Bon Voyage, Mes Amis!

It’s been over two months since I left Europe behind, hauling my luggage (maximum number of bags, each at maximum weight) through the Frankfurt airport after a bittersweet goodbye to the Senks. A goodbye made a little sweeter by their chuckles as the combined weight of my bags almost outstripped my body weight.

Ready to leave the Senks

I’ve been putting off writing this last post. It's rather more difficult to write outside the galvanizing atmosphere of a foreign country, like running in oxygen-poor air. And now that I’m home, I'm in the company of the majority of my readership which makes blogging seem superfluous. But the number one reason for my long delay is that I can now blog about Europe only in the past tense, which means that my big field trip really is over. I've pushed past my hesitancy, though, and thrown together a little something to tie up loose ends.

A few random impressions of my "Best and Worst of Europe":

1: Trains. Trains may seem like an obsession with me, but as a thrifty “student” tourist, public transport becomes a crucial part of daily life (that’s my excuse for this fixation at any rate).

Best: Germany

France and Ireland are close seconds in this category. All three countries have clean, timely trains with clearly outlined destinations and times of arrival. What really put Germany over the top was the fact that, in addition to telling you which station is next and when you’ll get there, the disembodied voice over the speakers also informs you which side of the train you will be  exiting from. You could be blind and navigate the German train system just fine, as long as you can make it onto a train.

Worst: Greece

Greece won the prize for worst trains because, for me at least, there weren’t trains in operation. Nonexistent is just about as bad as you can get.

France also wins for cheese: smoky, creamy goodness!

2. Bread. Anyone who’s tasted European bread will agree that its deliciousness and variety on the continent earns it a category of its own. It takes months to overcome a sinking feeling when opening a twist tie to  sliced preservative-scented American loaves.

Best: France

French bread is crusty without being dry, springy without being hollow and has a fantastic wholesome sunny flavor. The croissants are flaky but never greasy, the pastries are moist without being soggy, the baguettes are never dry, even on the ends, and the loaves are the perfect consistency. Good bread makes travelling loads better if you’re eating on a budget. Viva la France.

Worst: Spain

Maybe I was in Barcelona on bad bread week, but all the bread I had in Span was arid, full of large holes, and tended to taste like cardboard. The baguettes are dry as a desert with overly crunchy crust that scrapes up the inside of your mouth, and so tough it hurts to chew. What’s the point of food that is labor intensive to eat without being in any way worth it?

Mussel capellini in pecorino cheese and white wine sauce

3. Main Course: Here we are talking about food originating in the country, not food available in the country. I had great food everywhere I went.

Best: Italy

Everyone knows that Italian food is out of this world, but what really puts it over the top in this category is its beautiful simplicity. France is a very close second on this one, but Italian food wins because it's delicious without trying too hard. It’s simple and organic and fresh, whereas French food tends to be more ornate and heavy. The Italians are masters of combining flavors, and use simple ingredients from the land- the food is an extension of the land, and the genius of smell and taste and texture springs directly from the people's passion for food. A passion which proved infectious, for better or for worse; I had some of the best meals of my life in Italy, and I can never eat Olive Garden again.

Worst: Ireland

You can definitely get good food in Ireland but the actual native food is not great, mostly because they don’t have much to work with. They have corn, potatoes, meat, potatoes, and weird veggies like leek and cabbage. In their cold and rainy climate grass grows really well, but you can’t eat grass. Yet I feel they make up for it and then some with their excellent beer.

Found great garage door murals getting lost in Barcelona

Best Graffiti: Spain. Everywhere I went I kept an eye on the graffiti, I feel it serves as a more or less legitimate gauge of local urban artistic culture. If I was a betting girl I would have said Italy would win this category, think Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael... But the graffiti in Italy was the worst hands down. Oftentimes the letters were only 2-dimensional, and the styling was unoriginal. Most of it could have been drawn blindfolded. The graffiti in Spain, on the other hand, was not only well drawn in traditional 3-D style with lots of metallic paints, but innovative as well. Nature imagery joined with urban themes in vivid colors and complex shapes, and oftentimes one piece would cover several square meters with no gaps in the paint. And when you think about it Gaudi would have been a better graffiti artist than Da Vinci, after all. 

My 14 hour train ride through southern Alps

Most Scenic Route: The trip through the Southern Alps. I took the train through the north of Italy, south of Switzerland and the southern alps of France and it was its own mini vacation. A pattern of deep blue lakes, velvety violet mountains, crisp white caps, grey mist and lush valleys makes a hypnotic impression on the mind. I felt like I was on top of the world, looking out the window of my train over a steep cliff to a valley filled with green furry dewy grasses, and fading high up into sparkling white peaks. I started thinking that my childhood wish to be Heidi was a viable option for lifelong happiness, if only I could come to terms with the goat's milk.

Vestibule stained glass window- Sagrada Familia

Most Poignant Cathedral: You’d think I would have run into the winner of this category in Rome. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t in Rome that Sagrada Familia in Barcelona impacted me the most. Not only is it beautiful but it’s fascinatingly modern and architecturally brilliant. Frescos and gold and marble are all well and good, but the pure snowy cleanliness of this interior offset by delicate yet simple mouldings and pervading white light was stunning in its stark elegance. There's nothing like St. Peter's for bringing home the reality of the smallness of one human being. Sagrada Familia was special because made me more aware of my own individuality.

A feet on the beach picture worth taking

Best Day on the Beach: Days on the beaches of Santorini. Soft blue, greeny-blue, indigo, aquamarine, teal, turquoise, fading into each other and surrounding you on all sides. The water, though cold and clear as far out as you can walk, is warmed by the sun at the point where it meets the sand. There's nothing like stepping off a baking black beach into water that fizzes around your ankles- goosbumps to the nth degree! Throw a bottle of wine in the mix and you've got yourself a top-notch beach experience.

"Go get Europe and this travelling thing out of your system, and come back ready for grad school and a career, for real life"- this was my thought process in saving up for and braving my two months abroad. So now's the time to settle down in contentment and relief, right? Apparently not. My only thought getting onto the plane to Charlotte was, "I'm not done here! I never saw Paris, I didn't get enough of Ireland, I wanted to see Prague and the Amalfi Coast, and, and, and!" Seems travelling, instead of curing me of my wanderlust, conjured up phantoms of more foreign destinations than I'd ever considered before. Turkey sounds like fun, or Peru, or New Zealand, not to mention I'd love to try curry in India or sushi in Japan. I was at the same time taken aback and shyly pleased by my new-found adventurousness.

Someday I will live here. Yes under that rock if need be.

Reality is harsh, though; specifically financial reality. So until I win the lottery or become a travel writer I'm building a career for myself in the academic world. And I'm happy with what I have planned.


For my final thoughts, as much as I'd like to be oracular and enlightened, all I can say is I'm happy to have had my shot at the trip of a lifetime. I was amazed again and again at the number of good people I met in my travels; people who reached out from the kindness of their hearts with no ulterior motive. I was surprised by how difficult it was, and even more surprised at how I was able (most of the time) to handle said difficulty. I learned about patience, reading maps, non-verbal communication, backpack adjustment and climbed lots and lots of stairs. I missed home dearly and at the same time wanted to keep roaming for another six months. And though it was oftentimes sweatier and scarier and more mundane than I'd ever admit, I found that the boring parts made the moments of transcendence a little more heady. If nothing else, I'l have a few worthwhile stories to tell when I'm old and cranky and tired of knitting.
Auf wiedersehen all, my wish for you and for myself is that we all find a little bit of Europe in our lives from time to time. Bon Voyage!