Europe.

I lived in Switzerland and France when I was a kid. Two years in Swiss and three in France. A half year in UK. I've been to most parts of Europe basically in my whole lifetime.

Maybe you heard much about how smelly the whole Europe is. Paris had dog shit all over the place. London city streets are just pissing rain everywhere. Russia's metro stations sums up pretty much on how the whole Europe's train stations smell.

Really. To think over that again, Eiffel Tower doesn't have much fascination at all as per postcards compared to our very own KLCC. What is so great about lavender fields in the Netherlands compared to our Cameron Highlands tea farms? Again, we heard much from other people who said pretty much same thing over and over again.

Tweets after tweets. Maybe instead of seeing Arc de Triomphe & London Bridge, it's just better to look elsewhere in our own country or Asia basically.

I would say these views are entitled and highly opiniated. It's not as simple as that.

Yes, there are pros and cons. Good views but pickpockets are everywhere. If you're lucky or just simply unlucky, you get to experience seeing mass protests, general strikes and civil unrest all in Europe. These people however consider themselves it's normal but probably, not us.

I'll talk about the good things you might've never known.

Firstly, you might see old relics and buildings which look similar elsewhere in Europe. From one place to another. But have you wondered the story behind all these?

In Paris, you might've seen a mini Statue of Liberty as in the US. But what's so great about it? Gustave Eiffel, the architect who designed Eiffel Tower was the one who created the Statue of Liberty. Some say the statues faced each other in France and US.

You might also say metro stations are smelly but little you knew about how complex but yet, so convenient to users who could change stations at will with ease. I'd say it's easier than Malaysia.

But is it just all? To me, Paris is beautiful. France on the other hand is magnificent. Imagine how hard sculpturs made figures and sculptures so life-sized. Chenonceau are one of the castles that stood on a bridge. The Alps have mountain ranges that stretches across France and Swiss. You want hotdogs and beer? That's Germany. Belgian chocolates could just rival with that of in Swiss. Switzerland was my childhood. The real taste of Neapolitan can only be tasted in Italy. London taught me a lot on how to survive alone in the streets.

I held so much memories in Europe. It may bore you to some bits of its history but look at it; without such advancement in civilization and improvement in humanity, how could great ideas be born & how comfortable could we become?

But of course, of some relics from history there are things you may not like. You might've say "This is from my country" when you go to their museums. These countries, was where conquest and imperialism starts. Whilr that disturbs you bit, you would've fall in love with your own country even more. How far do I get, does not make me forgot about where I come from.

I disagree that Paris, Geneva, London or wherever that is in Europe, is a no-go place to visit. Yes it's true, it might be airy and dirty but the memoir and the history behind it surpasses all the ugly things behind.

Asyraf Amir. 20200216.