28.11.19 - 10.12.19 Taipei and Surroundings

Back in Taipei, we realized that summer and the warm temperatures for this year are probably over. So we unpacked our long clothes again and explored the beloved city and revisited our culinary highlights. By the way, we stayed in the same room as last time and were kindly greeted with Bubbletea.

Fitting to the temperatures, Christmas spirit is spreading throughout the city and we had an unexpected tasting of famous Pineapple cakes. When we were at the famous Sunny Hills bakery to buy such a cake for Mathias, we were immediately seated and treated to tea and a free Pineapple cake each. A nice gesture, which initially confused us, because we really only wanted a single piece and were even willing to pay for it.

Ben is now also in Taipei for a while to learn Chinese. We spent several evenings with him and his girlfriend Ying and went on some night market tours.

On December 3rd, we celebrated Mathias' birthday in the distance and did what Mathias loves most - eating, walking around, exploring, and eating. For lunch, we had the goose that we already had at the beginning of our time in Taiwan. Then we made a detour to the Baoan Temple and in the evening, we met all our friends here for an all-you-can-eat hot pot. It got a bit out of hand, but it was super delicious.

On one of the upcoming days, we took a trip to the North Coast to the small town of Jiufen. The small town is very idyllically situated on a mountainside with a view of the sea. Together with thousands of other people, you can explore the narrow alleys and enjoy various snacks. Unfortunately, it started pouring rain when we arrived there, so we kept our visit very short and drove back to Taipei and had some delicious noodles.

The rain lasted for another whole day. We spent the following days very comfortably. Mathias didn't always handle it so well and was quite often out and about alone. So here are a few unspecific impressions of the city and food before we tell you about our last day.

We spent our last day with a trip to the North Coast again, this time to the Yehliu Geopark, where you can see exciting rock formations. On the way there, we made a detour to an abandoned hotel complex, some of whose bungalows are built in the shape of UFOs. Quite surreal this place. By the way, some of these bungalows seem to be inhabited.

In Yehliu Park, we were greeted by crowds of people that we tried to avoid by visiting on a weekday. It was really not very fun to navigate through, even though the landscape was really cool. The most sought-after attraction is the Queenshead, a formation that resembles the head of Nefertiti.

We had enough of the hustle and bustle and made a short visit to the night market in Keelung before driving back to Taipei.

And so we concluded our time in Taiwan for now. But we all agree that we will definitely come back. On our day of departure, we set off to the airport early in the morning. But more about that another time.