My first trip to Europe July 2006

Wayne had always wanted to take me to Europe, a continent he had already traveled to 4 times. In early 2006 we purchased our tickets for travel from Denver to London. We decided to use Eurail to see Paris, Barcelona, and Rome in addition to London. We made all of our hotel reservations using Hotels.com.
We left in the middle of July. We first explored London. We saw the Tower Bridge, the British Museum, Harrod's department store, the Clock Tower, and Buckingham Palace. We spent a lot of time in Hyde Park, which was only a few blocks from our hotel. Our hotel could have been better; it was very small and somehow we got a room with bunk beds and no a/c. It was very hot and I had a hard time adjusting to the time. We had a good meal at a pub, but otherwise ate at Pizza Hut and grocery stores. We used the London Underground a lot, and also walked. We spent about three days in London, then too a train to Paris where we connected to another train to Barcelona. We slept on the overnight train and arrived in Barcelona early the next day.

Barcelona
We had done a little bit of research on Barcelona, but we really had no idea of what to expect. We were extremely impressed with the city. We got off the train and walked around Barcelona: The city was clean, palm trees and cute green parrots were everywhere. We found a pastry shop for breakfast, and then walked to the Sagrada Familia, a church that has been in construction for the last 99 years, and is still not finished. Then we walked down la Rambla, a pedestrian street filled with mimes, street performers, a market, and lots of people. Then we found our hotel and checked in. The hotel was very nice. In the evening we wandered from our hotel and happened to go to the beautiful lighted fountains in front of the national palace. The next day, we walked up Mont Juic, a high hill overlooking the city. we went through the castle on top, and then made our way to the beach. The beach was crowded, but we found enough room to sit down and enjoy the sea. Our train to Italy left that evening, so we walked to the train station and boarded our overnight train.

Italy
We arrived in Milan in the morning, and took a train to Pisa. We stopped for a few hours to see the pretty town of Pisa, and see the leaning tower. Then we took the train to Florence, and on to Rome. In the evening, we found our very nice hotel, and relaxed for the night.
In Rome we walked around the city, saw the sights, and eat plenty of gelato. We saw the Coloseum, the Palentine Hill, the Roman Forum, Trajans Tower, Circus Maximus, the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, Campo Fiori, the Baths of Diocletian, and St. Peters Square. We loved Rome. The weather was hot, but we really enjoyed the city. By the time we left, it was beginning to feel like home. We really liked the Rick Steves travel book we used for Rome. After about three days in Rome, we got on our last overnight train: to Paris.

Paris
In Paris we walked around the city, saw the sights, and eat plenty of baguettes and croissants. One highlight in Paris was meeting Christina Roudy for crepes in the Latin Quarter. Christina had met Wayne years ago when he was in Paris. Another highlight was when I found 40 euros in the chair of the hotel room!
When we left Paris, we traveled back to London for one night before our flight back home. On our last evening in London. We found a Chinese restaurant to celebrate our last night in Europe. The food was fantastic. We did pay 15 pounds for water, but it was the best Chinese food we had ever had.

Reflections
Likes: Nice cities full of history.
Dislikes: We didn't like the trains...We thought they were expensive - not only did we have to pay for the tickets, but also had to pay for a 'reservation.' On the other hand it was nice to travel while we slept saving us time and money.
Ease of travel on 1-10 scale (1=easy, 10=hard): 7
Would we go back? y/n Yes - All of the cities we visited are worth a second trip. Especially Barcelona, since we were there only one night.
We learned: Nice hotels are great when you can afford them.