Out and Abroad

Dear Belgium: A Love Letter to Chocolate Country

February 4, 2020outandabroadLeave a comment

Dear Belgium,

You are such a small country, one that is often overlooked, but one of my favorites. I stayed in Brugge for 3 days, a city that blew my mind with its architecture, history, beauty, culture, and food.

I never liked beer before visiting you, but you taught me that beer doesn’t always have to taste bad. My favorites were Kriek Cherry, Leffe, and Duvel, But Belgium, you are so much more than your beer, your chocolate, and even your waffles.

I started out my trip by sitting in a cute, authentic Belgian tavern, where I ordered Kriek Cherry and a cheese platter, which were amazing. We sat in a cute bar for a few hours talking to the nicest bartender I have ever met. He gave us recommendations on what to do the next few days, and we did all of them and he did not disappoint. We went to the Brugge Historium, where we did a virtual reality tour from the viewpoint of a person who lived in Belgium a long time ago. We got to see the transformation from a small town with a small population, to one of the most architecturally advanced cities I have ever been to. Then we did a real-life tour of the building, which ended at the Duvelorium, where we got a traditional Duvel beer. Of course, we had to walk around the famous, beautiful canals, while eating our body weight in waffles. Because we were only there for a short period of time, I am positive that we did not get to see everything worth seeing, but what we did see was amazing.

You are a lowkey country, with lowkey cities, but an amazing culture, cuisine, and sights. I am thankful for the short amount of time we spent together, and I am hopeful that I will be able to come back and see your entirety. See all of the tiny streets and canals. Eat all of the waffles. Drink all of the beer. And meet as many as your amazing people as possible.

Goodbye for now, but not for good.

Dear Vienna: A Love Letter to the City of Music

January 10, 2020outandabroadLeave a comment

Dear Vienna,

As a person who loves to adventure and fill every second of my day with something to keep me busy, I have difficulties slowing down and taking time to enjoy things. I often find myself worrying and hurrying to make sure I can fit everything I want to do into this short life. Until Billy Joel told me to slow down, that Vienna waits for me. Not only was he right about needing to slow down because I am too ambitious, he wrote a song that guided me to visit Vienna, a place where I found myself slowing down more than ever before due to it’s beauty, culture, nature.

For the past five months, I have been traveling around Europe, with my final city of the trip you. For the majority of them, I traveled alone but met up with friends or family for a day or two in the city, but Vienna was the first and only one that I enjoyed completely alone, allowing me to have some time to myself.

Because I visited in December, which I strategically planned, I made sure to spend plenty of time at the various Christmas Markets for which Vienna is so famous. The first one I visited was the main one, the one right in front of Rathaus City Hall, where I made sure to get presents for everyone, including warm honey roasted nuts for myself. I also spent a lot of time enjoying your beautiful churches and cathedrals, a perfect way to learn about the history, culture, and architecture. I made my way around St. Stephen’s Cathedral, St. Michael’s Church, Minorites Church, Votive Church, St. Charles’ Church, and St. Peter’s Church, but I’m sure I walked past several others. I also visited the Albertina Museum and the Belvedere, which was a beautiful estate with several art exhibits, and its own small christmas market. I made sure to try specialty foods, apple strudel and chimney cakes.

*City Hall Christmas Market, Vienna, Austria*

It is obvious to me now why there is an unmeasurable number of songs, movies, and other arts about you. Your laidback culture, nature-filled city (which seemed like an oxymoron until I met you), and your enriching culture were exactly what I needed to end my months of travel.

Thank you for sharing your culture, beauty, and experiences. Thank you for teaching me how to slow down and take it all in. Thank you for sharing your apple strudel, so I could convince myself that the apple part made it healthy. Thank you for being the perfect end to my experience in Europe, and reenforcing my love for travel. Thank you for waiting for me.

Bis später, Wien.

Dear Budapest: A Love Letter to the Pearl of the Danube

January 6, 2020January 6, 2020outandabroad1 Comment

Dear Budapest,

When I told people that I was going to Budapest, I was surprised to hear that many people are unaware of your existence. But not me. For whatever reason, I had planned to visit you since I made my plans to travel Europe for a few months. Maybe it was your food, maybe it was your Christmas Markets, maybe it was the Danube River, maybe it was the beautiful architecture everywhere I looked, maybe it was the overall perfection of the city.

*Shoes on the Danube Memorial, Budapest*

I had no doubt that Budapest would be one of my favorite stops in my travels, that it would be one of the cities most feautured on my Instagram. To no surprise, I was correct. I have trouble deciding which pictures to post and which places to share, even though I didn’t even capture nearly all of it because I loved it so much that I didn’t want to ruin it by experiencing it through a camera.

This was my most packed weekend in my months abroad, because there is so much to do in Budapest. I walked along the Danube River, and got to reflect on the Shoes on the Danube Monument for the 60 people who were shot into the river during the Holocaust. I obviously made a stop, a long one, to the Hungarian Parliament Building, and couldn’t help but compare it to other government buildings I have seen in my life. I hopped a scooter and rode up to City Park, where I visited Herde’s Square and enjoyed the Szechini salt baths. Because I am legally allowed to drink in Europe, I made a point to experience barlife before returning to the United States. Your ‘ruin bars’, specifically Szimpla Kertmozi, were some of the coolest I went to due to their insanely cool locations, variety of options, and friendly people. I walked across the Chain Bridge to the Buda side of the city, where the funicular took me up to Castle Hill so I could see the best views of the beautiful city. I also toured Fisherman’s Bastion and St. Matthias Church, which was hands-down one of the coolest buildings I have ever seen.

Even though I feel that I experienced a lot of the key things to do in Budapest, I do not hesitate to say that I would visit you again in a heartbeat, to explore parts I hadn’t done before or just to repeat everything I did already. Not to be cliché but, I’m HUNGARY for more.

Thank you so much for giving me a collection of stories to prove to people that sometimes the overlooked cities are the most beautiful. Thank you for being a walkable city so I didn’t have to blow through all of my money on transportation. Thank you for having amazing food. Thank you for welcoming me with open arms into a culture so different from anywhere else I had been before; I had the buda-best time.

Mindíg szeretni foglak.

*Hungarian Parliament Building, Budapest*

Dear Amsterdam: A Love Letter to the City of Canals

October 21, 2019outandabroadLeave a comment

*Rembrandtplein, Amsterdam, Netherlands*

Dear Amsterdam,

Canals and cannabis. Your true claims to fame. But your amazing qualities do not stop with those two. What many people don’t know is the amazing history and culture of the so-called “Venice of the North”.

When I visited you, it was just for a weekend trip, but now I am positive that I will be returning. From the second I stepped onto my Airbnb on a sailboat, I knew that Amsterdam was something special. We spent our days in downtown Amsterdam, exploring the picturesque streets and canals. In addition to the beautiful culture and scenes in Amsterdam, we spent our fair share of time in coffeeshops filled with tourists and locals sharing good times. The munchies were inevitable. Luckily you had amazing food all over; my personal favorite was stroop waffles, which I made sure to bring home so I could continue enjoying them. We also tried traditional Dutch pancakes, which are very similar to crepes, and very delicious. Because we were all coming from very different cities, the Red-Light District was something that intrigued us a lot, so we decided to visit the Museum of Prostitution, which was interesting and informative. I learned to appreciate the culture a lot more after learning about the people and the traditions of the city.

What I expected was what I had heard: weed and windows full of sex-workers. What I experienced was something much more: a beautiful city with happy people. Restaurants and streets full of live music, small stores full of amazing cheese and desserts, and canal fences lined with bicycles.

It is obvious why you are number one on almost everybody’s bucket list. You are one of the most lovable cities I have ever been to, a bold statement since I was only there for three days, but I know it is true.

Thank you for allowing me to experience you as fully as possible given the short period of time I was there. Thank you for creating a place where everybody is welcoming and happy. Thank you for giving me a chance to live life on a boat for a weekend.

Adieu Amsterdam.

Dear Germany: A Love Letter to Deutschland

October 18, 2019October 18, 2019outandabroadLeave a comment

Dear Germany,

I never knew that just one weekend would give me enough time to fall in love with a city. Now I do.

When I told my friends and family that I was going to be studying abroad in Europe, they all told me that I needed to take a trip to Germany. Not that I wasn’t already planning on visiting Munich for Oktoberfest. I was worried that one weekend would be a waste of time, that it would not be worth it. Yes, it was a short trip, but that just forced me to make the most of my time there, which proved to me that perfect weekends do exist and that perfect places do too.

Because we were going there for Oktoberfest, the first thing we did was shop for Dirndls and Lederhosen, which was a fun first thing to do in Germany because it gave us insight into your culture and the people. After changing into our traditional German outfits, we took the metro downtown to the Oktoberfest fairground, Theresienwiese, which was nothing like I had expected. It was full of beer tents, amusement rides, food tents, and games. We spent most of our time in beer tents, where we met locals who taught us the true way to cheers “Prost” and that if you do not touch your stein to the table after Prost and before drinking, your kids will be ugly. Waking up at 6 am to wait in line in the rain on Saturday morning was so worth it because we got into the Hofbräu tent, the sister of the Hofbräuhaus in downtown Munich. We ate our fair share of pretzels and drank our fair share of Oktoberfest Beer.

*View from Rathaus-Glockenspiel, Munich, Germany*

I was smart enough to book my flight out of Munich for Sunday night so that I had an entire extra day to explore your city and culture outside of Oktoberfest. I explored Marienplatz and took the lift to the top of the tower where I got the best view of Munich and its beautiful landscapes. We went to the original Hofbräuhaus for lunch where we got pretzels and grilled chicken. There was an outdoor food festival in a park where we tried cheeses, honey, beers, and were able to support the local companies and their specialties.

Germany, I appreciated visiting you, even if it was only for 3 days. You were amazing enough in those short days that it was as if I had been there for a week. Thank you for your amazing city, food, beer, and culture.

Prost and dankeschön.