I had no intention of waiting so long to tell you about my European adventures from fall break. What’s funny is that I cannot even remember what delayed me for so long. I remember my body taking revenge on me for running it ragged for nine days; I came back to Florence with the flu. . . but, beyond that, I do not remember much of last week and what consumed my time. The loss of short-term memory is a terrible thing. Don’t contract the disease early in life as I seem to have done.
Now, what was I going to write about, again. . . ?
Just kidding! (Feel free to laugh at my joke) Fall break was an incredible experience involving wonderful people, interesting cities, unfortunate transportation issues, and a healthy does of walking. In fact, before I start my account, I would like to announce that my friends and I walked nearly 70 miles over the course of the break.
Day one of break saw my three comrades and myself from the doorstep of Florence over to a neighboring city call Bologna. We stopped there for the night so that we could take an early morning flight out to Paris. Not much to report about this leg of the trip, with the exception that our hostel turned out to be a campground whose room accommodations were camping cabins.
On the morning of day two, the four of us awoke early to catch our flight to Paris. The end of the flight was the most exciting part of the morning: granted we had successfully landed in Paris, so, what wasn’t there to be excited about, but just as we were landing, the PA system let out a triumphal series of music notes and happily told us that we had landed safely. The entire cabin cheered, and I could not help but laugh. There’s nothing like celebrating the minor successes in life!
After conquering the Metro system and successfully checking into our hostel, our Parisian adventure began! Yet, for me, this leg of the trip seemed did not seem like an adventure, per se. By the time I graduated from high school, I had racked up seven years French language and culture studies. I would like to say that it was because of this distant sort of familiarity with France that made me feel more at home. It did not surprise me that there were trees on every boulevard, or that families lined the parks and river walkways. I found it incredibly easily to converse with the people in French, and it soothed my soul to sit in the plain elegance of Notre Dame during Sunday evening Vespers and Mass.
Now, the ease and comfort should not give you the impression that my friends and I relaxed during break! Oh, no! With only three days to conquer the major sites in Paris, and a desire to keep break cheap (and therefore, walk everywhere rather than spend too much money on Metro tickets), my friends and I packed our days with sites. On the first day in Paris, we traipsed around the outer limits of the Latin Quarter, tried deliciously stuffed-crepes, and walked out to Notre Dame to admire its majestic beauty from the river. On the second day, we picnicked at the Luxembourg Gardens, walked up the Champs Elysee, saw the Arc of Triumph, and made it over to Notre Dame for Sunday evening Mass. The third day was spent entirely at the Louvre (my friends and I were determined to see as much of the art as possible), and ended with a lovely evening at the Eiffel Tower. The next morning, before our flight, my friends and I made our way up to Montmarte, saw the beauty of Sacre Coeur, and got our portraits done by the notorious Montmatre street artists.
In a nutshell, I fell in love with Paris. While there, I made friends with a guy, Jorge, who was staying at our hostel, who is also a fan of Paris. Jorge took me to go see the Rose Point just outside Notre Dame and told me that standing on the Rose Point would ensure me a return trip to Paris. So, look out, Paris! You have not seen the last of me!
Barcelona was the next leg of the journey. Due to flight times, and (again) trying to keep a nine-day trip as cheap as possible, my friends and I were only able to stay in Barcelona for a day and a half. Following the trend my friends and I set in Paris, into that small space of time, my friends and I packed a trip to La Rambla (the notorious open-air farmers market), a visit to the pier, a look at Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia (the Catholic Church known for it’s “drippy” façade), and a stroll around Park Guell (where Gaudi lived and displayed much of his mosaic-covered architecture).
The characteristic of Barcelona that stuck me the hardest, after living in Florence and visiting Paris, was the fact that the people (and the buildings) of Barcelona were not necessarily “dressed to impress.” I can vouch for the fact that Florence fosters a culture of beautiful people who dress equally as well. Then, there is France: the epitome of classiness. Barcelona, on the other hand, seemed to be much less worried about it’s external appearance; I saw people (not runners) wearing tennis shoes, and many of the buildings were a rather dilapidated version of 1960s architecture.
Yet, the jungle-like beauty of the local parks, the tasty local treats we sampled (like Spanish tortillas, fresh Spanish churros, and small fried fish), and the bright colors of La Rambla also gave the impression there was a wild beauty lurking below the surface.
My experience with Barcelona did not end there. . . the day my friends and I were supposed to leave Barcelona, there was an unexpected bus strike; that was the day we needed to catch a bus to a city located an hour from Barcelona so that we could board our plane to London! What ought to have been a simple journey to London ended up being nine hours worth of traveling. And yet, God’s good graces and happy accidents set us in the path of several people who were able to help us navigate the strike and make the long journey much more enjoyable. My favorite character from this ordeal was a boisterous little girl who told us (in Spanish) jokes about soup and flies.
Since it was the last leg of our trip, my friends and I were exhausted by the time we reached London. Of course, it did not help that we reached our hostel at two in the morning! Oh, the things we young travelers do to ourselves!
In London, we saw all the typical sites: Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, Big Ben, The Globe Theater, and the National Gallery. We were also able to squeeze in a visit to Saint Paul’s Cathedral, the Tate Modern and the Tate Britain, the National Portrait Gallery, and afternoon in Leicester Square. Both nights we were there also featured fun events: the first night we were there, we were able to snag half-priced tickets to go see Chicago! The next night, we went on a Jack the Ripper tour around the back alleys outside of London proper.
Because Florence does not sport a plethora of trees, prior to break, I felt as if I had entirely missed the fall experience. London, satisfied this emptiness within me: The city was abound with trees that were changing color, and Borough Market provided us with warm squash soups and carrot cake. Hello, Autumn!
Since this was a particularly long, and rather list-like post, I think I will lay this writing to rest. Thanks for your patience, and I look forward to seeing you all very soon!
Love,
Brandi
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