Travel & Vacation Tips
I had been backpacking for three months around Europe and had reached my final destination of Nice. Too bad I had 10 days till my flight home and I was nearly broke!
As I sat in the Gar de Nice, the train station, I started giving serious thought to how I was going to survive for 10 days on $150.00. I had just arrived from two weeks in Barcelona, a Spanish girlfriend and, well, it had seemed worth it at the time.
Denmark is one of the hippest countries in Europe. Copenhagen is the center of activity with a lively evening scene, palaces and castles.
If you’ve traveled to Denmark, you’ll understand when I immediately bring up the subject of bars. The Danish like to toss back a few when time permits. Time seems to permit a lot and a few beers often become many. To this end, going out for a night on the town with friendly Danes can be dangerous in the summer. Due to its location on old mother earth, it doesn’t get dark in Denmark until elevenish during the summer. This can be difficult to adjust to, particularly when you look down at your watch and realize it is four in the morning. And the sun is coming up! Ah, but Denmark is not all socializing.
On my first visit to Denmark, I fell in love with the country and the city of Copenhagen. Contrary to my guidebook, you could see elephants and experience ice hockey in the dead of summer.
The Hanson Brothers
Upon arriving in Copenhagen, I was burned out from backpacking and looking forward to a good nap. I was traveling with three other Americans and we became distressed as each subsequent hostel told us all beds were sold. After asking around [okay, we were in a bar], we were given a lift by a local to a “hotel†guaranteed to have space.
Switzerland is the land of skiing, chocolate and very private banking. Ah, but there is so much more to experience in the land of neutrality.
Interlaken
Interlaken gets its highly creative name from sitting on the split of land between two lakes. If you’re looking for a little extreme sporting, this is place. You can backpack, horseback ride, parasail and so on. To really take in the majesty of the alps, I highly recommend you cough up the money for a go at skydiving. You may have gone ski diving before, but I guarantee you nothing compares to free falling down through the mountains of Switzerland. This is how God must feel looking down at the earth. While God gets the view for free, you will have to pay!a lot. Still, the view and experience is something you will never forget.
Set in Austria, the Sound of Music is an epic film spurring dreams of a heavenly land in every child that sees the movie. In truth, they should have filmed the movie in Halstatt, Austria.
Halstatt
I had been in Salzburg for four days and was growing restless. The city was an eyeful with beautiful garden areas, architecture and plenty of sites to see. At the end of the day though, it was still a city. And an expensive city at that!
In my teens, I traveled to France with my mother, father and grandmother for a month of sightseeing with a rental car. Michael Schumacher and Formula 1 have nothing on my father and our Opel rental car.
American fathers have an interesting if somewhat aggravating habit on trips. Yes, I am talking about the desire to see everything there is to see. This was particularly problematic in France, which has a gazillion things to see. For some reason, my memory is a blur! I’ll have to refer back to my Nomad Travel Journal, but here we go!
On the southwestern tip of continental Europe, Portugal is an old school country. In this article, we take a look at Lisbon, Lagos and the Algarve.
Lisbon
Lisbon is the biggest city in Portugal and is located on the Atlantic coast in middle of the country. I’ve been to Lisbon three times, but only for a few days each time. Every time I come away with the impression of elegance.
Austria simply can’t be beat when it comes to beauty. You’ve seen the country in the Sound of Music, but the cities of Vienna, Salzburg and the alpine town of Halstatt are just as nice.
Vienna
Vienna is a city with a ridiculous amount of history. The home of the waltz, Habsburg Palaces and an unrivaled musical past. Walk for an evening through the cobblestone streets in the center city and you can almost hear a famous composer at work. In fact, many of the walking areas are lined with small orchestral ensembles playing their way through the evening. Elbowing in on their act, of course, are those unique artist who dress in a period piece and then stand in one position for what seems time eternal. Buddhist monks would be envious if they believed in envy.
Lagos is a small town in Portugal built on a large hill overlooking the Mediterranean Ocean. While its old world charm is evident during the day, it can be a real pain at night.
Upon arriving by train in Lagos, I quickly booked a bed in a private home with a local family. I was loaded in a car and driven to the home that was just over the crest of the hill on which Lagos is built. From the home, it was about a mile down to the beaches and water. Ah, good old exercise.
