Thoughts on Europe/The End

Now that I am back in California for the summer and have sorted through all of my 10,000 pictures I took on the trip and gone through all of the brochures, and things I have collected on my travels, I am finally getting around to finishing my blog with my last couple of weeks in Denmark, my parents’ arrival and our 2 week trip to Italy.

Obviously I am writing this several weeks after the fact, but I have a decent memory, so here is what I remember doing/thinking…

Thoughts on Europe In General


1. The thing I miss the most about being in Europe is having good public transportation and not having to drive a car. One of the biggest pains with having to drive instead of taking public transportation is find parking, which can be very difficult in downtown Walnut Creek. Also, I miss being able to space out when traveling on public transportation (since its not really so good to space out while driving).
2. Being in a more socially liberal place where the government provides more for you. Also, I like how Europeans are much more aware of world events and other countries than the US.
3. Americans really are fat compared to Europe.
4. As a whole, Americans dress much more casually and not as fashionably than Europeans.
5. Walnut Creek seemed much smaller and the buildings a lot shorter after living in a city for 4 months (even though Copenhagen wasn’t a particularly tall city).
6. However, it is nice to be able to go out to eat to a decent restaurant and not pay the equivalent of $18.
7. It’s also nice to be able to carry on a bag plus a backpack and to be able to check two bags for free when I fly.
8. One of the things that struck me the most when I got back was how it was so easy to go into shops and stores because I could talk to the people who worked there.
9. The top places I want to go back to are England, Austria and Switzerland.
10. Although I really enjoyed traveling so much and seeing a lot of places even if it meant only being in a city for a couple of days, I think in the future, I will want to spend a little longer in a city so I can learn the city more.
11. Future trips I want to make: A Nordic Trip which would including Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland; a German trip where I train all around Germany; a Spain trip, including southern Spain, Madrid, Barcelona (and maybe Portugal); England – where I see some of the smaller English towns in addition to London; Austria and Switzerland Trip