While I had been to Europe before, Spain, the summer of 2015 was my first real European summer, where I was able to explore a good chunk of the continent. After getting off the Corsica ferry in Nice, I explored around southern France a little bit then made my way up to Paris; the Louvre was holy cow massive and impossible to see all of it in a single day, but I gave it a good effort; the Palace of Versailles and its expansive gardens and opulent luxury; then Bruges for no other reason than it was the setting for a cool movie a while back, but nevertheless a small and pleasant European town; Amsterdam of course for its reputation and all its eccentricities; my first time seeing a parking garage for bicycles; riding around its maze of canals; Berlin and its rich and, ahem…complicated history; loved the no checking of tickets to get on their metro, very efficient indeed; my attempt to get into on of the most famous clubs on earth, Berghain, and getting a stiff shake of the head; over to Dusseldorf to meet up with my friend Marlen and some of her friends for a lovely time before we head down to Ticino, Switzerland for some amazing canyoning; Lucerne as a day trip break from the canyoning; then just me and my buddy Cody whom I met in New Zealand headed to northern Italy for more awesome canyons; then over to Venice on my own for a lot of aimless meandering through narrow corridors, following the maze of canals; then finally to Rome and the impressive Coliseum; cutting the huge line to enter the Vatican; getting a cheeky photo of the Sistine Chapel; catching someone attempting to steal my backpack and cursing in his face. A whirlwind of a trip with amazing sights, beautiful scenery, and good company. Europe is heavily touristy of course, but it is so for a reason. So much to do and see. But man, sightseeing can get exhausting after a while, and the older I get, the less and less I’m interested in the sight seeing aspect of travel, and drawn more toward the experiential. But I still enjoy the occasional ruin or museum. Evolving tastes and interests comes with the territory.
