That year, we went from Salzburg to Munich. We spent a few hours at Munich and then went to Berlin. And from Berlin, northward to Amsterdam.Our night in Amsterdam was another night out, but after so many journeys and so many crazy backpacking experiences, we'd figured out a few things. We had Eurail passes that we kept gushing about - we could use them.We spent the night on trains. Took a train to Utrecht, then another to Rotterdam, and then one back to Amsterdam. That's how we spent the night. We didn't see tulips or windmills. We did see Rijksmuseum and Anne Frank's house.But honestly, we were exhausted. For a long time, we just sat by a canal and did nothing. We were depressed because we thought we'd lost some money, and we were filled up with all kinds of thoughts and emotions.Fifteen days of glorious backpacking. After Salzburg, I did not write any more; I was too tired. But … [Read more...]
Backpacking through Europe: Goodbye, Italy!
We tried to feel sentimental about leaving Italy, but could not find it in ourselves to do so. Italy was beautiful, but we were going to Austria - the land of Mozart and "The Sound of Music"! (Both came later, though, because we went to Vienna before Salzburg.)With our Eurail passes, we did not need to book trains everywhere we went, but the train-schedule we received with our passes was outdated. Our plans of taking a night-train to Paris from Amsterdam fell through because we discovered there was no night-train from Amsterdam to Paris. Even so, the Eurail pass was a boon. In Europe, with so few people travelling compared to in India, we did not need to reserve on most trains. Our passes served as tickets, so we just had to hop on and find unreserved seats. The unreserved seats, needless to say, are nothing like the horrifying general compartment we see here.We walked all over … [Read more...]
Backpacking through Europe: Venice
Venice was the place where we relaxed. When we got there, we were told at the information booth at the station that there was no way we would find cheap accommodation in Venice at the weekend. The best we would get was a place that cost €65 a night for three people. Okay, we said, okay. We'll be back. We went to our old faithful, the International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF) map and found a phone number. The YH cost €17,50 per head and accommodation was available; so there.The line was unclear, but I heard clearly enough to get excited that we had to take boat number 82. Boat number! We were in Venice, the place with the Rialto and the Merchant!Thanks to the train strike, we had been dropped at Venezia Mestre instead of Venezia Centrale, so we had to take a bus before we could take a boat. Public transport is expensive in Venice, with no day passes or weekend passes. We paid €1,60 … [Read more...]