- TRAVEL DIARY4 EuropeDaily NotesSwitzerland

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...
4 EuropeDaily Notes

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
- TRAVEL DIARY4 EuropeDaily NotesSwitzerland

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...
- TRAVEL DIARY4 EuropeDaily NotesFrance

Anxiety and Appreciation @ Gorges de Paganin, France, March 28, 2019

Anxiety and Appreciation Driving at night is riskier in general. For overlanders, it is especially not recommended because you are not familiar with the road conditions, you probably don’t speak the local language, and sometimes you pass areas with no cell signal, which is dangerous in case of emergency. Despite this advice, many travelers including myself often drive at night because many things just don’t go as planned. One of the frequent culprits is not wanting to leave a place so soon during the day. And...
- TRAVEL DIARY4 EuropeDaily NotesFranceMoments Together (Friends)

Highs and lows @ Carrières de Lumières, Les Baux-de-Provence, France, March 17, 2019

Highs and Lows Mostly because Spain was very comfortable for me, where there was no language barrier, entering France was both exciting and mildly anxiety-inducing. It was new country, language, and people. After several days of intense driving followed by a scene of big confusion in a supermarket where I got the attention of everyone including the security personnel, I realized I was mentally exhausted. But the next day, I had the pleasure of having a picnic with new local friends, where we spent a warm...
- TRAVEL DIARY6 Middle EastDaily NotesEgypt

Intellectual Sanctuary @ Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt, February 19, 2019

Intellectual Sanctuary   Many visit Egypt with the anticipation of seeing the relics from Ancient Egypt such as mummies of Pharaohs and the Pyramids. But Egypt has been as much Ancient Egypt as it has been Greco-Roman Egypt and Arab Egypt, to name a few. That was why Alexandria came to my attention, and as its name suggests, the city was founded by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. And the Ptolemaic Dynasty constructed the Library of Alexandria, which was one of the largest and most...
- TRAVEL DIARY6 Middle EastEgyptMoments Together (Friends)

With Amira @ Cairo, Egypt, February 17, 2019

With Amira I was introduced to Amira in Cairo by someone who I had never met earlier. Compared to my overseas travels about a decade ago, modern technology is helping me have more unique and rich experience. In an environment where I knew little about how things work, she was my gateway to understanding the values and custom of the Egyptians. She was like a mom to whom a baby, me, could ask anything about the world he sees – such as “what does this name...