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The so-called Grand Tour was a traditional trip through Continental Europe that British upper-class young men undertook from the mid-17th to early 19th century as an educational rite of passage when they came of age. Although the tour originated in Britain, sons of wealthy men in other European countries as well as North and South America also took on this practice.
The Grand Tour is long gone, but the idea behind it captivated me, so much so that I have traveled to Europe nine times over the years in order to gain a broad understanding of Western civilization. Still fresh in my memory is the sense of elation I felt when I set foot on European soil for the first time in my mid-30s.
My first stop was Athens, the cradle of Western civilization. On my way from the outlying airport to Athens, the stately Parthenon atop the Acropolis suddenly came into view. To see the Parthenon, high overlooking the city, was a thrill I will never forget. So, naturally, the Acropolis became the focus of my Athenian tour and I spent hours climbing up and down this dramatic hill. Athens has reminders everywhere of the great classic age and I trod where Demosthenes orated and Socrates taught.
From Athens, I flew to Rome which is called the Eternal City because ancient Romans believed that no matter what happened to the world or how many empires came and went, Rome would go on forever. I paid homage to the vestiges of ancient civilization scattered throughout the city. Among the historic sites I visited, the Capitol, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Catacombs, the Vatican, and the Trevi Fountain are the first ones that spring to mind.
I then moved on to Zurich, Munich, Vienna, Paris, Amsterdam and London. To tour these renowned cities was a breathtaking experience for me. All European cities looked distinctively unique and it was a lot of fun to wander from city to city at a leisurely pace.
My tour would have been incomplete without my visits to museums and art galleries for which Europe is famous. It was a delight to view great cultural and art collections firsthand. I was most impressed by what I saw in the Louvre, the British Museum and the Vatican Museum.
My appreciation of early Western civilization was enhanced immensely by my visits to Athens and Rome in particular. But the cities that captured my heart were Paris and London.
Paris, a magnet for tourists, seemed to have magic in the air. To feel it, I roamed through the city. I particularly enjoyed strolling along the Champs Elysees, exploring the winding streets of Montmartre, riding an excursion boat on the Seine, or lazing away at a sidewalk cafe drinking coffee and watching fashion-conscious Parisians walk by.
I was attracted to London for a different reason. Having lived in Canada for many years, I felt at home in London. Furthermore, it was fun indeed to scour the old city for the roots of North American culture.
Eastern Europe was not included in my one-month travel itinerary because that part of Europe was off-limits to Koreans at that time. But after the Iron Curtain was lifted in the early 1990s, I traveled to Warsaw, Krakow, Auschwitz, Budapest, Salzburg, Prague, Dresden, Berlin, and Potsdam. In later years, I also set foot in Spain, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Turkey.
Being consumed by wanderlust, I have traveled the world and my favorite destination was Europe. Not only did my trips to Europe enlighten me and broaden my horizons, but I was fascinated by the sights, sounds and tastes of the historically rich cities I visited.
The writer (tomhslee43@gmail.com) is a freelance columnist and the author of "Tales of A Korean Globetrotter."
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