love – Jen Goes Rogue

By Jen Hawse on City Review, Europe tagged City review, Culture, Europe, Heritage, Ireland, love, travel

Spin Again! — Traveling from Ireland to Back Home

Let’s continue on our journey through Western Europe. You are now arriving in Dublin, Ireland! Please keep your seatbelts fastened until the aircraft has come to a complete stop. We hope you enjoyed your flight. Welcome to Ireland!

Ireland, every inch of Ireland, is an overflowing flower pot.

All the streets, in all the towns we went in Ireland, embrace the rains and plant vibrantly colored flowers on buildings, sidewalks, and in every nook and cranny they can, just to brighten up your day. But, no matter how vibrant, all the beautiful flowers in the world couldn’t compare to seeing my mom and Aunt Monica for the first time in 10 months! Before Jason and I left we made a plan to meet with my mom in Ireland sometime in 2017. In February, it was decided we’d do a week long tour from Dublin to Shannon with Aunt Monica, our resident photographer and ever cheerful compadre. Ireland, unlike Germany, is a place where I really do hold heritage and it was fun to see my mom’s maiden name in various locations throughout the country.

The tour was jam packed and we always felt like we were on the move, so I’m very grateful we schedule a day before and after to chill out together before moving on. Seeing the Cliffs of Moher was a check off the old bucket list, as was having a Guinness and listening to Irish music in a poorly lit pub. Dirty old town. It’s amazing how much of one country you can see in a little more than a week. Next time, we’ll move at our own pace, and revisit all little spots we fell in love with.

Aberdeenshire, Scotland, is home.

Before leaving Ireland I was feeling pretty stressed out. We’d been traveling for so bloody long and felt drained, lonely, and done. In December of 2016, a women in Scotland reached out to us on WorkAway and asked if we’d like to stay with them over the summer of 2017. We were in the process of looking for a place to work/live in Australia, so work-trade was already top of mind. I reviewed the profile and thought it felt like a great fit for us, so I said yes and we planned the entirety of our time in Europe around being in Scotland for mid-July through early August. As the time approached to do our WorkAway I felt very resistant to going, but we’d made a commitment so go we went.

After spending two days in Glasgow, mostly getting Jason a raincoat, we took a bus up the Scottish countryside all the way to the tip top of the country, by the North Sea. There, we were greeted by Mike, one of our hosts for the next three weeks. Him and Rosie have a smallholding operation with a variety of animals, garden products, and lots of land to manage. They share the property with Rosie’s dad, a charming and energetic 90 something year old man with early stages Alzheimer’s, and their four dogs: Jasper, Maddie, Sprout, and Ruby. There’s also Raffles and Harry, the donkeys, Tino and Emily, the unique sheep, and Huey, Dewy, and Lewy, the more common sheep, plus a boatload of chickens.

Top Left: went to a county fair that had a car show as part of it. Top right: Took Jason to a scotch distillery for his birthday and this is the view from the distillery door. Bottom left: squinty selfie on the beach of the North Sea. Bottom right: well groomed horse from the fair.

Rosie and Mike provided more than just a place to stay and meals to eat during our Scottish days — they became lifelong friends of Jason and myself. They love having a big group of people around their table for meals, sharing stories and jokes. They love to joke and Mike has the best sense of humor. Generally, they have four WorkAways at a time living in their home. This meant, for Jason and I, that we met four new friends from the world over in addition to our hosts. Jodie is an early 50’s “retired” dentist from Colorado, traveling with a mission to care for animals and see the world. Vicki is a nurse from Australia who had been living in the UK for years, and decided she needed a break, so she quit her job and started working on the farm. Laura is training to be a vet and is a spunky Spaniard. She was looking to improve her English skills and so was Steffi, a German economist turned school teacher. These last two came at the same time and formed a tight bond, which Jason and I enjoyed being part of as well.

Left: Jazzy J the terrier standing guard. Top Right: My poor cake. Bottom Right: A walk in the woods.

Jason celebrated his birthday while we were in Scotland and I made him a terrible cake. Now that I’m obsessed with the Great British Bake Off I’m even more embarrassed with myself! No one seemed to mind though and the tacos Jason and I made together were a smashing hit! Rosie and I formed a tight bond. We have some unique similarities and she is so exceptional at being a great listener and asker of important questions. I miss her very much.

While I’d love to tell you more about our time in Scotland, I’ll wrap it up with a little musing that sums up how it felt to go:

It’s a great honor to be heartbroken
It’s a privilege to give your heart away
To love without limits
To give while knowing it’s over too soon
A blessing and a curse

We were so lucky to have so many rainbows

Barcelona, Spain, is architecture alive.

The details that lace the building take my breath away. While I have no religion, being here makes me want to run my hands along the doorways and pray.

Barcelona is a stamped out grid shaped city, which you can clearly see from above, but in the streets it doesn’t feel as sterile as that sounds. In fact, one particular architect helped shape much of Barcelona’s unique structure, Gaudi. Inspired by both God and nature, Gaudi’s work is still under construction today at La Sagrada Familia, a church that will take 145 years in total to construct. We didn’t think we’d be able to visit after stopping by on Thursday and being told tickets weren’t available till Sunday, but we were able to grab two and step inside this masterpiece.

Tapas — every meal should be tapas. Small, sharable, bite-sized snacks eaten with an alcoholic beverage. They’re everywhere in Barcelona. Other enviable cultural traits include relaxed work and sleeping schedules. Siestas are real and alive in Spain, making for a happier populous. Having a beach in the city isn’t too shabby either. It was Jason and my first topless beach experience and, my goodness, was it eye-opening!

Top Left: gothic church. Bottom Left: meat snack! Top Right: leg of ham. There’s a ham museum in Barcelona, so they take this very seriously. Top Middle: Auto garage door. Most garage doors are painted with murals, so this is a common sight. Bottom Right: dragon in a church

Barcelona has the world’s greatest street art, in my humble opinion. As you have most likely noticed, it’s a hobby of mine to photograph street art in every city I go. The caliber and abundance of Barcelona’s street art is rivaled by none other.

I could do a post completely dedicated to street art.

As most of you know, Barcelona suffered a tragic terrorist attack four days after we left. What you most likely didn’t know is the day after the attacks La Rambla, where the attacker plowed his car into a group of people, overflowed with even more individuals that ever thought possible. La Rambla is the main tourist street in Barcelona and they did not let terrorism win after the deadly attack took place. My heart goes out to Spain.

Arc de Triomphe in Barcelona (not Paris)

Bordeaux, France, is rosé.

Top Left: Beautiful lighting at night. Top Right: Grapes are a way of life and a clothing choice. Bottom Left: narrow alleyways. Bottom Right: French dining is the best dining

Bordeaux is a place I felt necessary to visit so that I could learn to better appreciate wine. I realize saying this is akin to saying, “I went to the bakery to appreciate cookies and cakes.” Unless you’re broken, you should appreciate some cookies and cakes and, unless my tastebuds don’t work, I’ll appreciate wine in Bordeaux. While red wine isn’t my thing, rosé is! In the states, rosé seems to be a lesser wine, but not so in most of Europe and especially not in France. God bless the French, for all of their wines range from perfectly palatable to downright mind blowing.

Bordeaux isn’t solely about wine, it’s also about food. French food. Do you know who created fine dining? The French. Hate them for whatever jealous reasons you may have, but the French know how to eat, drink, and be alive. While not every meal was the greatest, we did have some unbelievable food throughout France. Like mussels and escargot and pork belly and steak tartar… Sadly, because we went in August, the best restaurants were closed so their chefs could go on vacation. Good for them, poor for us, but that just gives us yet another reason to return.

Top: Who doesn’t love a carousel? Bottom left: these naked man statues were all over the place. Bottom Right: Our first two bottles of vino

We found a great cooperative space in Bordeaux. It had workspaces for various professions, from offices to auto mechanics, and included a restaurant and art space. There was an art installation about cruelty to animals that really hit home. All of the street art here was strikingly well done! Heaven!

Paris, France, is pure romance.

A postcard from Paris. To you, with love, from me.

Ending our trip in Paris always felt like the right decision. Cities the entire world over want to be Paris. They sell memorabilia that resembles Paris. People wear hats and shirts with Paris sparkled all over them, with no regard to whether the wearer has visited or not. Nowhere comes close to the fan fair Paris gets. It’s the most iconic city in the world, with NYC following close behind. We had to visit. Plus, Paris had the best flight deal home, so it won by default.

Paris is a city you have to cram everything into because there are endless possibilities. While we were only in Paris four days, one of which was our travel day back to the US so we did nothing but get lunch, we kept busy. We visited the Louvre, the Catacombs, Notre-Dame, Moulin Rouge, Père Lachaise, the Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysee, and of course, the Eiffel Tower. All in three days.

Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die… But instead of saying all of your goodbyes…

My one request for Paris was the Catacombs. Paris has miles of hidden underground tunnels connecting the streets of the ancient city. A portion of these tunnels are home to millions of skeletal remains. These skeletons are arranged in delicate patterns, honoring the dead, and serving as a tour of a different time. The walls of the catacombs are lined with bible verses and French phrases and poetry, which I couldn’t read very well but could feel their sentiments of mourning and revere. In a similar vein, Jason wanted to see Jim Morrison’s grave at Père Lachaise cemetery, since it has that rockstar appeal. In fact, several famous people are buried here and many of the gravesites are intricately decorated, making for a great walking spot.

Various tombs at Père Lachaise. The Egyptian looking one is Oscar Wilde’s.

We spent seven hours in total in the Louvre, a museum I was ambivalent about going to at first. Who doesn’t want to go to the Louvre?! My main concern is I didn’t care about the Mona Lisa (Ah. Shocking!). It’s fine, but it’s a great deal of hype. Jason put it best, “It’s a nice painting.” In reality, the Louvre is far more than a single painting. It’s art from all over the world and in our seven hours we only saw about 20% of the museum. 10/10 would go again and try to see another 20% or so.

While it seems like we couldn’t fit anything else into our time in Paris, we were able to check one more box off of our collective bucket lists. After visiting the Eiffel tower, Jason insisted we head to Champs-Elysee, the main shopping street of Paris. As we walked, his palms were very sweaty. We were trying to check in for our flight back home and I wasn’t sure if he was nervous about that or something else… After a few moments Jason tells me we’re going ring shopping. OK, let’s do this!

How beautiful is that tower? Never gets old.

When you’ve been with someone for 4.5 years, you don’t just get engaged on a whim. At least, Jason and I don’t. We spend months/years talking about it, deciding what our lives will look like, and ensuring we both have a place in our hearts and homes for one another. So, after about an hour of completely unsuccessful ring shopping, something we’d actually never done before, I told him let’s try at home. Ring shopping is something that I now see often happens over weeks, not minutes. We’re both loathful shoppers, so the whole process drained us, but we gave it the old college try.

Locks. None is Jason and mine. That’s OK by us.

Later that night, after drinking my first real glass of champagne and dining on French bread paired with cured meats and cheeses, we were walking along the waterfront gazing up at the Eiffel Tower as it brilliantly sparkled. Jason takes the ring I wear everyday from my finger, ensures he sets the lighting just right, drops to one knee, and asks me to marry him. I said yes.

The next day we headed home. Home to America at least. We flew into NYC first and met up with Jason’s parents. These two adorable people rented us a hotel room, brought us celebratory bubbly, fully equipped with glasses and ice, and bought us pizza. While we were away, Jason’s mother made a chainlink out of paper that marked the date and number of days we were away. It has 342 links in total, one for each day we were gone. They’re some of the most kind and thoughtful people in the world.

That’s it. I have one more final recap to post, then the blog comes to a close. I hope you enjoyed our trip as much as we did!

When one door closes, you know what they say…. Take a picture if it’s a nice looking door!

29 Sep

By Jen Hawse on City Review, Europe tagged beer, Europe, love, reflection, travel

Spinning the Globe — Going from Vienna to Amsterdam

Hello followers! Last I left you we were in Hungary, sharing how Budapest wasn’t exactly as we’d expected. I don’t want to skip any of our journey, so let me share a word or two about each of the other European countries we spent time in during the past few months.

Vienna, Austria, is a sculpted masterpiece.

It’s in the top 5 most beautiful cities in the world for me

It’s as if the city streets themselves are a museum in Vienna. Details on the sculptures around the city are vibrant and create a story in your mind, capturing more than a stagnant moment. While here, Jason and I indulged in currywurst from street carts and ate apple strudel in memory of my dad. Viennese coffee has whipped cream on top, in case you wanted to know what indulgence tastes like. Nearly next to our hotel was a 50 tap craft beer bar that almost featured Flying Dog (they were out when we were there). While hanging by the bar we saw a guy wearing a Capitals sports team hat. Jason asked which sport the Capitals are and he said hockey. Fun! The US and Czech Republic seem to have the same idea for great team names. Ha! Travel magic.

One of the world’s oldest amusement parks

Vienna has one of the oldest amusement parks in the world and, while we didn’t ride any rides or play any games, it was a treat just to walk through this treasure. It was made in the days of World’s Fairs. Why don’t we do those anymore? Le Sigh.

Other Viennese activities including strolling by Freud and Mozart’s homes and going to a museum completely dedicated to globes of the world. It We only stayed a few days, with an entire evening spent mulling over whether we leave our shitty Airbnb or not, but that just meant we got to have a beer at an adorable bar and played “Let’s learn English!” with our bartender. She said/motioned that she had something that would make us more comfortable. What it was, we weren’t sure, but when she finally brought it out for us we told her it was a “seat cushion”. She laughed, waved her hand, and said that wasn’t a word she’d be remembering. I don’t blame her, how often do you use the words “seat cushion”? She was adorable and the bar was Native American themed, so all was right in the world.

Fried and fatty food delights! Apple streusel, pork schnitzel, and chicken cordon blue.

Krakow, Poland, is a craft beer lover’s haven.

Krakow is a city we weren’t sure about. We thought we’d have to choose between here and Vienna, but the stars aligned and we were able to go to both! Krakow has a booming craft beer scene that we absolutely did not expect. They love the microbrew culture far more than any other country we went to, minus possibly Belgium, but the feel here is different than there regardless. The town square in Krakow is the largest in Europe and, my goodness, if you want to feel like you’re in an old European city you get that fully there. We made it a point to have pierogies several times, but we never drank any Polish vodka. Probably better that way!

We met up a friend from home and had an amazing night with Craig while he was on his Eastern European tour. It was so nice to see a familiar face. Most people think you come to Krakow to jump off and go to Auschwitz. There’s so much more here than a concentration camp. It has multiple layers of history and beauty. Krakow is an underrated destination that I’d love to visit again.

Prague, Czech Republic, lives up to the hype.

This artsy, busy, quirky city still manages to be fairly affordable. Our Airbnb was the pinnacle of charming, although getting in the right room was an adventure! After a 6 hour train from Krakow we made our way through downtown to a tram that we just could not figure out how to purchase tickets for. That left us walking with our packs in the heat up a tall hill for miles until we found our apartment building. When we walked up a women who spoke only a few English words said, “Where are you from?” We said, “We have an Airbnb.” She said, “Follow” and took us to an indescribably small apartment that didn’t remind me of any reservation we’d made. After a few minutes I said to Jason, “This isn’t right! We have to find our host!” We connected to the apartment’s wifi and sent a quick message to our host who told me she was waiting outside. Great! We found her right away and checked into our perfect little abode. After learning the basics we devised a plan to get the keys to the other couple who must be wondering where their Airbnb host is. We walked out to the drive and, with perfect timing, a young British couple walks up looking for their apartment. I yelped, “Have we got a story for you!” and promptly showed them to their room. Jason and I were both a flutter with excitement, but neither of these two seemed to find the situation nearly as funny or entertaining as we did. Their loss! In the end everyone had what they paid for and we got a great travel story to share.

The thing I love most about Prague is it’s a tied layer cake. With the coming of every historical era, Prague stacked building after building firmly on top of itself, giving a literal depth to this city. Our Airbnb was situated very closely to a large park with beautiful vistas, a weird art museum, and a woodland gay bar. Looking back on places like this, it’s hard to believe they exist, that I got to see them, and that I’m not still there still today!

That look when you find a random craft beer festival. We were just going to the farmer’s market! Thanks, Prague!

Berlin, Germany, is fresh.

Green beer! Berliner weisse and burgers.

Berlin is newer than many European cities and even newer than some in America. The sad truth is it was basically bombed to the ground during WWII. This tragedy laid the fodder for a progressive outcry and vibrant art scene. This was my second time in Germany, having went to Munich years ago, but first time in Berlin. Being in these places feels like going to separate countries. The contrast is like time traveling in some ways, as Munich wants to preserve that old world feel and Berlin couldn’t even if it tried. Even though it’s been proven wrong through ancestry reports, I grew up believing I had a deep German heritage. You can’t erase that thought from your childhood, or the memory of all those beer steins that lined your kitchen counters. Germany, now as much as ever, holds a special place in my heart. (We’re Norwegian, by the way!)

Being beer people, we did enjoy sampling the more traditional varieties of brews. German beer purity laws, Reinheitsgebot, are to be taken very seriously and have been existence since 1519. The law states that only water, barley and hops may be used to brew beer. How Berliner weiss (green beer above) came to be is another story. We didn’t find any big Munich style beer halls in Berlin, but we did find a few artsy spots and smaller breweries that tickled our fancy. Beer and BBQ, yes please!

Various works of art in Berlin. Top Left: from German Museum of Industry, Bottom Left: Native American nuclear street art. Top Right: punk JFK street art. Middle Right: artistic co-op. Bottom Right: Das Monsterkabinett

Brussels, Belgium, means business.

Brussels is where the European Union is headquartered and the whole city seems to have an aura of seriousness. Stupidly, Belgium wasn’t originally on our list, but after mapping out our European route we thought we had to go and drink some of the world’s greatest beers. So, we split our time between here and the Netherlands and dug into Belgium brews, chocolate, waffles, and fries. We didn’t realize how many of our favorite foods originated from Belgium until we were there! The Belgium waffles, made on the street, available for 1 Euro with powered sugar, was one of the best desserts I will ever eat. Gooey on the inside, but perfectly crispy on the outside and just the right amount of sweetness. Belgium beers are known for their high alcohol content, so it’s good to stuff yourself with bread products before copious amounts of sampling. While in Belgium it rained and rained and so we rested up, ate frozen pizza, and enjoyed our quiet Airbnb, knowing we had days and days of nonstop travels ahead of us.

Cantillon, an old lambic style brewery, located in a sketchy neighborhood, but producing some of the tastiest gueuze beer we’ve ever had.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, is the best of Europe.

Friendly, free, liberal, artistic, stunning architecture, people powered transportation, quirky, green, vibrant… I could do this all day. I’m in love with Amsterdam. The first time I went to Amsterdam it was a fucking disaster. I will not share details, but I was not in a good headspace and I it resulted in me having a terrible time. Truthfully though, I knew Amsterdam was, for me, an oyster with a pearl waiting to be cracked open and revealed. It was the absolute must see place on Jason’s list for Europe and, honestly, it was on mine too. Cheers to the power of second chances!

Amsterdam doesn’t judge what you do. If you choose to spend your day relaxing in Vondelpark, watching the people go by and admiring an array of birds and peoples, you surely can. If you fancy finding a sex worker and doing drugs all day, no problem, that’s your choice. If you want to take a canal boat ride and skip the sinfulness entirely, than by all means, right this way. Engaging in professional business transactions? Carry on. The Dutch are a glorious folk who embody a live and let live mentality. We felt we could find a home here and craved more time in this enchanting place. But, just around the bend was an even more fulfilling place for a whole other reason…. Read about it in the next blog post; coming soon!

22 Jun

By Jen Hawse on Preparing for the Trip, Travel Philosophy tagged anxiety, grateuful, gratitude, happiness, love

Gratitude Attitude as This Moment Slips Away

I wrote this in August, 2016. It’s June, 2017. I’m publishing it now because of a desire for openness and sharing. There’s no shame in my hopes and dreams. Here they are from last year.

For years, I’ve subscribed to the belief of a “gratitude attitude”. What that means to me is that I try to reflect as often as possible on how grateful I am for all of the blessings, good fortune, privileges, and goodness this world has provided to me. I do my best to be grateful during the difficult times and see why I’m fortunate even if things aren’t going my way. I’m in no way perfect and very often get grumpy over the dumbest stuff. Still, I try to reflect on goodness as often as I can, because I know it’s a main component to my happiness.

It’s moving week. Hampden has been my neighborhood for three years. I love it here. I’m happy here. I’m even recognized around town by a few people! But, it’s time to move on. The trip is three weeks away to the day. So soon. I’m cleaning the apartment, putting my life in boxes (like I’ve done every single year for the past decade), and canceling the subscriptions. In the past year, in this particular apartment, I had the chance to live alone for the first time and it was glorious! Sleep all over the bed. Build a pillow hammock for one. Skip the dishes till you’re ready to have them done. Keep it as neat and tidy as you like it. Yep, that’s the good life.

Flowers I gathered during another transitionary period in my life in Olympia, Washington in 2011.

Starting Saturday, I’ll be staying with my mom for a few weeks and then we’ll be sleeping in the strangest of places. This morning, I woke up at 5:30 and decided I wanted to nap for a bit on the couch as the sun rose. I was so grateful to sleep on that luxurious couch. I crawled back in bed before Jason noticed I was gone, but it’s moments like that where I’m reminded to be mindful of how short time is and how you have to simultaneously hold tight while keeping your grip loose enough to let go. I’ve held tight before. I’ve gripped onto days and seconds as they escaped with no way to make them stop and stay. It’s a common tale and I’m no different than anyone else afraid of loss. Going through hard times doesn’t mean you are better able handle them later, it means you know it’s going to be tough and you just have to deal with it.

Reflections from the happy life I left behind me.

Many are jealous of the trip, few are leveling with me like they would if they really sunk into my shoes. Picture this… Drop everything, for an entire year of your life, and go away to places you’ve never been (and, up until a few months ago might not have even known existed). Leave your family, friends, and city behind. Don’t work. Don’t make money. Spend money. Struggle. Know you’re going to fight through language barriers and with customs agents. Know there are things in these places will make you physically ill. Risk. Fight. Over directions and because of loneliness. Worry. Wonder what’s happening at home. Feel like you’re missing out on things big and small. Wish you could share the journey with more of those you love. Know that phone calls don’t replace hugs. Try not to envision if the worst happened, but envision it anyway. Be afraid and grieve. For you’re letting so much go and you have no idea what happens on the other side.

I did it! And, I survived. Pictures from the world over. Germany, Budapest, Athens, Vietnam, Thailand, and I think Hong Kong

Am I grateful to go: of course! I’m so humbled to be able to take this on. I’m so honored to be part of something that will open up a whole new world and hopefully deepen my relationship to Jason and humanity itself. I’m going to be challenged every single day in ways that I could never be in my comfortable life at home. When I was younger and went to Indiana I was nervous, but knew farming was what I was called to do. Now, I’m older and more settled down. A dozen times people have said, “Good for you for doing this when you’re young”. I’m 32 in two months, I’m not young; but I’m childless, unmarried, and without a house, so therefore I’m not tied down.

This is a collection of some of the pictures I took for other people in the first month of my trip. It’s incomplete. Pictures for: Chris, Aubrey, Daniel Klein, my mom, Maryland, and everyone for Halloween 🙂

Sometimes, my gratitude is almost a blinder, because it helps me be contented in the moment to the point that I don’t seek as deeply or strive for a new life. It’s easy to be complacent and content. Change is difficult.

I’ve been listening to a great many travel songs today as I pack. I and Love and You really spoke to me:

One foot in and one foot back.
But it don’t pay to live like that.
So I cut the ties and I jumped the tracks.
For never to return.

I’ll be back, but I’ll be different and so will you. For never to return to this moment. But, I plan on forever being grateful for the opportunity to live and those whom I love so much.