Wow, this spring break was rather amazing, and I think everyone can tell that I had one great time overseas. I got to experience and see so many new things in that short week that it feels that it was like I was almost running across Europe. Which I guess is somewhat true, as this trip was a rather ambitious trip in terms of ground covered, but I had to do what I had to do in order to get the prices I wanted. Speaking of prices, that exchange rate got really bad, as you can probably tell by earlier posts. However, even with this and the fact that I probably spent more than I wanted to, there are no regrets. I’ll be back to making money in a few months, and you really cannot put a price on the experience you gain from traveling to a new and unfamilar place.
With all that in mind, I want this post to be an essentially a summary of my trip, hiting all the highlights, some facts, and some statistics I have pulled together. Also, I will finally get around to added some pictures here, before I upload them to my gallery online (I took 710 pictures – 2.02GB worth, so I will have to spend time sorting and editing those pictures so only the best ones get uploaded).
Quick Statistics:
- Miles Flown: 9476mi
- Approx. Miles Travelled by Rail: 1500mi
- Trains Taken: 14 (Not Including Berlin S-Bahn)
- Countries Visited: 5 (Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, Switzerland)
- Overall Cost: Approx $1500
Where I Stayed:
- Hotel Rugenpark – Interlaken, CH
- Best Western Hotel Berlin-Mitte – Berlin, DE
- Hotel Aalborg – Amsterdam, NL
Highlights:
- Going to the Summit of Schilthorn, being able to see Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau, plus the rest of the Swiss Alps on a perfectly clear day.
- Walking to the top of the Reichstag Dome, only to see all of Berlin laid out below including the Brandenburg Gate.
- Walking across the former Checkpoint Charlie – Only 18 years ago, this would have meant crossing the Berlin Wall and entering another occupation zone.
- Visiting a country of 30,000 people thats no bigger than 160 square km (Lietchenstein)
- Exploring the Canals of Amsterdam. There are so many of them and it has definitley earned its reputation of being the Venice of the North.
- Accidently going to Austria and the nice walk back into Lietchenstein.
Lessons Learned:
- Budgets do not mean anything. You are always bound to exceed it even by a small amount if not a significant amount.
- Rail Passes are your friend. While on this particular trip, thanks to the exhange rate, I could have probably saved a few dollars from buying individual tickets. However, not having to waste time buying tickets and the ability to just flash the pass to the conductor makes this a very useful tool. Not to mention, but my pass included 450 musuems (if I had time for any) and offered a 50% discount on the ride to the summit of Schilthorn.
- Having plans are great, but sometimes its better to just leave it open-ended. This way you cant be burned if you dont get to something you wanted to do, and if you can add something else it will feel even better.
- Bad weather will always follow you. It rained in DC in 2007 and it rained in Berlin this time. Atleast this time I had an umbrella occassionally and was in a more centrally located hotel.
- European hotel rooms are small…just look at the pictures above. Of course I already figured this out in Italy, but nothing beats the size of the room at the Hotel Aalborg in Amsterdam.
That is all I have for now. I think there may be one or two more posts left in me about this trip, probably just detailing a link to my pictures when I upload them. In the mean time, just sit back and I’ll have the pictures up by the weekend.