Not just any cherry turnover

I tasted heaven today in the form of warm meggyes kilfli bubbling into my mouth. What makes it more divine is that I make this weekly trip to Daubner Cukraszda with my friend Julia. Our english fills the street but I care more about these conversations than I do for feeling foreign contempt.
This is what it feels like to enjoy routine.

All-Aboard

My advent calendar starts today. 25 days until I travel back home. I find it fitting that the piece of chocolate behind door 1 is in the shape of a train.

Következik is what the GPS said on the way to Auschwitz. Következik was my warning. It's coming, but I didn't want it to come. I didn't really want to see it, but I knew its necessity. I resisted it like a funeral. But I wouldn't see any bodies that day. I would only see where they were murdered. It's impossible to describe Auschwitz and Birkenau; from the Arbeit Macht Frei gate to the gas chambers I couldn't comprehend what I was seeing. Was that real? I just simply cannot fathom the horror of the Holocaust.

Experiencing history in Europe is drastically different than experiencing it in the states. The History channel, textbooks, museums, pictures-- they do not compare to walking the same path with the same dirt and nestled stones as thousands of Jews did 70 years before. It always feels like a movie.  Auschwitz and Birkenau are not backdrops though. That story is not fictitious;

mountain of shoes, valleys of hair, and cliffs of suitcases indicate only a fraction of the factual landscape. 

I will not forget this. But I also will not forget the hairless woman smiling amidst wide-eyed and scared eyes. The Nazis stole everything but they could not steal her decision to smile. 

I went to the zoo today, because I like zoos. 

It wasn't busy. It was nice and cool. 

I saw animals that I've never seen before. 

Exotic birds, primates, plants and more. 

I like this zoo best, it's large and a park!

Making friends with a gorilla--my favorite part. 

I saw an elephant taking a shower

and giraffes as tall as a tower. 

I want to forget the bugs, especially that spider...

One thing I'll miss though, are those silly tigers! 

Mini asian trees and african masks, 

All these things make me want to come back. 

.

Tessék.

This is the second day in a row that I've sat in cafe that has played Richard Cheese. It's all I can do to not laugh out loud when I hear it. If anyone is unfamiliar with the work of Richard Cheese, let me just tell you that he takes any song (pop, rap, 90s, you name it) and transforms it with jazz rendition to make the original song almost unrecognizable. Here's an example.... Ice, Ice, Baby . Hear for yourself! 

For the past week it has seized me: a stark realization that Budapest is just a phase. It is real life, but only for a short time. Hungary has become a home despite the lack of my Home. My thoughts protest leaving with proof that I can now count forints without having to see the numbers. I utter köszönöm without a trace of thank-you. My American sensibility of hurry has excused itself from my daily routine. 

Budapest is like a cup of hosszú kávé: the beginning is creamy and comfortable but the taste of coffee is yet to be revealed. With more sipping the taste of coffee gradually snuggles with the taste buds and the reason for ordering this cup is apparent. At this point, one must decide whether or not they are satisfied. Now; I find myself looking at how much I have drank and I know I am about to face the bottom of the cup like a draw. Before I see it though, I slow down because the ugly coffee grounds have started to eddy themselves on my tongue. Soon all I will have left is a few specks of coffee grounds that will remind me of what the coffee once was. 

I know I can't make this cup last but in these last weeks I will strive for savoring what it has been thus far. In the words of m. ward, I think:

If only I could hold time. 

.

do-re-mi!

It's true that most people come here to see the Sound of Music sights and Mozart's birthplace, but Salzburg is genuinely charming by its own right. Perhaps that is why the movie was filmed there! Salzburg is pretty small but if you look between the cracks of quaint facades, there is more to be seen. 

One thing I have been telling myself is that I can't see it all.... but I can always come back, right?!

Mozart lived on this hill. 

I fell in love with this teddy-bear faced dog. He kept distancing himself from me though.
I smile every time I see this. 

Nonnberg Abbey. 

At Hellbrunn Palace

Stonetheater. 

I felt like Lord of the Rings. 

Yep; THE gazebo. the very one. 

the house still stands. 

backside of the von trapp house. 

Mirabell gardens. (Do-Re-Mi)

Bakery. We tried to come here three different times, and it was always closed. 

I will be honest. Even though the Sound of Music isn't my all-time favorite film, I had goosebumps when seeing the places that were in the film. The sights don't even seem like "sights;" there are no big signs in front of the Von Trapp house that give any indication that it's iconic.

This is Innsbruck, Austria. When I look at these pictures I hardly believe that I was there. 

Switzerland

Dear Zurich, 

you took my money, you hid the sun. 

But it wasn't all bad--you gave me chocolate and cheese. 

For the past two nights, me and my traveling companions have been staying with their friend in Friedrichshafen. It's quite different from Munich, because it's quite small. Friedrichshafen and neighboring town Constance, are considered "coastal towns" of Lake Constance. Both towns remind me of a strange mix between Seattle, B.C., and Mackinac Island.
I'll the let the pictures do the talking.

This church was built in 1052. 

I don't know what these things were, but they were incredibly tasty.

I didn't experience a comprehensive tour of Germany, but it was enough to make me want to come back! 

Two days in Munich! Two days of fun. The Glockenspiel, clocks, beer, soft bavarian pretzels, meat, castles, fall, trains, and mountains.

Gothic structure-my eyes play tricks on me! 

Everyday the Glockenspiel plays.

Augustiner Pub.

The Neuchwanstein castle was 2.5 hours away, but the journey was well worth the view.  

The Neuchwanstein castle is what the Cinderella castle is modeled after.

I spy...the Neuchwanstein castle!

BMW showroom/museum 

Olympic Tower 

Olympic Stadium 

I am so happy to be in Germany- I can still hardly believe that I'm here! One of my favorite moments was walking to and from the Neuchwanstein castle. The walk was full of oranges, reds, and yellows flowing down from the lofty heights of trees. Being in Germany this week makes up for the lack of fall feeling i've been craving this whole past month in Budapest.