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Inter Rail Around EuropeOn summer 2003 I took my holidays during the month of July. A couple of friends and I decided that we wanted to go somewhere far away (we thought we would not probably have such a long vacation period again, so we had to make the best of it!). Our first idea was to fly to Australia and to rent a van there and to drive along the east coast, from north- the Great Barrier Reef- to south- Adelaide , visiting Brisbane , Sidney , Canberra and Melbourne . However the plane ticket was very expensive, none of us was brave enough to drive a van and, moreover, the average temperature in July in Australia is 10ºC. Our next bet was Canada . The plan was similar to the original one but we would only rent a car and we would sleep in the cosy hostels in the national parks crossing the country. That was when SARS appeared. The illness spread to half of the world and we realised it would be better not to leave Europe . On the first of July we bought our Interrail pass and we took a plane to Munich , where we began our incredible journey by train through Central and Eastern Europe . This pass is a train ticket which enables you to take as many trains as you want in a twenty day period or a month, depending on how many country zones you have bought. In Munich there was not much to do as it kept raining all the time, so the three of us ended with a copy of the recently released "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix " which we carried until the end of our journey (and it is not what I would call a light book!) We then crossed the border with Austria and our first stop there was Innsbruck , hiking the hills where Sisi and Franz Joseph supposedly fell in love with. Afterwards Salzburg , where my friend had the time of her life as the fan number one she is of the film "The sound of Music", and at last Vienna ! Only a three hour journey separated each of these cities so we regularly took the train in the morning and arrived to the next city at noon . In most of the central train stations there were tourist information points where they provided accommodation. We stayed in each city as long as we wanted, which normally was no more than 24 hours! We were young and impatient and the world was too big to waste time in the same place! Our next stop was Prague , oh beautiful Prague ! The most incredible city in the world! From there we took a night train to Budapest which took eight hours. We had to pay a plus for the sleeping wagon but it was cheaper than the youth hostels where we slept. In Hungary we spent some days in the Lake Balaton region, the most popular tourist resort for Hungarians. There were no youth hostels in that area but we had no problems finding private accommodation, although we had some trouble communicating as hardly anybody spoke English, French, German or Spanish. We went then to Slovenia , we visited the capital, the Karst region with its huge and deep caves and a beautiful lake called Bohinsko Jezero which has become my favourite place in the world for its beauty, peace, and charm and for all the things you can do there (cycling, canoeing...) Our Interrail pass also included Croatia, but in that country there are nearly no trains - the railways have not yet been rebuilt after the devastation of war -, so we went from north to south along the west coast by boat (some ferry companies give discounts to the Interrail pass holders). The Dalmatian coast is worth a visit- Trogir, Hvar, Korkula...-, there are thousand of islets you can reach by watertaxi and spend the day there, the whole place only for you and your companion! In Dubrovnik (south Croatia ) we took a ferry which crossed to Bari , in Italy , and from there we took another night train to Venice . A beautiful city but crowded with tourists and where it was really hot that summer! We had problems to find a place to sleep and we ended up in a convent, sharing a room with thirty other girls and having to be in bed, with lights off, at 10.00 p.m. Let's say it was... an experience! From Venice to Milan , our last stop, and from there we took the plane home, Majorca (a beautiful spot in the Mediterranean !). Those four weeks were the most amazing of my life, seeing so many cities, traditions and ways of life in such a short time. The journeys by train were never boring or too long (plus we always had Harry Potter!) and we met lots of different people. I recommend everybody to live this experience at least once in life.
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