My third day in Taipei

Today we went to the National Center for Traditional Arts, which display for example traditional musical instruments and theater clothing. It is also like a little town with many shops, which sell the cutest, most artfully crafted, interesting, traditional, modern things made of leather, glass, ceramics, paper... Driven by curiosity and enthusiasm I wanted to explore every shop.






I literally could have spent a whole day there, but we were also headed for the beach. On the drive I could not help but be amazed by the nature surrounding Taipei and the rest of the country. Driving on the street you see mountains in the background, driving on and through them. To me it is the most special characteristic of Taiwan. I love just sitting in the car and staring out the window. The mountains are huge and covered in green. (It reminds me of broccoli a little bit.)




At the beach you could almost touch the mountains. It is my favourite word now, mountains, mountains, mountains. The landscape is like a dream come true.





On the way back, we went into “Tofu-Street”. Yeah, it’s like entering heaven for vegetarians! There the most amazing thing happened. We were sitting in a restaurant, asking the waiter to take a picture of us. But the batteries of the camera went dead when he took the camera. Ten minutes later he came back, holding his own camera in his hand and saying something like, “I will give the picture to you”. He took a picture of us and went away. What did he mean? He did not have our email or address. As he did not come back, so we left, enjoying the rest of Tofu-Street. When we went back to the car a motorcycle suddenly stopped next to us. It was the waiter from the restaurant. He gave us the picture, which he had printed out himself and laminated! He had been driving up and down Tofu-Street twice to find us. I cannot believe the sheer friendliness and cordiality of this deed. It is so amazing!


Here is the picture that he gave us. Amazing.

Back in the city at night we enjoyed some Starbucks outside next to the 101. The street was dazzling from young people walking by, busy traffic in the background, lights illuminating the buildings and streets. It was such a chilling and at the same time exciting feeling to have a cup of café latte, feeling the cool breeze on your skin, and watching the nightlife around you.



Thank you, Runner, for this day. It was so much fun! We had shopping, mountains, beach, cool city chillout… I still smile when reliving the memories of this day in my head. I will alway remember when you said, "when you go home hungry, then I have failed", because it shows the warmth of your welcome ^^

All in all, I just can say, that I will definitely come back! I realize that there is so much to see and experience in this country. I am so grateful when I think about the amazing friendliness and cordiality of our Taiwanese friends. You have made us feel at home. The unexpected and huge generosity of giving that I encountered makes this trip so special. Experiencing this makes you want to give something back.