Personal Narrative: My Trip To Europe

Growing up I used to be so naive to the existence of the rest of the world, trapped in my own bubble that seeming kept me bound within the state lines of Oregon for a number of years. The summer before my freshman year in high school was my first time leaving the United States, my grandparents had generously decided to take my two cousins (Jake and Sarah), sister (Megan), and I on a two-week trip to Europe. My grandparents are extremely kind people that love to spoil us grandkids and spoil us they did with this trip of a lifetime. Going to a different country, especially one that lies on the other side of the ocean, was something odd for me, an Oregon born and raised kid who had never even stepped foot on foreign soil. Experiencing two differing

We headed down to King’s Cross station to catch the subway, referred to as the tube, down to Oxford Circus in central London. To this day I still have not seen a greater amount of people in one place, than the moment I emerged out of the tube station and first laid my eyes upon Oxford Circus and it's swarming crowd of people coming and going in every direction. I remember my grandparents both trying to locate where the group was headed, but just could not see past all of the people to do so. At my request, the group made a stop to see the biggest Nike store in the world, which definitely lived up to my expectations with its wide variety of athletic shoes and apparel. After strolling around for a while we decided to grab a bite at a restaurant called Garfunkel’s, which ended up being absolutely delicious, the dish I choose, spaghetti carbonara, was savory and just a bit tangy, it seemed as if each bite I took was better than the last. After lunch, we caught a cab over to the Thames riverfront, on the way there, however, we were lucky enough to pass Big Ben, which towered over our cab like a giant. We came to the decision to take a river tour, and it was a unique experience, I learned several key facts about the city while having a spectacular view of the beautiful riverfront architecture. Once the sun started to set and turn the

A short train ride under the English Channel was all that was needed to reach Paris, France. The instant I gazed upon the rumbling city of Paris, I knew it was going to be drastically different from what I saw in London. It was a lovely day outside, Parisians flowing up and down the sidewalks, vehicles zipping through the streets, the sound of native french filling the air. The first stop on our list was the Eiffel Tower, but we had to make it across the city to reach it; on the way over we drove right next to the mighty Arc de Triomphe, which is surrounded by a multi-lane roundabout that didn’t seem to have any lines separating traffic. The sight of the historic Arc was stunning to my eyes, The cab got close enough for me to notice the fine details carved into the side of the famous military structure. Driving through Paris is something I could have never imagined, it is easily one of, if not the most beautiful city in the world. The buildings all possess the same shades of brown, as well as the intricate French architecture that seemingly formed the city into one immense art gallery. We had finally arrived at the Eiffel Tower, something I had been waiting for since the day we got to Europe. My grandparents made us kids pose for a photo in front of the world-famous piece of metal before we could go and explore it. The tower looks large from a distance, but once up close and personal I felt