Reflecting on Eastern/Central Europe

As I am leaving for Scandinavia tomorrow (from Berlin), here are my thoughts of Eastern/Central Europe which I have visited (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech, Eastern Germany)

1. People behind service desks (older people generally) are really grumpy and it takes a few smiles from me to warm them up. Certainly a communist era left over.

2. Smoking is everywhere. From young kids to the very old -- seems like everybody smokes, in particular Bulgaria and Romania.

3. Men (almost all men) wear earrings...more so in the south - Greece and Bulgaria. Even primary school kids wear earrings across most of the countries I visited so far.

4. Best countries: Bulgaria and Romania (few tourists, great architecture, nicer people, beautiful country side even if quite backwards in time)

5. Most beautiful towns: Sozopol (Bulgaria), Veliko Tarnovo (Bulgaria), Brasov (Romania), Sinaia (Romania), Eger (Hungary), Kutna Hora (Czech)

6. Best foods: Bulgarian salads, Slovak soups, yogurts, wine and beer, sausages in Hungary.

7. Most beautiful people: Thessaloniki, Greece.

8. Biggest disappointments: Prague -- over run by tourists (Budapest too, but to a lesser extent), Berlin Zoo (no signage in English -- seems like it is only for German people)

9. Biggest mistakes: Should have spent more time in Bulgaria along the Black Sea, and also more time in Romania.

10. Best experiences: Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra at the Budapest Opera House, dinner at a stately 1888-building restaurant in Bucharest, cellar hopping in Eger, Hungary.

11. Next places I should visit -- maybe next year: Turkey, Ukraine, Moldova, Croatia, Bosnia, Latvia, Lithuania.

12. Bad experiences: Getting fined US$10 in Budapest Subway because I did not validate my US$0.10 ticket (preyed on me as I was carrying my backpack), Stopped in west Berlin by real nasty German police and demanded to see my passport (several others around me were rounded up). They let me go 10 min later after checking my name in their data base.

 

That's it!! Tomorrow off to Norway heading towards the far north - north of the arctic circle where the midnight sun shines this time of the year.