From First to Worst
Posted in Travel on September 28th, 2008Well, actually just firsts. Ordering is completely random, here’s my best of awards:
Country for plain ol’ chocolate Switzerland, specifically Frey (owned by Migros).
Country for chocolate in general Belgium, without a doubt.
Public Transit System Germany’s Deutschebahn. Really, could you ever pick something else?
Favorite Subway I already said this, but the Roman subway. It went everywhere, even though there were only two lines.
Nicest Train Line Thalys, on the direct line between Bruxelles and Paris.
Scariest Accent This would have to go to the older Dutch people.
Best-Hidden Accent The younger Dutch people often times don’t have an accent.
Most Pleasant Accent This would have to be either the Bavarian or the Edinburgh-Scottish, it’s a toss up.
Favorite Food Italy - Napolese Pizza. Switzerland - Half a Rösti. Germany - Frederick’s spätzle. Netherlands - actually didn’t have any authentic Netherlands cuisine. Belgium - Nor from here, though the chocolate was awesome. France - You want me to say escargot, but no, the texture was just too weird for me. Spain - Jamon Iberica, totally. England and Scotland - Need you even ask? The pasties of course!
Favorite Dessert It’s Europe, if anyone doesn’t say gelato, they have a problem.
Favorite Pastry German croissants.
Most Impressing Sight It’s a tie between the Eiffel tower at night and the Duomo in Firenze at night.
Favorite Statue The statue of the fallen angel in Retiro Park, Madrid, Spain. A close second is the hooker statue in Konstanz, now that Verena informed me of its history.
Most Attractive Women German women, especially in Bavaria. Really though, Germany won by such a small margin. European women seemed to be really attractive, probably because on average they’re more fit and dress in a more proper fashion.
Most Attractive Men If you throw out the language (American girls dig the French accent), I picture the Dutch guys attracting the most American women. Then again, all the girls I talked to with an opinion on the matter said that the German guys were the hottest.
Earliest To Bed Is there any question here? The English of course.
Latest To Bed There’s even less of a question on this one. When you don’t even walk in to a club until 04h00, you know you’ve won. Kudos for the Spanish, some how you consistently kept me up past my bed time.
Best Time Notation The French. HHhMM. And the HH is twenty-four hour time.
Favorite Area Montmarte, a close second goes to the area in Berlin where Sarah was staying.
Favorite City Paris, there was so much to do, so much culture, and it was easy to get around. Roma would have to be second, for the same reasons, I just liked Paris more. Edinburgh would be third. Getting around was easy because Old Town was so small, and I really liked the feel of the city. London would probably usurp one of these positions if it wasn’t so freaking expensive.
Favorite Country You would think that it would be France because of Paris, but I would actually say Germany. Overall, it left the best impression on me.
Tour de Arc I could look at the photos and count, but I think I saw so many arches that I won’t bother. In order, we have the Constantine Arch in Roma, the “Triumphal Arch” in München, the Arc du Triomphe in Bruxelles, Le Arc du Triomphe d’Carousel in Paris, Le Arch Du Triomphe de l’Etoile in Paris, An Arch in Barcelona, An Arch in Madrid, and the Marble Arch in London.
A rose by any other name would not smell as sweet But apparently the same movie with a different name in each country will bring in better box office number. Deception, starring Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor, was just being released in Italy and France. It went by different names in both countries. Think you can guess which is which? Don’t look at anything but the title. Actuall, nevermind, kinda hard not to take the visual clues.
Things I wish I had known ahead of time
- Tri-band cell phones don’t work well in Europe, and they don’t get 3G signal. Get a quad-band.
- Make sure your Java settings on the phone are unlocked. I couldn’t use any of the applets because of this.
- Bathrooms almost always cost money.
- Wi-fi hotspots are significantly more rare. Get used to using (occasionally shady) internet cafes.
- Regional trains are free with the Eurail. Eurostar trains offer virtually no discount.
- The youth Eurail pass is second class, the adult is first class.
- Reserve spots on the ICs and ICEs.
- Italy has the cheapest trains, Spain the most expensive.
- Trains don’t usually stop on border crossings.
- You can get a boat ride to the hot springs in Konstanz.
- Book ahead of time at the Moulin Rouge, and bring lots of money.
- The Alhambra also requires an advanced reservation.
- The train station in Munchen isn’t near anything. Don’t think you can walk somewhere from it.
- The northern-Scottish highlands are a full day’s train away from Edinburgh, not a few hours.
- If you don’t claim baggage online with Ryanair, it costs €20 in person.
- Some hotels are listed on hostel sites, and they’re much cheaper on the hostel sites than the hotel sites.
- Don’t bother with the public transit passes in Amsterdam and Utrecht.
- Supposedly they have no common root, but (Old) Dutch and Scottish people have very similar accents.
- Haggas is made from the heart, lungs, and intestines of sheep. Yum!
- Learn the key phrases, directions, and orientations in the languages you’ll be hearing. Many people speak English, but not always enough. And trust me, when you really need a bathroom, they’re nowhere to be found.
- Learn to relax about your luggage on the train. I was really nervous about people just picking up my backpack and going. Not only did I never have that happen, I never saw it happen to anyone else either. I’m sure it does happen, but if you just put your stuff where you can see it, you should be fine. Verena suggests sleeping on the luggage; when possible it works great.
- More time! Whether you’re in a city for five hours or five days, it’s rarely enough.