On April 13, 2000, seven of us travelled to Europe on an adventure that had
been in the planning for over two years. Five of us flew from Halifax
with Air Canada and two from Toronto on Canadian Airlines. Those of us
who flew Air Canada, left at 9:15 pm and landed in London 7:00 am.
We had a 3 1/2 hour wait at Heathrow and flew from there with British
Airways to Rome. We took a train into Rome, where we had reserved rooms for that night.
From that time on, we travelled by train on Eurail Pass, except when three of us rented
a car in Germany for three days.
We had some pleasant and some unpleasant trips on trains. I had understood that one travelled first class on a pass, and on most we did- but- first class on several trains would have been a poor second class on others.
Nancy on our train
from Munich to Lucerne
|
Nancy on our train |
The train pictured above was one of the best we were on. The nicest was the one we took from Florence to Venice, but the overnight train from Venice to Munich was a nightmare. We had tried to make reservations from Canada for couchettes, but they were booked, so we were prepared to sleep in our seats. The train was old and we shared a compartment with three others, a young German couple and a young German woman. We couldn't have had more pleasant sleeping companions, except none of us slept much that night. They told us that this was the oldest train still used in Germany, and I certainly believe that.
When we couldn't sleep, my sister and I decided to make a trip to the bar car and buy a cold drink. We soon discovered that the train was made up of two cars. We found a trainman in a tiny room (the barcar?!), who sold us warm coke from a tiny cupboard. It was so hot in our crowded compartment that we spent much of the long night in the corridor with the window open. The trip was 8 1/2 hours and, when we finally reached Munich, we learned that the train had picked up many more cars sometime during the night, all as old and decrepit as the first two.
On a brighter note, we rented a car for three days in Germany - a much more pleasant experience. Our car was new, roomy, and spoiled us. All the stories one hears about excessive speed on the Autobahn are true, and we fit in very quickly. After the first few minutes, I was not nervous at all. I found that the drivers have respect for each other. No one tailgates and the traffic moves along smoothly. The roadsigns are very explicit and frequent. We drove over 1200 kilometres during the next three days and were able to see so much more than if we had been travelling by train.
It was most difficult for us to go back to the train station, dragging our suitcases and backpacks, which were becoming heavier with every purchase we made. We travelled by Eurostar from Paris to London (3 hours, 20 minutes), the first time I have done that. I was a little nervous about travelling beneath the English Channel, but it was quick.
Many people have asked me what was my favourite place on this trip. I can't really answer that - the entire trip was wonderful. Florence was my favourite spot in 1997, and still ranks at the top, but I also fell in love with Capri and Bavaria. We already have a trip to Germany, Austria and Switzerland in the planning stages for 2002.
In Sept. this year, four of us decided we can't possibly wait for two years, so are planning a short, 10 day trip to Italy in March break 2001. This time we will spend a week in our favourite hotel in Florence, and make day trips from there.
I took about 500 pictures and have scanned about 70 on this site. I hope they convey the beauty of the countries we visited and that you enjoy your visit here. You can begin with Capri and each page has a link at the bottom to the next.
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