Relaxing in Carcassonne

Carcassonne has turned out to be the ideal end to my trip in France. This medieval city, completely surrounded by walls dating back to Gallo-Roman times, is a wonder to behold. It is picturesque, easy-going, and a joy for any historian. I met a girl named Hanna from Australia, and together we were two kids in a giant medieval playground. We climbed walls and ramparts, explored every nook and cranny (including a few that were marked off limits--shh! don't tell!!), and saw literally everything there was to see in this tiny town. It was nice to spend some time here, ambling about, and to escape the high intensity scene of pretty much every other area I have been to thus far. Hopefully someday I will make it back here again for another day of medieval fantasy and much needed R&R.

Oh, and by the way, just take one guess as to how we topped off our sightseeing day! Why, there is really only one answer, and I am sure you have all guessed it already....we went to Carcassonne's one and only...........HAUNTED HOUSE!!! Yeah, I know, I couldn't believe they had one either, but it turns out that alongside the medieval treasure trove is a whole slew of cheesy attractions, which oddly enough include a museum dedicated to the torture devices of the Inquisition, and a funny-more-than-scaring haunted house. The whole thing was on this automatic, timed system, where you walked into a room, received some sort of thrill (whether it was a shrinking room, someone jumping out at you, or someone/something rubbing against your legs in the pitch dark), another door would open, and you scooted quickly through, in order to avoid getting trapped behind the action. We were warned before entering to just play along, and as a door entered, to move as quickly as possible through it, and wouldn't you know it, the full-grown French woman in our group was the first one to have a problem with this. We came to a point where there was a door to the front of us, and one marked exit leading outside. She decided to push on the outer door several times, to peek her head out, and generally lose sight of all the guidelines we had been given. So needless to say, we missed it when the door opened and shut for real, and we were trapped there until the next group of visitors came through. This happened a couple more times in varying fashions, and as we went along we picked up other stranded and scared French people, until finally our group was quite large, and could not fit through the doors within the allotted time. In the end, Hanna and I had as much fun watching everyone else scream and get stuck between rooms as anything else. It turned out to be surprisingly worthwhile.

Tomorrow, bright and early, I am boarding a plane headed for London. I think going to Britain will be the closest thing to actually going home, so I look forward to that touch of familiarity, but am also disappointed to leave behind the interesting cultural differences that continental Europe has to offer. It is hard to believe that three weeks of adventures have come and gone, and that settling down in Erfurt is just around the corner. But knowing me, 'settling down' will really only be the beginning of my travels and discoveries.