Good day.!

So on the last day of my trip through Europe, 
we find that we're not even in Amsterdam, where we're
supposed to be departing from. We have an early
afternoon flight, and we decide to spend the morning
in Antwerp, Belgium.  I really can't say much about
Antwerp.  It's a city.  It's the diamond capital, but
I'm not a diamond person.  The main square is pretty
nice, with a lavish fountain you can walk into, and
there's a lot of charm in the architecture.  But I
literally got tired of it in the morning I spent
there, because as I said, it's just a typical small
city.  I should have hit Brussels, but it wasn't
exactly on the way, and I might have killed too much
time there.

I guess I'm really accustomed to train travel, or
really want to see everything to pull off Antwerp the
day of my flight.  I actually arrive in Amsterdam 5
minutes before boarding!

So, that's the last part about my trip.  It was a
great adventure, and I'm already planning for Eastern
Europe: Austria, Eastern Germany, Turkey, Greece,
Czech Republic, etc.

Some good notes for future travellers:

I survived the trip without paying $16 per load of
laundry!  This just took a lot of patience.  I washed
my clothes at every possible opportunity.  Most places
wouldn't let me hang clothes out the window, which
made things difficult.  Of course in the hot cities, I
had to wash more often.  

Thankfully, I never spent a day where I had to
creatively re-use my underwear (backwards, inside-out,
inside-out-backwards, etc. :)  ).  I saw disposable
underwear in the Europack store, and I suppose that's
not a bad idea for days when you unexpectedly run out
of clean underwear.

Due to the drastic changes in weather, zip-off pants
were a good idea. A warm sweater is a must, and
waterproof jacket to double up for colder temperatures
as well as rain.

By taking night trains, I also never ended up having
to crash at an expensive hotel - always a hostel or
something similar (and also continental breakfasts.
ugh.).  I get to arrive early in the morning and grab
a spot in the hostel.  I'm still a little sketchy
about travelling around Spain on a night train.  I
also never paid for a bed on a train, but I advise for
travellers going from big city to big city, the train
might be crowded, and can be uncomfortable if you
don't get a bed.  This was the case for me when I
travelled from Frankfurt to Paris.

Good hostel lists are in the Let's Go Europe book, but
there are even more by going to the information at the
train station.  And staying in a small nearby town for
popular places (like Mestre for Venice) is
recommended.

I also never had to spend a night in the train station
or streets.  I saw some travellers in Florence camped
outside the station.  I'm guessing they were really
budgeted or couldn't find a hostel.

Most Valuable Item:  Compass.  This was so useful and
time saving when trying to find which way to go from
one destination to another, when combined with a map. 
Pretty useful in Venice too when none of the street
are labelled.

Hostel sheets are good too.  I didn't use them at any
hostel other than in Paris, but they're good for night
trains.  Otherwise, it's not needed.  Every place had
fresh sheets.  Sleeping bags are not needed unless you
plan to camp.

Money belts are a must.  Pickpocketing is quite a
problem for all travellers anywhere, and money belts
are pretty secure.  Just head to the local dollar
store and pick one up.  I also got my compass and 13
function swiss army knife there.  Yeah, a dollar seems
pretty cheap for such a knife, and the knife's
corkscrew did break after two uses, but the only thing
really needed is a portable knife, scissors, fork, and
spoon.

Also, whatever you don't need to bring, don't.  I
thought bringing some small electronic gadgets for
boring train rides would be needed.  But I rarely
spent my nights on trains, and didn't use my CD
player.  My portable chess set and sketchbook was what
I worked on whenever I was on the train too.  By
minimizing on stuff, I kept my pack light, and the $30
Wal-mart camping backpack was good enough.  

At the end of the trip, when I started buying
souvenirs, I invested in a foldable trolley, which
really helped.  I still think for Western Europe, a
backpack that doubles as a trolley is optimal.  I
would go for those pricey backpacks if I was headed
off to Eastern Europe.  And I would keep a portable
trolley around just in case conditions are better than
I expected.

I also lightened the load by not bringing dress shoes
or dress clothes.  Given the styles today, a nice pair
of dark zipoffs (like non-cotton), and dark walking
shoes with treads (I wore these Lugz shoes throughout)
were suffice to get me into clubs ... I brought dark
shoelaces in case... and the shoe's treads were good
enough to hike the mountains in Switzerland.   
Sandals have to be brought, for beaches, and
especially dirty hostel showers.  Still, new shoes
shouldn't be purchased just before the trip.  I did,
and even had Dr. Scholl insoles in, and my feet still
suffered for the first few weeks.

A country shouldn't be judged by it's capitals or main
cities - it could lead to a misconception.  For
example, Geneva was pretty lame, but the Swiss Alps
were amazing; Amsterdam makes Holland seem like some
free-willed party zone, but the rest of the country is
pretty tame.  I know the party factor is important for
some travellers, but to optimize on the European
experience, the countryside should be visited.  
The student card really gets savings over in Europe. 
If I go again, I definitely have to obtain one,
whether I'm a student or not.

Language-wise, I guess German would have been useful
to learn, because I didn't feel English is popular
there, and the language itself doesn't have much
similarity to other languages. 

Once again: Check the rates before cashing traveller's
cheques, and don't cash at hostels!

When I get my scanner working, I'll put up some of my
paintings and sketches!

Feel free to ask or give me any travel advice!

Jesse