One card for them all

My last Eurotrip post! (A relief for some of you who are tired of it already, but sad for others who still dream of traveling.)

Part of what makes visiting cities exciting is finding your way around.

Barcelona T-10 (10 trips, zona 1), €6,90
(note: the comma takes the place of the decimal point)
As the city is large and our hostel was not in the center, we really needed this. The Metro can be a headache because the tunnels are sometimes unbelievably long, practically like walking to the next station. Buses are ok.

Paris carnet (10 tickets, Billet Ile-de-France), €11,10
I think printing out 10 tiny tickets is still a waste of paper and adds to the litter, but the nice part about it is that you can split up the tickets. The metro system is compact, the RER (train) goes farther, the buses are routes served us well.

Berlin tageskarte (day ticket, zone AB), €6,10
Expensive for one day, but unlimited rides on buses, trains (S-bahn and Underground), trams and ferries eliminate the need for those tourist hop-on, hop-off buses.

Amsterdam strippen kaart (15 strips), €6,80
Weird system similar to the klippekort in Denmark, only a bit more complex. If you're a tourist, you don't need this, as it's much better to walk and there are not many transport links simply because there's not space! The metro will be of no use to you. Then again you might want to take the occasional tram or bus.

Beaches

Went to two beaches last month: Barceloneta in Barcelona (hot) and Scheveningen (cold) in Holland. As usual, I made no effort to get into the water. Paranoid about damaging my camera at the beach again, I kept it hidden away, only managing to take a few snaps while covering the lens against the wind.

Architecture in Berlin

The city of cool, cheap (relative to the rest of Europe) and cute (think Knut the polar bear or the bear mascot that symbolizes the city).

There's something young about Berlin despite its significance in the grim days of the 20th century. This chapter, while it overshadows much of its history, is balanced by the freshness of the architecture. Now if only they could do something about the sewer smell in some areas.

Berlin Hbf

My favorite train station to date: Berlin Hauptbahnhof, the central station opened in time for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. You could see it either as a glass mall that happens to have trains running through it or an airport with trains for planes.

Huling hirit: Barcy

One last look at this lively Spanish city. In parts, Barcelona looks like Rome and Manila. Maybe not in these shots, but in the ones I missed.

Some more photos you can now view on Flickr. Click!