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Musings

Pressing Rewind

Today marks the first day of me retracing my steps on my journey. Up until now, every place I have been to was the first time I was there. This afternoon, I left Lucerne to head back to Zurich, where I am now and where the above photo was taken a few nights back. Tomorrow I head to Munich and the day after that back to Prague before coming back home.

I think it’s actually quite fitting for me in a literal and symbolic sense to travel “backwards” on the same paths and revisit places I’ve already been to. It just reminded me of that scene at the end of “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” where the kids find the old lamp post and slowly find the old trees and path back out of Narnia and into the room with the wardrobe where their story began. From here on out, I’m actually staying in hostels I’ve already been to, including the one in Prague where I first stayed. I fully expect some deja vu in the next week; I already am as I sit in the same Starbucks in Zurich as I did a few days ago.

This is the part of the trip where I can look at places and go, “I’ve been here and here’s what I remember and like about it” or “what does this place make me think about?” I’ll pull some photos from the archives that haven’t been shared yet as I continue to share here on the blog, as I don’t expect I’ll want or need to take many more. Now is also when I begin to pull the trigger on silly souvenir purchases. There was no reason to buy them and carry them around for longer than necessary.

Questions about my trip so far? Ask in the comments section below and I’ll do my best to answer. Know I’ll probably have more to say on reflective topics vs. historical. It’s just where my head focuses.

 

 

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Musings

Depth of Relationship

How far are you willing to go?

While I’ve been traveling, I have been very restricted with the amount of conversation I’m able to have with people I come into contact with. You come to find even the random banter you occasionally have with the barista at Starbucks or waiter at your local restaurant isn’t exactly possible because you’re pointing at signs and pictures to communicate. Thankfully, many people across Europe know enough English to deal with Americans like me who can’t grasp other languages very easily. Yet, this whole experience got me thinking to a topic I’ve been dealing with for a bit longer: depth of relationships.

Now, I will concede that everyone has their own ways to measuring how deep their relationships are with the people they know so measure how you will. As an introvert, (INFP for those curious), I value my personal relationships profoundly and I find enjoyment in them when they can jump from one extreme (“I need to talk about this potentially life changing decision”) to the other (“weren’t the chase scenes in Fast Five ridiculously unbelievable, but fun to watch?”).

One thing I’ve missed in the last 3 weeks, and perhaps much longer, is that I’m not consistently able to have the “life changing decision” conversations nearly as often as the ones about Fast Five. People aren’t as willing to go past the surface into areas that may be uncomfortable or expose any part of our true selves. It’s easy to put up a front. We all do it to varying degrees. But we also find it easy to discuss things of no consequence because it doesn’t personally challenge us in any way. There’s no intellectual or personal benefit, but that’s OK because it’s like we’re conversing, but nothing is actually being said.

It’s good to go deeper once in a while. Ask your friends what excites them. Find out why a certain TV show appeals to them. (Maybe it will reveal something about them far more fascinating than the show itself.) Ask questions of people who you don’t always agree with and get more information instead of avoiding the topic. At least you’ll understand why you disagree instead of just avoiding that topic or worse, that person. Besides, these conversations make life a lot more interesting when you look back at it.

How far are you willing to go down that path? Will you walk past that well lit park bench that you can see from where you’re standing? Or will you venture down the path together beyond the horizon, where unknown, but profound, adventures and depth await?

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Musings Photos

In Love With Lucerne

Days like today make everything about this trip so worth it. I opted to take a 1/2 day excursion on “The Golden Round Trip” to Pilatus. It consisted of a boat ride across Lake Lucerne, a cogwheel railway ride up to Pilatus Kulm, the noted high spot of central Switzerland and high point of this outing. Afterwards, you descend back down via cableway cars. The views were breathtaking to say the least and while the pictures give you a nice view, obviously there’s nothing like being there. I have photos of the city of Lucerne itself, but I will save those for other blog posts. These are all of today’s outing and maybe, I believe, are postcard ready. 🙂

 

That’s me!

 

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Musings Photos

A Brief Look at Zurich

My Internet time is somewhat limited, so I’m only posting a couple photos of Zurich by night. Tomorrow, at some point, I will head off to Lucerne where I’ll stay for 3 nights. I seem to be feeling a bit better finally. Maybe it just took some new scenery and sunny skies (thanks for all the rain, Munich!) to clear me up. For now, enjoy the few pics below.


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Musings

Munich: Land of Rain and Baguette Sandwiches

(Rain: please stop!)

Oh Munich, how I wished I 1) could see more of you and 2) had really good protective rain gear for myself and my camera gear. Shortly after arriving in Munich I realized two things:

  1. It’s much cooler here than Prague. (Apparently nobody told Prague we had transitioned to fall temps.)
  2. It had rained and the dark clouds “hinted” at more rain to come.

At one point, I thought I’d give it a go and trek outside, only to be quickly caught in rain I didn’t want to walk around in. So I came back to hostel (3 minutes away from the train station BTW) to do some stuff online and read. I ventured again last night, sans camera gear hoping maybe the rain would hold out for a little walk. I made it about as far as Marionplatz when I found myself frustrated with getting wet, also without umbrella and knowledge that the rain would go away or come down harder. The rest of my night was spent reading a book and writing (in that super secret journal.)

I woke up today to the sound of moderately heavy rain – and some incredibly loud snoring, which also greeted me throughout the night. The joys of hostels and room sharing, right? Hopes dashed for the walking tour, I did some more reading and went out for a couple hours this afternoon. Though still greeted by some rain, it was mostly of the drizzle variety. Part of it came while I walked through the English Gardens. It’s huge, twice as big as Central Park according to them. I’m sure I only saw a sliver of the whole thing, but what I saw was beautiful and well kept.

Appetite is there, only because the headaches tell me I need to eat 🙂 Not knowing yet if anything will reignite the events of early last week, I’m keeping diet to things I can quickly recognize. It’s a good thing I like bread/preztels and sandwiches, because that’s what I’ve been having for meals in Munich. They satisfy well enough aren’t making me ill anyway.

Tomorrow early afternoon I hit the trains for Zurich, where I’ll spend one night, then likely another on my way back to Munich. I’d be happy for better weather, but Sunday and Monday aren’t looking good, if we’re to believe weather.com.

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Musings

From Prague to Munich and Beyond

My time in Prague is winding down as I wait for this illness to fully subside. My diet of crackers, bread, and pretzels the last day and a half has been nothing short of dry and a little salty. Admittedly, being told to hold back on certain food and drinks is one way to stretch the old budget, I guess. Yet I feel as though I’m being held back from the cultural experiences of a location when you can’t sample food.

Tomorrow morning I leave for Munich, where I will spend 2 nights before heading off to Switzerland for 5 nights, then back to Munich for a night before coming back to Prague for the final days of my sabbatical. I certainly hope there are enough English speaking people where I’m going because my German is pretty much non-existent! While I still know amazingly little about the Czech language, I’ve grown accustomed to reading the signs for public transit and hearing certain words here and there. It’s a comfortable lack of knowledge I now have.

I know many of you are hoping for more pictures and I continue to be lazy in picking some good ones out for you. I blame it on being sick, so there. Don’t worry, there’s stuff to share and you’ll get to see them.

I’m halfway through this trip. Two weeks ago today I was finalizing my packing and heading to the airport to embark on this journey. It’s too early to say whether or not I’ve changed. As I’ve been reflecting in my super-secret for my eyes only journal, I’m not sure that I’ll know how I’ve changed or what I’ve learned until long after I’m back. And that’s OK by me. In a world that demands instant in-depth analysis of everything that happens, taking time to figure myself and my experiences out is something I’m completely fine with doing. Take that, world.

The next hostel in Munich promises to be amazing and is listed as the cleanest place in the world. (Perhaps this is an exaggeration.) Oh, and for those curious where I’ve been spending an inordinate amount of time this past week, It’s a place called the Czech Inn. No, the pun was not lost on me. I’ll post again from Germany, possibly with photos from the train, assuming I have a window seat.

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Musings

Having a Case of the Mondays – Wednesday Edition

2 days later and I’m still feeling effects of whatever it was that hit me on Monday afternoon. The fever returned Monday night as I tried to sleep. On top of that, I’ve been having some mild stomach/GI cramps, among other challenges. Sadly, my appetite is all but gone for now. Today I visited a doctor here in Prague. No bacterial or viral infection, but they did give me some stuff to make my stomach feel better. That, and my diet needs to consist of bland foods and lots of water. Oh, and I need to rest a lot for the next 1-2 days.

So, I guess I’ll be taking it REAL easy until I leave for Munich. Go figure this 2nd week in Prague would turn out so differently from the first week. Looks like I’ll have time to do a lot of reading and going through more photos. I’ll post some stuff later today.

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Musings

Having a Case of the Mondays

Today was just an off day all around. Woke up late, started slowly. Had lunch at a local Chinese place (less than $5 total FTW!). Then found some park to read and journal. This is when it all went downhill. The combination of salty Chinese fast food, not enough water, sitting in the direct sunlight for about an hour, and walking around did a number on me. Achy body, start of a headache, etc. So I got a couple bottles of water and downed one pretty quickly. When I got back to the hostel, I felt a fever coming on!

Thankfully, I had a first aid kit with some meds with me (thanks REI!). After more water and some rest out of direct sunlight, I feel much better. But it’s been one of those days where it was tough to focus on anything. Odd. So no fun pictures to share with this post, just an update on me.

So what’s in store for tomorrow? Who knows during the day. A couple staying in the same hostel room have invited me to go salsa dancing tomorrow night! I think I may just take them up on that offer to join. I’ve always heard Prague’s salsa scene was hot, just like my fever was today.