Another two weeks gone, another blog update to give. Today's message is brought to you from Vienna, Austria. In the past three weeks (roughly), I've covered quite a bit of ground and have seen a number of different countries and cities. Unless you really want to hear more some nitty-gritty details from particular places, I'm only going to highlight a couple different moments. Since flying into Frankfurt, I've bused to Hamburg, took a car-ride share to Dresden, trained to Berlin (and back to Dresden), bused to Prague (Czech Republic), and finally bused to my current location, Vienna. One of Europe's hallmarks (in my opinion) is being able to see so many different places so easily. Everything is relatively close. However, this means travelling lately has been a little more "intense" than what I've grown accustomed to. It's not all THAT stressful, more so tiring. I like to think of it as one last hurrah before finally going home (which is scary close).




Opera House in Dresden, Germany



The other Hallmark of Europe, (again, in my opinion) is history, and boy do they have a lot of it. I wouldn't even know where to begin... the Hapsburg's in Vienna, WWII stuff in Berlin, the golden city of Prague - the history and significance of so many different places - I was eager to discover everything initially, but now all the information is simply overwhelming. My brain feels like mashed potatoes, pulverized to a fine paste. Feel kind of stupid for carelessly walking around and simply observing an old historic looking building and leaving it at that. Haha, seems like a crime, but I just can't help it after a while because there is just too much. So when the photos eventually come out on facebook, I apologize in advance for the lack of labels and descriptions. Of all the neat cities and historic places I've seen though, I must comment on one in particular that I found to be quite unique. In a small Czech town called Kutna Hora, there is a very creepy and interesting sight, most commonly called "the bone church." True to its unofficial name, the inside of the church is decorated with the remains of approximately 40,000 humans! From chandeliers and crests, to pyramids of skulls, the place left me with very mixed feelings. Obviously eerie and creepy, but in a way, also extremely fascinating. The reason behind such a scene goes somewhat like this (in other words, not an exact account, but you'll get the basic idea). A person (may have been the pastor or person in the church) had gone to Israel and brought back some soil to the church. After bringing it back, everyone now considered the ground where he had put the soil extremely holy/sacred. Any person who was anyone now wanted to be buried there, and they often had to pay high prices to do so.

Bone Church in Kutna Hora,
Czech Republic

With enough time, too many people were buried there and there were more bones than they knew what to do with - so the church gave permission to some guy (I leave this as a general statement because I don't remember if he was actually affiliated with the church or not and I'm too lazy to look it up at the moment) to do what he wanted with the bones. As any normal person would obviously do, the guy cleans the bones and decks out the entire church with them. In terms of strange and bizarre, this place takes the cake. Although, I have to admit, I have never been to a Ripley's believe it or not wax museum.

OK, so there's a little sight seeing history. What else have I been doing? Visiting friends and staying in homes! Home cooked meals, my own bed/couch, and free laundry whenever I desire. Truly, I have been very spoiled lately. For the record, I still have some practices that are rather "traveller" oriented. I still only shave with water, a pair of jeans typically lasts for at least 5 days before I change them, and one string of floss is often reused for at least 5 days as well. All of that was true except for the last part. C'mon, I do some things basic, but I'm not entirely uncivilized...yet. Spending time with friends is incredible because I get to do a lot of things that I wouldn't normally be able to do on my own, or more correctly, that I wouldn't know to do. In the small town outside of Dresden (Eastern Germany) where my friends lived, we spent an entire day at the local spa/sauna, another day we watched a local soccer match, and another afternoon we went for a lovely stroll around the countryside on some bicycles. Now you see why it's a little hard to recount what I've been doing. Not extremely exotic or out of the ordinary, but never-the-less still different to some degree as this is still a foreign country with different ways of living. I'm a huge fan of the German breakfast - which commonly requires one to go to the local bakery to pick up some fresh baked goods. Oh man, I'm a sucker for baked goods. And although I can do without the room temperature beer, I must admit, prices in Germany on most grocery goods and beer are quite cheap. Plus, as long as I'm willing to practice a little bit of patience, the room temperature beer problem can easily be solved with a little modern thing called a refrigerator. I know, I was amazed to discover that they have them here as well!

Another amazing food item (especially in Germany) that some may be surprised to hear about is Donner and Kebabs. The Turkish population in Germany is actually quite large and everywhere you go, there is a Donner place. According to several people, more kebabs are consumed than hamburgers in Germany. Alright! Go Germany! Haha, and in a bit of irony, I find the kebabs to be better here than the ones I had in Turkey. They tend to have more sauces on them here - obviously they've adapted them a bit to the local taste and what Germans enjoy. Maybe a little bit like Tex-Mex and places like Taco Bell. I think it's a little apparent that I'm hungry at the moment because I don't know if I've ever written so much about food in any of my blog posts. Let's move onto something else.

Astronomical Clock in Prague

During the course of this blog, I've had 2 posts relating to my reflections and how I think I've changed as time has progressed on this trip. Recently, I was asked by a friend how I thought I had changed. Even though I had these 2 "reflection" posts, I couldn't easily answer the question. It's like I needed to do a new mental reevaluation. I think this time, I thought of the question in more permanent terms. I've changed, and learned a lot on this trip, but are any of these changes measurable or visible? Do I actually seem different to myself, and will some of you, family and friends, feel I am slightly different in some fashion or form once I see you again? My experiences have effected my way of thinking and doing some things, but does this directly translate to my behaviours and sense of personality? These were all questions that raced through my head. I don't think I have an effective answer for any of them right now. Whether good or bad, most ways I act, think, or behave are almost always influenced by my previous experiences and exposures. Because of this, I know that this trip has changed me in a particular way - the question is, will these past experiences be apparent in my actions, behavior, and being? I'm not 100% certain there is any way to distinct such a fine point of "being" to the time span of a year, but I think it is safe to say that this has been a very influential part of my life. I like to think of "me" (who I am) as some sort of amorphous blob constantly changing shape - kind of like Flubber (ya, I didn't think I'd ever incorporate a reference to flubber in one of my blog posts either). Sometimes change comes about slowly and is nearly undetected, sometimes it's as quick as the accidental F-bomb you dropped in front of someone you shouldn't have, either way, it's happening. I'll be curious to try and figure out just how much this trip has changed me and my life once I get back - for once I'm back in familiar territory, with familiar situations and people, well....then I think I will have a much better idea.

 Quick update on future plans for those that care to know: Vienna for 2 or 3 more days, day trip to Budapest, 2-4 days in Munich (and possibly Salzburg), back to Frankfurt on the 10th to fly to London. ETA on return back to the U.S. - May 1st.

Mayor's Crib in Vienna, Austria