Day 431: Guatape

Guatape is a small town 40-50 minutes outside of Medellin. Everyone we met suggested we go and see the town, and mentioned the big rock that was a ‘must climb.’ I was excited to get out of Medellin for the day. It’s not that I didn’t like Medellin… It’s just that I think I would have liked Medellin more if we had stayed somewhere else. I also think I would have liked Medellin more if we were within walking distance to more sights. However, Medellin isn’t exactly a small town and I’ve definitely grown to love the small Colombian towns even more than the ones in Peru and Ecuador. They are full of character and color and super friendly faces. We planned on spending the day in Guatape, but once we arrived, we wished we would have spent a night or two in the quiet, quaint little town.

I’ve been fascinated with the different religions we’ve encountered on this little trip around the world. We went from Buddhism to Hinduism to Islam with a little Judaism sprinkled in before some Catholicism, back to some Islam, then more Catholicism… It’s been interesting. Growing up Catholic, slipping into a Catholic church obviously feels the most familiar. Seeing the enthusiasm over Catholicism in South America has been new. Every small town in Colombia seems to be centered around a town square with a beautiful church on one side. In Salento, our guesthouse had a wall of small ceramic churches. In a shop in the same town, I saw the ceramic façade of the church that was in Salento’s square. Fortunately, finding another façade of Guatape’s church proved to be just as easy.

Guatape was fairly colorful, but in a different way than Salento. While Guatape also offered bright walls and doors, the siding of nearly all of the buildings also offered up little murals. Perhaps what their trade was, or a testament to their religious devotion, or even their favorite flower. Regardless, it was beautiful and I couldn’t stop taking pictures of all of the little murals as we walked through the streets surrounding the main square.

I realize the above kitchen cabinet on the sidewalk doesn’t look like much, but we got two piping hot empanadas from a couple of women making them for anyone passing by. Andrew asked if I would like one, and I almost rolled my eyes because the answer is pretty much obvious whenever we walk by a street food vendor. In case you forgot: the answer is always yes.

La Piedra (the rock) is what everyone calls the gigantic rock on the outskirts of Guatape. I’m not sure what’s more impressive about the rock. The fact that it was formed 70 million years ago, or that two thirds of the rock is actually underground! It only took roughly a half hour to climb the 650 steps to the top. It was breathtaking in more ways than one. Maybe it had something to do with the humidity, that is, until we got to the top and it started raining. It’s like Colombia kept direct tabs of what we were doing and always picked the most perfect time to open its skies on us. Somewhat used to the rain, I grabbed my umbrella and we made our way back down the rock, hopped in a tuk-tuk to get back into town with just enough time to have a quick bite of bandaja paisa before our bus back to Medellin.

Day 417: Banana Spanish School: a cooking lesson

Banana Spanish School was our third, and last school of our Spanish studies between Peru and Ecuador. Even though I liked Banana Spanish School, I was disappointed with my second week and I have to admit that despite loving the owners/teachers of the school. Our second set of lessons at Sundown Inn (outside of Canoa) were a complete disappointment. That being said, my favorite school was San Blas Spanish School in Cusco, Peru. However, we ended on a super positive note, joining in a cooking class (it was basically a well delegated preparation of one meal for all of us to eat together) where we learned how to make ceviche (with boiled chicken instead of fish).

Our classes at Banana Spanish School were one on one, which reaffirmed my preference of small group classes. I also realized that I need more structure in my lessons. For example, I like following a book because I feel like it allows me to monitor my progress better than learning willy nilly grammar lessons and random lists of vocabulary. Another thing: I need homework. If I don’t have homework, I’m less likely to study after class. Even if it’s just one worksheet, it’s better than nothing. It will force me to practice later and tap into that section of my brain that will otherwise be turned off until class the following morning.

I wish I would have given this some thought. For some reason I naively thought that learning Spanish in South America would be similar to when I studied French in France… or Italian in Italy… or even the few classes of Czech in the Czech Republic. All of these other language classes offered books to follow and there were specific lists of vocabulary that were to be practiced with the given speaking practice assignments and then homework. It was all very similar to how I taught English in Korea. But for some reason, learning Spanish in South America- especially when it was one-on-one was quite different. I’m glad I spent a month learning a new language, but I couldn’t help compare my previous experiences and I felt I got more out of the more structured settings. So, if you’re planning on studying Spanish in South America… perhaps give more thought than I did to the different teaching styles and one-on-one vs. classes and even ask about the structure and homework and general teaching style before you sign up!

I loved my first teacher’s style, and I loved my second teacher’s patience and ability to help me carry on a conversation in Español… but for our second week at Banana Spanish School, my lessons were held in a communal area that was well traveled by other students, and often interrupted by a ringing phone or doorbell. I was so distracted to the point I felt like my progress halted. It pains me to admit this, because I truly liked the instructors, but I would simply recommend only taking lessons here if you make sure you can have lessons in a private room. And (even more painful for me to suggest, yet with the best intentions) request a teacher who is not one of the owners of the school. Because when it comes down to it, a teacher cannot be answering phones, the door, discussing class times with a future student, or even monitoring and grading another (future) student’s test simultaneous to trying to teach me Spanish!

Day 414: Quito hop on hop off bus tour

We left Spanish class an hour early this afternoon in order to ‘hop on’ the hop on hop off bus for tourists in Quito. We weren’t necessarily planning on hopping on and off throughout the day, but wanted to ride it around to get a different perspective of the city. I was pleasantly surprised when it circled up to the top of El Panecillo and stopped for thirty minutes for passengers to walk around the Virgin Mary Statue overlooking Quito. We did end up hopping out to see the interior of the Basílica del Voto Nacional and before we were ready to leave the skies broke open unleashing a torrential downpour on us. Who knew that Quito would be so cold (thanks to the altitude) with such temperamental weather (in October)? We didn’t. And I was cold a lot of the time. We had plans to walk around Quito, but the cold rain canceled those plans and instead we spent an hour trying to flag down a taxi back to our guesthouse instead.

We hopped on the bus at the Mariscal stop and rode past the El Ejido, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, and past La Basílica, which you can see below. For some reason Quito’s hop on hop off bus experience seemed a little different than those in other cities that we have been on one of those buses. Maybe because it seemed like there was less to really see and take in from the bus? It was still interesting, but just a little different. I most enjoyed the sprawl of the city because the buildings were so colorful and seemed to stand out against each other beautifully.

We drove around and up to El Panecillo, a volcanic hill where a statue rests at the top overlooking the city. It’s a beautiful view, and if you are feeling risky, you could walk up to the peak, although it’s not recommended as it has a reputation of being the most dangerous area of the city. The top is calm and other tourists milled about. My favorite part? The empanadas that were made to order. I have to say after nearly two months in South America, this was the first time I’ve had a fresh empanada and it was pretty life changing. Lightyears different than an empanada that has been sitting in a bakery for a few hours. Oh my yum. Go try one. Figure out how to make one. You must try one.

After El Panecillo, we rode back down through Quito, through the Plaza Grande and then we hopped off at García Moreno Park to check out the inside of the Basílica del Voto Nacional. It’s a huge, yet rather dark church. There’s a smaller alter, or if it’s possible another basilica within the church itself? I’m not sure of the technicalities of it all- but contrary to the rest of the church, it was beautiful and much more ornate. Unfortunately there were a few “no photo” signs throughout, and I abided by them.

We tried to wait out the rain. We even ran down the street in the middle of it to get a hot chocolate to try to wait it out even more. It was relentless. We gave up. Everyone else in the historical center must have given up as well, because it proved impossible to catch a cab. By the time we made it back to our equally cold guesthouse, we discovered a leak in the ceiling, one that was dripping water directly on our bed. One not so quick room change later, we were tucking into a bowl of mac and cheese and watching The Walking Dead. Yes my friends, we found mac and cheese in Ecuador, and it was glorious. Ok to be fair, I think the water messed up the noodles a bit, but I didn’t care. And next to it, cheddar cheese and crackers. Because obviously we were going for a well rounded meal. Oh right, and we miss cheese.

Day 410: Ecuadorian chocolate? Yes, please!

We weren’t sure we were going to be able to make it to Mindo between all of our Spanish lessons, but we decided getting out of Quito for the weekend was a good idea. I’ve realized throughout this trip (time and again) that I prefer living in bigger cities, and visiting smaller ones. Mindo is certainly much smaller than Quito, and just the idea of getting out into a smaller town made me so happy. We rolled into town late in the afternoon on Friday, and inadvertently explored the majority of the (teensy) town while looking for our guesthouse. Our priority was dinner, and then sleep before taking advantage of all of the activities Mindo has to offer the next day. Like El Quetzal, where we went on a tour of the chocolate factory. Who can refuse Ecuadorian chocolate? Not. me.

So yes, technically I’m cheating (again). We actually went to El Quetzal on Day 411, but I keep trying to spare you the long bus-rides whenever I can. Our bus ride wasn’t so bad from Quito to Ecuador, but a post about chocolate is so much sweeter! When we showed up at El Quetzal, we thought we were going to be indoors the entire time, in what we assumed was a more traditional factory like setting. We were wrong. The “factory tour” was mostly held in the garden where we saw cacao trees (above), banana trees (below) and so much more. It was great, but had I known we were going to be in the garden the majority of the time… I definitely would not have shown up in shorts. The sandflies were out. of. control. and by the time we got back to our hotel, my legs were covered in bites (more like welts) and I was suffering.

After the garden tour, we peeked into a few different rooms of the “factory” and learned more about the process of making cacao beans into chocolate- chocolate as we know it today (oftentimes with milk and sugar). We watched the paste being mixed and then readied to pour into molds. We tasted straight up chocolate without any additives. It was bitter. Then we added sugar, then we added chillies, and we even added vinegar to the bitter chocolate giving it different flavors and textures. It was interesting, a little redundant after our visit to the Choco Museum in Cusco, but nice. We even made it through the entire tour in Español as well! A group of American students were in the middle of a semester abroad in Quito and wanted to practice. We didn’t have much choiceindulged them. Despite loving the chocolate (with chillies was my favorite) and wanting to get some to bring home, traveling so close to the equator with a few bars didn’t seem wise. American chocolate might pale in comparison, but I have a weakness for those mini squares of Dove Dark. I guess I can wait until we get home (in the middle of winter) to purchase a bag of chocolate!

Day 400: Canoa’s “downtown”

Spanish was starting to turn into someone getting paid to read a grammar book to me. It made me a little nervous, but being a former language teacher myself, I planned on asking for some more conversation the next day and studied all afternoon except for the couple of hours Andrew and I closed our books and walked into Canoa for some snacks. We went into a corner market in search of popcorn kernels, and discovered ‘popcorn’ is not a universal word. The poor girl looked at me repeating “corn?” like she had never heard of it before.

“Maize… con pop pop pop pop pop” I tried again.

“Ohhh canguil” She answered with a smile, and quickly retrieved a small bag of popcorn kernels from under a pile of bags of rice.

Obviously, I have more studying to do. 

Day 392: One last day in Mancora

Ready for us to go yet? Tired of Mancora? While I wasn’t tired of the freshly pressed strawberry juice, and the warm afternoon sunshine, I was starting to get a little itchy to go myself. As much as I have enjoyed Peru, I am looking forward to seeing and experiencing a different, new country. We spent our last day lounging by the pool. I occasionally ducked back into our room to see if pictures and videos had any success uploading to the internet. (I didn’t really.) We got one last ceviche (Peruvian style that is) and one last order of calamari before we packed everything up to catch our bus across the border into Ecuador in the morning.

Day 379: La Casa Concha + Inca Museum

Neither museum lets you take photographs inside. So, there went my plans for today’s minute. Luckily there are what feels like a bajillion women and young girls milling about Cusco asking if you want to buy something, or get your picture taken with them. Andrew and I were sitting in the Plaza of San Blas soaking up the sun after Español, when this woman decided to join us. She tied her portable loom (not womb, like I almost say in the video) to our bench, sat down, and went to work weaving a new belt. She had a bag full of them she was trying to sell. We humored her, watched for a little while, and gave her a little tip before we left for La Casa Concha, or more informally; The Machu Picchu Museum.

We actually went to La Casa Concha and the Inca Museum on two different afternoons. We heard the Inca Museum wasn’t great, so we decided to check out La Casa Concha first, mostly after reading this Peru Travel post about the museum dedicated to Machu Picchu raving about how much better it was than most museums in Peru. It has a more modern feel to it, thanks to the life-like dioramas, videos, and English descriptions. However, despite having ten exhibition rooms, the rooms are often bare and while the museum suggests two hours for your visit, I think Andrew and I were in and out in an hour tops. It was nice, but I cannot stress enough how bare we thought it was and definitely not worth the entry fee.

Another afternoon, we decided we may as well check out the Inca Museum. When in Cusco… This museum was much bigger, had a lot more to offer than ten half-filled exhibition rooms… but it’s in desperate need of some updating. I wish these two museums had combined forces to make one really great museum. Neither is better than the other… they are just different. La Casa Concha is more modern however, offers less. The Inca Museum is quite large and has a LOT to offer, but it’s poorly organized, poorly displayed, and at times even dusty! It kinda felt like a school science fair with an Inca theme. Some displays were great, you could tell the smartest kid put forth some effort… But others weren’t so great and I felt sorry that such an interesting culture was being displayed so poorly. I almost wished I would have spent my money on a really great Inca and Machu Picchu book instead of entry to the two museums. If only I had spare room in my bag!

At least our dinner more than made up for the lackluster museum visits this week. Yep, in case you can’t tell, that’s not Peruvian you’re looking down on… Andrew found a Korean restaurant for us to try! And it was spectacular. By far the best Korean food we’ve had on this trip. If you’re in Cusco, you have to take a night off of eating ceviche (I know, it’s a hard thing to do) and try Sa Rang Che Restaurant. My mouth was blissfully burning just like it would in Seoul. Before we left, the owner came out to talk to us about a problem with the credit card machine. She was Korean, speaking to us in Spanish. We in turn, told her we understood, and wished her a Happy Chuseok, in Korean. Then there was a flurry of Spanish, Korean, and even a little bit of English. We walked out, and Andrew and I exchanged a look that somehow summed up how incredibly strange it was to be in Peru, speaking Spanish and Korean simultaneously.

Day 371: Back in Cusco

Momma’s last full day in Peru! We’ve been moving so fast through Peru, that we were content with wandering around the city of Cusco and seeing what we could find. We hadn’t heard very good things about the Inca Museum(s) so instead we headed towards one of the higher rated museums first, The Center for Traditional Textiles, walking past Quirikancha, once the most important temple in the Incan Empire, and then through the many squares of Cusco, ending up at the Chocolate Museum.

Quirikancha was once the most important temple and the center of the Inca Empire. Once upon a time it was covered in gold, as it was dedicated to the Sun God, Inti. That is, until the Spanish came along and demanded a ransom in place of the Inca Atahualpa, and the temple was stripped of all of its gold. Juan Pizarro, one of Francisco Pizarro’s brothers received Quirikancha and before he died, donated it to the Dominican Order of priests. Eventually, the church that you see behind (or rather, inside the walls of the former Temple of the Sun) the Incan foundation was built.

However, our first stop of the day was the Center for Traditional Textiles, a free museum with rather beautiful displays of the intricate weaving that is so common throughout Peru. I was a little hesitant, but Andrew assured us that it was one of the highest rated museums in Cusco… and Mom had just finished her first course in weaving, so we pretty much had to go. 

My favorite part of the museum were the live demonstrations and the half finished weavings that were tied off. After our visit, I noticed that these half woven pieces used as wall hangings instead of scarves or blankets or even wraps were quite popular around Cusco. Again, if I knew exactly how many walls I was returning to, I would have bought them all up! I thought they made such beautiful art pieces, especially knowing that they were preserving a traditional culture that is being quickly replaced by low cost imported string and machinery. The Center for Traditional Textiles is right down the street from Quirikancha, and the Convent of Santo Domingo.

What’s somewhat unbelievable is that the Incan walls were kept entirely intact and the church was built in between the walls of the Incan temple. Above you can see the courtyard, but throughout the building were different Incan rooms that were still free standing with dirt floors and nothing inside. Technically we weren’t supposed to take pictures, but I saw many people freely taking photographs out in the courtyard. I’m not sure why there was a no photo rule- maybe for the interior rooms that held loads and loads of religious art? Either way, it was interesting to walk through, but it made me feel a little uncomfortable wondering how the Incans must have felt back in the day when their most important temple was handed over to an entirely different religion, one that built a gigantic church and monastery around walls that once used to be covered in gold.

The above picture was to show how Quirikancha was at the center of the Incan universe. How other temples in the empire all led to Quirikancha. The picture below illustrates how the Incas looked at the stars. While we look at the stars, and the constellations by connecting the stars together, the Incans looked at the pictures made in the dark spots or shadows in between the stars.

Outside of not only Quirikancha, but throughout the streets of Cusco, women in traditional dress walked around tethered to a grown llama or holding a baby lamb. Often, they would put the lamb in your arms, encouraging you to take a photo, for which you would have to pay for after. I didn’t need a photo of myself with a baby lamb, so I would always get really excited and pet the lamb (simultaneously empathizing for it) until they would realize I wasn’t going to pose for a picture with it.

After The Choco Museo (which was an informative, albeit glorified shop) we wandered around, fed the birds, and coerced Mom into one last drink before her last day began in the morning.

Day 366: Our ONE YEAR trip-aversary at Sillustani

For the record, I’m simultaneously amazed and not at all surprised that we’ve made it one whole year traveling around the world. I recently asked Andrew if he could imagine doing this trip with someone else. We agreed that maybe we could do part of this trip with someone else… like for a month… maybe. But not the entire year. It wasn’t as exciting as our six-month trip-aversary, but spending the day at a pre-Incan burial ground (ok, it sounds a little morbid when I put it like that, right?) with my Momma and coercing Andrew to take a few celebratory jumping pictures was great fun. As you can see by the pictures below (Thanks Momma!) he wasn’t as enthusiastic about the idea.

In retrospect, I wish we would have made our Lake Titicaca plans immediately when we arrived in Puno- so we could spend two full days on the lake and it’s different islands… but we were all pretty worn out traveling to Puno and sleeping in the next morning was necessary. To anyone visiting Puno, I would budget three days- two for the lake (more if you want to sneak into Bolivia on the other side of Lake Titicaca) and one for Sillustani- that is if you’re into ancient burial grounds. It was interesting, but in all honesty, not the most interesting thing we’ve done in Peru so far…

Sillustani seems like it’s on the shores of Lake Titicaca, but it’s actually on a different lake (Umayo) about twenty minutes outside of Puno. There’s not a lot of information on the grounds itself and we probably should have organized a guide ahead of time, but it was nice to wander around on our own and take our time enjoying the weather and the surprisingly not very creepy atmosphere, given that we were walking through an ancient burial ground.

The tombs are giant stone cylinders called chullpas, built by (I think) the Colla people, who were later conquered by the Inca. Their stonework is more complex than the Inca, and Sillustani is the most preserved example of their work.

Momma was a little bit curious how big the entrance was in one of the chullpas. Andrew always tries to get me to climb into scary or awkward holes in burial grounds, temples, to which I of course say no to. Mom wasn’t scared and she snuck in before we could convince her otherwise. I’m pretty sure Andrew and I were in shock because I couldn’t stop documenting it and neither of them could stop laughing at her courage? stupidity? both? Perhaps you can see where I get my own courage? stupidity? both? from…

Back in Puno, we ducked into the cathedral. It was HUGE. The Cathedral Basílica San Carlos Borromeo (also known as Puno Cathedral) seemed have the same layout as many of the other churches that we’ve been in. Long. Dark. Made of stone. And this one was super cold. So cold, I had to duck outside to warm up in the sun until everyone else was ready.

Directly across the square, facing the cathedral is the number one rated restaurant in Puno. Mojsa Restaurant has a laid back atmosphere (at least during the late afternoon when we went for an early, light dinner) and some really great tea. Ok, the ‘mojsa tea’ was great the first time- so great, I wanted to go back for more…

I’ve found that the coca tea has really helped me deal with the altitude. Remember, Puno is higher than Cusco (and Machu Picchu). I’d get out of breath climbing up to our fourth floor hotel room. I’d wake up feeling like I had one too many drinks the night before, even though I hadn’t had any alcohol… I just didn’t always feel like myself and it would creep up on me when I least expected it. So when I saw ‘mojsa tea’ on the menu- a blend of coca powder and lemon (my favorite!), I was excited. After one cup, it left me feeling like I had about four cups of coffee in a row instead, and not a trace of any altitude issues. If you find yourself in Puno, stop by for a spot of mojsa tea- but make sure it’s super strong (lots of coca powder on top) and super hot. Otherwise, it won’t give you the extra spring in your step that you’re looking for.

Day 359: Look who I found in Lima!

Once upon a time, when I lived in Prague, my Momma and I planned to meet in Paris for a weekend. My flight was scheduled to arrive into Charles de Gaulle before hers. I told her I would meet her at her gate. And then my flight was late, or her gate was changed, and my Czech cell phone didn’t work in Paris… Something ruined the plan and we spent three hours in the airport searching for each other. Needless to say, I think Momma was a little nervous something similar would happen again when I told her we’d meet her at the airport in Lima. Fortunately, she was waiting in the arrivals lounge right next to our driver holding a sign with Andrew’s name on it. Three hours later, we were leaving our guesthouse after a much needed nap and I was encouraging her to climb up on the first llama we saw for a photo (and video) opportunity!

Friends told me to get in and get out of Lima. I’m not positive if I agree. While it really doesn’t seem like there is a lot to do (and there is an awful lot of traffic) I wonder if this city has more to offer under the surface. We also later heard that there are some really quality museums that we missed out on. If you’ve been- what do you think? Does it deserve more time than one night and two days? I did really enjoy the Historic Center, but didn’t quite understand why so many churches charged an entrance fee. We managed to duck into a few free ones though!

Momma made a friend en route to The San Francisco Church. It was here where we were faced with a huge line of people wrapped around the outside of the church. We think it was the feast of St. Augustine, but I’m not quite sure what was inside this church to attract this big of a crowd. It was rather impressive watching so many pilgrims pay their respect. Somewhat reminiscent of the Hindu temples we visited in India- obviously not the religion, but the excitement displayed.

On our way back to our guesthouse, we walked past a group of women arranging flowers to sell to those visiting the church. Momma walked extra fast past the street performer who was still on the same street we walked through earlier, and after getting directions, we were sitting down for our first plate of ceviche. (YUM!)

Day 354: Portsmouth

First stop in Portsmouth: Fort Nelson. It was here where it was reiterated that I’m simply not into military museums (and preserved forts) but if you are, then I highly recommend going for the free shooting display. Second stop in Portsmouth: the waterfront. The cockles were ok (a bit sandy for my liking) so it’s safe to say that I was much more excited to be introduced to my very first “2 penny pusher.” How gloriously addicting these machines were! Furthermore, I can’t even begin to describe how good of a thing it was that James whisked us away to a local pub when he did, otherwise, I might still be standing there, waiting for that one mountain of pennies (pence?) to fall!

Thankfully, it was a gorgeous day to walk around the fort and we cruised through the underground tunnels and the museum full of old artillery, guns, and vehicles, taking everything in simultaneous to continuing to catch up on things since we last saw each other over a year ago. James and Andrew tried to get me to compete against a handful of little ones in an obstacle course (that was for children only) but I refused, assuring them I would win. Once the guns were blasted, we made our way to the waterfront where James made us try cockles and then we camped out at some 2 penny pusher machines until he recognized he had introduced us to a game that could possibly destroy our daily budget (even though it only cost 2 pennies to play). We quickly headed to a pub and then home to have some fish, chips, and mushy peas!

Mushy peas? I know, I was skeptical as well, but they’re really quite good! Almost like eating mashed potatoes in a way… I quite liked them and was a little surprised that I had never heard of them before. Does this dish even exist in America? It seems like something that would be in the south… but I definitely haven’t had it in Kentucky!

Day 352: “What’s a Cornetto 99?”

Day 2 in London was more of the same, except we got to sleep past five in the morning. (What a relief!) Another wonderful homemade breakfast and we were out the door, again on bikes down to the River Thames. This time we jumped off of them and spent a couple hours exploring the Tate Modern before James introduced us to a Cornetto 99!

“What’s a Cornetto 99?” I asked James. He simply smiled with a twinkle in his eye and told me I would find out!

While it’s no longer 99 pence, it’s still delicious and worth every penny (at least once). In Kentucky, my friends would call this a ‘creamy whip.’ In other words, it’s a perfect (almost a cross between whip cream) ice-cream cone with a little cookie sticking out, and some chocolate drizzled on top if you prefer! It’s delicious. Try one the next time you’re in England!

The Tate Modern is – get this – free! Aside from special exhibitions. This is a LOT and more than enough to keep you entertained. Andrew and James headed up to concentrate on one exhibition, while I sprinted through several just to see what was there. My favorites included the Joseph Bueys photograph on canvas, the room full of Communist propaganda posters (of course), the dimly lit room full of HUGE Rothkos (too dark to photograph) and the Glenn Ligon (America) painted neon light piece below.

It was a great visit, but I have to admit, I was a little bit art-museum-ed out after spending so many hours inside them in Paris. We biked around some more, I got that sweet picture of James biking in between buses and taxis (above), and we stopped off at a few pubs in between. We weren’t exactly the perfect tourists, and I’m sure we could have done sooo much more with our day, but we were still reveling in James’ company, and letting go of the reins for a bit.

Day 350: Montmartre et Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen

When I was on my high-school exchange trip through France, Montmartre was one of the highlights. And not only for the rats running across the metro tracks either! (Those were/are hard to forget.) Once we climbed the stairs from the metro stop to the top of the hill, this little niche of the city felt even more magical than the rest of the city (which is almost hard to believe possible). Paris on a whole, has always kept a special hold on my heart because of this trip. It was my first one abroad. It was with some wonderful classmates who turned into equally wonderful friends. I’ve since shared the same wonderful city with friends from college, my momma, and now, even Andrew. It felt right that we would spend our last day in Paris exploring Montmartre, taking our chances yet again, with another free walking tour company.

First stop: The Moulin Rouge. Just the outside of it… But I have to admit, I’ve been inside to see a show and was aghast when our guide mentioned how expensive tickets were! He mentioned tickets being around 200 euros! I nudged Andrew, insisting it was a good thing I went when I did. Upon closer inspection, however, it’s possible to get tickets for just 50 euros (without dinner of course.) Our guide explained the past of Moulin Rouge, once owned and operated by prostitutes who later figured out they could raise their skirts without putting out and make just as much (and these days more)? All of the current dancers are formally trained in dance and it’s highly competitive to work at the Moulin Rouge. Speaking from experience, their training shows, and seeing a performance while you’re in town is well worth it.

We began our ascent up the hill. Remember Amelie? This is the cafe where she worked! We took a few pictures, and kept going on our way. It seemed like everyone inside was a tourist and no one seemed to mind the photographs being taken over and over again of the façade… At least, I don’t think…

We kept going up, past the house where Van Gogh lived and his view of Paris (which you can see below). Our guide assured us the view has not changed since he resided here. He then took the liberty to talk about how dismayed all of the residents of Montmartre are with the amount of tourists and tours that roll through every day. He continued on (and on and on) about how his friend could no longer afford to live in the area and was moving to Spain. Andrew and I agreed after, as we were on a tour OF Montmartre, it probably wasn’t the best timing to complain to tourists about the amount of tourists in same area…

The Moulin de la Galette is a windmill that was operated to make flour for a certain galette (brown bread) which became very popular. Le Moulin de Galette was established for those living (or coming to) Montmartre for wine, bread, music… in other words, a good night out. Renoir’s famous Bal du moulin de la Galette is a depiction of life at Le Moulin! Currently, it’s one of the two windmills still standing (but not operating) on Montmartre.

Next stop: Lapin Agile. We were told this cabaret wasn’t always known by this name. It wasn’t until an artist asked the manager if he could exchange a painting for dinner (maybe a few drinks?) one night. Yet again, according to Wikipedia: Andre Gill painted the sign that was to suggest its permanent name. It was a picture of a rabbit jumping out of a saucepan, and residents began calling their neighborhood night-club “Le Lapin à Gill”, meaning “Gill’s rabbit”. Right across the street, a small fenced-in vineyard took advantage of the hillside perfect for growing grapes worthy of a good French wine. And before we knew it, we were rounding the corner and walking up a short street to Sacré-Cœur!

Sacré-Cœur is, in my opinion a beautiful church and as you might have noticed, I think it makes for a beautiful picture even if in the distance from other locations around France. The tiles are self-cleaning, which might explain how it stays so white! Our guide informed us that Parisians were not fond of the architecture and design of the church, as it’s a bit of a melange of so many different styles – both inside and out. We ducked in for a few minutes, but photos were prohibited, so you’ll just have to visit the beautiful church to see what the inside looks like! (It’s definitely not nearly as bright as the outside, that’s for sure!)

We began to descend the hill walking through what we hoped were the lesser traveled streets. Past the crêperie and past the many, many poster and trinket gift shops, stopping only for a photo or two. It was beautiful, yet we were exhausted. There are some days on this trip that no matter how magnificent they are, they can be equally exhausting. We had moved our things across town yet again the night before, didn’t get a great night of sleep, and then were up early to catch this tour. We had already checked out or our hotel because we had booked an overnight bus from France to England that night. The tour ended around noon, which left us with precisely 12 hours to kill before our bus, which normally would have been fantastic, but we were exhausted. I began to cry, Andrew abruptly turned around in the middle of a beautiful Parisian street with a marvelous view, and began to hug me.

I always feel incredibly silly when I get sad, or simply tired and let my emotions get the best of me on this trip… But it happens. Thankfully, Andrew understands the grind (as he’s right there with me) and never holds my tears against me. He reminded me we were going to see our good friend James the next morning and how he was going to take care of us in England for a few days. He also, as always, reminded me I was just tired and would feel better after food and sleep.

Later on, we met up with the girl who let us crash in her apartment while she was out of town. She had traveled through Asia on her own and while we were trading stories, she laughed about how some days she would be so tired she would be more interested in a bench in the park (to sleep on) than a famous site in front of her that she was supposed to see. I nodded in agreement, understanding all too well.

On our way down, we walked down Rue Seveste. It was dedicated to all things fabric! Instead of channeling Project Runway, I took a picture and vowed that next time I would pick up a yard or two. Also, lots and lots of thrift stores. Not the kind you go to when you’re as tired and hungry as we were though. You clearly had to dig for a good find here! Again, maybe next time!

We jumped on the metro and headed across town towards the Vietnamese/Chinese neck of Paris. It was a bit grungy, but again, a new side of Paris and I was anxious to see it and take care of a noodle craving. Per Andrew’s research of which was the best, we ended up at Cyclo. It was… ok. I try to keep in mind that not everyone has sat on the side of the street in the likes of Hanoi or Hoi-An or even Saigon on a little plastic chair eating noodles out of a bowl that may or may not have been washed after the person before you. Not everyone knows that you should be given an additional bowl full of fresh mint, another of freshly cut limes, and a squeeze bottle so full of hot (like really hot) sauce to season your noodles and beef broth to taste. Perhaps the editors of TimeOut Paris simply don’t know what they are missing. But when two bowls of noodles were delivered to our table sans mint, lime, and hot sauce… I was sad not because of how tired I was, but because my noodles were going to lack the flavor they deserved. Maybe this is why everyone else eats French food in Paris… and not lackluster Vietnamese… like we did.

Luck was simply not in our favor for the rest of the afternoon. We attempted to go to one of the many markets in and around Paris that I have not had the luxury of being able to stroll through. I had done my homework (i.e. several Google searches) the night before. I found a pretty detailed Time Out list (although maybe after the Vietnamese fiasco, we should have thought otherwise). We headed to Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen, only we were way too late. Everything was closed. I assured myself it was for the best. The last thing I needed was an antique I simply couldn’t live without that was larger than a bag I could carry-on an airplane (my favorite kind of souvenirs). We walked around before giving up, retrieving our bags, and heading across town yet again, only this time to meet our couchsurfing host for a drink before boarding our midnight bus to London.

Day 344: Picasso and Pinchos

Picasso Museum Round Two was a success! We introduced Nat to Bo de B (and got another salmon salad of course) and then headed to the Picasso Museum to see how crazy the line was and if we were up for waiting. It was long, but it moved surprisingly fast. The museum contained a LOT of Picasso’s first works and pieces that I’ve never seen before, yet there was a huge gap of Picasso’s life and works that are obviously in other museums throughout the world that I think everyone (me included) are more familiar with. We bummed around the Born and Gothic districts again before meeting up with Nat for another round of tapas! This time, we opted for pinchos! Tapas served on bread, count. me. in.

Have I told you lately how much I love the Born and Gothic neighborhoods (districts?) because I do! Check out the latest street art sightings just around the corner from the Picasso Museum! I also looked up some recommended vintage and boutique stores and popped into “The Box” which was also right around the corner from the Picasso Museum. Suuuper cute store! Also, Can I just say for the record that I love it when owners welcome me taking pictures! The boutique was so photogenic I couldn’t help myself!

We ducked into a few other boutiques, and one was really neat and very well designed- lots of vintage signage and props scattered around the store- along with ‘No Photos’ signs. As a photographer, this always annoys me. As a consumer, it makes me not want to buy anything! The Box on the other hand, was warm and welcoming and if the picture below doesn’t make you want to stop by and buy a few bow ties… something might be wrong with you!

 These cookies looked like they were to die for in the window, we opted for the carrot cake instead. It was delicious -a bit overpriced – but delicious nonetheless.

I was kicking myself for missing a previous photo opportunity of an accordion player roaming the streets of the Gothic district. When this musician passed by us this afternoon I was so excited, Andrew was rolling his eyes. Who doesn’t love a second chance, especially when it comes to taking a photo!

We sat in a square and people watched for a little while, killing some time before we met up with Nat one last time. Directly in front of the bench I was sitting on (while Andrew went off searching for some Dr. Peppers for us) a little girl only about two or three years old walked up to a younger boy in a stroller. She was completely enthralled by the younger boy. She put her face in his and attempted to touch his hand and then remembered there were others watching and looked up. Her father was standing behind her, encouraging her to say ‘Hola’ while the obviously non-Spanish speaking tourists laughed and encouraged their son to wave back. We all watched, amused at the miniature confrontation before one of the parents decided it was time to part ways. I marveled at how brave and innocent the little girl was walking up to a “stranger” and immediately touching his face. While I recounted the event to Andrew when he returned empty handed, I couldn’t help but wonder at what point do others become “strangers.” And then I was distracted by this family walking by with children slung over their shoulders like bags of rice, and all I could think of was how much I love people.

Day 343: La Sagrada Familia

La Sagrada Familia inside is a whole other world. The outside is somewhat dark (in a way) and a bit chaotic. It’s unfinished. It’s busy. It looks like wax was dripped over it from afar. But inside… inside is bright and organized. It’s finished. It’s clean. It looks like every detail was designed with a specific purpose. It’s not as much of a collage as the exterior. And it’s huge. It makes you nod your head when someone says “Gaudi is a genius.” Because one step inside of La Sagrada Familia will make you agree.

Honestly, from the outside when we visited the other day, I was like “Yea, this is big… It’s unfinished… I guess Gaudi was an amazing architect…” But as soon as you step inside La Sagrada Familia, you feel small. Small is probably an understatement. You feel TINY and for once, you’re not as bothered by the vast amount of tourists surrounding you because it seems impossible to fill the space that Gaudi designed to be held up by tree-like columns. You’re practically in a forest. It’s pretty magical, and even more striking than the infamous exterior. At least, that’s what I think. I had a greater appreciation for the outside once I saw the inside… and I had even more of a greater appreciation for Gaudi once I stood in his forest of a church.

The Glory Facade was still under construction during our visit, but we were able to duck outside in a little enclosed area to view the doors from the outside. So. impressive. (I might not be able to say that enough about La Sagrada Familia!) Andrew and I always hunt for the Korean when different languages are represented. I think Korean tourists are always amused when they hear us read or speak Korean to each other. I’m pretty sure the LOUD Korean couple sitting behind us inside the church were downright shocked when I turned around and told them to be quiet – in Korean.

We sat for awhile, as we usually do when ducking into a church or mosque (if I’m allowed) or temple. It always makes for interesting people-watching. In this case, it was mostly watching one of the staff members try to remain calm with all of the tourists talking – or stopping to take pictures – or sitting where/when they shouldn’t have been. Behind the main altar were several smaller side altars, views of another altar below, and these giant organ pipes. Wandering back out to the center nave and I was immediately struck by the light coming through the stained glass and bouncing off of the columns. Kinda within the church, an exhibition of how Gaudi was inspired by nature was beautifully presented. As if I wasn’t already blown away by his mansions, Park Guell, and La Sagrada Familia itself- to see the comparisons between the different kinds of plants, flowers, trees, even honeycomb… and how he integrated nature into his work was ah-mazing.

We walked out to see the Nativity Façade and looking up, you tried to imagine how one would have thought of integrating so much into one façade, let alone completing the construction of it all! We walked through the exhibition of how La Sagrada Familia was realized and sometimes found ourselves just standing in front of something completely dumbfounded at how Gaudi hung bags of sand to see how he could construct La Sagrada Familia by reversing what was hanging. I’m not sure if that makes sense, and maybe you can see it behind Andrew in the video- but it was genius. That’s all there is to it. After La Sagrada Familia, we went back towards the Gothic and Born areas for an early dinner at what was to become (possibly) our favorite restaurant in Barcelona; Bo de B. If you find yourself in Barcelona, go here. Get the salmon salad. You won’t be disappointed. Well, maybe you will when you have to leave, but just walk around and look at the gorgeous street art and that should make you feel better…

We headed over to La Boqueria, the main market in Barcelona. Unfortunately, we were stuffed from our salmon salad and burger that we couldn’t even think about trying any of the food in the market! That was silly of us… But it was still fun to walk through, despite so many of the shops being closed for the summer holiday!

I’m not sure if you know this about me and Andrew (possibly even more true of Andrew) but we love gummy candy. And this stall was heaven. So much heaven that we stood in front of it for a full five minutes looking at how BIG the gummies were before we remembered we were still stuffed from Bo de B and didn’t need anymore food in our bellies.

And then, we made our way to the beach. Once we got there, I was a little amazed at how many people were crowded onto one small area. We lucked out hitting Greece before the tourist season picked up. Zanzibar was rather low-key and even Goa during Christmas was downright quiet compared to Barcelona Beach in the middle of August. And we went well after peak hours!

Day 340: Barcelona Old City Walking Tour

Anxious to get out of bed, but still a bit sleepy, we headed across town to join the Runner Bean Barcelona Old City Walking Tour in the morning. It was great, but it was also very similar to other ‘old city walking tours’ that we’ve been on lately, and my attention wavered more than it should have. I tried to focus on what pretty pictures I could take of Barcelona Old City, and tried to forget that I was still a bit sleep deprived, but I wasn’t always so successful. After the tour, we meandered down by the seaport and walked around to some different eateries in hopes that our friend, Nat would be game to hopping around to a few for tapas at night. She was! We were all thrilled to see each other again (we met in Tanzania a few months ago) and spent a good deal of time trying to sort out where our respective travels have taken us since Arusha!

We met in Plaça Reial by the water fountain and soon we were winding our way through the little streets of the old town towards another square with a big church, and this beautiful still-intact building façade. While everyone couldn’t get enough of the facade and the church, I couldn’t get enough of the scissors and knife shop below.

We walked by a shrine to a young woman who refused to renounce her Catholic faith, then through the Jewish district and finally to one of the more major squares with political buildings on either side. Despite the tour being wonderful and our guide being very knowledgeable, I think Andrew and I were more keen on finding coffee.

We were told this is the most photographed bridge in Barcelona. A pedestrian one at that, the Carrer del Bisbe Irurita is between two buildings in a narrow alleyway in the Gothic Quarter of the Old City. It was beautiful and I could see why it is so popular to photograph. I’m always blown away by such intricate marble and wood carving and how they have survived over the years.

An interesting thing I noticed throughout our tour: all graffiti seemed to be contained to the doors. The beautiful stone buildings were left virtually untouched, but the doors would be COVERED with paint. If I hadn’t been to Greece, I would think it was a shame, but after seeing how everything was covered in Greece, I thought it was somewhat respectful that the walls weren’t covered with tags on top of the doors.

We made our way outside of the Barcelona Cathedral. I’m still working with one lens and knew I didn’t have a chance to fit the whole façade in using it, so I tried to get as much in as possible from where we were standing, looking up. It was immense. There were a lot of people. Instead of fighting our way through, we walked on, past another church, past several mouth-watering tapas restaurants and learned a little bit more about Barcelona Old City, but wasn’t able to retain it over my hunger and need for caffeine. (Sorry, friends)

One stop that I would have not known had it not been for this tour, was inside a small courtyard featuring three old Roman columns. Everyone filtered in, stopped to take them in, mostly in awe of them still being so well preserved, snapped a few pictures, and then we made our way out. One family still lives in one of the apartments surrounding the courtyard. I bet that’s fun dealing with a steady stream of visitors everyday… Afterwards, we made our way to Plaça del Rei (King’s Square) which is most well known for the steps where it is believed that Ferdinand and Isabella welcomed Columbus when he arrived home from his first voyage. Our guide didn’t seem to take a lot of stock in this story, insisting somewhat that it was more likely he was received at sea instead. But who knows! The steps were pretty and grand, so it makes for a good story regardless. Our tour ended not long after and we wandered through the backstreets in a similar direction from where we started. Of course, I was drawn to the street art and then this massive art installation in the middle of a side square. Unfortunately there wasn’t any information (that I saw) about it!

I couldn’t stop taking in the beauty of the apartment buildings. Someone somewhere said that ‘Barcelona knows how to do laundry’ or something similar, and I couldn’t agree more. Laundry, plants, even colorful plastic chairs… It all looks prettier in Barcelona! Close to the port, another modern sculpture dominated a square, otherwise surrounded by traffic. Getting a close up of the colors against the bright blue sky made crossing the street worth it.

Passing the time to meet our friend, we walked through more streets, and looked for suggested tapas restaurants to check out later. When we met Nat, we knew exactly where to go and which places we wanted to try out! We started at Bodega Biarritz for sangria and tapas and then hopped in and out of places we liked the looks of as we walked around the Born and Gothic neighborhoods. Nat told us that the pinchos were tapas put on bread so patrons could cover their drinks so flies wouldn’t get in! So clever! Some of the restaurants were so busy, we couldn’t even get an order in- at one, we actually gave up and went elsewhere because after fifteen minutes or so of trying to get to the counter, we didn’t have any luck! Even though eating so late could take some getting used to, I love the idea of tapas and getting to sample so many different tastes in one sitting. Restaurant hopping to try even more settings and sangria made the evening even better!

Day 339: Barcelona!

You know it’s a bad bus ride when you’re nostalgic for the buses in Vietnam, and (despite the dirt) even those in India. That being said, I do NOT recommend Eurolines when traveling through Europe. Our bus was nearly two hours late. It was full. The lights stayed on. And it was as if every kind of crazy decided to journey to Spain that night. Right on par with the Greyhound these days back home. Not. my. favorite. Needless to say, we were exhausted when we arrived in Barcelona in the morning.

Visiting Barcelona in the summertime turned out to be just like Prague. We had a really really hard time finding a place to stay. Luckily, at the last minute, a couchsurfer messaged us with a room for 10 euros each per night. Not exactly couchsurfing etiquette, but it was better than a 40 euro per night per bunk in a hostel otherwise. This is when I bemoan the fact that Africa absolutely killed our budget. And then Andrew reminds me the safari was worth it.

We slept. for awhile. So long, that when we woke up and realized we hadn’t eaten anything in over 24 hours, Andrew talked me out of wanting to go back to sleep and talked me into going out to find some food. It was roughly 8 or so at night. Spain 101: no one eats until at least 10. Restaurants weren’t even open! We found a sidewalk cafe and ordered a few tapas with a drink while we waited. Filled up on them and when Andrew was satisfied I had enough food to hold me over until the morning, we made our way back to bed. Some of these overnight bus rides take us a few days to get over. We’re getting better than we were at the start of this trip, but that doesn’t make them any easier. It’s like jet-lag only worse because you feel like you shouldn’t be having such a hard time getting over one night of not sleeping…

I was excited to be in Barcelona, but more excited to sleep our first night. My first impression of the city though, was how beautiful the buildings were. I have to admit, I’m somewhat cheating with this post- so you don’t have to suffer through one minute of us sleeping, I’ve compiled some video of buildings throughout the city I shot on other days instead.

Day 338: a wine tasting at Pierre Andre

While Andrew is more of a beer kinda guy, I think I like beer and wine equally. After Julie and Antoine so generously shared a fair amount of their wine with us during our visit, it was icing on the cake when they announced we were going to visit Pierre Andre, a local winery and have a tasting. It was a much more intimate experience than our wine tasting in South Africa and we were so grateful to the young man (I have to say young man because he was so much younger than us and sooo much more knowledgeable about wine!) who poured our wine for us and explained what we were tasting. A tip of the hat towards this winery, because while the ones I’ve experienced (South Africa somewhat included) tended to be on the snooty side, Pierre Andre was anything BUT snooty. They were kind and welcoming and really downright lovely. Next time we visit Burgundy (and we’re not jumping several countries before going ‘home’) we’ll be back and chances are, we’re going to leave with a couple of cases of wine!

It was our last day in Burgundy, so it made perfect sense to be at the winery before lunch! We wandered through the cellars before making our way back upstairs for a really great tasting. We had more than the usual (I think around 4-5 different wines has been my experience elsewhere) and we were able to get more if we wanted!

I kept trying to photograph the dimly lit cavern with my lens and it wasn’t having it. You can see Julie catching me putting my camera on the table (above) but the light was simply not in my favor. Julie also got these pictures of me and Andrew – which is quite nice to have a few photos of us that we haven’t taken ‘selca (selfie) style’ of ourselves on one of our i-devices!

I was really quite sad to leave, although I’ve been getting better at not letting it show as much. Sometimes Andrew has to deal with me tearing up on a bus or plane after saying goodbye, but I think it was a little bit easier than most times because New York to France seems much more feasible than South Korea to France (or vice versa). So instead of going on and on about how much I hate goodbyes, I’ll instead indulge us all with a ridiculous amount of pictures of thefour six (dogs included) of us!

Day 332: What’s a chlebicky?

Today’s to-do: See Fred and Ginger (also known as The Dancing House) and pick up Andrew’s passport. You’ve probably been thinking ‘Woah, they’ve been in Prague forever!’ -at least one friend was, confused by our length of stay… But it’s been prolonged mostly because Andrew needed to get extra pages added to his passport. Instead of just getting more pages for one year left until expiration, he went ahead and got a whole new passport- which took a week. Having mostly exhausted the sights (or having been mostly exhausted by the sights) we had a low key day and walked around town with Petr, stopping in a few new places and trying chlebicky for the first time(!) instead of pushing ourselves to do more.

No matter how long you live in a city or a country, there is always something new to be discovered. For me, today, it was not only Lokal restaurant (again, this time in a different location) but trying a Czech chlebicky. I didn’t even notice these little open faced sandwiches in some of the cafes and bistro windows until Andrew asked Petr what they were. Basically, they are an open-faced deli sandwich. And they are delicious. Petr took us to a rather famous place just in between Narodni Divadlo and Narodni Trida to try some.

It’s like the Czech version of tapas… kinda. Petr said they are popular at parties, and I can see why! But perhaps only if there’s quite a variety, because that’s where I think the fun is- getting to try as many different ones as possible. We saved room for take out Vietnamese in his neighborhood instead of going crazy with the chlebicky. Another new thing to me: Vietnamese food in Prague is abundant and awesome.

Day 331: Burgers and Absinth

Whenever we couchsurf, I can’t stop thinking that there are sooo many nice people in the world. It’s a really special feeling (especially after our experience at Hostel Florenc) to say the least. So often throughout this trip something terrible happens to someone in a country we happen to be in and it worries our families and friends… It helps to put our faith back in the world so to speak when we can meet a perfect stranger, drop our bags off at his (or her) house and then go out for coffee, a drink, or dinner together. This is exactly what happened when we met our new friend, Petr – except, we did all three. My favorite part of the evening was going to an Absintherie in the old town. It was Andrew’s first time drinking Absinth, and my first time in an Absintherie. Probably my last time drinking Absinth straight, but fun nonetheless.

Petr showed us around his neighborhood, Vinohrady before heading to dinner. I’m not as familiar with Vinohrady (I lived on the other side of the river) and Prague as a whole has changed so much in terms of eateries and chic coffee shops that it was fun to explore a different side of the city. Part of this little tour included a break from the typical Czech fare for an old fashioned American burger at The Tavern. I had heard that the owners were from Kentucky, so as soon as we sat down, I asked our waiter if there was anyone from Kentucky there at the moment. I told him that I, too, was from Kentucky and would love to meet them. Later, he came up and jokingly whispered to our table “The people from Kentucky are HERE!”

Not a minute after, Lori came up to our table and introduced herself to me and sweetly asked what we were doing in Prague. Sweetly is an understatement, because she seemed to be the kind of person you immediately wanted to hug and ask if you could be best friends forever. Because we’re both from Kentucky, I think she would agree to be my BFF. I hope. The cutest part of our conversation was when she said “I just got done working with George Clooney!” in a What a coincidence! kinda way – as if I knew him or he was a friend of mine as well –  you know, because of Kentucky. That’s when I decided had I still lived in Prague, we would indeed be BFFs today!

After she left, I turned to Petr with a wink and simply said “Kentucky” with a big smile.

After some delicious burgers, we wandered down to the old town for some drinks, stopped in to see Petr’s mom working at the Moser shop (fancy Czech glass and crystal) and then headed to the Absintherie.

I’ve never been to an Absintherie before, much less had an entire glass of Absinth. It was quite the production and even if I wasn’t a huge fan of drinking it straight (I prefer a smidge in a B52 shot) the little bar was perfectly designed and decorated and it was definitely different from the typical Czech watering hole. The trick is to get lots of water to chase your sips with. Otherwise it kinda tastes like the worst cold medicine ever. Which is why, I’ve always preferred drinking it with Kahlúa and Baileys Irish Cream. The fun part is when the Absinth is set on fire and you drink the shot through a straw. You don’t have time to really taste the strength of the Absinth when it’s done like this!

We stopped at a few more places- tried to have a more fancy drink on a rooftop in the Old Town, but got shooed away because Petr was speaking Czech. They seemed to prefer tourists only. We introduced Petr to Usudu (the cave-like bar from a few posts earlier) which was great until we were suddenly surrounded by a pub crawl. On our walk ‘home’ Petr took us down the red light district before one final stop in a brand new bar that was designed in the old communist style around the corner from his house. I LOVED the aesthetic (a little bit you can see in the video) and looked forward to returning the next afternoon for lunch, as Petr promised!