歐洲之旅系列（零） My 60-Day Journey in Europe

After graduating from CMU + M-iti MCHI program in Madeira, Portugal. I decided to spend some time to see Europe. Frankly speaking, I』ve experienced my fair share of Europe ever since I got here December 2015. But there』s never enough of Europe.

After some rough planning and researching, between negotiating my job offer in China and discussing the travel plan with my family, I finally settled with a 60-day journey starting from Seville, Spain, through Southern France, the whole stretch of Italy, and eventually to Greece.

The dates can be flexible (not entirely true, I have to book ahead for some restaurants and plan accordingly), the routes can be flexible. I don』t have anything that is a 「must-see」, or anything that is a 「must-do」 (other than one meal at Arzark, more on this later). Everything is up for change. But I do have some guiding principles I』d like to adhere to:

1. Go East. This is straightforward enough: Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, and Greece. Generally eastward, no back-tracking.
2. Utilize ground transportation as much as possible. One thing I did not enjoy so much when living in Madeira was that I had to travel by air to anywhere in Europe. This time I want to take full advantage of the railroad system. I love trains.
3. Always go one-way until the end. This means I don』t have a hub to return to, and I need to carry all things I would need to use in 2 months at all times, which means, pack light.
4. Pace myself, sketch as I go. I like meandering on the streets of old and new towns, observing my surroundings, and watching people. I』ve decided to sketch whenever I can to record what I see.
5. Eat local food. No-brainer, or else why the hell I』m traveling?
6. Always speak the local language first. Have I mentioned that one of my passions is learning new languages? Luckily, I already speak a fair amount of French and Portuguese, and started picking up Spanish half a month before the trip. I』ll start learning Italian before I enter France, and Greek before I enter Italy.
7. Ditch any pre-conceptions, learn, learn, learn. It would be a great opportunity to re-trace the lineage of European cultural heritage from Renaissance all the way back to ancient Greek and Roman times, and see how this long history plays into the today』s modern societies.
8. Be flexible.

Now, off I go.

P.S. I will write about my journey (although long over-due now, since I started my trip on December 17, 2016) in the form of one city, one landmark, one sketch, and possibly one dish. And of course, interesting encounters.

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