The best places to visit while studying abroad are not necessarily those sights you need to see, like the Eiffel Tower or Coliseum. Living abroad provides the fantastic opportunity to take little trips to neighboring cities or the countryside. Of course, the key here isn’t to just go to the train station and pick a spot off the monitor. Let yourself be explorative and spontaneous!
One of my favorite trips was to the Queen’s weekend home, Windsor castle. As opposed to walking around the town, however, my group took a very very long road out to the country surrounding this town. We found ourselves walking through fields where the dirt path came in and out of being. No matter. With the blue sky above and the brownish grass at our feet, we just kept on walking ‘till we hit civilization again!
For most of these little escapades, you don’t need to travel far. In Ireland, we took a bus to Blarney castle and the land of pure green green green green! (I can’t stress that word enough!)
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Speaking of natural color explosion, no one should miss the Tulip fields in Holland. A few hours from Amsterdam, the tulips are in full bloom in April, dying the world in reds, yellows, and blues we only thought Crayola could create.
You don’t need to visit a special place during peak season to get your breath taken away. In Italy, we went off to a small village in the middle of Tuscany, in February. It was snowing, which is not exactly the picturesque golden-yellow warmth that is commonly associated with the Italian countryside. But even with a different seasonal backdrop, the place was undeniably Tuscan, with rolling hills expanding in every direction.
One does not need to travel far to experience something spectacular. We do it all the time at Wake, leaving Winston-Salem for a couple hours to get lost on those quiet back roads. The trick is to let yourself be imaginative. Go a little further and do something outside of the ordinary!