Author: Liam Bodlak

Location: Paris, London, Dublin, Rome

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Fall Break at Valpo is usually pretty short. It’s a time to go home for a bit, recharge, see people, and come back to school to finish out the time until Thanksgiving break. Thanksgiving isn’t as widely celebrated in Europe, so Reutlingen University doesn’t give us a break for it. That makes our weeklong fall break the longest one of the year, and my friends and I took advantage of it. Over the course of the break I traveled to Paris, London, Dublin, and then Rome.

First off was Paris. We left Thursday afternoon, and arrived that night. Paris was slightly different than I’d expected. I’d heard about Paris syndrome, which is an extreme reaction from tourists when Paris doesn’t live up to their expectations, and so my expectations wavered between excited and nervous. Paris was not what I expected, but I liked it. It was somewhat crowded and dirty, but in an endearing way. I appreciated the grittiness of the downtown area. It just felt so alive and exciting. Granted, it was a little annoying to be crammed in with everyone on the metro, but I really appreciated the vibe of the city. The nightlife was great, the tourist attractions (we saw the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and Notre Dame Cathedral) were everything they’re cracked up to be, and we somehow found a Steak and Shake in the middle of the city. No complaints about Paris.

Next up was London. It was really nice to have a city without any language barriers, and be able to communicate without difficulty with everyone I met in the city. The weather was nice, and we got to explore a lot. It was interesting to see the different immigrant cultures that are bigger in the UK than other places. There was a Jamaican restaurant next to our hostel, and being able to have authentic Jamaican food and drink was a cultural experience I don’t often get to experience. It didn’t hurt that it was open 24 hours (speaking from experience, jerk chicken is better at 4 AM). London was similar to Paris in the sense of all the tourist attractions, but the people were a lot more interesting than any sort of tourist landmark. The energy of the city makes it what it is, and it’s something that wasn’t lost on me.

We stopped in Dublin for two days after that, and even though we weren’t there for long it was probably my favorite place we went on Fall Break. It was a beautiful city, the people were conversational and friendly, and the Guinness Factory lived up to the hype (the highlight was the sky bar on the top floor, which overlooked the whole city of Dublin). We went out on Halloween night, and the atmosphere was incredible. The people we met were excited to talk about all sorts of things with us, and we met a variety of interesting people as we made our way through the nightlife of College Green. Dublin was an incredible city, and I hope to be back someday.

Our final destination on break was Rome. As with the other cities, it was everything it’s hyped up to be. The food was amazing, the Roman ruins were fascinating, and I got to meet up with a friend from home who showed us around the city our second night there. The highlight was probably the Vatican. I’d seen so many pictures of it before, and it more than lived up to my expectations. It was an incredible, deeply moving experience.

All in all, Fall Break was a great time spent with great people. I got to see some of the most important cities in all of Western Civilization and some of the most beautiful sights in all of Europe, all within the span of a week. I could not be happier with how my Fall Break went.