Travel Des 2011 Europe

In the beginning of December, a web oriented conference was held in Paris, namely Le Web. Given that my schedule was free, done with exams and presentation, I added a couple of days to the stay in Paris and made the return journey go via 4-5 European countries 4-5 countries.

• Route of the trip - Fairly correct, Google maps doesn't support rail transport

Dec. 7th-11th - Paris

• SAS flight landed in Paris, route KRS-OSL-CDG, ~780 NOK (~100 EUR)
• Metro tickets, 10 single trip tickets, 12.50 EUR

Eat and see

Paris, and France in general, is famously known for spectacular food and dining. I've tried to list a few below.

• L'as du Falafel - Excellent falafel, fresh and crispy, good service
• Au pain d'antan - Rated to have the best baguette 2011, excellent small baguettes with cheese and ham
• Sacha Finkelsztajn - East European bakery, lots of interesting pastries, try Pierogi and Burek fromage, close to L'as du Falafel
• Boulanger/Patissier Huré - 21 Rue Rambuteau, great lunch place, bakery with lots of specialties, try chicken with brie-like cheese
• Maubert Mutualite Market - Find the libanese stand in the middle somewhere, try the Formule wrap of different tastes, I tried the sesame paste one, goood

Dec. 11th-12th - Brussels, Bruges

• Thalys express train over to Brussels, super comfortable, power, 90 EUR
• InterCity to Bruges, 10 EUR

Eat

• Moules and fries, a casserole full if cooked moules, typical Belgium dish, first time, tasted great, not chewy, but enough with one time, 21 EUR

Dec. 12th-13th - Luxembourg

• InterCity train to Brussels, InterCity Express connection to Luxembourg, 26 EUR

Eat

• Weihnachtsmarkt, Gromperekichecher, fried potatocakes, 3 pieces, tasted excellent, crispy, 3 EUR
• SushiShop, a medium meny, 18 maki pieces, miso soup, and cucumber salad, self-service, freshly made sushi, maki, sashimi, 13.50 EUR

Dec. 13th-16th - Zürich

• SNCF Corail Express train, lovely frence interior, connection in Bern, 76 EUR

Eat

• Liltl, self-service buffét, first and oldest vegetarian restaurant in Switzerland, 4.5 EUR per 100 gram
• Tidbits, a smaller Liltl, bar and restaurant, 4.2 EUR per 100 gram
• Sprüngli, a breakfast place by the chocolate maker, excellent famous Bircher müesli, 6.5 EUR small bowl

Dec. 16th-20th - Vienna, Krakow

• Swiss RailJet Express train to Vienna, over the Arlberg passge, a quick walk through Vienna waiting for my connection, 248 CHF (~195 EUR)
• Wiener Linien, metro system, 1.8 EUR single journey, 5.70 EUR 24-hour ticket, should've used the latter choice
• Polish Sleepertrain, overnight connection to Krakow, double sleeper cabin, to Krakow, great comfortable beds/bunk, slightly tilted to give a cozy and stable position

Eat

• Glonojad, the best vegetarian restaurant in Krakow, daily specials, self-service by menu, excellent companion salads, 10-15 PLN, tea 5 PLN
• U Babci Maliny, traditional polish food, nice medieval interior, excellent Barscsz z jajkiem, beet soup with eggs, 6.50 PLN
• Polakowski, old traditional polish restaurant, samples available on request, self-service by menu, Zurek with kielbasa sausage is good
• Pierogi 24h, wide selection of pierogi (ravioli) plates, try the Ruskie, 8.20 PLN

Dec. 21th - Torp

• WizzAir back to Norway, arrived laaate but thanks to a crazy polish taxi driver, we manage to get there in time at super speeds, 165 PLN (~37 EUR), placed reservation 1 day before

Gear

I tried to keep the things and equipment to a minimul and only travel with a single single backpack.

Equipment

• 1x Arcteryx Mantis 26 litre packpack
• 1x iPhone 4S, cable, charger
• 1x MacBook Air, charger
• 1x Nikon D5100 DSLR, charger, card-reader - Completely redundant, was superceeded by the excellent camera on the iPhone 4S
• 1x Sandisk USB drive 8 GB
• 1x Kindle 2

Clothing

• 2x Trousers, jeans and grey
• 2x T-shirts, cotton
• 3x Boxers, synthetic
• 4x Socks, wool
• 1x Cotton sleeper

Toiletries

• 1x Toiletries pack
• 1x Toothbrush
• 1x Deodorant
• 2x Cloth zip bags

Misc

• 1x Passport
• 1x Keys
• 2x Apples, Royal Gala