31 Days of Traveling to Europe: Day 1‏

A ceiling in the Pantheon, Paris

When I was a kid, my family had a set of books that highlighted far-off places around the world. Each book came with a record and a strip of transparencies made to fit in an accompanying slide projector. My sister and I spent hours looking at those slides, listening over and over again to the descriptions of these far-off places, dreaming of visiting them one day.

In June, I got to see some of those far of places. I traveled to London, Paris, and Italy with my sister. We spent a week in London, then traveled by train to Paris. After a week in Paris, we took the train to Florence where we joined up with a tour group that took us to Venice. We ended our trip in Rome. My sister had taken a similar trip a few years ago so she was my tour guide, helping me navigate the streets and various forms of transportation we encountered. It was a wonderful, trip of a lifetime.

This year for 31 Days, I want to take you all on that trip with me. I'll start with how we prepared for our trip, show you the sights we experienced, then how we recovered upon our re-entry into the real world. My hope is that it gives people a glimpse into what it is like to travel abroad and that it inspires you to take your own trip of a lifetime.

Bon voyage!

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