Last Days

I have made it back home from my 30 day trip around the world.  Although I had a wonderful time, it has been slightly challenging transitioning back to the time change and the culture/life here in the Midwest.  But now that I am home, I should inform you about my last few days in Germany and finally get some pictures on my blog.

On Monday, Maria, her sister (Kathi), and myself traveled by train to Innsbrook, Austria.  Innsbrook. Is located in a valley and surrounded on all sides by mountains.  We enjoyed wondering around the city and I was amazed by the beauty of the city.  The buildings were very traditional, but many were different muted colors which made the city seem bright and lively.  While we were there, we also did a little shopping at different stores.  I was able to find some ornaments for my "travel the world" Christmas tree.  We had a ton of fun walking around the river and seeing the city, but were quite saddened when it began to rain outside. Although this cut our trip a little shorter than we wanted,  we were able to find a nice ice cream parlor where we sat down an enjoyed a nice caramel sundae before catching the train back to Germany.

Tuesday, we traveled to castle, Neuschwanstein to be exact.  The castle was built in 1868 by Germany's king Ludwig II.  Although the castle was never completed because the king died unexpectedly, it was beautifully decorated and ahead of its time.  The castle contained a modern telephone for its time and a flushing toilet.  We had a lot of fun touring the castle and learning about the castle.  After spending some time at the castle, we decided it was time to head home.  Maria invited a couple friends over and made homemade pancakes for everyone.  Although it took some failed trails before they mastered the technique, we finally got it figured out.  It was a great bonding experience and we enjoyed working together to make the meal.

Wednesday, my last day in Germany, Maria and a couple of friends and myself traveled to Munich for the day.  We saw were Maria goes to school and an open market that is open every day.  I think I have a love for open markets.  They are so interesting and full of life.  I enjoy knowing everything is fresh and home grown.  I think I could easily get use to shopping at an open market.  We enjoyed some time in a park before we headed to Germany's past Olympic stadium.  That was nice to see and we traveled up to the top of a building where we could see all of Munich.  It was quite the sight to see, especially with the sun setting in the background.  It was a great way to end the day and an excellent way to end my stay in Germany.

Fun in Frankfurt

This past weekend Maria and I took the train to visit Julia Heizinger, a foreign exchange student that stayed with my family when I was in the third grade.  We left Schledorf about 4:00 p.m. and arrived in Frankfurt about 9:00 p.m. on Friday evening.  Julia picked us up at the train station and asked if we were up to seeing some of Frankfurt's night life.  Of course we were up for doing some exploring around Frankfurt after sitting for about five hours.  We were given two options:  we could look around at a carnival that was going around or we could go to a more traditional place.  I decided it would be nice to see a more traditional place, so we went to an outdoor café called the Painted House.  Julia helped us to decided what to order, so we tried a traditional drink called Apfelwein (apple wine) and we ate a green herb sauce with potatoes.  Both were very good and we enjoyed the beautiful weather outside.  After finishing our traditional meal, we headed back to Julia's parent's house where we would spend the next day and a half.  We were able to meet Julia's mother and sister before we called it a night.

On Saturday, we made our way to Mainz, the town in which Julia is currently living.  We walked through the old town and were able to see a couple churches, but my favorite part of Mainz was the open market.  I guess I must love the idea of going to a market outdoors on Saturday morning to buy fresh fruits, vegetables, and cheeses for the week.  I truly wish this was a bigger concept in the United States.  After spending some time in Mainz, we sat down for a nice lunch at a café and took a short break from walking around.  Once we had our fill, we made our way to Frankfurt which was about 20 minute drive from Mainz.  In Frankfurt, we explored a portion of the pedestrian area and walked through part of the carnival we had seen going on the last night. There were so many people in Frankfurt today!  It was almost difficult to get through the crowds.  In Frankfurt we visited another church, a bridge where many married couples attach a lock and throw the key into the river, and the opera house.  There is so much to see in Frankfurt even though it is mainly known for its many banks.  I wish we would have more time here than one weekend.  After seeing a few of the many sites, we returned to Julia's house to prepare for a BBQ her family was having that night in celebration that her sister is home from the USA.  Julia's sister invited a few friends and and her parents had a couple co-works over.  We ate so much delicious food and one of Julia's sister's friends stopped to pick up ice cream at a local ice cream parlor before stopping over.  It was probably the best ice cream I have ever had in my life.  I had three different flavors: pistachio, snickers, and my favorite one a was a cherry flavored ice cream.  We had so much fun sitting around and chatting over the food.  It was a great night that went into the early hours of the morning.

After getting two and a half hours of sleep it was time to wake up and get ready to take the train back to Maria's home town.  It was of course sad to say good bye to Julia, but it had been a great weekend where many wonderful memories were created.  A big thank you goes out to Julia and her family for making this weekend to memorable.  

Made it to My Final Destination!

So I have made it to Germany to visit Maria and her family.  I arrived in Munich around 9:15 on Wednesday morning.  On Wednesday and Thursday, we spent our days lounging by Kochelsee, which is a beautiful lake located close to Maria's town of Schledorf.  The lake was absolutely beautiful.  The water is so clear and a bright blue-green color.  It is surrounded by mountains, which makes it seem remote and relaxing.  On wednesday we drove to a relaxing location on the beach, but on Thursday we rented a boat.  Let me just start by saying row boats scare me just a little bit.  I suppose it is because I have had numerous bad experiences with row boats or canoes flipping over while I am sitting in them.  Luckily this time we made it to our destination and back without tipping the boat over.  It is nice to catch up with Maria and have some relaxation time before I have to head back to the States.

Sorry that this is such a short post, but I am preparing to leave for Frankfurt to visit Julia Heizinger for a day so be sure to check back to see what experiences I have had in Frankfurt!  Have a great weekend!

The Dreaded Good Bye

Well now that I have come to the end of my trip in Singapore, I suppose it is time to write what I have done the last few days while I was there.  

On Monday, I travelled to the civic district of Singapore where all the government buildings are located.  Little did we knew they were doing a lot of construction in this area.  I guess when you need to remodel one government build, why not do them all.  As I was on the tour provided by my trusty guide book, I keeps reading about the buildings, but found it very unfortunate that a could not see a single thing they were describing.  My luck eventually turned around when I got about a quarter of a mile into the mile and a half tour.  Singapore has a very nice Asian Civilization Museum that is located in the civic district area.  I was extremely impressed with this museum.  It had everything from Islamic art and architecture to different things from Asian cultures and religions.  Everything was beautifully displayed and usually had a nice description about the piece.  I spent a large portion of my afternoon in this museum before continuing in the tour.  The guide book lead me past Singapore's fire station and a few churches before ending the tour at the famous Raffles Hotel.  The hotel contained many shops and restaurants that are open to the public as well.  The hotel was huge and the entrance reminded me of the White House.  Once I had finished looking around the the hotel, I grabbed a bite to eat and took a taxi to the Singapore Flyer.  The flyer is the largest Ferris wheels in the world.  I entered an enclosed cab that traveled around the wheel that reached a height of 541 feet.  I was able to see so much of Singapore. I enjoyed seeing the Marina Bay and looking into the ocean where hundreds of ships and tankers sat.  After the 30 minute ride on the flyer, Urs and Rachel picked me up before heading to Sentosa, which is an island that has become a great attraction for Singapore.  We sat down for a nice meal at one of clubs Urs and Rachel are members of before we headed down to the beach to see a water show.  It was call Songs of the Sea.  The music was great and they did everything from water displays to fireworks.  It was a nice way to end the night.  Before we could leave Sentosa though, we had  to visit the Merlion, the symbol of Singapore.  The Merlion was lite up with different colored lights and we were able to take some great pictures him.  We all had an amazing time, but it was time to go to bed because another big day was just around the corner.

On Tuesday, my last day in Singapore, Jean and I went to the Singapore zoo.  Wow was that a lot of walking, but we saw so many different animals.  Jean and I enjoyed our close encounters with the monkeys and seeing them hang from the trees.  We walked through the entire zoo and saw almost every animal they had.  We had so much fun and I am glad Jean could join me on this excursion.  After the zoo, we made one last stop at Lucky Plaza on Orchard Road, one of the first places I visited, because Jean had to run a few errands and I wanted to buy an I Love Singapore t-shirt.  Once we meet back up, we traveled back to Urs and Rachel's house so I could finish packing and get ready for my 12.5 hour flight to Germany.  Jean made us supper and we took a few last pictures, but then it was time to say good bye.  I had to say good bye to Rachel first because my suitcase took up to much space that we all could not fit in the car.  When we got to the airport I had to say the final good bye to Urs.  I just couldn't believe that the two weeks had gone so fast. Why do good bye's have to be so challenging?  I hope I will be able to visit Singapore again soon.

Relaxation in Thailand and a Suprise at the End

After going strong for almost three weeks, I was looking forward to some relaxation time and that was exactly what we did this past weekend.  Early Friday afternoon I meet Urs and Rachel at the airport where we checked in for our flight to Phuket, Thailand.  With the flight only being about an hour and a half, it was the perfect opportunity to catch up on some of my own journaling and to take a short nap before landing.  When we arrived in Phuket, we were driven over to a car rental shop where we rented a car for the weekend.  After doing this, we began our relaxing getaway at Urs and Rachel's new home.  It was a beautiful home with plenty of space to just lounge around and hang out.   I was shown around the house, but from the moment we arrived I had my eye on one thing, the swimming pool in their backyard.  It had been a very warm day and I was looking forward to cooling down in the pool.  We all threw on our swimming suits and jumped into the pool.  What a great way to start the weekend!  After spending some time in the pool, it was time to get ready to go out for supper.  We were meeting a couple of Urs and Rachel's friends and their son down by the beach for a nice meal.  We were able to get a great table with a nice view of the sea and the restaurant had delicious food.  While we were talking and the sun had set, we saw people lighting paper lanterns and setting them free in the sky.  It was such a beautiful sight and amazing to see how high they went.  It was almost like they became little stars in the sky.  I can only imagine what it looks like when there are thousands of them being let go at the same time.  Along with the paper lanterns, the restaurant we were eating at had an individual who performed a fire show for the guests of the restaurant.  It was very cool  the way he spun the stick that was lit on both ends high up in the air and he was still able to catch the stick without burning his hands.  After a while, we decided it was time to start heading home since it had already been such a big day.  I knew one thing for sure and that was that I was exhausted.

On Saturday, our second day in Phuket, Urs and Rachel had some people stopping by to finish up a few things on the house.  While they did that, I lounged by the pool and eventually went for a swim.  I know, what a hard life, right?  The water was a perfect temperature for a morning swim and I enjoyed soaking up a few sun rays.  When e everything was finished around the house that had to be done, Urs and Rachel took me to a local beach restaurant where we grabbed some lunch before lounging on the beach.  Again it was a very warm day, so I wondered down by the ocean.  It is low season right now because the waves are so high and violent,so I did not go swimming in the ocean.  I enjoyed looking for a few seashells and reading my book though.  After spending an hour in the sun, which is very strong in Thailand and you have to be care as to not spend too much time in the sun, we decided to head back home and take a quick swim in the pool before going out for supper.  Again for supper we met up with one of Urs and Rachel's friends at a very local restaurant where we were able to try traditional Thai food.  I quickly discovered that the Thai people like their food spice, so I stuck to a more mild fish type soup.  I did try the other things, but I knew I couldn't handle too much of any of the spicy dishes the others were eating.  It was a good experience though and I am glad I had the opportunity to try a few different things.  That night when we went back to the house, we laid out by the pool and admired the peacefulness of the night.  

Again the next morning we went for a quick swim before we had to put away all of the outdoor pool furniture because it was our last day in Phuket.  After grabbing some breakfast we decided to do something a little out of the ordinary.  We decided it was a perfect opportunity for an elephant ride!  I had been hoping for this experience the whole trip.  After riding a camel in Egypt, I thought it would be a great idea to ride an elephant inThailand.  It was quite the experience.  Urs and I climbed the podium where we were able to sit on a bench type thing on top of the elephant.  It was kind of a rough ride, but we had a blast.  The young man that was guiding the elephant jumped down and offered to take our picture.  It was great and he really took some good pictures and so did Rachel.  Look for them in the next couple of weeks.  It was a terrific way to end our stay in Thailand before catching our flight back to Singapore.  

A True Taste of Culture

Sorry again about the delay in letting you all know how things are going on my trip, but I guess that tells you how busy I am staying and how much fun I am having.  I have entitled this next entrée A True Taste of Culture, because that is what I have been doing for the last few days.  

On Tuesday, July 24 (gosh I realize that's almost a week ago already) I felt like I went back in time to when I was in Egypt about a year and half ago.  I visited Kampong Glam or better known as Arab Quarter.  To be perfectly honest, this was one of the best days I have had in Singapore and believe it or it  I explored Arab Quarter all by myself thanks to my trusty guide book.  I started my adventure off by once again visiting a few shops that sold trinkets and different souvenirs, but it wasn't until I traveled deeper into Arab street that I saw a few stores with different traditional clothing from the Middle East and a store the sold handmade baskets called Rishi Handcrafts'.  As I continued to walk down the street, I caught glimpse of a large, golden dome that just seemed to glow in the sun.  Instantly I knew this was the one thing I was the most excited to see on this excursion.  It was Sultan Mosque.  This mosque is the most important mosque in Singapore.  It can house 5,000 people in the prayer hall at one time.  Standing in front of the mosque gave me an amazing feeling, not because of its beauty or it's massive size but because it had such a welcoming feeling.  Many obvious tourist were coming and going as they pleased.  As I walked into the mosque, there were two men making sure that people were appropriately dressed and that they signed the guest book.  For those of you who don't know much about the Muslim religion, I will try to explain it to the best of my ability as I describe my experience in the mosque.  Both sexes, especially women, are required to have their body's covered as not to be a distraction to those praying around you and to also show respect to the body you were given.  So in my case I threw on a pair of jeans and a long sleeved jacket.  Also for women it is not required, but appreciated if you cover your hair with a head scarf.  After doing all of this it is ok for tourist to enter the mosque.  Muslim worshippers must prepare themselves before entering the mosque, such as washing their hands and arms, feet and legs, hair, and brushing your teeth to name a few.  Men and women do this in separate areas.  After doing this they may enter into the mosque.  Again just like men and women have different areas of preparation, men and women have different areas in which they pray.  The men's area is open to the public to view, but not to enter into the area in which they pray.  As I was admiring the prayers, a older man, probably in his later 50s, came up to me and welcomed me to Sultan Mosque.  Who knew an hour later I would still be talking to him about the Muslim religion.  Saleem was so helpful and pointed out many of the interesting aspects of the mosque.  He also informed me about the Islamic religion and made many comparisons to Christianity.  As you can probably tell, since I talked with him for over an hour, that I am very interested in different religions and cultures.  As we were talking, the woman representative came over to us and asked me a few things after offering to show me the women's section of the mosque.  If course I jumped on this offer as quickly as she asked.  While I was in Egypt we were never given this option because all of our guides were men and we were a mixed group.  Although there was nothing super special about this section of the mosque, it was a side I had never witnessed before.  It was something new.  After taking a few minutes to watch a couple of the women pray, we headed back downstairs to the main level.   By the time I had left the mosque, I had probably spend close to two hours there.  I thanked both representatives for taking time to talk with me and show me around the mosque.  What a wonderful day in Kampong Glam.   

On Wednesday, I tried another culture, but this one in Chinatown.  While I Chinatown, I did some more shopping for little souvenir things.  I enjoyed walking down the street and seeing all the red paper lanterns hanging from building to building.  I can only imagine what the streets look like at night when they are all illuminated.  I continued to walk through many open shops until I arrived at Sir Mariamman Temple.  The Hindu temple was elaborately decorated with many vibrant paintings and artwork.  The temple is dedicated to the goddess who cures serious illnesses.  You will have to check the blog in a little over a week for pictures because I don't believe my explanation of the temple does it justice.  What amazed me most about the temple was the tower at the entrance.  The gopuram or tower is covered with hundreds of figurines of Hindu deities.  It was beautiful.  After spending some time here, I walked through Chinatown until I made it to one of the most important sights there, which is Buddha Tooth Relic Temple.  Supposedly the temple houses one of Buddha's sacred teeth.  Even though there is great controversy over this, it draws many people to this temple.  After spending so much time wondering around the temple, I needed to hurry to the Singapore City Gallery before it closed.  The gallery shows the growth of Singapore the buildings they have built.  It was a beautiful gallery that housed many large models of different buildings and even a couple models of the whole city.  It was a great ending destination and a great place to cool off from the long walk outside.  When Urs and Rachel arrived home that night, they took me to the Swiss Club.  I was able to see where many of the Swiss families who live in Singapore send their children to school and I was able to indulge in some Swiss cuisine.  It was truly a day of culture!  

On my last day in Singapore for the week, I went to Little India.  One thing that changed about today was that I was not traveling alone, I was traveling with the helper that works for Urs and Rachel.  Jean and I visited many different temples and few mosques.  I enjoyed having her with me because it gave me someone to talk to.  One of the neatest places we visited today was a temple with a Buddha that was 50 ft tall (15 meters).  It was amazing and the amount of detail put into it.  What a wonderful sight to see.  I enjoyed the liveliness of Little India.  You could feel the people's excitement for life and one of the places I think I felt this the most was at Mustafa Center.  It was one of the most unique stores I have ever been inside, yet one of the most disorganized according to American stores.  You would be walking through aisle of food and all of a sudden you would be looking at children's clothes.  On the next level, you would be walking through adult clothing and then you would be in housewares.  It was just interesting and it kept you on your toes.  After seeing all of Little India, Jean and I headed back home.  I needed to start packing because Friday we left for Phuket, Thailand.

Hong Kong ~ "Time is Money"

Again I am sorry this post is being written so late.  This past weekend (Thursday evening to Sunday evening) we spent in Hong Kong.  We arrived in Mong Kok district late on Thursday evening and got acquainted with our hotel, Langham Place.  The hotel was beautiful and came with a beautiful view of Hong Kong.  

Let me just start by saying I have never seen so many people in one place in my life.  Out first day in Hong Kong was spent taking a tour with a tour guide provided by the hotel that went from Mong Kok to Yau Tsim Mong, anther district maybe a little less than a mile walk.  I learned so much about the Chinese culture from our guide.  As she guided us down the street, we stopped in many same stores where she pointed out things such as different foods the Chinese eat, gods they believe in and the traditions they follow, the herbal teas many Chinese drink faithfully to cure health ailments, and wedding traditions.  We learned that the Chinese dry a lot fish including their fins.  I think the food I found the most interesting was the bird's nest.  I remembered hearing that the very high classed and rich people eat things such as bird's nest soup on special occasions, but I did not realize it was still an ongoing tradition for the Chinese.  Along our walk we enjoyed a couple open air vendors who were selling different fruits and vegetables.  Also, it wasn't unusual to see a few elderly men play a game of mahjongg. It was quite an experience and I enjoyed seeing and learning so much about the traditional Chinese culture.  That afternoon we cooled down in the club loung where they served some delicious appetizers and snacks.  After resting for a short period of time,  we traveled by MRT and a bus up to the highest point in Hong Kong called the Peek.  Of course we made many "friends" on the MRT and the bus, but once we arrived at the top of the Peek we were blessed with a panoramic view over all of Hong Kong from a shopping center.  It was crazy because one side of the mountain looked like a jungle and was still covered with trees and bushes, but the other side of the mountain was covered with skyscrapers.  We enjoyed some time  up there and then explored the shopping center for a place to sit down and have something to eat.  Once we had found some food and regained some energy, we made our way back to the hotel.  After walking around all day Urs and Rachel decided to look for a place to receive a foot message, but I decided to head back to the hotel.  I don't know there was just something about having someone else touch my feet that made it not so appealing to me.  I guess I just find feet disgusting, but I enjoyed some down time.  When Urs and Rachel came back we decided to grab a quick bite to eat and then hit a famous night/weekend market called Ladies' Market.  There were so many store stalls here and again millions and millions of people.  I couldn't believe it.  There was everything from clothes and handbags to jewelry and little souvenirs.  It was interesting to see more of a local shopping spot for the people of Hong Kong.  There were local artists singing and performing different skits.  It was hard to believe that all of this shops and people seemed to come alive at 10:00 at night.  What a day and we enjoyed so much on our first day in Hong Kong.

One the second day in Hong Kong (Saturday), we decided to hit another outdoor shopping market.  I'm starting to think Asia is known for all of its shops and markets.  This market was called Stanley's Market.  Now this is where more of the westerners shop for their souvenirs. After being at Ladies' Market, I expected a lot of bargaining, but as Rachel and Urs said, "The Westerners seem to have destroyed the bargaining of Stanley's Market because they think it is rude and just don't know how to bargain."  For me I think this very true.  I have no idea how to bargain or what an appropriate price would be to pay for certain items.  I enjoyed seeing Urs and Rachel bargain, but I always felt so uncomfortable doing it myself.   We spent a lot of time wondering around the market and I even found a few things that I wanted.  After spending numerous hours at the market, we had to hurry back to the hotel to prepare for a night out on the town with two of Urs and Rachel's friends who now live in Hong Kong.  We ate at a very fancy restaurant.  It was nice to get dressed up and see the upper class side of Hong Kong.  The food was delicious and we enjoyed some of the music from the night life of Hong Kong after supper.  It was another busy day I must say.  

On Sunday, Rachel wanted to do some shoe shopping, so Urs and I enjoyed a boat ride around a part of Hong Kong.  It was beautiful weather for this and a nice, relaxing way to see some more of Hong Kong's skyscrapers.  There are a few buildings with interesting architecture.  After this, we met up with Rachel at mall close by and found our way back to the hotel.  We enjoyed some afternoon orderves provided by the hotel.  It had been a great long weekend in Hong Kong, but it was time to head back to Singapore.  

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:  I have tried many different ways to add pictures to my blog, but it just doesn't seem to work from my iPad.  I have added a few pictures from Switzerland to my facebook page and hope to have more up soon.  As for adding pictures to my blog, it might just have to wait until I get back home.  Sorry for the inconvenience.