Where to go and what to do for spring break is a question that plagues most students, but when you are living in Europe, the choices increase exponentially. With so many easily accessible countries, it was hard to choose just one or two. France is about the size of Texas, so basically, traveling from country to country in Europe is equivalent to traveling between states in the U.S.
After weighing my options, I decided to go to Vienna, Austria, to visit my cousin for the first couple days. Though it’s a little difficult to get to from southwest France, having a place to stay and someone to show me around made up for it. Also, it was great to hop over a couple countries and be able to spend time with family!
Vienna is an incredible city. It is one of the cleanest cities in the world, and it has public toilets that play opera 24/7. The people are friendly, the palaces are incredible and the food is diverse and delicious. There is also a lot of history. It has been home to some of the most acclaimed composers and thinkers of all time, including Ludwig van Beethoven, Amadeus Mozart, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. For these musical and psychoanalytical legacies, it has been given the names “City of Music” and “City of Dreams.”
My last day in Austria was a Sunday, and since most things in the city are closed, we decided to go on a train trip. Our first stop was a little Alpine village. It looked exactly like a cheerier version of Hansel and Gretel. A crystal-clear river ran through the center of town, which literally consisted of one café, one hotel, two restaurants, a church and a public swimming pool. Our next stop was Sopron, Hungary. We were planning on getting some goulash at a little pub my cousin likes, but unfortunately, it was closed along with all other eateries except for Papa Joe’s Saloon and Steak House, neither of which were very appealing. So we went back to Vienna, made a delicious dinner at home and bonded over bad Italian TV.
After returning to Pau, unpacking and repacking, I started the next leg of my spring break travels. The next morning, two of my friends and I took the train to Biarritz, a town on the southwest coast of France. Unfortunately, we arrived amidst gale winds and a torrential downpour and were unsuccessful in our search for lodging. We trekked around as much as we could, but it wasn’t entirely enjoyable. So we took a bus an hour into French Basque Country to Bayonne. Luckily, after only a little aimless wandering, we found a reasonable hotel in a convenient location.
Bayonne is a great city with a prominent Basque culture and an interesting history. A lot of Jews escaped to Bayonne during the Spanish Inquisition bringing with them, among other things, chocolate. It became the first place in France to make chocolate. We went to the Basque museum, tried Basque specialties like ham and chocolate and explored old castles, fortresses and churches. Even though it was completely unplanned, we got a good sense of the city and I would definitely go back.
This spring break was probably one of the most random and unexpected weeks of my life, but it was also one of the most memorable. It opened my eyes to the ease and excitement of city-hopping and, as if I didn’t have the travel bug badly enough, inspired me to explore this diverse continent even more.