by Mr. N

Today.

My mom wrote about Yesterday. I wanted Today.

I was just looking at the word as I typed the title. It honestly looks kind of weird knowing what today means. Well it’s me, Mr.N, for our 205^th day of sabbatical (we missed 200-day). Only ten days left, and so we begin the final countdown. And how better to fill the day than with making memory lists! (Note: None of them are in order of favoritism. They are random.)

What songs will define and remind us of this trip? This list defines the songs that will remind us of the hard times, the good times and even the just okay times. Most of them make us feel happy in the sad times and keep us happy when we’re having a good time. This is a partial look at our sabbatical soundtrack:

• Bride and Groom (The Airborne Toxic Event)
• Sofia (Alvaro Soler)
• Spirits (The Strumbellas)
• Sleeping Sickness (City and Colour)
• Love yourself (Justin Bieber) – We don’t like this one, but we’ve had fun making fun of it, so it makes the list.

You will probably be surprised in the dramatic differences of genre. While Miss A and I prefer pop, this is a list we can generally agree on (I said generally. In other words, the feelings expressed in this blog post do not necessarily represent the feelings of this particular author.) But, whenever we hear these songs on the radio, we tend to get into them for one reason or another – even if only to debate the merits of the song. Miss A and I also know a lot more Michael Jackson and Madonna than we did before the trip too. They like to play them everywhere we’ve been.

Things we will miss the most. We have had a wonderful trip and it’s hard to leave wonderful things. Here are some of the things we will miss:

• Good interesting food
• Sitting/being outside
• Views
• Meeting new people
• Trying new languages

Of course this DOES NOT include people. If it did, this list would be at least 400,000,000 names long.

Things we won’t miss (there are a few). We’ve loved our trip, to say the least, but there have been ups and downs and we certainly won’t miss these things:

• Bugs (Italy has some BIG ones!)
• Foreign traffic signs
• Plumbing and Washing (also not having dryers)
• Public toilets
• Uncomfortable beds

Favorite foods and/or meals. From country-to-country we’ve passed through, we’ve tried their best foods, and our favorites (many to be someday featured) are:

• Langos (Hungary)
• Tapas (Spain)
• Italian food in general (pasta, fennel breadsticks, truffles, steak, pasta, pasta, pasta)
• Paella (Spain)
• Chicken cacciatora (Italy)

Favorite Views. From Spain to Hungary and up to Germany, we’ve seen amazing views, but the best are:

• Nerja (Spain)
• Umbria House (Italy)
• Cinque Terre (Italy)
• Buda Hill (Budapest, Hungary)
• Getaria (Spain)

Favorite Day. This needs no explanation. We each have many favorite days, but these ranked in the top five.

• Eger
• Zabel’s House
• Cooking lesson with Francesco Mariani
• Krakow Nights
• Schönbrunn Palace

Favorite Cities. We’ve been to nearly every capital of every country we stopped in, and many other towns but our favorites are:

• Budapest
• Eger
• Madrid
• Venice
• Prague

Places to go back. We enjoyed them so much, why not enjoy them some more!

• Granada
• Umbria/ Cinque Terre
• Malaga
• Alsace
• Budapest

Ways of life to take home. We learned some things, or just had more time to do these things, but either way, we want to start doing these at home:

• Walking
• Eating healthier
• Spending more time together
• Trying new things more often
• Having more patience

Best wine. I obviously didn’t write this one.

• Louis Jadot Bourgogne Pinot Noir
• Taberner (Huerta de Albala)
• Montefalco Rosso (Raína)
• Viña Tondonia Red Gran Reserva (R. López de Heredia)
• Amarone Classico della Valpolicella D.O.C. (Le Bignele)

Favorite Winery. Miss A and I partially helped with this list.

• Bodegas Ysios
• Eger Caves
• Madonna del Latte
• Raína
• Bodega Garcia Hidalgo

Favorite Museums. From art to history to strange oddities our favorites are:

• Reina Sofia
• Copernicus
• Titanic Exhibit at the Palace of Culture
• Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
• Magicum

Favorite Italian hill towns. All of them are beautiful, unique and entertaining.

• Assisi
• Volterra
• Montalcino
• Civita
• Spello

Favorite foreign words. Some are just too perfect (and others a little juvenile).

• Egészségedre
• Tak tak tak
• Cin cin
• Weinprobe
• Ausfahrt
• Mamma mia

Most influential people we met randomly and for only a short time, but that still impacted us. This does not include our Polish friends, they are on a completely different level!

• Beatrix
• Zabel
• Anton & Astrid
• Leon
• British guy in Cadiz with the dog named Lucy

Favorite Memory.  Self-explanatory.

• Getaria day (my mom’s)
• Budapest ruin pub date night (my dad’s)
• My golden birthday in Prague
• Miss A’s 8^th birthday (Miss A’s)
• Lunch at Zabel’s (all of us)

Favorite city by country. The best of the best from this trip.

• Spain – Madrid
• France – Strasbourg
• Germany – Berlin
• Poland – Warsaw
• Hungary – Budapest
• Slovakia – Bratislava
• Austria – Vienna
• Slovenia – Ljubijana
• Czech Republic – Prague
• Italy – Corniglia

Scariest moments. The worst of times.

• Car accident (everyone was fine)
• Miss A’s fall on the stairs
• The train incident in Poland (I almost got left on the platform!)
• Near car accident in Czech
• Miss A’s “tarantula” in the shower (it was not that big)

Happiest moments. The best of times.

• Skipping through Montechiello (Miss A & I)
• Getaria (my mom)
• Poraj BBQ (all of us)
• Madrid tapas crawl (all of us)
• Perugia (all of us)

Favorite Castles, Churches, and Palaces.

• Mezquita – Cordoba, Spain
• Rocca Paolina – Perugia, Italy
• Jasna Góra – Czestochowa, Poland
• Schönbrunn Palace

Plazas and Squares. Never quite shaped like squares, “Hmmmmmmmm.”

• Krakow’s Market Square
• Plaza Mayor in Madrid
• Plaza de España in Sevilla
• Prauge’s Old Town Square
• Vienna’s river front

Favorite Stores.

• Zara
• Osborne’s winery shop
• Miss A’s flamenco dress store in Arcos
• Spartaco Montagnani (bronze smith)
• OBI (because I like to say the name!)

Best places we’ve stayed. Living like a royal (at least that’s what I pretended).

• Crystal Suites Hotel
• Mercure Centrum Warsaw
• Grand Hotel Union Ljubljana
• Alanda Club Marbella
• Getaria

Worst places we’ve stayed. Must…Escape…

• Brno
• Exclusive Apartments Wroclaw
• Czestochowa Mercure

Favorite souvenir. To remember….

• Flamenco dress (Miss A)
• Bronze Etruscan charms (all)
• Chess set (my dad)
• Berlin ampelmann sweatshirt (mine)
• Amber ring (my mom)

We could make lists for hours, but this should be enough to help us remember some things. And that was today. Our 205th day.