And the Lodscar Goes To...

As Elizabeth and I had nothing to talk about, we often made lists. Just lists. Of anything we could. It was something to do on the long train rides and evenings in. One such list was our list of awards...for the best and the worst of Europe. This list I now share with you, in the hope that it may bring great fulfillment in your life.

Best Metro System: Madrid
(Barcelona was pretty good too. Spain's really good about the metros. Well built, nice murals at the stations, fancy map thingys in the trains...)

Worst Metro System: Budapest
(Honestly we loved Budapest, but their metro system was awful. They charged a lot of money for it, and you couldn't transfer with the ticket...you had to buy a new one. Really really terrible system. So just walk. It's worth the sites anyway.)

Best Bus System: Berlin
(Talk about fancy schmancy buses. They had light-up course maps, spoken announcements, and very well-marked and easy to find bus stops, provided you know what you're looking for.)

Most Accessible: Berlin
(If pressed, I'll give that city, but I should say Germany all around. They're all about acknowledging the past but not being haunted by it, and they don't, as far as we saw, exploit you. They want you to see the history and are very proud of their country's beauty as well. Kudos, Germany! The other countries could learn from you.)

Scariest Tourist Attraction: Rothenberg
(Don't get me wrong, Rothenberg was wonderful! But the puppet show...just don't go. Just don't. 'shudder' Of course I realize, after such a statement, that it's the one thing you'll be sure to see if you do go. But don't. Do you really want to see a man twirling a blonde wig and chickens mating? No, I didn't think so.)

Coolest Clothing Displays: Thessaloniki
(They had really cool clothes. I never actually went clothes shopping there...travelling with my sister, I'm sure you can imagine...but I did mange a wee bit of window shopping as I was being dragged past, and they looked great.)

Freakiest Mannequins: Greece
(They looked real! I can think of one particular display that made us jump every time we walked past it. And we walked past it almost every day we were there. Then there was the time we thought one was a mannequin, but it moved...we had a great laugh about that one all the way back to our hotel...once we got over the shock.)

Worst Train Station Attendants: Paris
(They're incompetent! And that was my first experience in France! It's a good thing we went back later, or I would have bought all the bad things I've heard about the French.)

Best Train Station Attendant: Paris
(Having said that, we had one good experience, once we were back in Paris. He was friendly, smiled, joked, and was very helpful. By far the best train station attendant anywhere. Go figure.)

Best Postal Attendant: Ljubljana
(She was amazing. She was beyond amazing. Our package was going to be very expensive, so she unpacked it and made it into two packages, and packed each on so it was right at the heaviest it could be and still be within the cheaper price bracket. Talk about over and above. Now that's doing your job as unto the Lord.)

Best Burgers: Serbia (Beograde)
(We were only there for a few hours, but we needed to eat. There was a local burger place across the street, and I've never had such good burgers. Big juicy meat slices, set in pita rather than a bun, and with ketchup that actually tasted good!)

Best Bells: Holland
(Holland went all out with their bells. They don't just chime...they play tunes. It's brilliant.)

Cheapest Chocolate: Switzerland
(Switzerland is one of the most expensive places you could go to. Even though the Swiss Franc is almost even with the dollar, it hardly matters. It's expensive enough not to matter. But the chocolate's cheap. Like a bar of chocolate for 45 cents. And it's really good chocolate!)

Cheapest Wine: Venice
(Again, expensive place. But you can fill up a 2 liter water bottle for just a few euros.)

Cheapest Boots: Prague
(If you want to go boot shopping, go to Prague. Cute boots for a little as ten dollars. Of course, there is the $800 dollar plane ticket, but meh.)

Friendliest Random People: Florence
(As in the people you meet off the street. It's a difficult award to give away, because we actually met quite a few friendly people, as well as some unfriendly ones, in just about every country. But we'll give it to Florence because I specifically remember some great people. Including the artist we met and chatted with for a while.)

Best Tour Guide: Mohamed

(Hmmm...well, that could be all of half of the men in Egypt.  But this one is the only one I had a picture of up on my blog.  So if you're not intelligent enough to figure that one out...well, what are you reading my blog for?  I'm sure it's far too intellectual for you.)

Coolest Panoramic View: Venice
(As I've mentioned I'm very anti-GUS...paying exorbitant amounts to ride up an elevator and look down at just another city. But Venice is rather different...what with the canals. And there are no cars...no trees...very different and cool.)

Worst City: Athens/Heraklion (Greece)
(Yeah, you've all heard me go on about it, but if you can avoid staying in the big cities, do. Athens is huge and sprawling, and a bit dirty, and Heraklion, on Crete, is dirty and has tons of construction. And then of course all the freaky people. Stay on the islands and in the small cities and towns. Your stay will be much more pleasant.)

Most Likely to Be Revisited: Ireland
(I love Ireland. I could live there. 'Nuff said.)

Best Hostel: Villa Saint Exupery (Nice)/Nathan's Villa (Sighisoara)
(Villa Saint Exupery was one of those huge but very friendly and well put together hostels. They would arrange tours and activities for you, and had a big common room with a good free breakfast. But the best part was the dinner. For very cheap you could create your own pizza...really really good pizza...and get a house beer. Great hostel. The other, Nathan's Villa, was very laid back and accommodating. We found everyone there very friendly, and we enjoyed hanging out downstairs at the pool table.)

Worst Hostel: Roger's House (San Sebastian)/Ivanhoe Hostel (Rome)
(In all fairness, you could say Roger's House did the best they could in a surfer town...but it wasn't the cleanest hostel, and they didn't have the reception they claimed to have...which was very inconvenient when one was trying to get their deposit back for their key. I wonder how many five euro notes they've stolen from people...Ivanhone Hostel was loud. The employees were friendly enough, but they didn't have everything set up as well as they should...a fault of the managment, not employees. And they don't really have a common room...just a loud hallway with chairs with no backs. And the beds weren't very comfortable.)

Best Big City: Budapest (Aside from the public transportation issue, Budapest was lovely. And for me to think a big city is lovely, that takes some doing. But Budapest really is.)

Best Small City: Granada
(Ah, Granada. I'd go back again in a heartbeat, provided I could stay in the Albayzin again. What a beautiful city.)

Best Small Town:  Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre (Italy)

(Tough choice.  But this place was just charming.  Tiny grocery stores...hanging our laundry out the window...coastal views...lovely.)

Worst Train Station: Warsaw
(Who actually thought up those plans, and how drunk were they? Honestly, one needs a map provided at the entrance, or one could wander around down there for years. It's so terrible, it's comical. As long as you're not pressed for time.)

Most Punctual: Ukraine
(Holy. Smacking. Tennis Rackets. Batman. When I say on time, I don't mean close. Or within five minutes. I mean RIGHT on time. If a train is scheduled in at 6:58 pm, it will be in at 6:58 pm. Quite a change from...well, everywhere else. And for a country so devasted by the former Soviet Union in so many ways, they really got this thing right.)

Best Accents: Scotland

(Well obviously!  I think we all knew that before I went there.  Erm, Elizabeth protests that the Egyptian accent was the best.  How odd.)

Best Traditional Clothing:  Scotland

(Mmkay, I think we knew that too.  I mean...kilts!!!  Obviously.  Although I'm awfully partial to those belly-dancing outfits in Egypt.)

Did ew know...?

Apparently pifs is a word.

Thank you for choosing Lod's Little Tidbits, and have a nice day.