I thought it would be interesting (and fun) to ask for au pairs’ impressions of the U.S. and their experiences visiting different parts of our big and diverse country. Sandra, an au pair from Sweden, and her friend, Annki from Germany, visited Nashville, TN. What did Sandra have to say about that experience?
“In November 2014, me and my friend Annki decided to take a flight to Nashville over the weekend. It was one of the best weekends I’ve experienced in America so far. Even though we weren’t 21 and could go out to all the different bars along Broadway in downtown Nashville, we found so much else to do during our stay.
Nashville and Tennessee has such a different life style from what I’m used to living in Connecticut and the “normal civilization”, so, to come to Nashville and experience such a different culture was nothing but beyond exciting. Nashville is definitely a place I recommend everyone to visit while they’re in the U.S.
During our stay we lived at the Downtown Hostel in Nashville, which was located right around the corner from Broadway. During our first evening we thought that Nashville would be anything but what it actually was. We expected silent streets and no people being out and about at nine o’clock in the evening. But oh how wrong we were. When we came out on the street there were hundreds of people going out clubbing, and the fun thing was that it was people in all ages – everything from young to old. It was so fun to see.
The following days we explored as many of the attractions and stores as we could fit in during the rest of our time there. We went to the Parthenon, Farm Market, Boot-stores (which there were THOUSAND of), we also took a trolly-tour where we were able to see all the “small” places that we otherwise would’ve missed. We also went to the Country Walk of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum which was all very fun and interesting. Me and Annki also bought tickets to go and see a show at the Grand Ole Opry.
Nashville was so fun to see, since I didn’t know exactly what I expected of it. I got to see everything from people wearing cowboy-boots and hats till the southern accent and the nice people. I got to see boot stores and hat stores and most of all I got to experience the street of Broadway – with all of the country music I could’ve imagined. It was completely different from everything else, and it was hard to believe that we actually still were in America. It felt like we had been thrown back in time to a place were cowboys only existed. Such a fun trip, and so many new people we got an opportunity to become friends with. Nashville is since then, one of my favorite places in America, and a place I without a doubt will visit again.