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Chip Takes us on His Europe Tour May 30 2006 |
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I
didn’t mean to fall into that category of disconnected exchange student,
but it’s easy to forget about your old life
as you’re just
learning to love another one. The date is April 19, 2006 and I’ve been
here more than 8 months now. It’s
unbelievable, really, to think about the time that I’ve spent abroad. In
its entirety it seems so short, but as I try and recall certain events its
as though a life time as already passed. There is already so much to
remember. This
isn’t to say that I’ve been moping around in a hopeless sate of
nostalgia all week. Veil ist passiert (a lot has happened), and I usually
take full advantage of each passing day. School is still in the equation.
I bike ride regularly. Football
has become a bit more sporadic, but I’m nonetheless still in the game,
and of course my German friends and I have fun often.
I would say the most recent event worthy of mention would have to
be my “Man
that’s cheap” was my first general impression of The Check Republic.
The extremely low prices for about every imaginable consumer good
doesn’t go easily unnoticed by an exchange student. My second impression
of course was “Gee, the surroundings, and ooh wow the cultutre, and
that’s very interesting ect...” We made it to Prague about mid-day and
after a expedient tour, were let loose for the rest of the night to roam
the city. It’s a shame theres so many tourists and street vendors
selling fake Gucci bags there because Prague is actually really gorgeous
once you get past all that. After
a second night in Prague we continued on to Budapest. Unlike Prague,
Budapest feels more like a real city. The streets are filled with trade,
commerce, and what appears to be normal people going about their lives as
opposed to just performers and pic-pockets. Budapest, divided by a large
river into to parts, “Buda” and “Pest”, is ultimately buzzing and
beautiful with wonderful sights, an enriched culture, and the food was
quite delicious. After
another night in a surprisingly accommodating youth hostel we woke up
early and continued on to Vienna. The City is wonderful! Think of Vienna
as a big cultural centre for Opera, Music, Concerts, Ballet plus gorgeous
historical buildings, all this combined with excellent Museums, Galleries
and Theatres; many ranking among the best in the world. I couldn’t get
enough of our stay in Austria, but sadly the bus moves on. Before
we left that morning I coolly laid out the hippest attire I could find and
dawned my ridiculously large sunglasses despite cloudy weather. Naturally
we were heading for Italy, Padua to be exact, which soon became one of my
favourite stops overall. The city is “picturesque” as they say, with a
dense network of arcaded streets opening into large communal “piazzas”
(cool courtyard areas where the local nightlife gets going). Here
and there are bridges crossing the various branches of a large extended
river which once surrounded the ancient walls like a moat. I spent many
enjoyable hours there just wandering from street to street attempting to
communicate with the Italians in broken Spanish. Padua has a great old
Chou Bella charm and is an academic hotspot, meaning there are lots of
extremely nice students everywhere. The city itself is quite small, but it
only further adds to the experience. Padua
was a nice introduction to Italy, but the following day we witnessed what
Italian culture was really about. “Grab your gondola, we’re going to
Venice Baby!”, Said the Canadian next to me. Naturally we were all hyped
to see the city on the water, and with good reason. It was everything I
could of hoped for. I’ve never seen such a delicate lay out to a city or
such wonderfully colorful atmosphere all around. Everything seems in
harmony there and I can honestly not say much to convey my true feelings
about the city, so instead I will use a quote by the great Indiana Jones
“Ah… Venice” (it’s that simple). The
following day would be the climax to our Italian story. Possibly one of
the biggest cities I have ever seen, Rome is in a word; grand. With
the surrounding landscape filled with vineyards, country homes, and
endless green hills, there is a beauty there which I had previously only
imagined to exist. The city itself is an outstanding mixture of the
ancient and new and it’s apparent to anyone who stares at the seemingly
never ending horizon that it took more than a day to build it. Finally, I
have visited most of the places in my 10th grade History book
and at long last I have stood atop the Catholic Capital of the world. I
missed the pope by hours though….bummer. On
to Florence. For me Florence was on the same level as Venice. They both
have that thrilling evidence of past artistic, literary, and scientific
exploration. Florence though retains more of a late medieval feel outlined
by striking buildings, formidable galleries and treasure-crammed churches
with a dome that sneaks up here and there (one of which contains the
monumental tomb of Galileo)-
fun fact! We shopped, we haggled a bit, admired the local art, and sat in
the square to enjoy a baguette…..life was good. Our
time in the scooter infested streets of Italy was over and it was time to
move on to yet another land of incomprehensible shouting, France. Our
first stop was in a great city called Nice. A really trendy and
surprisingly laid back place, Nice is located on these kind of mountainous
hills that lead down to the ocean. The two days we had there consisted of
free time (it was our break) all of which we spent on the beach doing
absolutely nothing. In between our stay we hopped on over to Pisa where of
course we avoided more fake Gucci bags, took our pictures of the tower,
and left as quickly as we had come…all in the spirit of true tourism! Our
next stop was the country club of all cities, Monaco. There you can find
extremely amazing cars, overpriced restaurants, big boats, and people who
walk around as if they’re either doing something really important or
horribly interesting. The City is nice, but it feels a bit to plastic. I
would have liked to have seen the Casinos, but I eventually lost interest
(I couldn’t get in—very strict dress code). Get thee to Avignon and checketh out the Bridge. We did. Avignon is another one of those really great old cities consisting of the ancient inner city surrounded by the original wall and the newer outer city surrounded by porno shops. On the first day we were treated to an array of beautiful gardens and river side churches. On our second day though someone realized that there wasn’t really a lot to do there in Avignon. That same someone also realized that the roman aqueducts were a mere hour away and with a bit of cooperation from our Rotex team we were there by noon. It was mind blowing to say the least walking across the ancient marvel. I was so thrilled that I gave into the sudden compulsion to go swimming. The water was cold, but it stung with the sweet satisfaction of swimming under one of the most ancient structures in our modern world. Next we stop in the land of efficiency, banking, and of course pocketknives, Switzerland. Geneva, the land of convention, (he-he), was a great city. Friendly people, beautiful layout, and remarkably clean. The centre of town is dominated by the imposing, partially-Romanesque, partially-Gothic Cathédrale de St Pierre. John Calvin preached here- Fun Fact! Our all too expedient stay in Geneva allowed us a quick glimpse at the Flower Clock, the Art and History Museum, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum and the Palais des Nations…aka European headquarters of the United Nations. From Geneva we moved back into french territory and onto our second to last stop. Ol’ Paree. It was my second time in the city of love and it seemed to only grow lovlier. We naturally visited all the essentials: Arch de Triumph, Notre Dame, the park, the Louvre, and by nightfall we were treated to a brilliant light show at the Eifel tower. From Paris we began our way back to Germany, but not without a final stop in Brussels. My sister had made her exchange in Brussels, and I was surprisingly the experienced one when it came to the city. We only had one evening there, so I managed to squeeze in a waffle, a photo of the peeing boy, and another waffle. At
last three weeks later I was back ‘’home’’ in Germany.
I actually felt relieved to be back in my now normal territory. It
weird really, The Life of an exchange student. You get thrown into a
country on your own and with no clue those first few months seem endless.
Now that that you acutual have a familiarity, if not love for the place
you’ve learned to call home, some horrible aspect of reality flips a big
sand pile in your head and all you can do is watch time slip away. I
wouldn’t trade my time here for anything and it’s realizing that I
soon have to return that has made me want to live out everyday to the
fullest. Nothing has been has been this insightful or fulfilling in my
life so far, and I look forward to only building further on the experience.
Until next time, Chip |
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