Hyper Eurail Trail

Olympic Stadium, Berlin




Atomium, Brussels




Fisherman's Bastion, Budapest




So in theory it's possible to get maximum usage out of a Eurail pass by visiting a city by day, hopping the night train to a new destination, arriving early in the morning and stowing your stuff in the train station lockers and starting the sight seeing all over again, only somewhere new. There are a few problems with this strategy:

1. Washing (or lack thereof). In Germany and Switzerland train stations there is a facility called McClean, where for a nominal fee you can use the WC, shower and change room. But what if you're not travelling to those countries? You can't shower on the train (although you can attempt to splash yourself with water and hope for the best). I am equipped with scented wipes, perfume and a frame of mind where I've decided that even if I stink, it's not around anyone I know and the people smelling me don't have to hang around me for very long.

2. Regular sleeping hours (or lack thereof). Sometimes the night train leaves at 8:30pm. Sometimes 11:30pm. Sometimes ... well, you get the picture. Sometimes your compartment has beds already set up and no seats, which means that all you can do is go to sleep straight away, lie in your berth awake or stand in the corridor. Sometimes there are seats that convert to beds, but then there's the awkwardness of reaching a consensus with fellow travellers about when to convert (too early? too late?) And then when you cross a boarder, the police often wake you up to check your passport. Last night's reason for lack of sleep was far better -- met some fun guys and hung out at the train bar drinking, talking bullshit and playing cards. But today I'm very, very tired...

3. Fatigue (and much thereor). Trains generally arrive early in the morning and leave after 6pm, so you spend at least a good 12 hours occupying yourself. You get the feel of a city so much better if you walk around it as much as possible, but you get pretty bloody tired too. So yes I'm on a holiday, but continuous sight seeing can be hard work.

4. Food. I like to cook. Eating out all the time is the culinary equivalent of continuous sight seeing.

But on the plus side, whilst you're doing it, you don't notice any of those things (well, maybe the smell) you just get blown away by seeing so much new and cool stuff and it's not until you stop that you realise how much you've been busting your balls (figuratively in my case).

So anyway I've been doing the Hyper Eurail Trail since Sunday (the guys I met on the night train assured me that I didn't stink, despite not showering for four days). Cities I've visited thus far: Budapest (Sunday) Munich, Bamberg, Nuremburg (Monday), Berlin (Tuesday), Brussels, Mons (Wednesday) and have finally come to rest in Barcelona. A bed and a shower and somewhere to relax and do nothing -- bliss!!