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| Genova, summer 2015 |
When I think about regrets (and I think about them each year, around my birthday, when I start to freak out about the time that is passing by so quickly ) I always have in mind the saying, that people tend to regret the things they didn’t do, not the ones they have actually done.
Personally, I find this statement true, I could name only few of my regrets and most of them concern the
things I haven’t
done. What is funny (or maybe very, very sad) I didn't do this things due to: insecurity, anxiety, perfectionism and laziness. So
basically this are the main components of my failures. Those regret-makers made me resign of many opportunities I had during my university years, like travelling, volunteering and taking an awesome gap year known in the good old days as the Grand Tour.
I came across the idea of the Grand Tour when I was studying to my high school certificate. I remember I was fascinated by the idea of a long trip to the most beautiful and important places in Europe, undertaken in order to gain knowledge and experience that any other type of education just can't provide. I quickly realized that The Grand Tour was a rich people's game (predominantly males - yey) but still I promised myself I am gonna make it one day. As I cried about before I didn't have guts to do it all at once so I decided to make my own Grand Tour in pieces, starting few years ago with the most affordable cities such as Prague and Budapest.
The original Grand Tour didn't include Central Europe but rather French and Italian cities such as Florence, Venice, Rome, Paris and and additionaly Athens - the cradle of European culture. With the development of a large scale rail transportation everything has changed: more people could afford to travel and also more places become accesible. The list of the "must see" places expanded and covered places such as Berlin, Dresden, Vienna, Budapest, Geneva and Baden-Baden. In XIX century also Americans came to Europe to study the history and art, and their first stop was of course the good, old London. The term Grand Tour is actually the father of "tourism" although tourism nowadays is not necessarily connected with studying other cultures, art and history ( tourist resorts separated from local life are the best example of it).
As I mentioned the idea of travelling slowly (it wasn't Eurotrip-style journey : 10 countries in 7 days) through the places rich in history and art is very inspiring for me. Europe is no longer the hub of the Universe ( has it ever been?) but it's definitely worth discovering. Till the end of the 2016 I am planning to complete my Grand Tour - of course if everything will go according to my plan ;)
So far, so good I have checked most of the places a decent Grand Tours list shall comprise: Rome, Florence, Bologna, Vienna, Dresden, Venice, Budapest and London. I still miss Naples, Berlin and above all this French diamond - Paris. I know, discovering Europe step by step, piece by piece is not necessairly "the grand way", but it's also fun and expands the horizons. The-Little-Grand Tour is a great idea, not only for those who have regrets.
At the end I am asking you to not wish me good luck - cause we all know it's not about the luck, it's all about the effort, courage and persistence. So you can wish me that ;)
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| Prague, 2009 |
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| Prague, St. Vitus Cathedral - my first and eternal love |
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| Schonbrunn, Vienna 2010 |
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| Schonbrunn, Vienna 2010 | | |
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| Budapest, 2014 |
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| Dresden, 2014 |
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| Roma, 2014 |
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| Roma, 2014 |
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| Roma, 2012 |
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| Roma, 2012 |
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| Venice, 2015 |
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| Firenze, 2014 |
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| London, 2015 |
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