Thank you, Europe

I am of those who start crying whenever they see the European flag, let alone when they hear Beethoven's Hymn to Joy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo_-KoBiBG0

I was born in the Europe that was still recovering from the destructions of WW2, in the Europe of boundaries and currencies.
Despite all this, I think I was not the only one who felt part of a bigger picture. We felt European, and very proudly so.
I am still surprised when I contemplate so many differences in such a small portion of the planet: climates, languages, musical traditions. Differences that are our strength.
In my days, we had an incredibly powerful instrument that could make us feel part of the whole. I belong to the generation that discovered the unlimited delight of crossing boundaries, showing our passports every other day, changing currencies day in day out, on the routes of the Interrail.
Who knows if today the people who travel around with the Interrail feel the same exhilaration we felt those day when we travelled along the invisible limits of the forbidden places behind the Iron Curtain, trying to take a sneak peak of whatever looked to any extent different from us.
I still feel the same desire to discover what is behind the corner, just a few steps from where I stand.
Embarking on the Erasmus project is like starting that trip again.
Once more feeling part of a greater picture.
Thank you, Europe, for offering us this possibility.