U.S. - Born and raised.
2018
Guatemala - First time out of the U.S. Spent a week there. Traveled with 30 peers to do service work in a small village in the mountains. The country is beautiful, and the people were so welcoming. Also, we got to sail on Lake Atitlan, a picturesque lake formed in the caldera of a volcano and surrounded by a couple other volcanoes. Went there again the following summer and will be again at the end of this month.
Canada - Only barely. Went to Glacier National Park in Montana with a few friends, and we ventured across the border one morning to do a hike on the Canadian side.
2022
England and France - A buddy of mine from here in Kansas City met a woman from England while they were on a group trip in Thailand, and last July they got married in England and currently live there. I traveled with another KC friend to the UK to attend. The wedding was at a venue near Stoke-on-Trent. I got to spend a little time in London before the wedding and a couple days in Paris after the wedding. Sorry,
@Bandicoot , I should I have told you I was coming to your neck of the woods. My bad.
London - We got to London Thursday morning and saw as much as we could (Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, etc.). Interestingly, we arrived on the day the prime minister resigned. While walking over the bridge near Parliament, some guy stopped us to ask questions. We didn't catch what he said at first, but when we asked him to repeat, he realized from our American accents we were most certainly not locals and basically said, "Nevermind," and moved on. I think he was a reporter trying to get people's reactions about what had just happened.
Friday we went to Wimbledon, and it was the day of the semifinal matches. We didn't see the main matches, since they were on the stadium court that cost extra to get into, and we only had grounds passes. So we went around to all the side courts and watched other divisions and age groups. One was a wheel chairs doubles match, which was fun. I don't follow tennis, but it was a cool experience.
I am by no means a connoisseur of fine cuisine, so I'm not the one to ask for food recs, but I will say I enjoyed everything I ate. Fish and chips were had. Side note: I saw a place called "Burger King" in Stoke-on-Trent, so I can tell you even the fast food joints play up the whole monarchy shtick.
Paris - After the wedding we took a train through the Chunnel down to Paris and got to spend a couple days there. Stayed downtown near Notre Dame. They still had it closed for repairs from the 2019 fire. Went up the Eiffel Tower and saw an amazing view of the entire city. Visited Sainte-Chapelle and Sacre Coeur Basilica, which were both beautiful. Went to the Arc de Triomphe and saw the most insane roundabout encircling it. I'm talking like 6-8 lanes with no lines or rules; it was a free-for-all. Oh, and I guess the Arc was cool too.
Spent four hours in the Louvre and only saw a fraction of the museum. It's huge and there's so much to see. Visiting the small room containing the Mona Lisa is kind of funny because you have to wait in line (it moves fast), and in the same room there are other paintings, including a gigantic, super-detailed work of art on the opposite wall. And yet the only one with a line is a small portrait.
Did a guided history tour through Paris and learned a lot. Our tour guide carried a little Argentinian flag for the group to follow so no one would get lost. He wasn't from Argentina; he said he just thought it looked cool. At least twice I heard people in passing say something like, "Let's get out of the way of these Argentinians."
Food was really good wherever we went, usually random cafes (which were literally everywhere) with little tables outside..
Overall it was a lot of fun getting to see London and Paris, if only briefly, and just be immersed in the history. Everyone we encountered was nice. Oh, and for the first time in my life someone asked me, "Do you speak English?" It was a lady from the UK in line behind us at a Paris subway station. I said I did, but now I realize I missed the opportunity to say the more humorous (and accurate), "Not well."
.. Blanking on the other place, I think it was Isla Mujeres. For a business trip.
