Travel is about the moments when you have to pinch yourself because you can’t believe you’re wide awake and what you’re seeing is real. Sometimes its a first and other times its something you never expected. Sometimes they are big moments but so often they are the small ones. Here are some of my favourites

1.International Eiffel Tower picnic, Paris

At the international summer academy, every Wednesday was a half day. The last Wednesday of classes a group of about forty of us met for a picnic on the grass under the Eiffel Tower. Not only were we sitting in prime picnic real estate but when else in our lives would we relax with forty other people our age from all around the world? It was for me, probably a once in a lifetime experience. We got there around 1pm with wine and baguettes stuffed with ham, cheese and salad from our closest bakery and didn’t get up to leave until night time. We watched the sky turn from a bright blue to all shades of pink and purple as the Eiffel Tower began to glow gold and was illuminated with sparkling lights. I couldn’t have asked for a better afternoon.

2. Sunset by the Seine, Paris

This was at the start of the summer academy and we were only just getting to know each other. It was on a Wednesday, our half day and we’d spent the afternoon on a Seine cruise. Afterwards we went for drinks and dinner and eventually ended up with bottles of wine ( a recurring theme of our trip) sitting along the banks of the Seine, from dusk till almost midnight.

3. Seeing snow for the first time, Lucerne

I grew up in sunny Queensland and up until I was nineteen had never seen snow. I was in beautiful Luzern in Switzerland and we were on top of Mt Pilatus. I quickly learnt that snow can be so cold it burns and spent the next ten minutes glued to the heater, but it was worth it.

4. Ice skating on top of the Eiffel Tower, Paris

Last Paris one, I promise. During winter there is an ice skating rink set up on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower. Incredible!

5. Visting a shooting range in the Czech Republic

Guns are banned in Australia and I’m glad for it. It was cool though to go to a shooting range in the wilderness of the Czech Republic and see what all the fuss was about. We got to shoot targets with an AK47, an M16, a sniper rifle and a shotgun. No one at home can believe that I did, but I have the shells to prove it!

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