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I didn’t get this all wrapped up by the end of the year, but I think it’ll be pretty close in the whole scheme of things. This will probably be my last post with a significant amount of writing.

When asked about my travels, there are a lot of questions that come up more often than others. Mostly revolving around what I liked the most or the least. Now I’m going to answer those.

Overall favorite place?
Edinburgh. Everything about it just makes me want to go back there. Scotland is a beautiful country with fun people and a rich, proud history. If I ever just want to take time off from American life, it will hopefully be there.

Least favorite place?
Naples. It was dirty, and smelly, and I felt the least safe there.

Favorite lodging?
Hotel Aphrodite in Athens. It just had the best people working there and staying there. The closest runner-up would be Vagabonds in Belfast.

Least favorite lodging?
Supposedly a four star hotel, the HEM Hotel Amsterdam was the nastiest place I have ever stayed in my entire life. The room was covered in cobwebs and grime. I found several dead cockroaches and more than one live spider. Whoever handed out the stars for this place should be fired from whatever job they have and then forced to stay in these rooms. In second to last place is Fabric in Portici. Despite having arguably the best amenities, the attached club was closed (hello, high-season?), the staff were standoffish and the guests were lame. Generator in Berlin was also a disappointment. That city has much better options.

Favorite food?
German food ended up being my favorite, though I never would have guessed that before the trip. It’s all so rich and hearty. Mmmm…

Least favorite food?
England lived up to its reputation for bad food. Everything was bland, and the meat was particularly unappetizing with its “grey colour.”

Favorite beer?
German beer. I have a weakness for their wheat-based infusions. Though Belgian comes in a close second.

Least favorite beer?
Mythos in Greece. If you’ve had any really cheap, bad American beer, then you have a good idea of what it tastes like.

Favorite wine?
The Portici wine straight from Mt. Vesuvius clearly holds the top spot in my mind.

Least favorite wine?
I don’t remember any of the wines I had being particularly bad, actually. But then again, I never really ordered wine outside of a region (like Italy, France, or Spain) where it would be probably taste bad.

Favorite spirit?
Scotch. All of it. Though I seemed to like the ones from Islay slightly more than the others.

Least favorite spirit?
Zivania, the local drink of Cyprus. Not good.

Favorite tourist site?
Pompeii was a surreal, all day experience. This full-sized ancient city definitely takes the cake. But for modern history, the whole of Berlin is a wealth of tangible buildings and locations from the biggest conflict of the last century.

Where did not knowing the language matter the most?
Naples. It seemed like a much lower percentage of the people there knew English, and they were generally more annoyed by me not knowing Italian.

Best surprise?
Happening across the Colosseum in Rome by accident. That was an excellent moment.

Biggest disappointment?
Paris. Popular culture has made it seem like some pinnacle of romanticism, and it doesn’t live up to that ideal.

Other random things?
There is no good Mexican food in Europe.
The Greek Isles and Cyprus have the best beaches.
Public transportation all around Europe is generally better than in America.
Madrid seemed to be the best place for shopping, if you like that sort of thing.
London really does have a lot of “theatres” and a large variety of shows.

There are probably a lot more questions than that, but those are the ones I’ve been asked personally. Hopefully it sheds some light on what I took away from the trip, both the highs and the lows.