Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Look back at Euro Trip

My 50 day long trip acroos Europe covering 15 cities was exciting, adventurous and exteremely enjoyable. Though I kept a personal journal noting down events and thoughts it would be quite some effort to type that online and would be incredibly long as well. Also, not everything in there is for public consumption. However, so those who did not follow me on twitter as i kept tweeting along the trip, I decided to compile all the tweets into one blogpost. This might provide you some idea of my day to day expereince. For my friends on FB you have access to my pictures too. I plan to follow up this post with another about some planning tips and Finances for anyone intending to do something similar.

Day1: Super excited as I startmy 2 month, 14 city Euro trip today!
Day 2: Just landed in Amsterdam and checked into my hostel. Looks great, right in the center of everything. Ready to head out after a shower
Day 2: walked around, explored the city and did what everyone does in Amsterdam on Day1
Day 3: headed for the museums today. Took the walking tour yesterday which was fabulous! Slept at 3:30AM last night, easing into party mode!
Day 3: Break on through, to the other side!
>Day 3:Escape nightclub was good but have seen better!
Day 5: End of exciting but exhausting and expensive Amsterdam! Heading over to Brussels today
Day 5: Found the 'Grand Place' in Brussels truly awesome. Lots of museums to cover tomorrow before heading to the Euroferia festival!
Day 6: Really enjoyed Brussels, it has some amazing sights and vibrant street culture. Also managed to dance salsa at 'Euroferia' festival
Day 7: Antwerp is lot more than a Diamond trading city; great plazas, cafes, restaurants, cathedrals and other sites. Loved the day trip out
Day 7: People mainly speak French in Brussels but I don't really mind, its great to hear even if you don't understand most of it!
Day 7: Caught up with Henri at 'Delirium', exchanged travel stories and drank some delicious beers!
Day 8: First long EU rail journey from Brussels to Hamburg. Enjoyed the countryside scenery and the rail trip
Day 9: Hamburg: took the walking tour to cover most of the city; checked out the port and other areas in the evening. Beer's cheap here!
Day 10: Its been 10 days of rain, wind and chilly weather, come on, I thought I was on a summer tour.
Day 10; Hamburg: Kunsthalle (Arts Musuem) and Maritime museum were both amazing; 'Reeperbahn' was interesting, though less said the better!
Day 11: Took the train that loads on to a ferry onroute hamburg to Copenhagen; so cool!
Day 11: Reunited with Kapil!
Day 12: Copenhagen: walked around the city; checked out Christiana, Rosenberg Garden and castle and the little Mermaid
Day 13: Copenhagen: covered the national museum and Glypototek; Copenhagen is a pretty expensive city but has beautiful parks and sights
Day 14: Long train ride from Copenhagen to Berlin. The hostel looks amazing, good, cos we are here 5 days. Lets get the party started!
Day 15: Berlin: Took the walking tour and explored the city on foot for almost 9 hours. Berlin is an amazing city with so much history!
Day 16: Berlin: Sachenhausen concentration camp by day; Pargammom Museum in afternoon; Pub crawl at night; Partied till the sun came up!
Day 17: Berlin: covered 4 Museums, climbed up Reichstag for an awesome view and checked out the WWII ruins of the old church
Day 17: Berlin: 10 hours on foot + 7 hours pub crawl - 5 hours sleep + 10 more hours on foot = Very Very tired!
Day 18: Berlin: The palaces in 'Postdam' were great; so was the east side gallery. Another pub crawl tonight....yipeee!!
Day 19: Long train ride from Berlin to Warsaw. On first sight Warsaw looks great. Its Saturday night....ready to head out and party!
Day 19: Lithuanians, Mexicans, Indonesian, Taiwanese and Indian all partying together in the polish capital....how about that!
Day 19: Third night this week of partying till the sun comes up, Phew! Didn't know Warsaw was such a party town. Now I know!
Day 20: Warsaw: Walked around and covered the Royal Castle and Starego Miasta.
Day 20: Warsaw: Gorgeous city with beautiful and nice people, lovely squares and streets. I <3>
Day 21: Warsaw has some excellent expansive parks; 1944 Uprising museum was great; Completed bookings for stopover at Krakow & Auswitch
Day 22: Just landed at Krakow from Warsaw. First sights are interesting; btw have I mentioned I love the Polish, they are nice.
Day 23: Went saw Auschwitz. No words can describe the madness that happened there. Headed to prague tonight.
Day 24: Stranded somewhere in between the Czech and Polish border! Hurricane; No trains, no Buses...No-one speaks English!
Day 24: 7 AM-Bonhium...8AM-Train to Ostrava..9:30 Train to Polom...10:30- Bus to Hranice...4:30PM - Prague..finally! 10 hrs behind plan!
Day 25: Prague: Walking tour was amazing! Prague is such a colorful city; great history and sights. Prague castle is magnificent!
Day 25: Prague :7:30AM back from a night of partying....need some sleep! btw advice..never try 4 shots of Absynth in one night!
Day 26: Walk along the river was great. Hard to keep up the pace on 3 hours sleep. Prague is amazing though, on every level!
Day 26: Prague: "Karlovy lázně" one of the best night clubs I've seen. 5 storey, different music every level, packed and awesome!
Day 27: Traveled through Slovakia to reach Budapest. Slovak countryside was beautiful. Budapest at night looks awesome!
Day 28: Budapest: Checked out the 'Pest' area. 'Heroes square' looks imposing. St Istvan Bascilla and Vajdahunyad castle were interesting.
Day 28: Budapest: Covered National Museum and Buda area including the Royal castle. View from up top were amazing! Enjoyed the Turkish bath!
Day 29: Budapest: Drank some beers in the park and played bridge to celebrate Yohan's b'day. Doesn't seem too exciting but it was fun!
Day 30: Traveled from Budapest to Vienna. Wombat's hostel is awesome. Watching Wimbledon & doing laundry today. Hang out at the bar later
Day 31:Interesting night last night at the Hostel! Sleepily explored Parliment, Gothic cathedral and Museum of Fine arts today. Tired now!
Day 32: Vienna: City of Palaces that reflect the pomp and glory of its Imperial past. So many of them, I wonder if they had other hobbies?
Day 33: Vienna: Covered Pasterplatz and Danube island and feel like dancing to Viennese waltz. On to Italy; headed to Venice tonight!
Day 34: Arrived in Venice via overnight train. Getting lost in Venice is not too bad, beautiful streets, canals and scenery.
Day 34: Sitting on the Venice waterfront on a beautiful full moon night listening to Pink Floyd..dreaming...drifting...
Day 35: Venice: Palace Ducale was quite intriguing. Blue waters, canals, gondales, tourists..beginning to see what Venice is about.
Day 35: Venice: 1.5 Ltr wine for 2 Euros is a very good deal. It makes me :)
Day 36: Venice: Moreno Island is a real gem. Narrow alleys, lovely bridges and great waterfront views! btw plenty more wine tonight :)
Day 37: Enjoyed the train ride from Venice to Florence. Nice Scenery. Archi Rossi Hostel is Florence looks great!
Day 37: Florence: Blown away by the beauty of Florence. Night life on Wednesday is top notch as well!
Day 38: Florence: Explored sights around the city. Florence has an long and interesting history. Its also a great place to people watch!
Day 39: Straighened theLeaning tower of Pisa, walked city of Sienna and was thrilled at the site of 'Il Campo'
Day 40: Not sure if two hour wait for The Uffizi gallery was worth it. Good but not the best Ive seen. btw toooo many Americans in Florence!
Day 40: Florence to Rome. First night in Rome, a night of partying. This Hostel is crazy!
Day 41: Rome: Everywhere you look in Rome you find things from thousands of years back. 'Trevi' Fountain is incredible!
Day 42: Rome: Colusseum is magnificient. Was amazed walking through the old Roman city. Its amazing how advanced Roman's were!
Day 43: Vatican is Grand; Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo - Magnificient, breathtaking, jaw-dropping.. words don't do justice!
Day 44: Borghese gallery is one of the best Private museums I have seen; Rome has too many great Plazas; Last night in Rome :(
Day 45: Rome to Athens: Ran for about an hour with 25kg backpack thanks to italrail efficiencies, $#@#; lost 15 Euros to Ticket machine :(
Day 46: Acropolis is quite amazing though I wish it was better preserved. Its hot, Hike up is not fun, New Acropolis Museum is good though
Day 46: Athens: Checked out the night scene and local drinks with a Franco-Greek group! Interesting experience, made for good conversation.
Day 47: Hiked up Fillipananou Hill. Another very hot day! Guess who found in Athens - The Indian Navy - crew from INS Delhi and INS Beas.
Day 48: The Roman and Ancient Agora are incredible. Some ruins date back to 6th century BC. Might the beach parties tonight!
Day 49: Day trip to the Island of Aegina. Crystal clear waters, green sea and sandy beaches. Drove around the island on scooty. Good fun!
Day 50: In Abu Dhabi enroute to Mumbai, then onward to Bangalore. Will be home in about 16 hrs!

51 days,15 cities,10 Countries,100+ sites,60+ Churches, over 30+ Museums, 25+ drinking nights, 10 pub crawls and Euro trip is finally over!

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