The where, the when

So now that I've introduced the purpose of the site, I suppose it might help to give a sense of the trip that it's about (though in all fairness that really should have come first). Here's the deal:

I'll be leaving DC for Amsterdam on May 10, on a flight that lasts overnight and gets there early-ish in the AM, though by that time I'll be so jet-lagged that the notion of "early" will likely be irrelevant--I'll just feel like overall crap. {Digression: Are any other members of my broad readership as susceptible to jet lag as I am? One of the more recent times I flew transatlantically, I arrived in Madrid and--despite having slept on the plane--felt so tired that I ended up falling asleep on a table in the cafeteria of the Reina Sofia museum and had to be forcibly wakened several hours later by the irritable Spanish guard who was closing the building. I had drooled all over my arm and, after I was thrown out, wandered the streets of Madrid in a foggy, sleep-impoverished haze. My stupor was such that I couldn't face up to trying out my Spanish at a real restaurant and instead opted for a Subway that turned out to be the meeting point for all the overweight, floridly-dressed American tourists in Madrid at the time. I'm not sure if it was that or the jet lag that caused me to lose my appetite.}

Right--so, arrive Amsterdam May 11, then spend a few days in the Netherlands with a friend in the Hague, battling jet-lag and the drooly stupor it causes, and possibly visiting Amsterdam in the daytime (only half-hour away by train) if energy permits. (I've been to the Hague and, truth be told, there's just not that much to do there.) How long I stay in the Netherlands depends on whether I want to go Arnhem on Sunday for a game between the local team there (Vitesse) and Ajax. Neither team will have much to play for by that late in the season, and Ajax lost their one American player (John O'Brien), so the interest level is not terribly high; but on the other hand, the risk of bloody hooligan violence is always an attraction. It's a close call.

Next, I'll be going from Amsterdam to Berlin by train, where I'll be staying for a couple weeks taking a language course and--I've just learned--staying in a flat in the Mitte district (with some other folks, though it's not a "homestay" as such, i.e., the other residents aren't obligated to feed or talk to me). I'm told by the school that the flat is nice and centrally located, which I take to mean that it's not a pestilent cesspool and that it's located less than a 2hr train journey from where the classes are given. One of the themes of the trip is that as long as I keep my expectations low, I'll never be disappointed and may even be pleasantly surprised.

The language course in Berlin will end on Friday the 27th, leaving me with a couple more weeks on the Continent (as, I hear, it's called) and nothing to do. Whatever, Europe is dead anyway. But since I have to stay there for more time, I thought I might Eurail around and have in mind the following destinations after Berlin: Dresden (maybe); Prague; Vienna; Budapest; Salzburg; Liechtenstein; Munich; Cologne (maybe). I don't want to do too many cities, as I'm told much of the appeal of Mitteleuropa is in tramping around in the highlands, Edelweiss-style. Thus Liechtenstein will be an essential stop on the way--not only because it is supposed to be mountainous and beautiful, but also because visiting it will slake (to the extent that it's slakable) my thirst for visiting tiny European principalities. In fact, if I'm feeling extra-frisky toward the end, I might try to visit Luxembourg on the way back.

In case the foregoing narrative has been unclear, or perhaps just too dull for the broad readership to struggle through, here's a point-by-point breakdown:

The dates: May 10-June 16
The countries: Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Liechtenstein
The cities (probable): Amsterdam, the Hague, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Salzburg, Vaduz, Munich
The cities (possible): Arnhem, Dresden, Cologne, Luxembourg City
The gastrointestinal ailments (expected): too many to chronicle--but I'll be sure to keep you updated!

And that, as they say, broad readership, is the plan. It's all tentantive of course. I reserve the right to find the whole endeavor dull and return to America where one need not struggle with annoying concepts like language barriers, international comity, voltage converters, or tolerating foreigners.