Eurail
That’s a Wrap!

The grand Eurail train adventure across Europe is done. Complete. Finished. Finito.  Our last train pass was used to travel from Seville to Malaga, which is where we are now.  We didn’t really know what to expect of Malaga, but it is beautiful.  We’re enjoying the temps in the low 80’s and fantastic sea breezes.  Malaga, it’s where the desert meets the sea.

We traveled for a total of eights weeks with Eurail.  We were on the move and we moved fast from one destination to the next with the occasional respite in between, such as our two-week stop in picturesque Ljubljana.

Eurail

Two weeks of blissful living in Ljubljana.

Our Eurail Itinerary

We landed in Lisbon on June 29, then traveled to Lagos where we spent eight days basking in the warmth of the sun before we returned to Lisbon and boarded a flight to Brussels.  And, that’s where the grand adventure began.  Nine countries and fourteen destinations in eight weeks.  Whew!

Here’s a quick recap of our Eurail itinerary and a bit of reflection from each destination:

  1. Brussels:  La Grand Place in the heart of the historic center and 1€ waffles!
  2. Berlin:  The Berlin Wall East Side Gallery.
  3. Dresden:  The complete reconstruction of a city destroyed by war and the Green Vault Museum.
  4. Vienna:  A lovely city to roam but the highlight was a day trip to the Melk Abbey.
  5. Budapest:  The stifling heat wave, the historic synagogue and the shoe memorial.
  6. Zagreb:  The border crossing.
  7. Ljubljana:  Two weeks of blissful living in Ljubljana.
  8. Salzburg: The majestic mountains, Lake Monseed & The Sound of Music.
  9. Basel:  Expensive!
  10. Dijon:  A week long respite in an utterly charming city and riding bikes through the Burgundy vineyards.
  11. Lyon:  Poor Lyon, we didn’t give you much of a chance, but Murphy’s Law ruled.
  12. Montpellier:  An unplanned delight with one of the best meals we had on the trip.
  13. Sevilla:  Hot!  Real Alcazar and the Mosque of Cordoba, two outstanding lessons in history.
  14. Malaga:  Where the desert meets the Mediterranean Sea.  Tapas, Sangria and sea breezes.
The Perfect Antidote

Sometimes, endings are bittersweet.  We had ourselves quite the adventure but when we boarded that last train bound for Malaga, we were ready to be done.  We traveled far faster than we normally would and we experienced more than we can even remember at this point, but we are a bit road weary.  This time in Malaga is the perfect antidote.

Back to Portugal

What’s next?  After a few more days of strolling the beach, drinking Sangria and eating our weight in tapas, we’re heading back to Portugal. We’ve booked our tickets to Porto where we plan to unpack our bags for a while.  We need to see if we can work our way through the process of securing our Portugal residency.  It’s the next step in our little expat experiment.  We’ve hit a few snags in the process so we’re not quite sure how it’s all going to come together, if at all, but either way we are definitely looking forward to being back in Porto; one of our favorite cities.

Porto, one of our favorite cities.

Our thanks to all of you who traveled with us in spirit, encouraged us on and shared in our discoveries.  We hope you’ll stay with us as we journey back to Portugal and beyond, because we have so many stories still to share.  While we were traveling we couldn’t begin to keep up. As a result we’ve got a queue full of drafts waiting to be edited and published.  The next few months will be filled with stories, opportunities and I’m sure there will be a few surprises along the way as well.  Because you know what I always say, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

 

Our train travel was sponsored by Eurail:

 

 

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