The Many Adventures of Christine: My very first trip alone...

In May of 2004, I graduated from college and thought a trip to Europe on my own would be a great idea! So I booked a flight to Salzburg, Austria, via Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After a 5 hour layover in Amsterdam and a short flight, I arrived in Salzburg. Then had to find my way to the downtown and then to my hotel. Needless to say, it was exhausting and caused me to decide that this traveling on my own was not such a great idea. Probably not a wise choice to pick a country where English is not really the first language! I spent three full days in Salzburg and saw a lot of Mozart, Sound of Music and European buildings.

From Salzburg, I took the train to Prague, Czech Republic. The minute we crossed from Austria to the Czech Republic you could see the difference. The houses were more run down and some looked like small sheds. Not the cute Alpine homes that lined the route in Austria. The towns we rode through were dirtier. I finally arrived in Prague and took a cab ride (ridiculously expensive) to my hotel. I was supposed to spend several days in Prague, but had arranged to fly out the next day and cut the trip short.

Looking back, I have decided that I would love to go again and would be much more prepared to deal with layovers and lack of sleep. The Amsterdam airport has a hotel that you can get rooms by the hour (not just an Amsterdam thing) and you can also take tours from the airport to the Anne Frank House. Definitely should have done that. Salzburg was so nice. The city was clean, the people were friendly and the scenery was amazing! The hills really are alive with the sound of music! The little bit that I saw of Prague was a bit scarier. There was graffiti, which I did not see any of in Salzburg, and the streets weren't as inviting. I think I would be able to do it now, but I wasn't ready in 2004. All that being said, I was a big wimp and gave up too easily. But it was a learning experience and one that I won't be repeating when I have such a great opportunity to experience a different country and culture!