Andrea Griffin: Three Countries in Twelve Days.

My first Eurotrip adventure was one that I will never forget. A group of my friends and I began our journey in France and made our way through Italy, and then on to Spain in just 12 days for our Easter break vacation. The cities we visited were Paris, Rome, Venice, Milan and Barcelona. All these different places were incredible and I feel truly fortunate to have been able to see all these wonderful parts of the world.

Paris was beautiful. The city was busy and it’s a good thing I have 5 years of French immersion behind me because no one else in our group spoke French; I was the translator for this part of the trip. It was actually very neat to converse in another language other than English and being able to have a full on conversation in French gave me confidence and also made me feel proud to overcome this challenge in a foreign country. My favourite part of Paris was a night we all enjoyed, eating and drinking outside under a building that had a ledge covering us from the rain, with the Eiffel Tower in plain view straight ahead of us. We took incredible pictures as the beautiful monument was lit up for the evening; there was also a light show that was very nice to watch. I tried escargots on our last night in Paris which turned out to be quite tasty and left me wanting more! After staying in France for 3 nights, we made our way to Italia!

All the cities we visited in Italy were equally amazing, but Venice was probably the most interesting place that I saw. I didn’t realise that the “masks” for masquerades started in this city and every store we visited had some kind of mask for sale. Some were beautiful, some were a bit different but they were all so out of the ordinary, which was very cool to see. The most interesting mask I found was one with an incredibly long nose that looked a bit scary when I put it on. Gelato ice cream was very popular in Italy and probably the best I have ever tried. All the architectural structures of the buildings in Italy were just incredible and nothing close to what we have in Canada. It was so different to see buildings that were built so long ago and how they have been preserved well enough for individuals like me to see years and years later. After covering 3 cities in Italy, our next stop was Barcelona, Spain.

I fell in love with Barcelona as soon as we arrived; palm trees, blue skies, and sun. We made our way to the beach and sat down for a while; it was great to just chill and relax since we had been walking so much during the whole trip. We went on tours with our hostel and learned many interesting facts about the city and how it has evolved over the years. Antoni Gaudi, a famous architect in Barcelona, built a few one of a kind houses and a church (which still hasn’t been completed) during the 19^th century in the city; all these structures were something like I had never seen before. In just 3 days, we were already back on our plane to London, leaving the sun and blue skies in Barcelona; the trip was over just as quick as it had came, but the memories will never be forgotten.  

Overall, this trip was a great experience and I learned lots throughout all of it. I’m very glad I decided to travel to these different countries as it has made me appreciate and understand the world that we live in, so much more.