Italy: Since the economy is not doing too hot, there a lot of desperate people trying to earn some money. This results in bombarding tourist to buy your selfie sticks on every single street corner. In Italy (especially Rome) it was more of a walk-quickly-through-the-streets-with-my-bag-and-not-look-at-anyone mindset. The people in general were nice, but that was only if you were brave enough to sit around and try and strike up a conversation. Rome as a destination is a must because of all the incredible history and sites to see, but Florence was so much more enjoyable to walk around. I think only three people tried to sell me selfie sticks and overall the city was just much cleaner and easier on the eyes. Also, Florence was small enough to where you could walk the whole city and not have to worry about trains or the "sketchy side". I will never forget the pizza and pasta that I had in Italy <3 or the memories, those are pretty good too.
France: Ohhh France. I think this fun fact sums up the French quite nicely; in the French language, there is no word for you are welcome. (At least not a common phrase that I have learned) Now I'm basing everything that I say off of two days spent in Paris, so if any of your friends are French I'm sure they're lovely and please don't show them this. From my experiences, everyone in France just blows you off. It's not even that they're rude, they just couldn't care less if you exist or not. While shopping no one asks to help you, if you are lost no one gives good directions, and at resturaunts they give you zero reason to provide a tip and ignore you except when dealing with the check or bringing you food. Even though the people may not be the most welcoming, their city is beautiful enough to make up for the people and I can't wait to go back and explore more! Paddling through the canals of Versailles, hiking up the Arc De Triomphe, and having a picnic dinner while watching the sunset over the Eiffel Tower is hands down the best day of my life.
England: This is the home of Harry Potter so I don't have too many bad things to say about it. The people in England are friendlier than the French in the sense that at least they'll talk to you. Now, once they get going it's debatable whether you are glad they're talking to you, but hey A for effort! In Britain people are very crude. They drop F word on the reg and don't think twice about cursing in front of children. As a sweet southern bell from the good ole Bible Belt, this was very strange and I never quite got used to it. We didn't get to spend much time in London since we spent our free day on the Harry Potter set but let us not forget getting rejected from "the clubs" because our footwear was not stilettos... Not cool London. Not cool. One more time though, Harry Potter was awesome, the people were awesome, the set was awesome, I should have gone to Hogwarts.
Scotland: Edinburgh, the southern gentleman of Europe. What a great place! I have nothing but great things to say about Edinburgh. The people were so friendly, the town is not too big not too small, and the history of the town is hilarious. I remember when we walked into this old mans candy store and he was throwing candy at us, asking us to try all of it telling us how he made it in the back. He was trying to help my friend find the perfect candy for her dad, so sweet! The people who served us during dinner were always asking if we needed anything and joked around with us all night. Even the people in Starbucks were nice! I bought a mug and accidentally dropped it while I walked away from the register and they let me pick a new one no charge! I wish we had spent more time there, but good thing I'm going back! (Eventually)
Ireland: The Irish are a spirited bunch I'll give them that! Refer back to my ferry post to refresh your memory on how rambunctious the Irish were on the ride back from their football game. The Irish are a mix of the English and Scottish. They are just as crude as the English, but they're definitely nicer. I had a great conversation with our cab driver on the way to the airport. He was very well-read and knowledgable, I actually learned a lot from him! Dublin is such a touristy area most of the people we interacted with weren't even Irish, but our waiters were always very nice and helpful. In one pub where we were enjoying some nice live music the singer started asking us where we were from. When we said Georgia he smiled real big and said, "now yall come back now ya hear!", along with a big strum on his guitar. Thank you mr Irish singer, thank you for that.
My mom and Ryan greeted me at the gate (they weren't even late!) and helped me gather my many goodies to head to the car. I should probably mention that I didn't sleep at all the last night in Dublin because I wanted to savor the last night with friends. Also, I could totally catch up on sleep on the plane. Turns out, we were chasing the sun all 8.5 hours and I got zero sleep on the plane. It's also about 10 pm Europe time and 4:00 pm America time by the time we are heading out of the airport. So exhausted Emily and crew heads to the parking lot. While I'm mindless talking we are walking around the parking lot and my mom and Ryan start talking about how they can't find the car. I'm more concerned with the fact that I'm in yoga pants and its 85 degrees outside. My mom asks me to pick a car any car that I want to drive home - brain still off I immediately say (and point) "that white rav 4". Because duh who wouldn't want that. My mom then clicks the keys and it unlocks. At this point I'm thinking "oh isn't this nice lets play tricks on the sleep deprived Emily that's been gone all month ooo hoo hoo!" Not cool guys. It must be a rental car because my moms is broken and this was the car they picked to drive around. You can't fool this girl, nice try though. I jokingly ask Ryan if my mom bought me a car, LOL like that would ever happen. I'm already indebted to my parents more money than I have because of my trip there's no way they like me enough to get me a car... After some stammering and lots of very incoherent sentences with grammar that would make lit teachers/Kelly cringe everywhere it was somehow relayed that yes this is my car, no it's not a rental, no this is not a midlife crisis, no there is no catch, yes Sam crashed your car. So while there is a small loophole being my brother crashed my car while I was gone, he's ok and I am not upset about it! Meet Ronald the rav 4 everyone!!!
I would like to thank my mom and dad at this time for being so supportive through my whole trip!!! I would like to thank Wendy, for knowing the perfect car to get. I would like to thank Ryan, for recording the whole thing even when I told you, "Ryan put the camera away this is a serious matter, is this really my car?". I would like to thank my mom again for not listening to my dad when he told her to trick me and tell me it's Sara's car, and then say just kidding it's Sam's. Also thank you dad for making me write these blog posts and always saying nice things about them! And getting me a car! May has been a pretty amazing month! 😊
Goodbye everyone, I'm sure you'll hear from me again in Austria!
~emily
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