Fun fact, this is my 100th post! I started this in the form of a Tumblr back in 2014, which is absolutely wild. It’s been nearly seven years, which I think might be roughly the amount of time it takes for every single cell in the human body to be replaced? Seven years ago I was in my sophomore year of college. A lot has changed since then, both in my life and in the world. Since 2014, I went on study abroad, traveled alone for the first time, graduated college, moved halfway across the country, started a job, got promoted (twice), started a masters degree, and bought a house. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next!
It’s also been over a year now since I was on a plane. The world changed completely last March, practically overnight. The last trip I took out of the country was Cuba (which I will be posting about at some point soon). The one I wanted to talk about on this post, though, was last Thanksgiving. In November 2019, my parents and I visited Europe together. I am so thankful that we went before COVID. I can’t just get on a plane and visit for a long weekend anymore. Seeing my family now requires quarantining and driving, planning to minimize as many risks as we can. It will probably be a long time before we’re all vaccinated and can travel together again, so I’m glad the last trip was a good one.
Highlights from London:
– Going to the Tower of London in the rain and trying to imagine what it must have been like in the Tudor period
– Staying in Trafalgar Square in a beautiful boutique hotel
– Visiting Christmas markets and drinking mulled wine
– Going out to pubs with my friend Will and getting a tour of some of the more off the grid places
– Getting to go on the Harry Potter Studio Tour with my parents, who read me the first book back in first grade
– That amazing Italian pizza place near our hotel
– Going to the Shard and having cocktails as we look out over the city
Highlights from Paris:
– The charming café that we found near our hotel! The waitress heard me reading the menu and came up to my parents and started speaking French to them because she assumed we were all French speakers, which, not going to lie, I’m a little proud of….
– Wandering around the Louvre during their night hours
– Going on a dinner cruise down the Seine and seeing the city at night
– Taking a day trip out to see Chambord and Chenonceau, which I’ve been wanting to see for ages
– Dad trying escargot for the first time in that lovely little bistro
Highlights from Copenhagen:
– Showing my parents where I went to school! Copenhagen was my first big trip on my own, and so it was amazing to get to show them all my favorite places
– The Christmas market at Nyhavn. I used to stay away from Nyhavn when I lived there, because it always felt touristy, but all the little stalls were so cute and we had a favorite mulled wine place by the end of our time there
– The fabulous restaurant a few doors down from our hotel with some of the best gnocchi I’ve ever tasted
– Tivoli’s Christmas season
– Just being back in Denmark. Copenhagen is one of the cities I love most in the entire world, and I have so many happy memories associated with it. I met one of my best friends in the world there, I learned so much about myself and about traveling, and I love being able to walk around and revisit my favorite places again <3
It was the first time I got to go to Europe with my parents, but hopefully it won’t be the last! I’m excited for all of us to get vaccinated and be able to take more trips together in the future.