Recovery & Reflections
This last trip gave me a brief look into the cultures of both Southern & Western Europe, both of which were very different from themselves, from Northern Europe and back home in the States.
-Even though both Italy & Greece are part of Southern Europe and had many similarities, they were surprisingly different from each other. In Italy we ate tons of pasta and pizza (which, for the record is NOT that much different than American pizza) but in Greece, not very far away, neither option was available except at high priced tourist restaurants (we ate gyros instead!). People were very friendly and were more than willing to point us in the right direction or strike up random conversations (about anything at all). However, in shops they continually bug you, asking what you want, and following you around, that may be the Italian thing but it really made me not want to shop there anymore.
-England was the most similar to home I've seen yet. (They even had diet coke!!) The people were friendly if you approached them, but they rarely approached you. In shops & restaurants they left you alone (thank god!). London felt very fast paced and city like, everyone was in a rush to be somewhere. I heard that it was least European-like city and was similar to New York. But as someone who's never been to NY I can't give any comparisons. (And don't call anyone from England European, they don't like it).
-I've learned (shocker) that many Europeans aren't too fond of Americans. They were never outright rude to us, but we definitely stood out for being American and speaking English. A few times we convinced people that we were from Norway (not a complete lie, we did come from there) and we spoke Norwegian in order to avoid the attention English got us.
I still have 2 more trips to Western Europe, another in the UK (Edinburgh) and the other in Paris. I can't wait to see how these places are different as well.
As I've mentioned before I had some pretty sore feet. But I needed some recovering from other parts of traveling too.
1) Laundry: I used my school backpack on my trip.. needless to say I was severly limited in what I could bring. I only had 3 bottoms & 6 tops to get me through everything, so my clothes were feeling pretty gross! By the last few days all I wanted was a washer & dryer and some clean clothes.
2) Showering: A shower that was (and stayed) hot and one that didn't make me feel dirtier by just standing in it was also on the list of necessary actions when back home. Hostel showers are just plain dirty!
3) Sleeping: lets just say hostels don't have the nicest beds. I was more than ready to stop sleeping on bunk beds (that felt like a board of wood) and to have real pillows & blankets. Also sleeping alone! My last morning in London I woke up to a very stinky room, when I sat up I saw that 5 guys were my roommates in the 6 bedroom dorm room and I don't know what it is, but somehow multiple guys (let alone 5!!) sleeping in a room causes noxious smells.
4) Pausing: I loved traveling, more than anything, but it is so nice to spend time doing nothing after so much time on the go-go-go! I'm definitely tired (for the moment) of traveling.
5) Food: eating out every meal is EXPENSIVE! A few places we stayed had free breakfast or we bought bread & nutella, but it all adds up! It's nice to be back and be able to eat whenever and how ever much I want.
Now that I've been back for a few days things are starting to pick up again. I literally sat on my butt, watched TV, and relaxed non-stop for a few days. I feel so lazy but at least I'm caught up on every How I Met Your Mother (don't worry I'd already seen most episodes). I've also begun planning my Parisian trip which is in 10 days!
This last trip gave me a brief look into the cultures of both Southern & Western Europe, both of which were very different from themselves, from Northern Europe and back home in the States.-Even though both Italy & Greece are part of Southern Europe and had many similarities, they were surprisingly different from each other. In Italy we ate tons of pasta and pizza (which, for the record is NOT that much different than American pizza) but in Greece, not very far away, neither option was available except at high priced tourist restaurants (we ate gyros instead!). People were very friendly and were more than willing to point us in the right direction or strike up random conversations (about anything at all). However, in shops they continually bug you, asking what you want, and following you around, that may be the Italian thing but it really made me not want to shop there anymore.
-England was the most similar to home I've seen yet. (They even had diet coke!!) The people were friendly if you approached them, but they rarely approached you. In shops & restaurants they left you alone (thank god!). London felt very fast paced and city like, everyone was in a rush to be somewhere. I heard that it was least European-like city and was similar to New York. But as someone who's never been to NY I can't give any comparisons. (And don't call anyone from England European, they don't like it).
-I've learned (shocker) that many Europeans aren't too fond of Americans. They were never outright rude to us, but we definitely stood out for being American and speaking English. A few times we convinced people that we were from Norway (not a complete lie, we did come from there) and we spoke Norwegian in order to avoid the attention English got us.
I still have 2 more trips to Western Europe, another in the UK (Edinburgh) and the other in Paris. I can't wait to see how these places are different as well.
As I've mentioned before I had some pretty sore feet. But I needed some recovering from other parts of traveling too.
1) Laundry: I used my school backpack on my trip.. needless to say I was severly limited in what I could bring. I only had 3 bottoms & 6 tops to get me through everything, so my clothes were feeling pretty gross! By the last few days all I wanted was a washer & dryer and some clean clothes.
2) Showering: A shower that was (and stayed) hot and one that didn't make me feel dirtier by just standing in it was also on the list of necessary actions when back home. Hostel showers are just plain dirty!
3) Sleeping: lets just say hostels don't have the nicest beds. I was more than ready to stop sleeping on bunk beds (that felt like a board of wood) and to have real pillows & blankets. Also sleeping alone! My last morning in London I woke up to a very stinky room, when I sat up I saw that 5 guys were my roommates in the 6 bedroom dorm room and I don't know what it is, but somehow multiple guys (let alone 5!!) sleeping in a room causes noxious smells.
4) Pausing: I loved traveling, more than anything, but it is so nice to spend time doing nothing after so much time on the go-go-go! I'm definitely tired (for the moment) of traveling.
5) Food: eating out every meal is EXPENSIVE! A few places we stayed had free breakfast or we bought bread & nutella, but it all adds up! It's nice to be back and be able to eat whenever and how ever much I want.
Now that I've been back for a few days things are starting to pick up again. I literally sat on my butt, watched TV, and relaxed non-stop for a few days. I feel so lazy but at least I'm caught up on every How I Met Your Mother (don't worry I'd already seen most episodes). I've also begun planning my Parisian trip which is in 10 days!
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