The Best and Worse Awards

Hey there everyone,

I had promised best and worse before, and here it is. I still have two days here though, so if they change I'll let you know!

Best Art Museum: The Centre Georges Pompidou, the modern art museum in Paris. Everything in here is awesome and lots of my friends who don't like modern art loved this museum. I heard somewhere that this museum is more visited than the Louvre. I went to modern art museums in Vienna, London and Paris, and this was by far the best.

Best Classical Art Museum: The Louvre had better paintings, but the collection at the British Museum was really incredible. They have collections for nearly every civilization in the world, and all of them were interesting. Definitely worth many visits.

The "This is a museum? Please kill me" award: The Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Basically filled with dishes, furniture and lamps. Like the largest antiques shop you've ever seen. I was literally panicked when I couldn't find the exit and I had to keep walking by Victorian Era apartments over and over.

Classiest looking city: Vienna, every part of this city was clean and perfect looking, trees everywhere. There were tons of men in suits walking around; it just felt very regal all around.

Biggest let down: Venice, packed with tourists to the gills, seeing the tourists in San Marco piazza made me think of bird flu. When we got out of our dinner late at night, we tried to get back to the train station and it was dark, deserted, and we started to get harrassed by some teenagers. Just not that fun.

Best history lesson, personified: The beaches of Normandy where seeing everything just made you want to learn more about what happened in WWII.

Just like the postcards show: Prague, where every street and vista was beautiful. It hasn't looked like it's changed since the medieval ages.

The most impressive sight: No matter how many places and on how many books and movies you've seen it, the Eiffel Tower is more amazing in real life, by far. From every angle, at every distance, it really takes your breath away. And when it sparkles at night, forget about it.

Most relaxing experience: Relaxing in the thermal baths in Budapest at sundown, then watching the lights around the pools come on and shine on the water with the stars overhead.

The "This can't be happening" award: Any travel experience, basically, from the switching from train to bus six times on the three hour ride to Cesky Krumlov from Prague to the taking of three planes to get to Prague, with eight hour layovers in two different cities.

Most likely to become impoverished: Living in London where you buy a soda for two pounds and are thinking that it is four American dollars.

Worst idea tourist experience: The boat cruise on the Seine with cheesy, loud music, and getting sun burned from going in the middle of the day. If the looks of scorn could kill from Parisians on the shore, then we would be dead many times over.

For when you're nostalgic for America: Buy a three euro glass of Coke. Expensive, but so worth it.

Best reason to never leave Paris: Patisseries on every corner with fresh bread. Two euro bottles of wine. Two euro hunks of Brie. Creperies everywhere. Enough said.

The "Proof that Paris is a small town" award: The fact that I've run into Andrea twice on the metro and bus, accidently. Another time I ran into my friend Lauren on the metro.

Best reason to come back to Europe: Millions of undiscovered restaurants, museums, and pastries!

Love,
Em