Hey y’all! Sorry about not updating for a few days. School resumed and it has been quite hectic!

Reliving Europe: Berlin

Ahh lovely Berlin. Had a great time there thanks to my Kpop-loving friends who devoted four days of their summer holiday to showing me around

Hello, long time no blog!

Hey everyone! It has been quite a long time since I have blogged, because my trip came to an end–but I am back to tell you some exciting news! I am here to tell you all that I have written a book reflecting on my experiences as a 17 year old backpacker throughout Europe. As you all know from my posts, I deeply appreciate my parents for giving me the great opportunity, and this is what I would like to dedicate to them in return. As I am planning to attend college next year as well, I desperately need some money to pay for my outrageous $40,000-$50,000 yearly tuition! As a crazy car fanatic, I would also love to buy myself my dream car–but that may be a bit far-fetched! As you viewers know from my blog already, my adventure was not only a fun holiday, but an educational expedition as well. I wish to share with you all and the world in detail, of my day to day experiences and the lessons I have learned.

Now, in order for my book to be successful, it is crucial that I have all your support! Publishers want to know that the book will sell well before they publish, and they key to that is publicity. If you all could spread the word by re-blogging my posts, sharing it on twitter, facebook, etc., telling your friends, and/or spread the word in any other way you could think of, I would appreciate it very much!! My plan is to have it published in English and Korean, but who knows? If I could gain enough publicity, it may even be published in more languages! Once again, thank you all for following me through the 7-week journey of my life, and have yourselves a Merry Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/winter solstice/boxing day or whatever you celebrate at this time of year!! I will be in touch with you all soon, and please comment to share your holiday plans!

Vienna, and now Budapest!

Hey y’all! So… Vienna has been, overall, a HOT experience. Hot to the point where I could just be satisfied with sitting at a subway system, awaiting the zephyr the subway brings along! Of course I didn’t do that, but it was very tempting! This morning I got terribly confused and lost on my way to the Schonbrunn, but eventually found it! The schonbrunn was very nice and impressive, but I missed my train! That’s ok, I only got to Budapest two hours later than expected! Of course, I got lost here as well. I am not exactly sure of what to make of Budapest quite yet… To start with, the train station was not up to the standards of the Europe I’ve seen so far, and neither were the public transport or other buildings. It is actually pretty nice, to see a town this way. A fairly decent amount of people actually seem to speak English, which is good, because I cannot speak any Hungarian! Some people are really courteous, but there are some really rude ones. For example, the ladies at the ticket station spoke in a monotonous voice and were very rude. I tried reserving some train seats and all they could say was “not possible.” I asked why, and I was given the same answer… Unlike these ladies, however, a young woman at a bus station very kindly helped me navigate towards my hostel! And of course, the hostel employees and all the campers there were extremely kind and friendly! The hostel I’m staying at currently is called the Retox Party Hostel. And a party hostel it is! Everyone else is out drinking right now! But the hostel is perfect in its own way. It’s location, graffiti, people, etc. all mingle together in perfect harmony! If things are as good as it is now, I think I’ll like Budapest!

Vienna!

Hello everyone! Wow, it is hot here in Vienna! I started the day at Stephans Platz and took a walk to one side of the ring, which is a major street that marks the original boundary of the city. I saw many buildings from the outside such as the parliament, the Museumquartier, Burgtheater, the Volkstheater, and Rathaus. Today, however, was a very sedentary day. I sat on the stair steps of the Museum of Arts, facing the museum of natural history and just sketched for awhile-in the shade! The temperature reached 37.7 degrees Celsius, which marks the hottest day of June yet, this year! Afterwards I attempted to walk in the Volksgarten, but it was much too hot. And I was getting hungry. I started walking again and ran into a church on Herrengasse, and went inside because cool air was rushing out from within. Wow, was it nice in there! I sat in a pew for awhile contemplating random elements of life because the church was very nice inside. Very quiet. There were also chorales playing very softly through speakers and that helped me relax quite a bit! I finally decided to grab lunch when my stomach growled and echoed through the whole church. So I had lunch. At McDonalds. And never will do so again. The food was tasteless as ever, and it was actually quite expensive! After lunch I wandered about the ring once more and visited the Ferrari dealer… Of course! Dinner was at a local restaurant with the lovely people letting me crash at their place! Here, I tried my first Schnitzel, a modified recipe originally from Italy. The day ended with a gelato and apricot filled… Something at what is believed to be the most famous gelato house in Vienna! Man, was that good!

Salzburg!

The weather could not have changed more. By noon, there were no clouds, and it was HOT out! But Salzburg is absolutely beautiful. I love it! The mountains almost make me feel at home! I cannot remember the names of any of the places… Because I never figured out how to say them in the first place! I started the day off by visiting a flower garden that was very beautiful, and continued to visit Mozart’s birthplace and his later residence! It is set up like a museum, and it was quite interesting to see his former possessions, compositions, etc. I then took a small hike up a hill, where I found a great view of the city-but that view was nothing compared to the view from the castle! Now THAT, was astounding. The castle sits on top of a cliff that overlooks the whole city, and drinking sprite over looking the town and looking at the majestic mountains was probably the highlight of my day! As you have noticed, I have been thanking many people. That is because there is every reason to be thankful for everything. Everything. And even more thanks to a hostel roommate I met last night, for being such great company for most of my day at Salzburg! Also a HUGE thanks to Rina (who I met on my volunteer trip) and her partner, Marcus, for giving me a place to sleep here in Vienna for a few nights! I am so blessed to have such kind hearted people in my life, and I hope you all can find that in your heart, you are thankful for each spoonful of food, each nights sleep in a bed, each other’s company, etc.

Last day in Munich!

I would start by apologizing to all you readers for not uploading a new post yesterday! It was such a hectic day I just did not get around to it. Quite a frustrating day too! First off in the morning, my kakaotalk decided not to work so I lost contact with the two Korean college students (I don’t think I’ve mentioned in the previous post I met up with these guys… But now you know!), and unfortunately had to go about alone. I started the day off with the BMW Welt, which was in one word, amazing. Actually, more than the cars itself, I found the architecture to be astounding-and you will see why! Next, I went to the Olympics stadium for the 1972 Olympics. The architecture, although not very appreciated at the time, fits in with today’s modern architecture very well. That was quite impressive! As you all would know, 11 athletes from the Israel Olympic team were killed, and a memorial stands in memory of them in front of the stadium. Now, Anja, the lady I met at the Denver International Airport was so very kind and invited me to lunch yesterday! The food was fantastic-mushrooms and chicken with cream sauce (all organic as well!)! I would like to give a special thanks to her. After lunch, I paid a visit to the large park… It was quite nice, but extremely hot. I also got lost (I’m not very good at this navigation thing!) while attempting to find the Chinese Temple, but when I found it at last, it was rather disappointing. I was exhausted and did not feel like visiting the art museum, but mustered up my energy to do so. And it was quite worth it! The exhibition compared Picasso with de Kooning and Beckmann, and it was quite interesting to see the difference in style and the emotion each artists expressed. NOW I was exhausted for sure. I walked all the way back to the hostel, and met up with my Korean college friends (I got kakaotalk to work and asked them to meet there at 6!) and went grocery shopping… Yes, food is quite expensive here. And after that we got lost again, and I had to rush to the Munich Hauptbanhof! I caught my train, and by the time I arrived in Salzburg, it was dark. Luckily, I found a taxi and found my hostel in time before I fell asleep!

It is now morning here in Salzburg, and it is rainy! Which I guess is nice, in contrast to the hot weather in Munich, but I do not hear the sound of music! Just the sound of thunder… Updates on Salzburg to come!