Trip 2: Two months in Western Europe.

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6/99-8/99

My parents were kind of against my new traveling ways, so I left for my first full-scale backpacking trip on my 18th birthday. Legally, they could not stop me! Here is a bit about each country I visited and what I did there.

Iceland- 3 day stopover. Hitched everywhere as transport was too expensive. Visited Rejkjavik, the Blue Lagoon, Geysir, and Gullfoss.

Sweden/Denmark/Finland/Estonia- Revisited some countries that I loved. Saw some old friends in Finland.

Germany- Hamburg, Koln (thrilling cathedral!), Aachen, Rhine river area, Cochem (my favorite German town. Situated on the Mosel river with a castle looming above), Frankfurt, Rothenburg, Heidelberg, Munich, Lindau, Dresden, Berlin, Lubeck. I had a lot of places I wanted to see in Germany and was rarely disappointed. Germany had some of the best-preserved sights coupled with the best tourist infrastructure.

Belgium- Bruges, Ghent, Brussels. Two beautiful cities and one beautiful square surrounded by an average city.

Switzerland- Luzern, Bern, Geneva, Berner Oberland, Zurich. Just a quick taste because it was so expensive.

Norway- Oslo, Bergen, Sognefjord. Norway was my favorite country of the summer. The fjords and Bergen stole the show and made a perfect grand finale for my trip.

Spain- Madrid, Bacelona, Toledo, Valencia. I did not like Spain at all and banned all travel there for ten years. This is the 8th year! 😊 It was a shady, dirty, hot, and unfriendly place.

Portugal- Lisbon and the magical town of Sintra. Seemed like heaven compared to Spain.

France- Lyon, Carcassonne, Marseilles, Nice, Monaco (not part of France, I know). I really just transitted through France, making short stops. I did make a longer, fun stop in Nice though.

Italy- Genoa, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Siena, San Gimignano, Florence, Rome. Sights without substance. Italy has some of the best things in the world to see, but the culture will never agree with me. Then again, it's so touristic that you have to stray far from the major and minor sights to find it. But like I said, the sights were so good that I enjoyed it immensely anyway.

Liechtenstein- Vaduz. While in Switzerland, I saw a bus going to Vaduz. I decided to take it and found a small, charming mountain town.

Austria- Salzburg, Linz, Vienna. See Germany. Great things to see and well-organized. Schnitzel sandwiches were some of my favorite meals on this trip.

Hungary- Budapest. I didn't like Budapest on my first visit, but I love it now among my favorite cities.

Czech Republic- Prague. I was blown away by the beauty of Prague. I had some of the nicest moments of my trip while sitting on a bench on Petrin Hill and thinking about how lucky I was to be able to travel.

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