The Best & Worst of Europe

Liebling:-))) · 03-08-2005, 02:19 AM

The Best and Worst Of Europe—with Apologies to None
By Rick Steves

Good travel writers should make hard choices and give readers solid opinions. Just so nobody will accuse me of gutlessness, I’ve assembled a pile of strong opinions—my personal feelings after 100 months of European travel.

Let’s start with the dullest corner of the British Isles, south Scotland. The area south of Edinburgh is so boring the Romans decided to block it off with Hadrian’s Wall. The wall, near the town of Haltwhistle, is far more intriguing than the area beyond it. Like Venice’s St. Mark’s Square at midnight and Napoleon’s tomb in Paris, this sight covers history buffs with goose bumps.

London, York, Bath, and Cambridge are the most interesting cities in England. Belfast, Liverpool, and Glasgow are quirky enough to be called interesting. Dublin is dull, Oxford pales next to Cambridge, and Stratford is little more than Shakespeare’s house—and it’s as dead as he is.

The west coast of Ireland (the Dingle Peninsula), Snowdon National Park, and the Windermere Lakes District are the most beautiful natural regions of Great Britain and Ireland, while the York Moors disappoint all creatures great and small.

The friendliest people in Europe are the Irish, the Sicilians, and my Norwegian relatives. The meanest are those tourists who refuse to understand the French and the legions of cleaning ladies who toil in Europe’s underground public toilets. The WC ladies, at the least, deserve our patience. Don’t complain about the French postal workers: they’re every bit as cheery, speedy, and multilingual as ours are here in the U.S. (By the way, the fastest way to get a letter home from Italy is to use the Vatican post office or to forget it in your suitcase.)

Italy’s island of Capri, the German town of Berchtesgaden, Ireland’s Blarney Stone (kissed by countless tourists to get the “gift of gab”), and the French Riviera in July and August are Europe’s top tourist traps. Extra caution is merited in southwest England, a minefield of tourist traps. The British are masters at milking every conceivable attraction for all it’s worth. Here are some booby traps: the Devil’s Toenail (a rock that looks just like . . . a toenail), Land’s End (pay, pay, pay), and Cornwall’s cloying Clovelly (a one-street town lined with knickknack shops selling the same goodies—like “clotted cream that you can mail home”).

But Tintagel’s castle, famous as the legendary birthplace of King Arthur, offers thrilling windswept and wave-beaten ruins. The town of Tintagel does everything in its little power to exploit the profitable Arthurian legend. There’s even a pub in town called the Excali Bar.

Sognefjord is Norway’s most spectacular fjord. The Geiranger fjord—while famous as a cruise ship stop—is a disappointment. The most boring countryside is Sweden’s (I am Norwegian and therefore a little prejudiced), although Scandinavia’s best medieval castle is in the Swedish town of Kalmar.

Geneva (Switzerland) and Grenoble (France) share the “nice place to live but I wouldn’t want to visit” award. Both are pleasantly situated on a lake—like Buffalo and Cleveland. And both are famous, although name familiarity is a rotten reason to go somewhere. If you want a Swiss city, see Bern, but it’s almost criminal to spend a sunny Swiss day anywhere but high in the Alps.

Bordeaux must mean boredom in some ancient language. If I were offered a free trip to that town, I’d stay home and clean the fridge. Connoisseurs visit for the wine, and there’s a wine-tourist information bureau in Bordeaux which, for a price, will bus you out of town into the more interesting wine country nearby.

Andorra, a small country in the Pyrenees between France and Spain, is as scenic as any other chunk of those mountains. People from all over Europe flock to Andorra to take advantage of its famous duty-free shopping. As far as Americans are concerned, Andorra is just a big Spanish-speaking Radio Shack. There are no bargains here that you can’t get at home. Enjoy the Pyrenees with less traffic elsewhere.

Germany’s famous Black Forest disappoints more people than it excites. If that’s all Germany offered it would be worth seeing, but I’d say the average American visitor who’s seen more than three trees in one place would prefer Germany’s Romantic Road and Bavaria to the east, the Rhine and Mosel country to the north, the Swiss Alps to the south, and France’s Alsace region to the west—all high points that cut the Black Forest down to stumps.

Norway’s Stavanger, famous for nearby fjords and its status as an oil boom town, is a large port that’s about as exciting as, well, put it this way: emigrants left it in droves to move to the wilds of Minnesota. Time in western Norway is better spent in and around Bergen.

Bucharest, the capital of Romania, has little to offer. Its top-selling postcard is of the Intercontinental Hotel. If you’re heading from eastern Europe to Greece, skip Thessaloníki, which deserves its place in the Bible but doesn’t belong in travel guidebooks.

The most worthless opinions are those that judge and compare the merits of airlines and traveler’s checks. They’re all good enough. If you arrive in Europe safely on the day you had hoped to, it was a great flight. And if you lose your traveler’s checks, you deserve a delay. Will somebody please give Karl Malden a money belt?

Europe’s most scenic train ride is across south Switzerland from Chur to Martigny. The most scenic boat ride is from Stockholm to Helsinki—countless islands and blondes. Europe’s most exciting country is Italy, although to most, after a week in Italy, Switzerland starts looking better and better. Europe’s most underrated sight is Rome’s ancient seaport Ostia Antica; its most misunderstood wine—Portugal’s vinho verde (green wine); and its most overrated and polluted city is Athens.

A hundred years ago, Athens was a sleepy town of 8,000 people with a pile of ruins in its backyard. Today, it’s a giant mix of concrete, smog, noise, tourists, and four million Greeks. See the four major attractions (the Acropolis, Agora, Plaka, and great National Archaeological Museum) and get out to the islands or countryside.

The tackiest souvenirs can be found next to Pisa’s tower and in Lourdes. The most intriguing bookstore is the world’s largest secondhand bookstore in Hay-on-Wye in Wales.

The best French chateau is Chantilly near Paris. The best look at Gothic is the Saint Chapelle church in Paris. The top two castles are Germany’s Berg Eltz on the Mosel river and Italy’s Reifenstein near the Brenner Pass in the north. Lisbon, Oslo, Stockholm, and Brussels are the most underrated big cities. For romance, it’s Varenna on Italy’s Lake Como.

The biggest mistakes that tourists make: packing too much, relying on outdated guidebooks, not wearing a money belt, leaving home with too many hotel reservations, and taking other people’s opinions too seriously. Happy travels!

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/pub...f_europe.shtml

ravensteve1961 · 03-08-2005, 05:16 AM

Best is England the worst is france.

Liebling:-))) · 03-08-2005, 05:34 AM

I had been travel Europe and would say that Italy is the best. We travel there dozens of time which it's not far from my area.

We are plan to go to Italy for the long weekends on 26th to 29th May.

Beauty2Girls · 03-08-2005, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liebling:-)))

The Best and Worst Of Europe—with Apologies to None
By Rick Steves

Good travel writers should make hard choices and give readers solid opinions. Just so nobody will accuse me of gutlessness, I’ve assembled a pile of strong opinions—my personal feelings after 100 months of European travel.

Let’s start with the dullest corner of the British Isles, south Scotland. The area south of Edinburgh is so boring the Romans decided to block it off with Hadrian’s Wall. The wall, near the town of Haltwhistle, is far more intriguing than the area beyond it. Like Venice’s St. Mark’s Square at midnight and Napoleon’s tomb in Paris, this sight covers history buffs with goose bumps.

London, York, Bath, and Cambridge are the most interesting cities in England. Belfast, Liverpool, and Glasgow are quirky enough to be called interesting. Dublin is dull, Oxford pales next to Cambridge, and Stratford is little more than Shakespeare’s house—and it’s as dead as he is.

The west coast of Ireland (the Dingle Peninsula), Snowdon National Park, and the Windermere Lakes District are the most beautiful natural regions of Great Britain and Ireland, while the York Moors disappoint all creatures great and small.

The friendliest people in Europe are the Irish, the Sicilians, and my Norwegian relatives. The meanest are those tourists who refuse to understand the French and the legions of cleaning ladies who toil in Europe’s underground public toilets. The WC ladies, at the least, deserve our patience. Don’t complain about the French postal workers: they’re every bit as cheery, speedy, and multilingual as ours are here in the U.S. (By the way, the fastest way to get a letter home from Italy is to use the Vatican post office or to forget it in your suitcase.)

Italy’s island of Capri, the German town of Berchtesgaden, Ireland’s Blarney Stone (kissed by countless tourists to get the “gift of gab”), and the French Riviera in July and August are Europe’s top tourist traps. Extra caution is merited in southwest England, a minefield of tourist traps. The British are masters at milking every conceivable attraction for all it’s worth. Here are some booby traps: the Devil’s Toenail (a rock that looks just like . . . a toenail), Land’s End (pay, pay, pay), and Cornwall’s cloying Clovelly (a one-street town lined with knickknack shops selling the same goodies—like “clotted cream that you can mail home”).

But Tintagel’s castle, famous as the legendary birthplace of King Arthur, offers thrilling windswept and wave-beaten ruins. The town of Tintagel does everything in its little power to exploit the profitable Arthurian legend. There’s even a pub in town called the Excali Bar.

Sognefjord is Norway’s most spectacular fjord. The Geiranger fjord—while famous as a cruise ship stop—is a disappointment. The most boring countryside is Sweden’s (I am Norwegian and therefore a little prejudiced), although Scandinavia’s best medieval castle is in the Swedish town of Kalmar.

Geneva (Switzerland) and Grenoble (France) share the “nice place to live but I wouldn’t want to visit” award. Both are pleasantly situated on a lake—like Buffalo and Cleveland. And both are famous, although name familiarity is a rotten reason to go somewhere. If you want a Swiss city, see Bern, but it’s almost criminal to spend a sunny Swiss day anywhere but high in the Alps.

Bordeaux must mean boredom in some ancient language. If I were offered a free trip to that town, I’d stay home and clean the fridge. Connoisseurs visit for the wine, and there’s a wine-tourist information bureau in Bordeaux which, for a price, will bus you out of town into the more interesting wine country nearby.

Andorra, a small country in the Pyrenees between France and Spain, is as scenic as any other chunk of those mountains. People from all over Europe flock to Andorra to take advantage of its famous duty-free shopping. As far as Americans are concerned, Andorra is just a big Spanish-speaking Radio Shack. There are no bargains here that you can’t get at home. Enjoy the Pyrenees with less traffic elsewhere.

Germany’s famous Black Forest disappoints more people than it excites. If that’s all Germany offered it would be worth seeing, but I’d say the average American visitor who’s seen more than three trees in one place would prefer Germany’s Romantic Road and Bavaria to the east, the Rhine and Mosel country to the north, the Swiss Alps to the south, and France’s Alsace region to the west—all high points that cut the Black Forest down to stumps.

Norway’s Stavanger, famous for nearby fjords and its status as an oil boom town, is a large port that’s about as exciting as, well, put it this way: emigrants left it in droves to move to the wilds of Minnesota. Time in western Norway is better spent in and around Bergen.

Bucharest, the capital of Romania, has little to offer. Its top-selling postcard is of the Intercontinental Hotel. If you’re heading from eastern Europe to Greece, skip Thessaloníki, which deserves its place in the Bible but doesn’t belong in travel guidebooks.

The most worthless opinions are those that judge and compare the merits of airlines and traveler’s checks. They’re all good enough. If you arrive in Europe safely on the day you had hoped to, it was a great flight. And if you lose your traveler’s checks, you deserve a delay. Will somebody please give Karl Malden a money belt?

Europe’s most scenic train ride is across south Switzerland from Chur to Martigny. The most scenic boat ride is from Stockholm to Helsinki—countless islands and blondes. Europe’s most exciting country is Italy, although to most, after a week in Italy, Switzerland starts looking better and better. Europe’s most underrated sight is Rome’s ancient seaport Ostia Antica; its most misunderstood wine—Portugal’s vinho verde (green wine); and its most overrated and polluted city is Athens.

A hundred years ago, Athens was a sleepy town of 8,000 people with a pile of ruins in its backyard. Today, it’s a giant mix of concrete, smog, noise, tourists, and four million Greeks. See the four major attractions (the Acropolis, Agora, Plaka, and great National Archaeological Museum) and get out to the islands or countryside.

The tackiest souvenirs can be found next to Pisa’s tower and in Lourdes. The most intriguing bookstore is the world’s largest secondhand bookstore in Hay-on-Wye in Wales.

The best French chateau is Chantilly near Paris. The best look at Gothic is the Saint Chapelle church in Paris. The top two castles are Germany’s Berg Eltz on the Mosel river and Italy’s Reifenstein near the Brenner Pass in the north. Lisbon, Oslo, Stockholm, and Brussels are the most underrated big cities. For romance, it’s Varenna on Italy’s Lake Como.

The biggest mistakes that tourists make: packing too much, relying on outdated guidebooks, not wearing a money belt, leaving home with too many hotel reservations, and taking other people’s opinions too seriously. Happy travels!

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/pub...f_europe.shtml

Thanks for sharing, I am going to Europe this Summer, July or Aug, to UK, must visit in London, my heart of the city

and what else would like to travel?? on way to Ukraine to see my family soon, YaY! Havent seen them for 5 yrs since I came here in USA.. cant wait to go in Europe

gnarlydorkette · 03-08-2005, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liebling

The most scenic boat ride is from Stockholm to Helsinki—countless islands and blondes.

I have been on a cruise from Turku (three hours north to Helsinki-- I am surprised it didn't say Turku instead because Helsinki is an overcrowded port to ship to so Turku is a good alternative-- and it is home to the oldest castle of Finland!) to Stockholm. It is right-- zillions of islands and of course blonde natives.

included me!

I did take the boat ride both way-- to visit my Aunt who turned into a Swede (traitor!) who lived in Stockholm. I recollected seeing Stockholm's amusmentpark/fair *the reason I said "fair" because I did see the wheel ride* from a resturant (SMALL one) that is mounted on a rocky cliff where people can sit on rocks and sip their coffee... or was it alcohol? I couldn't remember-- I was just nine years old when I visited Sweden.
While being on the boat, you never feel you did leave far away from land because you kept see trees sprouting on a TINY mound of land floating in a body of salt water.

Ah. I sure missed Finland. I would love to live there but only if I do know Finnish and if they do have a BETTER education system for deaf children and tolerance as well. Only if they do speak English! Well they do... then let me repharse-- Only if they speak ASL! :lol2:
Laws over there is not something spiffy so but I love the countryside of Finland. The memories from visiting Finland have left a permanent imprint in my mind. I doubt I will ever forget the smell of an Finnish outhouse!!

03-09-2005, 12:32 AM

Having visited Europe 5 times, I still miss Germany and Italy the most of all.
I lived in Germany for a half year for my studies and travelled to many places in Germany, experiencing different cities and countryside. Above all, I also miss the German Autobahn, with its no-speed-limit-law. Granted, the worst city in Germany to visit was Cologne... so boring!

In Italy, I had a lot of fun trying to drive on the autostrade and navigating through the strata nazionale network. It was very easy to get lost in Italy, but that was all right because the sights were absolutely beautiful. Brenner's Pass is really an awesome place to see. Venice is a little overrated, but nevertheless interesting to visit. I will never forget getting lost along the canal roads, and also waiting for the water buses (vaporettis). Firenze (Florence) is a nice place to visit but very boring for nightlife, or we certainly missed it out on it. (And it is true about the Italian Post, nobody received my postcards from Italy, except for one friend!)

If I plan my next trip to Europe, it definitely will be to the Scandinavian countries. Maybe this late summer or early autumn, I'll go. Depends on the airfares being cheap or not!

gnarlydorkette · 03-09-2005, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuifje75

If I plan my next trip to Europe, it definitely will be to the Scandinavian countries. Maybe this late summer or early autumn, I'll go. Depends on the airfares being cheap or not!

[whispering: go to Finland, Go to Finland go to Finland!]

Liebling:-))) · 03-09-2005, 02:24 AM

Yes, I'm agree with you Kuiji75 that Cologne (Köln) is the worst city. They are nothing but famous church and nice shopping and cafe.

We often stop at Cologne for the coffee break before go anywhere. It's nothing but it's okay to stay there for half day.

03-09-2005, 08:34 AM

@ Liebling: In February, Cologne becomes crazy with the Karneval, so maybe it is the only fun time of the year for Cologne?

@ Gnarlydorkette: I don't know anyone in Finland, LOL, though I used to have a penpal who lived in Jyvasklva (sp.) I think I probably want to see the famous fjords, and a few other things as well. I would need to research more though...

Liebling:-))) · 03-09-2005, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuifje75

@ Liebling: In February, Cologne becomes crazy with the Karneval, so maybe it is the only fun time of the year for Cologne?

Yeah, it's Cologne and Mainz who have a big and mainly crazy carneval once a year in February. It call "Faschingshochburgen". It mean that Cologne and Mainz are one who have BIG carneval than all in whole Germany.

I'm not interesting to try it because it doesnt count me and also long way from my area but use children carneval or at deaf clubs in area to Nuermberg. It's small carneval at each area in the whole Germany except Cologne and Mainz.

sara1981 · 04-16-2005, 02:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ravensteve1961

Best is England the worst is france.

me too!

i went to London,England for first time its so beautiful! because my favorite vacation!

Sara Boyce

03-08-2005, 02:19 AM	#1 (permalink)
Liebling:-))) My 3 darling princesses Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Germany Posts: 27,054	The Best & Worst of Europe The Best and Worst Of Europe—with Apologies to None By Rick Steves Good travel writers should make hard choices and give readers solid opinions. Just so nobody will accuse me of gutlessness, I’ve assembled a pile of strong opinions—my personal feelings after 100 months of European travel. Let’s start with the dullest corner of the British Isles, south Scotland. The area south of Edinburgh is so boring the Romans decided to block it off with Hadrian’s Wall. The wall, near the town of Haltwhistle, is far more intriguing than the area beyond it. Like Venice’s St. Mark’s Square at midnight and Napoleon’s tomb in Paris, this sight covers history buffs with goose bumps. London, York, Bath, and Cambridge are the most interesting cities in England. Belfast, Liverpool, and Glasgow are quirky enough to be called interesting. Dublin is dull, Oxford pales next to Cambridge, and Stratford is little more than Shakespeare’s house—and it’s as dead as he is. The west coast of Ireland (the Dingle Peninsula), Snowdon National Park, and the Windermere Lakes District are the most beautiful natural regions of Great Britain and Ireland, while the York Moors disappoint all creatures great and small. The friendliest people in Europe are the Irish, the Sicilians, and my Norwegian relatives. The meanest are those tourists who refuse to understand the French and the legions of cleaning ladies who toil in Europe’s underground public toilets. The WC ladies, at the least, deserve our patience. Don’t complain about the French postal workers: they’re every bit as cheery, speedy, and multilingual as ours are here in the U.S. (By the way, the fastest way to get a letter home from Italy is to use the Vatican post office or to forget it in your suitcase.) Italy’s island of Capri, the German town of Berchtesgaden, Ireland’s Blarney Stone (kissed by countless tourists to get the “gift of gab”), and the French Riviera in July and August are Europe’s top tourist traps. Extra caution is merited in southwest England, a minefield of tourist traps. The British are masters at milking every conceivable attraction for all it’s worth. Here are some booby traps: the Devil’s Toenail (a rock that looks just like . . . a toenail), Land’s End (pay, pay, pay), and Cornwall’s cloying Clovelly (a one-street town lined with knickknack shops selling the same goodies—like “clotted cream that you can mail home”). But Tintagel’s castle, famous as the legendary birthplace of King Arthur, offers thrilling windswept and wave-beaten ruins. The town of Tintagel does everything in its little power to exploit the profitable Arthurian legend. There’s even a pub in town called the Excali Bar. Sognefjord is Norway’s most spectacular fjord. The Geiranger fjord—while famous as a cruise ship stop—is a disappointment. The most boring countryside is Sweden’s (I am Norwegian and therefore a little prejudiced), although Scandinavia’s best medieval castle is in the Swedish town of Kalmar. Geneva (Switzerland) and Grenoble (France) share the “nice place to live but I wouldn’t want to visit” award. Both are pleasantly situated on a lake—like Buffalo and Cleveland. And both are famous, although name familiarity is a rotten reason to go somewhere. If you want a Swiss city, see Bern, but it’s almost criminal to spend a sunny Swiss day anywhere but high in the Alps. Bordeaux must mean boredom in some ancient language. If I were offered a free trip to that town, I’d stay home and clean the fridge. Connoisseurs visit for the wine, and there’s a wine-tourist information bureau in Bordeaux which, for a price, will bus you out of town into the more interesting wine country nearby. Andorra, a small country in the Pyrenees between France and Spain, is as scenic as any other chunk of those mountains. People from all over Europe flock to Andorra to take advantage of its famous duty-free shopping. As far as Americans are concerned, Andorra is just a big Spanish-speaking Radio Shack. There are no bargains here that you can’t get at home. Enjoy the Pyrenees with less traffic elsewhere. Germany’s famous Black Forest disappoints more people than it excites. If that’s all Germany offered it would be worth seeing, but I’d say the average American visitor who’s seen more than three trees in one place would prefer Germany’s Romantic Road and Bavaria to the east, the Rhine and Mosel country to the north, the Swiss Alps to the south, and France’s Alsace region to the west—all high points that cut the Black Forest down to stumps. Norway’s Stavanger, famous for nearby fjords and its status as an oil boom town, is a large port that’s about as exciting as, well, put it this way: emigrants left it in droves to move to the wilds of Minnesota. Time in western Norway is better spent in and around Bergen. Bucharest, the capital of Romania, has little to offer. Its top-selling postcard is of the Intercontinental Hotel. If you’re heading from eastern Europe to Greece, skip Thessaloníki, which deserves its place in the Bible but doesn’t belong in travel guidebooks. The most worthless opinions are those that judge and compare the merits of airlines and traveler’s checks. They’re all good enough. If you arrive in Europe safely on the day you had hoped to, it was a great flight. And if you lose your traveler’s checks, you deserve a delay. Will somebody please give Karl Malden a money belt? Europe’s most scenic train ride is across south Switzerland from Chur to Martigny. The most scenic boat ride is from Stockholm to Helsinki—countless islands and blondes. Europe’s most exciting country is Italy, although to most, after a week in Italy, Switzerland starts looking better and better. Europe’s most underrated sight is Rome’s ancient seaport Ostia Antica; its most misunderstood wine—Portugal’s vinho verde (green wine); and its most overrated and polluted city is Athens. A hundred years ago, Athens was a sleepy town of 8,000 people with a pile of ruins in its backyard. Today, it’s a giant mix of concrete, smog, noise, tourists, and four million Greeks. See the four major attractions (the Acropolis, Agora, Plaka, and great National Archaeological Museum) and get out to the islands or countryside. The tackiest souvenirs can be found next to Pisa’s tower and in Lourdes. The most intriguing bookstore is the world’s largest secondhand bookstore in Hay-on-Wye in Wales. The best French chateau is Chantilly near Paris. The best look at Gothic is the Saint Chapelle church in Paris. The top two castles are Germany’s Berg Eltz on the Mosel river and Italy’s Reifenstein near the Brenner Pass in the north. Lisbon, Oslo, Stockholm, and Brussels are the most underrated big cities. For romance, it’s Varenna on Italy’s Lake Como. The biggest mistakes that tourists make: packing too much, relying on outdated guidebooks, not wearing a money belt, leaving home with too many hotel reservations, and taking other people’s opinions too seriously. Happy travels! http://www.transitionsabroad.com/pub...f_europe.shtml __________________

03-08-2005, 05:34 AM	#3 (permalink)
Liebling:-))) My 3 darling princesses Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Germany Posts: 27,054	I had been travel Europe and would say that Italy is the best. We travel there dozens of time which it's not far from my area. We are plan to go to Italy for the long weekends on 26th to 29th May. __________________

03-09-2005, 02:24 AM	#8 (permalink)
Liebling:-))) My 3 darling princesses Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Germany Posts: 27,054	Yes, I'm agree with you Kuiji75 that Cologne (Köln) is the worst city. They are nothing but famous church and nice shopping and cafe. We often stop at Cologne for the coffee break before go anywhere. It's nothing but it's okay to stay there for half day. __________________

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03-08-2005, 05:16 AM	#2 (permalink)
ravensteve1961 Banned Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Here Posts: 3,940	Best is England the worst is france.

03-09-2005, 12:32 AM	#6 (permalink)
kuifje75 Guest Posts: n/a	Having visited Europe 5 times, I still miss Germany and Italy the most of all. I lived in Germany for a half year for my studies and travelled to many places in Germany, experiencing different cities and countryside. Above all, I also miss the German Autobahn, with its no-speed-limit-law. Granted, the worst city in Germany to visit was Cologne... so boring! In Italy, I had a lot of fun trying to drive on the autostrade and navigating through the strata nazionale network. It was very easy to get lost in Italy, but that was all right because the sights were absolutely beautiful. Brenner's Pass is really an awesome place to see. Venice is a little overrated, but nevertheless interesting to visit. I will never forget getting lost along the canal roads, and also waiting for the water buses (vaporettis). Firenze (Florence) is a nice place to visit but very boring for nightlife, or we certainly missed it out on it. (And it is true about the Italian Post, nobody received my postcards from Italy, except for one friend!) If I plan my next trip to Europe, it definitely will be to the Scandinavian countries. Maybe this late summer or early autumn, I'll go. Depends on the airfares being cheap or not!

03-09-2005, 08:34 AM	#9 (permalink)
kuifje75 Guest Posts: n/a	@ Liebling: In February, Cologne becomes crazy with the Karneval, so maybe it is the only fun time of the year for Cologne? @ Gnarlydorkette: I don't know anyone in Finland, LOL, though I used to have a penpal who lived in Jyvasklva (sp.) I think I probably want to see the famous fjords, and a few other things as well. I would need to research more though...