J'adore Travel

Eiffel Tower
The last two weekends I traveled outside of Prague to Spain and France. The first weekend I went to Madrid and visited my friends, and last weekend I went to Paris. I had never been to either city. In such little time I was able to see and experience two new, beautiful places. I thought that both cities were amazing and I was extremely appreciative of the warm, sunny weather.
One thing I realized that I am missing out on in Prague is not fully immersing myself into the Czech culture by speaking Czech. Since I studied Spanish throughout high school, I felt comfortable using it in Madrid and I wished I could do the same while in Prague. However, I am having an entirely different experience while I am living in Prague. I have met so many great friends from New York and we are sharing this opportune time of our lives together. Even though my new friends are American, I value my time in Prague with them, as I know that I am learning and seeing so many new things. Yet again, it did feel good to fall back on my little Spanish. “Como se dice “when” en Ingles, I mean en Espanol?”
I also felt like I was spending such a short time in Madrid and Paris, but I wanted to be able to see as much as I could in the little time that I had on the weekend, since both cities are much larger than Prague. Not only the size, but also the art and history in Paris is extensive and it is nearly impossible to absorb it all in two and half days. Although I have to say we did a whirlwind tour in Paris. A moment that I will not forget was when we were in the Louvre standing twenty feet back from the Mona Lisa (which has a glass panel protecting it). Everyone tells you that it is extremely anticlimactic, but I wanted to be able to check that painting off my list, and well, it was unexplainable, maybe even ironic. But then I remembered who painted it and how long ago, and I was slightly moved.
The Eiffel Tower might have been my favorite site over the past weekends. I have always dreamt of finally seeing it in person. When we went it was nighttime and the sun was just setting. The vast structure was lit up and then it started to sparkle, I felt like I was in a fairytale. Much of my experience the past two weekends felt surreal. One day I was in Spain, the next in the Czech Republic, and then France. This is one of Prague’s greatest aspects; it’s extremely accessible and I love it. I would not have done Europe any other way! Cheers.