TRAVEL TALES:

My school, Huntington Beach High School, took 65 seniors on a trip through London and Paris, July 6-18. The trip was arranged by the history department and was set up for students to learn how to travel internationally and get familiar with both cities. It was the best experience I’ve ever had.

We traveled to London first and did many different things while we were there. We saw the National Gallery, the British Museum, the Tate Museum and the Imperial War Museum. People in London could not understand us at all. I felt that I would have to repeat myself three times before they did. We all really wanted crumpets for breakfast one morning. We went into a bakery and asked for some, and they said to us, “We don’t serve crumpets! Those are just way too fatty!” Our whole group just looked at each other and laughed. We had no idea that they didn’t serve crumpets in London.

At the Tower of London, we saw the crown jewels, knights’ armor and Medieval artifacts. We also went to St. Paul’s Cathedral, a huge church in the middle of the city.

Inside the cathedral was much breathtaking detail. The tower of the church provided the most spectacular view of London. St. Paul’s had to be one of the group favorites.

Of course, we did some shopping as well. We went to Portobello Road, the huge outdoor market; to Harrod’s, the biggest department store you will ever set foot in; and Covent Gardens, stretched out among quite a few streets lined with clothing and shoe stores.

We ate so much McDonalds when we were there it was ridiculous. We weren’t very daring, and we were very cheap. Everything is so expensive in London. It cost $8 (4 pounds) for a cheeseburger.

While in Paris we stopped by the Louvre museum. Huge and crowded, it was like Disneyland on a summer day.

My favorite museum, the Musee de Orsay, was filled with paintings by van Gogh and Matisse. Located in an old train station, it was quite beautiful.

We visited the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe. We went to a neighborhood concert in Paris, and the band was playing American rock songs. All the students were rocking out and dancing, but the people around us were so mellow. They were looking at us as if we were from Mars.

Culture and mannerisms are so different than they are here. As Americans, we tend to be loud and crazy, but the French and the Brits were very laid back and reserved.

On Bastille Day, we went to Versailles, a 45-minute trip out of the city, and the most beautiful place I have ever seen. The inside was unreal: painted ceilings, gold-crown molding and giant crystal chandeliers. The gardens there were stunning. Both Notre Dame and Saint Chappell were very beautiful and had amazing stained-glass windows. Eerily enough, our last destination was the catacombs.

I had never traveled abroad, so I learned not just about the history of the cities, but also about the culture and way of life there. I learned about little things, like when traveling on the escalator you should stand on the right side while all the people in a hurry quickly pass by on the left, and that chips in England are called “crisps,” and about how to ride the metro throughout the city, what it’s like to travel in a large group, and how the people, their culture, and way of life are different from ours.

This trip opened a whole new world for me, filled with thoughts about traveling and studying abroad. I now feel confident in knowing what to expect the next time I travel internationally.

One last thing. I want to thank all the teachers who went on the trip. They did a great job supervising 65 kids in two big cities.