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About This Author
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Blogocentric Formulations #819955 added June 16, 2014 at 9:20pm
Restrictions: None
Wodehouse/WTMR Entry #1 - Foreign Travel
ACTIVITY: "a very Wodehouse challenge" 
GROUP AFFILIATION: "Welcome To My Reality Forum"
PROMPT: Have you ever traveled to another country? Where did you go and how did you like it?
Not counting a trip to Bermuda when I was too young to remember, I've been out of the country three times. I've been to Spain (Madrid), the United Kingdom (London), and France (Paris). Technically I've been to Paris twice, but the first time was just an overnight stay during our trip to London. As a whole, I've really loved the time I've spent traveling abroad. Experiencing other cultures is something that has always excited me, and something I rarely had an opportunity to do growing up, since my parents were more inclined to think of the downside than the upside. It can be frustrating being in a place where you don't speak the language, you aren't familiar with the currency, and customs can confound you. But it's also a remarkable opportunity to experience the way other people live and see things a lot of people will only ever see in photographs.
My first trip abroad was to Spain. We stayed with relatives in a small town about twenty miles outside of Madrid. We did a lot of sightseeing that trip, including several museums, a tour of Alcala de Henares (birthplace of Don Quixote author Miguel Cervantes), and a tour of the city of Segovia. I saw amazing works of art, including one of my favorite pieces, Diego Velazquez's " Las Meninas " (on display at the Museo del Prado in Madrid). Fun fact: the painting is actually huge... over nine feet by ten feet in size! In Segovia we also got to see incredible pieces of architecture including the Aqueduct of Segovia, which dates all the way back to the 1st or 2nd Century. We visited Segovia Cathedral, where we saw preserved ceremonial robes that dated back hundreds of years. It was remarkable to see clothes that were older than our entire country! 
London was an interesting trip, but we didn't get that same feeling of awe as we did in Spain, mostly because I think we stayed in a more modern area of the city. It was hard to feel like we were really getting an authentic experience in another culture when we were walking down the street and passing Whole Foods, Banana Republic, and Best Buy. It was a fun trip and we got to see some great things like The Globe Theater, The Tower of London, etc., but it just didn't have the same "wow" factor as we experienced with Spain. On the plus side, everyone spoke English, so it was much easier to get around! 
Paris was a wonderful experience (both times) because the pace of life there is so different. Not only is the food amazing, but people took their time to enjoy the day. Meals were leisurely; being accustomed to being bustled out of American restaurants and encouraged to eat fast, it was remarkable to have a meal that would last ninety minutes or more and where courses were brought out only after the last one had been finished and digested. We saw a lot of sights too (The Louvre and a whole host of other museums, climbed to the top of Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower, toured the Palace and grounds of Versailles), but the most amazing part of that trip was living - for a short time - in a country where the priority wasn't efficiency or haste, but rather savoring life's little moments and pleasures.
This summer, I'll be taking my first non-European international trip, to Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I have no idea what to expect on a completely different continent (and I don't speak a word of Portuguese), but I'm really looking forward to the adventures that lay ahead. I'm looking forward to meeting a new culture, seeing new sights, and experiencing a different way of life, even if only for a few weeks. 
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