After our travel:

So after this wonderful travel to Europe, we finally went back to Taiwan. What we have learned from this trip, we would never forget. We learned about important Hungarian values, Lithuanian economics, Malta’s architectures, and Ukraine’s religion, etc. We also realized that Europe was more attractive than what we thought! Last but not the least, I think we made your image of Europe, better than before! Thank you for reading our blog!

Lithuania Journal

{December 17th, 2016}

After we arrived at the Vilnius International Airport at 20:55, we stayed at the Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva, Vilnius for the rest of the day. TV was fun and we watched a lot of Lithuanian shows on TV, but we still ate and slept for the rest of the day, since we were so tired from traveling that much.

{December 18th, 2016}

Today we woke up so early! I mean, wouldn’t you call 8:00 early?! We went out to learn about the government of Lithuania. First, we learned a bit about background information. We learned that the government of Lithuania is really cool! The Government has the Prime Minister, also known as the head of the government, and 14 other government ministers. The current prime minister for Lithuania is Saulius Skvernelis. The Prime minister is appointed by the President, with the assent of Seimas.

{December 18th, 2016}

After visiting “the government”, we went to the mall in Vilnius called Ozas to learn about their fashion style. And we went to sleep lately just because we wanted to review what we saw, like on the bed! The shopping center was so vividly described, we just couldn’t stop thinking about it! Lithuanian fashion is really outstanding. It is mainly admired for its creativity, colorfulness, and expressiveness! One shop I clearly remember was Peek & Cloppenburg. We bought ourselves a lot of clothing, such as Calvin Klein underwears and jeans. Afterward, we went to eat dinner in Charlie Pizza. I don’t know why I ate pizza for dinner since I was on a heavy diet... The point is, after eating dinner, we went back to our sweet hotel room!

{December 19th, 2016} Today, we woke up early since we went to sleep at 22:00 yesterday. Our plans for today is to research about Ukraine’s economics since we walked a lot yesterday, and if we walked anymore, “sightseeing” stuff, our legs would break. Now does the “diet” I mentioned before make any sense? Back to what I was saying about our willing to know more about Ukraine’s economy, we should all know that Lithuania is in the European Union. It also has the largest economy of the three Baltic States! In fact, the current GDP growth is 1.7% per year! It’s GDP rank overall in the world is rated 84th nominal! Finally, after learning about the Lithuanian government, we went back to the hotel room. We checked out of the hotel room, knowing we might never have such wonderful experiences in our lives. We took the taxi to the airport and our plane took off at 20:00 from Lithuania, Vilnius. We had fulfilled our hearts with what we had learned about the small part of Europe we went to!

Lithuania Postcard

Lithuania Newspaper

Lithuania national defense manual. Teach people how to defend the invasion of Russia.

Lithuania, a country that had been conquered by Russia, recently updated their defense manual. This defense manual was made by the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania and contains 75 pages. Thousands of these manuals were published. The manuals teach people how to identify Russia’s tanks, bullets, and landmines. They also teach some survival skills. The book emphasizes-“Every Lithuanian must have the awareness of fighting and the will of defending.”

International Number Ones Map

Lithuania has the fastest wifi. If you want to have fast wifi connections, you can visit Lithuania.

The road signs for small animals in Lithuania.

In Vilnius, Lithuania, a creative agency has created tiny road signs for tiny animals. The goal is to "show that we are not the only ones living in the city." The idea came to the agency's project manager. One night when he was in a taxi, his driver had almost hit a hedgehog. So, he decided to create signs in the city's Vingis Park. Now, there are small signs set up along the park's roads and paths for hedgehogs. There are even signs set up for cats, birds, and ducks!

British “drug-lord” arrested by FBI in his own Lithuanian bolt-hole.

A drug addict found himself being caught by police just wearing his underwear. He was accused of heading to an International money laundering operation. It was indeed a shock for him. He is named James Mulvey and he is 40 years old. He was only wearing his pants when he got arrested by police from the National Crime Agency. Later on, the police discovered his Lithuanian hideout on Wednesday. The picture here shows Mulvey from Solihull, West Midlands, with cops holding his arms behind his back.

Ukraine Journal

{December 16th, 2016}

So today, we woke up with excitement! Kiev was such a beautiful city! It had so many tourist attractions. We wanted to see the St. Andrew’s Church and we saw how beautiful it looked on the brochures! St. Andrew’s Church is one of the most famous churches in Ukraine. We then ate breakfast in a nearby breakfast shop and then continued our journey. Finally, we took a walk to the St. Andrew’s Church. We had to walk for a long distance, and it was really tiring because the church was on a hill! It was one of the most dazzling structures we had ever seen! By the way, many people mistook it for a Cathedral. It fact, when we asked the people of Ukraine, where the Cathedral of St. Andrew was, they said there was none. Anyways, we read more from the brochure and understood more about Ukraine. Most of the people in Ukraine follow Eastern Orthodox. In fact, 73.77% of Ukrainians followed the religion. It was a fun place to visit! This will be one of my memories that will never be forgotten! After visiting St. Andrew’s Church, we went to eat dinner, and then went back to our hotel.

{December 17th, 2016}

We woke up early today since we slept at 20:30 last night. We decided to learn a bit about Ukraine’s education, so we went to the British International School in Ukraine. There, we learned that free education is free to all citizens. In Ukraine, schooling usually begins if you’re 6 unless your birthday is on or even after September. Also, they tell us that 56% of children aged from one to six years old receive preschool education. We didn’t expect this, so we moved on asking about homeschooling. They answered that homeschooling is legal in Ukraine and expressly allowed because of Ukraine’s Education Law. We thanked them and started to go back to our hotel.

{December 17th, 2016}

We weren’t satisfied with what we learned about Ukraine, so we decided what we would check out some arts and we decided that we’re going to visit. 

After our visit to British International School in Ukraine, we went to the same breakfast shop. After we ate, we went to the National Art Museum of Ukraine, and we asked a few staff managers about it. First, we asked when was it established. They answered, “Sir, it was constructed in 1898, and established in 1899. It was first built by the architect, Vladislav Gorodetsky for the Kiev City Museum.” He said this statement like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He also said that the museum was originally named “The Kiev City Museum of Antiques and Art” and they changed its name to “The National Art Museum of Ukraine” after World War II. After we went into the museum, we saw lots of fine art works. First, we saw the Three women's figures, painted by a famous Russian artist named Aleksandra Aleksandrovna Ekster. After that, we saw the Cossacks in the steppe, which is an oil on canvas painting made by a famous Ukrainian artist named Serhii Vasylkivsky. Those paintings were some the most beautiful paintings that we have ever seen. After our visit to the National Art Museum of Ukraine, we took the taxi from the museum to the Boryspil International Airport to take our flight to Lithuania. Our plane departed at 19:35 and arrived at Vilnius, Lithuania at 20:55. We stayed at the Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva, Vilnius for the rest of the day.

Ukraine Newspaper

03/23/2017

An arsenal in Ukraine exploded

Today, an arsenal in Balakleya, Ukraine exploded. This arsenal was the biggest arsenal in Ukraine. There was lots of explosion and glass breaking sound. Fortunately, there were no injuries. After the explosion, One prosecutor said: “This explosion happened during 3 in the morning, and someone tried to attack the arsenal and caused the arsenal to explode.”

03/23/2017

An ex-government officer of Russia got killed in Kiev, Ukraine.

An ex-Russian government officer named Denis Voronenkov was killed in Kiev, Ukraine. Later on, Petro Poroshenko, the president of Ukraine said this event was a terrorist attack. Denis Voronenkov was a Russian government officer but he was an important witness of Viktor Yanukovych, the predecessor president of Ukraine. Last autumn, he gave up his Russian nationality and emigrated to Ukraine. Some people said that he emigrated to Ukraine to avoid the Russian’s control. This year, the Russian government said that he had fraud and had been wanted by the Russian government. After he got shot the head, his bodyguard injured the shooter, after the shooter was sent to the hospital he was declared dead.

3/23/2017

Smuggled lion cub found in bird truck in Ukraine

At a Black Sea trading port in Ukraine, border guards discovered something new.

They found in a truck full of pet birds, a secretly smuggled lion club. This lion club was one-month old. It had been hidden under a blanket and bag. On the van, were two passengers and one driver. And all of them had been arrested for smuggling. The cub lion had later on been sent to a zoo in Odessa, which is also in Ukraine.

Ukraine Postcard

Hungary Newspaper

02/14/2017

A video about a man and a cat taking shower together.

There’s a Hungarian man named Travis DesLaurier. He often posts videos about his cat, Jacob. Today, he posted a video of him and his cat taking shower together. After Travis DesLaurier finished his shower, he used his cat to wipe his body. Because so many people see this video, he got 60,000 likes within a day It was so astonishing!

01/25/2017

Is this a pig or a sheep?

Look at this animal? Do you think it’s a pig or a sheep? I bet you haven’t seen this animal. It’s Mangalica, a Hungarian Endemic species. According to Bastille Post, Mangalica is a mix of Hungarian wild pig and Hungarian home pig. Mangalica is a pig with the thickest fat on earth. Fat covers 70% of its weight. It was first discovered in the 18th century. By 1970, the population of Mangalica was less than 200. In 1994, the Hungarian government decided to start protecting them.

Nazi Documents found in Hungarian couple’s home while renovating.

While a Hungarian couple was renovating their home, they discovered 135 pounds of really valuable Holocaust-era documents. Everyone thought that these important documents were destroyed during World War 2.

The couple found the 6,300 documents from a wall cavity. The documents are actually from the haul of 6,300 documents are from a 1944 census that was a precursor to the intended liquidation of the Hungarian capital's 200,000 Jews in Nazi death camps.

Brigitte Berdefy, co-owner of the apartment overlooking Hungary's parliament, said that in August a worker detected paper after jamming a screwdriver through a crack in the wall.

"We thought we'd ruined the neighbor's wallpaper," Berdefy told AFP.

But then her husband Gabor peered through the crack and saw what looked like handwriting.

Hungary Postcard

Hungary Journal

{December 14th, 2016} 

I couldn't forget what the people in Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport were speaking! They spoke in a weird accent that Ben and I have never heard before. I asked Ben what the official language for Hungary is, and he told me that it was Hungarian, or Magyar, as Hungarian’s called it. Magyar was one of the most common “Non-Indo-European languages” in Europe. Anyways, as we walked by Castle Hill, I heard Hungarian people beside me speaking Hungarian, and so I walked up to them, with full of tension and asked them to teach me Hungarian. They, fortunately, were kind people, and so they taught us “Hi!” (Szia, pronounced- “see ya!”), and “Nice to meet you!” (örvendek, pronounced- “oar van deck”). Later on, I asked them, “What are your values?” They told us that they believed in strong family values. They also expected friends to share personal details with each other. Castle Hill was a great place, filled with Gothic arches, eighteenth-century Baroque houses, and cobblestone street! I enjoyed it, and so did Benjamin! He was so delighted by our visit, that he actually said, “If I could come back here, I will definitely bring my future family!” Later on, we went to the 5-star hotel that we booked in Budapest.

{December 15th, 2016} 

After we woke up, we walked down an alley and met a few teens who looked like they were enjoying a game of handball. Vishnu and I jogged over to them, and asked if we could ask them a few questions about what they were playing! We wanted to know what they would think of handball from a Hungarian perspective. They answered us, “We don't think Hungarians came up with any sports. But they are especially good in swimming, gymnastics, and handball!” The reason that they are good at these sports is not because of their body types or anything, but it's the strategy and the way they are trained to play these sports! These teens also told me that even in the Olympics, the training and strategies told by their coaches, is also how they win matches! No wonder! Back to what we were doing, we also played a bit of handball with them!

{December 15th, 2016} 

After that, we went to the Groupama Aréna to watch a soccer game. The game was so intense and exciting! All the players were highly skilled! Hungarians are good at soccer. They have a respectable soccer history. They had won three Olympic titles, finished runners-up in the 1938 and 1954 FIFA World Cups, and got third place in the 1964 UEFA European Football Championship! After the game finished, we went to the Budapest International Airport for departure. We will miss the beauty of Hungary! Our plane departed at 15:20 and arrived (at Kiev, Ukraine) at about 18:00. After we arrived, we went to “Intercontinental Kyiv” (a 5-star hotel that we booked) and that’s exactly how we finished our day.

Malta Journal

{December 12th, 2016}

Valletta is one of the most beautiful cities we’ve visited! Valletta is renowned for its harmonious collection of the baroque architecture. A bit of head up here: Baroque architecture is filling forcing military fortresses and profound channels circle its edge, impressive-looking church arches, and really luxuriously splendid green wooden overhangs. As we walked around the streets, we saw the il-Beltin, the residents of the city that still follow their old tradition of looking down from their balconies at the streets of Valletta.

{December 13th, 2016 }

Today, we woke up lately, so we decided to go to the Rubino restaurant to eat our lunch. Vishnu ate a lampuki pie and I ate the Maltese cuisine. Maltese cuisine was a mix of Maltese and Mediterranean cooking. Lampuki pie is a sort of fish pie with English cooking, with some Arabic flavors and some Italian verve.

{December 13th, 2016}

We both woke up with happiness, fully aware that today, the people of Malta would celebrate their republic day. Their republic day is on the thirteenth of December. This happened when Malta went from being a Commonwealth realm into a republic. As Sir Anthony Mamo became the first president of Malta, the British Monarch gave up being the head of state. At least, this was what we heard from the small lecture a parent gave to her son. Then, We took the taxi from Valletta to the Malta International Airport at Luqa LQA 4000, Malta, After that, we departed at 14:25 and we arrived in Budapest, Hungary at 19:05. This was how our day ended.

Malta Newspaper

2/19/2017

Eight People Held for Possessing Drugs.

Eight people have been arrested when the police found them to be carrying drugs.

Seven arrests happened in Malta, and one happened in Gozo.

The arrests in Malta were men aged between 19 and 28. They possessed cocaine and cannabis resin.

12/24/2016

Hijacked Plane

There was one plane that carried 118 people. It was Libya domestic line’s plane. It was hijacked by 2 men who later on claimed to be the supporter of Muammar Gaddafi, former prime minister of Libya. The plane was then demanded to land in Malta. After landing, they released all the passengers safely and surrendered. 

Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, said that the hijackers had surrendered and were taken away and were jailed in Malta. 111 passenger and 7 plane crews were freed. 

Cabinet was “angered and shocked” by frequent car bomb attacks.

The minister is very angry at these incidents. The minister ordered that the Cabinet of Ministers will immediately put the incident on its agenda. They will talk about in what ways can the police’s resources strengthened later on. They will also try and reduce the possibility of such attacks.

Malta Postcard

About our travel:

     I, Vishnu, and Benjamin have traveled to Europe several times. We have learned a lot from our travels. We want to enlighten other people about Europe since we found it one of the most fascinating continents. We would like to share our experiences with you. We wrote about Malta, Hungary, Ukraine, and Lithuania. We hope that our blog will be helpful for you!