On My Way Home

Well my trip is almost over! Seems like only last week I was boarding a plane to London and now I'm getting ready to board one to come back.

The trip has been simply outstanding and I've been to 16 different countries, and stayed in 40 different cities. To sum up....I started in London, then went to Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Rome, Seville, Granada, San Sebastian (via Madrid, but that doesn't really count), Bordeaux, Marsielle, Nice (and, while I was there, Monaco, Cannes, VilleFranche). Then onwards to Milan, Venice, Florence, Bologna, Bern, Geneva, Interlaken, Basel, Munich, Salzberg, Vienna, Nuremberg, Berlin, Budapest, Frankfurt, Brussells, Bruges (and Ypres), Amsterdam then Hamburg (for a night each on my way to Copenhagen - I didn't fancy a 16 hour train ride all in one go...), then Varberg (or rather, just south of Varberg), Stockholm, Belfast, Dublin, Lisbon, Porto, Paris, London, Bath and I'm currently in Oxford.

Phew!

As a "last post", I thought it would be fun to share some observations I've made about my time in Europe in list form. These lists are in no particular order. Enjoy:



My Favourite Places in Europe:

1. Paris. What's not to love?

2. Berlin. Great history, and a really fun city to boot. Plus, because we won, you walk around feeling a bit superior...gotta love this place.

3. Budapest. Had a great time there. A very beautiful place that was cheap and a bit dodgy at night. Strangely that added to the experience.

4. San Sebastian. Terrific food, great beaches. When the weather is good this place is amazing. A great place to relax and just enjoy life. Dave and Billie have picked one hell of a place to live.

5. Nice. I loved it last time and I loved it again. The only thing that wasn't so great is the pebble beaches, they look like fun but they have "broken ankle" written all over them...



My Least Favourite Places in Europe:

1. Bologna. Don't ever go there. EVER. Its supposed to be the foodie capital of Italy but lets be honest: the food in Italy is amazing EVERYWHERE. Its not THAT much better in Bologna. Plus you have an unispiring city, that is not tourist friendly and every building you see that looks mildly interesting is either closed to the public or in reality a very un-exciting place (like a library).

2. Bruges. I had high hopes for Bruges, I'd heard it was supposed to be like a fairytail. In many ways it is, but the place is ridiculously small, incredibly overpriced, filled with tourists, and a tad fake. Good for a day trip but no longer.


Best Nights Out I've Had in Europe:

1. An all you can drink canal cruise in Amsterdam with the Contiki Tour. Epic.

2. Paleo Music Festival in Nyon (just outside of Geneva). Mel and Guilia were great company - we were practically at the front in the concert and had a great time. Funny stories both getting there and afterwards (see my earlier post if you've forgotten what stories these are).

3. Delirium Bar in Brussells. This bar had over 2004 beers to choose from and in my company that night (from the hostel) I had, a French DJ (who was apparently a semi celebrity in France, even though I'd never heard of him), about 8 of his French friends, a well spoken but hilarious Englishman, and a dating coach. Chaos ensued and fun times were had by all.

4. Berlin with the Contiki Tour. A history lesson about the Cold War and the Berlin Wall, then a "Stazi, Cold War" themed pub-crawl across Berlin (where you had to de-cypher clues to find out where the next bar is) then a trip to the Matrix bar, a world famous club. Awesome....

5. Sziget in Budapest. Muse and Kasabian in the biggest open air festival in Europe. Biblical.


Things that Europe Does Better than New Zealand (not an exhaustive list):

1. Public transport. Every city I went to had either an underground, or trams, or an effective bus network. Every country I went to had a domestic (and, most of the time, international) rail service. It makes a huge difference. New Zealand must follow suit (and in particular Auckland). Sorry to get all political but how is New Zealand ever going to become a truly global city, and compete with the rest of the world, if we have a third world public transport system? The answer is it won't. I also don't want anyone to read this and say something like: yeah but Auckland has a low population density, but a high area, so therefore a metro (or Trams or whatever) won't work. It WILL work if its done properly. The same goes for the rail networks throughout a country. It is so much more convenient than flying! Again, NZ must follow suit. We don't have to do it all at once, but we need to start doing it NOW. The need is only going to get greater and the cost more...

2. Drinking culture. Okay, excuse the UK and Ireland from this, both of these places have a far worse drinking culture than NZ and Australia. But most other places I've been to people have a few drinks but don't get drunk. Its a cultural thing but it would be great to see a similar culture in New Zealand.


Things New Zealand Does Much Better Than Europe (again, not an exhaustive list):

1. We don't have a smoking culture and we have smoke free bars. This makes a huge difference! Much more pleasent to go out and not come home smelling like you've smoked a 12 pack... A lot of places in Europe have smoke free bars as well but its really noticeable how much more people smoke around here.

2. The Europeans have an obsession with sparkling water. Why?!?!?!?! Many times I've asked for a bottle of water only to be given a bottle of sparkling water. It tastes horrific.

3. People, as a general rule, see more laid back in New Zealand. I like that.


Stupid Things People Have Said on This Trip (nationality is in brackets):

1. "I Like your accent. I wish I had an accent" (heard this about 10 times, all from Americans...).

2. "When its winter in America - I know its warm in New Zealand - but do you still call it winter in New Zealand?" (American)

3. "What are they made out of?" (a question to our tour guide after she explained that the sculptures to our left were sand sculptures...) (American)

I'm forgetting a few here...I'll add to this post once I remember... And PS, yes everyone on the list happens to be American, but don't think I hate Americans or anything. Most of them are GREAT. Its just one or two that let the side down...


Things I Want To Do Next Time:

1. Oktoberfest. I had no idea getting accommodation was so hard! I've heared its incredible and I'm gutted I didn't get to go.

2. The running with the bulls. A really stupid idea, I know, But would be a lot of fun... I've heard it is a festival atmosphere all week and it sounds amazing.

3. Cork, Ireland. I didn't spend enough time in Ireland but I absolutely loved it. I've heard Cork is beautiful and I'd love to check it out.

4. Turkey. I made the conscious decision not to go to Turkey this trip but I'd love to go there again. Instanbul and Galipolli are at the top of my to do list there.

4. Croatia. Again a conscious decision not to go but I want to go there before it becomes a tourist mecca.



Anyway I've spent waay too long on this post already (and I could go on all day if I don't stop myself). So I'll leave it there for now.

See you all soon.

Anthony