Change of plans

Sometimes you get asked to leave a train if you have not reserved a seat even though you have an interrail pass. This happened to me about two weeks ago as I was trying to make my way to Spain going through France. Generally with an interrail pass, you can jump on any train you like in Europe but there is a special rule that applies for some countries: You have to reserve a seat in advance and therefore pay extra for every single train that you take in these countries. Among these are both France and Spain. Now, not wanting to ultimately end up paying double the original price of the pass on transportation, my attempt to get from Cologne to Paris literally became my turning point. Therefore, I decided to make things a little easier and cheaper for myself and change direction from west to east.

So instead of Paris being my first stop, I ended up spending my first days in Cologne. Here, I saw the final matches of the World Cup (I think Croatia won in everybody’s eyes except the French’s), walked a ton, read in parks and had a lot of nice conversation with other travellers.

My second stop was not Toledo, Spain but Trento, Italy, a gorgeous old city located in the Adige-valley in the Dolomites. Here, I spend a few days hiking in the mountains from early morning to late evening. Then finally, the rain came. As wind and thunder was sweeping through the valley, I took shelter in museums. First in the Museum of Science in Trento and then in the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rovereto where I saw the most beautiful exhibition I have ever seen in my life that consisted of 19th century paintings of the Italian countryside.

Then it was on to Zagreb, Croatia. Here, I made some friends going to the national Plitvice and even though it rained the entire time, the lakes were still as beautiful and almost as blue as ever.

Now, I’m in Prague where I walk a lot, meet a lot of other travellers and drink a lot of beer. Not only is beer cheaper than water here but I was also told on both of the two walking tours I went on, one conventional and one alternative, that drinking beer is one of the most important cultural habits of Czech Republic so really I’m just trying to get the most culturally authentic experience.

So to sign off, I’m doing pretty well being on the road. Besides from a huge blister on the back of my right foot from all that walking, I’m healthy and happy. I’ll be back home in a week or two so until then, I’m going keep wandering around Europe for a bit more. Ci vediamo!