This trip is hard to describe. When I get back and get the inevitable, 'how was it?' question, I don't know how I will respond.
Some options:
1. It was really fun. - It has been really fun...sometimes. It has also been really challenging and made me wonder if I really want to be traveling anymore. I have met some amazing people and had some great laughs. Seeing beautiful places and artwork and churches qualifies as fun for me too, but there were a lot of ugly places and for every one great piece of art there were a hundred to sift through.
2. It was awesome. - haha, typical Californian answer. It has been awesome but it has also really been rough. Being sick was terrible and one or two cities made me feel unwelcome and written off as a tourist, or worse, an American.
3. It was tough. - for all the above complaints, this might sound like the best answer, but it's not because there have been some incredibly easy and relaxing days.
4. It was educational. - This answer sounds to me like the most boring of them all. Yet it rings most true. I learned about different countries, about both world wars, about churches, cathedrals, and basillicas. I learned that tourism is a tricky endeavor for the places that want the income, but don't want to sell out the special character of their town. I've learned to talk to people who don't speak English, to rely on the help of strangers to find my destination, to embrace the fact that I don't always get things right and often walk north when the map really says I should be going south. After this last week, I have stood in the same synagogue where Eichmann and Mengele seperated Jews for extermination or for labor. I have stood in the spot of a former concentration camp in Vienna and in a square that was leveled by the allies in WWII. And I still have two weeks left - the average American vacation - which will include Salzburg, Prague, Berlin, and London.
As odd as it sounds to me, I think educational is the best word to describe this trip. I'm pretty sure it has changed my life. Can't speak too soon though.
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2 comments:
I think you will find that it has changed your perspective on things, though you may not see that just yet. As one who has had a similar experience, upon your return some of the things you took for granted or never noticed before will seem very special and some of them will be very annoying.
Julia, howdy from Bratislava. We went to the baths yesterday on our way out of town and could have stayed there the whole day. (We didn't go to the tanning section though...) It probably won't be extensively updated until after I fly home and have some time, but you can check out mardesonthemove[dot]blogspot[dot]com. Have a great trip, and wait until you get home to see how differently you look at American life.
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