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This entry has been woefully late in
coming. My first trip to Europe started on the 12th of May, and now it’s the
24th..of June. (A/N: Well, it WAS, when I was writing this..!)
The first few parts of this entry were written before I went to Romania, and I’ve noticed a slight discrepancy between my writing then and now. I’ve become more flippant, I think. And, of course, since it’s already been more than a month and loads has happened since then, I’ll have forgotten lots of things, but I still have the pictures, at least.
The first few parts of this entry were written before I went to Romania, and I’ve noticed a slight discrepancy between my writing then and now. I’ve become more flippant, I think. And, of course, since it’s already been more than a month and loads has happened since then, I’ll have forgotten lots of things, but I still have the pictures, at least.
Before I go any further, I’d like to talk
about what this initial trip to the Continent meant to me. I’d been abroad
before on my own (that’s actually what I’m doing right now with my degree and
London) and I am the sort of person who likes to spend lots of quality alone
time, which means plenty of solo trips out and about. This, however, was very
much different to anything I’d ever done. I was going to countries I’d never
been before, where I didn’t speak the language, and I’d never planned out a
proper itinerary for myself like this one (the first of many to come!). It was
fantastic, tailoring a whole trip for myself, but it was also an extremely
daunting and time consuming task. And to be honest, I had no idea what to
expect – I wasn’t really thinking about travel dangers, not speaking the
language and other things. What I did was plan my trip meticulously, right down
to the last detail. I booked ALL of my tickets, be they
train/bus/coach/sightseeing hotspots – online and beforehand, and printed them
all out. I downloaded the offline google maps of all the places I was planning
to visit – we live in the 21st century and GPS is a godsend for the intrepid
hopelessly naive first-time traveller. I also took out an annual travel
insurance that covers the whole of the Schengen area. It’s a long, torturous
procedure, but it’s incredibly rewarding, and this whole experience has been a
life-changing one, although again it’s not something I can fully express in
words, but I’ll try my best, as I relive my journey through these entries.
A quick overview of my itinerary – 19 days
in total, which I started off by spending 4 days in France (Toulouse and
Carcassonne), 5 days in Barcelona, 3 days in Portugal, then it was over to
Maastricht (a Dutch town on the Belgic/German border), which I used as a base
to make day trips to Belgium (Bruges and Ghent), Germany (Aix-la-Chapelle) and
Luxembourg (Luxembourg City and Vianden). I spent an average of 16 euros a day
(this sum includes tickets, living expenses and so on).
So, without any further ado, I give
you..the entry I wrote two weeks prior.
***
My travels so far have consisted of endless
castles and gothic cathedrals which are fine and dandy but somehow all end up
looking the same.
My masters life is one where I go through cans
and cans of fizzy drinks. If I were the drinking type of person I would
probably drink a lot. But yes, lots and lots of soft drinks, cans, and meeting
beautiful boys in Europe who want to have a serious relationship with me,
whatever that means. This is the life.
My dad was in Toulouse for a summit, which
was the sole reason I decided to make it my first destination. The cheapest way
of getting there from London was to fly to Carcassonne (15 pounds) and take a
train from there (12 euros). I decided to make a bit of time for CCF, since
there was apparently a lovely fortress there that I really wanted to see. I
touched down in Carcassonne, France on Monday afternoon. Bit of a bumpy ride,
but the incredibly hot flight attendant named Carlos more than made up for it.
If heaven existed, all angels would look like him. I think he caught me staring
at him on more than one occasion. He’s wasted as a flight attendant. He should
become a male supermodel, or go into acting. I’ve never seen anyone as perfect
as him. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get a picture of him. The plane was a
tiny 737 model.
I don’t like flying, which is odd, because
when I was little I loved it. Then again, there is a considerable difference
between short flights and long haul flights. The 737 plane kept shaking, the
seat was unadjustable and the table was wobbly. I kept wondering if the plane
would lose all structural integrity halfway across the Bay of Biscay.
Anyway, I arrived in Carcassonne airport,
and took the shuttle from the airport to the train station. The driver was a
very jovial man who spoke splendid English.
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| A view from the Gare de Carcassonne |
I thought Carcassonne was a very
picturesque little town, with narrow streets which are typical of European
towns, though I didn’t realize this until I’d reached my third city.
Carcassonne’s claim to fame is the Cite de
Carcassonne, which features a rather splendid medieval citadel (an UNESCO World
Heritage site), with a lovely little bridge.
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| The bridge |
After I’d crossed the bridge, it was a
rather steep climb. A rather nice panoramic view of the city could be seen, but
of all the city panoramas I’ve seen on this trip (Barcelona, Luxembourg,
Lisbon), the best one belongs to Lisbon, with Luxembourg coming a very close
second. But that’s a detail for another entry.
 |
| The Cite |
The Cite de Carcassonne, best viewed from
one of the bridges. I really wish I’d gotten blue skies; cloudy days make for
awful pictures. Going into the citadel was free, but it was not that
impressive. I did like the conical towers, though.
 |
| Construction work being done. Again. |
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| A chapel within the Cite. |
There was too much construction work going
on, which spoiled my pictures. The weather at this point had gotten kind of
blustery, which is typical. It did that too in loads of other places I went to
on this trip, such as Belgium, which was such a shame, because Belgium was – is
– gorgeous.
Well, I reached Toulouse within an hour
(the train ride was very pleasant), and met my dad, which was fantastic. One
thing about travelling is that you pick up bits and pieces of their languages.
Gare for train station in France, for instance, which proved to be surprisingly
useful.
***
(A/N: This is the ‘present’ (well, the /6/24) me speaking,
now. I am starving. Why oh why am I so perpetually HUNGRY?)
I didn’t do much after I arrived in
Toulouse from CCF- had a nice soak in the tub, cooked some ramen, and went on
facebook. And I think that this is quite enough for a prologue, so I’ll stop
here with a teaser of Toulouse’s city square. In retrospect, this was one of my
favourite Continental cities. Till then, adieu!
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| The Rue Lafayette |
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