Cosmo Madrid

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If you are looking for a quiet time listening to Mozart’s musings on springtime  with a view of the royal palace in the background you might be better off in old Madrid or Huertas. This area is not for the faint hearted but for those of you who feel like an adventure it’s the most exciting multicultural lively and vibrant neighbourhood in the city.

It began as the low lying neighbourhood, both physically and economically. It  was the Jewish area until they were expelled in the 15th century and  became home to the working class with old fashioned country style houses called corralas (corrals) and communal style living. Men had precarious part time jobs while women played a protagonist role cleaning and ironing to make ends meet. The enterprising spirit of these resourceful ladies went so far as to start a clandestine cigarette making business in the abandoned factory on Embajadores street.

It was originally built to manufacture state owned brandy and playing cards but
lay idle after the Napoleonic war in the 19th century. A mix of astute business ambition and survival instinct lead these ladies to claim the basements for their underground enterprise. History has repeated itself recently when the factory lay idle once more and is now being used as a self run social space for art, workshops and interdisciplinary creation known as the tobacco factory, La Tabacalera.

This area has also become a beacon for immigration with the amount of non Spanish doubling that in the rest of the city. With people from South America, Africa, Bangladesh and China, it feels like you have left Madrid behind to enter a multicultural melting pot. For all foodies out there who enjoy amazing curry, delicious Senegalese dishes or moreish Moroccan feasts, this area is a must visit.

See:
Bangladeshi babies, Senegalese sprouts, Moroccan mammies, the playground in this square is like a postcard from It’s a small world after all ride at Disneyland. If it were not for the odd beer can and group of teenagers, everyone would probably break into song. Plaza Lavapies comes alive at night, neighbours bring
their deck chairs down and conquer this patch of public property with gossip
and complaints about the weather and price of rent. An authentic piece of local
Madrid, even though everyone is from a different country.

Even though Madridis completely landlocked, they say the view of the Escuelas Pías ruins resting on the horizon surrounded by blue sky, gives you a maritime feeling. This historic building was once in the heart of barrio de los ninos, the children’s neighbourhood. In this square, Plaza Agustín Lara, there once stood childrens refuge and maternity hospital in the 18th century. The ruins of this former church were connected to a school. Their educational legacy was revived in 2002 after being bombed in the civil war in 1936. Go inside and marvel at the ancient bricks that are now home to a library for the distance learning university. Upstairs there is a terrace with a bar and fantastic views of the sun kissed terracotta roof tiles.

Opposite the Escuelas Pias ruins is one example of a Corrala, the original housing built for country people upon their arrival to the city to work in factories back in the 18th century. The interior of this one on Meson de Paredes street is visible because half of it was bombed during the civil war. It was only restored in the 1980s, and thanks to the restoration we get the chance to imagine communal style living they experienced. With one toilet per floor and spaces ranging from 18-30m2, it’s easy to understand why Madrilenos love going out to socialize.

The Reine Sofia
This modern art museum houses impressive Spanish art from the 20th century and also boasts vast exhibition space dedicated to the most cutting edge contemporary artists. Its wonderful collection of modern art includes paintings by the two most important Spanish artists of the 20th century: Picasso and Dalí. A visit to seeGuernica by Picasso is unmissable.

Our guided tour (internal link) of this museum looks at Spanish artists and their exploration of Modernism. We continue by discussing the invention of film and photography which contributed to the origins of Cubism. We look at Pablo Picasso’s early collage and continue to the wistful portraits of early Dalí. We continue our exploration of Dalí and after he joins the surrealists in Paris
and the dramatic change his work undergoes. Our tour then takes you to the
iconic Guernica by Picasso, painted in only 30 days for the International Fair in Paris in 1937, one year into Spain’s civil war. We finally look at Miró’s painting and a mobile sculpture by Alexander Calder which we compare to another much larger work by him in the beautiful and peaceful garden of the museum.

Food and Drink:

Fresh samosas, spicy curry and mango lassi  for less than 10euro is what keeps these Indian restaurants packed most nights  of the week. The best one is Lavapies Shapla(map), but  don’t tell the others we said that.

Short grain rice, yucca and exotic tastes is what to expect at Baobab, the first
Senegalese restaurant in the area. For an even more authentic experience check  out the second one to open up just down the street. Make sure you’re not a  fussy eater though; sometimes they’re out of what’s on the menu and offer you  the special of the day.

El Granero is the best vegetarian restaurant in the neighbourhood. With a daily menu for 10euro which includes starter main and desert, this homelyeatery is a local favourite.

Culture:

Art: If you’re looking for something more contemporary than the Prado, expect
the unexpected in La Casa Encendida.
This contemporary art exhibition and event space recently hosted artist Anya Gallacio  who included hundreds of rotting strawberries suspended in transparent thread  and a dead crow in their exhibition of ephemeral art. Another gem was their room filled with birds landing on musical instruments to peck at the seeds  scattered for them and in doing so created a spontaneous avian symphony of  sounds. There’s also a fair trade shop and many a film screening or roller  disco to be enjoyed.

Film: For offbeat oddly themed film from all eras check out the Filmoteca. For the modest price of 2euro you can afford to take a chance on any of their many film screenings and almost always come out pleasantly surprised or intrigued. We use the word intrigued in reference to the vintage horror movie theme they just had.

Eco: This is a square Esta es una Plaza, is a simple but forceful declaration which marks this urban allotments triumph over vacant privately owned space. It hasn’t been easy, with the occasional eviction attempt on behalf of the local council, but these neighbours havepersevered and managed to create a small oasis of nature in the big smoke. With  marmalade making afternoons and  apples ripe for the picking, it’s hard to leave  once you venture inside this secret garden.

Nightlife:

Paying 6euro for a great concert is our  kind of bargain. Juglar has a jam packed line up of upcoming talents ready for you to discover,
and mention smugly to your friends who will never have heard of them.

Shop: For all you anarchists out there, the bookshop Traficantes de Sueños offers  books full of anti-capitalist conspiracy theories. Finding it is a challenge,  the last door in what looks like an apartment building corridor. Literary gems  await you however, with self-published books on themes from globalization to the cultural industry. Check out its events calendar for workshops and talks  and while your there don’t forget to check out their fair-trade shop. Believe  us, the chocolate spread alone is worth the visit.

Sleep:

ME MADRID REINA VICTORIA

TRYP Atocha

Hotel medium cortezo

Transport:

Lavapies is connected to the metro, stop Lavapies . For bus routes click here

Sean Kelly, MEP, on travel

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I am currently an MEP for Munster and have been forthe last two years. Prior to that I was in the Institute of Sport in Dublin and served as the executive chairman and prior to that I was the president of the
GAA for three years. Originally, I was a teacher in Killarney for a good number
of years but as you can see I have changed from that background now.

Travelling is problematic. Mainly because you cannot
be certain that things are going to pan out the way you want them to. There are
an awful lot of imponderables when travelling abroad leading to a lot of
flights being delayed. One of these was the volcanic ash cloud. I remember that
was one of the most horrific experiences of my life and I wouldn’t want to go
through it again.

If I had a choice, I would say that my favourite
form of travel would be by train. It’s probably the most relaxing form of
travel but unfortunately the schedule doesn’t always work out. Being an MEP
involves travelling a lot up to Dublin etc. and there’s no direct train
connection with Dublin airport which is problematic for me as I use the airport
a lot.

Driving would be my second choice. I enjoy driving
mostly and I suppose I don’t mind flying either. As long as they’re dependable.
That is the key for me. If they go when they are supposed to go and arrive when
they are supposed to arrive then I’m happy. What happens in between, in terms
of luxuries etc. makes no difference to me whatsoever.

I have had some memorable experiences travelling. I
remember going to Australia with the GAA for the International Rules
competition. All the flights were organised for us. We all travelled in economy
seats but it was pleasant and good fun. I also went to San Diego and Honk Kong
with the family. So certainly I would have enjoyed them.

I’ve had some disasters too. The volcanic ash cloud
was the worst. That was absolutely unbelievable. I spent two days stranded and
trying to get home from Brussels. I got caught everywhere. I went to the
airport in Brussels and the flight was cancelled. Then I went back to the
office and tried to book a flight out of Paris and when I got there the flight
had been cancelled again. So I decided to try and get a train to Calle but I
couldn’t. Eventually I got a train to Lille and then onto Calle. From there I
had to get a car to pick me up and bring me across on the ferry. I had planned
on getting a flight out of Heathrow then but again that was cancelled at
midnight.

So I was after travelling for a long time and then
had to try and get on another ferry to get me to Rosslare. I got there to find
out that I had just missed a train to Dublin by five minutes. Eventually I managed
to get a lift to the Burlington in Dublin and then a taxi to Dublin Airport.
Thankfully the flight went from Dublin and when I landed and sat in my own car
I was the happiest man alive. I understood what independence was about and I
understood what living on an island was about in terms of the restrictions it
can impose on you.

I’ve had some other bad days travelling. Around 2
weeks after the ash cloud trapped me first it got me again. I was on my way to
London, ticket booked and everything, but that was cancelled and I had to
change and make my way to Holyhead instead. I had to queue and wait to get on
but then it turned out that no train was going from Holyhead to London. Thankfully
I met two people who were going to London from Holyhead in a small Jaguar. So
they gave me a lift in the back of the Jag and I never felt bigger in my life.
I felt like a massive man in the back of that Jag. I’ll never forget it.

Another one happened when I was coming home for
Christmas and I got stuck in Frankfurt. We were on our way to the airport and
blizzards came down. We were after making our way through the terminal and just
after buying some duty free and it was announced that the flight was cancelled.
Then we had to go back out and customs accused me of having the duty free
without tax so I went through a huge rigmarole there before they eventually
copped on and saw there was nothing wrong with it. Then we had to queue to get
out of the airport.

So we came back in the morning and went through the
same rigmarole again. There was also some security scare and everyone had to
vacate the airport. I then went back in and after getting myself to the top of
the queue after two hours before the scare I was forced to join the end of the
queue. Eventually we said we weren’t going to have anything to do with it and
decided to go back to Brussels and try get on a flight back there. So we tried
to book a train and had to wait for a couple of hours to get on one and once we
got on one we didn’t even get a seat. We were all bunched in like sardines and
it took us five hours to get to Brussels when it should have only taken three.
We had to change trains to get to the airport and I was 300 yards away from the
airport and the train broke down. So we got out and we had to stand in the
freezing cold until a bus came along to bring us to the airport and we just
managed to catch our flight home to Dublin airport.

I got back to Dublin at 12 that night and I had to
drive home. My wife said don’t drive home because the roads were so bad but I
did anyway. I suppose she was right because the roads coming out of Dublin
weren’t too bad but once I got to Port Laois the roads got worse and worse. I
finally got home at six o’clock in the morning after leaving Dublin at 12.

I must say that I think the state of the Irish
Transport system has improved; no doubt about it. I mean obviously there are
the new motorways which are a huge advantage for drivers. The supply of trains
has improved hugely. I mean you have trains from Cork to Dublin every hour and
there are trains to Kerry every two hours which is great. But there has been a
decline in the regional airports around the country due to funding and routes
being cut etc. which is bad to see.

What I always say is that I want to know when my
flight is going and at what time it gets in and from my experience I have to
say that Ryan Air are the most reliable. Aer Lingus, whilst they are nice to
travel with, are often late. For one reason or another, which might be out of
there control, you can never say with confidence that you will be on time. Ryan
Air has brought competition to the market along with new routes and I think
that once you know their system you can fit into it. But, if you don’t know
their system or fail to book in on-time then they will eat you.

If I was going to give advice to anyone travelling
it would be to check out the details before you travel, especially if you have
connecting flights. You need to look at what terminals you need to go to and
how to get there and how long it takes to get from one to another. Check if you
can walk it or do you need to get a bus or a train there like in Heathrow and
Paris which are both nightmares. Then of course make sure you have your
documents in order. That’s always very important. That would be my advice
anyway.

Interview with Brian Crowley MEP

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I have been a Member of the European Parliament since 1994 for the constituency of Ireland South.  Previously a member of Seanad Éireann, I studied law at university, and was also a singer in a rock band.

My career in Brussels and Strasbourg necessitates a lot of travel, especially air travel.  Travel over the years has become easier but less glamorous with security restrictions and baggage allowances.

As a wheelchair user I require assistance at airports and there aren’t always the same standards or quality of assistance. I have often felt discriminated against; for example an airline refused me boarding a number of times because I would not check in my chair at the check-in desk, (as opposed to letting me give them my chair once I had boarded the plane). Also, some airlines only permit a few special assistance passengers per flight and this rule could mean you may find yourself unable to book a flight even though there are available seats.

The quality of the assistance varies across countries and airports. Of course I might be expected to say this, but the quality of service in Cork, Dublin and Shannon airports is fantastic.  Maybe it’s because they’re smaller, but Schiphol in Amsterdam, (a large airport), is very good, especially for internal transfers.

Charles De Gaulle in Paris is more difficult as it has five separate terminals, spread across a large area. You have to get buses from one terminal to another and it’s not always possible to get on the right bus at the right time; it can be frustrating when under time constraints. For the same reason Heathrow in London can be quite awkward too.

Personally, I find rail travel the most difficult form of travel because assistance is needed to get onto the train even though you would think it easy. Not every train has the facilities or space in the carriage for a wheelchair. Getting someone to take you off the train at your destination doesn’t always work either.  I have used the Eurostar to Brussels occasionally and the train from Amsterdam to Strasbourg too.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

One of the most amazing travel experiences I’ve had was during a trip to Sarajevo in Bosnia.  The special assistance person there was a European Champion Weightlifter. He came up to the plane, lifted me out of my seat, carried me down the steps, and placed me in my chair. Now I’m not small by any means but he was huge. That was one of the funniest things that ever happened.

There are some fantastic places to fly into when travelling. Flying in over the islands off Donegal into Carrickfinn Airport is breathtaking. Flying into Nairobi in Kenya and the Eastern part of Poland on the Russian Border are spectacular too.

My most memorable trip was my first, at 14 years of age, to visit my uncle who was a priest in Manchester.  I was fascinated by flying then and to this day I still am. When I sit in an airport and see planes taking off and landing, I think of the phenomenal technology and human endeavour that make it happen, run on schedule and relatively safely too.

As well as the good trips, there have also been times I’ve hated travelling.  There have been several times I have been stuck in cities and have had to stay in hotels overnight because flights were cancelled or delayed.  When I first started going to Brussels in 1994, I found the special assistance services at each airport difficult and often missed my flights.  But the systems are much more streamlined now.

As I explained earlier travel can be frustrating and tiresome and some airlines can be very pernickety about the things they will and will not allow. You are dependent on them to get you to your destination.

I have never had a real travel disaster, even at the time of the volcanic ash cloud.  I had returned to Ireland the day before the volcano erupted, but some of my colleagues were caught in Brussels for nearly two weeks, so I was lucky on that occasion.  Events like this show you the inability of the human being to control nature and it doesn’t matter how uptight you get, you can’t do anything about it. You just have to wait for the clouds to clear; excuse the pun.

Interview with Paul Murphy MEP

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I am one of three MEP’s in Dublin. I have taken over from Joe Higgins TD of the socialist party since the 1st of April and am the newest member of the European Parliament and the European United Left Group.

My job involves working in Dublin, Brussels and Strasburg. In Dublin I will be based here in Pearse Street. The idea is to assist and meet people who need help in various campaigns, for example, I am meeting with people involved in the stardust campaign later to help them get publicity for their case by putting a petition into Europe.

In Brussels, I attend various committee meetings. An example is last week I attended a meeting on International Trade where I was trying to expose the Pro-European Multi-National nature of European Trade deals at the expense of the developing world. We (the European United Left Group) are fighting for worker’s rights in the developing world.

My job in Brussels involves speaking at these meetings, tabling amendments to various legislative ‘stuff’ that is coming up. I also meet once a month with the European United Left Group engaging in political discussion about various issues, for example, we recently had a discussion about nuclear power in Europe.

I also spend one week a month in Strasburg. This is where the main sessions of the European Parliament takes place where all MEP’s come together. Proposals are discussed and voted on to go onto the European Commission.

My work involves, as you can imagine, a lot of travel. I have at least two flights a week on average. I suppose it’s not very pleasant, and can be extremely stressful. Travelling can be a stressful experience. Yes, you can get used to it. Your tolerance level increases because you just have to do it so often. I have learned to get used to it as I was travelling with Joe (Higgins) for two years around Europe as his political advisor.

I had a pretty bad trip just recently, yesterday in fact. I was on the bus from Strasburg to Frankfurt. The bus got delayed; there was loads of road-works so it took us about four hours to get there instead of two. So I missed my flight; that was ‘great’ and I had to get a flight just this morning, but it was ‘fine’. I mean it wasn’t that bad but it’s just irritating when things like that happen.

Some of the most interesting trips I have been on occurred when I was travelling around Europe to protests. I suppose the first time I did this was during the major protest against the G8 at Gleneagles in Scotland, so that was ‘interesting’. The amount of travelling was vast. I got a flight to ‘somewhere’ and then a bus and stayed in ‘some’ campsite. It wasn’t the wackiest trip but was certainly interesting.

I’ve been to a lot of countries around the world. My mum would have been big into travelling when I was young so I went on lots of holidays with her. My favourite place was the Great Barrier Reef. It’s just beautiful. I went snorkelling which was great but not scuba-diving but I’d like to go Scuba-diving in the future. I’d also like to go inter-railing through Europe but I just don’t have the time.

My favourite form of travel is definitely train. Trains are a very pleasant way to travel. There’s more room, space etc. It gives you a chance to relax. You can relax much more on a train than you can on an airplane or a bus.

With regards to the state of travel in Europe I think that travelling in most of the rest of Europe is significantly better than travelling in Ireland. Travel in Ireland is very under-developed. Public Transport is very under-developed. In Ireland there is emphasis on the building of roads as opposed to the building of significant train-lines. It’s a crazy situation where people have to travel into Dublin from somewhere in the country in order to get back to somewhere that’s not in Dublin. It’s just an incredible situation.

In terms of rail travel on a city wide basis, it is very limited. Yes there is the dart and the Luas but it is not enough whereas in European cities you do have more. In my opinion, in a city wide basis, rail travel is the only way to go. But not like a Luas where you’re sharing space with cars on the road and you’re forced to deal with traffic and traffic lights.

European cities are not perfect but they are significantly better than what we have in Ireland right now. There are problems in Europe too. I was over in Strasburg last week to speak about the development of high speed train lines in Italy, France and Germany. Generally, I am in favour of the development of train lines etc. across Europe; however there are some developments of high speed train networks in the North of Italy and in Stuttgart that are going to go through areas destroying communities and will have a major impact on the environment. These would be prestige projects that are parallel to existing train lines that are pretty much as good. We have a major campaign against it. High speed trains are not the answer to everything!

My understanding of it (high speed train prestige projects) is, and from speaking to the experts is that once rail travel goes over a certain speed it is no longer particularly environmentally friendly. Obviously rail travel is generally much more environmentally friendly than certainly planes and buses. But if the trains do go over a certain speed, then they are going to affect the surrounding areas. As a result of this we are starting to see opposition to these types of developments in France, Italy and Germany.

On the topic of having a possible underground system in Dublin, yes I would like to see one in position. At a minimal lets built Metro North. The arguments for it are number one it creates jobs, it gets people back to work and it helps with the redevelopment of the economy. Number two is that there would be the development of a real public transport system. So I’m in favour of it but the present Government won’t go ahead with it, never mind the development of an underground system.

One of the main arguments against building either Metro North or an underground system is that it will cause destruction in the city etc. but what they really mean by that is the destruction and disruption that will be caused to business in the city and the destruction that would be caused to profits. But we think it’s worth doing and its worth developing an underground system in Dublin. I have lived in Brussels for a number of years now and the difference it makes to the quality of life, to have a decent underground/metro system is just incredible; people’s lives can improve dramatically.

I think in all major cities, which would include Limerick and Cork, a rail system of some sort for the city and intro-city whether it be an underground or metro system or a monorail should be considered. In the short term you need to get more buses on the streets to allow people to use them but it is not a long term solution.

Interrailing – 5 Days On The Tracks

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Europe on Speed

Under starter’s orders 

Lucky me, I was to embark on a 5 day trip across Europe to wherever I fancied, taking me on planes and trains, with my only job being to document my every move. Oh, and did I mention it was all-expenses-paid? Although the excitement hit as soon as I got the go-ahead, I knew that I had to put my head down and be smart about my planning. I decided I would try and pack as much diversity in as possible, without exhausting myself in the process, as the thoughts of  a 5 ft 2 me carrying a rucksack with all my necessities through various cities was the only thing weighing me down (to excuse the pun). With all the excitement  of the prospect of sleeping overnight on a train in a bed and waking up with breakfast in a different country the next morning already giving me butterflies, I got surfing the ole world wide web to start my journey.

Being a European citizen, I knew I could look forward to availing some of the best train facilities in the world that would be streets ahead of anything that budget airlines could offer in terms of bars, restaurants that don’t fleece you, no magnetic force fields to negotiate through at the airport, lots of room for stretching my legs, plenty of bathroom facilities, wireless access, somewhere to comfortably use my laptop and a safe place to store my bags. Oh and not to forget those sleeping facilities, did I mention them? And best of all, no noisy kids or babies disturbing my vital 40 winks thanks to the family zones onboard.

But before I could get any further ahead of myself, I had the slightly nerve-racking task of decided where I would go in my 5-day adventure, as I didn’t want to miss any opportunity of seeing some of the most visited and interesting cities in Europe, or the yet relatively uncrowded Eastern Europe (Famous last words I know). I threw myself into every decent travel forum I could find to seek the expertise of travellers online. With so many popular places to visit on the continent to, I aimed to take a circuitous route to avoid too much backtracking and in to take in as much diversity as possible.

With the consensus that Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam were pretty much the best places to start, I opted for two out of three. A commuter flight to Brussels then a leisurely short hop to Amsterdam and I could do no wrong! And if I opted for a 5 day InterRa pass (EUrail if you’re non-European), I could include one or two overnight trains so as not to waste valuable daytime travelling on trains or paying for hostels/hotels. With sleeping supplements starting from €9 up to €40 depending on sleeping accommodation class (a berth costing around €20-€40), opting for overnight trains seemed to be the more economic option.

Although this might sound a bit obvious, whilst planning your itinerary it’s really useful to use Google maps. (This also doubles up as a great geography learning lesson!) Once I had a rough itinerary planned, I turned to the ever-dependable Bahn website to see if I could fit my travel schedule into a short time frame. Bahn offers the most comprehensive timetable for all European train carriers for free (although you can’t book with them, it is a great planning tool).

One obstacle in using the timetable is the rail carrier abbreviations as you do need some time to figure these out, but once you do, you’re flying it. Bahn also show a variety of options from regional, fast intercity and night trains.

So now, what would be the kindest to my budget?

I had three options; Buy train tickets from national rail providers such as Renfe, Trentalia, SBB or Bahn; Buy train tickets via Rail Europe which although had the quickest and easiest to use website, charged an additional €10-€20 on top of the rail providers tickets; or the InterRail Global Pass 5 days within 10 day period, which proved to be not only was it the kindest to my pocket, but also had extra discounts for major tourist attractions thrown in for good measure.

With all the serious decisions made, I got packing and headed for Europe!

Brussels to Amsterdam

My journey began at Dublin Airport where I boarded a plane for Brussels Chareloi Airport for a cheap and cheerful €20 that would take just over 2 hours. Making the most of the time that I had before the hustle and bustle of travelling through Europe would get underway, I reminded myself firstly that mainland Europe is one hour ahead of Ireland and UK which was crucial to remember in following my itinerary, and secondly that I was flying away from a cold dreary Ireland into temperatures of 27-28 degrees Celsius….bliss! (I was already thankful for air conditioning on public transport!)

Once I arrived outside the Chareloi Airport, I looked up the choices of public transport available to bring me to Bruxelles Midi Station. Seeing as I was on my own, a taxi was out of my budget, and so the most convenient option was to take the bus for €13, which would take an hour. Another option would have been to take a bus to Chareloi Train Station and get a train from there to Brussels Midi Station, which would be free with a rail pass, or €8.70 otherwise.

Brussels Midi Station was a lot smaller than Brussels Central Station, and without any information desk with personnel or assistance, and hardly any staff members working at the station, I soon figured out to buy tickets via ‘Kiosk’ ticket machines.

Intercity trains run directly into Brussels central station every 5-10 minutes, and only took 5-7 minutes to get to my destination. The Intercity train used was only used for short-term journeys so there weren’t any luggage restrictions with bikes/pets also allowed onboard.

Brussels Central gave me the first taste of European decor, as the station was beautifully decorated in marble walls, floors and Romanesque architecture. It was also a good place to get myself freshened up and fed with a nice selection of cafes and food spots, as well as a newsagent. Toilet facilities were available too but for the cost of €0.50, like most European train stations.

I found that queues for ticket information desks were long and moving slowly, so I would advise to buy tickets online or at the ticket machines. And to add to my frustration, Brussels train staff members were on a go-slow strike between 12-2pm which was to delay my train for 45 minutes.

As I waited patiently for the train’s go-ahead, I weighed up the differences between the 2 train services available for passengers when travelling to Amsterdam: Thalys or Intercity trains serviced by Nhispeed.

Thalys is in the more luxurious end of travel – tickets are expensive but the journey itself is half an hour quicker (Thalys takes you to Amsterdam within 2 hours). Although there were major pros in the WiFi and dining services onboard, more comfortable seating, and quicker transport with less stop offs, the economist in me saw the major con in the staggering price between it and the Intercity service, for only a half an hour worth in the difference. Not to mention the compulsory reservation costing between €17 – 27, even with a rail pass.

Yes I decided a life of luxury wasn’t for me, and took the intercity train, which I thought was very reasonably priced and comfortable. Even though there no WiFi or food service aboard, I found myself enjoying the company of like-minded travellers like myself, immersing in fascinating conversations with people who were travelling solo or experienced backpackers. You wouldn’t get those stories on a VIP train!

 

Amsterdam to Rotterdam

And with that I arrived at Amsterdam Central Station, one of the busiest stations in Europe, with 15-18 different train lines running in and out of the station, with ICE, Thalys and City Night Line trains all using this station. Underneath the railways is a big shopping and restaurant complex, with a Tesco-like store, pharmacy, newsagents, cafes, fast food and healthy restaurants.

The station has one main information desk, 24 hr luggage storage area, toilets (with a charge), tourism office and GMK Bank/Travelex for currency exchange. There seemed to be very few employees around, and I did notice that the station isn’t the most wheel-chair friendliest as there are many stair cases onto the platforms, so for any travellers in need of additional assistance, its best to contact beforehand. All tickets have to be bought online or at ticket machines, never onboard, a rule that applies to all railway companies in Europe and is worth remembering.

Stepping outside of Amsterdam Central, I jumped straight into sightseeing duties. The station itself is an impressive Neo-Renaissance building located right next to the IJ waterfront where all the tourist boats are situated. There’s no shortage of buses, bikes rentals, taxis and metro trams to outside of the station, while the Heineken brewery, a small green park, and a bridge crossing to the other side of Amsterdam are all a short walk away. Walking through the bridge, you get a great view of The Sint Nicolaakersk (Church of St. Nicholas), Amsterdam’s finest feat of architecture.

I spent the day walking around, enjoying the scenery, architecture and taking plenty of pictures, and most importantly, indulging in some lunch! Although I only spent 2 and a half hours in Amsterdam, I found that it was just too full of tourists (pot kettle black, I know), which always seems to taint the cultural experience.

I soon made my way back into Amsterdam Central where I was to catch the overnight sleeper City Night train to Prague. There was no information about the overnight train on the TV screen, so I was again left asking information desks and train conductors about platforms and times, all of which told me the train would arrive at Platform 8. After I had befriended a small group of American travellers who were also embarking on Prague, the train arrived at 7pm and we all hopped on.

I was glad I had booked a reclining seat onboard the City Night Line, as they are the most spacious seats you could possibly find on a train, complete with electrical outlets, head and foot rests, fold out tables, individual tables and a coat hanger. Half an hour into our journey, as the onboard train conductor came around to check our tickets, she informed us that this City Night Line service was heading to Rotterdam Central and not Prague! We couldn’t believe it as the staff at Amsterdam Central had ensured us we were getting the right train. Knowing we shouldn’t take our frustration out on the train conductor, she told us to explain our story to the service desk in Rotterdam and hopefully we’d be able to get another service to Prague.

We reached Rotterdam station within an hour, a nearby city to Amsterdam. I enquired about the City Night Line mix-up, but they couldn’t offer me a refund or an exchange as the City Night Line train is a special product of Bahn. They did however provide me with a new alternative route, which would get me back on time with my old itinerary in Munich at 4pm the next day. With no possibility of getting onboard the City Night Line to Prague, my only alternative was to opt for a new route: Rotterdam – Venlo, Venlo – Dusseldorf, Dusseldorf – Munich. This annoyed me and stressed me out as I was afraid of travelling alone, and felt as though I was stranded, but thankfully a nice group of Americans from South Carolina were taking the same route, so I was glad of the company. My sense of relief was short-lived however when I realised I had to cough up €122 for the new alternative route.

As we had a 2 hour wait for the Inter City train to Venlo, Myself and the South Carolinians decided to walk around the city of Rotterdam, the ‘architectural capital’ of the Netherlands. Although the buildings and streets were beautiful, the wait for the train seemed to go on forever.

Back at the station, I had problems buying my ticket to Dusseldorf at the ticket machine, as they wouldn’t accept my visa debit card. So trying my luck at another ticket machine, I found that it would accept coins but not notes, but of course there was no machine available to change my notes for coins! What else could go wrong here!

The train finally departed at 11.20pm and arrived into Venlo, a small city within the south-eastern ridge of Netherlands, at nearly quarter past 1 in the morning. How I longed for those reclining chairs again compared to the deteriorated seats onboard the IC train!

Rotterdam to Zurich

Venlo is a border city between Germany and the Netherlands. Venlo train station is only 10 minutes from the city centre on the pedestrian road. Both German and Dutch ticket machines are available, but International ticket prices are much higher in Dutch ticket machines so it’s always better to buy your tickets in the country you’re travelling in.

With a few hours to spare, the group of Americans and I took a walk around the main shopping streets of the city, but considering it was a Monday night and everywhere was closed, window shopping was about as good as it got. The traditional Dutch-designed brick-stone houses and streets were pleasant to walk through though.

I waited outside Venlo station until 5am to get the ERB style train to Dusseldorf. I couldn’t help but think how afraid I would’ve been stranded on my own at this time of night, if it wasn’t for the Americans! I couldn’t wait to get onboard to get some shuteye, and thankfully I did until we reached Dusseldorf HBF. One of the most modern stations in Germany, Dusseldorf HBF has a big food hall with cafes, restaurants, newsagents, information service desks and loads of ticket machines. At that time of the morning, the platforms were extremely busy with suited and booted folk on their way to work.

At 6am (yes, 6am!), I boarded the ICE train for Numberg, although thankfully in comparison to the last few train journeys, I’d be travelling in style! The ICE train is known as the ‘Bullet Train’ as it’s the fastest train service in Europe. The quality of the seating and service onboard was the best I’d ever experienced – even though they were economy seats, it was the same as being in first class on an airplane. Seating was spacious and comfortable with an attached pillow, electrical outlets under the seats, table space between seats and a handy bin underneath the table…seriously fancy! Free WiFi was available, but the internet connection was quite slow and not the most reliable. Other amenities onboard included business class, small rooms for conference meetings, a café and a mini restaurant. The bistros offered a great variety of food and drink, with snacks, salads, lunch, dinner and desert all between €4-7. Although the majority of passengers onboard the ICE are business travellers, a good variety of beers (€3) and wine (€6) were available for the more happy go lucky traveller. From Numberg HBF to Munich HBF, I jumped on another ICE which would take an hour.

After arriving into Munich just past midday, I had nearly 5 hours to walk around and see what Munich had to offer. Munich HBF station has a large shopping centre, and a great tourist information area. The Bahn service desks were also very helpful to answer any queries about the U-Bahn and S-Bahn, as well as deal with refunds or complaints. The Bahn ticket machines were the most useful to date, as they offered copies of timetables as well as the tickets, and accepted all Euro notes, coins and credit cards. Storage facilities were also available for a €7, as well as toilet and shower facilities. And in case you thought you’d feel a bit lost after leaving the station, never fear, as a huge bike rental area, a street full of hostels and hotels, and a tourist information centre is right on its doorstep.

Throwing my bag in the storage facilities, I took a walk around the Karlsplatz, a street full of designer and high street fashion shops and stalls as well as cafés and restaurants. The city has superbly mixed both new and old pieces of architectures, for example, as you walk down to the Marienplatz Square, a major tourist hotspot, you see historic pieces of the old city gates.

From Munich HBF, I went directly to Zurich via SBB Intercity train. This had to my favourite train journey as the scenery onboard was outstanding. Although the journey lasted a gruelling four and a half hours, looking out the window and seeing the beautiful Swiss countryside and magnificent views of the Alps from the distance made it all worthwhile. With Spacious and comfortable seating, electrical outlets and foldout tables, as well as food trolleys operating every 2 hours, I really couldn’t complain. The train had its own fine dining restaurant, with fancy 3 course meals, lunches and drinks available, but I found it a bit too much of a stretch money-wise and happily stuck with the food trolley.

We finally arrived into Zurich HBF at 10.45pm, right in the city centre, next to the river. Plenty of taxis and tram services are available for passengers outside of the station, although I’d advise to hop on one of the trams instead of the over expensive taxis.

After all that travelling, there was only one thing I wanted more than anything – a bed! I checked in to the Zic Zac Rock Hotel in Marktgasse, the old historic side of the city, and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out like a light. I knew it was best to get as much sleep as I could for the big trip to Barcelona.

Zurich to Barcelona

Despite the negative reviews on Trip Advisor, I thought the Zig Zag Rock Hotel was a great spot for travellers. The staff were extremely friendly and welcoming, and spoke perfect English, great with giving cheesy tourist advice for someone who hadn’t researched Zurich prior to departure. They were also fine that I was checking in an hour late. My room was small and basic, but thankfully very clean. The hotel is located right in the heart of Zurich’s old town and near Lake Limmatquai and the Zurich Bahnofstrasse, and right next door to some cool shops, restaurants and beautiful scenery. Zurich is one of the wealthiest cities in Europe so while €70 seems a bit steep for one night with no breakfast, it was actually the cheapest deal I could find. Lunches and dinners cost an average of CHF 15-20 and drinks CHF 7-10, and try to avoid having to buy shampoo items or clothes in Switzerland as it’s generally double the average price. The scenery and tranquillity of Zurich makes up for it, as it’s simply stunning.

I took a 4-5 hour walk around the city after I checked out of the hostel, to check out the best spots in Zurich. The city was full of men and women around in business suits, which isn’t surprising as Zurich is one of the world’s largest financial centres and home to a large number of banking giants. There were plenty of tram services around to use, and unlike Munich, language wasn’t a barrier as most of the locals speak flute English as well as their native German.

My first stop was Altstadt (which means old town), which lies between the east and west of the Limmat river. A variety of small stores, designer shops (Altstadt is home to some of the richest design labels in the world, such as Prada, D&G and Guggi) and restaurants can be found on the cobblestone streets amongst the some of city’s most significant religious landmarks. Whilst I was walking, I was fascinated to come across a lovely Amish group on tour from Pennsylvania.

I soon spotted the Gross Munster (‘Great Minster’) and Fraumunster, two famous Romanesque –style churches on each side of the river and I spotted St. Peterkirche from a distance, which holds the largest church clock face in the world.

I walked uphill towards the University of Zurich which offered great views of all the famous church landmarks and visited the ‘Zoologisches’ Zoology Museum free of charge. After some good food at a nearby restaurant, I made my way across the river to Bahnhofstrasse to get a quick glimpse of the exclusive shopping avenue, and finally headed into Zurich Hauptbahnhof (HBF), one of the largest train stations in Switzerland that show cases some striking architecture. SBB provides runs daily routes to international destinations such as Austria, Germany, Italy and France by TGV, IntercityExpress and Eurocity. The station has a huge shopping complex, a large authentic Swiss food market with plenty of cafes and restaurants, and the usual luggage storage safes, shower facilities and friendly information service desks. What surprised me was that although they operated 20 tracks they would only state which train was leaving which platform 30 minutes, which left travellers glued to the TV screens for information. After my experience in Prague, there was no way in hell I was going to miss my train for Barcelona.

The journey to Barcelona was to take me on an Elispos train, which departed at 7pm. It’s best to book well in advance if using the Elispos service to ensure the cheapest fares possible, especially as they don’t charge for delivery. I booked the 4 berth ladies cabin, but was a bit disappointed with the size of the cabin, in comparison to what was promised on the website. The cabin was basic and the electricity didn’t even work, and not a lot of luggage room, but complimentary bathrooms kit and drinking water was provided. I shared the room with a kind elderly Spanish lady, and thankfully when the bed berths were pulled down by a service attendant between 9-10pm, I found them to be comfortable with warm blankets and pillows provided. It was difficult to fall asleep as the trains goes in and out of tunnels, and up and down hills, so I would advise to bring ear plugs and sleeping tablets! Train attendants knock on each door at 7.30am, so there are no worries that may you sleep in, as the train arrives into Barcelona de Franca station at 9.45am.

The train trips didn’t end there though as I hopped onto another Renfe train to Barcelona Sants and a metro train to Passaig de Gracia to check into the Centric Point Hostel, which was probably one the best hostels I’ve ever stayed in, with great service and facilities at just €28 a night to share a six bed dorm with some lovely Canadians. The hostel was full of like-minded InterRailing travellers and particularly full of Americans at the time, and as it’s situated on the main shopping street, it’s the perfect spot for tourists and party revellers!

Centric Point Hostels offers complimentary 20 minute internet access and free city tours at 10am. Other amenities included an alcohol bar between 7-10pm, computer and TV area, luggage storage areas and continental breakfast between 8-10am.  Bedrooms were clean, modern and spacious with its own private bathroom and shower facilities.

Instead of walking around Barcelona (because in fairness I’d done enough this past few days!) I treated myself, or more so my legs, to the ‘Hop On/Hop Off Tour of Barcelona’ which luckily stopped right outside my hostel. Tour buses are definitely the best way to see everything that Barcelona has to offer, and at €20 for one-day Adult fare, or €30 for two day’s usage, it was the best investment I had made so far on this InterRail experience.

The ‘Hop On/Hop Off’ bus service offers two routes – east and west, specifically marked with an orange or green colour. The double-decker bus has great panoramic views and complimentary ear pieces for a recorded audio guide in many languages. The bus stops at 13 of the major scenic and tourist attractions, and passengers are welcome to hop on and hop off as often as they like during the bus journey, and use as many as they like during their 1-2 day tour.

My particular journey using the West Route stopped at spectacular sites including Catalunya Park, Gòtic Cathedral, Passeig Colom (monument to Christopher Columbus), Batlló House, Milà House, Sagrada Familia Temple, Museum of the History of Catalonia, Barcelona Beaches, Olympic Port, Miramar Gardens, National Museum of Catalan Art (MNAC) and Poble Espanyo an open-air museum.

Placa Catalunya is a park at the heart of the frontier between the old and modern towns, next to Passeig de Gracia and the famous Rambla streets, and is surrounded by beautiful architecture, old theatres, the Hard Rock Café, living statues and a water fountain. There was a lot of commotion when I was there as there was a mass protest at the Park to highlight the rise of unemployment within the young people of Barcelona.

Bus Into Barcelona

The bus then drove down to Passeig de Colom at the end of the Ramble Street to see the monument to Christopher Colombus and the House of Cervantes where the famous writer Miguael de Cervantes lived. The bus also brought us down to the Old Sailors neighbourhood, a seaside area that was neglected until its renovations for the 1992 Olympic Games. Barcelona beaches are 1000 metres in length and are crystal clear and clear; no surprise that Barcelona has been renowned for having some of the world’s best city beaches.

Although it was hard to drag myself away from the beach, I continued on with my sightseeing. The AGBAR Tower, the 3rd highest building in the city, which was originally inspied by the Sagrada Familia was astonishing. It’s hard to believe how Barcelona could offer such a diverse range of attractions.

My favourite attraction, and probably the favourite of most visitors to Barcelona was The Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Familia, a large Catholic church designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi. The works began in 1882 an still has never been completed. The work carried out by Gaudi before his death, such as the Nativity façade and the crypt, have been included by UNESCO in the World Heritage Site, “Works of Antonio Gaudi”. The temple is one of the city’s main attractions, together with La Pedrera and Case Batlló, both also designed and built by Gaudi.

After I had done all the sightseeing that I possibly could, I headed back to the hostel where I took a rest and had a wash and decided to head back out for a midnight stroll through the streets of La Rambla. The street is full of restaurants, ice cream and tourist stalls and street performers. It was a thoroughly entertaining evening, but after a full week of travelling (and seeing how quick a bottle of beer got to my head!), I decided to head back to bed early to get a good nights sleep before my flight to Dublin.

The next day, I began my journey home by taking the Yellow Underground metro line from Passeig de Gracia to Estacio del Norte bus station. There you will find direct buses to Barcelona’s two Airports that are far out from the city, El Prat and Girona Airports. After a long gruelling but enjoyable few days of travelling, Dublin was my next stop.

Conclusion

Don’t get me wrong, the week was definitely an exciting trip for me, but once I arrived home I was completely and utterly exhausted! My stomach was definitely glad to be back in its resting place in my hometown of Athlone. For future preferences, I would space out the destinations by 2-3 days as you do need to rest whilst travelling so much. I was very satisfied with using train travel as a means of transport overall. Its definitely the most comfortable, stations are always situated in the city centre, at the majority of the time train travel is stress free and enjoyable, and you get to see the landscape of each country out the window as you go by. The main advantages of train travel over flying with cheap airlines is that you don’t have to worry about luggage restrictions and instead of the waiting around and the hour and a half preparation and going through security at the airport before getting on the plane, you can arrive just 20 minutes before departure.

The biggest regret of my journey without a doubt was not booking the tickets well in advance of the journey. It’s crazy how much they rise on a week/day by basis, costing nearly as much as an airline flight. I really can’t say it enough…book early and book online! It’ll make a huge difference to the total cost of your trip.

Saying that, for future train travelling, I would advise other travellers to choose rail passes over train tickets. They may be more expensive but the sole advantage of not being constraint to specific time departures of each city makes it all worthwhile! And speaking from experience here, if you miss a train, at least you won’t have to pay extra for another train, well, maybe €5 for seat reservation at most! And when you’re in a specific city, a lot of the local transport to towns and cities nearby is free for any last minute adventuring, if you’re holding a rail pass.

Sleeping overnight on trains is definitely worthwhile especially if obeying a strict itinerary. It’s best to invest an estimated €25 extra for a sleep berth, as your back would be crippled otherwise and to ensure that nothing would disrupt your rest. Speaking of crippled backs, I will most definitely not be bringing a rucksack with me again for any travel experience. I’d recommend investing in a small light suitcase, as there’s no advantage of carrying a heavy load on your back whilst walking around cities that you’re not familiar with.

Train travel can also be a very sociable form of transport as most of the time you are sharing a table with three other passengers so it’s exceptionally easy to spark up an interesting conversation with fellow travellers. And don’t be weary of making friends or joining other groups of travellers – I was extremely thankful for the group of Americans I met as I was stranded in Venlo!

My itinerary of Amsterdam – Brussels – Dusseldorf – Munich – Zurich – Barcelona is one of the best for travellers who want to enjoy a diverse and interesting 1-2 weeks travel across Europe, as every city in different to the previous one, especially Zurich and Barcelona. If I were to go InterRailing again, I would love to adventure out to Eastern Europe, possibly to my missed visit of Prague and maybe onwards to Krakow, Budapest, Bratislava and Salzburg.

I would also have loved to have spent more time in each city. After a full week of train travelling, I would definitely say that Barcelona was my favourite city, especially because it was the city I spent the most time in. But in saying that, I still didn’t get to see all the attractions like the Gothic Cathedral, Museum of the History of Catalonia, or visit all the museums..and I wouldn’t have said no to spending more time on the beautiful Barcelona beaches!  Zurich was a beautiful spot aswell, but maybe a bit too expensive for an InterRailing traveller like me. In the future, if on a wider budget, I’d love to go to Zermatt, adventure out on the Glacier Express train and enjoy the panoramic views of the western Swiss Alps.

When I got home, I still had two unused tickets – one for Munich – Prague, and one for Munich – Zurich, thanks to that Amsterdam mix up! Thankfully, I did some research on the Bahn website where I learnt that they do provide refunds for unused ticket minus a €15 customer service fee, but that they must be sent to Germany to be refunded.

But through it all – the missed trains, sore feet, sore back, unnecessary spending and bumpy train rides, it was all worth it, as during my short trip I had seen a lot of what Europe had to offer, and experienced all kinds of train travel. So despite my exhaustion, I’d do it all again!