The Europe Experience
Part 2
Contributing writer Olyvia Neal continues her summer European vacation adventures
By Olyvia Neal
Within one week my fellow travel companion Jalyn Findley and I had gone from two college students scared to leave the country for the first time , to two adventurers who were making their way to their third country out of five in a trek across Western Europe .
After Ireland came Scotland , and it was there where I partook in a local tradition of touching the giant toe of the towering nine-foot statue of David Hume for good luck .
I knew my toe-touching had been a lucky charm indeed as we then traveled across England to the small towns of Alnwick , Chester , Oxford and Newbury as if we were drifting in a daydream .
Our journey across the United Kingdom was then completed in London .
Growing up in a small town with a population of 6,000 and traveling to a famous city that is home to 9 million people initially intimidated me as I jumped aboard my first doubledecker bus , but by the end we felt as if we had taken London by storm .
Though it technically did the same to us once or twice in typical Londonweather fashion .
We traveled across the city to Westminster Abbey , Big Ben , the London Eye , Tower Bridge , King ’ s Cross , Kensington Palace and even Buckingham Palace coincidentally during the beginning of Queen Elizabeth ’ s Platinum Jubilee .
Though for us , all these iconic attractions were bested by an authentic traditional afternoon tea at The English Rose tea shop .
When we reached the half-way point of our journey , we felt more confident than ever before , and with only two countries to go it was as if nothing could stop us .
Yet , our Scottish luck would eventually run out in the most unexpected place . France was my first love . I remembered trying to read my mother ’ s French textbooks from college when I was just a child . Once I was in college myself , I took French in hopes I might put it to use someday .
So , when that day finally came , I had pictured my first steps in Paris to be like that of Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face , dancing around Montmartre or along the Seine singing “ Bonjour , Paris !” That was not to be . When we stepped off our train at Gare du Nord , I had felt nothing but heart pounding panic and looked over to my best friend only to see the same mirrored in her eyes .
We had heard of culture shock , but experiencing it was something else entirely . The reality of being alone in a country with a different language , customs and cultures made every step forward become two steps back .
I tried to shake it off and geared
36 • SEKY - Life in Southeast Kentucky September 2022