Glory Days
My last major trip has come and gone and London & Paris have both lived up to their big time reputations; again. With few bumps in the road and a few raindrops short of perfect weather, Katie & I loved every minute of our six-day excursion. Though we did do all of the major sites in both cities, I think the reason that I had such a great time was because we also did a lot more indulging, shopping, exploring and soaking in both cultures than I have done on other trips. When you only have a weekend in a city, it’s like a huge rush and race against time to make sure you see everything the city has to offer, and a lot of times, this makes it less enjoyable. After all of this traveling I have come to realize that the trips on which I’ve had the most fun, are the trips where I’ve let myself stop and enjoy the city I’m in. In London & Paris we weren’t rushed, we didn’t really have an itinerary, and we were just able to enjoy each other’s company and take in two of the greatest cities in the world.
The last time I was in London I was 14, so I’m sure you can imagine that this was a bit of a different experience. We arrived late last Wednesday, and Katie’s mom was gracious enough to get us a car that picked us up at the airport and took us to where we were staying in London. One of the best parts of this trip was that we stayed with family friends the entire time and it was really nice to be in someone’s home. Although this may sound weird since I too live in a home here, I have this extended hotel feel that doesn’t go away. I don’t really lounge in the living room or sit on the couch and watch TV because it’s in Spanish, and it was nice to hang out and watch music videos on VH1 for a little while. I guess I appreciate the little things. In London we stayed with a friend of Katie’s brother who is 28 and working for a firm in the business district. He was amazing, took us out both nights and showed us a great time. While we were there we picnicked on the lawn by Buckingham Palace, dined in Notting Hill, had a drink at a bar Hugh Grant frequents, and took in Chicago the Musical in the theater district on Friday night. We were very sad to leave London. It’s a young, lively city and we had such a great time with Paul and his girlfriend Liz that I think we could have stayed forever.
We took the Eurostar to Paris on Saturday morning; you know that train that goes under the English Channel at 180mph. I have officially decided that train travel in Europe is the way to go. Why has the United States not discovered the AMAZING high velocity trains??? If I never had to fly again I would be the happiest woman alive. When we arrived in Paris after a quick two and a half hours on Saturday at 1pm, we dropped our stuff off at my friend Dan’s enormous apartment, where we were staying for Saturday night and headed straight to the Louvre. That is definitely something everyone should get to see before they die. I’ve been two times now for a total of about nine hours and I think I could pitch a tent and live there forever. The things you see are things you read about, and it’s just overwhelming to have it all in one place. It was straight out of The DaVinci Code. After the Louvre we walked along the river and ended up at Notre Dame. When I was in Paris last Thanksgiving, I dubbed it my favorite Cathedral. Now, I have seen at least one cathedral in every city I’ve been to, and Notre Dame is still on top. It’s breathtaking but doesn’t have the overwhelmingly huge feel that some have, and best of all it’s still used daily. When Katie and I went in, there was a mass starting, it was 5pm on a Saturday, and we decided to stay. In all honesty, this may have been the coolest thing that I have done since I’ve been abroad. Although the mass was all in French, we could pretty much follow along, and the incense, music, organ, everything was just what you would hope for. I received communion in Notre Dame; seriously? It was a beautiful afternoon.
One thing that I wasn’t able to do the last time I was in Paris was Chateau de Versailles, so I made sure this was a must see this time around. This is more like a day trip, a 45 minute metro ride outside the city, but it was well worth the trip, and may be my favorite site in Europe. Immense with beautiful gardens, fountains and lakes as far as the eye can see, this place is groomed and spectacular. We got lost in the maze of gardens and fountains, wandered around Marie Antoinette’s summer estate fairytale, watched the fountains water show, and talked about how it wasn’t possible that we didn’t live there. I would even settle for getting married there. Our swollen tired feet told us it was time to go home around 6pm. (we only spent about 7 hours there!) That night we moved to an apartment in a beautiful part of town (3 metro stops from Champs d’Elysees) where we stayed two nights with Katie’s Aunt-in-Law and her 10 year old daughter Nathalia. They were two perfect nights. Compared to my hot dog & tuna pizzas which I’ve been lucky enough to have lately, the pasta carbonara and rosemary chicken dinners we ate had me feeling like a queen. Barbara made us feel completely at home, and even recommended places for us to see, shop, and explore. We spent almost all of Monday in the oldest neighborhood in Paris, La Marais, before hitting the Champs d’Elysees just in time for the Hannah Montana premiere and Miley Cyrus. We waited but we didn’t actually see her, unfortunately.
My 5 am wake up call on Tuesday morning was brutal, and not just because of the time. Katie and I had an unbelievable week together and we both talked about wanting to A. stay in Paris forever or B. change our flight from Paris to the US. I think our homesickness emerged with one another’s company on this trip. It is special getting homesick three weeks before you’re due to come home. I think a lot of it is that I know that I have the two worst weeks of my time abroad ahead of me. Weeks of paper writing, studying and exams, make me want to jump ahead to my last trip to the Canary Islands and the Long Island Summer that is so close yet still out of reach. The other side of it is, I know that I miss everyone and everything about home, yet I know exactly what is going on while I’m gone, and wouldn’t actually prefer to be doing that than this; I’d just prefer to be doing this with all of those people I miss. So to clear my head of all of this stuff that I can’t let damper my last three weeks, I made a list of all the things I miss most. Although some of it may seem silly, there are tons of conveniences at home that I’ve really come to miss too.
10 Things I Miss Most:
1. My family
2. My friends
3. The Beach
4. BC
5. Driving in my car
6. The food—bagels, breakfast sandwiches, turkey, cheeseburgers, salads with variety, Carvel, wheat bread
7. Grande Skim Vanilla Chai Tea Latte– GOOD coffee—TO GO!
8. Target and everything it has to offer
9. My blackberry—makes keeping in touch ridiculously easy
10. Pop Culture, there is so much television and music I can’t wait to catch up on
THERE, it’s out….. and I’m over it like Katharine McPhee. The next 3 weeks are going to be amazing and I won’t have it any other way. I leave tomorrow for my last hurrah in Barcelona and I come back to my last week of classes, something to celebrate! Happy May!
Barcelona Tomorrow!
Gran Canaria May 15th!
New York May 20th!
