The Great Adventures

17 days, 5 countries, 6 cities...one unforgettable trip of adventures.

As a college student, spring break is that holy week long break every year that's thought about and planned from the start of the school year. There's always the usual options of Florida, Mexico, Vegas, etc. But there's an extra perk about spring break abroad-my starting point was France and all surrounding countries were fair game. Hence my amazing opportunity to see 6 cities in 5 countries during the span of 17 days. Not too bad.

An overview: five of my friends and myself embarked on the great adventure which started in Budapest, continued on to Vienna, followed by Prague, Munich, Dublin, and finally ended in Galway. A trip that was full of fun moments and constant luck.

The luck may be simpler and quicker to explain than all the memorable moments. Lucky instance #1:we missed the aftermath of the Icelandic volcano eruption by skipping the last day of classes and flying out the morning before the volcanic ash cancelled all flights. Lucky instance #2:

despite the entire European world flocking to the train stations, we never had a delay, cancellation, or obnoxiously long wait with trains. Lucky instance #3: the

morning after we returned to Paris we found out that our plane was the last to fly out of Dublin before they cancelled flights due to more volcanic ash. And the list

goes on…

With our first stop in Budapest, I seperated from my friends to spend some quality time with

my family, particularly the newest addition to our family, my cousin's baby. The streets, the monu

ments, the food, the views -- everything was fabulous, but nothing compared to this chubby bundle of joy. Always smiling, always laughing, big eyes

watching the world, everything always seemed better and more amusing when he was around.

Then there was Vienna. Small

and quaint, cleaner than any other city, with beautiful old architecture that made you feel like Mozart was going to walk out onto the streets at any moment. The

most impressive thing about Vienna was the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of fine arts). From the outside it almost seemed like

nothing too out of the ordinary for a museum building, but the minute you walk through the entrance your jaw will drop. With an excessive amount of marble, gold,

statues, and an elaborately hand painted ceiling, there was nothing ordinary about this museum. Add on an impressive collection

of art by Brugel, Vermeer, Rafaello, etc., it is definitely a sight to see.

Going on to Prague, we all had

high expectations having heard about its impressive beauty and

considering that usually high expectations end with disappointment,

Prague definitely surprised us by defying that rule. Mind you, we were

rudely disappointed by the attitude of the Czechs with a unpleasant interactions throughout our trip. But in the end, that seemed like a minor flaw when we were taken aback by the unthinkable beauty around us.

Moving from Prague to Munich, we set on an adventure of beer gardens! A genius invention that would probably please most people. Large outdoor spaces, familial style tables, hearty meals of meat and pretzels, and of course, loads of great beer. Going to the different beer gardens was a true cultural experience in itself. We did also have the chance to be enlightened about the history of Munich thanks to the free Sandeman's tours (try them in most cities around Europe, especially Munich). A bit of a history lesson seemed appropriate to balance out the habit of sitting,eating, and drinking.

Ireland was a great transition from Munich seeing as they share similar lifestyles of hearty meals and tons of beer drinking. Most notably, I fit in so well it almost felt like an accomplishment. Everyone thought I was Irish and they were convinced I have Celtic blood in me. I tried to tell them I'm not, but it made them happy so I let them believe it. Dublin was a fun city, not exactly what most of us pictured it to be, but very industrial and busy city-like. We obviously went on a tour of the Guinness factory and acted like true tourists. And then, we got a taste of the countryside on a Wicklow tour seeing all the beautiful areas that are used in movies (especially the sappy romance ones like P.S. I Love You). As beautiful as the countryside

was, nothing compared to the beauty and serenity of

Galway. All the way to the west of

Dublin, right on the coast it's exactly what you'd picture Ireland to be. The deep blue water, large fields, lots of pubs, and really nice people giving lots of great pearls of wisdoms. One of my favorite pearls:"The pub isn't going to run out of alcohol, so keep on drinking!" My second favorite, "You can have any career in the world, but all that matters are manners and being genuine!"

No doubt about it, this was one of the most incredible trips and experiences, but coming home to Paris--notice how "home" and "Paris" sound so nice together--felt utterly amazing! :)

Imagine this…

Time flies when you're having fun.

Cliché phrases have a way of creeping up on you and coming out of your mouth, often without trying, but I've learned that there is a justifiable reason for that: they're usually fairly accurate. 4 months have passed since I first arrived in Paris and each day has been jam packed with activities, yet it feels like it's only been a month that has passed.

The goal has been to immerse in the culture, learn the language, and be mistaken for a French person (a little difficult given that most people just assume I'm Irish). Given, there have been some momentous days when I was asked for directions in French and that made me feel so accomplished, but I also had the pleasure of taking a little trip through time to an old Paris setting that sufficed in making me feel quite French. It helps to know and understand my immense, but random interest in the 1920s era, everything that includes flappers, jazz, flashy things: it's got my name written all over it. Hence, my great amusement at Lapin Agile, an old cabaret sitting at the butt of Montmartre that artists and musicians of the 20s used to gather at. Sitting in a red tinted dimly light room listening to a pianist play some tunes and a group of 7 singers casually sitting around a table serenading us with old French songs, it felt as if I was a part of a totally different world that no longer exists in reality.

After my wonderful time travels I was brought back to the year 2010 as I walked down to the metro and was casually surprised by a row of Ikea furniture set up along the walls replacing the usual basic seats. Try to picture it: same old metro station fully equipped with vending machines, trash, newspapers thrown around, and comfy couches with standing lamps by their side. Totally normal. Sort of. No doubt about it, this was one of the best marketing ideas I've seen in a while seeing as everyone was curious to know more about this strange sight and most people went as far as to sit down on these comfortable looking couches. A+ for Ikea's marketing team.

It's a must to mention the quickly changing weather with all the blossoming trees and sun-filled days that make this city all the more enjoyable. A bottle of champagne and some chocolate bars definitely add to the pleasant experience, but that's just a minor detail. More important, are the adorable and usually hysterical children who run to the parks and go nuts. I don't want to play favorites, but I had the pleasure of finding a crush on one such day in a small park by the Canal St. Martin. Another image to picture: a little boy around the age of 6 or 7, dark black hair with a few curls, wearing a jean jacket with the sleeves rolled up, prancing around singing and mimicking Michael Jackson, flashing a smile every few minutes, and saying "I love you" in three different languages. Needless to say, he won me over instantly.

And if small parks full of just children isn't really to your taste, there's always the gorgeous Luxemburg gardens where you can improve your people watching skills all day. There was a good amount of young couples with their kids and some youngsters looking for a cool hangout spot, but the best part (this will once again resort to cliché) was the old couples walking hand in hand channeling The Notebook-type love stories. I promise, I tried be myself and not get all mushy but you can't help it when the setting just screams corny and romantic.

Then there's also the infamous Versailles, which clearly boasts the impressive palace with its lavish rooms and incredible hall of mirrors, but with the hounds of tourists crowding each room, nothing was better than sitting in the gardens eating sandwiches with Samurai sauce and "reading" for class. Random afternoon, amazing weather, 30 minute train ride, sitting at Versailles doing homework…just another day in Paris.

Something totally random, but quite amusing…I was waiting to meet a friend to go to a ballroom dance class (yes, I finally accomplished a goal of mine), which happened to be right near Hôtel de Ville (city hall). As a I was waiting I heard music being played, clearly a live band of some sort, so I followed the sound until I was standing directly in front of Hôtel de Ville watching a group of 6 guys dressed up in metallic colored costumes resembling Gumby playing the drums. Little kids were flocking around them as they made their way through and around the crowd, all the while playing their music and getting people to dance. Something like this may seem totally normal if you picture it happening in Union Square, but seeing French people letting loose in front of the Hotel de Ville just for the sake of having a good time, was really a fascinating sight.

One last image to picture: Saturday night around 10pm, an old-fashioned two-floor elaborately decorated French restaurant, couples and groups of friends sitting around tables eating escargot and drinking wine, 5 older women (probably grandmothers with at least four grandkids each) looking fabulous coming down the stairs finishing off their wine glasses and laughing, walking out of the restaurant obviously having had a successful girl's night out. The importance of this image: I hope when I'm a grandma I'll still be laughing and downing wine the way these women were…possibly with a bigger glass in my hand.