Day 30: Conclusions

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

T. S. Elliot

The Grand European Tour of 2016 is now over for me. Mum and Dad have two more weeks in Scotland and Dubai before they return but my first big trip to Europe is complete. I am rating the trip a resounding success. When you're away with 2/5 other people for a few weeks you are never going to have perfect days every day but I think we came pretty damn close. Spending such quality time with family is such an underrated thing these days. 

My pledge while on the trip was that I was not going to say anything negative about any of the places I was at but now I get the chance to give some of my highlights and lowlights.

HIGHLIGHTS

  1. Barcelona - It's such a beautiful place filled with beautiful people! I don't think I will ever go to Europe and not have at least a few days in Barcelona.
  2. Amsterdam - The people are lovely and the city is unique.
  3. London - There is simply not ever going to be enough time to see even a small fraction of what London has to offer. I will be visiting London and the UK again soon.

LOWLIGHTS

  1. Germany - I found Berlin and Frankfurt to be very underwhelming. I know that there are several people probably screaming at the screen and constructing detailed arguments as to why I am wrong but I really didn't find it very compelling.
  2. Madrid - ... it's just boring

In returning to Melbourne there are a few comments that I would like to make. Melbourne (and I would argue, Hobart) are, more or less, European cities. There are some particularly Australian elements about Melbourne, primarily to do with the comparative youth of the city, but I would argue that it adopts many of the core elements of the cities that I visited on the Grand European Tour. Everyone should travel overseas, if you pay attention it makes you both appreciate the positives of what we have and also see where there is room for improvement. It would be very easy to travel throughout Europe and complain how everything is better back in Australia or that Europe is more advanced. A more nuanced view shows us how much we have to be proud of, and how much work there is in front of a nation as young as ours. It's something to think on.

I'll be putting together a collection of photographs I took and i'll put them up in a gallery on the website soon. Some I used in the blog and some you won't have seen before so I hope you enjoy that, i'll let you all know on twitter when it's up. The next blog post I put up (in a few days) will be a 'where to now' for me for the next 11 weeks or so that I still have off work. I have a few different irons in the fire that will more than keep me busy and I would love to continue blogging about what I am up to... but at a slower pace.