Thongvanh [dot] com

well, after everyone left france, iseng took me to visit toulouse for a day, then dropped me off in some random place in the pyrenees where i hiked up to a place called sauvegarde peak. its about 8000 feet above sea level, with something like 60 switchbacks on the trail. i camped for one night there, and summited twice because i didnt camp far from it. after that, i began my trip out to visit my friend in prague. first i went to barcelona by train, then flew to the brno in the czech republic, took a bus to prague, then another bus to frankfurt, germany where i flew back to china.

the trip only last about two weeks, but i got to see a lot of beautiful places. barcelona was pretty incredible. i couldnt walk around too much because my knee was sore from hiking. unfortunately, i didnt take too many pictures there, but the weather and architecture was amazing.

barcelona's winding streets are dizzying and i would never want to try to find anything there. it's nice to just wander through, because every street eventually opens up to a nice courtyard where people are sitting outside enjoying food and drinks. after two nights there, i headed off to the czech republic. brno and prague are cities that people dream of when they think of europe. brno was quaint and a nice introduction to the czech republic, but prague really resonated for me. i stayed there for about five days, just wandering around the city, hitting bars with my friend and his girlfriend. the food in prague was not spectacular. one thing that i really loved was gulash. it is fatty beef that has been simmered in its own fatty juices. then they put in some potatoes and carrots, and serve it with dumplings. its pretty hearty, so along with a beer, you are stuffed. lots of the pictures i took are just big tourist sites, and just snapshots from walks. my favorite place was hradcany, which was the castle area. it is free to go inside, and they have an aweinspiring church there. big, beautiful stained glass windows, and intricate brickwork. the outside was under renovation, but the part they had restored look great. i'd like to see it a year from now when its all cleaned up.

well, on to the pictures. click here.