Strolling the streets of Barcelona, biking around Mallorca, and visiting the Pope's home have led me to experience different cultures in ways that I never thought possible. I had never been outside the country (except to Canada) until this past summer. I am a pretty picky person and have never really experienced any cultures before in my life. But this summer I learned to try new foods and step out outside of my comfort zone.

We started our travels in Barcelona, Spain. Barcelona is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. I realize that their culture is also very different from ours. They eat foods that are very different from our food in the United States. They like many different types of meats and seafood. The food in Barcelona is not the only differences in cultures. In Barcelona most people walk everywhere or ride their scooters. In the US we see so many overweight people because we drive everywhere. However when you live in a city like Barcelona, you usually have to walk many blocks to get anywhere.

Our next stop was Mallorca, Spain. Even in Europe, the cultures differed from city to city. Although there are many tourists in Barcelona, there were just as many in Mallorca. The city is on the coast so there are many different beaches to visit. In Mallorca, one of the most interesting things we got to do is visit all of the markets. There were buildings that held many different stands. The stands held fresh fruits such as peaches, tomatoes, oranges, etc. They also had nuts, wines, and candies that were made in Spain. Food is a very big part of the European culture, however, culture is not just represent by food. We found culture in the doors that we saw in Spain. This may not seem like an important part of culture, but it is. Every door on every building had a certain story. As we traveled, we took pictures of all of the interesting doors that we saw. It is crazy to imagine, but we have a whole album that is just pictures of doors. Although we didn't notice it at the time, we were surrounded by culture.

Our next stop was France. In France we got real taste of culture… literally. Our first meal in France was crepes. I got to taste real crepes made from scratch. They are very thin and spongy. Next, we went to a bakery where we got baggetts.

The biggest culture shock we had was when we went to Italy. We had to drive from the port into the cities so we got to see life outside of the big cities. Many of the homes had vineyards or farms. In Italy, we got to see sites that I had only ever seen in the textbooks. I never thought I would actually get to see Pompeii or visit the same country-The Vatican- where the Pope lives. It was a shock to me that a volcano could cover a city in ash and instead of ruin things, preserve them. At the Vatican, I got to see real paintings by Michelangelo. We have always learned about him and the work he has done, but I actually got to experience the 500-year-old culture by being able to see the Sistine Chapel.

Everything I got to do in Europe made me realize how big of a world we live in. As Americans, we sometimes lose sight of the world around us. We do the same routines every day and eat the same food we always eat. When I went to Europe, I got to see how other people live. I got to experience a culture of love and good times that I don’t always get to have here at home. I’ll never forget the amazing foods, beautiful views, and interesting people I met in this past year and the cultural shock that this trip-of-a-lifetime gave me.