It has been a great couple of months living in London, watching theater performances, looking at and thinking about art, but now I’m continuing my European adventure for another two months in other cities of this beautiful part of the world.
I’m writing this while passing through the Alps on a train from Munich to Venice, amazed by the almost too-beautiful mountains, sprinkled with little houses and church spires poking through the trees on the foothills. How did time pass so quickly? Before coming to London, I had been bubbling with excitement about the prospects of living there and interning with Dulwich OnView, barely even worrying about the latter part of my trip, consisting of two months of train travel with nothing but a backpack all over Europe – Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain – and now London is in the past, and I’m on my way to Italy. Wow.
The day I packed up my bags and hopped on the EuroStar train at St. Pancras, I felt such mixed emotions about leaving London and starting the rest of my trip. London had been my home for two and a half months, I had gotten into a routine, I got to know many parts of the city – but not enough! I did not feel ready to leave. Two and a half months in London is almost like a short vacation, and there were still places I wanted to see, things I wanted to do. A couple days before, I remember leaving Borough Market and having a sudden, horrible, realization that I might not ever be able to get one of those duck sandwiches or free paella samples for many, many years. The night before I left, I walked along the Thames from the London Eye all the way to Tower Bridge, taking in the last sights of the city, all glowing with light, for the last time in who knows how long.
Although I still miss London, I can’t help feeling excited about all of the places I’ve visited and will be visiting since leaving. Brussels was a lot of fun, Bruges was a fairytale, and Amsterdam was an adventure. Next I went to Berlin where I are my first currywurst, then I was off to Prague, which is arguably one of the most beautiful cities I’ve been to, and then to Munich where everyone drank the largest mugs of beer I had ever seen. Now I’m speeding through a beautiful landscape, deep in the valleys of the Alps, greener than green, something I had only seen in pictures until now. Pictures do not compare. Can the train just make a pit stop here and let me off so that I can frolic through the forest and climb to the top of that mountain, maybe jump into that turquoise river? I’m tempted to smash a window and fly out.
So far, my thirst for adventure has both been increased and quenched simultaneously. The more I travel, the more I want to travel and explore. It never ends! This is a life-long thing for me.
I’d like to thank Dulwich OnView for the incredible internship they provided me. It has been a learning experience that I will never forget, and it has helped pave the road to my future, both professionally and intellectually. Future internships (whatever you might be): be wary, you have big shoes to fill.
Now – to Italy! Let’s put metaphorical ellipses at the end of that statement.
