When one feels tied up with his or her life, it is good to decide to take a break and travel abroad. I will not say that this is what I always do when I am feeling stressed out but it surely serves as a time for relaxation and above all, a truly enriching cultural experience.
.
My first vacation abroad was to France with my family. Although I was too young to appreciate the beauty of such a place, it was surely a very different environment from Malta. Just traveling by coach on the French highways, I was able to see the most beautiful countryside. Our hotel was situated in the heart of Paris which gave us ample time to visit the most famous sites, such as the Louvre museum. After the French Revolution, the Louvre became the great museum that it is today. It houses the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo as well as other masterpieces from all over the world. It houses Italian Renaissance art, ancient Egyptian art, and Roman and Greek art. I admit that at that time it was not the most exiting thing I would do while in Paris but nowadays I am very proud to say that I saw a lot of the paintings that we talk about in our lectures. As a child, one would rather spend seven days having fun on the rides of the infamous theme park, Euro Disney. Sadly enough, the tour guide told us that we could spend three days at the theme park. One can imagine the devastation I went through, having to visit all the museums which looked almost the same. On the other hand, the time we spent at Euro Disney was the most pleasurable experience I have ever had - from the very luxurious hotel, including a telephone in the bathroom to the most exiting rides of this enormous theme park. The ride I enjoyed the most was the rollercoaster, even though I felt a bit sick afterwards.
Four years later I had the opportunity to visit Austria. During Christmas time, I was already packing my bags and setting up for the trip.