Favorites

So, now that we’re safely home and into super-extra-boring, money-saving-lifestyle mode, it’s time to reflect and discuss The Trip which we’ve just disengaged from and get down to the nitty gritty. We were traveling Europe for four months; what were the highlights?

It’s true that I took over 5,000 pictures, a couple dozen horribly choreographed videos, and spent an inordinate amount of time scouring the internet for the best deals on a hostel in our next location. But amongst all the grimy hotel rooms and mediocre restaurants, there were some serious bright spots. Not to make our trip sound terrible or anything, I just like to be sarcastic. You should know this by now. Anyhow, I’ve thought long and hard about what I found to be the very best experiences from our extensive trip (that is to say I’m trying to remember what the heck happened) and I thought I’d tell you a bit about it.

Let’s start with the obvious: best locations. We traveled to over 27 cities in 15 countries in the span of 3 ½ months and I would say that my very favorite cities were (in no particular order):

1)Hallstadt, Austria: Gorgeous, tiny lakeside village tucked into the Austrian mountainside. Peaceful, old-fashioned, and seemingly straight out of a fairy tale.
2) Prague, Czech Republic: Urban yet clean, tourist-oriented yet charming, beautiful and fun, Prague is an unexpected treasure in the ex-communist territory of eastern Europe.
3) London, England: Classic, metropolitan, chock full of history, monuments, and other silly English things. The “on the beaten track” part of Europe that will still never be boring to me.
4) Edinburgh, Scotland: Extremely simple city with all the necessities of the big boys but with less fuss and bustle. If the weather were better I may have never left.
5) Paris, France: Just a fine city over all, Paris didn’t hold true to any of the stupid clichés that I had expected. Impressive with its hard-hitting sights but still quaint and unique on a micro scale as well.
6) Cinque Terre, Italy: The amazingly old-fashioned Disneyland-style villages that you might see in an Olive Garden commercial even though Olive Garden certainly has no roots here. Painfully rustic but immensely beautiful and relaxing.

Other favorites include Salzburg (Austria), Dublin, Rome, and Florence. It really is hard to choose, there were just so many places with plenty to appreciate, each with a pointed uniqueness that makes them hard to compare to each other. Plus, it's a really subjective thing to say "I liked this city" or the opposite since each person's experiences are different and we were only in each of these places for a few days, you know?

Do you really want to know something though? Do you want to know which places we went that I liked the least? Of course you do, here you go:

1)Vienna, Austria: Way too much glamor for not much actual substance. If I want to shop I’ll go to Paris, people, you gotta have something cool to show me.
2) Berlin, Germany: I think it’s actually a really cool city but we were a bit overwhelmed by the confusion and underwhelmed by the explanation of the sights. I would certainly try again though.
3) Amsterdam, Netherlands: Dirty, low-life, deep fried. That’s how we saw Amsterdam. Not Holland’s best side I don’t think. Next destination please.
4) Belfast, Northern Ireland: Not really a bad city but just a bit dreary and not a whole lot to do. Pretty dang cold and rainy too, at least when we were there. They’re up and coming though, watch them for the future.

What else? South-west Germany was the prettiest landscapes, Budapest's baths were the most uniquely fun activity, London felt most like home*, Paris had the best pastries, Italians were the nicest people. Although, interestingly, New Yorkers are pretty nice too. But I might be cutting them extra slack since I was so happy to finally be in my own country again.

Universal truths in the First World: Starbucks and McDonald's. Additionally: Asian people own gift shops and Middle Eastern people sell things on the sidewalks. I'm not stereotyping them, they do it to themselves, I swear. Also, Che Guevara paraphernalia is the most ubiquitous souvenir item in all of Europe. You can get a Che Guevara magnet in any major city in Europe, that is what I have learned. There are also Che playing cards, pens, t-shirts, post cards, or thimbles** which you can also buy just about anywhere. Thank goodness for capitalism and thank you Che for somehow managing to be the latest poster boy for it, even though I'm pretty sure you spent your entire life fighting against exactly that.

Since we've gotten back we keep being asked, "So what was your favorite part of your travels?". This questions is too broad - can you please specify slightly so that I don't go on and on with a response? Even "What was your favorite city in Europe" or "What did you most like about Australia" or "Are French people actually stinky" would be easier for me. Either way, if you're reading this, you've already had some of these questions answered so the point is a bit moot.

Eat, sleep, walk, carry, think, dodge, and of course spend. That was the name of the game for the past 4-5 months and, though it was great, I'm glad it's over. It is rather exhausting living out of a suitcase, always having to plan the next few days of your life, and never staying in one place long enough to make good friends, develop a favorite hang out spot, or eat home-cooked food. Not that it wasn't worth it - it totally was - but these are the things that you don't really consider when you dreamily envision traveling the globe. But they do compound quickly when you're away from home for more than a week or so.

Anyway, I'm apparently rambling, so, I'll stop here. If you have any questions (if anyone still reads this) I'd be happy to post a response in the comments. Or, god forbid, you could speak to me in real life about it. But no pressure there, I know it's a lot of commitment to make a phone call, that's why I don't just do it. =)

*It was pretty much no contest - they speak English and they have black people, so that's as close to CA as you're gonna get in Europe and that's all there is to it.
**Ok, I may be making up the whole Che thimbles thing, that probably doesn't exist. Che baby spoons though, for sure.

Che photo courtesy of the internet. Thank you internet.