So, as the character Tom Haverford would say in the TV show "Parks and Rec", here are the deets (as in "deetails") from our 2022 trip to Europe:
Using 19 trains, 3 airplanes and a handful of automobiles we traveled to 8 countries, visited 19 places in 55 days. Tiring to be sure but what an experience!
Countries and major cities visited:
Austria: Salzburg
Czech Republic: Prague
Denmark: Copenhagen, Roskilde
France: Paris
Germany: Hamburg, Hohenfels, Munich, Nurnberg, Regensburg
Netherlands: Delft, Gouda, Utrecht
Norway: Oslo, Flåm, Bergen
Sweden: Stockholm
Transportation:
Air Travel: we used British Airways and their partner American Airlines for flights between the US and Europe and KLM for our one-way flight from Bergen to Amsterdam.
Automobiles: We rarely used automobiles but did rely on Uber four times (twice in Grand Rapids to and from the local airport, once in Munich and once in Prague. Uber was not available in Denmark. We did use a taxi to get to our AirBnB from the train station in Munich. Oh, and our host in Bergen kindly picked us up in his car at the train station (it was raining which precluded our walking to the apartment).
Trains: This was our primary source of travel between countries and cities. We both had senior Eurail passes (15 days in two months) and arranged for our required seat reservations well before the trip. We used the mobile passes which allowed us to upload tickets with the QR code directly to our phone.
Local transportation: We relied on local public transportation nearly everywhere we traveled, including getting to and from airports and train stations. And getting from one town to another by train, especially in the Netherlands, was easy, simple and inexpensive.
Accommodation:
We used Air BnB for apartments, and Expedia, Hilton and The New York Times for finding hotels.
Four hotels: Hamburg, Stockholm, Flåm and Gouda.
Six apartments (Munich, Prague, Copenhagen, Oslo, Bergen, and Paris). The shortest stay was in Copenhagen (4 days) and the longest in Paris (14 days).
Communication:
Nearly everywhere in Czech and Scandinavia the preferred language was English. Curiously, nearly everyone we came across assumed by looking at us we were locals and began by speaking their language until we looked blankly at them and said "English please".
Food:
We ate quite a few meals in our apartments -- we love going to local grocery stores and small markets; for us it's always been part of the experience of traveling. Also, eating out for nearly two months straight would have been prohibitively expensive and not great for our health.
Overall:
This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience notwithstanding my getting Covid and almost not getting to return home with my wife. It was made even more special being able to reconnect with old friends and spend quality time with family. Even so, it was tiring to be sure. Until we got to Paris we were never anywhere long enough to really get into a rhythm, a genuine feel for a particular place. But we did go and see and do. Time to catch one's breath now.
If we had to chose a favorite, it would have to be Norway. It was stunningly gorgeous.
cruising the fjord, Bergen to Mostraumen |
After we returned home we we given the wonderful opportunity of seeing Bob and Carol, our familiar Sandhill cranes, with their newborn, Teddie. Seeing those three and finally getting to sit out with our neighbors for a warm conversation to catch up on the local news is something worth writing about.
Now it's your turn to go and have an adventure. . . big or small, it doesn't matter just go. Life is short.