After working for close to 4 years and saving enough, I thought it about time to take that long awaited road trip through Europe. Having a close friend staying in Holland made it even easier. Booked my tickets in advance to get a good deal, planned the route, booking.com and Airbnb were our online travel partner and I was all set to take on Europe!
I spent the first three days exploring Holland, cycling through the Dutch country side, walking past windmills and touring the famous red light streets while sipping on cans of Heineken.
We started our road trip from Dordrecht in Holland, hit the Auto Bahn and drove right into Germany to spend the night at the famous Mainz – Frankfurt. The next day we left for the quaint little town of Heidelberg located on the Rhine-Neckar River. We spent the evening feasting our eyes on the beauty of the river, the old wooden bridge and the famous Heidelberger Schloss (castle). For travel lovers, Heidelberg is still one of those off beat travel paths surrounded by delicious food and gorgeous views. From there we drove to Baden Baden famous for Friedrich spa and sauna, (where I had my first experience of a unisex sauna) and home to the Black Forest and the famous cuckoo clocks. For dinner I indulged myself with a dish of wild hare, schnitzels and fresh salad.
From the Black Forest we drove through the Alps to reach beautiful Lucerne, the lake city of Switzerland. Tired from continuous driving, we spent the evening walking by the lake, watching the ducks float by. Next morning we drove to Englebert to explore Mt. Titlis the snow covered peak at 10000 feet. After standing in a long queue we took the cable car ride up to the top and spent a few hours playing in the snow and walking through the ice caves, That afternoon we drove to Zurich were I picked up a pair of beautiful Swarovski earrings, before leaving for my favourite the Sound of Music town – Salzburg in Austria.
I instantly feel in love with the old world charm, the horse carriages, the castles, the blue waters of Lake Gilligan and the melodious music from the land of Mozart. Salzburg remains my favourite town in Europe. Its Baroque architecture coupled with friendly crowd had me wanting to come back for more. From Austria we drove to Munich, the Bavarian capital of South Germany. Coming from the quaint Salzburg, Munich was bustling with life and energy, street artists and hookers, table top dances and strip clubs, beer and sausages over flowing. From Munich we drove through the Romantic Road taking in as much as my 16GB memory card could – the hills and rivers, forests and castles, colorful houses with pointy roof tops as we made our way to Nuremberg made famous for the Nazi trials and then Aachen and finally back home to Dordrecht .
Totally exhausted after 15 days on the road, but reeling with excitement and a feeling of adventure, I returned home thrilled, hoping that the euphoria of this trip lasts till I can afford my next one. Little then did I realise that the seeds of being a travel junkie were slowly taking root.
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