Europe Trip 2013: More Than 15 Cities in 6 Countries For a Month

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

I went to Germany on my first visit to Europe in 2011. Two years later, also in Spring I came back there. My trip was started in Germany. I arrived at Frankfurt International Airport and continued to Dresden by ICE. It took about 5 hours to get to Dresden. ICE is a high speed train operated by Deutsche Bahn. My sister lives in Dresden, I brought all things from my mom for her, you know.. Asian mom! I stayed with her for 2 nights, I dropped my big luggage there, packed my bag lightly, and started the journey.

Liege in my Belgium is my next destination. I took a train from Dresden to Frankfurt am Main, continued to Colonge (Köln), Aachen, and then cross to the border. I arrived at Liege in the afternoon, a friend of mine Lise, picked me up at the train station. I stayed at her place for 3 days, she even cooked for me and showed me around the city. Liege waffle is the best I ever had in my life. One more reason for me to go back there, Lise and her family. I also made a day trip from Liege to Maastricht in Netherland, it's about 30 minutes away by train.

I continued my trip to Offenburg, a city in west of Germany close to the border to France. Strasbourg is my next destination, it's only half hour away from Offenburg. My host Joel and his friend took me to Gegenbach, a small town close to Offenburg. It's not on my list but Gegenbach is very beautiful, if you adore old buildings like I do, you'll love this small town. I also meet Sampada, she's from India but stayed in Annecy, France. She showed me around Strasbourg, I feel so lucky to have her with me, she speaks French fluently, and one thing I won't forget she loves waffle with nutella.

Gegenbach, Germany

It's Neuschwanstein Castle, the place that I really wanted to see. I came a long train ride from Offenburg to Augsburg, my next stop. I stayed in Augsburg for 2 nights, on my second day I made my day trip to the castle. You can read more about the castle, here. I love being in Germany, it's clean, safe, and well-organized country. I leaved Germany for Italy, I took a train from Munich (it's 2 hours away from Augsburg) to Bologna and continue to Pisa with local train. Italy is totally different than Germany, it's not as clean and organized as Germany. But well, it's Italy, the place that I always special to me. It's not only about the famous Italian food, it's a good feeling hearing "Buon Giorno" in the morning and saying "Ciao" to greet the shop keepers or even strangers.

Pisa is more than the leaning tower, it's the an attractive city with it's students that are the majority of the inhabitants. Pisa University is popular in Italy, no wonder that students from other region come to study here. It's a touristy place, but it's also a city of youngsters where they party like crazy. On weekend, the main road is filled with the students. The traffic was very bad, well you better leave the car and walk. Pisa is a small city and very walk-able. During my stay in Pisa I also made a day trip to Cinque Terre, a coastal village in Liguria region. I really enjoyed my stay in Pisa. I know that 5 days is not enough for me to learn more about the culture and the locals, but I still have 3 days to enjoy Italy. Venezia, it's how Italians called Venice. One of the most famous city in Italy, located in Veneto region. Venice is a very touristy place, it's not that I avoid the crowd but sometimes I feel like I want to stay in not a tourist destination. Padova (in Italiano: Padua), a city (also in Veneto region) that is just 30 minutes away from Venice, 

Ciao Italia, saying good bye to gelato and hello Döner! Going back to Germany, it's Nuremberg my next destination home for the famous Nurnberger Bratwurst. My host said it was the worst spring in past 10 years in Nuremberg, can you imagine it's 6 degrees at noon? Well it was not good, but it didn't make me stay inside. Nuremberg has a lot to explore, from old buildings which I adore to the mouthwatering Germany delicacy.

Three weeks passed quickly, but my journey didn't stop here. I came back to Dresden and then continue to Prague. It took about 2 hours from Dresden to Prague by bus. I stayed with my lovely hosts Kamila and Ondra for 3 days, they went to Indonesia just a week after my visit. Prague is a very beautiful city, yes it's filled with tourists and crowded. But I don't mind to come back there because it's pretty, and of course I love the food.

I still have few more days before going back to Indonesia. Of course I did my quality time with my sister, shopping along Prager Strasse and had some Swedish meatball at IKEA. But, it didn't stop there, I made a day trip, caught the train early in the morning to Berlin, continued to Leipzig in the afternoon, and went back to Dresden. Finally, it's time to go home, the ICE train took me from Dresden to Frankfurt am Main flughafen (airport), 5 hours train ride was tiring but this trip is too wonderful to be compared with my exhaustion.

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