak, a dark Belgian beer whose quality rivals that of the Tripel Karmeliet. But don’t ask me to pick a favorite, they’re both fantastic. As are the cute canals of the city.

The next day we went up the Belfry, a twisty climb up narrow stairwells with a great view of the city. That evening we were back in Brussels, dining with Carlos and Luna who made us the most delectable homemade au revoir lasagna.

As souvenirs from Belgium, I carry with me the warmth of our hosts and a new taste for beer.

londontown

We arrived in London on an early Saturday morning and went straight to my friend Isabella’s place for a cheery welcome. My roommate while studying abroad in Paris, Isa was the perfect guide for our 4-day discovery of this European capital. We spent our first day in Hyde Park after hearing word of Midsummer – a Norwegian festival celebrating the summer solstice. Ironically, and in true London fashion, it ended up raining. But this only brought people closer together. We snuggled up under a linden tree with our fellow sun lovers.

A lovely cook, Isa made sure our trip was full of YAYY FOOD moments. We had a couple delicious burgers, which you might say is a shame, but when done well, burgers are respectable food journeys. After a walk from Clapham Common up through the lovely Battersea Park, we enjoyed a proper pancake breakfast at My Old Dutch. I had poffertjes (pronounced poff-ER-edges)!

We couldn’t not visit the classics, so we heard the bells of Westminster Abbey and danced with Big Ben.

We conquered much of London by foot. Highlights of our walking tour: Columbia Street flower market where scruffy middle-aged men shout out deals for their peony bouquets, Hackney City Farms where you can indulge in some pig loving, and Brick Lane, a street full of food, shopping, and impromptu music jams.

For some culture, we got a dose of londoner standup comedy at Ku Bar with the 99 Club. For some higher-brow culture, we went to an art exhibition at Southbank Centre – Europe’s largest center for the arts. It was Carsten Höller: Decision, and it took us through a maze of thought-provoking installations. For one of them, we put on head gear that allowed us to see the world upside down!

Other wonderfuls: Scooter Caffe, Santander Cycles (London’s public bike sharing system), and a magnificent run on Regent’s Canal.

London was awesome. There’s life, there’s lots of green, there’s laughs, there’s food. Without the misfortune of the pound being 1.5x the dollar, we would have prolonged our stay without question!!

adieu tour of the midi

Our last week in France (for the time-being) was filled with beautiful day trips in the Montpellier region. There are so many treasures to explore. First up, a hike to the Château de Viviourès. The castle was built in the 11th century, abandoned in the 16th century, and has just been chilling ever since. It’s crazy to imagine what a modern-day home would look like if we left it to ruins for a thousand years.. Can you spot all the curtis’ and claires?

Then we had a lovely hike and picnic with aunt Cricri at the Cirque de Moureze. It’s a mystical place where the earth naturally eroded into strangely shaped towers. It felt like we were walking through a labyrinth in a Dr Seuss story.

And finally we visited the famous Pont du Gard with uncle Guitou. This ancient Roman aqueduct bridge was part of a 31 mile structure that carried water from a spring at Uzès to what is now the city of Nîmes. It is the highest of its kind and is incredibly well preserved.

By now it’s about June 19th. That means France had been my home-base for almost two months. That travel bug was a’itchin. Curtis and I were ready to spread our wings a bit..

quick holiday in the land of dalí

The Costa Brava of Spain is just close enough to be able to make a weekend trip from Montpellier. With Marion in tow, we made our way down the coast. We stopped at Dalí’s house, which was as terrifically bizarre as you would hope. The doorman:

The eccentricities that adorned the walls:

The backyard:

And the olive tree speckled view:

We walked around the enchanting towns of Portlligat, Cadaqués, and Roses, and took in the terracotta roofs, white walls, and turquoise water.

Then we went a bit further south to the Islas Medas to go snorkeling! We were nose-to-nose with schools of fish taking their afternoon promenade around the natural reserve.

I can’t imagine what these elegant fish thought of us neon-clad mega monsters.

I feel very grateful for the glimpse into their everyday world!

mama france, i’m coming home

Although not originally intended (we’re going with the flow, duh), France became my home for the next month or so. This gave me the invaluable opportunity to spend some everyday moments with my Mamie in Montpellier. She taught me the etymology of french words and I taught her how to recover emails when they mysteriously disappear.

Curtis went back to ‘Murica for a bit to catch a music festival and I made a trip up to Paris to catch my supermodel best friend on one of the stops of her world domination tour. We gallivanted in Versailles and got bottle service on the Champs Elysée.

Then I went back to Montpellier, Curtis came back, and we went back up to Paris (whoosh). Cousin Clovis and his band Azad Lab put on an incredible show at La Bellevilloise, making all of our hiphop-electro-swing dreams come true.

We went to museums and expos, crossed the city by bike, picnic-ed on the Canal de L’Ourcq, and caught up with family.

Back down south, we celebrated Noemie’s 30th with an incredible backyard party complete with DJs on a truck.

We made a trip to my aunt Marie’s horse farm where we ate baby cats.

Ha, just kidding! The only manual labor we did was the annual hay bail extravaganza.

And then the much-deserved bridge jumping to cool off.

And a jolly feast pour la fin!

castles, lambs, and wind

Hiya! Next stop, Edinburgh!! The deciding factor for moving on to Europe when we did was Mamie’s 86th birthday celebration in Scotland !! In attendance for this event was cousin Noémie (who had set up shop in Edinburgh for a year), Lucas, and Marion.

Despite the face-numbing wind, one of my favorite excusions was walking the shores of Arbroath, a harbor town near the capital.

One of the culinary beats of the trip was our visit to The Chocolate Tree. As intensely as Scottish winds might numb your face, this hot chocolate will numb your tastebuds (from richness, not heat..).

After one week in Edinburgh, we were able to escape to the Highlands for a quick second, which was AMAZING. Having set up camp at Fort William (recommended), we did Glen Nevis and Ben Nevis and will absolutely be back for more.

Glen Nevis is a beautiful valley that holds one of the three highest waterfalls in Scotland, Steall Falls.

Ben Nevis is Glen’s cousin and is the highest mountain in the British Isles at 4,409 feet. The view on the way up was....

From our experience, both Scottish people and Scottish landscapes are delightful. I look forward to being back one day.

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

VOYAGER GROS