Goodbye Europe, Hello New York

Back in London after a month of travelling around Europe. I'm not sure if I was an annoying Yank or annoying Aussie, probably a little of both.

But here is a quick wrap of my travels through Europe, including weekend breaks while I was working in England:

Top 10 cities: (criteria includes nice looking buildings, friendly locals, interesting history, good public transport, and quality of kebabs)

1. London
People in London seem to complain about living in London, but I like it. The mix of cultures here is huge - you can find communities representing all corners of world, especially Commonwealth nations. The pace of life is quick here - the 4 months I have stayed here have flown by. People are always moving - moving houses, changing jobs, jumping on public transport. It's easy to see why so many people come here, there are a plethora of opportunities if you're keen. The atrocious quality of the kebabs here is appalling, but it's not enough to lose its top ranking.

2. Berlin
This city makes me want to speak German. Rebuilding from the past at such a rapid rate, it's amazing to watch, I could see changes from when I was there for the World Cup (that was only 4 months ago). Beautiful mix of modern architecture, older buildings, and memorials of the past. Cool nightspots restaurants that aren't pretentious are everywhere. It's got an eye on the future, but keeps the sad parts of the past from becoming too distant. And far and away the best kebabs in world so far (though I hear Greece do good work with their gyros)!

3. Barcelona
To be honest, I didn't really do as much sightseeing as other places, but had the greatest time there. But from what I saw, it was breathtaking. The architecture is really unique, unlike anything else I've ever seen. The food and drink were great. It's still pretty grimy in many areas, but it has a great party atmosphere day and night, everyone seems to be in a good mood. Definitely want to go back to see more of Barcelona & the rest of Spain!

4. Edinburgh
This city charmed the pants off me. I was there during Halloween, very spooky streets. The friendliest of people, but the nuttiest of accents. People have such manners (they queue at the bus stop, not barge in like in London). People normally neglect Scotland, but I think it's great. Such a vibrant (and bloody) history, and such a proud nation. Aye, Scotland's grand.

The rest:

5. Paris

6. Gothenburg

7. Dublin

8. Cinque Terre

9. Munich

10. Prague

Honorable mention: Amsterdam, Glasgow, Vienna, Florence, Venice, Rome

Best kebab:
Berlin - absolutely brilliant. Other cities do similar ones (Munich, Vienna, Rome) but they were the first (and the cheapest). They don't cut the bread straight through, they leave the back (like a pita with Turkish bread), and stuff it with greasy goodness.

Honorable Mention - Paris, simply because they came up with the ingenious idea of the chips INSIDE the kebab! Fantastic.

Favorite things done:

• 2 World Cup games - the 2nd game was an adventure, I think I slept 3 hrs in 2 days
• Party in a bomb bunker in Prague
• Drinking in Barcelona - I will probably not surpass that 5 day bender ever again
• The little Italian town of Orvieto, which sits on a mountain - one of the highlights of Italy
• Getting lost in the streets and canals of Venice
• The entire 3-day tour of Scotland. Brilliant!

Least favorite things done:

• Slept at the airports of Pisa (outside in the cold) and Glasgow
• Paying to use the toilets (especially when you have to go)
• Having to skip smaller towns on the Busabout circuit (Salzburg, Cesky Krumlov)
• Trying to get a regional train ticket in Prague to get to the "bone church". Got to be the most unhelpful, unfriendly situation was ever in. Felt like I was in the middle of an episode of the Amazing Race.

I thought my travels were long, but it seemed like everyone else was travelling for 6 months or something. But then again, now that I think about it, I'm really travelling for a year. Well for someone who used to working 2 jobs at once, a month of not working feels really lazy.

What an amazing time. I saw so much, but I feel like I have so much more to see. I really only had a chance to see the larger cities in Western Europe, next up are the smaller cities and Eastern Europe. But that will have to happen on another trip, it's off to the Big Apple...

DN