Category: Travel

Going new places, all the time. Pictures, anecdotes, and experiences.

A weekend in Aarhus, a pride parade, and some thoughts on impermanence

On By Alison HaywoodIn Culture, Life Abroad, TravelLeave a comment

It’s been four years since I lived in Aarhus. In June of 2014, I packed up my dorm room, tied my suitcase to my bike, and started the next chapter of my life in Hamburg. Since then I’ve only been back twice, primarily to visit the few remaining friends I have in Denmark, but also to take a trip down memory lane.

Selfie in front of the art museum Aros in Aarhus, Denmark, topped by the interactive exhibit "Your Rainbow Panorama."

Sandwiched between a canceled train journey and a grueling 7-hour bus ride, I spent just over 24 hours in Aarhus last weekend. It was Pride Weekend, and my Danish friends who have since moved away from Aarhus were back in town to see the parade. I jumped at the opportunity to see them again in one place and booked a train north.

Continue reading “A weekend in Aarhus, a pride parade, and some thoughts on impermanence” →

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If You Go to Prague

On By Alison HaywoodIn Travel1 Comment

If you go to Prague, be sure to get off the beaten path.

Cross the river, take the underground, go to the other side of town, and explore.

Selfie in front of Prague Old Town
Downtown Prague is a fairy-tale land, full of inauthentic but beautiful stuff to impress tourists.

Sure, you should see the tourist attractions, too. See the astronomical clock, go to the castle, walk along the King Charles Bridge. But sooner or later, you’ll realize this isn’t the real Prague – those tour guides with their yellow umbrellas, the waiters standing outside restaurants, waving for you to come in, the museums and gift shops and street artists are just predators, preying on tourists, milking them of the money which keeps the city alive. It’s a sort of Disneyland, enthralling visitors with its fairy tale towers and cobblestone streets. The historical buildings, the colorful winding streets, the costumed performers, they all do such a good job re-enacting Prague in the middle ages (or 19th century, or 20th century, or take your pick), that many visitors never get to see what Prague in the 21st century is like.

The first time I went to Prague, I checked the tourist stuff off the list. The Old Town Square with its highly-overrated anematronic clock, the castle, the restaurants. I returned nearly seven years later (has it been that long?) with a different purpose to the trip: to visit friends – or, more specifically, a former lover. I wound up seeing a new side of the city, and gaining a new appreciation for it. Continue reading “If You Go to Prague” →

There’s got to be a better way to stop the Nazis

On By Alison HaywoodIn Current Events, Politics, TravelLeave a comment

Thousands  of counter-protestors successfully halted a neo-Nazi march on the anniversary of Rudolf Hess’s death on the outskirts of Berlin last Saturday. International media is largely hailing this as a victory for the left and praising the efforts of the brave protestors. What they’re not talking about, however, is how the counter-demonstrators accomplished this feat.

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500 right-wing extremists march towards Berlin Spandau. Photo: dpa
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Workers survey the damage to a train signal outside of Berlin after protestors set fire to it in order to stop a train of Nazis from entering Berlin. Photo: DPA

Anti-Nazi counter-protestors set fire to a train signal outside of Berlin last Saturday morning in order to prevent a train full of neo-Nazis who came to participate in the march from reaching its destination. The fire was successful in stopping that train – and all of the trains that were scheduled on that route for the next three days. This included two of the most highly traveled routes in Germany: Berlin-Hamburg and Berlin-Hannover.

Why do I care? Because me and my parents were scheduled to take one of those trains. And because the fire resulted in canceled trains and massive delays, my parents missed their flight home. Overall, this little stunt cost my family about $500. Continue reading “There’s got to be a better way to stop the Nazis” →

Skiing in the Austrian Alps

On By Alison HaywoodIn Travel, WinterLeave a comment

Having grown up in the foothills of the Pacific Northwest Cascade mountains, I was spoiled when it came to skiing. My hometown was less than an hour’s drive from one of the larger ski resorts in Washington, and my Saturday mornings as a child were marked with ski lessons instead of cartoons. I’d never done a proper ski holiday before, unless you count a brief stay in the Czech Republic in 2012, so when a friend invited me to go skiing in the Alps this winter, I said yes.

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My friend Sebastian sits at the top of Glattjochbahn at the ski resort Brandnertal in western Austria. Perfect weather made for gorgeous mountain panoramas of the Alps.

Continue reading “Skiing in the Austrian Alps” →