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Epilogue: Final Thoughts
I'm not sure what to say about this trip. On one hand, we met some interesting people and we had some interesting experiences (e.g. going to the top of the cathedral in Cologne). On the other hand, towards the end, the cities tended to sort of blur together. There are just so many Gothic or Baroque churches you can wander through.
We had a few days of good weather, a few days of not so good weather, and a lot of days of in-between. It was rather cooler than I would have cared for, so this sort of limited how much time we spent on the sun deck.
There was a little redundancy with previous trips, but not too much. In some cases (Rothenburg, Nuremberg) we got to spend more time and see more stuff than on previous trips.
Some of the guided activies were good, and some not so much. In some cases I particularly enjoyed our free free time when we could wander where we would (e.g. climbing the steps to the castle ruins).
I think there is something to be said for going on such guided trips. There are some things, like going to the top of the cathedral in Cologne, that we wouldn't have done if we were traveling that route by ourselves. On the other hand, there is something to be said for just wandering around at your own pace, and not having to hurry back to make a departure. Similarly, while the freedom to keep to your own schedule is nice, it is also very nice to unpack once and have your room travel with you, rather than moving from hotel to hotel every day.
I think my favorite city on the trip was Rothenburg. I could probably spend most of a day wandering around the town there. Not surprisngly, my least favorite memory is biking in the rain in Vienna. That day was not particularly fun, not the least because I was also sick that day.
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