{"id":3700,"date":"2023-06-22T00:04:50","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T00:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/?p=3700"},"modified":"2023-06-22T00:04:50","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T00:04:50","slug":"sabbatical-week-29","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/?p=3700","title":{"rendered":"Sabbatical Week 29"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bittersweet, this was my last full week of travel before heading back home. It’s probably a good time for me to enjoy American summer without thinking about work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 1<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Travel day to Slovakia. I feel bad for only spending a day in the country. It’s just all hotels were completely booked past Sunday and I was really tired from staying in hostels that I needed a few days to reset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Didn’t know Microsoft had a brother <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Quickly checked in to my room<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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View from my hotel <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It started down pouring all of a sudden and I was forced to push back on my old town walking tour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the rain subsided, I decided to go find a pub that serves traditional food and beers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s probably as decent as Slovakian food goes (the restaurant was reaffirmed by my tour guide the next day) for 26euros with 2 beers. As a food critic, I have to comment on a few things. First, the draft beers were a bit too warm, and the glasses aren’t chilled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, I just don’t like having sour cream on literally everything. It’s just so overtaking on top of very sour soup already. The photo chips were surprisingly good. Of course, the dipping sauce is sour cream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Didn’t do much but headed back early (of course, I bought some local spirit from a liquor store. A random customer and the shop attendant gave me loads of good advise. Friendly people for sure.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 2<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Finally a bright and summer day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lots of tourists from viking cruises<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Japanese embassy…along with a few other countries’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Random quirky things<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Three layer-ed water fountain. Ground for horses, then men and birds on top.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Jewish memorial <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The castle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On and on, the free walking tour was really good. Loads of information and urban legends. You can see Slovakians are very well educated. On the other hand, for a small country it really struggles to have its own identity (from the ancients romans, then the Ottoman, and then Austria – Hungarian empire. Finally czechoslovakia, then world wars and Soviet occupation)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the tour, it’s a short train ride to Vienna. I originally didn’t plan on going towards the West Europe. Then, I was really close to this major city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turned out I was also just really tired to do another walking tour, and decided to get a quick snack and chilled for the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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9.34euros for a ham sandwich and two drinks <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Apparently after 9pm nothing opens in Vienna, definitely wasn’t expecting that. Went to the only bar that’s open nearby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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26euros. Pretty solid. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Busy day to tour all the essential things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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hmm <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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You can see there’s rainbow sign everywhere due to being the Pride month <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Hitler made a famous speech at the balcony. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One thing I really enjoyed my tour guide was the objective view on the role Austria played during the WW2. I think having Germany taking all the blames is a bit unfair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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King of Austria – basically how Vienna became this specular city is because of him <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Yes, all great musicians <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Ruins from the Roman era <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The church is truly amazing. Took 500 years to build. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Mass was going on during my visit. Great to hear the Organ playing <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I even climbed to one of the towers (more than 300 stairs!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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View from the North tower of the church <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The tiles are amazing too <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Found a brewery nearby<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Of course lunch is the Wienner sausage plus beers (22euros with two beers)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Post lunch, I went to one of the city gardens<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lastly the Royal palace<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I don’t think it’s worth the 29euros…for the ticket, photos aren’t allowed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless the garden next to the palace is pretty cool<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You see how much interests the world has in US news.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Met up with a South African backpacker for dinner, we decided to go to the same place where I had dinner the previous night<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pretty good food for $20.29<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 4<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Travel day to Czech – Olomouc. It’s a small town that’s on the way to Poland. I decided to skip Prague this time due to being too popular among tourists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Found a brewery for some local food<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Soup is alright <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Czech food also just suffers from high salt and sourness. ($20 for 2 beers and 2 dishes.. pretty good deal) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Walked a bit more in town<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Soviet monument <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Day 5<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Had a very good breakfast at my hotel (only $50, I am really impressed at how advanced the technology is. It’s fully automatically check-in, in which you download an app and can use it to unlock the room.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hopped on a 4hr train ride to Krakow, Poland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Indian tourists sleeping in my cabin. They were taking the entire rows, even when I came in they still put their feet next to me. When they woke up, they just watched videos without headsets on their phones. Quite annoying. I also don’t quite understand why they needed to have 2 giant suitcases.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Old town walking tour!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Interesting thing about Krakow is that how well preserved it is. It’s not damaged at all during the World Wars. Germans actually kept the city in quite a great shape during occupation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another famous painting in history<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So many medieval histories and legends. One of the oldest universities is also in Krakow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Drummer playing every hour, it’s been playing for hundreds of years <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Ancient university <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Artistic church <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Cathedral near the castle (Germans intended to actually live in the castle) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Donuts are actually a Krakow invention. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hung out with an American girl from Bosnia where I met from my walking tour<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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She took the photo for me <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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View from the hill <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We decided to get a drink before her date arrived. Turned out she also worked for Amazon. We basically spent an hour bitching about the company. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dinner was at a local Polish restaurant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Amazing food and drinks for $23. My first proper polish food, I have to say, I quite like it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 6<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Quick lunch<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Set menu for a soup plus a pork stew for only $7!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main event for the day was to visit Auschwitz. One of the primary things I wanted to do in Europe. I first learned about Auschwitz from a required reading in University called Survival in Auschwitz. Obviously, Schindler’s List being my favorite movie at all time. (Though, I didn’t realize the factory and the major scenes were actually in Krakow)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The infamous gate <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The only surviving liquidation chamber <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I didn’t take many photos out of respect (walking through it, you can almost feel the dead). The museums are worth spending days to visit. Almost every European country gets its own exhibition about Jewish life and history surrounding that period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every human being must visit Auschwitz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Met up with a Chinese a girl from the tour, we decided to get dinner<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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$37 per person, it’s not cheap but we also over-ordered. Fabulous food nevertheless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 7<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another museum day – Schindler’s Enamel Factory<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I spent quite a few hours there, not only to learn more about Schindler outside what’s being portrayed by Steven Spielberg (there’s a theater in the museum where it shows the interviews of his Jewish workers), but also a lot about the war in Krakow and life in the Jewish Ghetto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The ending is kinda ironic. Being invaded by both Soviet and Germany didn’t leave much of a choice. At the end Poles just want peace. I do feel bad how Poland throughout history was often treated as a cake to be divided by the east and west super powers. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Post museums, I needed some shots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Duck is spectacular. $32<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Expenses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Week 29<\/td>Currency:<\/td>EUR<\/td>0.91<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Day<\/td>Food&Drink<\/td>Lodging<\/td>Transportation<\/td>Other (tickets\/tours etc)<\/td>Day total<\/td><\/tr>
1<\/td>$35.92<\/td>$91.08<\/td>$18.82<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$145.82<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>$39.93<\/td>$89.01<\/td>$15.49<\/td>$0.55<\/td>$144.99<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>$52.16<\/td>$89.01<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$43.41<\/td>$184.58<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>$31.59<\/td>$58.99<\/td>$35.27<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$125.85<\/td><\/tr>
5<\/td>$42.42<\/td>$50.92<\/td>$34.73<\/td>$10.00<\/td>$138.06<\/td><\/tr>
6<\/td>$49.97<\/td>$50.92<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$41.24<\/td>$142.13<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>$42.93<\/td>$50.92<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$7.91<\/td>$101.76<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>$294.92<\/td>$480.83<\/td>$104.31<\/td>$103.11<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Total<\/td><\/td>Grand Total:<\/td>$983.17<\/td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
I didn’t try to budget and stayed in private rooms since it’s the second to last week of travel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bittersweet, this was my last full week of travel before heading back home. It’s probably a good time for me to enjoy American summer without thinking about work. Day 1 Travel day to Slovakia. I feel bad for only spending a day in the country. It’s just all hotels were completely booked past Sunday and… Continue reading Sabbatical Week 29<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3700"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3789,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3700\/revisions\/3789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}