After making the decision to spend my freshman year abroad in Florence, Italy I came to the conclusion that I want to extensively travel to other countries while constantly living locally. There are a few specific significant events that I plan to attend. Most of these events are a once-in-a-lifetime experience, yet still some are rather a simple pleasure that I hope to have the opportunity to embrace. This is my ultimate European bucket list.
1. Oktoberfest - Munich, Germany
A 16-day folk festival with more than six million people attending the event each year. Expect parades, food, music and lots of dancing!
2. La Tomatina - Spain
A festival that is held in the Valencian town of Buñol, in which participants throw tomatoes and get involved in this tomato fight purely for entertainment purposes. Since 1945 it has been held on the last Wednesday of August.
3. Running of the Bulls - Spain
The fiestas of San Fermin are celebrated in Irunea/Pamplona every year from the sixth to the 14th of July. They have become internationally known because of the running of the bulls where the bulls are led through the streets of the old quarter as far as the bull ring by runners.
4. Carnival - Venice, Italy
An annual festival that ends with the Christian celebration of Lent, 40 days before Easter, on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. The festival is world-famed for its elaborate masks.
5. Attend an Opera - Vienna, Austria
An opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. Everyone needs to go to an opera at least once in their life!
6. Take a thermal bath - Budapest, Hungary
One of the reasons the Romans first colonized the area is so that they could utilize and enjoy the thermal springs. There are still ruins visible today of the enormous baths that were built during that period. The new baths that were constructed during the Turkish period served both bathing and medicinal purposes, and some of these are still in use to this day!
7. View the Northern Lights - Iceland
An aurora (polar light) is a natural light display in the sky, predominantly seen in the high latitude regions. Iceland is claimed to be one of the best places to view them!
8. Las Fallas - Valencia, Spain
A celebration held in commemoration of Saint Joseph. The term Falles refers to both the celebration and the monuments burnt during the celebration. Each neighborhood of the city has an organized group of people, the Casal Faller, who produce a construction known as a falla which is eventually burnt.
9. Grand Prix - Monaco
It is a motor race held each year on the Circuit de Monaco. Run since 1929, it is widely considered to be one of the most important and prestigious automobile races in the world.
10. Sky Dive - Austria
The views. That is all.
11. Skiing - Switzerland
While Swiss chocolate and watches are most renowned, skiing is also huge! It is located in a mountainous Central European country, home to numerous lakes, villages and the high peaks of the Alps, and it is a destination for its ski resorts and hiking trails.
12. Stand on the Pulpit Rock - Norway
It is a famous tourist attraction in the municipality of Forsand in Rogaland county, Norway. Preikestolen is a steep cliff which rises 1,982 ft above the Lysefjorden. Atop the cliff, there is an almost flat top. It sits on the north side of the fjord.
13. See the Lennon Wall - Prague, Czech Republic
Once a normal wall, since the 1980s it has been filled with John Lennon-inspired graffiti and pieces of lyrics from Beatles' songs.
14. Party in Ibizia - Spain
Basically an island in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of the city of Valencia in eastern Spain, that knows how to party.
15. Canoe in the Blue Grotto - Capri, Italy
A sea cave on the coast of the island of Capri, southern Italy. Sunlight, passing through an underwater cavity and shining through the seawater, creates a blue reflection that illuminates the cavern.
Hey, a broke college college student can dream, right?
