I was chastised in the office today by a much better blogger than me for not having updated my blog recently, so here goes. Since my last proper update, over a month ago, lots has happened. I crossed Europe by train, then did it all again to get back, discovered the Edinburgh Festival, and started a politics blog.
My trip to Greece was like most long trips: there was a lot to enjoy, but most of it was sitting on trains (or rather, lying, as I used sleepers and couchettes for large parts of it), feeling bored. The trip was a little unusual, in that I was travelling with a friend from Brussel for the first few days, then I set off on my own for the remainder. It was interesting to see the different characters of all the cities I passed through. Praha felt like a faded jewel; Ljubljana had the same vibe that Edinburgh has, clearly something to do with being the capital of a small country; Zagreb was the first really ‘different’ city that I reached. It took a little while to get used to it, but once I had, it grew on me. Sofia was one of the best cities which I visited. I didn’t actually spend a lot of time exploring Sofia, instead I settled into the brilliant Hostel Mostel for a break from my holiday. There is only so much walking around cities looking at tourist sights that I can manage. After Sofia, I had one last comfortable sleeper train, before becoming acquainted with ΟΣΕ, the Greek state train operator. I say acquainted, really though, that didn’t happen until my return journey. From Thessaloniki to Athens, I had to use a coach thanks to a railway strike. I did get to use rail-based public transport in Athens though, with the Metro to Pireus. A quick overnight ship down to Crete brought me to that little corner of England in Crete that is my grandparent’s house. I’m not ashamed to say that the first thing I did when I arrived was to make a proper British cup of tea, and watch BBC World News.
The trip back was supposed to be more direct. With a very nice ship up to Pireus (if only Stena Line would take note of how ANEK Lines run their ships), I arrived in Athens ready for a comfortable and fast InterCity train to Thessaloniki, then a sleeper to Sofia. The man in the ticket office at Athens Larissa Station distinctly uttered the words “No, no. Free train to Thessaloniki for InterRail tickets”. Having heard this, I got on the train, then at Thiva (no, you probably haven’t heard of it, it’s in the middle of nowhere) I was kicked off the train, and had to spend four hours in the company of a few stray dogs, and a soldier bound for the capital. When a train I was allowed to use did finally arrive, I had to spend another four hours sitting in the luggage rack thanks to there being no seating reservation system in place. I truly felt like I was back in the UK. It worked out in the end though, and I managed to make a connection onto a sleeper train to Sofia. Hostel Mostel were kind enough to let me spend the day in their common room, and use the showers for free (after a full day travelling, and an overnight train, that was an urgent requirement). Mostel even provided me with free pasta and beer!
Then the ‘long’ bit of the journey began. A sleeper from Sofia to Beograd, then theoretically a day train from Beograd to Wien, with a sleeper from Wien to Köln, and the Thalys to Brussel, then another Thalys to Paris. Unfortunately, I forgot to factor in that sleepers usually arrive a couple of hours later than scheduled, so as we were pulling into Beograd, the train to Wien was pulling out. A 140 km/h taxi ride up to Novi Sad sorted things out though, and I was only slightly ripped off by the driver. The remarkable thing about the train to Wien was the catering. This may not sound remarkable to any non-UK readers of this, but imagine being served freshly prepared food on a real plate, by a waiter, at a table with a table-cloth on it! Astonishing. Why can’t this be commonplace in the UK too?!
I had a brief stopover in Brussel to buy a European flag, then it was onto Paris for a couple of nights rest, and a day being a hyper-tourist. Hyper-tourism is probably a product of my upbringing in Edinburgh, tourism’s second city in the UK. What you have to do is make a list of all the tourist sights in the city, so the Marais, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Montmatre, Bastille, and La Defense. Then plot a route, using the metro system and an all day ticket, so that you can visit each one, and spend roughly five minutes there to take some photos. Now I know that this isn’t perhaps the best way to ‘experience’ a place, but with only one day to hand, it seemed like a good idea.
The last leg of my trip was filled with all the obstacles that occur in travel as you get nearer to the UK. Long check-in lines for Eurostar, pointless border controls (please UK Government, sign up to Schengen), delayed trains, crampt conditions, and the biggest annoyance: tiny overhead luggage racks. Seriously, I got all the way across Europe and back, and on every train I used, my suitcase went in the overhead luggage rack. Only in the UK can I not fit it up there.
So that was my trip. I made a lot of friends, thought I lost one for a while, saw a lot of places, and travelled a very long way.
Click to see a Flickr Collection of my trip photos 
