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A lovely weekend
This past weekend I flew to Oxford, England with my friend to visit her friend who attends Oxford University. And I have to admit, I was semi-dreading it... only because our travel plans turned out to be a bit ridiculous. Leave at 3am Friday morning to get on a plane at 7am; arrive in London Stanstead Airport and take a bus that would arrive in Oxford around 1pm. Then we would leave Sunday morning at 2am, wait in the frigid cold for 2 hours (at 3 in the morning) at Heathrow Airport until the bus left again for Stanstead Airport and arrive back in Florence at 3pm Sunday afternoon. Anticipating the uncomfortable journey, the short stay, and sleepless nights, I was thinking to myself, "What have I done?"
What I didn't anticipate was one of the best weekends of my abroad experience.
Nothing particularly significant made it so great... But a combination of traveling with a friend I met here in Florence and who I feel incredibly close to now, meeting her friend who has the most lovely British accent and the cutest personality, and exploring a city teeming with university students who aren't American. It was probably one of the most educational weekends I've had... Sure, we didn't really visit any historical hotspots (apart from Christ Church where Harry Potter was filmed... yes, I will admit it now, we pretended we were Harry Potter with our wands in the Great Hall. Embarrassing, but so worth it.) but it was so refreshing not being a tourist for once and simply enjoying ourselves... Sipping tea with scones, eating Japanese for lunch, having the BEST cookie ever followed by the BEST milkshake ever. Eating more chocolates. Watching a fireworks display in commemoration of Guy Fawkes and talking with some Oxford students about their lives in England.
It reminded me also of the short time I have here in Florence... But how I still have time to make the most of my experiences here. That I don't need to keep checking things off my list of things to do, but that by simply letting go and soaking in each day, I can come away from this semester feeling truly fuller and richer. So onward to more good times!
I liked what you said about
I liked what you said about how "nothing particularly significant made it so great." I think in many ways, that sentence can some up some of the best moments. While you did a wonderful job relating your weekend, I'm sure that it still just doesn't do it justice. I recently went on a wonderful trip, and when I tried to tell friends and family about it, there was just no way to do it justice. It's all about the experience as the whole, the way you're feeling and living in the actual moment, and that's what can/will make a weekend trip like yours so fantastic. Keep having cool travels!
Leaving at Ridiculous Hours
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I think leaving at ridiculous hours is the best way to travel. I went on a twenty hour bus ride leaving at midnight. That might have been the funnest bus ride of my life. We took it because it was cheap and fast. We drank wine, and played cards the whole night and day. We didn't even realize the time zip by. Every once in a while the bus would stop and we would have fun bets for each other. We would bet on who could throw rocks farther or who could run around the bus fastest. All in all I won forty pesos from the bus ride. My recommendation is always leave at ridiculous hours.