Found some notes from my trip around Europe by train last year. They're hardly complete, and perhaps not very interesting, but figured I'd post them as-is for posterity. It was a great experience, and I could only ever recommend it to someone considering the same. ----- First trip to Amsterdam was a resounding success! Whilst avoiding the typical tourist spots - the red light district and numerous 'coffee' shops that litter the city, I visited the royal palace and walked along the canals, enjoying the sights and the sounds of more typical, suburban life. My hosts, Richard and Liz, we're absolutely brilliant, so accommodating, and I was gently introduced to what I could expect to find elsewhere. Yo ho, to Berlin! ----- About to leave the train as I arrive in Berlin. It's a little daunting. Gone are the safety nets of my Dutch hosts. I'm alone in a new place, a country whose language I have 6 hours of experience learning (on the train journey to get here). I'm excited to test out what I've learned. I'm just excited, full stop. The sun, through the train window casts a different colour of light on the fields as I pass. Everything here is new. The familiar presence of wind turbines puts me at ease. Das ist mein ersten mal in Deutschland. God help me. ----- Berlin was wonderful - wunderbar! Gorgeous weather, and such friendly people. Made a few friends in the hostel, and exchanged emails. I travelled exclusively on foot, and paid for it in the evenings, but it was worth it. I had intended to have a relaxed Monday evening, but feeling energetic, I walked over to the video game museum, knowing it would be closed on Tuesday. I enjoyed the long walk down Karl-Marx Allee, taking in the sights and sounds. I headed back after dinner, using the Berlin TV Tower as a way point. I used that at several points over my time here, and it meant I was always able to get my bearings. I spent my day in Berlin visiting places of local historical and cultural relevance, starting with the wall memorial. Reading the plaques, and getting an idea of the scale of the infamous "death strip" first hand was quite harrowing. I visited also the monument to murdered Jews in Europe, which whilst impressive in scale, was fairly sterile, and didn't really evoke any feelings of grief that I would usually associate with such an atrocity. ----- Arrived in Munich yesterday. Not a lot to report - very city-like. Reminds me of Glasgow. However, I arrived at night, so haven't had a chance to explore during the day. Took a trip to Füssen today. I'm staying right in the city centre of Munich, or "München", so wanted to do something a little more adventurous. The train ride was two hours long, and I'm on my way back now. I wanted to visit the famous (x) castle, but mostly, I just wanted to wander. The town itself is fairly small, and caters to tourism. I opted against taking one of the tours - which seemed fairly overpriced, and would have saved me a lot of walking (not really a selling point for me). After about an hour of walking, I made it to the foot of the mountain. Given how busy it was, I'm surprised that I seemed to be the only person who walked or cycled along the main road. It took me another 20 minutes or so to reach the castle. The mountains were fantastic, and the closer I got to them, the more snow littered the ground and trees. It was a fantastic sight, and the castles looked so natural against the backdrop of the snowy peaks. But I didn't stay there for long. I didn't buy a ticket to go inside, on account of how long the wait was. It would have taken two hours, by which time I had planned on heading back for my train. I took a few snaps, and left. It's a good thing I left when I did though - I took a different route back, which ventured through a huge park, and over the hills near town, and it took me about 2 hours, given that I kept stopping to take photos of the amazing scenery. It was also my first chance to use my tripod! I can't wait to see how they turn out. ----- München, all is forgiven! What a fantastic city when you get to explore during the day! Wandered along the main roads to Marienplatz, taking in the scenery and architecture. Decided to be a little bolder with my photography, taking photos of people at the nearby market. It was somewhat inspired by (x) whom I met in the Berlin hostel. I managed to spend 3 hours in the Deutsch museum, which is essentially a massive science museum. It was worth every cent. I could have easily spent the entire day there! So Germany is done now, as I sit on my overnight train to Italy. Not looking forward to the journey, but can't wait to arrive at the destination. Aufwidersein, Deutschland. Bonjourno, Italia! ---- Holy hell, this train cabin is warm. Think I'm expected to sleep upright too - which is tough, as I'll no doubt wake up every time my head jerks forward. If I had a table seat or harness, it'd be easier, but I doubt the lady across from me will appreciate me falling into her lap. Passing through Austria, and wow, the snow is piled so high! Wish I was able to stop off in Vienna as planned, but alas, best laid plans and all that. Maybe some other time. Jumping through a lot of hoops to book this airbnb room, so hope it doesn't fall through at the last minute. Otherwise I'm going to be really cranky when I arrive in Pisa, with nowhere to stay. Can't say I've been sleeping well in general. Hostels aren't great for night time interruptions. Sharing rooms with multiple other people, with their own plans and agendas. Arriving at midnight, or leaving at 3AM. will be grateful for this one bedroom apartment to recharge my batteries, if it goes to plan. ---- Language is a funny thing, isn't it. In a modern world. Where country borders are now paper thin, such diversity in dialect and tone still exist. I'm hardly a linguistics expert - on a good day I still struggle with English, but I know some French, Japanese, a little German and I'm now on the way to teaching myself the basics of Italian. I find it amazing that having left Germany only a few hours ago, that I am now presented with this new challenge of understanding the different inflections, and grammatical differences which are native to Italy. I'm really throwing myself in at the deep end, but it's more fun this way. ----- So.. Got a bit addicted to "threes" as I was finding it difficult to sleep. I think I have a system. Yeah.. Think I can beat the game.. Just need a little more practice. *twitch* ----- Got a little lazy during my trip to Italy. So, y'know, blending in! Finally at my fifth day, and on the train outta here, via Milan and Geneva to Paris! It's a long journey (10+ hours), so dreading it slightly. Have enough to keep me entertained though - and Paris, yay! It's been about 14 years since my last visit. A significant amount of time for the landscape to have drastically changed. The downside of travelling during the day, is that the weather is lovely outside, and I would really just love to add to my already visible tan. Thankfully, it means I don't have to try sleeping upright, woken at every stop for ticket inspection, and set alarms for every transfer I need to make. Because fuck that. I guess the first thing to mention, is that coming from Germany, I expected a certain degree of support for free public wifi. Well, nope. Italy is full of pay walls and registration portals - and don't even bother looking for a Starbucks. This country is built on good Italian coffee. So I started my time there in Pisa, using Airb&b to find a host. I wanted somewhere I little out of the way, and having made plans to visit Florence and Lucca also, it seemed like a good central point. The apartment was fantastic and I had my own room, which was refreshing after a week of sharing. The host was also kind enough to loan me a bicycle.. And being sound of mind, I proceeded to cycle through weekend traffic, on my first day in Italy, to the famous leaning tower of Pisa. What a rush! I spent the rest of the day wandering, relaxing and settling in. I took advantage of the wifi and quiet space to call mum and Ashley to catch up with them. I bought groceries at the local market, and cooked myself a nice meal for the first time since Amsterdam. On Sunday, I planned on visiting Lucca quite early in the day, but spotted a poster for a cosplay event on the way into town. I had to check it out. Walking to the university, on the far side of town worked to my advantage. The gorgeous weather felt great, and after a couple of days wandering around Pisa in a t-shirt, I've managed to get some of my olive'y skin tone back. The event was fairly low-key, despite city-wide advertising and signposts. I eventually managed to get the train to Lucca, and was amazed. The city is beautiful, and almost entirely contained within a large, navigable wall, which I took advantage of to get a few great photos, and a better sense of scale. The next day, i wandered around Firenze whilst waiting on my train to Rome. Some fantastic architecture and statues. Overall though, was happy to get my train to Rome. Day in Rome: colloseum, Vatican, overpriced everything. ----- Switzerland! Wait, what? Due to a delay with my first train, I was completely unable to explore Milan station, but it did give me a couple of hours to wander around Geneva, in Switzerland. Not much to report really. There was a massive fountain down by the harbour.. Everyone still uses Swiss Francs, which essentially left me with zero currency. Thankfully I was able to grab a coffee in Starbucks with my good old Visa. Thankfully, everyone speaks French, so I'm able to understand things, and communicate. Noticing that the majority of cities, besides Germany, have very poor reliability for wifi. Genuinely impacted planning stages and fallbacks for my trip, as it means everything needs to be sorted out between travelling, rather than whilst out and about, or on trains. It's something I'll need to look into if I ever plan anything like this again. Particularly in Italy, it was difficult, due to the language barrier. I was unable to translate or look up phrases whilst out and about. Sorted my accommodation for this evening, on the fly. I was hoping to stay an extra night at the same hostel, but I've made do with somewhere nearby.
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