The time was early January. School was bland, and I was looking forward to Spring Break which would, of course, pass by quicker than me saying, “Spring Break is here.” And then I would be left in a school, again, filled with headaches and drama. At that point, I was counting bricks, cemented together to form a concrete cage, until my mom received a call from Chamber Discoveries. She had been offered a trip for two to Spain in April or to Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, and Austria in October. I broke out of my spell in excitement. But then it hit me. I remembered that small bumps in the road stressed me out, but missing school for almost two weeks made me ill. I thought of all the scenarios that would go wrong like my grades dropping or me missing so many band practices. But I worked all of my anxiety out before the trip. I was not going to miss this trip because of school work. Four countries full of rich culture and spectacular views filled my imagination as I dreamed in class. Those next several months could not have come soon enough.

My mom, dad, sister, grandparents, and I boarded the plane in Jackson and flew two hours to Atlanta. Our plane landed late causing us to miss our connection flight to Munich, Germany,  so we waited several hours for a plane that would take us into Europe that day. We flew from Atlanta to Heathrow Airport in London, and it was disastrous. It was the most disorganized airport I had ever visited. But we did eventually land in Munich where we stayed for one night in the Ibis Hotel. We ate at the Hofbrauhaus where we enjoyed a traditional band and different spreads with bread, German goulash, and a German dessert. We traveled back to the hotel where we met our late luggage and our very modernistic rooms. Of course I did have to catch up on my calculus lessons and homework. I was not going to come back to America without having done my six lessons of calculus.
The next morning, we toured Munich’s BMW (Bavarian Motor Works) Museum that was furnished with BMWs, Rolls Royces, and Mini-Coopers. After, we traveled to Passau, the port city of our ship, and boarded the Amadeus Brilliant. We were served a six course dinner with duck breast and roast beef and other delicious foods. The next morning, we had arrived in Mondsee, Austria where we witnessed the breathtaking views of the Drachenwand Mountain and the Moon Lake. The surrounding fields reminded me of Tennessee and Georgia in the summer, but the trees resembled fall colors. The churches were magnificent including the Cloister Church where a part of the Sound of Music was filmed. The stop in that city flew by as once we began our departure to the famous Salzburg.
That Salzburg, Austria was a one of a kind city full of rich culture and cobblestone streets. We passed the famous birthplace of Mozart and visited the Mirabell Gardens where another part of the Sound of Music was filmed. Lastly, we strode across the Makartsteg Bridge that had been lined with love padlocks. The bridge compares to the famous Pont des Arts Bridge in Paris, France. We soon boarded the busses that took us to the boat that would soon dock in the beautiful city of Bratislava, Slovakia.
Although the city seemed small and not as populated as the other cities, Bratislava had a beautiful rich culture. Many of the gift shops we visited were filled with handmade materials that reflected the Slovakian traditions.  My favorite part of visiting these amazing and old cities was the churches. These churches weren’t just filled with architectural amenities, but history that spanned as far as one thousand years ago. Chandeliers and gaudy statues reflected the time of riches in these old cities like Bratislava. These churches opened my imagination and my mouth, in awe. Opposed to the historical buildings, my mom and I visited modern parts of the city while the rest of my family rested on the cruise. We saw statues and bars and bicyclists. We even sat down to watch an intense game of chess that was being played by two men. The men played on a huge chess board with gigantic sized chess pieces while onlookers guessed at the many moves that could happen. I could understand the game because my dad had just taught me how to play chess onboard the ship. The city was magical, but I did not know that I would truly love another city at this point in our adventure until we docked in the beautiful city of Budapest, Hungary.
My breath was taken away by the magnificent beauty of the place. Bordering the Danube River, old historical buildings captured my attention as we left the ship to search for Budapest’s treasures. We began our journey and stopped in the Hosoktere or the Heroes’ Square. The square possesses the statues of the seven chieftains of the Magyars and stands in between the Museum of Fine Arts and the Palace of Art. After, we passed by a museum that held part of the Berlin wall outside of the building. The building also had a physical curtain that resembled the symbolic Iron Curtain. And as we passed by the Danube River, we noticed around twenty pairs of bronze shoes lining the sidewalk next to the river. Our tour guide told us that during the Holocaust, Jewish Hungarians lined up on the sidewalk where they were blindfolded, shot one by one, and pushed into the freezing river. The stories were horrific and my mind became open. I was walking on history.
We did not stay long in the “Pest” side of Budapest because there was a whole other side to explore called “Buda.” Once we arrived across the bridge connecting the two parts of the city, we explored gift shops that were full of handmade goods. The gift shops were stocked full of doilies, paprika, “pillow like” Christmas ornaments, and magnets. We visited a site where there were still bullet holes in the cement blocks from WWII. Hungary had succeeded in gaining their independence from the communistic Soviet Union in 1989 and is a very nationalistic country. After we learned about some of the history of Hungary and Budapest, we walked up a staircase that led us to a balcony overlooking the entire city of Budapest. Although the city was covered in fog, the Hungarian Parliament building was stunning sitting next to the Danube River. The view was breathtaking. Once we had seen what we had looked for, we decided to enjoy a bit of Hungarian cuisine. We stopped by a small café where we ordered chocolate cakes and thick creamy hot chocolate. The cakes weren’t as sweet compared to the cakes in the United States, but they reflected the culture and cuisine of Hungary and Europe.
The next morning, we toured more of Budapest, my favorite city of the trip. What was truly breathtaking was not the skyline or the food or the Heroes’ Square, but the St. Stephen’s Basilica. This basilica was so grand and amazing; it was as if the architectures designed the dome to be built so high that it touched the heavens. The basilica was neither gaudy nor ordinary. The paintings and gold trimmings highlighted the beauties of the basilica. Pictures of Christ hung on every wall; crosses and candles and marble pillars were seen everywhere. Statues had been carved to perfection, and arches had been created with grace. But that was just the beginning. My mom and I had sat down in seats where we listened to the Seattle Girl’s choir. Their voices, echoing, filled the entire basilica. We sat for a few minutes and the voices reminded me of angels singing. Tears had even risen into my eyes. I had never experienced so many beautiful harmonies and melodies at once. The basilica just made their voices sound even more angelic.
We left Hungary that night and set course for Vienna, Austria. Once we arrived, my family and I visited the very famous Spanish Riding School, home of the famous Lipizzaner Stallions. The arena that they perform in had not one, but three crystal chandeliers with a decorated ceiling that added another touch of royalty to the palace. Even the horse stables and tack room were designed and decorated with a magnificent taste of beauty. Our trip to Vienna was short, but we did enjoy the night with friends from the ship at a traditional Austrian restaurant.
The next and last day, we visited Durnstein and Melk. We toured the extravagant Melk Abbey which was full of art pieces of the Holy Roman Empress, Maria Theresa. Some art pieces dated back to the 11th century. These art pieces were not only paintings, but were also goblets encrusted with rubies and emeralds, crosses coated in gold, and even decorative chairs that seated important priests of the ages. Lastly, we toured the abbey’s library. There were secret doors hidden in the bookshelves where people could hide and read a nice long book.
Our trip ended so quickly, it seemed. We ate a six course dinner and said farewell to the crew members onboard. The next morning, we flew from Munich to Amsterdam and then from Amsterdam to Atlanta. We had a bit of trouble and missed our connection flight so we stayed the night in a nice American hotel. Although I was not quite home, I felt like I was at home. We caught our flight the next morning and headed home from Jackson. I looked back on my adventure to those countries and smiled. I smiled some more once I knew I could get my hands on some fried chicken and sweet tea in my beautiful home, America.