This is not to say that our trip was without worries and mistakes. Through the inevitable quirks of e-mail, we managed to miscommunicate with one friend who was supposed to meet us in Madrid, but went to Barcelona instead. I lost my favorite sweatshirt in Venice, and in Madrid, Loren had a bag containing her passport, camera, cash, credit cards and journal stolen. Luckily these misfortunes were easily mended. However, they could have been prevented with the adoption of keener caution and better planning.
Travel requires only common sense, a backpack and an open mind.
Riding a train through Europe allows one to proceed beyond boundaries containing a miscellany of dialects and perspectives. By observing these different colors, one soon finds that they are all intricately woven together. Brittney Schoonebeek of Delhi is a junior at the State University College at Geneseo, where she majors in English. She will be studying at the University of Edinburgh until the end of the academic year in June through an exchange program administered by Binghamton University.