Thoughts on the adventure

 The following post will be mostly extemporaneous thoughts not that all the other posts were similar.  First thing is the airport why is the gate always at the end of the terminal building?  This is especially true if you are wearing your non supporting shoes because they are easy to remove. 

Ibuprofen is unable to be bought in most of Europe but you can buy it in Sweden. Next trip we bring the Costco size bottle.  We had no idea the exercise aka walking  could cause pain. (Knees, ankles, and back not to mention total body aches). 

We totally lucked out with the weather a couple of thunderstorm drenching 1-2 days of rain that is about all the other days were sunny some warm a few others have been hot. Dan only wore his long sleeve shirt 1 or 2 times on the trip. 

Wearing jeans for 3-5 days is perfectly okay if you can’t find a laundromat.  

It is much easier to travel by train no worries about the weight of your bags and liquids are okay and most trains have electricity so phones etc can be charged although internet is not always available.  There is no worry about reading road signs and understanding some of the stop lights in the city if driving 

Pizza is available in every city and for coffee lovers so is Starbucks. On the subject of food. Cruises really are deadly for weight gain   Too many carbs and tasty things to eat and alcohol flows freely. 

Early morning flights should be banned. 

We thought Norway looked a lot like Switzerland a vibrant green of hills and valleys, lots of water. 

There are water closets that take credit cards not all so have local currency. In spite of Dan you need to get local currency!

Wine chocolate and nuts can make a great dinner.  

All hotel rooms are hot. It makes sleeping impossible. Scandinavia rooms are sparse. No place for clothes or luggage let alone for 2 people. Foam mattress should be banned. Why do all hotel rooms give you 2 pillows. 

We won’t be taking any more long trips if we need to carry Dan’s refrigerator with meds. 

Crew for first flight just arrived. The co pilot looks 16. 

In Germany you can’t drive until age 18 but can buy beer at age 16 ( at 14 your parents can order one for you).  

You can always get lost even following phone directions. 

The Eurail Pass with unlimited days was our best investment. We knew we could get anywhere we wanted to go. 

Europe is big on bicycles, every city had them and some cities it made walking dangerous. Electric scooters are the next best thing and just as dangerous.  The other thing is there seems to be benches throughout most cities great for resting and people watching 

Dan is too focused on the news and would look for BBC just to hear English speaking commentators advising of all the ills that have occurred around the world. 

Everyone is looking at their phones all the time.  Verizon has been a pain and it took no less than 5 phone calls to confirm our service  

All bathrooms are 1 floor downstairs and train stations have flights of stairs to get to the correct platform 

Will post this as we are headed to England for 6 hours and perhaps add more later.  It was a great trip overall no major crisis and would do it again