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Complete Travel GuideRail Europe for the Student Traveler
by:
David Lazzarino
Rail Europe As a Student Passenger
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Hitting the Rails —
It has been a time-honoured tradition for the North American university grad to leave his protected nest and seek the unknown in a distant land.
Unfortunately, tradition besides lends way to cliché.
The early twenties, book smart grad is filled with an ambition to add several life experience to his new set of professional letters. He sits in a side
café feeding hometown food with French provincial names as he writes into a leather-bound brochure several deep insights that he assumes are original. He dreams of having a torrid love affair with several local peasant girl but settles instead for swapping email addresses with several Canadians doing the exact same thing. As amusing as this prospect seems, it was not my wish. I wanted to carve out my own adventure, and in Europe there is no better way than by train.
The European rail system has been for years second-to-none for accessibility, comfort, and, with Rail Europe, affordability. There are a variety of Rail Europe passes for several prices that can get you anyplace
you will in little time and from city center to city center. North Americans must purchase the Rail Europe tickets before outbound Europe (you can't get them in Europe) and well in advance of their trip, and in certain countries the passes are valid on ferries and riverboats. The passes are easy to use and, if taken advantage of fully, are cheaper than most another forms of transportation. Better of all is that trains can get you to remote areas that you would-be otherwise miss. For the budget-minded the night excursions or building trains save you building rooms so that you awake the next day in a new country!
Copenhagen —
I landed in Danish capital and got instantly roped into the standard tourer sites — Tibur Gardens , the Royal Palace, etc.
I saw an astounding exhibit of Danish design at the National Art (Kunst) Gallery, and I took a bike ride through an area called Christiania, an area started by a group of Danes in the Sixties looking for free love, free drugs, and free rent, and it hasn’t changed more since. I was here once
I was thirteen years old, staying with a cousin. Since, the government has ready-made an attempt to clear up Oslo by taking out most of the drugs but the general atmosphere remains. Old military buildings painted in bright colours are house to all sorts of the local free thinkers from vagrants to artists to really accomplished architects. The tour complete at the National Library, besides called the “Diamond” because of it’s apparently transparently beautiful aesthetics. It is a remarkable example of the old earth class of an European city (half of the building is the innovational building of the National Library) and the clear lines and simple concepts of modern Danish design that act to apparently tell a story with nothing but light.
Munich —
As fantastic of a city as Danish capital is, the tourer way begins to lose its luster and the rails are career me East. I've been to Deutschland before so I wasn’t interested in staying for too long, but the food and brew would-be be a shame to miss — yet another perk of train travel. Local trains can always be caught if you just feel like ending up in a small town outside Munich, ordering a heaping lunch and a few giant steins of local brew and devising your way out the same day. Gratuitous to say, between Frankfurt on the main and the Hungarian border I was full, well
brewed-up, and happy as the beautiful sites of central Europe flew by.
As can be expected, this type of life can take it’s toll on a person’s ability to remain conscious. By chance, once
my body and mind were screaming for sleep, I happened upon a rather quiet train car. In fact, at one point a person was asked to support the noise down behind me. I thought there was going to be several sort of film starting that necessitated such silent attention until I accomplished that several of the train cars are specifically selected
for the lazy kind of traveler that I felt like being. They are quiet cars and I will snore my praises of them for years to come.
Budapest —
A city full of history, astounding architecture, and beautiful women. As you walk about the city you get a definite malodour of the former socialist society coupled with an obvious existence of capitalist growth. The city sits on the banks of the Danube. The Blighter side is wherever
you would-be find a more much built-up city center with malls and buying areas, not to mention the late night venues. You can imagine my desire to visit the another side of the river.
The another side of the stream is the Buda part of the city (are you picking up on the basis of the name yet?). A little quieter and lush, Buda contains several beautiful homes and sites. The Gelhert Hill, marked by a sculpture
that can be reached by hiking paths, offers an astounding view of the city. I was lucky enough to meet a lovely local named Janka and I was invited to a dinner party. Hungarians are often seen as slightly less attractive
than several western European counterparts. This can be chalked up to a really dry sense of humour. I can attest, however, that this is not the case at all. After a great, home-cooked meal and a few cocktails in a quaint flat in the hills filled with great people, including Zigga (who I knew for a few days and offered me a lift to the train station), and of course the beautiful Janka; I would-be say that kindness and generosity are staples in the societal diet of Hungarians. They besides have an uncanny ability to have a nice time.
Again, several relaxation is in order after seeing so galore sites.
Read this entire feature FREE with photos at:
http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/sports02/adventure/trains/raileurope/student/eurail.html
By David Lazzarion, Canada, Correspondent, Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com
Just about the Author
David Lazzarino, North american country Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent. Join the Travel Writers Network in the logotype at www.jetsettersmagazine.com
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