Iglesia de San Antón

As we explored Granada, we happened upon the Iglesia de San Antón. The church is a baroque church founded in 1534 by the Franciscan Terciaries.

It reminded me of the ornate Catholic churchs often seen in Rome.

The Resting Place of Royalty

Next we, explored the Royal Chapel, one of Granada’s most historically profound spaces. Here lie the remains of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, the Catholic Monarchs whose conquest of Granada in 1492 marked the end of nearly eight hundred years of Islamic rule on the Iberian Peninsula.

Inside, a magnificent marble mausoleum sculpted by Florentine artist Domenico Fancelli depicts the monarchs in recumbent poses – Ferdinand in armour with his sword, Isabella in simple dress with her hands folded to symbolize humility.

The symbolism of their burial in Granada was deeply personal to Isabella; the city represented the culmination of her life’s obsession, the final Christian victory over the Islamic kingdoms that had ruled the Iberian Peninsula for centuries.

Adjacent to the Royal Chapel stands the Granada Cathedral, a grand Renaissance structure that dominates the city centre, and was built on the site of the city’s former mosque.

Artisanal Flavours of Granada

As we wandered through Granada’s narrower shopping streets, we discovered small artisanal shops selling local specialties that quickly became personal favourites. Candied nuts – pistachios, almonds, and walnuts coated in crystallized sugar – were impossible to resist, their nutty sweetness a perfect afternoon snack as we navigated cobblestone alleyways.

We also found Turkish delight, those jewel-like cubes of gelatin dusted with pistachios or coated in chocolate, a confection with roots stretching back through centuries of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern trade. These small shops, tucked away in corners we might have otherwise missed, represented the kind of authentic local commerce that rarely makes it into guidebooks – the sort of place where shopkeepers know their craft and take genuine pride in what they produce.

The Albaicín

We ventured into the Albaicín, Granada’s oldest neighbourhood, which occupies one of the city’s three main hills and feels like stepping back centuries into Islamic-era Granada. The Albaicín is immediately recognizable as distinct from modern Granada – its labyrinthine street layout, and narrow cobblestone alleys all follow the pattern established during the 11th century when the Zirid dynasty first settled here.

UNESCO designated the Albaicín a World Heritage Site in 1994, recognizing its rich legacy of vernacular Arab architecture harmoniously blended with Andalusian styles. Walking through these streets, the remains of the Alcazaba Cadima fortress walls, historic gates like the Puerta de las Pesas, and churches converted from mosques stand as reminders of Granada’s storied past.

During our exploration of the Albaicín, we stumbled upon a small artisanal perfume shop. Inside, the proprietor had created a compact museum documenting the historical methods of perfume production, with displays showing traditional distillation apparatus.

Ascending to the Sacromonte Caves

We decided to walk from the Albaicín up to the Sacromonte caves, climbing further up the adjacent hill overlooking the city.

The neighbourhood gradually transformed as we ascended – the tightly packed streets gave way to buildings with whitewashed façades emerging directly from the hillside, with good viewpoints of the Alhambra.

Sacromonte Caves: Architecture and Living Conditions

The Sacromonte represents a profound chapter in Granada’s history linked to the Roma people, originating from South Asia but historically misidentified as Egyptians, hence the term “Gypsies.” Roma communities settled in the Sacromonte from the 16th century, living in the caves due to social exclusion and developing the flamenco tradition there.

We spotted fruit trees near the cave dwellings: pomegranates, and tangerines that would have provided sustenance. They also coexisted with animals within and around the caves.

The caves are architectural responses to environment and marginalization: whitewashing the limestone interiors with plaster to regulate temperatures through hot summers and cold winters. This cooling technique influenced nearby houses as well. Forced displacement in the mid-20th century due to natural disaster risk ended the community’s residence, turning the caves into tourist sites while the Roma were pushed out. Seems strange that now that they are gone, the government is earning money from their story – and not the Roma.

Walking the paths, the views of Albaicín below and the Alhambra above framed the neighbourhood’s complex history.

A Culinary Experiment

We dined at Atelier Casa de Comidas, a Michelin-recommended restaurant with an open kitchen near Granada’s centre. The tasting menu included some fascinating dishes that showcased a blend of local and innovative flavours. One starter featured tomate fermentado con caballa – fermented tomato paired with rich mackerel, that offered a fun texture with a balance of acidity and umami.

The menu also included a refreshing gazpacho anisado con quisquillas, an anise-flavoured cold tomato soup served with small shrimp, paired with a homemade green curry of arugula and the citrusy note of finger lime.

On the heartier side, gurullos con morro de ternera Pajuna y thermidor de cigalas paired beef snout and a rich sauce usually reserved for lobster, enhancing the seafood-meets-land narrative. The veal snout was mildly interesting, but not my preferred flavour profile, nor texture.

The main dish of lomo de jabalí curado en Koji y botánicos was wild boar loin cured in koji fungus and botanicals, served with saffron pear, and a Romaine sauce

Despite the refined technical execution and creative flavour pairings, we enjoyed the meal, but ultimately found the overall flavour profiles less aligned with our personal tastes.

The Alhambra Generalife Gardens

Our final day was devoted to the Alhambra, Granada’s UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the finest examples of Islamic architecture. We started at the Generalife gardens, the summer palace and pleasure grounds of the Nasrid emirs.

Meaning “Gardens of the Architect” or “Gardens of Paradise,” the Generalife features tiered terraces with flowers, and fruit trees – pomegranates, figs, citrus – and flowing water channels and fountains that create a cool, sensory landscape.

Water’s central role symbolizes life and paradise in Islamic art.

The Alhambra Nasrid Palace

Inside the Nasrid Palace of the Alhambra, intricate mosaic tiles formed geometric and calligraphic patterns.

The palace’s crown jewel is the Court of the Lions, with its marble fountain supported by twelve stone lions channeling water in four directions, representing paradise flowing to the world. The Alhambra’s advanced water system animates its fountains and pools, blending engineering with artistic expression.

Surrounding halls feature plaster honeycomb-like muqarnas vaulting, engineered to play with natural light dynamically throughout the day. These domes and vaults are built from thousands of small, modular plaster pieces that fit together like a complex three-dimensional puzzle. Each piece is precisely carved and assembled, allowing the ceiling to achieve both its structural integrity and intricate, stalactite-like appearance.

This technique is not only decorative but also serves as a unique architectural solution that distributes weight evenly and creates celestial effects as light filters through.

See more of Granada here

First Impressions of a Continental Bridge

The journey to Istanbul had begun with a business class flight, featuring a surprisingly excellent grilled duck leg – tender, juicy, and far exceeding expectations for airline cuisine. The connection through Madrid provided time to relax in the lounge before boarding Turkish Airlines for the final leg.

Turkish Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, serves traditional Turkish mezze platters on international flights, featuring selections like ezme (spicy tomato paste), muhammara (red pepper and walnut dip), and various cheese preparations. The cold appetizer service, while authentically Turkish, presents flavours that challenged my unaccustomed palates with their intensity and unique spice combinations.

Our first night’s accommodation was a newly constructed hotel that showcased both the promise and pitfalls of Istanbul’s rapidly expanding tourism infrastructure. While the breakfast buffet displayed beautiful presentation, the protein selection was limited. One memorable detail was the availability of purple olives, which are actually black olives that have been treated with a natural fermentation process, giving them their distinctive colour and slightly different flavour profile. The newly opened hotel gleamed with modern finishes, yet a closer look revealed shortcuts beneath the polish: water from the sink’s U-trap had a slow drip, hinting at rushed plumbing work.

Walking Through Conquest

In the morning, we met a subset of our group tour that also signed up for this optional walking tour. It began at the Gate of Charisius of the Theodosian Walls, the massive fortification system that protected Constantinople for over 1,000 years until Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II finally breached them in 1453. These walls, built in the 5th century, stretched for 12 miles and featured double lines of defence with towers and gates. The conquest of Constantinople marked the end of the Byzantine Empire and the beginning of Ottoman rule over this strategic city.

Our guide also shared a local idiom about fig trees, explaining that calling a “fig tree” appears complimentary but actually suggests they ruin everything around them – much like how fig trees’ aggressive root systems can damage foundations and infrastructure.

Mihrimah Sultan Mosque

We visited the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, designed by the master architect Mimar Sinan in the 16th century. This mosque, one of two built for Sultan Süleyman’s daughter, demonstrates the sophisticated engineering and spiritual symbolism of Ottoman architecture.

Mosque architecture reflects Islamic principles and practical needs. The mihrab (prayer niche) always faces Mecca, orienting worshippers toward the holy city. The minbar (pulpit) stands to the right of the mihrab, while the main prayer hall remains free of furniture to accommodate prostration. The qibla wall (facing Mecca) receives the most decorative attention, often featuring intricate calligraphy and geometric patterns.

The building process showcased the ritual of wudu (ablution), which Muslims perform before prayer. The wudu process follows specific steps: first, practitioners state their intention and say “Bismillah” (in the name of Allah). They then wash their hands three times, rinse their mouth three times, cleanse their nostrils three times, wash their face three times, wash their arms up to the elbows three times, wipe their head once, clean their ears, and finally wash their feet up to the ankles three times. This purification ritual prepares both body and mind for prayer.

Church of St. Mary of the Spring

The Church of St. Mary of the Spring, known as Zoödochos Pege, represents a significant Orthodox Christian site. Emperor Justinian I built the original church here in the 6th century. The current structure dates to 1835, rebuilt after Ottoman forces destroyed the Byzantine-era building.

The church’s Byzantine art reflects the Eastern Orthodox tradition that survived the Iconoclastic periods of the 8th and 9th centuries. These paintings, featuring saints and angels with golden halos, represent the triumph of iconophiles (image-lovers) over iconoclasts (image-breakers). The artwork employs traditional Byzantine techniques, using gold leaf backgrounds to suggest divine light and eternal glory.

The holy spring beneath the church has attracted pilgrims for 1,500 years. Orthodox Christians believe the water possesses healing properties, and the site remains active for religious ceremonies.

Culinary Discoveries

Our lunch featured a carefully curated selection of Turkish dishes, including pide, often called “Turkish pizza” but more accurately described as boat-shaped flatbread topped with various ingredients. Traditional pide dough contains flour, yeast, water, salt, and sometimes yogurt or olive oil. The boat shape is formed by folding the edges, creating a rim that holds ingredients like minced meat, cheese, or vegetables seasoned with Turkish spices such as cumin, paprika, and parsley.

The meal also included various mezze spreads, including hummus and spicier preparations, along with vegetables cooked in clay pots – a traditional method that infuses food with earthy flavours while retaining moisture and nutrients.

The Art of Turkish Coffee

Turkish coffee preparation represents a centuries-old tradition that UNESCO recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The process begins with finely ground coffee beans, ground to a powder-like consistency much finer than regular coffee. The coffee is brewed in a cezve (a small, long-handled pot traditionally made of copper) with cold water and sugar if desired.

The brewing process requires patience and attention. The cezve is heated slowly over medium heat, allowing the coffee to warm gradually. As it heats, dark foam begins to form. The key moment arrives when the coffee approaches a boil – the foam is carefully distributed among the cups before the coffee itself is poured. This foam is considered essential to proper Turkish coffee service.

The resulting coffee has an earthy, intense flavour that can surprise newcomers. The grounds settle at the bottom of the cup, and the coffee is never stirred once served. The texture is notably different from filtered coffee, with a slightly grainy consistency that reflects the traditional preparation method. This coffee culture extends beyond mere consumption – it plays a role in social rituals, including traditional marriage customs where the bride-to-be serves coffee to the groom’s family.

Living History in Modern Times

Our exploration revealed parts of town where residents have built apartments directly on top of the old city walls that once surrounded Constantinople. These informal settlements demonstrate how Istanbul’s residents have adapted historic structures for modern needs.

Cruising the Continental Divide

The Bosphorus cruise provided perspectives on Istanbul’s architectural evolution across different periods and empires. This narrow strait, connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, serves as the boundary between Europe and Asia, making Istanbul the only city spanning two continents.

As the ferry glided along the strait, we caught sight of Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace (which I will get into in a later post).

Historic yalı (waterfront mansions) line the shores, representing the Ottoman elite’s summer residences. These wooden structures, many dating to the 18th and 19th centuries. People still live in these houses today, and for a time, they could lounge on their patio overlooking the river, but not many more due to the tourist traffic.

We observed the Ortaköy Mosque, a 19th-century gem celebrated for its ornate baroque revival design, delicate stonework, and prominent twin minarets.

The cruise also revealed the Rumeli Fortress, constructed in just four months in 1452 by Sultan Mehmed II as part of his conquest preparations. This fortress, along with the Anadolu Fortress on the Asian side, allowed the Ottomans to control Bosphorus traffic and cut off Byzantine supply lines.

From the water, we observed the Dolmabahçe Palace, a 19th-century Ottoman palace that served as the empire’s administrative center during its final decades.

The Spice Route’s Istanbul Hub

The Spice Bazaar, built in 1664 as part of the New Mosque complex, served as a crucial link in the global spice trade. Historically called the Egyptian Bazaar because it was funded by revenues from Egypt, the market connected Asian spice producers with European consumers.

Turkey’s position along historic trade routes gave it access to spices from across Asia, but the country also produces distinctive spices that reflect its unique climate and culinary traditions. Turkish red pepper flakes (pul biber) vary in heat levels and include smoky varieties like isot biber from Şanlıurfa. Sumac, made from berries of the Rhus coriaria bush, provides a citrusy tartness that’s become essential to Turkish cuisine. Turkish spice culture developed over centuries of trade and cultural exchange. The Ottoman Empire’s vast territory allowed for the cultivation and trade of numerous spices, while the empire’s diverse population contributed different culinary traditions. This history explains why Istanbul’s spice markets offer such variety and why Turkish cuisine incorporates flavours from across the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Central Asia.

The spice market today caters heavily to tourists, a far cry from what it used to be, with vendors selling everything from traditional spices to novelty items like “Turkish Viagra tea” (likely a blend of herbs with no proven medicinal properties). However, authentic spice shops still operate here.

An Unexpected Group Dynamic

That evening, we met with the rest of the tour group. Our group gathered around a street-side table in Istanbul, waiting for our eighth and final member who had been delayed. Our group had clicked immediately, and someone joked that the missing traveller might be the odd one out. At that moment, a man walked past our table with a distinctly sour expression. We called out the missing member’s name as a joke, not expecting it to actually be him – but it was!

His taxi driver had taken him on an expensive detour around the city (taxi drivers across Istanbul are notorious for being scammers), explaining his mood. Once he joined our table and shared his story, his demeanour shifted completely. Later that evening, several of us continued to a rooftop bar, where conversations flowed as easily as the drinks. Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district, where we stayed, contains numerous hotels with rooftop terraces offering views of the city’s distinctive silhouette of domes and minarets.

Our group of eight travelled around the country in a van, staying in budget hotels and exploring destinations that attracted a younger backpacker crowd. The tour format allowed for spontaneous discoveries and shared experiences that individual travel might have missed, as more posts will soon show.

See here for more images of Istanbul

We landed late in the day in Auckland, and at that time many restaurants were already closed. We managed to get to Beast & Butterflies fifteen minutes before the kitchen closed. We indulged in two standout dishes: the first was a lamb rump from Hawke’s Bay, a region in the North Island famous for its quality meats, and the second was a whole yellow belly flounder, a fish native to New Zealand waters. The lamb was cooked to perfection and was accompanied by sweet mini peppers, and briny olives. The flounder had a satisfying char on the exterior and was dressed with confit lemon, adding a subtle citrus note, and scattered with capers and parsley for bursts of salt and freshness.

After our countryside adventures, we returned to Auckland for the final leg of our trip. By the time we arrived, dusk had already settled over the city. A thick blanket of fog obscured much of the harbour. The true culinary gem of our Auckland experience was Ahi, a restaurant that takes pride in sourcing ingredients from across New Zealand. The menu even lists the local origin of the main component for each dish.

Each dish showcased a different region of the country. We began with a unique appetizer from the Hunter Hills in the South Island: wallaby tartare served on a chip made from puffed wagyu beef tendon. Tartare, being a preparation of finely chopped raw meat, offers a pure, unadulterated taste of the protein. In this case, the wallaby tartare presented a lean, mild gamey flavour profile with a subtle sweetness. As for the crispy chip underneath, while it was good, I wouldn’t have known it was a wagyu beef tendon without being told.

Next, we savoured a Te Matuku oyster from Waiheke Island, located in the Hauraki Gulf near Auckland. The oyster was accompanied by apple marigold and a morning cider sauce, which added a subtle sweetness and acidity that complemented the briny freshness of the oyster.

From Akaroa Harbour on the Banks Peninsula, we enjoyed vodka-cured Akaroa salmon. The dish featured a bloody mary dressing, confit green tomatoes (essentially tomatoes slowcooked into a paste), and dill crème fraîche. The rich, silky texture of the salmon was perfectly offset by the tangy dressing.

Our main course featured Provenance lamb rump (a cut from the back of the lamb near the loin) from Ranfurly in Central Otago. The lamb was served with brussels sprouts, sheep’s labneh (a Middle Eastern-style yogurt cheese), kyoho grapes, and smoked kohlrabi (a type of German cabbage). The lamb rump itself had a crisp layer on the outside with a tender inside.

We also tried the butterfish, a species found in the coastal waters around New Zealand. It was served with celeriac pappardelle, scampi velouté (French-style sauce), mushrooms from Ora’s Farm, and a sunflower seed gremolata (an herb sauce). The delicate flavour of the butterfish was elevated by the earthy mushrooms and the rich, creamy velouté.

To conclude our meal, we indulged in a Kapiti honey cake, accompanied by rhubarb and cardamom sorbet and orange mascarpone. The dessert was a perfect balance of sweet and tart flavours, with the aromatic cardamom adding depth to the refreshing sorbet.

Throughout our meal, the waiter was exceptionally knowledgeable, providing us with fascinating details about each dish and its origin. This added an educational element to our dining experience. While our time in Auckland was brief, these culinary experiences left us with a newfound appreciation for New Zealand’s food scene.

See more of Auckland here

I always thought that Petra was just a single structure – the same one that gets shown everywhere, but that structure is just The Treasury that’s a part of an entire city built in the rocks.

From the entrance, we walked 30 minutes through a winding gorge formed by a fault line that tectonic forces split apart until we reached The Treasury. Stray dogs followed us every step of the way hoping for scraps of food. Leaving at 6:00 didn’t help because the only people that the dogs could beg from was us.

We arrived so early we were practically the only people there. We admired Petra on our own without the large crowds of tourists everywhere. We took our time walking up to it, all around it, up the slope to get a better view (nobody is allowed inside it though). We did all of this before the crowds showed up.

Petra was the capital of a kingdom of the Nabataean, a group of nomadic Arabs who established the city as a major trading hub. The Nabataeans constructed massive structures by carving it all out of the sandstone. Although it’s called The Treasury, the building is believed to have been the mausoleum of the Nabataean King Aretas IV.

The area around Petra is also home to the Bedouin people, a group of nomadic Arab people who inhabit the desert regions in northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. In the modern times, many have abandoned their nomadic lifestyle and many Bedouin around Petra work as tour guides, offer camel rides, among other things. One of the Bedouin people there is actually the descendent of a woman from New Zealand who married a Bedouin man and wrote about it, called Married to a Bedouin.

The area is over 250 square kilometers, something I totally didn’t expect (because I totally did not do my research before I went). I’m not too big on hiking and I was totally not prepared for a hike that day – I would have totally brought more water, and more food along with me that day. Despite that, I hiked up the 900 or so steps to the monastery anyway, while getting hassled by vendors trying to sell me their junk. Temperature-wise, the temperature shot up to a whopping 20 degrees Celsius from the 0 degrees Celsius just two days before. My body did not like that.

We spent about 8 hours in Petra, walking along the rock faces, seeing the ancient ruins, hiking up the hill, but if I had more energy I totally would have hiked up the other trials for even better views of the area.

For dinner we had mansaf, probably the national dish of Jordan. It’s a delicious dish made with lamb and rice dish mixed with a yogurt sauce! This tasted even better than the chicken rice dish we had the day before. I had no idea that lamb and yogurt was such a great combination. It was a great meal to refuel after such a long day.

More photos of Petra here

We flew into Israel from Tel Aviv and boarded a train to Jerusalem. I totally expected the Middle East to be pretty warm in February, but nope, it was snowing tiny little flakes in Jerusalem. If it weren’t for the Europe trip before this, I would have actually not brought any winter clothes, so I definitely lucked out there.

The Way of the Cross

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is probably what Jerusalem is most well known for. The Way of the Cross (aka Via Dolorosa) in Jerusalem is what is believed to be the actual path that Jesus walked during his crucifixion – regardless of whether you’re religious or not, it’s still pretty cool to see. This was a key event in the establishment of Christianity. The crucifixion of Jesus is considered to be historically true even by non-religious scholars.

The Way of the Cross begins with Jesus’ encouter with Pontius Pilate, the man who orders Jesus’ crucifixion. The Church of the Flagellation is built on the spot where Jesus was flogged by Roman soldiers before he carries the cross.

It’s said he falls three times during his walk.

Along the way, Jesus encounters several people (although some of these encounters are disputed):

• Mary – his mother
• Simon of Cyrene – he helps Jesus carry the cross
• Veronica – she wipes the sweat off of Jesus’ face, and so Jesus’ image was then supernaturally imprinted on the piece of cloth, now known as the Veil of Veronica
• the pious women – Jesus stops and gives a sermon

Eventually he makes his way to the location where he is nailed to the cross. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is built on the spot where it is believed he was nailed to the cross, and his subsequent death.

This is supposedly the spot where Jesus dies on the cross (below)

He is then taken down from the cross and anointed on the stone slab below. Anointing is a ceremonial ritual where a person’s body is smeared in aromatic oil to introduce a divine influence on the body.

Finally he is laid to rest in his tomb.

Of course his body isn’t physically in there, because supposedly after his ressurection, he ascended to heaven.

The entire Way of the Cross and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was extremely crowded and people lined up everywhere to pray in all the spiritual locations, like Jesus’ tomb, the home of the Virgin Mary, the Stone of Anointing, etc. People even touched all the surfaces that Jesus was said to have touched and I could see them in deep prayer.

Western / Wailing Wall

In Judaism, the Western Wall is one of its holiest sites. The actual holiest site lines behind the wall, the Temple Mount, but due to restrictions, Jews are not allowed to pray there, and thus the wall became the place where Jews went to pray.

Some Jews go on a pilgrimage to the Western Wall, some spend hours praying there. If you look closely in the video below, there’s a fellow running in circles and singing while people around him are rubbing their beards against the wall.

The Temple Mount

The Temple Mount is a flat plaza built on top of four retaining walls (the Western Wall among them). Although Jews are not allowed to enter for prayer (e.g. praying, singing, or other religious displays), people are allowed to enter the area as tourists.

The Dome of the Rock is one of the Islamic structures built on the Temple Mount. Unfortunately, non Muslims are not allowed to enter. Inside the dome is the Foundation Stone, and has religious significance to both Jews and Muslims.

Yad Vashem

This is Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The entire memorial consists of a museum dedicated to the history of Jewish persecution throughout Nazi Germany and the places it conquered.

The eternal flame honours the victims of the holocaust. In front of it is a stone crypt containing the ashes of the victims.

The Hall of Names pictured above contains the the names of millions of Holocaust victims. The shelves around the room contain the names, while the cone above display photographs of the victims. The people standing in the photo are all Israeli soldiers – Jerusalem had a huge police presence with a lot of them openly carrying assault rifles (I felt very safe). Even some men in public that I saw had buzz cuts – presumably they are/were in the military. A few days before we arrived, there was a terrorist attack where a driver rammed a car into Israeli soldiers.

This train car is an example of the cattle cars that Nazi Germany used to perpretrate the Holocaust.

The Garden Tomb

Some sects of Christianity don’t believe that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre contains the real tomb of Jesus Christ. They assert that the real tomb is actually elsewhere, which they dubbed the Garden Tomb

Outside Jerusalem’s old town

Because Israel has so many Jewish people, McDonald’s started a special chain that serves only Kosher food. Even though it’s kosher, it tastes the exact same as regular McDonald’s which is pretty amazing for what it is.

Oskar Schindler is famous for saving 1200 Jews during the holocaust. He is now buried in Jerusalem. Putting stones and pebbles on the grave is an ancient Jewish tradition to honour the deceased.

There are also a lot of stray cats everywhere! I didn’t see any dogs though, just lots and lots of stray cats everywhere. People must take care of them though because they all look pretty well groomed.

Photo album: here

Strasbourg

Strasbourg is in the historic region of Alsace-Lorraine. The unique thing about Alsace-Lorraine is that in the span of 100 years it has flipped back and forth multiple times between France and Germany as a result of three wars (the Franco-Prussian War, World War I, and World War II). As a result, the city shares cultures from both countries. This is super evident in a part of town called Petite France, most notably the timber framing around each building. The local dialect Alsatian, also has Germanic origins.

It’s also the home of the European Parliament. This is where over 700 democratically elected Members of European Parliament pass legislation.

Thus far, in France, I had been speaking my very limited French here and there whenever I needed it. As we waited for the tour, a Middle Eastern fellow struck up a conversation with me in French, kind of just asking us where we were from etc. It was kind of weird, but we went along with it anyway – it didn’t seem like he was a pickpocket or anything. I managed to get pretty far in the conversation in French actually, which surprised me quite a bit. He told me that he had moved to France from Afghanistan after working there as part of the local security forces, and even showed me his old Afghan ID, and a bomb scar he had.

The conversation got super weird when he started asking about our yearly salary, and it seemed like he was asking us for money (but it’s possible some of that was lost in translation). At that point, we totally understood why he started the conversation in the first place. We basically told him that we’re not that well off either and he tried to give ME money, and I still don’t understand what was going on there. When the tour started, it seemed like he was still staying within our general vicinity, which made it even weirder. Eventually he picked up on that and left us alone. We even checked if he followed us back to our car (just in case).

Strasbourg appears pretty proud of their cuisine – even their postcards have pictures of recipes of different Alsatian dishes. One that we had was called Flammekueche (in German it’s Flammkuchen, so it’s easy to see the German influence in the language here, at least in this word). I think the closest analogue that English speakers would know would be a flatbread pizza, but with more French style ingredients like fromage blanc, and uses crème fraîche as a base as opposed to tomatoes.

From Strasbourg, we began our journey to Switzerland. At the border, we bought our vignette (it’s a required sticker on the car for driving in the country). I spoke to the lady in German and I got a nice feeling speaking and listening to a language that I understood again.

Habsburg Castle

Our first destination in Switzerland was the Habsburg Castle. This is where the House of Habsburg began. This is THE Habsburgs that wielded enourmous power in Europe for centuries, most notably the Holy Roman Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The castle looks quite modest compared to other European castles like Neuschwanstein, but this is because it was originally constructed almost 1000 years ago.

Zürich

As we drove through Switzerland, we expected mountain passes full of snow, but there were actually very few mountains along that route! We probaly would have seen some in Zürich itself, but too bad it was nighttime.

We arrived in Zürich just in time for a fondue and raclette dinner, because that’s what the stereotypes say. Of all places we found though, we found the most touristy one. I’m pretty sure everybody in there was a tourist.

As we were chatting while eating, I was trolling my friend, saying he comes from China even though he’s actually from Taiwan, since Taiwanese people stereotypically like to assert that Taiwan is not the same as China. A lady at our neighbouring table heard us and actually confronted us about it. She seemed so pissed off! She seemed fine once we told her we were just messing around, and that I’m from Hong Kong (people from there generally side with Taiwan). But imagine travelling all the way to Switzerland and hearing someone trashtalking your country!

This concludes our fourth day. Stay tuned for day five!

• Strasbourg
• Habsburg Castle
• Zürich

At the time, there were no cars, so it looked like it could have been the right way to go.  Then a car came down the slope (he didn’t see this car earlier because he was looking up the slope and the car hadn’t reached the crest yet) at highway speeds and now the two cars were facing each other.  That’s when my uncle realized what he had done.  When the other car saw, the driver quickly slowed down while my uncle U turned back the right way as fast as he could.  He was so freaked out.  While all this was happening, our car stopped on the shoulder to wait for him.  After my uncle did the U turn he stopped in the shoulder lane right behind us.

He took a little breather for a moment and then off we went.  As we merged back into the highway, my uncle I guess was still not fully relaxed because as he was merging back, he failed to gauge the distance properly between his car and the 18-wheeler barreling down the highway behind him.  Close call number two.  The truck braked enough and my uncle accelerated fast enough.  Nothing happened in the end luckily.  Just a big scare.  We all arrived in Quebec City in one piece.

Dufferin Terrace

Probably one of the major tourist hot spots in Quebec City.  It is a really nice place.  It’s basically a boardwalk along the St. Lawrence river near the massive Château Frontenac Hotel.

Citadelle of Quebec

At the end of the terrace, one can look up and see cannons in a fortification.  A staircase nearby (known as the Governor’s Walk) takes people up the hill to the fortification.  It’s a long walk.  It probably takes about 15-20 minutes just to walk from the base of the hill to the Citadelle.  Alternatively, people can drive up there if they would rather not do the exercise. In the Citadelle, there are a lot of narrow walkways with high walls that snake around everywhere (probably a defensive tactic).

There’s even a guard outside.

In the main courtyard of the Citadelle, there was a military ceremony happening so we couldn’t roam around.

From up there, we got a really good view of the terrace and the chateau.

And because of the military ceremony, there was a parachuting performance!

Old Town District

The old town district has a European feel with its streets on cobblestone and traditional looking architecture.  There are small windows with a balcony filled with flowers.  The walls of each building are of brick or stone and there are lots of restaurants with patio style seating.

After a good walk through the old town, we sat down for a cold one…  The owner was a nice fellow.  He is Quebecois but is able to speak Mandarin as he had lived in China for three years.  Seeing us Chinese tourists, he had to show off what he knew.  He could read, write, and speak well.  He even jokingly shamed my cousin who couldn’t read and write Chinese.  The guy didn’t just know a couple of phrases, this guy was fluent (can probably speak Mandarin better than I can).  The restaurant even has staff that know German, Spanish, Portugese, Russian, one of the Middle Eastern languages (I don’t know how to recognize which one) and of course English.

After this break, we concluded our tour of Quebec City and drove back to Montreal.  The next day, we would continue touring Montreal.

More photos here

After being here for a little while, I’ve come to notice a bunch of things here that are just a lot different that what I’m used to in Vancouver, and I’ve made a list of these things here:

Old-style architecture with beautiful roads of cobblestone

Cool retro looking keys

Keyholes that you can actually look through

Tobacco companies are allowed to advertise and packs of cigarettes are readily available and cheap (about 5 euro)

Ads for Google Chrome but not any other browser

Obscure looking vehicles

Rides on the metro cost about 3.40 euro, which is about 4.50 CAD and about the same as Vancouver

For the rest of them I don’t have pictures for, but here they are:

• Lots of people of middle eastern descent, mostly from Turkey
• Nobody claps, but instead pounds their fist on the table repeatedly
• Some people wear their wedding rings on the right hand
• Car brands that only exist here (Citroën, Alfa Romero, Opel, etc.)
• Some people here actually drive Fords instead of European cars, but it’s the only American brand here that I’ve seen
• Since people don’t like using the 1c and 2c coins, they tend to round up transactions to the nearest 5c, which is probably why the cashier asked me if I had a 5c coin