This month was something different. At the very start of the month I finished work and immediately went travelling around Europe. I had interrailled in 2000, but had lots of places that I still wanted to go, so I took the opportunity to see some of them this summer. Eventually I plan to put both trips (2000 and 2026) up on to the blog with specific entries for each day of the journey, as I kept a journal for both. In fact I wrote the latter in the back of the first one, so it was an interesting comparison of how things have changed. The most obvious elements were the current reliance on a mobile phone. In 2000 I had a Nokia but barely mentioned it. Now the phone is the ticket, music, camera, television, email etc. It makes power and electricity quite a concern. Then there is the Euro. That wasn’t around when I travelled before, which was a big difference. And the camera being on the phone meant there is no longer a film camera, which was expensive and a lot more uncertain.
I won’t post a load of photos here as I will save them for the separate blog posts. There’s simply too much detail to fit into one post here. Here’s a panoramic view of the Danube in Bratislava though:
Ultimately I visited the following cities in sixteen days: Brussels, Amsterdam, Warsaw, Bratislava, Cologne, Munich, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Belgrade, Mostar and Sarajevo. Obviously it is hard to do any of them any justice with such short stays but the purpose was really to get a sense of a city and a vibe, almost as a taster to see if I’d love to revisit.
The journey meant that there was quite a bit of disruption to my regular hobbies. Hardly any music and although I was reading, I didn’t manage to finish the book (I tackled Moby Dick, so not a fast read). I watched some short films ready for a new year in work, and also lots of football because of the World Cup. I got tonnes of exercise but ropey sleep. I sometimes ate well, sometimes not. Such is the nature of travel. I am really glad that I did it but am so tired now! I may do some more adventuring in August, but not sure yet, as I also need to recover.
WATCHED: Unfinished Business, Sarajevo Safari, The Crush, Do I Have To Take Care of Everything?, 27, Letter To A Pig, Une Soeur, Trumpets In The Sky, As It Was, Ash
