Looking Back After Two Months

I was given an amazing opportunity to study abroad this past school year and as more time passes I continue to realize that there is no way that I can describe my experiences simply. People keep asking how it was or how much I enjoyed it, but I cannot think of a quick and encapsulating response for it all. I experienced, learned, and loved too much. I am going to attempt to rank the places I have been and the experiences I have had, but this still only skims the surface.

Places I would love to go to school

• London, UK: Yes, it's still on the list despite being extremely expensive. It really had everything else going for it and I would love to go back
• Cologne, Germany: I wish I had had more time to explore the country, but school is free there and it was a really interesting town
• Edinburgh, Scotland: It was just such a fun place to go that I went twice!
• Glasgow, Scotland: It appeared to have the most lively campus and was brimming with young people; granted there are at the very least five universities in the city.

The view of Wuppertal, Germany from their campus.

Places I would settle down

• Lisbon, Portugal: There was so much life, history, and way better temperatures than London.
• Perth, Scotland: This tiny town charmed me from the moment I stepped in it, and the photos I have still blow me away.
• Kilkenny, Ireland: There are castles and cathedrals and Irish charm!
• Wilderswil, Switzerland: It was the epitome of natural beauty and so very close to Jungfraujoch, the highest point in Europe. The only downside would be real winters with lots and lots of snow for a long time, but that could be a positive too.

This is on the way up to Jungfraujoch in June

Places that surprised me the most

• Warsaw, Poland: There was delicious food, everything was super cheap, there were so many grand palaces, and the group of people I was with were just so kind and fun.
• Milan, Italy: This city did not feel like it fit inside what I had seen of Italy, but it was still a great town to be in for six hours.
• Napoli, Italy: It was nothing like the photos. I am positive we were misled by the internet.
• Amsterdam, Netherlands: Now, the reason this one surprised me is really silly, but it made the trip really enjoyable. Their language looks so comical! There are just so many vowels next to funny consonants, so reading everything and anything was hilarious.

This is part of the back of a palace in Warsaw. To give some perspective, the cone hedges are the height of a person.

Worst Weather

• Napoli, Italy: I feel as though I do need to add that this was the weather we were also the least prepared for, so that soured all the rest.

Best Weather

• Literally everywhere else in comparison

The blue skies and innumerable palm trees of Barcelona, Spain

Best Travel Companions (hint: it's everyone, but I'm still going to name them)

• Jennifer whom I went with to Ireland and Scotland
• Krista whom I traveled with to Portugal and a bit of London
• Marc whom I showed London and traveled with to Germany
• Nicole, Kenny, and my parents whom I went with to Cambridge
• Christina whom I went with to York and Edinburgh, and later Poland
• Izzie whom I went with to Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, England and back to the USA

Christina at the top of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh

Best food 

(side note: I ate way too many things to remember every delicious thing, so this is a really bad, short list that in no way represents all the delicious food I had)

• Pizza from Napoli, Italy
• All of the Gelato from Rome, Italy
• Haggis, neeps and tatties from Edinburgh, Scotland
• German Rye Bread from Dusseldorf
• Gouda from the Netherlands
• Eclaires from Paris, France
• Irish coffee from the Jameson Distillery in Dublin, Ireland

Belgian Waffle from Bruge, Belgium

Everything from getting rained on every other day in Italy, to getting sick after Portugal, to missing a train, to sleeping forever in Spain were all experiences that I could sit down and talk about forever. However, that would be extremely exhausting and will likely never happen. I tried to simply go through all of my photos with my grandma one night, but my family fell asleep and we only made it through a bit more than half. Still, if anyone wants to hear stories or ask about my trips, I wholly welcome it. Low key, I want to talk about it all the time because it is always on my mind but I still fear that I will appear pretentious which is so not my goal.

I hope to post a bit about all of the trips I have been on before the end of my summer break. It will take a lot of focus, but I really want to do it for myself. So I hope you look forward to those!

Also, I am interested in continuing to use this blog as things happen throughout my senior year at UC Santa Cruz. I will not make any promises regarding how often I will post, but you should expect to see other adventures, big and small.