Throughout my entire life, I have travelled with my family. My dad has a desire to visit everywhere in the world with us. So far, we have visited about 20 different countries, and today I want to share with you some of my favorite places!
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1. London, England
Tower Bridge, London, England.
Son of Groucho (2010). Source: Wikipedia
London has always been one of my favorite places I've visited because of the amount of different nationalities that reside here. I especially love the amount of Indian influence in this country. My parents and I actually had the opportunity to eat at the #1 rated, and oldest Indian restaurant in the UK. The place was called Veeraswamy. The memory of eating there still is talked about in our family today. Hopefully, before I graduate, I hope to take part in OU's Honors Program called Honors at Oxford, where I would live in Oxford for a month and take a class while discovering England on my own!
2. Spain
A matador seen with a bull in the final sequence of a bullfight.
Madrid, Spain. MarcusObal. (2008). Source: Wikipedia
I visited Spain before I began my freshman year at OU, and it was such an amazing experience. I was the translator the whole time for my family, since I was proficient in Spanish. However, the Spanish spoken in Spain is a little different, but the people there were able to understand what I was talking about. I recommended to my family to go watch a bull fight while we were in Madrid, and it was definitely a different cultural experience. It was sad to see the animals being killed, but we knew that it was a part of their culture. I also really enjoyed Barcelona, more than Madrid. Barcelona was old-fashioned, while Madrid was more modern. We also got to visit Toledo, the place where Don Quixote originated. I really loved this country, and the amounts of history and culture you could see all around.
3. Tokyo, Japan
Japan - Bullet Train.
Viator - Things To Do. 2008. Source: Flickr
Japan was one of the most friendliest, and cleanest countries I have ever visited. They were highly advanced in technology, and the people there were always willing to help you. I had some preconceptions before visiting this country, but all were negated when I actually saw what the country was like. I had the chance to visit Mt. Fuji, and to travel back to our hotel, we took the Bullet Train. This train is the fastest in the world, or was at the time, I am not sure if that still holds true today. However, it was truly an amazing experience, and my dad hopes to revisit Japan again some day.
4. Rome, Italy
Trevi Fountain - Rome, Italy.
Dilif 2008. Source: Wikipedia
Rome was everything that I had imagined it to be, and more! For someone who grew up watching The Lizzie McGuire Movie, it was a dream come true! The pizza in Italy was something that I still miss to this day, however, at home, we make our homemade pizzas completely different as a result of this trip. Every scene, during the day or night, was too good to be true. It felt like I was walking around in a picture frame. We only had the chance to visit Rome, and we saw the Trevi Fountain, the Roman Colosseum, and The Vatican. However, I hope to return to Italy with my family again and visit Sicily, Florence, and Venice.
5. China
(Imagine Information: personal photo of me at the Great Wall of China;
photo from June 2016)
Because this trip was fairly recent, I was able to dig up a personal photo! China was a country that I was nervous about visiting. We hear about stereotypes, and then have our own misconceptions about a country and its people. However, my dad had already visited there on his own for business several times. I trusted his judgement. China was absolutely amazing. It was very clean, and people were very nice. As you can see, we had the chance to visit the Great Wall of China. I was surrounded by breathtaking views, and so much history. I would definitely visit here again.
6. India
Taj Mahal - Agra, India. Afternoon.
AshishSharma. (2016). Source: Wikipedia
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Last, but not least, I love India. I haven't been there since 8th grade, however, I hope to go back again with my parents once I graduate from college. India is continuing to develop, and there are so many beautiful places to visit. I really love going back there just for the food. I will never forget when I was about 5 years old, I was visiting the Taj Mahal with my parents and we saw famous Bollywood actors there acting for their film. India holds a close place in my heart, and I hope to visit there again in the near future.
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These are just some of my favorite places. I have visited over 20 countries with my parents, and I cannot wait to continue to add to the list. I have several pictures that I have taken on my own, and I will have to go dig them up. I would've loved to add them to this blog post! I cannot wait to see what 2017 holds for me and family, as we decide on our vacations for this year.
Wow, how wonderful to have visited so many countries, Sonali: my dad wanted to visit every state when I was growing up (so we visited a lot of the United States!), but he was not so much of a world traveler. And I really hope you get to do the Oxford program: Oxford is fabulous. It's a beautiful part of England in its own right, and it's just an hour from London on the bus, and then of course from London you can go anywhere and everywhere by train... so many beautiful places to see! I lived in England for two years, and it was a complete pleasure: so many adventures! Maybe for a class project, you could think about some places in India you can visit the next time that you go back, specific places that resonate with the stories from the epics: there are so many sacred sites in India that are connected with the ancient stories and so many beautiful temples built in honor of the characters you will meet in the stories we read in class!
ReplyDeleteIt’s so cool that you and your family have traveled so much together! Your trip to India seems especially fitting for this class. Also, if your schedule ends up allowing it, you should definitely go for the Honors at Oxford program. I participated in it last summer, and it’s been the best experience of my life; Oxford is an amazing place. I especially recommend Melanie Wright’s class. Either way, I hope you and your family have a great 2017!
ReplyDeleteSonali, I am so intrigued by all of the cool places you have traveled! I have also traveled quite a bit and lived internationally throughout my life so I love reading these posts and seeing what peoples favorite places are! London is by far my favorite place in this world, I lived there for two years. I know what you mean when you say there is a large Indian presence in London. I don't think I will ever eat Indian food as good as some of the Indian food I ate whilst we lived in London.
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