Diving into the Culture of Europe

Posted by Rivers B. ,
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Last time we went to Europe I bought a ton of stuff. The first thing I did when I got home, was pop open my luggage and show Dada all my souvenirs. This time I think I will have to mail my things home halfway through the trip, because it will be so difficult to carry it around...I mean it will be super heavy! Last time, there were a lot of fragile snow globes which were really hard to carry around. I was so scared that they would break every time we got on a plane.  Snow globes are such a wonderful souvenir.   I love watching the tiny, white flakes as they drift down from the glass dome. On my first tour of Europe, I, got a snow globe from each city we visited and now I have a big collection. One reason I love collecting them is because of the detail. There was also some other souvenirs that I'll probably buy on this trip that represent a country's national symbol, for instance, a mini Eiffel Tower and a pair of Dutch shoes.

This time I want to purchase music. Last time, I didn't know too much about popular European music, but this time I've been learning a lot about it.  One of my passions in life is music. I really love listening to it but I don't really like playing it. Just recently, Eurovision ended and I listen to the playlist often. I also like Melodifestivalen. Melodifestivalen is a Swedish song contest sort of like American Idol, but with accomplished artists.   My favorite hosts were Danny Saucedo and Gina Dirawi from 2013.  They were really fun and kept you entertained. I wish they hosted it this year. I don't think that I really liked this year's hosts because I got kind of bored watching them. But one thing I don't like about Melodifestivalen is that you can't buy the Swedish music in the United States! I really want to see if we can buy some iTunes cards over there and get my music that is only available there.   I prefer Eurovision because I get to see some other country's type of music. One of my favorite parts of the Eurovision program is when the artist make their country's flag out of what their country is famous for. Those are called postcards.

Another thing that my dada said that I should try to do is visit a toy store. I think that will be fun because I will get to see some traditional toys. I also really want to see if they have some dresses. I think that in Germany there will be a lot of traditional dresses. My goal is to immerse myself in the culture and try to get as much of a travel experience as possible.
That includes food which is sure to be new and different.  In Germany there will be sausages which I don't really like and pretzels. Yummy! I love pretzels and their soft breadiness! It's heaven! In In France, I will get to re-visit one of my favorite things in the world, which is drumroll please.... Crepes!  Crepes, especially the French ones made of strawberries and nutella are perfection. In Italy - you can just imagine my long list of delicious foods. Number one is Alfredo and then lasagna, pizza, pasta, spaghetti, paninis..... It just goes on and on.   

And if all else fails I can turn to good old American food. Not exactly. Most restaurants here that are based on American restaurants have a twist. The Big Mac becomes the German double fan burger and the French fries become a block of cheese. Yes. A block of cheese, I know it is probably very strange and shocking news to everyone who reads this blog. But I want to try it!

Besides seeing all the sights which I think most people see traveling as, I look at my second tour of Europe differently. To me, a trip is looking at all the different cultures and comparing them. Looking at the people, foods, places and basically everything is really what means something to me. Not just saying that you went there. But really going there...if you know what I mean. 

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