1 Month --> 3 Countries

words and photos by Emma Larson

In January of 2019, I sped away from the cold and snow and instead, explored London, Amsterdam, and Florence! Although exhausting, the experiences and new friends I gained were incredible and invaluable.

I had never been on a flight longer than four hours to Mexico, I had also never been out of the country besides Mexico so an 8 hour flight was daunting, but surprisingly quick! Jet lag is SO REAL and I had never felt so tired in my life. After I gathered my bearings (and took a long nap), I headed out on stop one of this adventure.

London

London Eye

The London Eye was one of the coolest things I had ever seen but I unfortunately didn’t get the chance to go up. It did however make for a great photo op. We actually took a boat up the river to the eye and then back again so seeing it from the river as well was a great experience.

Buckingham Palace

Of course, we HAD to see where the royals live and it definitely is a place fit for a queen. The pure architecture outside was amazing. I could easily get used to living here.

Borough Market & Shakespeare’s Globe

For this J-term class we read Shakespeare’ As You Like It so it was fitting that we visit Shakespeare’s Globe. On our way there we did run into the famous Borough Market, this place I’m telling you gives food truck festivals a run for their money. Filled with every food you can imagine as well as other goods like meats, breads and juice bars it was the ultimate food lovers dream. I was sad when I had to jet off to the Globe but was excited to check out such a cool part of history. The modern Globe was built in 1997 was modeled after the 1644 version of the Globe, an important ode to Shakespeare and the impact he had on literature. We were lucky enough to be in London when Macbeth was playing, being it was January, we saw the play in the separate indoor part of the Globe Theatre. One of the best plays I had ever seen.

Harry Potter World

I myself am not a huge Harry Potter nerd, (I’ve seen maybe one movie) but it was a really neat experience getting to see where the movies were filmed and all the real sets and costumes on display! I lived vicariously through the real Potter nerds while drinking butter beer and watching their excitement filled me with a want to read the books and understand the amazement.

Amsterdam

Not to spoil it but Amsterdam is my was my favorite part of the trip. Everything about Amsterdam felt homey and cozy but new and exciting at the same time! Stop 2 was about to be a blast!

Windmills

Netherlands, the land of 10,000 wind mills. Windmill are iconic in the Netherlands, It’s like going to Minnesota and not seeing a lake, you have to! (Fun fact, two of my friends in the class with me actually got windmill tattoos! Cute!) Of course the day we picked to go it was very very windy and cold but it only made the mills look cooler! After exploring windmills we went inside to see a live clog making demonstration which was surprisingly interesting. I even tried in a pair of clogs and yep they feel like wooden shoes haha.

Fault in Our Stars Bench

Do I say more? We searched and we searched and we did in fact find the Fault in Our Stars bench. The iconic book and movie tell the tale of a terminally ill girl and lover and their trip to Amsterdam to visit the author of her favorite book. I related to this fangirl experience more than Harry Potter world. No shame, but I might have imagined I was sitting next to Augustus Waters on this bench…..“Okay? Okay.”

Canals & Boat Tour

Canals on Canals on Canals. This city is literally built on water, like actually, so it’s only fitting that I go on a canal ride. We took a night ride on a glass ceiling boat in which we learned more about the history and everyday functionality of the canals, but the real beauty I found is when I snuck onto the back out the boat with a new friend and enjoyed the night while sipping on some fabulous wine.

Moco Museum & Van Gogh

I visited many cool museums in London but my favorite ones were both in Amsterdam at the Modern Contemporary Museum (Moco for short) and Van Gogh Museums. The Moco I was especially excited about because of the new exhibition they had out on Banksy. Everything about that museum was an Instagrammable moment. The colors and pure message behind each Banksy piece blew my mind and I was totally geeking out the whole time. I spent way too much time (and money) in that gift shop.

With the Van Gogh Museum, there was no photography but this made me take in each piece instead of pulling out my phone (which I know I did every 5 secs in the Moco oops). I was sad to find out that Van Gogh’s famous sunflower piece was being restored :( All three levels of Van Gogh was amazing and I’m excited to go back someday in the summer where I can see the real sunflowers they have outside of the museum.

Florence

Duomo Stairs

Looking for a view and a workout, we decided to climb to the top of the famous Duomo. I will warn you if you are claustrophobic I prob would climb this… but WOW is it worth the view! 463 stairs later, we made it to the top and the view was so good they couldn’t get us to leave, (like actually had to kick us out because it was closing.)

Tuscany

Being that we were in the city of Florence mainly, it was cool to get out and explore the Tuscan countryside. We stopped in the city of San Gimignano where I ripped my favorite pair of jeans climbing a wall to get an Instagram picture but the view was spectacular and the picture doesn’t even do justice. Also had the BEST gelato ever! When ventured to Gaiole in Chianti to oldest winery in Italy, Barone Ricasoli. It was a little odd to be at a wine tasting with your whole class and professors but I wasn’t complaining.

The David

When I envisioned the David I always thought it was around the height of a normal person but in fact it is HUGE very impressive piece of art. I never thought of myself finding older art so interesting but the David was such a spectacle.