I don’t think I will ever get tired of travelling. Besides seeing some amazing sights, and living through some truly incredible experiences, it’s the people I’ve met along the way that has made traveling so magical starting with my Tomorrowland family which
this year had four new additions – Joél from Switzerland, Stainar from Norway and Pawel and Laura from Poland.

After the festival, I dropped off my camping gear and cooler with my friend Bente in Amsterdam and then hopped on an overnight train to Prague. Now, besides being a lot cheaper than flying, I thought it would be a romantic way to see the German countryside. I also envisioned climbing on board a Eurostar sleeper train with a dining car, a comfortable bunk etc.

I was in for surprise. Instead of a modern Eurostar sleeper train, I had booked a ticket on the European Sleeper, not to be mixed up with the Eurostar Sleeper. As it turns out they are completely different trains, built about 30 years apart.

I maybe exaggerating just a little, but the European Sleeper train seemed like a holdover from the Second World War.

It was by far the noisiest train I’ve ever been on. There was no dining car – in fact, there was no food at all – and half the toilets were out of order.

In an effort to save money, I ended up taking a berth in a six-berth cabin, in which I ended up with the top berth. To say it was uncomfortable is an understatement of biblical proportions. Thank goodness half the people got off the train in Berlin and I was left with the entire room to myself.

After finally getting a few hours sleep, I was able to take in some scenery as the train passed through the south of Germany and into Czechia.

To my good fortune, I met a young man on the train who lives in Prague and gave me some great tips on what to see and where to eat in Prague. When I arrived, I checked into the Prague Dream Hostel where I met Matt from Winnipeg and Chinu Mehta from India.

Prague has always been one of those cities on my bucket list that I wanted to visit and it didn’t disappoint. It’s one of the most beautiful cities that I have ever been to and it’s also one of the cleanest.

I spent hours walking through the many small streets and alleyways in the old town. I saw the Prague Castle, the Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square, Wenceslas Square, and I walked across the Charles Bridge. But the highlight of my visit was a classical music concert in the Church of Our Lady before Týn featuring five violinists and a mezza-soprano who sang a mesmerizing rendition of Ava Maria.

The Gothic church was built mid-14th century to the early 16th century and, like other Gothic religious buildings, being built in that era means it has amazing acoustics.

The restaurant my friend on the train recommended is called Havelska Koruna. The cooks are three Czech grandmothers and the food is served cafeteria style. It was both reasonably priced and very delicious.

From Prague, I was supposed to go to Albania, but instead chose to meet some friends from Alberta who are part of my Tomorrowland family, in Croatia. They were Melle and her daughter Mila, Melle’s sister Aileen and her husband Mike along with their dog Molly. Aileen and Melle’s ex-sister-in-law Charlotte was also there along with her son Henrik, who were both visiting from Hamburg, Germany.

The plan was to fly to Split and stay there for a day of sightseeing before taking a ferry to the Croatian island of Hvar.

As things usually turn out when I travel, I had to make a quick last-minute change of plans when the gang scheduled a boat tour of the islands the next morning. So rather than stay in Split that night and risk missing the boat tour, I went straight to Hvar where I stayed in Luka’s Lodge in Hvar Town.

Luka is a wonderful man, twice married, who lived in Bakersfield, California, for 10 years before retiring and opening a hostel in Hvar.

While in Hvar, I rented a scooter and visited a winery and several beaches. But the highlight was having a chance to hang out with Melle, Mila, Aileen, Mike, Charlotte and Henrik. They are beautiful people with hearts of gold and I love them to death. In fact, I am counting down the days until I see them again.

Before my visit, I didn’t know anything about Hvar, but it turned out to be one of the nicest surprises of all my travels. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Croatia.

From Hvar, I took a ferry to Dubrovnik which is on the Adriatic coast at the southern tip of Croatia. I was only in Dubrovnik for a day, but I was able to visit the Dubrovnik fortress where several scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed and I visited Plaza Bellevue, which is now on my list of the top 10 beaches I’ve ever been to.

As for my impressions of the city, I would give it a solid seven out of 10. The fortress reminded me of a shopping centre in a bunch of really old buildings, and it cost 40 euros for the honour of climbing the walls of the fortress and another nearby fort. I took a pass.

After Dubrovnik, I took a short flight to Athens and took a ferry to the nearby island of Hydra where I fulfilled a lifelong dream by visiting the house where Leonard Cohen lived during the 60s with his muse Marianne.

Trying to find the house took the better part of two hours. It’s a strange but true fact that you cannot find the location anywhere on the Internet. For one, the streets in Hydra have no names. For another, fans of Leonard Cohen would prefer that it remain hard to find. All I had to go on was a picture of the front of the house and a clue that it was located near the Four Corners store.

After finding the house, I sat down on the front step and drank some wine while eating olives and fresh feta and listening to Cohen’s first album which was entirely written in Hydra. I sat there by myself for nearly half an hour. My only regret is that my father, who was also a huge Leonard Cohen fan, wasn’t there to share the experience with me, although I’m sure he was there in spirit.

After returning to Athens which is as dirty as Prague is clean, I flew to Crete to reunite with my friend Anthony, who I met in Mexico two years ago.

Thankfully my visit couldn’t have been more perfectly timed. His sister Stephanie and brother-in-law Lloyd were there, as was his cousin Little Anthony, and his boyhood friend Cameron and his fiancée Cassi. All of whom had flown in from South Africa.

Anthony’s Beach Bums crew Nick and Adrian were also there along with Sofia who I taught how to make sausage and chicken gumbo which we served with her garlic bread, which was the best garlic bread I’ve ever tasted. I also met Anthony’s brother George, his nephew Ashton, his father Costa and Adrian’s mother Hilde.

I spent three nights sleeping on a hammock on Anthony’s back deck and it was marvelous waking up each morning to a brilliant sunrise and the cock-a-doodle-doo-ing of the neighbourhood roosters.

The best thing about Crete are the beaches and the fact that you can stay there for a week in August and never see a single cloud.

Having to leave Crete was heartbreaking, but it also meant that I was able to return to Amsterdam for one last day before heading back to Canada.

My last night in Europe was spent having dinner with Bente and Sarah, who are both like daughters to me and who I plan to meet up with in Puerto Escondido this winter with my two boys, Jamie and Dylan.

Bente and Sarah went to high school together in Utrect along with another friend Charlotte.

It’s a real treat to be able to look back on my trip to Europe having renewed old friendships and made new ones which will hopefully last a lifetime.

In my next column I’ll write about my recent trip to Parachute Ottawa and my second attempt at tandem skydiving.

(If you wish to comment on this or any other View Point column please write to Fred Sherwin at fsherwin@orleansstar.ca)