My First Trip to Western Europe: Germany-Czech-Austria
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Although I titled the post “my first trip to western Europe,” this was more like my first time in Europe as a whole. I went to Bulgaria once for a math competition in 2013, but I didn’t get to travel that much, so it sort of didn’t count. This time I only went with my mom and dad because my brother was busy with school work. It was very overwhelming when we were choosing where to go in Europe since all of the programs looked good! Anyway, we ended up going to the one that went to one of the places that we wanted to go to the most, Hallstatt, a peaceful and gorgeous tiny village in Austria.
Germany
There were three countries that we went to: Germany, Czech, and Austria. We landed and left off in Germany, so I want to talk about this country first. Although we didn’t get to travel much in Germany due to the interest of time, we did go to some famous towns in Frankfurt, namely, Romerberg, Bamberg, and Nuremberg. Bamberg (the bottom left pic) is the old town (more precisely, the town that was renovated to look old), while Nuremberg does look pretty naturally old (top right). In Frankfurt, we all went to the train station that is a model for our Thai national train station (Hau Lam Phong). Lastly, the one on the bottom right is Romerberg or the Romer square. We could see a lot of couple locks hanging, just like the Seoul Tower in South Korea.
Another important and magical spot we went to was the Neuschwanstein castle! The castle is the model for the original Disney princess castle. It was incredible even we looked at it from afar. We rode a horse carriage to the top and walk for a little bit to the castle. The inside of the castle was also pretty, but one side of them was under construction, so it wasn’t as completely satisfactory. However, I heard that not many people could see the castle when it wasn’t under construction. The place itself is very old and needs to be fixed all the time. No need to be salty!
Czech
That was pretty much it for Germany. I wish we could go to other towns in the future. Now, let me bring you all to Czech, which is quite underrated, in my opinion. Although Czech does not sound as familiar as Germany to Thai people, several places in Czech impressed us. The first town that we went to was Karlovy vary, a famous spa town! Its hot springs are full of minerals, and some of the springs are for drinking! We did taste the skeptically drinkable spring for a bit, and it was a little salty and didn’t taste clean at all. Anyway, that might be how it was supposed to be. The town was overall charming, and we also bought a cute tiny kettle that is not useful.
One of the good things about going on a trip with a tour guide was trying many kinds of European cuisines. When we were in Germany, we had German sausage, while, in Czech, we got to try Bohemian-style roasted duck! The taste of both dishes was not the best, but at least we could say that we had tried them before. We went to downtown Prague for a bit as well. Charles bridge was where we spent most of the time because it was so pretty and we could see many important places from the bridge. I wish we could have more time to explore Prague, but we were quite in a rush to get to Cesky Krumlov in the afternoon.
We arrived at Cesky Krumlov in the afternoon as expected. The town’s signature was every house in the city has an orange roof which you could observe from the tower. The view was amazing, and the atmosphere was charming. We wander around for hours, going from shops to shops and buying many postcards, magnets, and other cute souvenirs.
Austria
The last country that we went to was Austria. We started from downtown Vienna, and I could tell right away that my mom was in love with the city. All the architecture and sculptures in Vienna were so perfect. We went to Hofburg Castle and enjoyed the history of this country (although we don’t remember any of them now). Several street performers acted like sculptures standing/sitting still along the street. We also got some ice cream while we were downtown. My mom’s motto was that when in Europe, get as much gelato as you want. We don’t care about calories intake while we travel!
Finally, we got to the place that we had longed to go, Hallstatt. The site had become popular through some TV shows, and, all of a sudden, tourists worldwide dream about going to this place. It was breathtaking but also quite touristy. I couldn’t imagine what the site would be like without all the tourists. Still, the beauty of the town was so unreal. We spotted lots of swans in the crystal clear lake: Hallstatt was such a dreamy place!
From July 1st to 6th, we embarked on a trip from Sacramento, driving over 2600 miles to explore five incredible National Parks across Nevada, California, and Oregon. Our adventure took us from the ancient bristlecone pines of Great Basin and the volcanic landscapes of Lassen to the brilliant blue waters of Crater Lake and the towering giants of the Redwoods. Along the way, we balanced raw wilderness hikes with unforgettable stops for local donuts in Portland, a coastal drive down the Pacific shoreline, and a wine tasting at a Tuscan castle in Napa Valley.
The Canadian Rockies had never truly been on our radar, not for lack of awareness, but simply because we never imagined we’d have the opportunity to visit Canada. That changed entirely when I was invited to the prestigious Women in Numbers workshop at the Banff International Research Station. Seizing the moment, we decided to turn this milestone trip into a grand adventure, arriving a few days early to explore not just Banff, but a stunning circuit of five neighboring national parks, including, Jasper, Yoho, Glacier, Mount Revelstoke, and Kootenay.
One of the most popular National Park routes that Poy and I hadn’t tackled yet was the Utah ‘Mighty Five.’ We’d heard nothing but non-stop hype from friends, and after checking off several harder-to-reach destinations, we decided it was finally time to go for it! We initially tried to squeeze in Great Basin National Park in Nevada, but a car shortage at the Las Vegas airport left us with an electric vehicle. As it turns out, there are no non-Tesla charging stations near Great Basin (aside from one incredibly slow charger), so we pivoted. We ended up focusing solely on the five Utah gems, which actually made for a much more relaxing, less rushed experience.
There are not many national parks that are ideal to visit in winter, except for those in the desert. For this Christmas trip, we chose three desert national parks, namely, Petrified Forest, Saguaro, and Joshua Tree. In addition to these, we also stopped by some of the most iconic landmarks in Arizona’s desert landscape, including Horseshoe Bend and Monument Valley. It was a dry, sandy, and breathtaking Christmas. One that turned out to be truly memorable for both of us.