The gondolas of Italy, the UN building in Switzerland, snow
on the Alps. What do these three things
have in common? They were all included
in EuroTour 2012!
Yes, the second and final bus trip of the year has come and
gone, but what a week! It was on this
exchange that I entered Europe for the first time. Now, less than a year later, I can say I’ve
visited France, Spain, Germany, The Republic of Czech, Italy, Switzerland, and Austria. With tour guides and free time in a different
city every day and little to no sleep in between, “tiring” would be a suitable
adjective for the 12-day trip. But the
words “fun”, “intriguing” and “memorable” also make it on the list.
The weather was all over the place. Cloudy with rain; snow, even, in some parts
of France! Thankfully, the weather
cooperated for my favorite part of the tour:
Venice!
My idea of Venice was formed by the descriptions present in
two books; “The Thief Lord” by Cornelia Funke and “City of Masks” by Mary
Hoffman. The city I saw could have
waltzed directly from the pages. Streets
and buildings divided by robin-egg blue water.
Hand-painted masks and costumed street performers at every corner. Jet-black gondolas and live music at every café! The city is built of white stone and in the
sun that day the city shone. A
breath-taking daytrip that put Italy on my bucket list of countries I must
return to one day.
Another major part of
travelling like this, when one visits a new country every day, is the
food! Every day there was a speciality:
gelato and pizza in Italy, la tartiflette
in the Alps, chocolate in Switzerland. Everything
was so good, and I am intrigued to look up some recipes online. Needless to say, however, I added running
into my weekly schedule upon returning to France.
I am a person who likes to see what any given situation has
taught me, and how it has made me grow.
EuroTour 2012 taught me two things:
Any travel is good, because it always ends up
broadening your horizons as well as teaching you more about yourself and what
you want from your future. Even the
briefest stay has its benefits. I spent
a single day in any given country on the trip, but already I am looking into
job opportunities with the UN, learning new recipes with which to impress my
family and friends, and planning another trip to Italy for some time in my
life.
