prague

(no pictures for prague, but i did make a little vid for the city, which you can watch here.)

*

i don’t think there’s anything more magical than an old european city. being surrounded by a place that’s existed for so long is somehow strangely exciting and comforting all at once. they feel rather like how i think the world should be like, or what i wish it was like. rather vague, i know, but i don’t really have the words to describe my love for these places.

anyway.

we went to prague a couple weeks ago. it’s a lovely old place. i had never been before, and megan was particularly excited to revisit it, as it had been one of her favorite places she’d seen on her study abroad. in any case, she’d made a promise to herself that if she ever visited prague again, she would do it right—more specifically, she would stay at the marriott hotel, which seemed to her tired, collegiate mind the paragon of comfort and leisure.

so that’s what we did.

(it was quite comfortable and leisurely.)

*

saturday morning, we set out into prague’s old town, the medieval heart of the city. the morning was grey and beautiful as we walked into the old town square. it felt like walking into another, long forgotten time.

as we wove further into praha, we passed the astronomical clock, which is arguably the most interesting clock in the world. not only does it tell time, but also the position of really relevant things, like the sun, the moon, and the zodiac. (gotta keep up on that astrology.) it’s like the medieval version of the apple watch. but mostly it’s intricate and beautiful and mysterious in a way that makes me want to write novels about it. maybe i’ll do that one day.

we spent most of the morning wandering through shops. (prague is really nice because everything is quite cheap and makes you feel okay when you buy a bunch of souvenirs.) our list of souvenirs includes (but is not limited to) tiny music boxes, books of folktales, and marionettes. (yes, megan actually bought puppets. their names are franz and josephine.) whether you buy things or not, prague’s shops are just really charming and good for a gander.

during our shop-wandering, megan and i often passed shops and stands that sold these odd-looking concoctions of dough and cream and other lovely sorts of things. naturally, our curiosity was piqued. upon closer inspection, we saw that these sweets were called trdelnîk and that they looked dang delicious. (as we waited in line to order, we could see a man rolling and twisting the dough for the cone-like things. mesmerizing.)

i like to think of my life in two separate time periods: before trdelnîk and after trdelnîk. my best, truest life began in 0 AT (after trdelnîk).

it was just such a lovely eating experience. a warm cone of fresh, sugar-coated bread, a rich chocolate lining, a generous helping of vanilla ice cream. it was like the better, eastern european version of a drumstick. i would go back to prague just to eat trdelnîk. 

(as usual, i have spent too much time talking about food. apologies.)

*

after quickly dropping our czech goods off at our hotel room, we went back out into the city for some lunch. (pizza—always a good choice.) when we were done, we crossed the river vltava towards the malá strana, or, literally, the lesser town of prague.

and then, we went up—and up—and up.

you see, we wanted to go to petřín mirror maze, as megan had gone to it and said it was rather fun. but to get there, we had to get to a slightly higher elevation.

so we walked up the hill of the park, the upward movement quickly warming our bodies. which was good, actually, as the hills were decidedly snowy. it was quite odd. although we visited in the dead of winter, the streets of prague weren’t snowy or icy at all. but i suppose the parks and hills are different sorts of creatures. despite our concern of slipping, the walk was rather picturesque in all its wintry glory.

*

eventually we found the maze and thoroughly enjoyed wandering through the mirrored illusions. (but for real, mirror mazes are so trippy. this one was quite small and i still had no idea where i was going.) the maze also had a hall full of those distortion mirrors that squash and stretch your reflection, which gave megan and i more than a good laugh.

when we left, the afternoon had begun to darken and a mist had swallowed the city, so thick that we could hardly see a few feet in front of us. it was rather lovely, actually, and made me think we had the whole of prague to ourselves. we wandered towards the castle, although we couldn’t quite see it, and eventually crossed back over the river on the charles bridge as the night descended in a hazy light.

we spent the evening reading each other folktales of princesses and golems (which for those, like megan, who don’t know is a different thing from gollum aka smeagol.)

one of my favorite ways to end an evening.

*

sunday was a lovely, quiet morning.

after attending church, we walked back towards the castle, since we could actually see it in the clear daylight. we crossed over the charles bridge again, over those stones that were placed there hundreds and hundreds of years ago. we visited the jewish quarter, admiring its beauty and history and grace. we ate another trdelnîk, because why not.

and soon, as always, it was time for us to leave.

i very much liked prague, that lovely old place.

paris

i feel that to be any sort of serious traveller, you have to go to paris at some point.

i mean, i don’t know how serious a traveller i am, but paris—the city of lights and love—it’s just one of those places everyone should visit.

needless to say, i was very much excited to go to paris. it’s always held a charming, sentimental place in my heart, ever since i watched movies like the aristocats and anastasia as a child. and as an adult, paris became even dearer to me when i fell in love with the movie amelie. (i could go on about that movies for ages, but this isn’t a post about amelie—it’s a post about paris.)

like on our trip to belgium, we booked tickets for the eurostar towards paris on a friday evening. except, like on our trip to belgium, we arrived early, so much so that we were able to walk out into the streets of paris before the evening could rightly be called old.

i immediately became aware of some of the things i dislike about paris. it a loud, bustling city—naturally, because it’s paris. but cities swarming with tourists often put me off, disconnecting me from experiences that i want to fully embrace. paris is also a very dirty city, filled with smokers and rats and trash. and while i had been warned of both these things beforehand, warning doesn’t quite resonate as strongly as experiencing them for yourself.

anyway, after checking into our hotel, megan and i embarked out into the parisian night for a good old wander. we headed in the direction of notre dame because it was nearby. (relatively, that is. nothing is really “nearby” in paris.) and then we came across the seine and i remembered why you come to paris—why i wanted to come to paris. as we crossed over the river towards the île de la cité, the seine glittered and moved with the lights of paris, like something from a van gogh painting. in the background, far away, the eiffel tower rose out of the skyline, bright and golden and shining. it was a little magical, i have to admit. such a sight makes up for all the bad things.

after admiring notre dame for a moment, megan and i began to walk west along the river, towards the eiffel tower, as megan wanted to get a better view for her pictures. but the walk was so lovely and quiet that we ended up walking all the way to la tour eiffel. by that time it was quite late, and there was hardly anyone around—kind of amazing, since it is paris, after all. i had never really cared about the eiffel tower before, as it always seemed very gimmicky and overrated. and perhaps it still is, but seeing it so close and in such a secluded atmosphere allowed me to experience it for myself and relish its charm. it was a good way to end a good night.

—

the next morning, we departed our room and hopped on the metro towards montmartre. this area of paris holds a lot of the city’s iconic features: the moulin rouge and the sacré-cœur, among others. but to me, it was the home of amelie.

the metro led us right in front of the red mill itself, so we stopped a moment to take some selfies and hum a few bars of “elephant love medley” to ourselves. and then, we walked a couple blocks over to find le café des deux moulins, which is where amelie worked in the movie. i was so excited to see it, to enter it, to pretend—for a moment—that i was amelie herself.

but for some reason, the cafe was closed. more than closed, it looked like it had been shut down. i couldn’t understand it. from what i had read, the cafe was a popular tourist destination. there was no news of it being closed permanently. in any case, i couldn’t go in and had to resign myself to just a few photos in front of the window.

i tried not to let it ruin my day, but not being able to go into the cafe rather broke my heart.

anyway, after leaving the cafe, megan and i walked into a random bakery to pick up a few pains aux chocolats, which, naturally, were divine. i think everyday should begin with a warm, flaky, gooey chocolate croissant. they do wonders for the soul.

we then walked up and up to the sacré-cœur, the highest point and fairest view of paris. the sight of the basilica heartily cheered my spirits, as it was used to film one of the scenes  in amelie. looking at the bright carousel and the basilica behind it, i could hear the very music used in the film as amelie led nino back to his photo album.

(okay, this is somewhat turning into a post about amelie, but i promise i’m almost done.)

crêpes in hand, megan and i admired the scene before taking the funicular up to the basilica. the sight really was lovely. i could recognize the arch de triomphe and the eiffel tower amongst the sea of buildings, the whole of paris sitting at our feet.

—

we spent the afternoon walking through museums. la musée d’orsay. la musée de l’orangerie. le louvre. (well, the outside of the louvre. we decided we didn’t have the time to do the louvre proper justice.) i saw rooms full of some of my favorite impressionist paintings and recognized more, thanks to my art history class. i sat in front of the wall-length beauty of monet’s water lillies. i could have spent hours staring at it.

—

okay. it’s time to talk about food. (we all knew it had to come up eventually. it’s paris, after all.) now, i’ve already mentioned pains aux chocolats and crêpes. which are amazing, but non-specific.

while drafting our list of things to do in paris, megan read about this cafe called angelina’s that was supposed to be, simply put, amazing. (like i said last post, you can always count on women to do chocolate right.) after leaving the louvre, we walked down the rue de rivoli towards the cafe. we knew we had arrived when we saw the line strung far down the sidewalk. luckily, angelina’s had take-away, and we were able to grab some hot chocolates and pastries quite quickly. the hot chocolate was literally just straight-up melted chocolate—which is to say, delicious. the pastries were also perfect. 10/10.

next, as we walked down les champs elysees to the arch de triomphe, we stopped at ladurée, which our uncle said we had to go to for chocolate macarons. and holy crap batman, that place. for one thing, the interior was gorgeous. for another, their packaging is adorable. and lastly, and most importantly, their macarons are some of the best things i’ve ever eaten. true to my uncle’s word, the chocolate macarons are a thing of beauty. megan said the vanilla macarons are equally, if not more, amazing, though i’ll have to take her word for it, as she ate the only one. i’m not bitter.

—

after visiting a few more sights—the arch de triomphe, shakespeare and company, etc.—we decided to head back to our hotel for an early night in. as fun as they are the bustling crowds of paris are quite draining. so we watched the man from u.n.c.l.e. and ate in our beds instead.

—

sunday was dedicated mostly to versailles, the palace of the sun king, good ole louis quatorze. (that was what we called him in my french classes. i had to look up how to spell quatorze. i was never very good at french.)

aside from thinking this place is hecka busy, my first impression of versailles was this place is hecka decadent. which, i mean, is natural, as it is a palace and louis xiv was the definition of extra. but versailles does astound you with the opulent, yet refined, beauty.

before we toured through the palace, though, megan and i beelined for angelina’s, which just happened to have a set up in versailles. (as did ladurée. i’m not one for grand homes personally, but i would def live at versailles if i could have access to those beauties every day.)

after having a fancy lunch in a fancy palace, we toured through the grand rooms. we saw the hercules room. we saw the room that has the painting of king louis with his leg stuck out all sexy. (you know, this one.) we saw the hall of mirrors, which is very lovely and excellent for selfies. but we didn’t linger in any one place , and unfortunately, since it’s winter, the gardens were rather dull, so we didn’t stay too long at the palace at all. (to paraphrase richard ayoade, we gave versailles the whole forty-five minutes that it deserves.) anyway, once i see a woman take off her pants and underwear in front of me, i call the day good.

shadowy selfies

before taking the train back into central paris, we took a gander at the new lds temple, which isn’t too far from versailles. the open house and dedication aren’t for another few months, but megan and i were still able to see a good view of the temple. the building was lovely, and i’m just sad we couldn’t go inside.

—

the rest of the afternoon was a bleary haze. after leaving the versailles area, we thought we’d spend the rest of our time walking around and such. so we headed to some road and walked towards the champs elysees again. but i was so tired i almost fell asleep while walking. so we didn’t do much at all. we sat down for some crêpes. and then we went back to our hotel, where we headed to the station for our train home.

—

i’m glad i went to paris. i don’t know that i would call it one of my favorite places in the world, but i’m grateful to have gone. it’s the kind of city you have to pay homage to, to thank for its magic and wonder. because, whatever the city may be, it is paris.

à bientôt.

belgium (ft. the netherlands)

for our first proper weekend excursion—just the two of us—megan and i travelled to belgium.

this was exciting on many accounts. first, neither of us had been before, so we both had a new country to discover. second, belgium is, like, The Best at making chocolate, the greatest thing ever to have graced this good earth. and not only that, belgians are also The Best at making waffles and fries. so, um, we were pretty stoked about that.

early friday evening, we arrived at st. pancras station for our train to brussels. so early, in fact, that we were able to switch to an earlier departure. very soon, we were through security and sat aboard our train, settling in for the two hour ride to belgium.

i don’t know why, but trains have always seemed very romantic to me. perhaps because i’ve always associated them with an older, long-forgotten time, or maybe because i’ve always wanted to take the magical express to hogwarts. in any case, i was looking forward to our ride on the eurostar, despite the fact that a portion of our journey would be under water. (is anyone else amazed that we can ride a train under water? because i think it’s amazing. and weird.) the time passed very quickly. i remembered that i had disney’s cinderella (the new one, of course) on my ipad, so megan and i very happily spent the ride watching it.

and when we got off the train, we were in brussels.

in light of the recent terrorist activity in the city, we were cautious about walking through the city late at night. however, after checking into our hotel (and ordering some much needed room service), we decided to take a little stroll, as the night was calm enough.

after wandering through several lanes, we found ourselves at la grand place—the central square in brussels. it was a lovely old thing. the edifices shone brightly against the dark night, and although it was late, plenty of people were still up and about. megan shot a few pictures of the buildings before we continued down some of the side lanes, scoping out the different chocolatiers. after a while, we returned to our hotel, where we finished watching crazy, stupid, love before falling asleep.

—

the next morning, we went out into brussels again, ready and willing to be convinced of the quality of belgian chocolate.

first, though, we had to find the infamous brussels landmark manneken pis. or, translated, little man pee. much as the name describes, the tiny fountain statue depicts a boy peeing into a basin. so scandalous. before we left, my parents told megan and i that the statue was really hard to find, as they had failed to find it on their trip years ago. but apparently it’s really close to la grand place and has many signs pointing to it. very hard to find.

the ickle pee man himself

anyway, after taking an appropriate selfie by the little pee man, we set out in search of waffles. but not just any waffle—The Best waffle. and to be honest, the waffle we found was pretty dang near The Best, if not The Best itself. soft and warm, covered in chocolate and strawberries and fresh whipped cream, that waffle was made of dream stuff. my mouth waters just to think of it. i wish i remembered the name of the place we bought it from, but at the time i was mostly thinking, mmmmm this is so good. 

before our time in brussels ended, we also stopped at elizabeth chocolatiers for some chocolate and truffles. you know, as snacks for the road.

—

we arrived at antwerp around midday. belgium being so small, it didn’t take long at all to arrive at the city. it likely felt longer to megan, though. the roads in belgium—antwerp in particular—are interesting, to say the least. chaotic and confusing are more accurate terms. we weren’t honked at nearly as much as we deserved to be, and i’m somewhat surprised that we made it out of the city so unscathed.

while we weren’t muddling through the perilous and nonsensical highways of antwerp, megan and i walked through the main parts of town, admiring the window displays of diamonds and such. we ate fries in a gorgeous old train station. and … that’s about it. we didn’t spend too much time at antwerp, as fun as the name is to say.

—

since we still had quite a bit of the afternoon left before we needed to be in ghent, megan suggested a drive through the netherlands.

why not? i said.

so we travelled northward, crossing into the dutch country. the sun was just beginning to set, turning the sky a clear, pale blue as it did. we passed several windmills as we drove—mostly modern ones, white and tall and slender, though a few tradition mills popped up as well. the netherlands is flat and endless, the only trees planted in neat lines along the highway.

our time in the netherlands was probably only about thirty minutes, but it was lovely all the same.

—

that night, we stayed in ghent.

 with each city that i visited in belgium, i liked each one more and more. ghent was lovely and calm at night. our hotel sat right in front of the river, lit up by the reflections of building on either side of it. we walked along the bank, across the bridge, through the city.

for dinner, we happened upon a fondue restaurant. i had never had fondue before and was very intrigued by the idea (as well as by the prospect of chocolate fondue). it ended up being a beef fondue, where we cooked our steaks in a hot oil of some sort. i, a non-steak eater, was a little perturbed by this, but i enjoyed the meal all the same (especially dessert).

all in all, a wonderful night.

—

our last day was reserved solely for bruges.

after attending church, megan and i headed for brugge—the venice of belgium. it was easily our favorite of the cities we saw. for one thing, bruges was much easier to navigate. or rather, it was less busy, which made it seem easier to navigate. we parked our car without much hassle and decided to walk into the town center, as it wasn’t far and the weather was nice.

bruges on a sunday morning was gorgeous and relaxing. save for the main square, most of the streets and alleys were quite empty, which made them excellent for wandering. and that is what we did. we wandered our way through street after street, going wherever our legs took us.

as we were walking down one of the many streets, megan noticed a sign that read chocolate bar upstairs. 

i mean, when you see the words chocolate bar upstairs, you have to go. no question.

after walking closer up, we saw that the store was called the old hot chocolate house, which made it even more appealing and inviting. the interior was warm and cozy and lined with shelves full of chocolate confections. we followed upstairs to the alluded chocolate bar and were seated at a table by the window, overlooking the quaint street outside. it was rather picturesque.

then our food arrived.

oh, buddy. let me tell you about the food.

our hot chocolate came out first. we were both given a cup of steaming milk and a cup of solid chocolate. as in, the cup was made of chocolate and was filled with smaller pieces of chocolate which we were then to put into the milk. i, being the chocolate fiend that i am, plopped the entire thing into my milk without hesitation. (megan did the same.)

literally the best hot chocolate i had ever had. i could write odes about that hot chocolate. epics, even. it’s that good.

 

 

our waffles came next. we ordered one with a butterscotchy sort of syrup, and one with chocolate and hazelnut. both were divine. i felt nearly sick afterward. but #worthit.

—

we spent the whole day as we wished, stopping for pictures where we liked, doing things as they came to us. at one point, we passed a museum dedicated to french fries, and so, obviously, we went in. (very informative. gives you a coupon to buy fries at the end. 10/10.) when we wanted more chocolate, as we naturally did, we stopped at the shops that looked the most charming. (pro tip: if you want to buy good chocolate, always go to the stores named after women. for example, we went to mary’s in bruges. literally makes chocolate for the belgian royalty. what can i say.)

classy fry lady

sister spuds for life

by the time we headed back to brussels for our eurostar home, we were very happy, full, and loaded with chocolate to eat at home.

and yes, for all those wondering, belgian chocolate is The Best.