Summer Trip 2010

My summer trip was over yesterday. This time I have visited “the edge of Europe” where I had never been and it costs a lot if I took a trip from Tokyo. I reckon that the “edge” would mean countries that are not a member of the European Union, have not adopted the Euro currency, or the recognition of their independence is in question. I think that their geographical locations are definitely Europe. They are really far from Tokyo and there are no direct flights from Tokyo (except Copenhagen), thus I could take advantage of living in Europe at the moment. I thought the following things concerning the travel route the day before the departure of 28.07.

• Week 1: the eastern Ukraine, where I had not been;
  
• Week 2: Moldova and Transylvania, where I had wanted to visit for years;
  
• Week 3: the former Yugoslav countries and Albania, especially Macedonia and Albania where I had not been;
  
• Week 4: the Nordic countries, where a weekend trip to Oslo in July was really impressive;
  

After all, the countries I have visited this time are following;

• Week 1: Ukraine
  
• Week 2: Moldova and Romania
  
• Week 3: Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, and Italy
  
• Week 4: Iceland, Denmark, and Sweden
  

If you recognise Transnitria and Kosovo as an independent state, you can put on the list although Kosovo is more internationally recognised.

There are some principles to be mentioned. These are substantial essence of my trip.

• to get on the train as many and as long as possible, especially overnight trains;
  
• no bookings except for flights that make the travel route flexible;
  
• an Italian sea port Trieste, where my peer reviewing paper in Groningen was written on the region, should be a must-visit place;
  
• to walk as much as possible in order to experience the size of cities;
  
• to be number and price sensitive in order to recognise the economic development;
  
• to enjoy the local food;
  

Taking the above into account, the route was drawn on the following pic. The total 11700 Km.

The trip itself was great and I totally enjoyed the entire journey. One thing I have to feel a sense of regret is that the duration of my stay in the Nordic countries. I was supposed to travel one more week, but my intern boss offered to join a workshop in the end of August. Thus I had to shorten my stay in Denmark and Sweden. I Perhaps, I have to visit the next time.

I would like to post something about this travel later if I have time.