Arrival @ Plovdiv, Bulgaria, June 7, 2019
Arrived in Plovdiv, an ancient Roman city in Southern Bulgaria. It feels surreal that within hours of driving from here now I can reach Turkey or Greece, two countries that I have long considered ‘far and far away’. But my plan is to drive north, in the direction of the Baltic states. For the time being, I’ll soak up Bulgarian culture. @ Plovdiv, Bulgaria, June 7, 2019
Bosnian pot and Cevapi @ Bosnian Steak House, Sarajevo, May 30, 2019
This restaurant is in the center of the touristy area in Sarajevo, but I went inside nonetheless, because the vibe was good near the busy street, and it was fun to watch people. And the server turned out to have great photo-taking skills. Bosnian cuisine uses a lot of meat, which doesn’t annoy me. The Bosnian Pot (Bosanski Lonac) tastes almost what it looks like. It’s a heavy stew with tender and moist meat and vegetables. I’d say that this kind of stew is found in...
Auschwitz @ Auschwitz concentration camp, Oświęcim, Poland, May 10
Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp consists of over 40 concentration and extermination camps and was operated by Nazi Germany from 1940 to 1945. Around 1.3 million people were sent to the camp, among which 1.1 million people died. And 90% of them were Jews. I learned that Auschwitz was much more of extermination camps rather than labor camps or otherwise. Essentially, it was designed to annihilate a large number of people each day, by other prisoners who were chosen for the labor. I tried to imagine what...
Arrival @ Zagreb, Croatia, May 17, 2019
I continue zigzags through the Central and Eastern Europe. Today, almost after 10 months since Uruguay, I experienced a ‘formal’ border crossing procedure with Hungarian officials with suspecting eyes on the car, its license plate, and my overall trustworthiness. After an hour, I was let go. Now I’m in Croatia while having a break from the ticking Schengen clock. @ Letenye, Hungary, May 17, 2019
Arrival @ Wroclaw, Poland, May 4, 2019
Arrived in Wroclaw, Poland. So officially I began traveling in Eastern Europe. Not only am I excited to explore the region, but also this will be helpful to have a break from the ticking Schengen clock, as I travel further south. @ Wroclaw, Poland, May 4, 2019
a well-organized Spring Festival of Zurich @ Sechselauten Festival, Zurich, Switzerland, April 8, 2019
a well-organized Spring Festival of Zurich Sechseläuten is a mouthful name. It’s the name of Zurich’s spring festival. It is held on the 3rd Monday of April and the climax of the festival is the burning (or almost blowing up) of the snowman figure called Böögg (photo 3 and 4). It seems natural to ‘drive out’ the snowman in order to welcome Spring. The legend has it that the sooner the fire reaches the snowman from the pyre, the longer and hotter the summer is going...
Arrival @ Vaduz, Liechtenstein, April 13, 2019
Arrived in Liechtenstein. It’s the world’s 6th smallest country, with a population of just about 38,000. It can easily be much smaller than a small town in other countries. Although it’s 8 times as large as Monaco, it seems much smaller to me, and that’s probably because there are not many visible activities or tourists around. @ Vaduz, Liechtenstein, April 13, 2019
Jungfrau @ Jungfrau, Switzerland, April 11, 2019
Jungfrau Jungfrau (meaning virgin in German) is probably the best-known summit of the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. A convenient train ride takes you to the Jungfraujoch railway station standing at 3,454m, where you can enjoy the views either inside air-conditioned platforms or you could take short walks outside along safe trails. When the Sun shines, it was actually warm outside, although it was almost impossible to open eyes without sunglasses due to the reflection of sunlight. It was not particularly breath-taking for me. For one, I’ve...
This website chronicles Leebong’s journey around the world for 2+ years, for the time being. To find out more, see The Travel & The Why.
To catch me, see Itinerary.
Impressions Series
