So the OE finally came to an end. The last time I updated this list was in May 2018, when we were guts-deep into our "End-of" travels around Europe after having finished up living in Germany at the end of March. Those travels were supposed to last 4 months and 1 week, ending in NZ. In the event, they lasted only the full 4 months - at the end of July we got some bad news from back in Australia about Sasha's Mum, and jumped on a plane to Adelaide as soon as we could. We only missed out on going to Hawaii, and the time we were going to spend in NZ. There was no question once we got the news - we were heading to Adelaide as soon as we could. In all though, we achieved a lot!
Now is when I would normally give a bit of a reflection on the previous period since the last summary, but since this is the last and final summary, you don't get that yet - that will be a separate post. Which brings us to the travel summary part - like I did for the first 6 months (see here), for months 7-12 (see here), for months 13-18 (see here), for months 19-24 (see here), for months 25-30 (see here) for 30-36 months (see here) and for 37-42.5 months see here.
Visited Countries
- Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide x2, Victor Harbour, Goolwa, Gumeracha)
- Austria (Vienna x2, Salzburg)
- Belgium (Brussels x2, Louvain-a-Neuvre, Leuven, Brugge, Roeselare, Zonnebeke, Passchendaele)
- Bosnia (Sarajevo x2, Mostar x2, Neum)
- Bulgaria (Sofia)
- Canada (Toronto, Niagara)
- Croatia (Zagreb, x2, Dubrovnik x2, Podgora, Split x3, Plitvice Lakes, Stari Grad, Hvar, Krka)
- Czech Republic (Decin, Prague, Kutna Hora)
- Denmark (Vejle, Billund, Copenhagen)
- France (Mulhouse, Strasbourg, Saint Louis, Paris, Versailles, Nice)
- Gibraltar (Gibraltar)
- Greece (Athens, Olympia, Santorini, Paros, Meteora/Kalampaka, Thessaloniki)
- Hungary (Budapest)
- Ireland (Dublin x2, Cork, Cobh, Blarney)
- Isle of Man (Douglas, Laxey, Snaefell, Port Erin, Ramsey)
- Italy (Ancona, Milan x2, Tirano, Bergamo, Lecco, Bellagio, Lenno, Venice, Murano, Burano, Mazzorbo, Pompeii, Ercolano, Sorrento, Amalfi, Positano, Rome, Florence, Pisa, Manarola, Volastra, Corniglia, Riomaggiore, Vernazza, Monterosso)
- Latvia (Riga, Jurmala)
- Liechtenstein (Vaduz)
- Lithuania (Vilnius)
- Luxembourg (Leudelange, Luxembourg City)
- Macedonia (Skopje)
- Malta (Valetta, Sliema, Marsaxlokk, St Peters Pool, Tarxien, Mdina, Blue Lagoon/Comino)
- Monaco (Monaco)
- Montenegro (Budvar, Kotor)
- Norway (Narvik, Tromso, Stokmarknes, Svolvaer, Bronnoysund, Trondheim, Oslo, Flam, Bergen)
- Poland (Szczecin, Wroclaw x2, Warsaw, Wolsztyn, Swinousjcie, Zgorzelec, Krakow, Auschwitz, Wieliczka)
- Portugal (Porto, Douro Valley, Lisbon, Sintra)
- Romania (Bucharest, Brasov)
- Serbia (Belgrade)
- Slovakia (Bratisava)
- Slovenia (Ljubliana, Lake Bled)
- Spain (Islands of Corralejo and Lanzarote, Canary Islands, La Linea de la Concepcion, Algeciras, Ibiza, Seville x2, Madrid, Barcelona)
- Sweden (Stockholm x2, Gavle, Uppsala, Kiruna, Malmo)
- Switzerland (Zurich x5, Romanshorn, Basel x2, Jungfraujoch, Lauterbrunnen, Brig, Chur)
- The Netherlands (Amsterdam, Utrecht, Gouda)
- Turkey (Istanbul, Goreme, Pamukkale, Selcuk/Ephesus, Canakkale, Troy, Gallipoli)
- Ukraine (Kyiv, Chornobyl, Pripyat)
- United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Sweihan, Dubai)
- United States of America (New York, Washington DC, Pentagon City, Niagara Falls, Kalamazoo, Chicago, Alberquerque, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon/Page, Sonoma, Los Angeles, Mojave, Bakersfield, Tehachapi, San Francisco, Mountain View, Half Moon Bay)
- Vatican City (Vatican City)
So I finally got to Rome, and even finally got to the US. Isle of Man had long been a place I'd wanted to go - finally got there. Was there anywhere I would have liked to have gone to but didn't? Yes of course - biggest on the list would be Iceland, and Russia. The smattering of other European countries I didn't manage to visit would also have been nice but always gotta leave something for another time, right? Can't do it all.
None of the above includes the UK or Germany. So lets turn to them now.
VISITED PLACES IN THE UK
- Northern Ireland (Belfast x2, Bushmills, Giant's Causeway)
- Scotland (Inverness x2, Drumnadrochit, Fort William x3, Mallaig, Edinburgh x6, Aviemore, Aberdeen, Glasgow x2, St Andrews, Fort Augustus, Kyle of Lochalsh, Portnalong, Carbost, Portree, Kilt Rock, Flodigarry, Uig, Neist Point, Armadale, Tarskavaig, Falkirk)
- Wales (Swansea, Porthmadog, Portmeirion, Caernarfon, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Pant, Torpantau, Llanberis, Mt Snowdon)
VISITED PLACES IN GERMANY
The Railway Stuff
Excursions - 60009 London-Lincoln-London, UK - 46233 London-Carlisle-London (diesel hauled out of London and via Settle-Carlisle), UK - 35 1097 Dresden-Nossen-Dresden, Germany - Ra 846 Gavle-Uppsala, Sweden - 45407 Fort William-Mallaig-Fort William (Jacobite), UK - No.1 and L150 on London Underground, UK - 76079 Grosmont-Whitby, UK - 03 2155 Berlin-Wosztyn-Berlin, Germany - 0186 Regua-Tua-Regua (Douro Valley), Portugal - 60103 Flying Scotsman London-Oxford-London, UK | Railways - Bluebell Railway, UK - Mid-Hants Railway, UK - Severn Valley Railway, UK x2 - Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, UK - Harz Mountain Railways, Germany x4 - Weisseritztalbahn, Germany - Great Central Railway, UK - Didcot Railway Centre, UK - Kasbachtalbahn, Germany - Tyseley Locomotive Works, UK - Ffestiniog Railway, UK - Welsh Highland Railway, UK - Brecon Mountain Railway, UK - North Yorkshire Moors Railway, UK - SteamRanger Railway, Australia - Wolsztyn Steam Parade, Poland - Strathspey Railway, UK - Snowdon Mountain Railway, UK - Isle of Man Steam Railway, UK - Snaefell Mountain Railway, UK - Manx Electric Railway, UK - Roaring Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge Railroad, USA | Other trains of note that I have ridden - ICE High Speed Train, Germany xM - Eurostar x3, UK/France/Belgium - HST/IC125 xM, UK - IC225/Class 91 xM, UK - Virgin Pendolino tilting train, UK xM - Javelin High Speed Train, UK - London Underground xM - Docklands Light Railway xM - Swedish X2000 HST - DB Sleeper Train, Germany - Caledonian Sleeper Train, UK - AVE High Speed Train, Spain - Glacier Express, Switzerland - Bernina Express, Switzerland - Jungfrau Mountain Railway, Switzerland - Berlin U-Bahn Cabrio - Paris Metro, France - Flam Railway, Norway - Wuppertal Suspension Railway, Germany - Cross Country/Virgin Voyager train, UK - Macedonian Sleeper Train, FYROM/Serbia - Italo High Speed Train, Italy - FrecciaRossa High Speed Train, Italy - Mail Rail, London UK - New York Metro, USA - Go Train, Canada - Amtrak Southwest Chief Superliner train, USA | Railway-related Museums Visited: - National Railway Museum, York, UK x2 - DB Museum, Nuremberg, Germany - Cite du Train, Mulhouse, France - London Transport Museum, UK (and their Acton depot) - Science Museum, London xM - Thinktank Birmingham, UK - DB Museum Koblenz, Germany - Swedish Railway Museum, Gavle - Trainworld, Belgium - Deutches Technik Museum, Berlin x2 -Meiningen Railway Workshops, Germany - National Railway Museum, Adelaide, Australia - Dutch Railway Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands - Science & Technology Museum, Milan, Italy - Deutches Museum Verkehrszentrum, Germany - Slovenian Railway Museum, Ljubljana, Slovenia - Toronto Railway Museum, Canada - National Museum of American History, USA |
The Two Trips Per Month Aim
Summing Up
There was a smattering of countries I didn't get to visit in Europe, and just outside. When I went over to do my OE, my aim was never to try and visit all the European countries, and that wasn't the goal by the end either. But we got close, with just a handful not visited and it almost seems a shame we didn't manage to complete the whole lot. They will be there for another time, at least I hope - you never know and rumours abound that Russia are looking to absorb Belarus in a new over-arching Federation. Could be a slightly different Europe I visit the next time I'm there. On that, only time will tell. I am also a bit gutted I never managed to get to go to Africa at all - either Morocco, or Egypt, nor visit countries such as Jordan or even Israel. They will all be for another trip, another day.
Some countries got covered more comprehensively than others, some had more trips than others. I'll do a separate post where I look a bit more at each country and how I found it a bit later. But one thing which is worth mentioning from the statistics here, is the Most Visited City. It has always irked me that Zurich held this status for so long, because as nice as Zurich is, its not a favourite city of mine - it lacks a lot of depth and character I feel. Munich coming up and joining it as first-equal, with 5 visits apiece was also funny because Munich in many respects is not dissimilar to Zurich - I like Munich better than Zurich, but it is a city that while very photogenic also lacks character outside of Oktoberfest and outside of Oktoberfest, there is not many reasons to go visit it in my opinion. Both cities gained their status by being more hubs to enter and exit from, and in the last summary post I mentioned I didn't expect any other contenders to boot them out of first equal status. I did expect somewhere to join them in a 3-way tie for the top. However I am happy to say that this other place actually did boot both out of top place and take the crown for itself - and that was Edinburgh. This was because in our last visit to the UK, we actually did Edinburgh twice - we flew there, picked up the rental car and then headed off (enough to satisfy The Rules), and we came back and stayed a few days after Skye. This gives a grand total of 6 visits - and so it takes the crown!
There is also potentially a case to say that leaving Edinburgh to go to Glasgow for Flight of the Conchords and then coming back to Edinburgh constitutes enough to count Edinburgh as being visited 7 times rather than 6 - however I feel the claim is a bit tenuous and is not one I wish to claim. I feel Edinburgh is a much more deserving holder of the Most Visited City title also. London and Berlin don't count because we lived there, though we did visit London quite a few times after moving to Berlin. Enough times to rival Edinburgh after moving to Berlin? Not quite - a total of 5 visits, including the two we did during the End-of travels. But London's kind of cheating so I don't count it. Either way - Edinburgh is on top.
And that brings this particular post to a close, with the list of stats. A few more posts to follow, though!