Flashback Series: Israel Part 1

Israel: The Promised Land.

July 2014

You think Israel, you think holy. You think sacred, religious, mystical, and prophetic, right?

My first impression of Israel was: loud, smelly, busy, and hot. Can you find that in your Bible?

Kidding aside, Israel was in most ways completely different than what I had expected. A week in this dynamic little country wasn’t nearly enough, but at least I was able to scratch the surface. Once I got there, that is. I was searched and questioned for nearly an hour at the airport in Budapest because I was flying an Israeli airline. They took out every piece of my backpacker luggage and scanned it, leaving me to repack all of my bags (not easy). After this, I was questioned about my oversized passport and reason for so many stamps. I had to list the countries I had been, in order, for the previous three years or something. I felt like the questions guy and I were buddies by the end of the whole ordeal, but he had to move on to completely empty the next person in line’s luggage. He also informed me that things were a little tenser in Israel at the moment due to the incident in June 2014 of three Israeli boys kidnapped and killed by suspected members of the Hamas. I didn’t know it at the time, but that wasn’t the last I would hear of that incident on my trip.

My knowledge of Israel at the time was primarily from Leon Uris’ Exodus, one of my favorite books, recommended to me by my mother (and also one of her favorites). It’s a historical fiction novel that chronicles the foundation of modern day Israel through the struggles and hardships of the Jewish characters who made their way to the Promised Land. From 19^th century Russian peasants to Jewish orphans from the Holocaust, they made their way to the land they had been forced out of so many hundreds of years before, wanting to claim it as their own once again. The land was untamed and apparently uncultivatable, but through establishments like kibbutzes, or small collective communities, set up in the early 20^th century, they relied on what agriculture they could for survival. Eventually, the kubbitzes began to flourish. At first, in the novel at least, the Jews were friendly with the local Palestinian communities. However, as the British took control of formerly Ottoman Palestine and politics began interfering, tensions grew and created a divided state. The state of Israel was voted into existence in 1948, which immediately provoked an invasion and war with the neighboring Arab countries. The area has been in dispute ever since, rivaling for territory and rights. Though my knowledge was limited, I knew that things were not peaceful between the Palestinians and the Israeli people, especially in light of the then-recent situation with the three boys.

  But, I knew of at least three people who had traveled within Israel safely and without problems earlier that year, and they all said it was an incredible place to see in person. I remained cautious, but couldn’t wait to see some of the places I had read about numerous times in my favorite book. After touching down at the Ben Gurion International Airport from Budapest, I hopped on the first bus I could find to Jerusalem, my first destination of my tour of the Holyland. This bus was actually a little difficult to locate, and I had to cross a couple of busy streets, but I was assured that if I stood and waited, the bus to Jerusalem would come.

Jerusalem

Bus window photo.

The bus came. I spent the entire trip gazing out of the window, looking at “the Promised Land” and wondering how in the world the Jewish people had been so successful at creating communities. There was a fair amount of green in the area I was headed, but I imagined how long it had taken to create what I was seeing. Before long, we were pulling into the vicinity of Jerusalem, which is a rather large city (1 million metro population).  However, I chose to spend my time primarily in the Old City, due to limited time and safety. Though I’ve already written about my time in Jerusalem, I’ll work it in between my day trips. I already mentioned my hostel roommate, Esther, who is from Israel and encouraged me to see as much of it as I could. Thanks to her and her help in planning, I decided on three day trips for each day I would be there, though I had to plan carefully around the Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, for there would be no bus service starting Friday night at sundown and ending Saturday night at sundown. I had a reservation in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, so that was silly of me to not plan more wisely, but luckily the buses would pick up and continue running after sundown. 

Masada

One of the most popular tourist attractions today in Israel, as well as a place of reverence for Jewish people to see in person is the ruins of the fortification atop Masada, a desert plateau. The top of Masada, after either climbing a steep path or taking a cable car up to the top, contains old ruins to poke around in as well as views for miles around, including the Dead Sea.  

View from Masada

Former palace

As the story goes, in times before Christ, Masada was built for the Jewish King Herod as a luxury palace. When the Romans invaded Israel and began the First Jewish-Roman war, there was a Jewish tribe that made their way up to the former palace and used it as a hiding place from the Romans. However, once the Romans discovered them, they built a vast ramp in order to more easily reach the top and capture the Jews. As the siege reached its final stages, the story is that the Romans reached the top, only to find that the entire population had committed a mass suicide, for they would rather have died than be captured by the Romans. To this day, the steadfast Jewish resolve to defend their holy land makes Masada a revered site and top of the list for travelers who make their way to Israel. If you're interested, you can read more about the Siege of Masada here. I believe there are even a few movies that depict the Siege. 

I had met a few people who were able to do the sunrise hike up Masada and recommended it. I decided to do the trip on my own (they had been with a group) and just take the local bus there. Unfortunately, the sun was already too hot mid-morning to allow the hike, so I had to pay for a cable car ride up, which felt like cheating. The sun was indeed excruciatingly hot, however, and made sure to have my sunscreen ready and plenty of water along. The ride up provided amazing desert views extending as far as the eye could see, with a glimmer of blue for the Dead Sea, and the country of Jordan extending beyond that.

View from the ground. 

There were plenty of ruins and diagrams to outline and explain the once glorious palace that had sat there thousands of years before. Although I didn’t have a guide, I did some careful eavesdropping on some of the other tours to learn a little bit more about what I was standing on – sophisticated plumbing, room design, etc. I noticed a group of young people, and realized they were a Birthright group, which is a Jewish organization that arranges for Jewish children (I believe they have to be at least 1 quarter Jewish) born outside of Israel to travel to the country and learn more about their heritage.

I spent plenty of time roaming around the ruins, looking at the views from all angles, before I decided I had had enough sun exposure and wanted to head back down. However, I had been determined to do the Masada hike, and to my delight I learned that even though I hadn’t been able to hike up, I was able to do the hike down the snake path. I was warned by the ticket collector guy that it would be too hot, but since it wasn’t closed off I figured I would give it a go.

Fun fact: I asked a woman to take a picture for me at the fortress, (who told me to ‘work it girl!) and if you look closely enough, you can see that I am in fact wearing two different sandals. I believe it was on the walk to the Old City that one of my flip flops snapped, yet the reason I had been wearing the flip flops is because I was having a difficult heel blister situation. I needed the flip flops for comfort because the sandals were so painful, so when one of the flip flops broke I decided to sacrifice fashion for a pain free journey and wear two different shoes, especially since the working flip flop was on the more painful foot. I doubt any of you would have noticed that if I hadn’t pointed it out, but I thought I would humor you all the same.

As it turned out, the trip down really wasn’t that bad, in spite of the weather and the shoe situation. There was a bit of a breeze and I was moving quickly enough to make the trip in good time. At one point about halfway down I looked back and discovered I was not the only one walking down the path – he was another tourist I had seen with his wife and baby on the tram ride on the way up. He caught up to me and we chatted the rest of the way down. I discovered that he and his wife were Jewish, lived in New York City, and were thinking about moving to Israel for a few years. He said that many Jewish people feel that Israel is their true home, but he and his wife just weren’t sure if they could make the move because of all the things they would have to give up. A life in the desert is certainly a contrast from a life in New York City.

We made it to the bottom and took a few pictures for posterity (which I will not be sharing with you because I was very sweaty), then he and his wife offered to give me a ride to Ein Gedi, the little beach town that I was aiming for after Masada to cool off in the Dead Sea. They gave me a few more Israel tips, as they had been there many times before, and then sent me on my way.

The Dead Sea

Not to be confused with the Red Sea, the Dead Sea is actually a saltwater lake bordered by the countries Jordan, Israel, and the West Bank. It has the lowest land elevation on earth and has nearly ten times the salt levels as the ocean. Although no living organisms can exist in the Dead Sea, it is still used today for healing purposes and the creation of natural products. In addition, it is sought after by tourists to soak and float in its high density water. Of course, this was on my list. The sea itself is beautiful, providing a striking contrast to the desert surrounding it. 

It was still extremely hot out, I was still dealing with my shoe situation, and I couldn’t leave my things for very long unattended, but my game plan was to make it as far down as I could, strip to my suit and slide in carefully with the one good shoe, and stay close to shore.

Safety first. 

The Dead Sea was one of the strangest experiences I’ve ever had, mostly because I’ve spent many hours of my life in the water. If I’m not floating, my legs go down to the bottom. This was swimming as I knew it. But in the Dead Sea, I was contradicted. My legs didn’t go down. If I tried to stand vertically, they just popped right back up. I could pretty much float and relax to my heart’s content without even thinking about it (like a personal floating chair) except it was over 100 degrees and that’s just not pleasant, no matter how easy the floating is. But it was still a fun time. 

My fellow floaters.

So instead I tried to defy the Sea once more and stand up, which proved too difficult, so I accepted my defeat and floated my way to the shore, stepping gingerly on the slippery rocks to reach my clothes and valuables. After this I made my way back to the shade in the little beach café, where I could wait for the bus back to Jerusalem. I had a little more time in the afternoon and evening for exploring the Old City, but I also had another excursion planned for the early morning, so it was an early night. However, this evening was when I learned that there was a new development in the tensions I had mentioned before: there had been a retaliation killing of an Arab boy, whose body had been discovered the day before, killed by three Jewish Israelis. It was sad to think that the places I was having such delight discovering and experiencing were still areas of deep conflict and tension below the surface.

Part 2 is coming up since this is already getting long: stay tuned!

Flashback Series: Jerusalem

Jerusalem: The Holiest of Holy Cities

July 2014

I’ve seen a lot of places in this world. I’ve been to five continents, walked through a variety of landscapes, experienced dozens of different cultures, but nothing prepared me for my experience in Jerusalem.

Like most of you from back home reading this, I was raised Christian, and went to church every Sunday, where my mother told me to read the Bible instead of sulking and not paying attention to the ‘boring sermon.’ (For some reason, I decided I would start from the beginning each time, and therefore have read the Book of Genesis so many times I had passages memorized.) Church was a mandatory Sunday and Wednesday evening event until I was confirmed, at which time my mother let me choose if I wanted to attend or not.

Unhappy at my years of compulsory attendance, I embraced my newfound freedom and stopped going to church as often. High school life got busy, I moved away for college. Church was not high on my priority list, as I believed I didn’t need to attend church to still believe in God and receive His support. However, though I still held these beliefs in my heart, my mom’s gift of freedom and my move away from home was exactly what I needed to begin returning to the church, because I began to go on my own. No one was making me, no one even knew I went, but I began to go again simply because I realized I missed singing the familiar songs and hearing the familiar stories. Church was so much a part of my childhood that I decided it was still a part of me, and I began to embrace it and actually enjoy it. It became more than just Bible stories and consternation sermons, and developed into a direct application of Christianity to my life.

Then I moved away from the United States. Living in other countries hasn’t been conducive to making me a regular churchgoer. However, I always found services for holidays and important events, and I’ll always be thankful to Pastor Steve and his wife Mary for welcoming me to the International Lutheran Church in Seoul, South Korea. I found churches in Costa Rica, South Africa, and Russia to complement my travels the following two years. But at the same time, I was also seeking challenges to my faith. I wanted to know about the alternative religions, in order to learn about what it really meant to be Western Christian. I visited Buddhist and Hindu temples throughout Asia, Eastern Orthodox churches in Russia, and Muslim mosques in Turkey. Judaism was the only one of the major world religions left to be discovered, and this I found in Israel. 

My experience in Israel, especially in Jerusalem, taught me that being Christian isn’t limited to going to church on Sunday, singing hymns of praise, and reading the Bible. I had no idea, as a little girl squirming through the sermon in church every Sunday, that I was actually a part of a wordwide network with roots which go back thousands of years, beginning with the Jewish faith. The people and stories that I had learned about in Sunday school were actually real, historical people with real contributions to a magnificent, glorious place which became a diamond in the rough among the sandy, desolate hills of the Middle East. I’m talking about the crossroads of the world and one of the most controversial cities in history: Jerusalem.

The Walls of the Old City of Jerusalem

The walled city of Old Jerusalem, rising like a fortress, didn’t seem like a very holy place at first glance. It actually seems a little chaotic, with cars, tourists, locals, nuns, Orthodox Jews, and Muslims all crossing paths and walking every which way. I had trekked my way

from the bus station down Jaffa Road, historically the road to the ancient port city of Jaffa, (now right next to modern Tel Aviv) so I was pretty hot, sticky, and smelly. But this was all forgotten once I saw the walls of Jerusalem. This was it.

The Old City

I entered the Jaffa Gate and, (I wish I could tell you that it was an immediate wave of awe and peace) was greeted with tourist shops, vendors, and tour guides trying to get you to pay them money. Go figure. As they saw me looking around and trying to figure my way around I could see them starting to swarm so I just took off walking, figuring I’ll find my way eventually. This led me down the slippery, ancient stone steps to a labyrinth of stone walls and narrow corridors that either led to a small number of open spaces, or into covered bazaar like street stalls, where more people tried to sell me things. Somehow I managed to find my way to my hostel, which was basically inside a dark, stone cave. I was led up the stone steps to my room, which also looked like a cave, but luckily had a fan. (If you’d like to see pictures of my cave dwellings, the hostel’s website has some good photos here.)  After five straight minutes of fan time, I finally gathered myself together and began to think about my next course of action.

As it turns out, the female only dorm was also occupied by Esther, an Israeli girl who worked at the hostel and stayed there for free. She was so kind to me, and helped me with directions, tips, and her best advice: “See as much of Israel as you can.” The rest of the afternoon was devoted to a grocery store trip to buy some provisions (had to go back outside of the walls), a trip back to the bus station to arrange for a day trip the next day, and some wandering around the old city – it closed down quickly after sunset, however, so there wasn’t much to see once I got back. I did discover that the cave hostel featured an incredible rooftop with views over the Old City, including the gold-topped mosque on the Dome of the Rock.

Rooftop Views

The Muslim Quarter during Ramadan

Ramadan lights.

I’m going to write about my day trips in Israel and Tel Aviv in the next post, so I’ll skip ahead to the rest of my time in Jerusalem. Basically I did three day trips in three days, then devoted my afternoons and evenings to exploring the Old City. It took a lot of navigation, but I eventually gained a mental map in my mind of all the twists and turns. The Old City is divided into four official Quarters: In a city already divided, the Old City is further divided culturally and historically into four Quarters: the Muslim Quarter, the Jewish Quarter, the Armenian Quarter, and the Christian Quarter. I was very aware when I would wander into the Muslim Quarter, because at the time they were celebrating Ramadan, which meant they would fast from sunrise to sunset, then have celebrations all night long. There were festive lights and flags strung up all along their quarter walls, which made for a beautiful atmosphere. They were also pretty aggressive (thus sometimes more effective) sellers, so I had to be careful not to give in while admiring their beautiful stalls of goods.

For Christians, the most sought after site in Jerusalem is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is said to be the site (since the 4^th century) where Jesus died on the cross and his tomb is now interred. Now, picture what you learned in Sunday school, of the quiet, green, open hill of Gogoltha, with mourners and followers weeping at his death. The quiet, peaceful rock tomb that Mary Magdalene, on a bright sunny day, opened and discovered that the body of Christ was gone. Do you have those images in your head?

Now picture a domed room lavishly decorated with shiny, granite like rock, gold adornments, smells of incense, a centrally located, roped off altar, crowded with people waiting in line and taking pictures of themselves with cameras and i-everythings. That’s what it looks like today. Big contrast from Sunday school. The photo will do it better justice than my explanation: 

The Holy Tomb

I didn't take any pictures inside, simply because I wanted to take it all in. I was admitted in line by the church officials, allowed in to the tomb, where there are candles, rosaries, and other offerings on the stone bench where Christ is said to have lain. Inside was a quiet contrast from the outer room, and I tried to gather a sense of holiness and spirituality as I had my alone time inside.Sharing the experience with the millions of other people who had made the same journey added to the moment, and I tried my best to absorb it fully. 

I ended up going back to this church three times during my time in Jerusalem because it was so fascinating. It's much larger than just that one room, with each part of the church belonging to different holy sects and branches of religion. There is so much to explain, so I'll let you explore Wikipedia if you'd like on our own here. Just know that it's an amazing place to explore, and I think one could spend years inside of it without fully learning everything there is to know. It was the highlight of my experience in the city, alongside my visit to the Western, or wailing, Wall. 

This site I think more people are familiar with, as a shared site of worship for both Jews and Muslims as the remaining wall of the Temple Mount and the presence of the prophet Mohammed, respectively. Unfortunately, I didn't do my research ahead of time, and visited the Wall on Friday evening, which was the start to Shabbat, the holy Jewish day of the week, which means there were no photos allowed. I took one from further away during a walking tour, so that will have to do! Although it certainly does not hold the same significance for Christians, just being present at the Wall among all of the worshippers was a sight to behold. Why is it called the Wailing Wall, you ask? Once again relying on Wikipedia to help explain: "According to Jewish Law, one is obligated to grieve and rend one's garment upon visiting the Western Wall and seeing the desolate site of the Temple." Today there is no rendering of garments, but there is still plenty of grief.

The last big monument, which I have plenty of pictures of, is the Dome of the Rock and the golden domed mosque. Because I was there during Ramadan I was not allowed to enter the mosque nor the platform, and I believe it was also closed to non-Palestinians due to some unrest happening in the country while I was there, which I'll talk about later. I was able to view it from a distance, however, which was spectacular enough, as you can see in the picture below, taken from the Mount of Olives, just outside the city walls. 

 On my final afternoon in Jerusalem, I took a walking tour given by a theology student at one of the local universities. To me, it's best to describe Jerusalem's history as an onion, with layers upon layers of different rulers, religions, and cultures, all slapped up on top of each other. One can cut to the center to reveal the ancient Roman roads, to three quarters of the way to see the Via Dolorosa, the

road upon which Jesus walked while being led to his crucifixion, cut just halfway to see the influence of the Ottoman Turks, or just see it on the surface of today's dusty walls and crossroads of cultures. No matter how you look at it, Jerusalem is a fascinating place and my three days barely scratched the surface. As always, I plan to and very much hope to return to this holy place, hopefully armed with more knowledge to keep up with all of the history.

Next, I'll tell you more about my travels through the country of Israel. Stay tuned!

Flashback Series: Short But Sweet: An Evening in Budapest.

Short but Sweet.
Budapest, June 2014

Budapest is actually a two part installment, as I flew both to and from Israel via Budapest. I planned my budget flights accordingly so that I would have ample layover time each way; therefore I basically got a two day trip out of the deal. It’s a world class city, and totally worth the sleep deprivation if you only have one night there. I’ll write about the first time I visited, as the second time, for reasons you will soon discover, turned out to be a very different experience.

Also in two parts is the city itself: Buda and Pest, divided by the Danube River. Fun fact: you can travel up and down the Danube from Amsterdam to Bucharest, Romania (with a stop in Budapest, of course) on river cruise boats, which means it’s a magnet for European travelers, yet not as well known as the cities in Western Europe. Though it should be.

Budapest quickly shot up to one of my top ten favorite cities list. It was beautiful, it had so much to walk around and look at, it had elevations to climb to, it had a rich history to learn about, it was cheap, the people were very friendly, and once again, it was stunningly beautiful. I only spent one full day and evening there en route to Israel, which was enough to get a taste of the city and put it on my ‘must come back’ list.

I arrived at the airport and took the local bus to the metro station, then the metro into the city center. My hostel was easy to find and filled with young people talking about the World Cup. I dropped off my things and headed out to explore with no objective in mind except to head to the river. The most famous monument (and largest building in the country) in Budapest is the Parliament Building, which began construction in 1896 the anniversary of Hungary’s 1000^th year as a country. The Hungarian people, or Magyars, began their roots from the steppes of Eastern Europe, and are believed to share ancestry with the ancient Hun people. Towards the end of the first millennium, the Maygars expanded west, fighting and conquering areas of modern day Italy, France, and Germany, until they were eventually pressed back into their present settlement. “Hungarian settlement in the area was approved by the Pope when their leaders accepted Christianity, and Stephen I the Saint (Szent István) was crowned King of Hungary in 1001.” (Wikipedia) Hungary remained an integral part of Western and Eastern European politics, acting as a border between the east and west, conquered by both the Mongols then the Turks, and eventually becoming a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which fell after the First World War. This was followed first by Nazi occupation and then Soviet occupation, where it became a communist country until 1989.

Today, Budapest is a very modern city, with a large shopping district, along with many cafes and restaurants sprinkles among beautiful monuments, churches, parks, and museums. The Hungarian monarchy no longer exists, but the medieval castle (which has mostly been rebuilt since the 12^th century) remains, looking over the beautiful Chain Bridge, one of the city’s many bridges crossing between Buda and Pest. I wish I could tell you I learned all of this history and information from immersing myself in the city and learning from its many museums, but I actually got most of that from Wikipedia, as I didn’t have any time to visit the city’s great museums while I was there. 

However, the places I just mentioned are all pressed in my memory from my sunset walk around the city, which I’ll share now. I’m just going to post some various pictures from my walk, which you’ll see progressing from afternoon to evening, as well as from one side of the river to the other, then back again, and in which you’ll see why I immediately fell in love with the place.

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Parliament Building

The Danube River

Opposite side of the Danube

Parliament Building

Buda side of Budapest

View from the Fisherman's Bastion

Pest from the Buda side of Budapest

Sunset. 

Chain Bridge at sunset, Buda Castle atop the hill

Chain Bridge

Parliament from the bridge

Looking at the Buda side.

Goodnight Budapest. 

After the many miles I put on my shoes and the many pictures I put on my camera that evening, I fell asleep quickly and woke up with anticipation for what was to come next: Israel. Stay tuned for the final three installments of the Flashback Series! 

Flashback Series: Eurotrip 2014

June 2014

After Scandinavia, including a bonus day in Copenhagen, I headed back to Germany to begin a week of driving around Europe in the company of a pregnant woman and a 1 year old.

Baby James, the star of the show.

For her third installment please allow me to re-introduce Chelsea, long time friend and former co-worker at Mankato’s very own Massad’s, where she met her husband Ben. They are currently living near Frankfurt, Germany, and being the adventurous spirits they are, with Baby James in tow, have taken Europe by storm in the past two years of living there,. No destination is too great for them, so I knew when Chelsea and I first discussed the possibility of me revisiting them in Germany so that we could travel more together, I was on board. Unfortunately, Ben couldn’t make the week-long trip, but he makes a cameo appearance at the end.

So, after so kindly picking me up at the airport about an hour away, Chelsea, James and I reunited once again after our last minute spree across Ireland in April. I swear, James will be just about my height by the next time I see him. We had a night at Chelsea’s home, (which was thankfully many, many degrees warmer than it had been in January) during which we finalized packing, loading the car, and planning.

Vienna, Austria

The next day was takeoff! We set off bright and early for our long, not very anticipated, and longest driving day of the trip: about nine hours across Germany and part of Austria to Vienna. The ride went by more quickly than we expected, as we used the time to catch up on our lives. We arrived in Vienna in the heat of an anti-American protest somewhere near the city center that we drove by – after looking it up we learned that Putin had just visited for the day, and the pro-Russian protesters decided to make a statement. We figured we should stay clear of that area.

Home of Beethoven, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Mozart and the Sacher Torte, Vienna is simply a beautiful, must-visit city. As the former capital of the Austro-Hungarian empire, it is a city with hundreds of years of history, and just as many cafes. We were amazed by all of the big, old, beautiful buildings that graced our presence everywhere we looked. We only had a few big things on our list to see, which made for a fairly relaxed trip through the city. 

The first full day we focused on The Schoenberg Palace, the former Hapsburg summer palace. It had beautiful and massive grounds that took hours to walk through. We got to see the rooms of Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife, as well as the palace grounds, which were more appreciated by Baby James, as he could run around and be wild as opposed to on an audioguide tour inside the palace. 

St. Stephen's Cathedral

Cathedral interior

Walking through the central downtown, it was easy to spot St. Stephen's Cathedral, which was so large it was hard to get a photo of it. We were able to enter and walk around it, and got a little creeped out by all of the catacombs. 

Unfortunately, most of the rest of our time in Vienna was rained out - we managed to see quite a bit in a short time. To me, the word to describe Vienna is 'grand.' Everything is big, ornate, decorated, polished, imposing, and impressive, which is exactly what the Hapsburg Dynasty needed to represent them. Today, it's a modern city but still retains some of those regal impressions. I hope to return someday and give it more time to learn about it properly. But as always, it was time to move on. 

Beautiful Vienna

Salzburg, Austria

The Hills Are Alive. Can you hear them? Wait, do you hear an echo of the Sound of Music soundtrack too? No, it’s just me, and the echoes of those songs will be there every time I think of Salzburg.

Oh yes. It happened. 

Yes people, it’s true. I am now one of the many happy tourists who has participated in the beloved ‘Sound of Music tour’ in Salzburg, Austria. There was singing. There was movie viewing. There were old ladies with matching pantsuits. There were camera toting fanatics. And they were all to be embraced in unity for their love of the Von Trapp family and their band of belters. Myself, Chelsea, and Baby James (though he doesn’t know it yet) included. Why else would we go to Salzberg?

Downtown Salzburg

"I'll meet you in front of the pickles." 

Salzburg fountain

Just kidding. Salzberg was incredible, and the SOM tour only added to its delightfulness. We pronounced it as an “adorable city,” and spent most of our time in the historical city center, home to many tourist shops, beautiful restaurants and cafes, and lovely cobblestoned streets. Our tour was the day after we arrived, so the first day was just walking around in the sunshine, enjoying the views, looking in the shops (where James tried to grab everything from his stroller), and taking pictures. The city really is alive with music (no pun intended), as it is the birthplace of both Amadeus Mozart and Johann Haydn and has dozens of beautiful church concerts. After wandering for an appropriate amount of time, we decided to eat Indian food, just for a change, which ended up being a perfect decision. Sometimes it's important to go against the grain and do what you feel like doing, even if isn't other people's ideas of 'proper traveling.' We did it and we loved it. 

"The Gazebo"

Our highlight tour, which commenced the next day, drove us out of Salzburg proper and out toward the little town of Mondsee, Austria, where the wedding ceremony was filmed. On the way, we made some scenic stops, and our guide told us a little about the history of the film. We made a stop at Schloss (castle) Leopoldskron (pictured) to see where the lake scenes and the outdoor scenes at the Von Trapp house were filmed, plus we saw the gazebo, which was moved there after filming. Apparently they used to let people inside but they no longer do after a woman got hurt jumping from bench to bench. 

Schloss Leopoldskrom estate and lake. 

Recognize this?

After our stops, the bus headed back to Salzburg, where we stopped and got down at the Mirabell Palace and Gardens, where many of the 'around town' scenes were filmed. If you recall the song 'Do-Re-Mi', you'll recognize the pictures. The tour ended there but we had as much time as we wanted to wander, so we took way too many photos and enjoyed the beautiful day. It was fun to be with a fellow Sound of Music lover, and we're hoping we indoctrinated James subliminally, even though he fell asleep through half of it and tried to steal my camera on the bus. We'll give him time. 

Mirabell Palace and Gardens with the city in the background. 

Hey James. Give me back my camera.

Innsbruck, Austria

The next day was our last in Austria - we had a room booked in Switzerland that evening, so we packed up and headed out. We took advantage of the route, however and made a few stops along the way. The first was Innsbruck, Austria, just an hour or two away from Salzburg, where Chelsea and Ben (and James) had visited before in the winter - a beautiful little town popular for skiing, with pretty mountain views and a nice preserved downtown that we spent some time wandering around in. It was fun to see a smaller town compared to what we had just seen, and it was so beautiful to see the mountains in the background. 

Innsbruck, Austria

 Leichtenstein

Scenic driving views of the Alps

The next stop on the drive was Liechtenstein. Is that really a place, you ask, as you scratch your heads to recall your European geography? If you suffer from eye problems, you may not realize that this is actually a bona fide country on the map. So get your magnifying glass and your map (more like your Google maps app) out and scour the boundary area between western Austria and eastern Switzerland. Do you see it? That tiny country whose name is bigger than its borders? I went there. And it was lovely.

Liechtenstein Castle

Proof we have been there!

Life in Liechtenstein

Admittedly, we only spent a few hours in Leichtenstein, as a stop through from Austria to Switzerland, but we can now say we have been there, as Baby James can prove. I believe it was a Sunday when we were there, which meant many things were closed down and we couldn't do much in Liechtenstein, but we enjoyed the novelty of being there. The little tablecloth I that I bought in Liechtenstein makes for a nice display - my living room wouldn't be the same without it! 

My best and only picture of Switzerland - on the road stop!

 Zurich

Switzerland, in a word, is stunning. Everywhere you look you see beauty. Unfortunately, we were a little too far north to see the Alps, so we only caught a small glimpse of this beauty. When we arrived in Zurich, it ended up being more of an industrial town than the scenic mountain city we had envisioned. Shame on us for not doing our homework more carefully. In addition, it was raining and cloudy and we were at the end of our trip, so instead of staying the extra time we had planned, we decided to quit while we were ahead, and head home. No pictures from Zurich! 

Home, Sweet Home

We returned home to Kaiserslautern by late afternoon on Monday, June 30^th. This happened to be my birthday, and with Chelsea’s coming up on July 2^nd, we had decided to make this night our double birthday celebration, complete with a menu and task delegations, months in advance.

What was on the menu, you might ask? I’ll give you some hints. Ben and Chelsea served these at their wedding reception, they are the source of fine dining at the Mankato River Hills Mall, they require many post-consumption peppermints or sticks of chewing gum due to their garlic content, and they are the reason Ben, Chelsea, and I met in the first place.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we were treated to…a recreation of Massad’s schawarmas. Who better to make these for us than Ben? Nobody, except perhaps John Massad himself. After years of dedicated service to Mankato’s outstanding little Lebanese restaurant known throughout southwestern Minnesota and probably even northern Iowa (you’re welcome, Iowa), we all paid a tribute to our former employer and our beloved little hometown with a schawarma birthday celebration. These days, Massad’s schawarma sauce is so famous (my poor grandmother never managed to get the secret recipe she so desired and thought she had in the bag once I started working there) that is a marketed product on the shelves of local grocery stores. They had secured a jar of this sauce during their recent trip back home, and saved it for this momentous occasion. My friend Jen from Russia even came down to join the party, as she was staying with her parents in Germany not too far away!

Birthday celebrations!

After schawarmas, birthday cake, and some games, the trip was complete. I’d seen Ben, Chelsea, and Baby three times in the past six months, and each trip provided wonderful and lifelong memories. I wish them the best of luck with the new addition to their family (updated: they welcomed Baby William to the world in December 2014) and the remainder of their time in Germany. Ben and Chelsea, (and James) thank you so much for your warmth, generosity, and friendship. I only hope I can return the hosting favor sometime in the future.