Sunflower Season

Back to Japan

Overall, we had a really great time in Europe. I believe the experiences are valuable for my life.

Our trip ended up visiting 13 cities in 7 countries. Every city had each color. People, buildings, foods, transportation, scenery…those things are different. We enjoyed feeling those differences. During the trip, we also met with many people from all over the world. Adding to the people who live in the city we visited, we talked with those who come from America, Brazil, China, England, Finland, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Mongolia, Philippine, Poland, Romania, Taiwan, and Tunisia.

The happiest thing was to see my host family living in Hamburg and my friend living in Frankfurt. What a sweet time I had with them… We do not know when we can see each other next, but we will keep in touch. I would like to treasure each person I meet as if it were a unique occasion.


The following is my brief journal of the trip.

1. Amsterdam, Holland
After a 21-hour flight stopping at Kota Kinabaru and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (It was the cheapest ticket.), we finally arrived at Amsterdam! We had had an image of the country which is famous for tulip, cheese and wind mill, however, unfortunately we could not feel them in the city...What we did was:
*We were asked to give him a money right after we got there…and refused it.
*We had a hard time to find a youth hostel.
*We lost a map of the city.
*We took the wrong train when we left the city, so we needed to come back again!
*We went to the police office to ask them to let us use the phone. (We could not use any public phone! Because we dialed the wrong country code…)
We were unlucky that day!
Oh, I met the girls who go to the same university as I go and they also knew me! Wow, what a coincidence!!!

2. Hamburg, Germany
I was there 2 years ago. Everything reminded me of the days. My friend and I spent great time with my host family. We had a picnic, took a walk, went down the river by ship, had a dinner outside, and enjoyed having a conversation… It was lovely. I felt sad when I left their house. But no tears! Because I believe I would see them again…

3. Munich, Germany
Night train! First time in my life! It was tough for me to fall asleep but I saw a beautiful sunrise from the train!
We ate a white sausage, Weißwurst. Mmm… it was yummy! The old man sitting next to me taught us how to eat it in German way. He talked to us in German and we talked back to him in English (My German skills are limited…) but we understood each other!

4. Füssen, Germany
We went to see Neuschwanstein Castle! We took a horse-drawn carriage up to the top. It was well situated and magnificent of course. It is definitely worth visiting!
At the place, we saw a Japanese man who we had met at the youth hostel in Amsterdam! When I found him, I shouted “Oh, Ams boy!!!” What a coincidence again! We also made friends with the girls from Philippines, Elki and Abigail. While we were on the train going back to Munich, we chatted and chatted. We had a fun talk. I hope to see them someday in the future again!

5. Vienna, Austria
We booked the youth hostel which is located within only 3-5 minutes on foot from the station, BUT it took more than one hour for us to find it! We first almost found it but missed it. Then we wandered around the place. south, north, east, west… We went to the police office and hotels to ask how to go to the hostel. We did a great exercise, huh?
Anyway, Schloss Schönbrunn was one of the most impressing palaces. We went up the hill and ate sandwiches seeing the palace and its garden. To me, it was gorgeous meal. In Vienna, we also met Elki and Abigail! What a coincidence again and again.

6. Zürich, Switzerland
Because of the flood, the night train needed to change the route. 14 hours on the train… oh no~~ But my friend and I enjoyed talking with a German man who was in the same room of the train. I also saw a beautiful sunrise again. Delay is sometimes good!
The city was so pretty and I loved there. We got on a sightseeing boat and felt sunshine and wind. So good! But we were dying because of the strong sunlight…
Again, we got a trouble to go to a hostel. A fire accident occurred and the tram we got on suddenly changed the route. We had no idea as to what was going on. When we were struggling, one old lady helped us a lot. She taught us how to get the hostel by bus instead of tram. Thanks to her, we did not get lost! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH!!!

7. Geneva, Switzerland
The roommate from Mexico taught me how to dance salsa! Wow, she is a good dancer! Also she has a beautiful voice. We did not have much time to have a conversation, but enjoyed talking. My friend and I promised to visit her.

8. Marseille, France
My friend and I realized that we came to the French spoken country. We cannot speak the language, so we could neither read a monitor screen at the station nor understand how to buy train tickets. We decided to ask the people but they can only speak French. They were very nice to us though. We asked many people over and over and guessed what they were saying. Lots of gesture. We got lost and kept walking… 4 funny policemen helped us a lot. The police and us walked in and around the station together. My friend and I might have looked as if we were arrested! All of us also went to an information office and the policemen asked the staff and found which metro and bus we should take. Thanks a lot!
The view from Basilique Notre-Dame de la Garde was absolutely breathtaking! I was impressed by seeing the area and the Mediterranean Sea. Heavy rain and thunder came while we were there, but after the rainstorm’s gone, we saw the great view again.

9. Nice, France
I loved Nice! The beach was sooooo pretty! I had never seen such a beautiful and blue ocean. It would be lovely if I visit there with my future husband!
I was excited seeing that beach and very round and smooth stones. I felt like showing those stones to my family, so I started collecting them. Most of them were just black, and some were white. I also found white and black ones like stripe! At the time, one lady came close to me and gave me the strip one!! Maybe, she was watching me while I was collecting them. I might have been in pretty excitement as if I were a little child! ha ha
On the train to go to Nice, one French boy gave us some papers drawn one of the Japanese animations called Naruto. My friend and I also drew some things and gave him the paper. Then our conversation started in writing. He can speak only French, while we can speak only English and Japanese. As you can guess, we got confused a lot. Gradually, the people around us joined our conversation but everyone understood only French. It was hard, but I myself enjoyed the conversation.
The owner at the hotel we stayed was really unique. However, there was no door to the toilet! My friend and I felt embarrassed and tried not seeing each other…

10. Monaco
It is a famous city for F1 race! Mmm~so cool! The road was so narrow that I could not believe the race takes place there.
When we were on the bus and wondering about how to see around the city looking at the map, an old man came over and gave us a quick guide plan. Thanks to him, we got off the nearest place where we wanted to visit and saw the ceremony of changing the guard on time! Melci~!!
After saying good bye to Monaco, we went back to Nice. We bought some food at a grocery store and headed for the beach. I won’t forget the dinner we ate seeing a pretty sunset…

11. Paris, France
Here we are! As soon as we arrived there, I felt it was somehow similar to Tokyo. The people walk fast and look busy.
On the second day of staying in Paris, we walked A LOT! First we went to Versailles (What a huge and awesome palace it was! I liked the pictures. Some of them looked three-dimensional and all of them were excellent!) and walked in the garden feeling tiredness of the trip. Then we went to see the Arc de Triomphe and pushed ourselves to go up the stairs. Great view! After that, we walked on Av. des Champs-Elysées in high spirits (singing!?) up to the Place de la Concorde and Musée de Louvre (We were rushing to see famous works. We got lost there and were sweating… too short! no time!). We also visited Tour Eiffel at night. It was VERY pretty! Then we went back to see night Arc de Triomphe and the pyramid in front of Musée de Louvre taking metro.
We were exhausted when we arrived at the hostel. Drinking orange juice, I felt vitamin C was going into my body…
A staff working at a café said to us “Japan 6 points!” when we threw away the cups we used into the garbage box. What he said was most people leave their cups and plates on the table. I see~. He also said “Thanks good smile!” I think he also has a nice smile!

12. Brussels, Belgium
It was not so far to go to Brussels from Paris, but the temperature was lots different. I felt really cold. But the city was clean and pretty. There are lots of cute stores, so it was fun to walk around the city. Plus, it had a sweet smell from all over because of chocolates and waffles. Mmm…it was sort of a temptation world but the taste was good.
I recommend you to visit Musée des Instruments de Musique! It was a fun place. There are so many music instruments and you can listen to several kinds of sound of those instruments with headphones. We spent a lot of time there.
Oh, it was funny. My friend ordered only one set of fried cheese at a fast food restaurant. The cost was supposed to be 1.90 Euro but it was 6.10 Euro! Why??? The staff thought she ordered “2 cokes”. But actually she said, “to go”...

13. Frankfurt, Germany
I spent precious time with my friend living in the city. At the station, she ran to me saying my name and gave me a big big hug. I was happy to see her again.
She works as a flight attendant and we became friends on the plane when I flew to Germany 2 years ago. We have kept in touch by e-mail but never knew when we could see.
She has beautiful looks and charming smile, but I think her beauty comes from her inside. She is such a wonderful woman.
We could not spend so much time together, but talked a lot. Like how we are doing, what we want to do, how each love life is going… Time went so fast when I was with her. Life goes up and down, but I hope both of us, no, everyone will live happily.

Many unexpected things happened to us during the trip. But life is like that! It is boring if we could predict what’s gonna happen next. Don’t you think?