I’ve been back in Edmonton for a week now. I think I have enough distance that I can comment on the Eurotrip as a whole.
I was extremely lucky with the weather. I have heard about their summer being cold and rainy. Yet the weather was great almost the entire time I was there. The one day it was completely overcast is the day I got a sunburn (I was above the clouds on top of a mountain). Except for Denmark; There it did get rainy.
The Contiki tour was perfect for me. It kept me busy the entire time. I like to be kept busy. I got to see the highlights of Europe and I now have a better idea of what areas I would like to spend more time in. I did see other tours that had better busses. Some had television or two levels. A Danish tour bus had free alcohol in its storage locker, available at stops.
The problem with tour buses is that they are hermetically sealed. If anyone gets sick, everyone eventually gets it. I think there were two different illnesses that made the rounds. And they smoke everywhere in Europe, so colds get aggravated. That is one thing I really enjoy back in Canada is cleaner air. But when you are sick, you should drink lots of water. I would have tried to drink more water, but they make it hard there. The restaurants don’t want to serve tap water when they could instead charge you for bottled water. This put a damper on the guzzling I usually do at dinner. I think the only public water fountain I ever saw was in Paris.
And because alcohol is cheap there, it is probably more economical to drink beer. The local pop drink, Fanta, was a nice change from the usual. But after a few tastes I still prefer Coke. Right now though, I am sick of it. I drank too much on the airplane home and I started getting a burning feeling in my stomach. I take that as a bad sign.
If you say Gesundheit to someone in Germany, they might think you actually speak German. It may get awkward.
I saw many museums in Europe. They are quite prolific, but I don’t think they are my thing. Unless there is an interesting topic behind them, or there are rides, museums are rather boring. I did find that after going to the Louvre and the Vatican Museum, you effectively have a Get-out-of-Museum-Free card. If anyone says you should see their local museum, you can just say that you have already been to the big ones, and anything else would just be disappointing.
Looking at the architecture is slightly better than going to museums. For one thing you don’t have to pay. And since most are functional, you can try and use them. For example, climbing them. And most buildings look so much better than Edmontonian ones. Even the concrete bunkers of apartments seem classier.
Unfortunately, there was scaffolding everywhere. I don’t think I saw any historical buildings that didn’t have some scaffolding draped over part of it. And come to think of it, I don’t ever recall seeing anyone using the scaffolding to repair a building. Berlin was the worst. But then they seem to be trying to rebuild the entire eastern part of the city.
While I was gone, the iPod touch came out. An iPod that allows you to use wireless hotspots to browse the web. That would have been insanely useful for this trip. In many places, wireless was free, but internet cafes usually cost money. And while trying to log the trip, I used more internet than I would have cared to.
I also discovered the George Clooney shills a lot. I kept seeing his face on advertisements. Everywhere! Someone pointed out that it was just for a coffee and a watch, but they were so prolific.
I had hoped to “find myself” on this trip. I don’t think I did. I still feel the same as I always do. The biggest benefit is that I found I enjoy physical activities with friends. Bicycling in Edam, tobogganing in Switzerland, whitewater rafting in Austria. I just need friends who want to go out and do things like that. Friends are the key. The big disappointment on the trip was that I didn’t have anyone to share it with.