Last Sunday I arrived home from a three week backpacking trip through Europe. It was the trip I always wanted to take and it had some really good moments and some bad moments. But experiencing life in an intensified way is one of the points of traveling. So here is a short overview, I will expand on each place in the future as well as add more of my photos.

I started out the day before Good Friday and flew into East Midlands Airport. I spent the night in the Ryanair side of the terminal, not something I wouldrecommend. I flew into Rome early in the morning. I spent that night in Rome and the next day before taking an evening train to Florence. Easter Sunday and the next day I was in Florence. It was pretty rainy throughout this first part of my trip.

After Florence I spent three nights in Vernazza in the Cinque Terre (pictures in my photo gallery). The weather was nice here and the landscape really reminded me of home. After hiking through all five of the towns and exploring the area I went to Florence again to catch a night train to Munich.

I had two days in Munich, the first was used for the city itself and the second to go down to the Austrian border for Neuschwanstein Castle and the Bavarian Alps. I really enjoyed both days here as the weather was finally clear after rain through Italy. Following Munich I went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber for a few days, a good city but I think I stayed half a day too long. I finished off Germany by going to the Rhine River valley and staying in a castle hostel in Bacharach. I did not like this part because I got food poisoning and was essentially in bed for two days. Being sick did save money though.

After Germany I went to Switzerland which I thoroughly enjoyed, Lauternbrunnen was my home base and the lovely Valley Hostel. I hiked around both sides of the valley, in the valley and for a day I went to the CERN open day near Geneva. I had perfect weather with clear days and a little bit of fresh snow blanketing the landscape.

I finished off the trip with Amsterdam and Brugge (Belgium). Amsterdam itself was quite busy after Switzerland and I did not like my hostel at all, though I think this is a symptom of Amsterdam and not the hostel itself. For a day trip I visited the Keukenhof Tulip garden near Haarlem, the flowers were really beautiful. The last two days were spent in Brugge essentially lounging about the city because I was ready to go home at this point.

Now I am in the process of planning a week long trip to Ireland for the week starting May 3rd. I just need to figure out things like how to get there and where to go. I think ferries will be the best way to get there from Scotland. And my current sights list starts with Belfast, Giant's Causeway (and the Antrim Coast), Dublin and the DinglePeninsula. I will probably then take a ferry from Cork to England and a train back to Scotland.