Check-marks on the Bucket List

It's been a busy month.... a lot of check-marks have been added to my bucket list, but two significant ones are worth noting.

First, after graduating (Journalism) in 1981, I tossed around the idea of pursuing a general arts degree with a focus on English or communications, just in case I decided to modify my career path later in life. Well, that idea stuck, got bounced around a bit with other life "things", and resurfaced with some definite intent about four years ago. Part of that impetus was the motivation -- and my ability to motivate -- my friend Lily who was also on the same degree path.... so we walked the remainder of the way together.

We came to the end of that walkway a week ago at our university's graduation ceremonies where we both received our Liberal Arts degree, marking the culmination of a hectic study schedule, essays too numerous to count, and readings that left both of us wondering if there was any real-life relevance to those words! I should also add this educational effort was merged in with a full-time work schedule, sometimes a course load that rivaled full-time university students (4-5 courses), but we did it!

We actually finished our required courses and "intent to graduate" forms in April, but because of those aforementioned "life" things, we put off our walk across the stage until this October. For me, that held special significance because Ken (my late husband) was always encouraging and motivating me to finish my degree requirements, and his birthday was in October. It seemed a fitting tribute to his memory to honour his day with my official graduation. (...and the fact that I wore my Animal (Muppet) Birkenstocks for the event was also an appropriate tip-of-the-hat in his direction!)

Before commencement, I added a few more countries to my travel experiences (...or check-marks to my bucket list, if you prefer).  For twelve days, I had the pleasure of meeting new friends, reacquainting with folks who have been part of my life for years, and enjoying the joy of discovery in cities such as Berlin, Prague, Budapest and Vienna....

Memories are plentiful.... and surpass the more-than 1200+ pictures I took! Here are a few of my favourites...

The dome on the parliament building in Berlin was spectacular -- from the architectural marvel that recycles rain and snow into resources used in the building's operations, to the mirrored tiles that reflect the images of people served by the government to the elected representatives seated below. The view of the city was beautiful, even though we were there in early evening.... Europeans certainly do know how to light up their cities! The magnitude of this dome is hard to portray via a picture, but it was a wonderful surprise addition to our visit.

Another memory from Berlin was the Swiss yarn (silk and seacell) I purchased at Handmade in Berlin. I had a pattern named "Budapest", and I thought the blue of this yarn would symbolize the "blue" Danube, and an appropriate momento of the trip...... more on that later...

Dresden was a hidden gem... it was so hard to believe the bombs of WWII had devastated this town, when the recreation of these buildings were so true to their original structures. The main square with the opera house and cathedral looked like a movie set at first glance! This is definitely on my "must return" list so I can further explore the origins of ceramics in this town, and more fully explore the square, the riverwalk, and the side streets rich with history dating back many centuries...

Prague is also a history-rich city with some recreations following the devastation of WWII.  The astronomical clock (on the left in the photo with the main square shown behind) is one of the three oldest clocks in the world, and the only one still working today. Between chimes, it shows the position of the moon, sun and other calendar information. Every time it chimes, it becomes very animated ...my favourite was the skeleton that pops out from an upper door reminding us of the penalty of killing time!

The Charles Bridge is also one of Prague's famous landmarks, and is beautiful stretched in the shadow of the Prague Castle.  The walk down from the castle to the bridge was scenic, taking us by little cafes, over little bridges (decorated with lots of padlocks, as is the tradition within Europe to symbolize your love -- a romantic notion attributed to Italian writer Frederico Moccia and his 2006 book "I Need You"). We saw the bridge by day and night... both beautiful in their own right!

From Prague, it was on to Krakow -- a repeat visit for me, as a dear and long-time friend moved here more than 15 years ago (from Canada). This gave me a nice reprieve from the city-to-city travel -- allowed me to soak my feet, clear up some laundry, and rest for the second segment of the trip.... This picture is of the square in Old Town, Krakow.... from an earlier trip. One of the more pleasurable experiences is sitting, having coffee and people watching!

A drive took us into Hungary -- specifically Budapest. Another beautiful city, but not as consolidated geographically.  A tour of Castle Hill was fantastic -- and gave me an opportunity to showcase the knitting I had done on my "Budapest" shawl... no better background than the cityscape the pattern is named for...

From there, we ventured to a coffee house (Budapest is known for its coffee houses) for lunch. This offered some wonderful interactive opportunities.... an elderly gentleman saw us (Darren, Lisa and I) looking at a map and walked us within viewing distance of where we wanted to go.

On the way back to the covered market, we ventured on the subway and when the ticket machine didn't take bills, we had another wonderful gentleman offer us tickets (for which we paid him), saving us trying to find change. And when I was sitting enjoying a drink of water on a bench in the covered market, an elderly lady came and sat down next to me. When she had rested, she had difficulty as she tried to rise from the bench.... I offered my hand to assist, and when she was on her feet, she turned to me and was sincere in her words of gratitude, offered in a language I couldn't understand (Hungarian) but with words very clear to me through her tone and intent!


Later that evening, we saw Budapest from the Danube River -- again, a wonderful demonstration of how Europeans take pride in their architectural history, and illuminate it accordingly...
The City of 10 Bridges, a merging of the cities "Buda" and "Pest" is definitely on my "return to" list!

Vienna was the last stop on this junket, and while it is a beautiful city, I found it more commercial than many of the others. The palaces were incredible, the grounds around the Opera House, museums and Square were remarkable.

What will be one of my fondest memories of Vienna is the original Sacher Torte... a delicious (and historic, secret-recipe) creation found in the Hotel Sacher in the Old Town of Vienna.  The story, paraphrased from the Sacher Torte website, tells of a request in 1832, when Wenzel Clemens Prince Metternich ordered the creation of a particularly palatable dessert for spoiled high-ranking guests.  In the absense of the chef, the order was assigned to Franz Sacher -- a 16-year old apprentice. The soft, fluffy chocolate cake with the tasty apricot jam under the icing has become ensconced as a part of Vienna's history!

So, while I have check-marks next to some cities on my "to see" list, I've also added to the list with return visits to some of these delightful spots....  But isn't that one of the joys of holidays. You enjoy the serenity of the time away, revel in the new experiences, and then plan for the next adventure....