Week 5 of my 5-week interrailing trip round Europe

And it’s the end. Can’t quite believe it, but also very happy to be headed home!

Monday

Final full day in Lisbon. Included doing some work (I’m glad I had a few bits of work to during the trip, as it helped show what a digital nomadic life could be like. I definitely felt more balanced when I could do two or three hours’ work and I think I would make sure, on future trips to have a project to work on, though ideally not one with a hard deadline, in case of WiFi problems and the like, so I could balance my days OK.) and riding on the iconic little yellow tram and being in a busy tourist area, and eating ice cream (in a tub, rather than a cone, because it melts too quickly in this heat) having a lovely cold beer on a very hot day. Oh, and of course, more tiles!

Tuesday

Tuesday was predominantly a travel day, with an early start – Lisbon to Entroncamento, Entroncamento to Badajoz and Badajoz to Puertollano. Lovely long train journeys, really, with beautiful views and lots of reading and dozing time. A close call in Entroncamento, when I got the platforms muddled and only just jumped on the train a couple of minutes before it left. Phew! And a conductor who felt I should have a reservation, but also didn’t kick me off or charge me, which was nice, obviously. (Railplanner app says no reservations needed; Badajoz guy at the station, when I was booking other reservations said they’re optional and it’s not busy on a Tuesday, so I didn’t get one, but it would have been free if I had, so probably should have!). Puertollano was a sleeping stop but I did manage to get out to eat some food in a nice little bar, where I would have loved to hang out and chat with friends/family, but didn’t feel like staying for another drink after finishing eating (especially as I only managed half my pizza).

Wednesday

My first mess-up of trains for this trip – I think it was pretty good to have got to Week 5 before making a mistake, to be honest. Got on the wrong train in Ciudad Real, which meant an extra 10 euros on another seat reservation and a split journey, rather than a leisurely four and a half hours from Ciudad Real to Barcelona. Not a big deal, really. I also managed to eat out at a very nice Lebanese restaurant that had loads of vegetarian options.

Thursday

Walked around Barcelona and also rode the metro a bit. Didn’t make it to anything famous, but enjoyed soaking everything up and spotting a bit of street art. Was pretty tired as well, though, and think my body and brain are definitely wanting to get home.

Friday

Very pleasant and comfortable TGV journey from Barcelona to Paris. No issues, no delays, no cancellations (though I believe other trains on the day may have been cancelled or shortened). Didn’t get to the hotel until about seven pm and, even though it wasn’t dark yet, I don’t like arriving places that late, especially places that are such a long way from the station. Staying in a not terribly cheap (I’m guessing because it’s the start of Easter holidays for like the whole of Europe) Ibis Budget on the outskirts of Montmartre. It’s comfortable and breakfast is included, but I’d prefer being a bit closer to ‘stuff’.

Saturday

Did some good Paris wandering, including Montmartre and Sacre-Coeur (one of my favourite spots in Paris to be honest) and then the Latin Quarter, including not going into Shakespeare and Co (queues!!), buying some things from a stall along the banks of the Seine, wandering along the Seine, a lovely lunch in a beautiful little café that, although in the middle of a popular area, didn’t feel touristy, and a leisurely wander to Place de la Bastille, before a metro ride back to the hotel and watching lots of TV on the laptop.

Sunday

Sunday morning was VERY COLD wandering and taking some pics of another famous French landmark (you know the one) and then meeting a friend for lunch a gallery and coffee and cake. Very pleasant afternoon. I made a point of not looking people up while I was travelling, even though my various illustration and pattern design networks mean I do know people (to some extent) in pretty much every city. I did think about it, but decided that I wanted this trip to be all about me exploring and doing my own thing and allowing myself to be entirely me and do entirely what I wanted and not being in social mode at all. But… I’ve explored Paris a lot over the years, and I was also getting a little bit tired of the pace and, actually, the just being me, so it was a bonus when Elise reached out to see if I could fit in meeting up. And I think maybe next time I take a trip like this (which probably wouldn’t be as long or full-on as this one, at least for a few years) I will reach out to contacts where I’m going, because there’s a whole other dimension to chatting to people who actually live in the place and seeing it from their viewpoint. I also, as I think I’ve mentioned already, would stay in places for longer periods, so would have time to do ‘me’, some work, some ‘normal’ touristy culture things and a bit of hanging with friends who live there.

General thoughts

I am typing this Monday morning, before leaving the hotel to walk to the metro to take me to Gare de Nord and the Eurostar to take me to London and then train from London to Stroud and HOME!!! I am really, really looking forward to being home and seeing everyone and getting hugs from those offering them. I am looking forward to being able to work at a proper desk with my giant screen and second screen. To sleeping in my own bed. To having people to talk to (though Chris and I have spoken pretty much every day). To having the garden to go and sit in. To hopefully having the stamina to fairly easily go for my daily walks out to Slad and back and possibly some longer ones along the canal sometimes (I’ve averaged around 12000 steps a day over the past month and have had some days that were close to 30000 steps). To cooking. To seeing my sister and going to the circus. To seeing friends. To spending time with a cat sat on my lap. To getting back to routines and normal life (though it’s the school holidays so routines won’t quite be normal for a couple of weeks). To drawing and painting more (it’s so strange that I haven’t done loads of that while travelling; I really thought I would, but I think perhaps it will all feed into my work somehow).

I think one of the things about travel is that it can remind you what you love about home. And what home means to you. I have loved exploring and loved seeing the different paces of life in different cities and countries. I have loved speaking (even for only brief moments) the languages that I have and attempting those that I’m not brilliant at or don’t speak (really only Amsterdam where that was an issue). I have loved seeing street art and decorative and architectural art of various kinds throughout my travels. I have loved making a point of just exploring and not trying to tick off landmarks and famous things.

I have found that I prefer staying in AirBnB whole flats, even if they are only teeny studio flats, where I can cook and sit on a sofa and at a desk or dinging table, and can wash my clothes. But that these need to be, usually, for longer stays and hotels for the one-night stops en route. I know that I will stay for longer periods in future – at least 3 full days, I would say, and more if a place is well situated for day trips out on local trains. (But make sure to eat out at a local restaurant at least once and stop for a coffee or beer, to ensure that I am putting money into the local economy, because there are obviously ethical issues with this style of accommodation.) I didn’t explore any small towns or villages and would really love to do that in the future.

I think I probably need to suck it up and get a Kindle (or similar) for future trips because it was hard when I ran out of books and had to rely on the small selections on the English-language shelves of local bookshops. And books are heavy! Or maybe come up with other ways to have a good book supply.

I would just take (Simple) soap and not shower gel in order to pack the whole tub of my co-wash. I ran out just over half way though and my hair is really annoyed about it and is probably going to take five weeks to recover and get back to its normality.

Clothingwise, I think I got it mostly right, but I think I would pack a better dress, rather than tunic one I did. And I would make sure to have dress and skirt that could be layered with shirts and jumpers, etc. and perhaps not bother with jeans, as I’m more a dress and skirt person. I was fine with just my walking trainers, though they were a bit hot when it was hitting 28 degrees Celsius in Spain. But I don’t think I’d pack sandals unless I was specifically only going somewhere very warm.

I managed well with the backpack and I had two tote bags for when I needed to carry extra. On train journeys I usually had snacks and drinks in one of the tote bags and on one journey, all the books went in a tote bag because it was hot weather an I had to pack more clothes into the backpack.

I kind of regret not making a decision to pick up a postcard or a fridge magnet (or something like that) in each city, though actually that would have cost quite a bit.

I wish I’d managed at least one stay in a hostel, to experience the different atmosphere. But the private rooms (and I really can’t stay in a dorm for a multitude of reasons) usually cost more than a cheap hotel, so I never did. I will look more closely at this next time and try to make sure to fit at least one hostel stay in.

I would do my utmost to arrive places by around 4pm at the latest, because both times when I arrived around seven I got a bit panicked and worried (especially in Lisbon when it was dark at that point – before the clocks went back and Portugal is an hour earlier the rest of Western Europe). Unless the hotel was VERY close to the station.

But all in all, it was an amazing experience and a very fitting fiftieth birthday present to myself (I am not fifty until October, but this was the best period to fit it in). I have been to some places I really wanted to visit. I have done a lot of train travel. I have seen a variety of countryside and geography. I have been to six countries (and through another three – Belgium, Austria and Monaco – on the train). I have taken tonnes of photos that I will look through and digest and sort later. I think it will be interesting to see what sorts of things caught my eye the most.

I am very happy and lucky to have been able to do this. And I would highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking it sounds good. Happy to answer any questions anyone might have (of course I only have my particular experience to go by, but I am sure there is some useful advice and information I could impart).

Thanks to those of you have followed along in whatever capacity. I’ve enjoyed knowing people were enjoying hearing and seeing about my trip.

See the route and lots of pictures on Find Penguins

A reminder that you can see the whole trip on Find Penguins – you can see a map of where I went and ‘footprints’ with lots of photos and some words and ponderings (some longer than others). You can scroll through the footprints either oldest or newest first (so, now it’s at an end you might want to look through ‘oldest first’ so you can see how the whole trip went. Or you can just look through ‘photos’ only (but then you miss out on my go-with-the-flow, in-the-moment thoughts about that day).