Well I have returned from my month-long trip gallivanting across a small portion of Europe. Lindsay and I thankfully faced only few and minor problems with our entire trek (thanks, volcanic ash cloud...) and I doubt we could have had better weather anywhere we went. The itinerary changed slightly as we realized that traveling by train is not always efficient or as fast as one might hope and you need ample time to actually get a feel for life in a foreign city.
Our travels took us to Germany, Austria, Italy, France (only for one day though), back to Germany, Belgium, and finally to London. I plan on blogging about each place we visited in the near future, once I am finished with exams here in Ireland. I am looking forward to updating you on my trip as I attempted to keep a travel journal with details and I also took over 700 pictures to document everything.
Some of the blogs will be about the actual places and the history surrounding them, like Venice, Italy – the great canal city now facing problems with flooding and sinking, or Cologne, Germany – where city-pride can be found everywhere although the city seems to be a melting pot for numerous different cultures. Some of the blogs will be about the amazing people I met on my trip, even if I only got to spend a few hours with them before parting, like “Eric Ericsson” – the young Londoner whose real name I do not know but whose refreshing outlook on life and charming personality made the ride from Aachen, Germany to Brussels, Belgium once of the most enjoyable train trips I have ever taken.
Lindsay and I discussed our semester on the plane ride back to Cork from London and have come to the conclusion that unfortunately it is impossible to convey with words how amazing travel and studying abroad can be. There is something almost magical about being able to experience so many new places and things in such a short amount of time. I don’t think I realized before my trip how very little of this world I had seen. I would be lying though if I did not mention how great it feels to be back in my comfort zone of an English-speaking country with my departure for the States, an even more comfortable zone, being only a few days away.
Before I get ahead of myself though, I still have ten days left in Ireland. I have one exam tomorrow and one on May 10th as well as a birthday to celebrate in between. I plan on spending a good portion of my time in the library or back in the apartment drinking tea with my roommates. When I leave Ireland on May 14th I will do so a bit sadly, knowing it will most likely be a long while before I am back, but thankful for all of the wonderful memories and amazing opportunities I had when I was here.
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