Europe Post-Script

[scarlettina]

I've been back in Seattle four days now. I've done my post-trip laundry and clean-up, and while I still have a tiny little bit of unpacking and organizing to do (which always seems to be the case when I travel), I am, for all intents and purposes, back home and back in the swing of things. I've gone back to work and my head is fully here

Comments

[herself_nyc]

Wonderful observations.

I too was struck, in Rome and Paris, with the vastness of things, but in a slightly different way - I was aware that some of the vast open areas gave me the heebie-jeebies; St Peter's Sq in Rome outside the Vatican, and in Paris it was, I think, the Place de la Concorde, where the sensation of all the buildings being so far apart from each other, and so much open sky and open space, made me uneasy. I realized that in NY you never really experience this. (It's also part of why I don't like Chicago - the buildings ought to be jammed up against one another, damn it). The use of scale in those European cities is utterly unlike NY. I don't think I ever felt that way in London either, which, while not high-risey like NY, is certainly tightly jammed in a way that feels comfortable and familiar.

[prettyshrub]

I went to the Grand Canyon once as a child, and only to the rim. I would love to go back and go into it. The vastness is unbelievable until you go there in person. Even then it still doesn't seem real.

I need to get some traveling done myself. Curse my lack of discretionary cash!

[twilight2000]

What an amazingly wonderful trip! I've often hear two things about Amsterdam that your visit confirms - 1 that it's the easiest city for Americans to start in if they move to Europe (language among other things) and 2 that it's more like San Fran than any other major US city - and walking across 1/2 of The City in 1/2 a day was what we called "Saturday" when I was a kid :>.

Now? I must find a way to travel. :>.

[e_bourne]

A complete aside, sort of. In conversation on the trip with irony maiden and varina8 I mentioned that one of the real bonuses we experienced is that we both do museums at the same pace. I can't stress enough how important I think this is for a pleasant trip. Or at least one where traveling together is at issue. I know Mark did museums much faster than I, but found his second pleasure in taking pictures of other people in the museums, which fascinated him more than the exhibits.

It is true, we were "slow" museum visitors. But I am not sorry. It was a genuine pleasure to find someone who meandered at the same snail's pace. :)

[skidspoppe]

Really? Living in LT not high on the list :-)

Makes sense to me! Glad I was able to show you a little of the Europe most Americans never get a chance to see. I look forward to your next visit!