These are a Few of My Favorite (Places)
When asked to name my favorite places, I came up blank. How do you evaluate a location without a specific set of guidelines? What does it mean to be a favorite? A favorite memory? Or a place that you would love to go back to again and again? Or the experience that taught you the most? So, instead of choosing, I decided to name a place or each category.
Musee D'Orsay- Nan Palmero (2017). Source: Wikimedia Commons. |
PLACE I WOULD LOVE TO GO BACK TO
Paris- well, more specifically, the Musee D'Orsay. I had the opportunity to study abroad in 2016 and was able to visit a grand total of 11 countries in those 4 months. My favorite museum to visit was the D'Orsay out of, quite frankly, an absurd number of museums that I went to. It's what I do when I travel. I go see museums and art. You can tell a lot about a culture based on what it finds worthy of display, of saving. Whether the D'Orsay was just one of the first museums I saw or it really was exceptional, I don't know. But I could have stayed there for days. The top floor held beautiful impressionist works, the Van Gogh gallery was better than my imagination, and the museum on a whole felt like home within this strange city where things had been going wrong (my one pair of shoes had holes in the bottoms, it rained the entire time, and my airBnB didn't actually exist). I would love to go back and spend a week there, looking through the galleries, experiencing the works, and watching people in the museum to see what they value.
Seaview, Fire Island, Long Island, New York- Kristine Paulus (2017). Source: Flickr. |
PLACE WITH MY FAVORITE MEMORY
Long Island- My dad comes from New York; he grew up there and he always has kept in touch with his family back east. So, when a relative was getting married, we all had to go back to be there. Now, this wedding, the reason for us being there, is not my favorite memory. But it is the reason that we were on Long Island during the summer of my fourth grade year. My favorite memory is of the beach- the cold, empty Long Island beach where our family was the only group out that day. The entire beach was our domain, the sand perfect for intimate sand castles forgotten for the cold waves of the sea, the sand dunes blocking sight of the parked car, the pure emptiness and fullness of the place. It was almost magical. My uncle took all of the kids out and had us body surfing. The distant relatives, well the ones my age, taught us how to keep track of the rip tide and stay safe. The pure joy of the coldness, the freshness of the water that can only be captured by memory. It is a place imagined and created in the memory, a place that would most likely be disappointing upon return, but a place that captured the joy and innocence of childhood along with the warmth of family.
Personal Photo: View of the Vltava River, Prague (2016). |
PLACE WITH THE EXPERIENCE THAT THOUGHT ME THE MOST
Prague- Prague was my last trip of my study abroad semester and probably the one that taught me the most. By this point I had been to ten countries and planned trips to places that I never thought I would get the chance to see, but Prague, Praha, was the one to give me confidence. I planned the trip and the person who I was planning to go with never booked. All of a sudden I was traveling to another country alone for the first time. I had only a vague idea of what I wanted to see there and my only set plans were my flights and lodging. I was able to navigate the city by myself. To see a Christmas market light up the week before Christmas, full of people and carols and stalls. I was able to make plans, to find a concert to see, and to do it all by myself in a country that I didn't know the language (although most people spoke English). Prague was the place where I realized I am an adult and I can take care of myself. That I was capable. And for that lesson, Prague will remain one of my favorite places.
Oh, I have such fond memories of Musee D'Orsay too, Elizabeth! I collect art images to use in these classes, and I smile every time it is an image from that museum because of course I wish I could just go there, instantly, by magic, to see the real thing in the museum itself. I've never been to Long Island... but I approve of ANY beach. And while I have never been to Prague, I used to live in Poland... and the best compliment I ever got on my Polish accent was that I sounded like I was Czech! Which I suppose is better than sounding American. :-)
ReplyDeleteWe have a Czech nit in the UnTextbook — Czech Folktales
— and there are some other wonderful Czech story collections online that you might want to browse as you ponder your own project for this class! Freebookapalooza: Czech
Hey Elizabeth!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I have never been to Prague or Musee D'Orsay. I would love to be able to explore Europe more, as I have only been to Ireland. There are so many things to do in Europe and so many different cultures that are so fascinating. However, I have been to New York and I absolutely love it there. I am not a big city person but I loved New York City because of all the life and abundance of things to do there. I am actually going there Spring Break so I am super excited! You are very lucky to be able to travel to all of these places!