Portugal

After my first visit to Portugal I told myself that this is a country in which I want to come back. Now I consider it one of my standard destinations. Partly because of surfing, partly because of the beauty it contains, and partly because of the warm and good people of this region. Portugal is the pearl of the Pyrenean peninsula, were it's hard to find a small corner that is not overcrowded by tourists. Therefore, Portugal has an adventures and discovering charm, where except of urban centers, you can find medieval castles and places in the local style which exude the spirit of those colonial times. Just a short drive away one can retire to the beautiful and windy coast, where no one is anywhere, where the sun kisses the beach and the waves are living their routine all year round, where the cliffs are like those at the end of the world, and the beach and sand dunes are miles long.

Spain

A morning on the beach I read "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway. One of his most famous novels from the year of 1926, which earned him great fame. The youth these days apparently went insane, and the female audience began to dress in short skirts. At least they say so. Basically, it describes Hemingway’s hedonistic enjoyment in Spain and his perverted love for bullfighting. We passed the Pyrenees, across the Costa Brava, Barcelona to Portugal and the Atlantic coast of Spain to Donostia San Sebastian. The first day in Barcelona we have signed a petition against bullfighting as I believe that it is the most shameful cowardice allowed in the European Union.

Tour de France

I once read an article that described the French and their characteristics. One of the first "facts" was that they were described as grumpy or rude people. I would not call it a typical stereotype of the French, because I have met such friendly people and people who really want to help. Perhaps due to cultural difference or individual experiences this confusion appeared. France has been my already repeatedly assorted travel destination and has become my standard winter snowboarding destination. However, I must admit that it is always good to know an occasional word in French. Trying to use even the occasional word that you know is welcome. This is particularly true for smaller towns where English is not always the best known language. The third thing I remember is that France is a very expensive country. This is partly true, it is very easy to spend the last euro. However, the way of travel and accommodation can definitely help you save some money. We travelled through the heart of France, the capital of Paris, down to the Cote d'Azur, passed it along, and later pulled from the Atlantic to Biaritz, Arcachon, Bordeaux and back to Paris. On our way we cooked ourselves, drank cheap French wine, slept in camps and railway stations, saved a few euros, afforded some occasional luxury, learned some French, etc. Viva la France.

Hellas, Greece

After the unique experience of travelling European countries, I thought that also here the standard Train and Tourist Info operate flawlessly. However, the response from the Train Info Officer on a request for the train departure timetables for Athens, to which he replied, "Mister, call seven one one" and after the repeated request at the Tourist Info and the answer "Mister, call seven one one", after my decision to really call “Seven one one”, and after realizing that this just didn’t work out, we went to Athens on a horribly stinky train which looked more like a tram. Still, we managed to get a few affirmative responses that the train is really going to Athens, and we were sure that we managed to translate the Greek letters on our tickets into the word “Athens”. At one point the train stopped and everyone went out of the train. To our surprise we were not in Athens, but by the end of a parking lot, where we were directed to enter a bus. As everybody went into that bus, we went too. After a while, the bus stopped. Everybody went out of the bus and disappeared. After that the bus disappeared. We were in a village 15 kilometers from Athens.

Italy

"We must continue to go, and just continue, so long as the sky is blue."
The fact is that the Earth is like a book, and those who never travel read only one page. Fortunately, today the traveling has become so easy and often inexpensive, so there are solutions for every budget. In this case, we took advantage of our age and the relatively cheap price and went with InterRail. It is a good choice if you travel with trains. However, some links are resolved alternatively (eg ship Ancona (Italy) - Igumenitsa (Greece)). These are fragments from our neighbor, quite a bit distant, so intriguing, different, and culturally and historically rich country of Italy.