Living in New York, do you ever get the urge to go to Boston for the weekend? Philadelphia? Washington D.C.? Maybe even Florida?
Polling my New York friends and even from my personal standpoint, rarely does one chose to make those adventures to other American cities. They are all easily accessible from New York, but rarely does it enter our New Yorker mentality to take advantage of these feasible excursions.
The mentality in Europe is quite different. With companies such as Easy Jet or Ryan Air, which offer ridiculously inexpensive flight options to cities all over Europe - Athens, Barcelona, Dublin, Rome - the incentive to travel is extremely heightened. Especially with all the culture there is to absorb throughout Europe. Tallying the LIM College students I am in London with, our trips have thus far included Amsterdam, Berlin, Dublin, and Prague.
My most recent trip was to Paris. My Mom and sister came to visit and were adamant about seeing the “City of Lights.” While there is the option of flying there, the more common way of traveling to Paris from London is via EuroStar. It is the high-speed train, traveling over 180mph. The train departs from Kings Cross St. Pancras station (which also is the home to platform 9 ¾, for all the Harry Potter fans!). The trip time is roughly 2.5 hours and the views of the French countryside are spectacular, giving the beauty of Paris a run for its money.
It was unfortunate that Paris was not all that I expected it to be. The Eiffel Tower is beautiful, but the rumors were true, the French people we met did not like Americans. Trying to communicate was an adventure, but definitely worth the experience.
Next up is Lisbon for some much-needed warmth and sun!