My trip to Europe

My trip was great and I saw much of what I wanted to. Although it was certainly adventuresome to travel alone, by car, and to try and cover as much distance as I did, I was able to still see lots and experience the local cultures. Below I will give some highlights from each city and one picture. (Picture 1, Luxembourg; Picture 2, Belgian royal palace, Brussels; Picture 3, Strasbourg cathedral and local architecture; Picture 4, French Riviera, Nice; Picture 5, Duoma, Florence; Picture 6, Hofburg palace, Vienna; Picture 7, Mozart's birthplace, Salzburg; Picture 8, Nymphemburg Palace, Munich; Picture 9, Bradenburg Gate, Berlin;

Berlin

After an overnight flight to Amsterdam, I drove all the way to Berlin, which was my first stop. While there I took a bus tour around the city and a boat trip down the river where I got to pass Museum Island, the Reichstag, and the former checkpoint on the river when the city was divided. I visited the Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie, and the Bradenburg Gate. I also saw Tony Blair's motorcade drive by when leaving the Reichstag as he was there to meet with Angela Merkel in advance of the G8 summit in Germany.

Munich

After that, my next destination was Munich where I stayed in Feldkirchen, which is a suburb only 10km east of the city. There I visited the Nymphemburg Palace which was a summer treat for the king of Bavaria from the 1600s onward, especially Maximillian I. I also went to a number of beer parlors to have some of the best beer found anywhere in the world as well as I had Weiner Schntzel and sausages.

Vienna

My next stop was Vienna. On the way to Vienna I stopped in Salzburg for lunch where I visited the outside of Mozart's birthplace. In Vienna I took a bus tour and visited the Schonbrunn Palace which was where the Hapsburgs lived and continued over 1400 rooms. The Hapsburgs were a powerful family who ruled Austria from the Middle Ages through to World War I and ruled over a large empire through Central Europe. That evening I went to a classical music concert where they played music by Mozart and Josef Strauss who were both two famous Austrian composers. Austria is well known for producing many of the most talented composers of classical music. Although I don't normally listen to classical music, I felt I had to try something local and despite my initial expectations, I actually quite enjoyed the concert.

Florence

My next stop was Florence and that was a reasonably long drive although I saw some interesting scenery. Stopped in Graz, then headed through the Alps, through a series of tunnels and stopped in a mountain village called Trevisio, Italy, which is 10km south of the Austrian border and 10km west of the Slovenian border. I passed through Venice and Bologna, but didn't go into the cities. In Florence I got to see many of the historical sites especially from the Renaissance as this was a major centre for the Renaissance. I saw the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, Galileo's home, and the Galleria Academia which had a collection of all the musical instruments of the Medici family as well as Michelangelo's David. Unfortunately I only have a picture of a replica as photography was prohibited inside the museum.

Nice

After that I drove to Nice while stopping in Genoa for lunch. Unfortunately it was Sunday so all the smaller Italian towns had no restuarants that were open. Genoa was a port city and not particularly attractive. In Nice I took a tour around the Riviera, which quite pretty, but also a popular tourist destination. I also visited Monaco, which is only a short train ride away and saw the palace there. Despite its small size, Monaco is its own separate country being the second smallest in size in the world after the Vatican City, yet the most densely populated country in the world.

Strasbourg

My drive from Nice to Strasbourg was the longest by 13 hours long and covering much of the length of France, which is the largest EU country in terms of land mass. I stopped for lunch in Grenoble, which has earlier hosted the winter olympics and also got to see the French Alps as well as I approached the outskirts of Geneva, although I didn't enter Switzerland. Strasbourg is located right along the French-German border and has switched back and forth between the two such as in 1871 going to Germany after the Franco-Prussian War and then back to France after World War I. Its history under both nations is partly why it is the headquarters of the Council of Europe and one of the two meeting places for the European parliament. In fact the founder of the EU, Robert Schumann was from there. I took a boat tour around the island where the city is located as well as saw the cathedral.

Brussels

On the way to Brussels I stopped in Luxembourg for lunch, which is the smallest NATO country both in terms of land and second smallest in terms of population (Iceland), while the smallest EU country in terms of both population and land until 2004 (when Malta joined). Despite its size it has a rich history and is quite pretty. It also due to its business friendly environment is the headquarters of many large firms. In Brussels I saw the Royal palace, the Laeken Place where the family lives, the Atomium from the Great Fair, the European institutions (Brussels is essentially the EU capital). The city is officially bilingual, so all signs are in Dutch and French, however 85% of the city is French speaking despite the fact all areas surrounding the city on all sides are Dutch speaking.

Amsterdam

After touring Brussels I drove up to Amsterdam, which was only a two hour drive. Since I have already been to the city, I only stayed overnight there as I had to return my rental car by 10:00AM the next morning. I still though went into the Central part of the city for dinner and walked around there. I also got to have a Heinecken, which is my favourite beer brand and a Dutch one too. The next day, I flew back ending my 15 day trip where I visited 8 countries, stayed in 8 cities and visited many more and went through four different language speaking communities (German - Austria and Germany, Italian - Italy, French - France, Monaco, Luxembourg, Southern Belgium, Brussels, Dutch - Netherlands, Northern Belgium).

I would certainly do another similiar European trip and although it would be nice to go with someone, I am happy to travel alone if it is not possible as I still got to meet many people as well.