IM SHOOK.
Did that really happen? Was I just in Europe for 9 and a half weeks??????? WhAT!?
On a serious note though, and continuing from my previous post - "What's scarier? The world or not living your dreams?", I am in complete and utter awe by what I had the privilege to experience while I was abroad.
The rest of phase 2 was filled with more adventure of course, from Disneyland Paris to Bois de Vincennes. I truly value the friendships I made while in Paris, from my friends in my global seminar to the locals I met. I have continued to keep in touch and truly hope to see my friends in Paris again someday. I already know I will be seeing my UCSD mates around! What was awesome was that in between Phase 2 and Phase 3 (let's call it Phase 2.5) I was able to do some spontaneous traveling with one of my classmates, Jenny 😎. We planned a 3 day trip to England where I got to show her around the best spots in London, we stayed at the University of Sussex in Brighton, and we even took a bus tour to Stonehenge and Bath!
Upon returning, I was able to meet up with my family and at last start Phase 3. Life the first two days was stressful and depressing as I was rushing to finish my final paper while my family went out to explore the city. As soon as I finished, however, I was so relieved to finally enjoy Paris without any academic commitments whatsoever. For the next 10 days, my family and I were able to accomplish so much and explore places in Paris I had yet to even touch. On one of our last days in Paris, we decided to hop on a random train and go as far as possible, just to see what was out there. The Paris transit system is unequivocally the best I've seen. The exploration possibilities are endless!! In doing so we ended up in Fontainebleau-Avon, 30 miles outside of the city, where we discovered Chateau de Fontainebleau, a historically significant palace in French history. It was cold and rainy by the time we got there, but it worked out to our benefit because almost no one was there as we explored around. I only wish I had the courage to do something like this sooner. Everyone checks out the palaces in Versailles and Disneyland, which are indeed magnificent, but there are so many other castles around Paris that are equally stunning. I left Paris only longing to return. If anyone needs a reasonably priced hotel to stay at in the city, I would highly recommend Hotel des Ecrivains! We had great service, great views, it's in the 13th arrondissement and close to the metro, so very convenient location. There's also a police station across the street to help you feel safe.
Next up with the fam was Dublin! We spent a total of about 5 days there, and though I thought it would be enough, it certainly wasn't. Highlights from Dublin include spending lots of time shopping in the city, staying in the outskirts where you get a nice local feel (our Airbnb hosts were the bomb.com), and traveling across the island to the Cliffs of Moher! It was very enlightening and awesome to see how all of the street signs and posts were written in Gaelic first, then English. I had no idea how relevant the Gaelic culture and language still was!
I've been home for almost a month now but I'm still swooning over my time in Paris.
I want to extend my deepest thanks to the Global Seminars Scholarship program for helping me turn my dreams into reality! This experience has been more than I could have thought or imagined.
On a serious note though, and continuing from my previous post - "What's scarier? The world or not living your dreams?", I am in complete and utter awe by what I had the privilege to experience while I was abroad.
The rest of phase 2 was filled with more adventure of course, from Disneyland Paris to Bois de Vincennes. I truly value the friendships I made while in Paris, from my friends in my global seminar to the locals I met. I have continued to keep in touch and truly hope to see my friends in Paris again someday. I already know I will be seeing my UCSD mates around! What was awesome was that in between Phase 2 and Phase 3 (let's call it Phase 2.5) I was able to do some spontaneous traveling with one of my classmates, Jenny 😎. We planned a 3 day trip to England where I got to show her around the best spots in London, we stayed at the University of Sussex in Brighton, and we even took a bus tour to Stonehenge and Bath!
Upon returning, I was able to meet up with my family and at last start Phase 3. Life the first two days was stressful and depressing as I was rushing to finish my final paper while my family went out to explore the city. As soon as I finished, however, I was so relieved to finally enjoy Paris without any academic commitments whatsoever. For the next 10 days, my family and I were able to accomplish so much and explore places in Paris I had yet to even touch. On one of our last days in Paris, we decided to hop on a random train and go as far as possible, just to see what was out there. The Paris transit system is unequivocally the best I've seen. The exploration possibilities are endless!! In doing so we ended up in Fontainebleau-Avon, 30 miles outside of the city, where we discovered Chateau de Fontainebleau, a historically significant palace in French history. It was cold and rainy by the time we got there, but it worked out to our benefit because almost no one was there as we explored around. I only wish I had the courage to do something like this sooner. Everyone checks out the palaces in Versailles and Disneyland, which are indeed magnificent, but there are so many other castles around Paris that are equally stunning. I left Paris only longing to return. If anyone needs a reasonably priced hotel to stay at in the city, I would highly recommend Hotel des Ecrivains! We had great service, great views, it's in the 13th arrondissement and close to the metro, so very convenient location. There's also a police station across the street to help you feel safe.
Next up with the fam was Dublin! We spent a total of about 5 days there, and though I thought it would be enough, it certainly wasn't. Highlights from Dublin include spending lots of time shopping in the city, staying in the outskirts where you get a nice local feel (our Airbnb hosts were the bomb.com), and traveling across the island to the Cliffs of Moher! It was very enlightening and awesome to see how all of the street signs and posts were written in Gaelic first, then English. I had no idea how relevant the Gaelic culture and language still was!
I've been home for almost a month now but I'm still swooning over my time in Paris.
I want to extend my deepest thanks to the Global Seminars Scholarship program for helping me turn my dreams into reality! This experience has been more than I could have thought or imagined.
Comments
Post a Comment