How different our lives were two years ago, when we could just book a Ryanair flight like it was nothing, our only concern being to check our passports were still in date.  It’s mad to think that we would stay in one place for so long when time before this allowed us to travel whenever and wherever we wanted.  

As we all know, the world then changed forever in 2020 when our movements became limited as a result of Covid-19. Before all of this happened, I was on Erasmus at the University of Vienna in Austria and in February 2020, I had a month off free from lectures and to travel wherever I wanted.  I decided to make the most of this month, having no clue that I really needed to make it count. 

I decided to travel home for a few days to start with.  Firstly, to swap out some jumpers for summer clothes that I thought I would get the chance to use by the River Danube, and also to vote in a General Election for the first time.  I also thought it would be the last chance I’d get to see my family for at least four months, although it ended up only being just over four weeks.  

My next stop was to be reunited with some of my college friends who were doing their Erasmus in Lyon to improve their Français. I had never been to this area of France before, previously having only dipped my toes in cities such as Cannes, Perpignan, Nice, and Paris of course. I would typically describe my fashion sense as ‘aspiring Parisian’ and this could definitely be said by what I was wearing arriving into the city centre on the Rhônexpress. Sporting a red striped jumper that looked like it could be placed on a Chanel photoshoot cover, along with a chic neutral navy coat and of course a classic grey beret, I was ready to go.  

This city has a lot to offer if you are looking for a French experience outside of Paris, but still want to unleash your inner Lily Collins.  I visited an old Roman theatre, which probably had just as many seats available as those in the Edward Burke Theatre in the Arts Block, as well as the famous Funiculaires de Fourviere cable car, which takes you to the top of the city towards the Cathedral Saint John Baptiste.  The views of Lyon from up there I have to say were just immaculate.  

What I liked the most about Lyon was that it felt like a home away from home.  The River Seine cuts right through the city, dividing it in half, with an endless amount of bridges to cross.  In this way it reminds me of Dublin, the bridges crossing the Seine much like those I cross on the River Liffey.  There are many boat bars on the Seine,  and after entering one I did in fact recreate a scene from Titanic. How could I not, I was a ginger on a boat after all?  

The next stop on my journey was to Belgium. I took the train from Lyon directly to Brussels and travelled through France cross country.  I felt like Julie Delpy in Before Sunrise, admiring the gorgeous French fields on an unusually sunny day  in the month of February. There’s something so adventurous about trains, you really feel like you’re moving along with the grass blades underneath the train track.  

It was funny to see the train slow down, not yet in Paris, only to realise that the train was  just taking a pit stop at Disneyland.  Unfortunately, you’d never see amusement park rides and posters of Mickey Mouse on the DART.  

Eventually, the French fields of lavender became urban jungles, before the red poppy fields of Flanders came into view.  I landed in the heart of Brussels after a four hour train ride that only felt like forty minutes.  I was reunited with my former Viennese roommate and we both explored what Brussels had to offer. We first went to the Grand Place, where of course in the name of all things touristy and capitalist there was a Starbucks residing where a former Guild of Brussels probably used to be. The Grand Place felt like stepping inside an incredibly fancy jewellery box.  Each building had different numbers of steps to the top to determine the former owner’s wealth.  The buildings were made of old brick and gold and felt like little trinkets despite their enormity.  I ate French fries there in the rain, people-watching those enjoying life for the last time before staying inside became our normality.  

They say you can never leave Belgium without finding a beer that you like. I absolutely despise the taste of beer, so I was convinced I’d be the first to prove this Belgian myth wrong.  That didn’t last.  I entered the famous Delirium bar where they are known for having hundreds of beers on offer.  I ordered a strawberry flavoured beer and I  immediately accepted defeat. One to the Belgians, zero to me.  

I couldn’t call myself a law student and not visit the European Commission.  I had studied EU Law the previous academic year and felt I knew all there was, from Ursula von der Leyen to Cassis de Dijon.  This place is the legal world’s equivalent to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and I was convinced I’d bump into Charles Michel or Angela Merkel walking out of a meeting.  Obviously not.  Regardless, my inner legal eagle was happy to see it in real life after reading so much about it. 

We then got the train and headed out west.  I was staying in Ghent, but got to explore Bruges early the next day.  Bruges is a historic city, once one of the most notable trading cities in Europe,  now most notably known as the setting where Colin Farrell was in hiding with Brendan Gleeson in the action thriller In Bruges.  I had my first Belgian waffle there and basically ate them after that every time I got a chance.

I also saw the medieval city of Antwerp and its famous port.  Despite it being a rainy Tuesday in February, there was still a buzz around the place.  I went to Ghent after this and explored the many churches that this city is built upon.  I also ate their famous Cuberdon, which tasted like massive, triangular Jelly Babies.  I was like the fourth doctor in Doctor Who, wearing a multicoloured scarf and carrying a paper bag of those Jelly Baby lookalikes in my hand.  

I then said goodbye to Belgium and it was time for me to return to my home away from home in Vienna.  If you had told me at that stage that  a few weeks later I would be back in Ireland in the sitting room with my family, watching as the world completely locked down, I’d be thinking you were a crazy conspiracy theorist.  Alas, I did not expect my travels to end abruptly as they did, nor did I expect the world to change so quickly.   

Now that we are hopefully reaching the end stage of this pandemic, and are slowly returning to travel once more, I wanted to look back at those last few weeks before the craziest stage of my life was about to begin.  How much easier things were, and how we didn’t need to be as concerned about being close to each other.  During that blissful time period, face masks, social distancing and €9 substantial meals were unheard phrases.  Now that normality is slowly returning, I look forward to making more memories travelling outside of Ireland this year, and maybe returning to some of these places I once visited before the world changed forever.