DAY 127 I take the 8:30 train from Brussels. My travel is only 3 hours this morning and I reach my destination at 11:30. Luxembourg is officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and has a population of under half a million people. Luxembourg is a parliamentary representative democracy with a constitutional monarch; it is ruled by a Grand Duke. It is the world's only remaining sovereign Grand Duchy. The country has a highly developed economy, with the highest Gross Domestic Product per capita in the world. Luxembourg is a founding member of the European Union, NATO, OECD, the United Nations, Benelux, and the Western European Union, reflecting the political consensus in favor of economic, political, and military integration. The city of Luxembourg is the largest city, and the seat of several institutions and agencies of the ... read more

DAY 124 I find it hard to get out of bed this morning. I just love the Scandinavian beds. It might be just in my mind or that just shows how weary a person can get from traveling for this long, but these beds are so wonderful. The breakfast is included and what a great selection of foods. Pastry, yogurt, fruit, breads, eggs, and assorted meats and cheeses. I waddle from the restaurant. I decide to take the sightseeing bus to day. Many of the sights are spread out so this way I will not have to walk all day just to see them. Plus it is overcast today with scattered showers. This is the coolest I have been on this trip since the mountains of Morocco. So I take my rain jacket for comfort when ... read more

DAY121 I have arrived in Oslo, Norway, it is 6 AM and have been on the bus all night with very little sleep. I was awake at every stop that were just in the middle of nowhere, I was waiting for a bathroom break, when on one of the stops I asked the driver and he said use the toilet on the bus. Oh for heaven's sakes! First of all I am in seat #4 up front and never has there been a toilet on a bus in all of my travels overseas. In the UK when I traveled there you were threatened with bodily harm if you ever thought of using the toilet on the bus. I wondered why others weren't complaining about toilet breaks?!? OK so it was a blonde moment. Of course everything ... read more

DAY 116 I am leaving Krakow this morning, so I pack my things and head for the train station. I have 3 destinations in mind, Warsaw, Prague or Gdnask. I really don't know where I am going to go until I get to the ticket window and the person asks me, I say Gdnask. That's when I decided. I know that Gdnask sits near the Baltic Sea and that I would have ferry options to the Scandinavian countries as well as Estonia. That's about all I know about it. I have no guide books for reference, I going on instinct. The train from Krakrow is an 8 hour trip. This is the first real time that I have been homesick. The countryside that we are passing could be anywhere in Ohio. It has the pastures with ... read more

DAY 113 We spent a good part of last evening trying to decide where we were going this morning. We checked accommodations and train schedules, referring to the web and the Lonely Plant book. The possible choice was to visit the High Tatras Mts or go directly to Krakow, Poland. The problem visiting the mountains was the fact that it was the weekend and all the accommodations on the web were booked. Then if we took the chance of going and trying to find a place then we weren't sure of the local transportation systems and how to get from one village to another in a timely manner without wasting a lot of time. So in the end it was decided to go straight to Krakow. The train is about 9 hours total, with a change ... read more