Summary Observations about Trip

We are home (if you’re reading this). I wrote this one on the plane, in an attempt to cover insights & details I didn’t have time or space for on any given day.

A quick admission: I went with no intention of blogging. I took neither laptop nor portable keyboard. This made it trickier than it needed to be. But both companions insisted I write one, the young one claiming “this is how we remember where we’ve been & what we ate.” She actually called it up twice to remind us of things that happened. 😃 & last night the other one was laughing at my account of the drunk stumbling thru the tram, which she missed. 🙂 that’s rewarding.

What more to say? We have some summary observations after 10 days in Europe: 

• We all agreed Prague was our favorite. The culture is old & impressive, & it’s not too expensive. Lunch Saturday was 1,000 “zlotnys” – or $44. For similar (Italian) fare yday in Zurich, it was $110.

  

  Prague Castle from across the river

• Berlin was our least favorite. Maybe because we were in old East Berlin, it had little charm. It was nice enough, with our favorite restaurant (the Royal Grill last Sunday) & some good museums – both antiquities museums & the modernist gallery were quite good, but we never warmed to it.  Even our flat was the nicest place we stayed in (except for Sat back in Berlin’s hotel), but… None of us really see a need or draw back (I wouldn’t go back to Prague either, btw)
• Central European food is not for us. Given the choice of it or Italian, having had Italian multiple times, we chose Italian. EH wisdom “even mediocre Italian is good.” (Corollary from her: don’t try Mexican food where you can’t get salsa in the grocery store [see Berlin]). We had local cuisine in both Berlin & Prague twice. Lots of sausage, breaded meats (eggplant schnitzel?!) & potato side dishes. Why they aren’t dead of cardio event by 60 is a curiosity.

  

  Goulash w/ potato dumplings

• The German/czech notion of paying for bathrooms is caw-caw. I have a small fortune invested in the one in Prague train station; every museum in Berlin either didn’t have one or charged. The Starbucks in Prague charged! (In fairness, a sign said they’d give customers the coin).  Criminitaly, as they used to say. I guess it fits w/their stereotype of being retentive 🤣
•   I look forward to a real shower. 10 days of hand-held, short things had been annoying
•  Both EH & KH wonder why Europeans (this is true in Britain too) don’t believe in top sheets on beds. Esp in warm temperatures.
•   Washcloths were rare. We wondered what they did instead
•   We never had trouble with people not speaking English. The taxi driver in Berlin the first day & the scheister in Prague the first day, but otherwise, everyone spoke enough English. Maybe except me.   
•  We found the Swiss very friendly. Even the Germans, who don’t have that rep, were friendly (caveat: no one is going to be nice when you’re a total d***f**k. Just sayin’. 🙂 & as for not liking Americans, never encountered any of that. Both Berlin & Prague were crawling w/ Americans – Viking river cruise ship was in Prague the one day.
• Not all airports are the same. Today in Zurich passport control was miles from security, then we did a TSA passport check at the gate. Yesterday in Berlin was a cluster. & it’s a wonderful thing not having to go thru customs from one European country to another. Only the Brits & Americans are crazy abt such things.
• Mass transit is a wonderful thing. We had day passes in all four cities & they worked great. We took trains from Berlin to Dresden, Dresden to Prague, Prague back to Berlin.  Even figured out how to make the Wi-Fi work on 3^rd trip 😃 we wished US had invested in mass transit infrastructure the same way. OC, Americans would rather pay lower taxes & drive cars. Short sighted.
•  Google maps ain’t good at bus stops in these countries. We wondered around last night & never found the stop in Oerlikon we were supposed to get on. There was an alternative. We did the same in Berlin one morning. Trust but verify 🙂

And that's it. It was a long ten/eleven days, but we had a great time, despite pretty much collapsing every late afternoon, then after dinner, every night.  European travel is big on walking (maybe it's true of USA, too, if you don't have a car). Where we go next is very much up in there, so...till next time.