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| What I think I will do, more or less. |
I was chided for my last post because it really said nothing important about my trip. Ok, yes, that is a super valid point. But you have to understand--for the past two months I've been staring at the map of Europe and trying to figure out how I can possibly limit all the places I want to see. Because I want to see all of everything ever, and everywhere that ever was, and even some things that never will be. But for the purpose of this trip, I am coming to realize that that isn't entirely possible without a Tardis.
But I've decided that I am landing in London in late June and flying out of Madrid in early November. So that's, like, four months and two weeks to be a frickin tourist. That gives me options, but it looks like by far the easiest thing to do will be spend a month and a half in Great Britain, and then venture across to the continent and use a Eurail pass to get around from early August to November. Because then I can go everywhere--well, part of everywhere--and it will be awesomeblossumsomuchfunomg.
Won't that be fun? Yes.
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| What I would like to do. Actually you can just make the whole map solidly red, and that's more accurate. |
My limitations are thus:
- I'm carrying my job with me so I need, while not constant, pretty regular internet access. This also means I will lose at a few tourist hours each day to work.
- The Schengen area limits tourists to 90 days in 180 days for ALL OF THE EUROZONE* minus Great Britain, minus very western Europe (err, really, the whole Shengen agreement is confusing and I hate it with the passion of 1000 suns and at least a couple moons).
- I simultaneously want to see ALL THE COUNTRIES and spend enough time in the places to a sense of more than the train station. And I want to practice my romance language skills.
- My cold-weather phobia
Very generally, see exhibit A, the top map. I am thinking to go to these cities and cool stuff nearby. But please, tell me about all the things I should see. Opinions welcome.
Great Britain
London, England
Edinburgh, Scotland
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Dublin, Ireland
Cardiff, Wales
London, England
The Continent
Paris, France; and definitely Versailles
Brussels, Belgium; I am going to eat waffles and drink chocolate.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Berlin, Germany
Prague, Czech Republic
Krakow, Poland
Budapest, Hungary
Vienna, Austria
Munich, Germany
Zurich, Switzerland
Milan, Italy
Venice, Italy
Rome, Italy
Naples, Italy
Marseilles, France
Toulouse, France
Andorra
Barcelona, Spain
Valencia, Spain
Sevilla, Spain
Lisbon, Portugal
Madrid, Spain
1 comment:
I did a miniature (2 week) version of this 2 years ago. A Eurail pass is definitely handy...just make sure to get it activated or validated or whatever before you get on your first train.
If you have time when you are in Brussels, I would suggest taking a day to walk around Brugges. Just not on a Sunday because everything is closed and all you can do is stare through the windows at chocolate.
I would recommend the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam.
I could go on and on about Budapest as I spent a semester studying there. Some things to do are: climb Gellert Hegy (Hill) for arguably the best view in the city, Margit Sziget is a beautiful place to spend a day, Heroes Square is cool, and the Great Market Hall is good for eating and shopping. You should eat langos and goulash. Unless you like liver, avoid anything that says 'maj'. Another thing that lots of people enjoy are the thermal baths. See? I could keep going...
If you have any interest in the Leaning Tower you should squeeze Pisa into your itinerary. In Venice there is a really neat Leonardo da Vinci museum where a lot of the exhibits are hands-on. You also must eat gelato in Italy.
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