Snow covered Alps as I pass into Germany
Deep snow in some areas
Restaurant car on the train - had a great bean soupSunday, December 12th,
Coming to you live from Munich, Germany. It's 1am - just starting to write. I've been working on different things all evening. I feel better - more organized.
I took the 9:05am train from Verona and arrived into Munich at 2pm. The trip was great. We headed due north through the Alps. We past through Innsbruck, Austria and up into Germany. It was snowing must of the way. The snow is deep in several places. It was incredible scenery to just sit back and watch the mountains pass by.
It's snowing in Munich right now. It's like a winter wonderland out there. I hadn't booked a hotel prior to my arrival, so I walked around a little before I found a spot. I'm real near the Munich HBF (main train station). I didn't set out for any site-seeing today. Tomorrow we'll get it rolling again.
So, in keeping with the Christmas spirit - I thought about doing something different for the next 12 days. I have 12 days until I return to the states. 12 days. Like - in the 12 Days of Christmas.
With that being said, and because you may have realized that I'm a big fan of lists, I've decided to rank my favorite countries on the trip - from #12 to #1. I have 44 to choose from (as the US was one of my 45 - that doesn't count).
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So, drumroll please. My 12th most favorite country that I toured in my Gap Year 2010 is: ISRAEL
Whoa! Left field? Let me first explain that I thought about this list for about 4 hours on my train trip today. Not winging it. The countries you'll see in the next 12 days have these things in common: (1) I could spend a week plus in each of these countries. (2) I learned something when I was there. (3) Each country had some kind of unique site - something that made me take a minute - and ask myself: "Am I really here". (4) Each country has a combination of history and natural beauty. (5) And finally, I felt some sense of peace when I was in each of these countries.
One thing I'll point out as well, just because a city is great - doesn't mean that the entire country is great. For example, I'm going to include Istanbul in my Top Cities List. But, I would not put Turkey in my Best Countries List - as I would have no desire to explore outside the city proper.
ISRAEL (#12)
You can spend a long weekend on the beaches of Tel Aviv. These are 'great beaches'. In my opinion, better than the French Riviera. Maybe not the same clientele, but the sand and water are great. You can go south and scuba dive in the Red Sea. This place is said to be the second best diving in the world to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. You can do a day trip to the Dead Sea and float around for a while. You can go north to Galilee and Nazareth. Or - go south to Masada and Bethlehem. Everyone in the country speaks clear English - and it's fairly simple to get around. AND - then there is Jerusalem. This place is special. There's no 2 ways you can say it. There were many times while I was walking around that it didn't seem real. Certainly, this is a country of conflict in many ways, but it's intriguing. Interesting. And - for that matter - it makes the list as my 12th most favorite country on my trip.
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