London
Went back to London the year after to do more or less the same thing. Different travel partner though. Ended up doing shopping, clubbing and partying this time around too.
Category: Europe
London
Went with a friend for a extended weekend to London to hang out with two other friends who were living and working in London. Spent most of the daytime wandering around/shopping and nighttime we went clubbing. Notable things we actually did was visiting Madame Tussauds, ate at a restaurant called Em’s somewhere in Soho and hang around in Camden Town/Camden Lock Market.
Alanya
After graduation I went to Alanya with 3 of my friends. 2 weeks of partying. One day we also went on a boat trip. I think that sums things up.
Pre 2000 / Other
My travel experience before 2000 (or other almost not notable event) I would say consist of travelling with my family (father, mother and brothers) and that would be the following destinations, in alphabetical order:
Austria On our way to Italy. Did stop for a while in Innsbruck I think.
Belgium Went there on family vacation, went to places like Gent and the castle Gravensteen, Brussels and caverns around Namur.
Denmark I think Legoland and Skagen was the main attractions in Denmark as a child. Also been a transit country on the way to the continent.
Finland A cruise from Stockholm to Helsinki, I think I spent about 2-3 hours in Helsinki before the cruise vessel departed again. At least I can say that I’ve been there.
France Paris of course, with the Louvre, Notre Dame, Sacré-Cœur, the Eiffel Tower and Champs Elysés. Also went to a place called Berck and then also Bretagne. Also more to the east, area around Strasbourg.
Germany as a transit country. Although, I remember spending some time at a place called Heide Park (amusement park).
Italy I don’t remember the particular order, but Lake Garda, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Moneglia and Albenga being places we went to and stayed at.
Monaco A day trip from the campsite in Italy. Did see the casino and the marina.
Netherlands Amsterdam is what I can remember. Might have visited the place where Anne Frank hid. Probably went on a boat in the channels.
Norway At some point, does not remember much except for fjords and stave churches.
Sweden Since it’s my country of residence and place of birth, we’ve been doing a fair bit of vacationing around in Sweden too. (Logs from Sweden are separated from the Europe tags.)
Barcelona / Mont Serrat
To Barcelona we went on our honeymoon. First we stayed at a luxurious hotel up on the hills above the city for a couple of days, then we moved down into downtown Barcelona. In the middle of a heat wave. We also took a day trip to Mont Serrat and a winery (Parés Balta). Visited Montjuic and then took the cable car down. Visited some of the Gaudi building scattered around town. But mostly it was lazy days.
Krakow / Auschwitz / Wieliczka
Last stop before going home. The train ride from Prague took more or less whole day. Our first stop in Poland was Katowice where we switched from a normal train to a small diesel train. We finally arrived in Krakow and got to our hotel. Next day was field trip day. Auschwitz/Auschwitz Birkenau and then Wieliczka Salt Mine. This marked the end of this trip through central Europe.
Prague / Kutna Hora
We took the bus from Vienna to Prague, Czechia. A city which has a lot to offer. We did visit the castle, went to a concert in a church, checked out the old town hall, ate trdelniks, took at train to Kutna Hora and went into the silver mines there and on the way back to Prague we also stopped by the Sedlec Ossuary, also known as the bone church. From Prague we took the train towards the final leg of this journey – Krakow, Poland.
Bratislava
Arriving by train from Budapest, to Bratislava which I think might be one of the top capitals in Europe. A very nice town to walk around in, and maybe we should have stayed a bit longer than we did. Had some really nice food, visited some nice historic places and so on. From Bratislava we took the boat to Vienna on the Danube river.
Budapest
Arrived by train from Zagreb, Croatia. Didn’t really know what to do, except trying out on one of the spa’s and visiting the Museum of Terror. Mostly the touristy stuff with walking around, grab something to eat and enjoy the time in Budapest before taking the train to Bratislava, Slovakia.
Split / Plitvice / Zagreb
As the beginning of our back packing trip through central Europe we flew to Split. We stayed there for about a week, mostly relaxing. On the final day in Split we had a wonderful 7 course meal on the resturant DVOR which I strongly recommend visiting of ever going to Split. We also had a nice excursion to Plitvice National Park before taking the bus to Zagreb, where we stayed one night before taking the train to Budapest, Hungary.
Vienna
Maybe more Vienna than Austria. We arrived by boat from Bratislava. Met up with an old on-line friend of mine on the rainiest day ever. Also attended an opera concert. Had some sunnier days when we went to see Schloss Schönbrunn for example.
Copenhagen
Since there was a pilot strike our planned trip to Barcelona got cancelled. As a last minute resort we took the train to Copenhagen, Denmark instead. Might have been a bit more spring going on there than back home. Just a couple of chill days doing the normal touristy stuff.
Kyiv / Chernobyl / Pripyat
Weekend trip to Kyiv, Ukraine. Strolling about downtown Kyiv, exploring churches and the local cuisine. One day spent in Chernobyl/Pripyat with private tour guide on a very gloomy day. Extremely fitting when thinking about what went down on that catastrophic day. One of the most interesting trips I’ve done so far.
Lisbon / Pena Castle / Sintra
Back in 2019 we won some travelling money. Then came the pandemic. Our planned trip to Teneriffa got cancelled in last minute and we got our money back. 2 years of no travelling, 2 years of not much happening at all to be honest. Anyway, spring time and we finally get going. Ended up in Lisbon for some wonderful days of sun and adventure. Mostly slacking about in the city but also a field trip to Pena Castle, Sintra and Cabo de Roca (most western point in Europe).
Berlin / Sachsenhausen
A quick trip to Berlin, Germany for the last of the money we won back in 2019. Pandemic prevented us from going on any trip at all. But finally, last money spent and we ended up in Berlin. Spent most of the days looking at things about WW2 and the Holocaust. Took the train to Oranienburg to see the Saschenhausen concentration camp. Over all, Berlin is a very nice city.
London
I’ve been to London a couple of times before, back in 2000 and 2001. London is one of those places you can come to over and over again. It’s nice just walking around looking at things. This time around I spent more time doing touristy things rather than clubbing so I actually got to see the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, Paddington Station, Big Ben and so on. Turns out it’s really easy to end up in Camden, a lot had changed since early 2000’s. But the cat-people at The Hobgoblin was still there. Always something. I also made an effort to find the restaurant Em’s which should be somewhere in Soho, but could not find it. Bummer. At least I got to hang out with my friend James a bit!
