Tags
Alaska, Amsterdam, Assisi, Barcelona, Cologne, E.F. Tours, Flat Tires, Florence, Heidelberg, Ice Cubes, Innsbruck, London, Lucerne, Madrid, Munich, Paris, Pisa, Rome, Rotenburg, Seattle, Starbucks, Venice, Versailles, Whip Cream
The moment you step foot back in Seattle after a long trip away from home is amazing. It is much cooler than wherever you were (unless you were in Alaska during winter, and even then you are still happy to be in a place where you don’t step outside and immediately get a nosebleed), the air crisper, and everyone speaks English. You get through customs and hear a good ol’ “welcome home” from a fellow American citizen. You wait for your luggage, once around, twice around, twelve times around, eighteen… and find out your bag is left in Germany. However, you don’t care because you are just glad to be home, regardless of your stuff being in another country. Then you get in the car, talking to a loved one for the first time in awhile, exchanging hugs and stories. You pull up to your driveway, excited to see your dog that probably thought he was abandoned, and you see your car you have left for a month, and realize your tires are flat and that it will have to be towed to the nearest Good Year to replace the tires. And though you are a little discouraged about the circumstances, you walk to your nearest authentic Starbucks and order a venti iced mocha with whip and appreciate its largeness, coldness, and creaminess, and you forget about everything that has piled up while you were away and just enjoy a little taste of home.
After being home for a few weeks and seeing my friends, roomies and family, I have answered their question about how my trip was with one word: crazy. We went to 16 cities in 28 days. Now that I have had a taste (a small, small taste) of all of them, I know where I would want to go back to visit (which is honestly most places, because I didn’t get to see enough of anywhere to be completely satisfied). For anyone going to Europe for the first time, I would suggest doing a tour like this, but perhaps one that is for shorter time, or where you spend more time in one place. It was a good experience because it taught me the lay of the land, as well as cultural differences and expectations. However, I will never EVER do another tour group like this, especially with EF. We are in the process of our complaints and are hoping to get some money back because of the unexpected bilingual issue, the bus problems, and missing out on tours and free time because of a lack of authority in regard to lateness. It is difficult traveling in a large group for this reason, so I would suggest joining a group that is 25 people or under–42 was way too many. Number one tip: Be prepared for pickpockets and paying to potty. Both are out for your money.
So looking back, here are my favorite to least favorite places:
1) London – Every English Literature Major and Tudors History Enthusiast’s dream
2) Amsterdam – Holland is one of the cleanest places in the world, and as the most liberal, it reminded me of Olympia.
3) Lucerne – Switzerland has to be the most beautiful country in the world, and our trip to Mount Pilatus was the best excursion of the whole trip.
4) Florence – Home of Dante and many others who make up Italy’s amazing history. Enough said.
5) Venice – Fabulous, the gondola ride was everything I thought it would be, but extremely expensive. If I were rich, Venice would probably be higher on the list.
6) Barcelona – A million things to do and the most modern place I have ever been.
7) Paris – J’adore Paris! Notre Dame, the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower were fabulous. The outer part of the city, not so much.
8) Rome – Similar to Paris, the ancient part of the city was amazing, but the outskirts were trashed, graffitied, and full of homeless camps.
9) Heidelberg/Rotenburg – These places are beautiful, and visiting a medieval city that still has its original wall was fabulous. I hope to see more of Germany in the future so it can move up on my list!
10) Assisi – The town is small, quiet and reminds me of the village in Pinocchio. The basilica wasn’t too bad either.
11) Versailles – The hall of mirrors and chandeliers was my favorite thing. The mirrors reflected the sunset and the garden, which is as equally as impressive as the palace. We also had a delicious crepe.
12) Madrid – Flamenco = Passion. I also saw some fabulous art while I was there. The only reason why it is so low on the list is because it was 100 degrees and we could barely enjoy our time there. Also, the pollution was really visible, as when it was cloudy, the sky was yellow.
13) Cologne – All I saw while here was the Kolner Dom, so I can’t judge the whole city. However, my time at the Kolner Dom was amazing, and it has to be the most beautiful gothic structure in the world.
14) Pisa – The leaning tower is a must see, but what never hear about is the amazing cathedral and baptistry right next to the famous belltower.
15) Innsbruck – I was only here for two hours, some of which was taken up with our tour of the Swarovski Crystal company. I will be going back to Austria, though. No question about that.
16) Munich – I would like to experience Munich sans a tour guide and visit to the concentration camp. There was just too much focus on Nazi history thrown at us to enjoy the more beautiful side of Munich.
So there it is: My first blogging experience (only because it had a purpose). Hopefully the next time I pick this back up I will be spending more than two days somewhere, and I will truly be able to get to know a city and give a better account of what it is like. I hope this blog proved to be a good read during some free time between checking email at work or just sitting on your couch, bored after checking facebook for the third time in a day. I’ll catch you guys again when I travel to exotic lands… Greece anyone?