Three years ago I attended a spoken word event in New York City where poet Miles Hodges recited this line that has resonated with me until this day:
“Traveling makes home more identifiable on a map”
Until this point, I could not have agreed with Hodges enough. However, during my travels through Europe, I have been challenging the definition of “home” because I have never felt more comfortable in any city besides Paris- my adopted home.
Two weeks ago, my parents visited me in my new-home city for my birthday.
It was their first time traveling to Europe, so the monuments and landmarks that have lost their sheen to me began to sparkle again with newness when I saw them through my parents perspective.
During their stay, we traveled to Zürich, Switzerland. Honestly, I was quite disappointed in this city. Before traveling to Zürich i looked up the main attractions of this city. Most articles highlighted the shopping available here, however, I didn’t think that shopping would be the ONLY thing it had to offer.
We took the Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV), Europe’s high-speed train system, first-class from Paris to Zürich within four hours. The moment we arrived, we headed to the nearest Starbucks to re-caffeniate and use the free wi-fi to locate our hotel. I know in America that Starbucks is usually referenced as an “over-priced” coffee shop in comparison to say Dunkin Donuts, but the prices of Starbucks in Zürich was absurd. For two medium lattes and one small hot chocolate we paid roughly 20 franks (equivalent to 20.78 American dollars). Welcome to Switzerland.
Once we were settled into our hotel room, our hotel concierge recommend that we go to Bahnhofstrasse, the city’s main street lined with luxury good stores and fine dinning. We walked up and down Bahnhofstrasse, weaving in and out of shops and window shopping. For dinner, we headed to a traditional Swiss restaurant. My mother and I shared a vegetarian smorgasbord styled dish filled with the most delicious variety of veggies that I have had during my stay in Europe. My father had smoked Cervelat (Swiss sausage) and beer. After dinner, we continued our stroll around the main street, bought oversized pretzels, shoes, and coffee.
Our second and only full day in Zürich we woke up early and walked through the city before we went to Zürcher Wein-Ausstellung– Zürich’s Wine Festival. During our stroll, we stumbled upon an adorable cupcake shop with the most adorable exteriors that made us obligated to go inside and sample the enticing mini-cupcakes. I ordered a chai tea cupcake with vanilla icing sprinkled with sea salt, it was probably the best cupcake I have ever had in my life. After, we continued our journey looking at churches built in the 1500s and window shopping. While walking towards the location of Zürcher Wein-Ausstellung, we stumbled upon a fondue cheese sampling, which was the first time I ever tried cheese fondue.
After our free snack, we arrived at Zürcher Wein-Ausstellung. A man only a few years older than me approached me and gave me an extra ticket that he had. I am so thankful he did because to attend the event was 25 franks per person, which is not expensive; however when traveling with a family of three, attending these events, shopping, and eating out adds up.
The wine festival was absolutely beautiful, though! It took place on several yachts. Once you enter one yacht there were about 30-50 wine vendors on each boat where you can sample wines from all over the world. After we completed our first yacht we were already hungry and exhausted. Luckily, the yacht next to the one we were on was a restaurant. Surprisingly, a fondue restaurant. We sat on the boat for about an hour eating and talking over our pot of cheese. But, I was astound once our bill came. For a pot of cheese and pitcher of water our total was 102 franks….. for a pot of cheese.
After our overpriced dairy lunch, we went back to our hotel to nap for a few hours. When we awoke and were ready to go, we ventured to another part of the city for a light dinner and explored the city by night illuminated by the lights reflecting off of the cities winding rivers. The best part of that night was talking and laughing with my parents at an outdoor cafe near the water with my parents, sipping cappuccinos while curled up on chairs lined with faux-fur and winter blankets.
Before our train home to Paris on Sunday morning, my dad and I walked through a charming park near our hotel taking in the last of Zürich’s chilly fall weather and eye-catching foliage. We then packed our things and walked to the train station. Prior to boarding our train, I had to buy Grittibaenz, a sweet bread in the shape of a man (later I discovered it represents Santa Clause). Of course, we had to buy Swiss chocolate to snack on during the commute to Paris, too. After having fresh chocolate native to Switzerland, I don’t think I could ever eat chocolate that could compare to the perfect texture and taste captured in the truffles that we had.
The next day, Monday the 10th was my birthday. After spending the morning with my parents, I sent them off to the airport and went through my daily schedule. After putting much thought in it and my friends asking what I wanted to do for my birthday, I honestly didn’t want to do anything special. All I wanted to do was go out with my friends and have fun with everyone- and that’s exactly what we did thanks to my amazing friends here in Paris.
Paris is beginning to be decorated with string lights and window displays welcoming the Christmas season. I am so anxious for the city streets and homes to be illuminating the colorful lights and trees in a few weeks. At Galeries Lafayette, a high-end shopping mall, Christmas seems to be in full swing. Outside the building is an incredible window display created by Burberry, similar to the ones you can find in New York City, depicting various seasonal activities. However, my favorite display is found inside. In the center of Galeries Lafayette is a giant decorated Christmas tree suspended from the ceiling.
After my morning classes were completed on Friday, I packed my bags and rushed to Gare du Nord catching my three-hour train ride to Cologne, Germany.
During my freshman year of college in New York, I became friends with a foreign exchange student from Germany named Finn. I contacted him a few weeks ago and told him I wanted to visit him and explore Germany. He told me that this weekend would be perfect timing because it was his birthday weekend.
Germany is now my second favorite country in Europe, maybe it is due to having the best time with old and new friends there, but the city of Cologne is perfect. I would refer to Cologne as a college city, there is not much “tourist attractions”, but if you are young and traveling with friends you must visit this city.
Finn picked me up from the train station and we went out for dinner at a burger restaurant, which was one of the best and most unique hamburgers I have had (I am not a fan of the hamburgers in Paris). Not only was it so large that I had to use a fork and knife, but it also had pineapples and unique sweet dressing on it, too. After dinner, we went bar hoping at his favorite local bars. A few drinks and bars later, we went to pick up Finn’s childhood friend from the train station who also came to visit for his birthday weekend. They showed me their college campus by night, one of the city’s main rivers and told me stories from summertime barbecues and other their childhood.
Saturday, the boys showed me around Cologne. When one thinks of Cologne, the image of the Dom comes to mind, which is the Cologne Cathedral. We then ventured around the area; walking along the Hohenzollern Bridge, that has lovelocks on it just like in Paris, then strolled along the river side where we saw a man making bubbles about nine feet in size. At around noon, I sampled my first German beer. Honestly, I am not much of a beer drinker, but the beer was very good! Finn had to meet leave to meet with his roommate, so his childhood friend and I went shopping for a few hours and found a giant pretzel stand (which was larger than the one I had in Switzerland).
After our busy day, we relaxed at Finn’s apartment then went out for dinner where I had currywurst for the first time. If you ever go to Germany you MUST try currywurst! It is a sausage served with a sweet yet spicy curry sauce and french fries- it is absolutely delicious!
That night, we went out with 13 more of Finn’s friends to celebrate his twenty-first birthday. First, we went to one of their favorite bar’s, Cuba Bar, where we had a table reserved for us. The Latina music was perfect and the drinks were sweet, fruity, and cheap (a nice change from Paris).
After having a few drinks at Cuba Bar, we took the tram to Vanity Club where we had another table reserved for us. That night, the club’s DJ was playing the perfect mix of music and everyone danced and drank al night until 4 a.m. So, one can conclude that we had the best night and Finn had a great 21st birthday.
When I left Sunday night, I was sad to leave Germany. I was so happy to see my old friend, make new friends, and become acquainted with a great country. But, once I was on the train, the feeling of relaxation and reassurance rushed over my body knowing that I was going home.
So Miles Hodges, yes, traveling does make home more identifiable on a map. However, traveling also allows one to discover more places in the world where they belong.
That evening, API gave us the opportunity to go on a guided walking tour of Collioure. We started at the beach, ventured to Eglise Notre Dame des Anges, walked through the cobblestone streets lined with colorful homes, and then up to a windmill located on the mountainside.
L'enchantement d'une ville 