A Fall Break out of France

Within the span of 8 days I traveled to four different countries over Fall break.

That's just the kind of life that we are able to have living in Europe. When you have a fall break, rather than going to the lake or to Florida or the mountains we are able to hop from country to country. From the multiple cities that I was able to visit, I realized that the small things are the ones that make life the best.

You know, like the constant cobblestone alleys, and the sounds of church bells ringing, and the outdoor markets and bustling streets.These things just make me fall in love. These things are what I see as sublime.

I cannot agree with de Botton or Wordsworth: that cities cloud your mind, that to see beauty you have to get out. I can sit on a bench in a city and think of thousands of different things from what I would think on a boat in the middle of the caspian sea. I love the city, and I love nature. But I feel connected with a moving city, with people who have inhabited it and I see the sublime.

In the grand spectrum, I am seeing it all. I am seeing large cities and landscapes that stretch across for hundreds of kilometers. I ride a train through a city and pass through a mountain and arrive in a new setting. It's a marvelous thing.

-Jessica Fitzgerald