KentNewsNet.com

Issue date: 8/30/06 Section: Opinion

Oh, how I miss Europe -- Roman gypsies yelling at tourists to buy a scarf, one euro "toiletten" fees and three-hour traffic jams on top of a Swiss mountain during June snowfalls. What I learned on my European vacation this summer is that these far-off lands aren't the glistening photos you saw in a book. A whole world of interest lies beyond the clichéd postcards of the Eiffel Tower and wooden shoes.

Surprisingly, most major European landmarks are spread out. You can't exactly walk from Buckingham Palace to Big Ben, if you catch my drift. Europe may seem small on a map, but once you get there, getting from one country to the next is a whole day's bus drive.

I thought once we got to France I could use some of my high school French language skills. Wrong. Forget going abroad for the "foreign language experience." Practically everyone speaks English. My sister and I took a picture in front of a McDonald's in every country.

I had assumed ancient monuments would be in some desolate area. Nope. Just turn the corner of a hot cobblestone Roman street, and bam, you're right in front of the ancient Pantheon. It's awe-inspiring, I'll tell you.

When we toured Amsterdam's Red Light District (during the day, I mind you), I was warned that the prostitutes get violent and pickpockets thrive. But when I walked along the street alongside a canal, I felt like I was on a pleasant stroll, not running through a mugger's alley.

I've been more scared in the Flats of Cleveland for God's sake. The little prosties stood (and shook their booties) in front-door-sized picture windows. Most resembled pre-trailer-trash, 17-year-old Britneys. The tame street had shops, "coffee houses," bars and souvenir shops. It was nothing like the sleaze I expected.

In Cologne, Germany, is the cathedral where the three wise men supposedly lay. Nestled next to streets filled with so many stores, you'd swear you were walking in an upscale outdoor shopping area in the United States.

But some locations lived up to my expectations. Salzburg, Austria, where the Sound of Music was filmed, showed me the simple life, with cute little streets and cafés. Vienna was also an excellent place to people watch, take photos or write. I swear it was straight from a movie: clowns with balloons, children eating ice cream cones, little shops and horse-drawn carriages.

Most places, though, challenged my perceptions. As Americans, we are weaned on Hollywood movies of lovers meeting under the Effiel Tower, and photographs of large Italian families enjoying the wines of Tuscany. The little things are all filtered out for us. Our glamorized version of Europe is tainted by modern misconceptions.

The old sits alongside the new in Europe's booming cities. I saw so much I could never see at home. It's amazing to think people could build such buildings back then without modern technology.

The little extra things you don't see in the books and postcards -- those are the reasons you should travel to Europe. Those little things make you look at life. So take a moment to just look.

Allison Pritchard is a senior electronic media production major and columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact her at alpritch@kent.edu.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools