Eurotrip Wrap Up

Well, that’s a wrap on Europe. Looking back on it, my 3 month Eurotrip was one hell of an adventure that I’ll never forget. Spent time in 33 cities across 18 countries, meeting up with lots of old friends and making a lot of new ones along the way. While I had spent a some time traveling around Europe in the past, this trip was different because, well mainly because I’m older haha. I had more time, more money to spend on great food/experiences, and less energy to focus primarily on partying. Consequently, I learned a lot of new things throughout the journey related to European history, language, and culinary traditions.

Things I will miss about Europe:

• The friends- meeting up with friends around Europe was very easy, as it was a very popular vacation destination this past summer, so it was very easy to meet up with friends and tag along on their trips. As I continue on to harder destinations to reach, I anticipate there will be much more solo travel in my future. You also form kind of a unique bond with friends that you travel with. Traveling is not always smooth sailing, you’re going to run into issues as one point or another (especially if you’re just flying by the seat of your pants like I typically do) and a lot of times some of the best memories come from those random experiences where things didn’t quite go to plan or you got lost or ending up completely deviating from the original plan.
• The food- As I documented, I ate very well on this leg of the trip and tried to sample all the local specialties I could get my hands on. Some countries definitely put more of a focus on the culinary aspects than others, but it was interesting to see some of the similarities and differences between the food in many of these neighboring countries
• The parks- Europe does parks right. So many huge green spaces across many of the cities I visited. I enjoyed spending at least a day in each city wandering around some of the parks, doing some reading and people watching
• The architecture- So many beautiful churches and castles, buildings built hundreds of years ago that you’d just happen to run into while wandering the streets.
• The history- Western history in Europe extends back so much further than it does in America. It was fascinating learning about how each country came to be, and all the kings and wars that have shaped them into who they are today. This unfortunately means nearly every country has some really tragic tales to tell, but it was interesting to learn more about that as well
• #trainlife- travelling by train was the dream. So easy, flexible and comfortable.

Things I won’t:

• Air drying clothes and sink laundry- Europe doesn’t believe in clothes dryers. Which can be a bit tricky when you only have 5 shirts, 3 pairs of shorts and 2 pairs of pants and have to account for the time it will take to air dry your clothes. Realistically, there is probably still a lot more of this in my future, but looking forward to cheap same day wash and fold laundry in Asia.
• Blowing through my budget at a rapid rate- I knew going into it that I would probably spend about 50% of my budget for the entire year in my 3 months in Europe. And I was right, but it was worth it. Lodging and food is more expensive there than many of the other places I’ll be spending my time.
• Paying to pee- Europeans get all up in arms talking about how free healthcare is a basic human right (which I completely agree with, before people start coming after me 😀). However, they don’t talk much about the most basic of basic human rights, the right to pee for free. Nothing infuriated me more than being charged money to pee at a train station, park, etc. Unless it was a true emergency situation, I would just flat out refuse to do it
• Remembering the correct thank you of the day- I didn’t know many words in many of the countries we visited, but I tried to at least nail down thank you everywhere we went. Europe was a blitz and we were moving from country to country so quickly sometimes
• The constant shuffling country to country- So much unpacking and repacking my bag as we spent 2 days here, 3 days here, 2 more days in the next place. I planned for Europe to be a blitz because there’s so much to see and I had a train pass. It was great, I feel like we spent the right amount of time in most places, but it got pretty exhausting towards the end. Going forward, I’m planning not to be on the move quite so much and spend closer to a week in each city I visit (this is also kind of necessary, as most of the rest of the world doesn’t have a train network comparable to Europe).

Travel Stats:

• Countries visited: 18
• Cities visited: 33
• Distance travelled by train: 8064 km
• Trains taken: 55
• Time spent on trains: 3 days, 6 hours, 40 min

Countries visited (in order):

• Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Croatia
• Slovenia
• Hungary
• Slovakia
• Czech Republic
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Scotland
• Ireland
• England
• Belgium
• France
• Germany
• Switzerland
• Spain
• Portugal
• Denmark

Top places I missed/want to spend more time in:

• Amalfi coast, Italy
• Sicily, Italy
• Scottish Highlands
• Copenhagen, Denmark
• Krakow, Poland
• Oslo, Norway
• Greece
• Montenegro
• Albania
• Serbia

Top 5 Favorite Cities:

• Prague
• Madrid
• Edinburgh
• London
• Berlin

Best Views:

• Lake Bled, Slovenia
• Dubrovnik, Croatia
• Sacre Coeur, Paris
• Switzerland- Harder Kulm and Grindelwald
• Fisherman’s Bastion, Budapest

Best hikes:

• Plitvice Lakes, Croatia
• Lake Bled, Slovenia
• 1984 Bobsled track Sarajevo Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Grindelwald, Switzerland
• Calanques National Park, Marseille
• Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh

Best food:

• Italy
• Spain
• France
• Portugal
• Croatia

Best wine:

• Italy
• Spain
• France
• Slovenia

Best beer:

• Belgium
• Czech Republic
• UK
• Germany

Best events:

• Palio di Siena, Sienna Italy
• The fringe comedy fest, Edinburgh Scotland
• College football opener, Dublin Ireland
• Hungarian Grand Prix, Budapest Hungary
• NFL Europe, Saints vs Vikings, London England

Best meals:

• Prado, Lisbon
• Sug, Split
• Arcade Bar: Haggis and Whiskey House, Edinburgh
• Deshooms, London
• Tofu Vegan, London
• Sad Man’s Tongue, Prague
• La Locandina Di Bacco, Carbognano
• Ribot Restaurant, Milan
• Xentes, Madrid
• Picotte, Paris

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