Imagine being able to choose a dream destination to go to, it could be anywhere in the whole world, where would you pick to go? My mom asked me what the one place I would want to travel to was before I went off to college, and my answer was London. The reason I wanted to visit London for so long was that I have always wanted to hear the way people speak there. Of course, that is not the only reason I chose that particular place; I also wanted to see every landmark and get the cultural experience as well. My mom decided to make my dream come true for me this summer, so she planned a trip to London for eleven days!
A few days before we left for the trip, my mom called me downstairs and handed me a bag tag for my suitcase. I had not realized it, but on the tag she embroidered three different locations: Paris, London, and Belgium. Once I finally figured out that there was more than one place, I was ecstatic! For the final few days before we left, I needed to ensure I had everything I needed to make it through the whole trip, now that we would be staying longer than expected.
After an eight-hour flight from Chicago, we landed in Paris. When we eventually got through the airport, after trying to find the transportation exit for what felt like hours, we were on our way to our hotel. The Paris section of our trip was a short but sweet three days. As soon as we arrived at the hotel, we changed out of our travel clothes and made our way to Montmartre. Montmartre is a village-like neighborhood filled with restaurants, shops, art, music, history, and more. This was the perfect start to the trip; it was relaxing yet exciting, and it filled up our whole afternoon. The second day in the city was packed with everything from nine in the morning to midnight, and every day that followed looked similar. We visited several different attractions, such as the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the Louvre Museum, and attended a show at the Moulin Rouge. The food was exactly how you would expect it to be: delicious. Paris has all kinds of food, but it is most famous for croissants, baguettes, French fries (for obvious reasons), unique cuts of steak like steak tartare, and more. Eventually, we rounded out the last night in France, walking through the lively streets, and ended up at the Eiffel Tower to watch it light up the night.
We had an early start to the morning, catching a train to our next destination, London. Right off the train, I could tell that this would feel slightly different than what we had been used to for the past couple of days. I noticed London felt more modern, almost like New York City in some parts, whereas Paris felt more like a historical city. We took the underground, which is like a subway in the US, to drop us off in the neighborhood where our Airbnb was located. From that night on, all we did was go, go, go. We were there for a total of seven days, and we saw all of the major landmarks travelers are supposed to see in London, including Big Ben, London Bridge, The Eye, Kensington Palace, and so much more. A few of my favorite experiences were seeing Hamilton for the first time in a theater and visiting a place called Borough Market. Borough Market is an enormous food market. It has traditional food that a person would come across in London, such as fish and chips. The market also sells food also located anywhere else, like mac and cheese and sandwiches, as well as all kinds of desserts.
With a later start to the day, which was necessary for recovery, we arrived in Brussels, Belgium, around 5:00 pm for our third and final stop. We only had about a day and a half in Brussels, so we decided to keep it pretty laid back. When we first got there, I was not sure what to expect, but I soon realized it was better than I could have imagined. We stayed right in the middle of the city, which was nice because we would not have to walk very far to get to where we needed to go. I also loved being in the middle of town with busy streets and loud music, which was perfect for the location we were in. Belgium is known for its chocolate, waffles, and fries, so we made sure to eat as much of those as possible. The first night, we only had time to go to dinner and afterwards walk around and get familiar with where we were. We stayed in another Airbnb, and we were fortunate enough to get an amazing host who gave us a checklist of things to see the next day. The checklist included historical sites, shopping streets in the city, and the most loved restaurants. Of course, I felt sad when it was time to head home, but it felt good remembering everything I was able to see.
It is hard to wrap up such an amazing, eventful, and cultural experience into text because there really is much more to be shared. Nevertheless, I have been so blessed to be able to share my personal adventures, and so grateful I have the ability to experience different cultures. I was able to learn how to live with different accommodations, like a seven-story flat, which meant walking up and down seven stories of stairs each time, and circumstances like no air conditioning in 90-degree weather. My overall experience has made me realize there is so much more of the world to see and that all I have is time to do so.
