Final Song

     In less than an hour, I'll be hopping on my last plane departing from Copenhagen Airport for the journey that will eventually land me in Milwaukee. As I sit at my gate, staring at the grey skies and classic Danish drizzle, sipping a Tuborg Guld beer, it seems all I can do is reflect a little on my past six months in this crazy, beautiful place called Denmark. I apologize in advance, as this post will be far more stoic and stream-of-consciousness than my typical style, but I think it's the only honest way to put what I'm feeling into words.
     Leaving sucks. It is incredibly difficult to strive towards building a life in a totally new place with totally new people only to have that ripped away six months later; it is emotionally exhausting in a way that few other experiences are. Copenhagen has proven to be an incredibly livable city, and I will be surprised if I don't spend another chunk of my life here in the coming decades; this makes leaving all the harder. I probably look like an idiot contorting my face as I type on my laptop in an effort to maintain some composure and hold back my tears. These past few weeks, as the number of international students and friends has shrunk to single digits, I have had the opportunity to bike around and re-discover Copenhagen in a way that allowed me to re-live many of the best experiences that I had earlier in the semester; this makes leaving all the harder. From parks, to bars, to campus, to shops, to streets, to squares, to buildings, to neighborhoods, I have countless memories that will stay with me for many, many years, but for now they do very little but bring a pang of the bittersweet feeling of leaving somewhere I love.
     Saying goodbye sucks. Some students began leaving as early as May. At first we held reunion dinners and bar meet-ups to say goodbye. We would hug and laugh and cry together as we lost friends one by one. As of yesterday, when I was grabbing my last pints at Studenterhuset, I was surrounded by nearly all of my friends still in Denmark and we totaled six (seven if you include Jakob the bar manager who sat with us for a while). Saying goodbye to a friend, sometimes people who are as close to you as your siblings, every few days for two months is emotionally exhausting. By the time I was hugging some of my best friends goodbye this past weekend, I couldn't even cry about it anymore as it was so normal. This isn't all bad, building up a bit of a thick skin has actually made the goodbyes more fluid and casual, which is my style anyway. But 25 plus goodbyes takes its toll, and has both prepared me for my own goodbye as well as leaving me with such little emotional capital that that goodbye can ring hollow. That's how goodbyes work, though, and I have found a way to accept that even if I don't like it.
     Packing your life into a suitcase sucks. I have had to leave behind a number of clothing items, trinkets, souvenirs of sorts (such as tickets and pamphlets), and even just foodstuffs. Relating back to building a life and then ditching it, a part of who you are, who you identify as, is reflected in the things you fill your room with. Abandoning some of those things feels like a certain betrayal to a part of yourself that you found in a new place. I knew this is how it works; I've done it thrice before, if you count packing prior to exchange as well. That doesn't make the experience and better or easier, though. I don't even keep that much stuff! I tend to live rather minimally, with only a few pairs of pants, the shirts I wear most, and a couple jackets for different temperatures. But the things you accrue from travels and simple daily life can build up rapidly and without warning, leaving you with items representing memories you wish never to forgot. Packing that up and dragging it halfway around the world would be emotionally exhausting if I weren't already emotionally exhausted.
     Everything is bittersweet. The 'don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened' adage is, quite frankly, bullshit. We can feel one, the other, or both emotions at the same time, and that's perfectly fine. Reflecting upon my time here during these past few weeks has brought back so many happy memories that I can help but smile, and even laugh out loud, at the times I had with some of the best people on Earth. I have had so many moments experiencing beautiful places with beautiful people and I know how fortunate I have been to have had those experiences, making me feel all the happier. At the same time, I know I won't be seeing the vast majority of these people for years; some I may never meet again. The knowledge that these memories are all that I will have for the time being is a difficult idea to actually come to terms with. Intellectually I can understand how that is, what it means, and the likelihood of seeing various people again, but emotionally it feels like my best friends--my new family--are impossibly far away and it will take a miracle for our paths to cross. This feeling of helplessness would be emotionally exhausting if I weren't already emotionally exhausted.
     Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. This adage I can get behind. Our lives are full of chapters that criss-cross over each other, but many chapters can only begin after another has ended: starting university after graduating high school, leaving friends and family to meet new friends and do new things abroad, return to those old friends after parting the new ones you have made. We can't do and experience everything at once, that simply isn't how the world works and it isn't how life works. Accepting this is something that people struggle with their entire lives, if that weren't so then the death of a loved one would be just another day, but this struggle allows for introspection and self-evaluation that is absolutely critical for growth and learning. This struggle is also emotionally exhausting, and it would be for me now, too, if I weren't already emotionally exhausted.
     Every experience can be a learning experience, and everything learned can be applied to a future experience. Pastries are great. Denmark produces some of the finest pastries to have ever graced our planet. When I return home, you can bet that I'll be grabbing a kringle, or a kanal snegl (Danish cinnamon rolls), or a jelly doughnut, or whatever else is available much more frequently than I ever did before. This isn't life-changing in and of itself; pastries aren't going to create world peace or solve poverty, but the notion of enjoying simple pleasures and spending a little money on a temporary, but pleasurable, experience is something that can be life-changing. Denmark has taught me that parks are great, families are great, history is great, architecture is great, wandering is great, getting lost is great, meeting people for one night is great, running across somewhere you never expected to see again is great; there are so many things in this world that are great that we allow to slip by us every single day. If you're reading this at work, at the library, studying, doing some kind of work, stand up and go take a walk in your nearest park. Seriously, go ahead, I'll wait... Are you back? Good. Wasn't that lovely? Wasn't that time well spent, even though it was time doing "nothing"? Oh ya, doing "nothing" is great too. These are the things that are emotionally invigorating, if that's the perfect antonym of exhausting. It is these things that will bring me peace and clarity in the coming weeks and months and revive me from my state of emotional exhaustion.
     The only constant is change. If it's any indication, the sun is shining brightly and the clouds outside look lovely, despite the grey and rain not more than an hour ago. Time is something that, unless you can travel at near-light-speeds, no one can alter. Sure, Einstein explained that relativity is the difference in perceiving time when you're "with a pretty girl" and you "put your hand on a hot stove", but time itself cannot be slowed when we wish to live in a moment forever, nor can it be sped up when we wish to get past an experience as soon as possible. Sometimes that time isn't enough; sometimes there will be too many places and people to see and too much work and learning to do. Other times time will exist for far too long; sometimes there will be too many bad meetings and boring conversations that must be had and too much pain and sorrow to endure. We don't get to decide the rate of time, though, so we must work with it as best as possible. Furthermore, time only moves forward. This is obvious, I hope, but it is critical to how we live our lives and enjoy experiences. If we could return to any point in our lives at any time, why would we ever need to live in the moment? Why would we ever shed a tear or laugh until we can't breath, knowing that we can relive that same experience and infinite number of times? Even the dreaded "YOLO" would be a pointless sentiment. So instead we must live in the moment, we must cry when we are sad, and we must laugh when we are happy, because only at that time and in that moment can we truly experience every sound, smell, taste, emotion, and thought. Only this way can we form memories that are so strong and so important that we can get close to travelling back in time and reliving those moments. Through these experiences can our soul be rejuvenated and we can become emotionally invigorated.
     My plane is boarding and the line is growing long, much like this post, so I think I'll wrap things up here. I wish I could write more about the positives, but right now that's not what's on my mind. Soon I'll write a post about my months after class during the most beautiful month of weather Denmark has ever experienced. Goodbye Copenhagen, thank you for everything. Goodbye all of my friends, you are the ones who really made my experience worthwhile. Goodbye Danish lifestyle, I will miss the nuances of Scandinavian life. Hello again America, my old friend, let's see how we can get along now after my six months away.

Old Cities, New Adventures

     Before coming to Europe, I decided that the one trip I was absolutely going to take was a visit to Budapest, Hungary and Prague, Czech Republic. Over these past two weeks I not only made this journey, but I topped it by adding a jaunt over to Istanbul, Turkey for good measure. Needless to say, the whole trip was a whirlwind of amazing sights, beautiful architecture, fascinating history, friendly people, good food, and better beer all alongside some great friends. I can't possibly write about all of my experiences from the 13 days I was on the road, so I'm going to go full Buzzfeed on you and condense this trip down to a top 15 list. It was going to be a top ten list but I have too much to show, sorry.

15. Hungarian Parliament, Budapest

If this parliament building reminds of another, you have good reason to. The architect, Imre Steindl, was an honorary and corresponding member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and apparently just loved Westminster. So much so that he nearly copied the layout when submitting plans to the Hungarian government. The key differences are the more embellished facade (although both buildings are in the Gothic revival style), the lack of towers and Big Ben, and the inclusion of a large dome smack dab in the middle. This dome is 96 meters tall, the same height as the nearby Saint Stephen's Basilica, which symbolizes the equality of the Church and the state as well as commemorating the founding of the Principality of Hungary in 896. Only about half of the building is actually used by the government as many offices have been relocated and the parliament eliminated its upper house leaving just one legislative body with two halls in the building.

View of the building from a bridge to the north

Closer up at night

Parliament on the river from Castle District of Buda

14. Žižkov Tower, Prague

Prague has a beautiful skyline, so long as you′re looking west. If you look out across the city towards the east, your eyes will be drawn to this painful eyesore like a dog to a ball. It towers (get it?) above everything around it by a significant amount and is still standing despite not being an active TV tower for over two decades. To make this unsightly, grounded space pin better, it was decided to attach creepy faceless baby statues crawling up and down this thing. Seriously? Apparently it was a temporary exhibit by artist David Černý in 2000, but people liked them so much that they have become a permanent feature. Prague does many things right, this is not one of them.

Eyesore of Prague's skyline

What are those strange protrusions running up and down the tower?

Dear god, babies? How could anyone like this?!

13. "Socialist Realist" Architecture, Budapest

Now this is in fact a real architectural style, but I put quotes around it because it's really just a nice way of phrasing "cheap and utilitarian". You see, the Soviet Union wasn't exactly loaded with cash, especially not after World War II when Hungary was politely forced to join. Add to that the Soviets' love of the common (seriously, two of the four guidelines for art under Stalin were that depictions be "typical" and "realistic"), and you get socialist realism. After the Red Army liberated Hungary from Nazi occupation, the Soviet Union began reconstruction of war torn areas, particularly Budapest. Lacking in money and creativity, most of the buildings turned out looking like prisons, Orwellian offices, or just plain concrete blocks. Our tour guide even told us that Hungarians joke about the contrast of the gorgeous Austrian-style facades and the boring socialist realist ones, often standing side-by-side, by referring to them as "beauty and the beast".

Communism on the left, Austro-Hungarian Empire on the right, Orthodox Church in the center: this is Budapest

It's almost insulting to have such an incredible Austrian facade standing beside whatever that thing is

12. U Medvídků, Prague

Established in 1466, this is one of the oldest continuously running breweries in all of the Czech Republic. Originally it was just a brewery, but has since had a large part of it converted to a beer hall and restaurant, serving up Czech cuisine and other favorites. One of their specialties is the X33 beer which is 12.6% ABV and meant to be drunk after your meal. Sadly they were out the time we went and we were unable to give it a try, but we still had some delicious food. I particularly liked my mashed potatoes, which may very well have been the best mashed potatoes I′ve ever had in my life, in no small part to what I can only assume was half a stick of butter. I didn't actually take any pictures here, but you can take a peek at their website here: link.


11. David the Tour Guide, Prague

In both Budapest and Prague we spent a chunk of our first full days in each city on free walking tours. These gave us a lay of the land, historical information, views of most of the key attractions in each city, and a lot of personal recommendations for local guides. I have never had a tour guide anywhere and for anything like David. He loves his city so much and he wants everyone else to love it too. Tours are his main job and he said he hopes one day to be the best guide in the city. This guy was so full of history, restaurant recommendations, jokes, and energy that we actually went on a second, different tour with him the next day! Can′t thank him enough for the great start he gave us and I would recommend Prague Extravaganza tours to anyone visiting.

Official tour picture, unfortunately the only picture of David I have

10. Petřín Park, Prague

This lovely hill lying just west of the Vltava river is an excellent lookout point for views of the skyline as well as just a nice place to walk around. The trees were blossoming while we were there which made the park even better. At the top there is a miniature Eiffel Tour that has a nice observation deck, a small mirror maze, and the Hunger Wall which was a pointless project by Charles IV meant to employ and provide wages for Prague′s citizens facing high unemployment. While at the top, we followed the sound of music only to find a temporary stage and a whole row of food vendors at what we assumed was for some concert that night. Off to the side was the real highlight of the event, though, as there was some kind of strongman−like challenge with young men carrying two huge computer towers while being timed. It was a bizarre feat to see and really made Petřín that much better.

View of the hill from across the river

Eiffel-esque observation tower

View of Prague from about a third of the way up the hill

Fun in the mirror maze

9. Chimney Pastries, Budapest and Prague

These delicious, delicious pastries should be everywhere. They are the kind of thing I would expect to see at the next state fair. They are made by wrapping dough around a large metal cylinder that is then placed over hot coals on a contraption that rotates them like a rotisserie chicken until delightfully crisp on the outside at which point they get smothered in sugar and walnuts. You can also get the inside coated in Nutella or served upright in a cup and filled with ice cream. You need to get one of these as soon as possible, I promise.

Stumbled across this stand in Budapest by accident at a fair at the former palace

8. Istiklal Avenue, Istanbul

This long and wide pedestrian street runs between Galata Tower and Taksim Square and is lined with all sorts of stores, restaurants, and bars. We ate some delicious, albeit gut rotting, kebab here on our first day, the next day we relaxed with some Turkish coffee and shisha, and on yet another night we bought Turkish delight and hung out in Taksim. Every night the street was packed and shops never seemed to close. There are also a lot of street performers all along the avenue, some of whom just seemed to be friends enjoying playing music together rather than working for money. Istiklal is definitely my favorite night stroll in Istanbul.

Average crowd along Istiklal

Statue in Taksim Square that we never really figured out, the wreaths are there because our first day there actually turned out to be National Sovereignty Day

One of the delicious kebabs eaten just off Istiklal

7. Szechenyi Thermal Bathhouse, Budapest

No trip to Budapest is complete without taking a dip in one of its many bathhouses. The vast majority of them lie in Buda due to the abundance of thermal springs there, but we chose a larger, older one in Pest that was also closer to us (side note: Budapest was formerly two cities on either side of the Danube, Buda and Pest, which were united giving us the present-day city). There are 13 pools inside ranging from 82 degrees to 104 degrees as well as an immersion pool that is 64 degrees. In the central courtyard there are two more pools and a full 50 meter swimming pool. There were also a couple of properly hot saunas in the basement that even Finns would enjoy. It seems that the only young people using the baths are tourists; the majority of patrons are old Hungarian folks, but I guess that adds some kind of charm.

Front entrance, note the statue of a baby riding a huge fish at center bottom

One of two outdoor pools

Shot of the whole courtyard, I didn't take my phone with me into the baths area so I have none of the inside :(

6. The Grand Bazaar outside of the Grand Bazaar, Istanbul

In the heart of the historical districts of Istanbul is the Grand Bazaar, a giant market full of all kinds of stalls selling all different things. Unfortunately it has grown pretty tourist laden and very few locals actually go there to buy much of anything. That seems to be because they don′t need to go to a single bazaar for any shopping since the vast majority of streets seem to have vendors of one kind or another. We joked that all of Istanbul is actually a bazaar, but that isn′t actually that much of a joke. Some areas will have conventional shops with window displays, but most have narrow pedestrian streets with shops/stalls lining both sides that are displaying their wares on displays in front of the shop itself.

Just a standard side street

Same neighborhood, different street

Those bags are full of loose tobacco and that white bag in front is full of packages of filters, basically a head shop that's actually for tobacco use only

5. Shoes on the Danube Bank, Budapest

There are a number of Holocaust memorials in Budapest, but this was by far the most fascinating and chilling of them. Hungary was initially an ally of Nazi Germany but played little role in the war and was not very compliant with orders to deport Jews to Austria and Poland. After Hitler heard rumors that the Hungarian prime minister was looking to sign and armistice with the Allies, he immediately ordered the implementation of a standing occupation plan. By October 1944, the fascist Arrow Cross party was in control of the government and established a Gestapo-style party police force. This force was then responsible for around 80,000 Jews being deported to Nazi death camps as well as the murder of between 10,000 and 15,000 Jews in Hungary itself. Numerous times Jews in Budapest were rounded up, taken to the bank of the Danube, ordered to remove their shoes, then shot in the back such that they would fall into the river and be carried away. This memorial was designed to commemorate these victims by depicting just the empty shoes they left behind.

4. Ruin Pubs, Budapest

About ten years ago, some businessmen got the crazy idea to buy decrepit, abandoned buildings in the city center, renovate nothing, get some contemporary artists to recreate a 70s vibe, build a bar, and start serving drinks. Ruin pubs are about as Hungarian as it gets and they are truly a site to see. One of the most popular is Szimpla, and it is a great place both day and night. In fact, on Sundays they clear out the ground floor and have a farmers' market! With awesome decor, cheap beers, good music, and a lot of people, these pubs help form fun and unique nightlife unlike any other city I've seen.

Just a guy with three large dogs at the bar

Sunday morning farmers' market at Szimpla

Lounging in a bathtub because it's cooler than the benches

3. Matthias Church, Budapest

This cool ditty was first built in a much different, Romanesque style in the early 11th century. In 1241 some Mongols came and knocked it down, though, so the current structure was built in the latter half of that century. At this point the church was named after Saint Mary, but this was changed in honor of King Matthias (not Saint Matthias, namesake of many other churches) who ordered construction of the present tower. As can clearly be seen, the tiles of the roof are all kinds of crazy colors, which is perhaps the leading reason this particular church made it on my list. But what you can't tell from pictures is how incredibly fairy tale-esque the church looks from across the river. With the bright white walls and turrets in the foreground, the even brighter ceiling tiles catching sunlight, and the rolling green hills in the background, Matthias has it all.

Front of the majestic Matthias Church

Statue of Stephen I, the first king of unified Hungary, in a courtyard behind the church and before the walls facing the Danube

Closer view of the church's roof

View of the walls before the church from down below

2. Büyükada, Istanbul

The largest of the nine Prince Islands, Büyükada is a popular place for locals to get out of the city for a day. There is a small town on the north side of the island while the rest is mostly a park. At the top of one of the two peaks on the island is an old Greek orphanage that has long been abandoned and is fenced off to prevent visitors from venturing inside and causing it to collapse. On the other peak is the Ayia Yorgi church and monastery from the 6th century that seemed to have been a pilgrimage site for some. The island was beautiful and a nice retreat from nearly two straight weeks of cities.

View of the island and another smaller one in front of it from the ferry

Decaying ruins of the orphanage

This guy and another mutt accompanied us for a bit of our hike across the middle of the island

View from the island with the monastery on the far left

1. Infinitely beautiful mosques, Istanbul

I could list every mosque we visited and saw, but that would require every spot on this list. Everyone knows about the Hagia Sophia, or the Ayasofya as it is now known. Once an orthodox Christian church under Byzantine rule, the Ottomans converted the building to a mosque rather than destroy it. This offers a unique blending of architectural features, histories, and artwork. The Ayasofya is no longer a functional mosque and is instead a state−owned museum. Not more than three hundred yards away is the Blue Mosque, known to Turks as Sultanahmet, which is even larger and more beautiful. Sultan Ahmed was only 19 when he commissioned the mosque to be built in the early 17th century and not only did he overseer progress directly, he actually took part in some of the manual labor. The Süleymaniye Mosque is the largest active mosque in the city and sits atop one of Istanbul′s seven hills, providing an awesome view of the city. The interior of this one is my favorite as the painting was so intricate and vivid and really played off of the domed roof. Rüstem Pasha Mosque is less impressive from the outside, but its interior is covered entirely in blue and white iznik tiles that are simply amazing. I′m not fully sure why this mosque isn′t referred to as the blue mosque as it is significantly more blue than Sultanahmet. All of the mosques we visited were beautiful and unique and we spent quite a bit of time in each. It was truly amazing to actually stand before some of the places that you always read about being so wonderful and being able to realize just how true that is.

Ayasofya from Sultanahmet Park

Interior of Ayasofya from the back balcony

Since the Ayasofya was originally an Orthodox Christian church, the Hagia Sophia, several Byzantine mosaics remain that depict Jesus with Mary and both are indicated as saints

Sultanahment mosque from Sultanahment park

A distorted but mostly complete panorama of the ceilings

Closer picture of the dome, my favorite feature

Exterior of Süleymaniye Mosque, Sultan Süleyman is buried in the mausoleum on the left while between that structure and the mosque lies a graveyard

Space above the main entrance and the ceiling above that

Central dome of Süleymaniye, I particularly like the red and black circle in the four corners with Arabic calligraphy

The mihrab (indented portion of the wall facing Mecca) of the Rüstem Pasha Mosque entirely decorated in iznik tiles

Rear of Rüstem Pasha with more tiles and paint work

     So there you are, the best parts of some of the best cities I have been fortunate enough to find myself in. I would highly recommend people check these cities out for their next vacation; you can go to London another time. There is so much Eastern Europe has to offer that often goes overlooked, so don′t overlook it!
     At this point it is good to be back in Copenhagen, though, and I don′t plan to do much more travelling outside of country until I′m done with classes at the end of May. Two weeks of intense travel is, well, intense, so I′ll be hanging around home for a while and hoping that the weather finally begins to resemble the mythical season of spring.

The Geisslers Take on Europe

     A nice, 8:15am flight on a Friday. No luggage to check, no lines yet for security, and a proper terminal because it's not RyanAir; my Spring Break was looking to be good. After a few hours of waiting in the luggage claim at Amsterdam Airport Schipol, my parents finally made it through customs and joined me to fetch their bags.
     We had a few slip ups just trying to get to the hotel after being given incorrect platform information and got on the wrong train initially, but we still had plenty of time to simply wander a bit.  We were staying at a hotel a south of the city center in a relatively quite area of Amsterdam near RAI conference center, which is where my dad would have his conference the following Tuesday that was the source of this trip even existing. As a result, we needed to take the tram to and from the city center. It was a really nice system and worked a bit more like a bus line than a metro as it stopped every couple of blocks and the routes were not particularly extensive.
     On the recommendation of the hotel receptionist, we made our way into the city to grab a late lunch at a Haesje Claes. This place was really cozy and it felt as though we were eating in someone's living room, only we were eating classical Dutch food that was fantastic.

My mom's plate of Dutch hotchpotch including spinach mashed potatoes, sausage, a big meatball in a gravy, and a thick slice of bacon

 View of the restaurant featuring the dad

Selfie with mother

     Now plenty full, we thought we should walk off our meal a bit. We passed by Dam Square where the royal palace is located in Amsterdam and then continued on into the Red Light District. Now, everyone knows that the Red Light District is a pretty popular tourist destination in Amsterdam, but this place was pretty nuts. Not only were there prostitutes down every street, there were also bars, clubs, museums, part of the University of Amsterdam, "coffee shops", a number of beautiful churches, some hostels, and so much more. Bear in mind all of this was lining canals, adding to the incredible contrasts between old and new.

Nice canal view with the oldest church in the city on the right 

View of a busier street, the illuminated building on the left is a strip club, most of the signs on the right are for hotels, and somewhat hidden in the back left are a few of the famous red lights used by prostitutes to indicate that they are open for business 

Evening bells of a really neat church in the heart of the Red Light District

     We wrapped up our first day with a relaxing evening at Rembrandt Square with a couple of pints. The square was pretty busy being a Friday night and is one of the centers of nightlife in Amsterdam. In the center is a statue to the famous Dutch painter whose name was given to the square, Rembrandt van Rijn, however while we were there the city had also installed sculptures of several of the figures from Rembrandt's The Night Watch. Of course many visitors were taking pictures with the sculptures and my mom couldn't resist either.

Blurry picture with a night watchman

     Before returning to the hotel, I had been in contact with my friend Pipit. While I was in Indonesia, another exchange student in my city, Romane from Belgium, went to school with Pipit and thus we came to become friends. Shortly following her graduation from high school, Pipit struck out to be an au pair in Amsterdam and so when I found out I would be meeting my folks there we got in contact to meet up. Since my parents were a bit jetlagged and in need of a bed, we thought it would work best for me to just go out and grab a drink with Pipit that night. She had told me that her host mom had recommended an "extreme bar" that we could visit if we were up for it.

     It turns out that this host mother has been trying to push Pipit out of her comfort zone quite a bit, an awesome thing for a host to do. After meeting in Dam Square and making our way through the Red Light District, we found the place Pipit's host mom was talking about. Only, from every way I could see, it looked like we were standing outside of a strip club. After a few confused looks and some searching up the street to make sure that was the place, we determined that it was indeed a strip club that her host had suggested for us to visit.

     Not really in the mood to just grab a beer and a chat at a strip club, we wondered a bit east until we came across a nice place that Pipit had been to before. It was wonderful to catch up on the past two years and talk about our current experiences in Europe. Even better, we could do it all in Indonesian! It's been a while since I've held full conversation in Indonesian, but after a few hours it felt more natural and it was a great feeling to be speaking again.

Bad quality photo, good quality friends 

I happen to be a little bit taller than Pipit (maaf ya mbak, lucu banget ini)

     Thanks in part to the black-out blinds, the jetlag, and the fact that I can sleep anytime and anywhere, we wound up sleeping in to about 11am our second day. Having already missed breakfast at the hotel, we went out for food in the city center. Just by chance we glanced down a side street and found a cute little cafe that went three stories high and was about as narrow as your average living room. The bathrooms were up yet another floor and required passing up a severe, curved staircase.

These stairs are definitely out to get you

     After finishing our pancakes, omelette, and schnitzel, it was midday and time to meet up with my friend Pipit for a canal tour. Although she had been in Amsterdam for several months already, Pipit hadn't really done much of the touristy stuff, so she was happy to join us for some of our touring. The canals are really impressive in some places, and tiny as can be in others. All along the canals are some fantastic homes, however many have centuries old sinking foundations and are slanted. 

The middle building here is one of the oldest in the city, having been built in 1665 

View down the canal of the famous Seven Bridges stretch where you can see seven nearly identical bridges all in succession

This is the best picture I have of a slanted building, the bottom floor of the central building is the most obvious as it is tilting to the right 

Just some of the many houseboats moored along a canal 

One of my favorites: this houseboat has a patio all along the canal side!

     After the tour, Pipit parted from us for a bit while we continued to walk around the city, just stopping into shops that caught our eyes including a really interesting book market where a few vendors had prints of old maps. For dinner we had planned to meet with Pipit again and go to one of her favorite Indonesian restaurants in town. Due to the Netherlands' colonial past with the country, there is both a large Indonesian immigrant population and a lot of Indonesian restaurants, but Pipit assured us this was one of the best.

     We were not disappointed. We ordered two, two-person variety menus so we could sample a bit of everything and it was all incredible! It was by far the most authentic and delicious Indonesian food I have had since leaving the country, and Pipit was in bliss having gone quite a while without proper Indonesian food. From the lamb to the chicken, the potatoes to the rice, and everything in between, it was an amazing and filling meal that I seriously cannot emphasize enough how delicious it was.

Four very satisfied customers outside Kartika Indonesian Restaurant

     Sunday and Monday were mostly spent at museums, wandering the city, and eating more delicious food. Our first museum was the Van Gogh Museum (which absolutely must be pronounced Van KGHAUKGH! with as much glottal noise as possible). I've always been a fan of Van Gogh, but walking through a huge collection of his works along with a biography of his life really made me appreciate the man he was; his greatest aspiration was simply to be better at painting.

     The other museum we visited was the Rijksmuseum, which is the largest state art museum in the Netherlands. This is where many of Rembrandt's, Vermeer's, and Steen's greatest works are kept. We also learned quite a lot about the history of the Netherlands in one of the galleries that housed art from the period of William of Orange (aka William the Silent or William I, founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, ancestor of the monarchy of the Netherlands) who was the principle leader in the revolt against the Spanish Habsburgs for Dutch autonomy.

     Later that day, we went over to the oldest church in the city located right in the Red Light District. De Oude Kerk was built first in the 13th century, but has undergone many renovations and additions since. It was originally a Catholic church, but following the deposition of the Habsburg monarchy by William of Orange, there was a wave of anti-Catholic rioting in present-day Netherlands which also led to many Catholic churches becoming Calvinist.

     Perhaps the most interesting feature of the church, though, was that the entire floor was made of tombstones due to the fact that hundreds of people were buried beneath the floor tiles up until 1865, including dozens of members of the clergy, wealthy families, and even Rembrandt's wife.

View of many of the tombstones in the choir towards the back of the church

Close up of a rather ornate stone 

View of the nave from the choir, looking forward toward the organ 

Close up of the organ, the woodwork and masonry are both remarkably ornate

     Tuesday morning my dad awoke early so that he could get to his conference before things there started, leaving my mom and I to wander a bit on our own for the day. When we went for breakfast and began reading the news we saw early reports of an apparent terrorist attack at Brussels Airport and the EU parliamentary building. Just 24 hours before making our way to Brussels by train, there appeared to have been a terrorist attack. Without much information and my dad already busy, we decided that we would just meet up at the end of our days and decide what to do from there.

     So with that, my mom and I departed for the Anne Frank house, only to be greeted by a massive line. When I say massive, I mean truly massive; this line must have taken at least four hours to get through. It was so ridiculous that rather than wait in the line, we just decided to take pictures of it.

So the Anne Frank house is right about where the flag pole is sticking out up ahead...

Now the house is to the left, while the line goes back along the side of a church square...

Still going back along the square...

Now it's wrapping around the square behind the church...

We've almost rounded the corner... 

Still going... 

Dear god it just keeps going!

     So needless to say, we didn't end up visiting the Anne Frank house this time around; just another reason to visit again another time! Instead we hopped a tram to the other side of town to visit the Dutch Resistance Museum which was all about the Dutch freedom fighters, reluctant administrators, unlicensed radio stations and newspapers, and the day-to-day passive resistance of everyday subjects under Nazi occupation during World War II.

     It was fascinating to read about the early years where the Nazis hoped to introduce their "Germanic brothers" to fascism and eventually incorporate the Netherlands into the future German empire. Things didn't go so smoothly, however, and slowly the Nazis abandoned this practice and turned to a full-blown enemy occupation, including the deportation of Jews to labor and concentration camps in Germany and Poland until the end of the war.

     In the evening we regrouped at the hotel to figure out how exactly we should tackle Brussels. After some discussion and some updating on the situation, we decided that we should still go on the train we planned for. And so the next day we stashed my parents' large luggage and hopped a train through the beautiful Dutch countryside, past Antwerp, and on to Brussels.

     Despite the heightened security, military patrols, and rather uncrowded streets and restaurants, going to Brussels proved to be an excellent choice. The city has a certain Northern European charm with a degree of French embellishment coming together to create a truly unique European city. Just as we had in Amsterdam, we spent our first day just walking around town, taking in the sights and eating excellent food. So our first destination was of course Grand Place, the large square in the middle of the city with amazingly decorated facades lining the square.

 First buildings you see when entering from the north, most are shops or restaurants

 Yes, that is a gilded hotel facade

The most ornate city hall you will ever lay eyes on; the facade is covered in roughly three-foot-tall figures that are mostly Catholic saints but includes some personifications of ideals

 Close up of the central tower

The "Breadhouse", so named as it was built on the old cloth and bread market

     From there we made our way east to the higher part of the city where the old royal palace is located along with the Palais du Justice, which is the unimaginably massive center of the Belgian justice system. From there we could see over the whole city which was really a sight to see. We got to watch the sun set over the rooftops before grabbing some dinner and returning to our hotel's sauna for some decompression.

The largest palace of justice ever built, fun fact: the scaffolding to do work on the facade has been in place for so long that they had to add scaffolding to support the old scaffolding 

View from afar of the tower of city hall at Grand Place 

Slightly comical shot of a military transport (one of dozens we saw around the city regularly) just in front of a one-seat, four-wheeled, car-like moped thing that puts even the Smart car to shame

     After seeing it on the news in the evening, we decided to visit the memorial that was being formed at Place du Bourse. There we found a large display of candles, flowers, flags, and banners along with a crowd of people. The mood was solemn, but honestly this was the only place where such a feeling was true; the Brusseleir were doing their best to carry on from what I could tell.

     We did a bit more walking around, including viewing the Manneken Pis. If you aren't familiar, this is a statue of a peeing boy that has served as a water fountain for well water since 1618. If you are familiar, this statue is tiny; as in two-feet-tall tiny. It's a funny little statue, but really not much of anything given how famous it is and how great of a tourist destination it is considered. One good thing was a group of guys on holiday and one of the friends began providing "tourist information" to his friends despite not knowing a thing about what he was talking about. After a brief description, he asked if it was necessary to translate what he said, and so he dove into a slew of made up nonsense in an effort to give information in Japanese, Chinese, and Spanish.

     While walking back up toward the Palais du Justice, we happened across some of the old city walls just tucked away. They weren't necessarily being preserved, but they were left intact right up to modern buildings. In what seemed like an art installation, there were white hoops hung in a closed off gate area with dim black lights along the base. I'm certain it produced a cool effect when dark, but at the time it seemed a bit out of place.

      Toward the evening, we ventured into Saint Michael's Cathedral, which is the largest and most elegant of Brussels' many churches. Unfortunately they were just about to begin a service so we didn't get to see very much, but the facade alone was quite beautiful and ornate. That being said, I still found the facade of the city hall to be the most beautiful masonry of the trip.

View of the memorial from the steps of le Bourse

Much of what was left contained messages of solidarity, peace, love, and hope

The iconic, albeit minuscule, Manneken Pis

 The best tour guide Brussels didn't even know it had

Secluded walls of the original city

Closer view of the gate, the hoops are faintly visible behind the wrought iron gate 

A different section of walls that went right up to the building on the left

Opposite side of the above wall

Front facade of St. Michael's 

The simply incredible organ; the organist actually sits up amongst the pipes just beneath the pipes that are sticking out horizontally

Cool little panorama to include the building next door that incorporated a modern church-style facade to mirror the historic St. Michael's

     Before returning to the hotel, we decided to stop by Place du Bourse once again, only to find that the memorial had grown. There was a choir singing songs of joy in French on the steps of le Bourse while mourners and meditators watched on, some joining in song, others remaining silent. With emotions running high, we saw both touching scenes and less tasteful actions.
     At one point, a group of you Turkish men began chanting something about terrorists while holding a Turkish flag on the steps of le Bourse, Meanwhile, maybe ten yards away, a smaller group of Kurds were chanting while holding a Kurdistani flag. This prompted the Turks to begin chanting rather at the Kurds while the choir simply attempted to continue louder. Eventually someone from the crowd shouted "c'est pas politique (this is not political)" and a few police officers got the groups to stop before tempers rose.
     Throughout the time we spent there, an older man on the steps of le Bourse would begin shouting at the top of his lungs "je t'aime! (I love you!)" to the crowd, then individuals near him, then members of the choir, then the crowd at large. People who were silent before began to chuckle a bit, and some even shouted "je t'aime" back to him, which only got him more excited.
     The most sobering sight, though, was a middle-aged man sitting cross-legged by himself and just staring out over the memorial in silence. At one point he spoke on his phone with his face in his other hand. At other times individuals would walk past him and quietly say a few words or rub his shoulder a moment. He looked lost and defeated in a way that, it seemed to me, only someone who had lost a loved one could look.
     Although somber, it felt like there was a certain life to the crowd there. These people weren't defeated, not entirely, they had simply suffered a temporary loss but intended to carry on. At times, particularly when the choir gained some singers from the crowd, things felt more hopeful than solemn.

Panorama of the memorial from the steps of le Bourse

Close up of some of the items left for the memorial illuminated by the candles

Je t'aime guy spreading love behind the choir

Chalk was left around and people used it to write messages of peace and love on the walls and ground; the small paper on the electrical box to the left is a request for information regarding a missing person

View of the steps, there are clearly many more flags and banners than there were earlier in the day

     Friday was to be my parents' last full day in Brussels. We began with a trip to the Belgian Comics Art Museum which was incredible! There was so much to see and learn about, we spent over three hours there. There was an exhibit on the various methods of creating comic art, the Smurfs, Tintin, and Frank Pe's the Zoo.

     Afterwards, already a bit museum-ed out, we poked into a number of chocolate shops to find the best Belgium had to offer. After a few stops and some deliberating, we had amassed enough for some late night snacking and souvenirs. Just by chance we passed by a Syrian pastry shop where everything looked beyond amazing. There was such a variety of colors, nuts, smells, fruits, and shapes, we could have eaten just about everything in there. Instead we took three to go with us to munch along the way to the hotel before dinner.

Boerke was one of my favorites, there were a whole bunch on the wall and some were even made into digital shorts; part of the charm of Boerke is that they are actually a Dutch-Belgian cartoon, but due to the absence of dialogue, everyone can enjoy them

Sketch of the layout by a comic artist

Final product from the above sketch

What Belgian comic museum would be complete without some Smurf stuff? Including, but not limited to, a model Smurf village

Some of the characters from Frank Pe's Zoo

Artwork from Zoo; Frank Pe's work was definitely some of my favorite illustrations I have ever seen

Delicious, delicious pastries

More!

     For our final dinner together, we managed to arrange a meeting with a friend of mine. Remember that Belgian exchange student who was in my city in Indonesia? Well after seeing each other only by skype, Romane and I finally managed to meet along with my parents, her mother Christine, and Christine's partner Stijn. It was excellent for everyone as we had all heard so much about each other, we felt as though we had already met, only now we were actually given the chance.

     After a lovely dinner full of duck, oysters, chicken, wine, beer, cake, creme brule, and mousse, the six of us took a stroll through Grand Place to see the buildings lit up at night. It was sad to see such a lovely night come to an end, but I was lucky in that Romane and I would be meeting the next day after my parents departed for home, and after I would be able to spend the night with her family.

Gold trim is even better when illuminated

The city hall in all of its glory

The long-awaited meeting, finally in Brussels

     Saturday morning I saw my parents off at the train station back to Amsterdam where they would be flying home. It was nice to be able to spend a whole week with them while abroad, a luxury I didn't have while abroad previously. After hanging about the hotel a bit, I made my way back up toward the Palais du Justice where I was meeting my friend and co-worker from UW for lunch. Gabbi was on exchange in Brussels just outside of the city center. It was wonderful to catch up and share experiences of our semesters abroad over a delicious salad and sandwich.

     After we parted, I met once again with Romane. We walked around a bit just chatting before grabbing a few pints and continuing to catch up; a lot had passed since we last saw each other! In the afternoon, we were joined by Romane's boyfriend Stefano. The three of us wandered around a bit, mostly just chatting about what we were up to, the recent attacks, the American elections, and all sort of other things.

     We watched the sun set over the city from the outlook by the Palais du Justice before grabbing a bite to eat. We ended the night at a colossal bar called Delerium which supposedly has more than 3000 beers between its taps and bottles. By chance they carried a few bottles of Mikkeler beers, a famous high-end brewery in Copenhagen!

     A tad past midnight, we caught the last train home to Braine-l'Alleud, a small town just south of Waterloo. We walked slowly from the train station and parked on the curb in front of her home until the wee hours of the morning just talking. It was just like the many times we met in warungs or cafes in Yogyakarta, Indonesia only a few years earlier.

     Sunday had a very lazy start of coffee and pastries as Romane, Christine, Stijn, and I just conversed for a few hours. In the afternoon, Christine took me over to the site of the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon's great defeat that turned the tide in the Napoleonic wars. It turns out that the battlefield doesn't lie mostly in Waterloo, but rather in Braine-l'Alleud. In fact the lion statue dedicated to the battle can be seen down Romane's street and is only a ten minute walk away!

     We visited the museum there, which was full of information and we couldn't possibly see everything and get me to the airport in time. As we were preparing to leave, we ran across some reenactors on horseback, dressed to the nines in Dutch and Prussian cavalry gear.

Parting in front of the train station

Soldiers on horseback near the entrance of the museum

I actually just wanted a shot of the statue, but these guys happened to be on their way to make a lovely photo

     By the time we got back I needed to pack up my things and be on the way out. It was sad to see Romane for such a short time and then leave again, but we agreed to meet once more after we finish our classes this summer and I'm holding you to this Romane!

     Huge thank you to my parents for an awesome trip, I probably wouldn't have seen Amsterdam without you guys; Pipit for the laughs and recommendations, especially Kartika; Christine and Stijn for hosting me for the night and providing a lot of support for our trip to your wonderful country; and Romane for everything you are and will continue to be, I've missed you dearly and I will miss you once again, you truly are my sister from halfway around the world and I wouldn't trade that for anything. Thank you all so much.