Best of Europe

Here are some of the best (and not so great) parts of my trip! Enjoy.
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Destinations
Favorite Destination: Bergen, Norway
Most Beatiful Destination (scenery): Bergen, Norway and Grindelwald, Switzerland
Most Beatiful Desintation (city): Brugges, Belgium
Places I could of Skipped: Oslo Norway, and Madrid, Spain
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Food
Best Food: Any home stay!
Best Snack: Crapes in France and Fries in Belgium
Best Wine: Southern France
Best Beer: Belgium
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Hostels
Coolist Hostel: Jugendgastehaus Bacharach (Rhine River Valley)
Most Fun Hostel: Saint Jordi Diagonal (Barcelona)
Most Expensive Hostel: Amsterdam and Barcelona (Both $45-50 a night)
Cheapest Hostel: Brugge, Belgium and Killarney Ireland (Both $22 a night)
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Transportation
Best Trains: Spain and France
Worst Trains: Rhine River Valley Trains
Best Boat Ride: Fjords in Bergen
Best Airport: Minneapolis-St. Paul (no joke!)
Worst Airport: Reus Barcelona (in the middle of nowhere)

The Final Days...

So it is hard for me to believe it but I am currently enjoying my last full day in Europe today before I start the long trek home tomorrow! Yesterday I was busy taking train after train in order to make my way up to denmark (I fly out of Copenhagen). When I was last in Denmark my relatives told me when I made my way back at the end of my trip I would be more than welcome to stay with them again. So being a student and always interested in free food, lodging, and good company I acepted the offer!

Last night I stayed with Micheal's Father and got to see their family farm (in the family since 1860). Today After the morning at the farm I moved over to Mie, Micheal's mothers place for the day. She has a beatiful place right on the sea with lots of space and a private beach! I am unsure what I will do tonight, all I know is that by tomorrow at 2:00 local time I will be in Copenhagen leaving on my flight home (via Iceland).

Please stay tuned to my blog for the next day or two, as I plan to do a final post or two talking about my favorite (and least favorite) parts and places from my trip! I would also like to thank everyone for their support and comments over the past two months, it means a lot to me!

For now it is time for this world traveler to fly off into the sunset until I find the time (and money) for my next adventure.

Castles!

So as I previously said, I am spending two days in the Rhine River Valley. Primarilly the allure for the region to me is because of its Castles! Well I arrived in the Rhine Region around 8:00 this morning and took a train to Bacharach which is in the middle of the Region. It is a beatiful little town of 2,000 people. The town is full of Wine Cellars, local shops, old buildings and local resteraunts. Today I went down river and tomorrow I will go up river on the Rhine.

To the major point of this post, I am staying at the coolist hostel ever! It really is a Castle! It was built in the 12th Centrury and has more recently been converted into a hostel.



If you want to check out some more pictures check out this link, Jugendgästehaus Bacharach.

Hotel Eurail

So for the second time this trip I will take advantage of Hotel Eurail. Thats right I am going to save time and money by taking a night train. Considering the fact that on the 30th I fly out of Copenhagen and I am currently in the eastern region of the Czech Republic you can see that I have some serious distance to cover.

So this afternoon I will take a train from Ostrava to Vienna. I realize it is in the wrong direction, but I must go back to a country where my rail pass is valid, aka not the Czech Republic. From Vienna I will travel to Frankfort, a seven hour train ride during the day. So instead of wasting a perfectly good day on a train I will spend the night on the train going to Frankfort. Unlike last time I was on a night train I booked in advance and payed extra to have my own bed. I will arrive around 6 local time and then head on to the Mystical Rhine River Valley.

Ellen

So for the last couple of days I have been in the Czech Republic staying with our family friend Pavala and her husbend Pavel. It has been a couple years since I last saw them, and now their is a new member of their family Ellen. So of course now you will be bombarded with Pictures of their 16 month old child, enjoy.





During my visit I have been in Ostrava, which is the third largest city in the Czech Republic, and Moravka, a small rural town where they have a weekend place. It has been a lot of fun to see the area as much has changed since I was last in Ostrava in 2003, it is also great to see everyone here again.