This winter break, I had the wonderful opportunity to take trip to Paris and Rome with my mom. I learned about new cultures and ways of life I had not experienced before. My mother and I visited the beautiful cities and greatly enjoyed ourselves. Europe, in my perspective, has a completely different lifestyle that tells a unique story compared to America.

Traveling by plane, it took 3 flights to get to Paris. We flew out of the Sacramento airport, which took us to Seattle. My mom made sure to bring papers that gave instructions and tips for international travel. Time passed and our Seattle flight was ready for boarding. The flight from Seattle to Paris was nine hours, so we were put on the special Delta planes. Since our flight was nine hours, we were fed lunch on the plane and snacks as well. Before we knew it, we had landed in Paris.

One major and obvious difference about Paris is that their time is 9 hours behind ours in America. That time difference took a little bit of adjustment on our part. From the airport we took a shuttle to our hotel. As a matter of fact, we stayed at The Tim Hotel, and staying at a hotel named after yourself is pretty cool! Once we arrived there, I was impressed with the hospitality and the food.

The first day we were in Paris, we slept. The second day we went to Disneyland Paris, and yes there’s a Disneyland over there, too! Once we came there was a parade going on with all the Disney characters and Santa Claus. While we were in Paris Disneyland we rode the railroad train that goes around the whole park and shows Disney characters. Of course, we made sure to ride It’s A Small World. We left the park at 4:00 and took the train back because we did not want to spend 75 euros on a cab. I learned that Euros is the European form of money in that continent. The last couple of days were spent roaming around Paris and visiting the Eiffel Tower. After an awesome time in Paris, we took off for our next destination, Rome.

Rome was not what I pictured, but I had a good time nevertheless. From the airport we rode through town while viewing the scenery of the city. I was definitely impressed with the way Rome is built. The first night in the hotel, we were conflicted over where to eat, but we ended up eating in the hotel restaurant. The next day, we took our own tour of Rome by train. Cool places we visited were the Colosseum and the Vatican. On the third day, we made our way back to the airport as we began our journey home.

My trip to Paris and Rome was a once in a lifetime experience I’ll never forget. I am so thankful that I was able to experience a whole new culture outside of America and hope to travel again in the future!