It seemed like a good idea at the time." This quote pretty much sums up my month-long trip to Europe this summer, and the reasoning behind it. (Incidentally, my New Year's resolution for 2005 was to never have to utter that phrase again. Obviously I've stuck to it really well.) We originally set out on the trip because it seemed like a good idea because none of the members of my group (being engineers or science majors) realistically had the option of studying abroad and it just didn't seem fair that in addition to the obvious perks of avoiding evils such as Webwork, humanities majors also get to see Europe while completing their studies. So, armed with little more than a AAA Travel guide to Europe, Rick Steves' pocket guide to French, German and Italian (a very handy book that includes pick-up lines such as, "I have no diseases," or "I am Bill Gates"), Eurorail passes and our dazzling intellects, I set off with my boyfriend Jeff and our two other friends, Alan and Kat.
I also must mention: there is no way I'm going to do this article justice. But I'll try to give you a month of my life condensed very nicely into 700 words or less. Rather fitting, considering I had all my worldly possessions crammed into approximately 700-square-inches of backpack for the month I spent traveling around Europe. As we made our way through Europe, we named ourselves "Los Quatros Amigos Del Pan" because of the fact that pretty much everywhere we went, especially on the trains, we left a trail of bread crumbs. Bread is incredibly cheap in Europe. Ditto for beer and wine, but more on that later.
First, the highlights from Spain. We all arrived in Madrid on the same day, and after several hours and only a minor amount of panic, we managed to find one another and also find Jeff's friend Pedro who lives in Alcala, a small town outside Madrid. We stayed with Pedro and his family for a few days and went clubbing with him in Madrid. While we tended to operate under an alcohol-induced haze in bars and clubs there, Europeans prefer their haze to be of the cigarette smoke variety. Even with the smoke, Spain was amazing if only for the fact that you can get a sandwich and a beer there for one euro. That, my friends, is a beautiful thing. However, one of the most striking things about Spain was captured perfectly by Pedro's father when he said, "In the U.S., you live to work; in Spain, we work to live." Overwhelmingly, the emphasis there seemed to be on family and friends and enjoying life, much more so than our work-centered attitudes here.
Up next: France. We stayed in Paris for several days, and spent a night in Nice. I would have loved to stay longer, but it's probably a good thing we left because France is ridiculously expensive. Other than the fact that I was selling my soul (and luckily not my body) for food and drink, the thing that struck me most about France was how incredibly pleasant and helpful everyone was. We have this stereotype in the States that the French are American-hating snobs, but really, the opposite couldn't have been more true. We had a lady stop us on the street and offer to help us find our way if we were lost (in English), and a street vendor who Alan was buying food from made a point of helping him and making sure he gave him the correct change.
People's kindness in France, however, was in stark contrast to the way we were treated in Germany and Austria. Of all the places we visited, we definitely encountered the most rudeness and the worst service in those two countries. (This could be because none of us could speak a whit of German even remotely well.) All of this was okay because of two things: 1) Both countries have excellent playgrounds, and I am a six-year-old child at heart, and 2) the fact that the Austrians have this dish called goulash, which is just fantastic, and the Germans of course have the Hofbrauhaus where you can order no less than a liter of beer at one time. Enough said.
Italy was the last and final victim of our lingual incompetence, and this was probably a good thing. Within 30 minutes of arriving in Rome, Kat got her watch lifted off her wrist, I got groped by a dirty man in the bus station and we watched another guy on a bus almost get robbed by a "gypsy" woman. I also had several rather important articles of clothing stolen while in Florence (ladies, if you think bra shopping in the States is a pain, try it in a foreign country where you don't know the language). Finally, when we tried to go see Pompeii, we were informed (quite calmly, I might add) that such a trip would not be possible because of a "bomba" in the connecting train station. Excellent. I had really always wanted to be in a foreign country with a bomb threat. Really, though, I don't want to give the wrong impression; Italy wasn't all bad. The bad stories are just the most entertaining. For a more complete picture of the trip, including all stories/anecdotes unfit to print in a widely read University publication, just ask!
It seemed like a good idea at the time, and it definitely was. We certainly made our share of mistakes at the time (one major tip: check train schedules early and often, and know which ones you have to pay extra for!), but I had the time of my life, and I wouldn't trade that month spent exploring Europe with three great friends for anything.
So, to sum up, I'll steal The Cavalier Daily's Hoos/Boos:
Hoos: laid back attitudes, lowered drinking ages, cheap beer, beer/lemon Fanta mix (it's good, I swear!) topless beaches, ice cream/gelato stands on every block in Austria, Germany and Italy.
Boos: paying for bathrooms, paying for water, carbonated water, birds pooping on your head in Paris train stations, graffiti everywhere in Italy, the fact that everyone doesn't get the opportunity to experience such an amazing trip!
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