Goodbye, Europe


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September 11th 2014
Published: September 11th 2014
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Now that my trip is over, I've taken the time to compile a list of the best and worst of several different categories. See it below!




FOOD

BEST: Prague's meat is always tender and surprisingly cheap. I wouldn't suggest it for vegetarians, but meat-lovers won't find a better city for their appetite.

WORST: We ate Dutch food in Amsterdam for lunch on our first full day there. We didn't eat true Dutch food again, or if we did, we thought it was some other ethnicity's food. That should tell you all you need to know.

MOST OVERRATED: The food in Rome was, to be honest, wholly underwhelming. I found the pasta to be not dissimilar to that which I can get in the US, and I've had better bread from a grocery store. Their gelato was definitely a redeeming quality, though.

BEST FOR COST: Sarajevo. No doubt. Exceedingly cheap, and a very close second to Prague for best food.



TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

BEST: Barcelona has a plethora of everything for everyone. If you want architecture, look to anything Gaudí had his hands on. History? Modernism, castles, and museums. Nature? Parks and mountains. Relaxing? Beaches galore.

WORST: Banja Luka has none. That is all. Granted, we were there for schooling. But apart from academics or politics, there is no reason to visit.

MOST OVERRATED: We were actually struggling at times to fill up our time in Amsterdam. We managed to fill it all up, but I think any longer and we woul have been quite bored.

MOST UNDERRATED: Milan's Duomo quite literally took my breath away. I walked around the corner of a building and saw this glorious cathedral with intricate statues, sitting right next to arguably the most famous shopping gallery in the world. Castello Sforzesco is also mostly unknown but beautiful and surrounded by an amazing park.




NIGHT LIFE

BEST: I'm torn on this one, but I'm going to go with Sarajevo, because there were so many different things I experienced. This is definitely a controversial opinion, especially given that several cities I didn't have any weekend nights in (such as Barcelona), but Sarajevo had bars, clubs, live music, great views from the fortress, cafes, and was a generally great city at night.

WORST: Belgrade. Another controversial opinion, especially given that Belgrade is famous for its clubs on barges. Their bars were good, but I have to take a beef that every time any of the guys tried to go, they said that males have to be 25 to enter. It was pretty clear that they were mostly just singling out the foreigners, though.

MOST UNDERRATED: Prague, without a doubt, would be a city I would go out in in an instant. They had cheap bars, club/bar mixes, clubs, and I'm sure there was plenty I missed!




COST

BEST: Belgrade and Sarajevo were both ridiculously cheap for good quality everything: drinks, food, goods. We could get two liters of beer for less than $2 after converting. 2 liters of water would run about $0.30

WORST: London was certainly the most expensive city we visited, partly due to the exchange rate. Most of the money we spent paid off well, but there was a lot of money spent.

MOST OVERRATED: We'd been led to believe that Prague and Amsterdam were both quite cheap. I can't say I agree with that; I spent quite a bit of money in both cities. Worth it, definitely. But certainly note super cheap.




CONNECTIVITY

BEST: Discounting the times that I spent in houses, which tend to have good connectivity, Amsterdam easily had the best wi-fi and internet useability.

WORST: Sarajevo. Or any city in Bosnia. Every city was a struggle to connect and get my blogs up daily.




AIRLINES

BEST: Lufthansa gives you comfortable seats, built-in TVs on every screen, and free wine.

WORST: AirFrance. I may be a little biased, but I'm quite annoyed at the customer service I received in London when they made me check a bag that clearly fit as a carry-on. It was more about the rudeness than about having to check it. On that note, easyJet only allows one carry-on bag, and doesn't include checked baggage in their tickets.




DESSERTS

BEST: Sarajevo, mostly due to the fact that their gelato was as good as Rome's, but cost $0.70 per scoop.

WORST: I will refrain from this one, simply because I didn't try dessert in several cities.




CITY ATTRACTIVENESS

BEST: Prague is called the City of a Thousand Spires. Its history, from the castle to the churches, to its preservation during the second World War, brought it to being the best city I've seen in Europe.

WORST: Banja Luka is purely industrial and simple. This goes along with its lack of tourist attractions, but I didn't find it anything worth looking at.




CITY OVERALL

BEST: This is a three-way tie between Sarajevo, Barcelona, and Prague. Sarajevo's Turkish influence gave it a very cool feel and architecture, but it had a modern side as well, and was a lot of fun. Barcelona was an amazing city to visit, and had the history and Modernism to make it beautiful. Prague, for the same reasons listed above.

WORST: I hesitate to say a city is bad, but if I were to list one here, I'd again say Banja Luka.

MOST OVERRATED: Rome was unimpressive, in my opinion. This may have been partly due to the heat, or that several of the most famous attractions are closed. I wouldn't necessarily suggest it, though.

MOST UNDERRATED: Mostar, although we only spent two days there, was really cool. I don't think you'd really want more than a couple days there, but it was very pretty and I loved my time there.




And with that, my amazing two months is concluded. Thank you to everyone who read my blog and followed me through my trip! If anyone would like any further information on any of the cities, feel free to contact me.

Until next time,

your friendly neighborhood journeyman,
Chris

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