Europe Train Challenge – 26 Countries In 9 Weeks: This week has been a small marathon, with us visiting and filming in 4 countries during the week.

We happened to do a little mis-planning a few months back and added too many countries in the same week :S – by the time we had realized our mistake it was already too late.

However, this would be a challenge within the challenge – again, pushing our boundaries of what we thought was possible.

Countries This Week: Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany

So the week started in Vienna, the beautiful, clean Vienna which to me reminds me of yummy cup cakes. :p

Some places are almost too pretty and perfect, like the huge Schönbrunn Palace and park with its perfectly cut lawn.

I could almost see the women walking around the park in the poofy, fluffy 18th century dresses – for me just like cup-cakes.

The first impression we got of Prague was how both me and Nathan who usually count ourselves quite tall (Nathan with 6’3 and me at 5’9) ended up somewhere on the middle of the scale here – people were generally very tall, and some guys were just gigantic!

It was a beautiful town to stroll around in, and while walking up the hill to the castle district we were suddenly surrounded by fruit trees and thick forest, and  surprisingly, not a single tourist around.

Most tourists seemed to go on the so called “free” tours, so even though the city was packed with tourists, they were all quite organized in groups and the city didn’t feel overcrowded.

Prague is a city where many people let themselves go, try the “green fairy” and drink half liter beer pints from dusk til dawn.

With the friendly outspoken people there I can see why so many people go to Prague.

Warsaw was a sober reminder of what had happened during the WWII, it was an interesting stop on the trip, and just like in Sarajevo, it gave us insight and started many interesting conversations.

Being reminded of the cruelty done to these people made us really appreciate our life and inspired us to live it to the fullest.

But it was also a great example of how a city can turn things around again.

From having been completely destroyed they started over building the city, and rebuilt the old town to look the way it did before the war – stunning.

It truly lives up to its nickname ”The Phoenix City”…

Berlin continued with the history of the WWII and the Cold War, and seeing the Berlin wall was a highlight.

I also loved the cool vibe the city had, with all its funky cafes and pubs.

I would have liked to explore more of the alternative culture there, but we didn’t have the time.

However, Berlin is Berlin, a place you will most certainly cross paths with again specially with those awesome flights to Hanover you can find from around Europe arriving only 2 hours away from Berlin.

Next week we’re heading north to Copenhagen and Oslo!