Summary of My Trip. 結語.

This will be the conclusion for my 6 weeks journey. I've seen and learned a lot from the trip and I would like to share the stories with you. Words cannot express all my feelings but I will try my best to conclude it.
這一篇是我過去這六個禮拜旅程的結語. 在這段時間我看了很多也學到了很多, 我想要用這篇結語來和大家分享. 雖然文字不能說出我所有的感受和想法但是我會盡量的把它寫出來.

Overall, this trip was a great experience, I get to understand and know myself more. I changed on some point of view and perspectives. Most people are nice and as long as you are polite and speak some local language (Learn how to say: Hello, please, thank you, bye at least) you will be fine.
整體來說, 這次的背包客是一次很棒的經驗, 這次的旅程讓我更了解也認識自己. 我改變了一些人生觀和一些觀念. 大部份的人都很好, 只要你有禮貌, 懂一點基本語言 (至少會: 你好, 拜託, 謝謝, 再見) 你就沒問題.


This is the patches I collected, it includes the flag of the countries, some city patches, and car logos. I plan to patch it on my backpack.
這是我在每個國家搜集的國旗, 都市, 車廠的臂章. 打算縫在背包上.

When to travel: October and November is a good time to travel since it is not a busy season for traveling. You will see less tourists and you usually don't have to wait in line (Or a short line) for major attractions. But the down side is that it's getting cold so bring warm stuff!
旅遊時間: 十月和十一月是一個出來玩的好時機因為這兩個月不是旅行旺季. 在路上會看到比較少的觀光客而且出去玩也幾乎不用排隊(偶爾還是要排一下)看重點景觀. 缺點是天氣變冷了, 所以要帶外套!


It got really cold at the end. I wore 4 layers at the end. (Someone insist me to take a picture with this pose at the top of the Eiffel Tower).
到最後天氣變的非常冷. 我穿了四層衣服. (在巴黎鐵塔頂, 拍照的人堅持要我擺這個動作).

Budget: My budget was US$7,000 for 6 weeks (Including commute and board).
預算: 我這趟旅程的預算是美金 $7,000 元 (包括交通和住宿).

This is the breakdown of the costs:
以下是我的花費:
$1077.56 Airplane ticket (機票)
$741.00 Eurail Ticket (歐洲國鐵券)
$1704.50 Commute/Board (交通/住宿)
$2,700 Expenses (開銷)

Amazingly the total of the trip is US$6,223.06 but I think realistically its around $7,000 (I did not include preparation fee and I might miss something during the calculation. It's a rough estimate).
其妙地, 整個開銷加起來是美金$6,223.06. 但是現實來說應該是差不多 $7,000 上下 (我沒有包括之前準備背包,衣服, 零零碎碎的東西而且我猜有些我沒有算到. 這些價錢都是粗算.)


This is my route for my 6 weeks journey. 6 weeks, 11 countries, and 18 cities.
這是我六個禮拜旅程的路線. 六個禮拜, 十一國, 和十八個城市.

We will start from the most important factor of the trip: Where to live. I lived in hostels in each city, some of the "hostels" are not a traditional youth hostel, it's more like a hotel with dorm settings. I used hostelworld.com to find the ideal hostel that fits my criteria (Clean, hot shower (All of the hostels have hot shower but sometimes not stable), with good wifi). There are also websites such as hostelbookers.com that you can check how many bed are still available. The price varies based on the country and location (Price range for 6 people mixed room is around 23 to 56 Euros (This is the price when I was traveling).
我們先從最重要的開始說, 住宿. 我在歐洲時都是住青年旅館, 許多的青旅其實已經不是傳統的青年旅館了. 很多都是新的旅館裡有宿舍房間(像是青年旅館一樣). 我都是用 hostelworld.com 來尋找適合我的青旅 (乾淨, 洗澡水是熱的 (所有的青旅洗澡水都是熱的, 但是有些不穩), 和強的網路方便我做部落格). 有些人是用 hostelbookers.com 來訂青旅, 這個網站的好處是可以看見青旅還剩幾張空床. 青年旅館價位都不太一樣, 要看時間, 地點, 國家 (價格從 23 到 56 歐元不等, 這些價錢是我旅行中住過的).

This is a standard 6 bed mixed room you will see in a hostel. They do not look the same but it's similar. Some hostels' rooms have ensuites and some don't. This was my room in Paris.

這是在青年旅館的基本六人房. 在青旅大部份的房間都長得很像. 有一些青旅房間會配廁所有一些沒有. 這是我在巴黎的房間.

Commute: I bought a Eurail Pass (Eurail.com) for my major commute to different cities and countries.
交通: 我買了一張歐洲國鐵券 (Eurail.com) 用於前往不同城市的火車.

This is a Eurail pass (You can visit up to 24 countries). I bought a pass for 15 days within 2 months (You can travel any of the 15 days in 2 months, just enough for my journey). There are many selections on how you can travel with Eurail pass. For details please visit Eurail.com.

這就是一張 Eurail (歐洲國鐵券, 總共由 24 國國鐵聯合. 有些車票 24 國都能去).

This is all the tickets for my commute, it includes train, metro, and bus ticket.

這是我過去六個禮拜搜集的車票, 這些車票包括火車, 地鐵, 和巴士.

Eat: The purpose of my trip was not to explore the best restaurant so I only eat the most authentic or traditional local dishes (Ask the hostel or guide for restaurants), after the must eats, I eat whatever I can find on the street when I am hungry. I eat what I see and I see what I eat. The food gets similar at the end (Wurst, fries, tapas, pizza, sandwiches). Breakfast at hostels are the same and they are cold dishes (Bread, ham, cheese, cereal, juice), the only hot item is tea and coffee. Not all the hostels have breakfast, the average cost is 6 Euros. Also, please ask the breakfast time when you check-in, they tend to finish early (Or until 10:30).

吃: 我這趟旅程的目的不是美食團所以我只吃最道地或最傳統的菜色 (問青旅或是導遊), 其他我就吃肚子餓時路上找到的餐廳或是路邊攤. 我吃我看到的我看到我吃的. 到最後每個地方食物都大同小異 (香腸, 薯條, tapas, 披薩, 三明治). 在青年旅館早餐都相同而且都是冷的 (麵包, 火腿, 起士, 麥片, 果汁). 唯一的熱品就是茶和咖啡. 不是所有青旅的早餐都是免費的, 平均 6 歐元. Check-in 時請先問早餐時間, 有一些很早就結束了 (或是到 10:30).

This is the best breakfast I had in a hostel - Scrambled egg and hot sausage. This hostel is called Home Hostel and it is in Lisbon, Portugal.

這是我在青旅吃過最好的早餐 - 炒蛋和熱香腸. 這間青旅叫 Home Hostel, 它位於里斯本, 葡萄牙.

There are kitchens at some hostels that provides a place for backpackers to cook. If you are on a budget or you simply don't want to go out for food you can buy stuff at the supermarket and make your own food. It's a way to save money but I am too lazy to cook for this trip plus it's hard to cook a portion for one. I am used to eating out all day and also I can try authentic local food.

有一些青旅有提供廚房給背包客們使用. 如果你有預算限制或是不想要吃外面的話就可以去超市買材料回來做. 這是一個省前的方法. 我很懶的煮飯而且很難煮一個人的份量. 每餐吃外面我很習慣而且可以吃到道地的食物.

All I cared about was beer in Europe. My goal was not to try the food, my goal was to try as many local beer as possible! A lot of the dishes are made for the beer so you have to understand beer first.

在歐洲, 我只在乎啤酒. 我的計劃裡不是多少食物可以試, 而是多少啤酒可以試! 很多的菜都是為了當啤酒的下酒菜所以要先了解啤酒.

Backpacking is so fun that I am in love with it, especially when you are a solo packer. There are pros and cons for a solo packer. The down side of a solo packer is that you always have to look over yourself and take care of yourself. But there are more pros and cons for going solo. You can make your own schedule, choose what to eat/see, and meet lots of new friends without ignoring your original friend. You don't have to make compromises and the trip is for yourself only. I am not sure if I can get used to traveling with a group now. It seems to be really scary to travel by yourself, but trust me, if I can do it, you can definitely do it.
當背包客實在是非常的好玩, 我已經愛上背包客的生活了, 尤其是自己一個背包. 自己一個人出去當然有好有壞, 以我的觀點來看好處比壞處多! 我覺得唯一的壞處就是隨時要保持警覺, 沒有人會在旁邊照顧你或是保護你. 一個背包的好處是你可以隨性的玩, 跑自己的行程, 選擇想吃什麼/去哪裡/看什麼, 認識更多新的朋友也不用擔心忽略了同伴. 你不用為了你的朋友做妥協, 完全就是看自己的心情來玩. 我不確定我可不可以再跟朋友一起出遠門了.

Shot in San Francisco. Probably my first picture of my journey.

攝於舊金山. 這應該是我旅程的第一張照片.

Ideally I would love to go backpacking every 1 or 2 years. I think my grandma would freak out when she hear that. Anyways, I am happy I made the decision of quitting my job and make this great adventure. I met so many new and great friends on the way and I hope I will see all of them again. Thank you everyone for reading and support my blog and I hope you enjoyed it!
目前計劃認真工作存錢準備下一次, 希望可以每年或每兩年出去背一次. 我阿嬤聽到可能會昏倒吧. 不管怎樣, 辭職出去當背包是我目前對自己做過最好的決定. 在這路上遇到了許多新朋友, 他們都變成我非常好的朋友雖然平均只認識他們少於 3 天. 我希望哪天在路上可以遇見他們. 謝謝你們大家的支持和鼓勵, 也謝謝我的忠實部落格讀著們, 希望你們喜歡我的部落格!

 I will see you next time!
下次見!

Day 42: Paris, France; 巴黎, 法國.

I cannot believe today is my last day at Paris and the last day of my journey. I tried to maximize my time so I started my day early. I did a lot of walking and took a lot of Metro. Youth ticket (Under 25 years old is 3.65 Euros during the weekend so take full advantage of it!)

今天是在巴黎的最後一天, 也是我這次旅行的最後一天. 我嘗試走遍整個巴黎所以今天提早出發. 今天走了很多路也充分地運用地鐵票 (25 歲以下可以買青年票, 一天票的票價是 3.65歐元, 所以週末出來就充分利用地鐵吧!).

I've been seeing so many familiar places and attractions in Paris. This bridge was in the movie "Inception".

在巴黎隨時可以看到非常眼熟的地標. 這座橋在電影 "全面啓動" 出現過.

What do you think? Is it familiar?

你覺得呢? 是不是全面啓動的那一幕?

Here I am. Back to the Eiffel Tower again. As you can see, I love the tower so much that I've been here 3 times for the past 4 days. I am doing something fun today, which is to hike up to the second floor of the Tower! This is the best way to have a date with my favorite attraction. There are 2 options to get up to the second floor, the first way is to take the elevator (You have to wait in long line, but you can make a reservation online to avoid waiting in lines), and the other way is to walk up (Walking up is cheaper as well).

我又來了! 你們應該知道我很愛巴黎鐵塔吧. 在巴黎這四天我來拜訪她三次了. 但是這一次要玩大的, 我要爬樓梯到二樓, 用雙腳來跟她談戀愛! 二樓聽起來沒什麼但是爬了一次之後就知道他的厲害了. 花了一點時間爬上去. 其實有兩個方法可以到二樓, 第一種方法是最方便也需要排隊, 就是坐電梯 (如果不想等可以上網預約), 另外一個方法就是靠自己認真爬樓梯 (爬樓梯也比較便宜). 

Before hiking up, I have to put some food in my stomach or I will be stuck up there.

上去之前當然要補充一下體力要不然就卡在上面了.

The stairs. This will be fun.

這就是樓梯, 應該會很好玩.

Look at the line waiting for the elevator. There are 4 entrances for the tower. 3 is currently open (1 is for elevator, 1 is for group, and the other one is for walking).

看看這一條很長的隊伍. 他們都在等坐電梯. 巴黎鐵塔一共有四個出入口, 今天開三個 (一個是電梯, 一個是團體, 另一個是樓梯).

Apparently most people prefer taking the elevator. This is the entrance for the stairs.

很明顯的大家都想坐電梯. 這就是走樓梯的入口.

This is the never ending stairs.

這就是樓梯, 感覺走不完.

This is the track for the elevator. While walking up, you can constantly see the elevator going up and down.

往二樓走的路上常常看到電梯接送乘客.

Elevator packed with tourists.

電梯裡面塞滿了觀光客.

I freaked out when I first saw this. There's a person controlling the elevator at the bottom?! Just kidding, this is a fake model.

電梯往上爬之後突然看到這個下了我一跳. 有人在車廂下面控制電梯?! 開玩笑的, 結果是一個模型.

After a while, I am at the 2nd floor of the Eiffel Tower. If you want to get to the top of the tower, you have to buy another ticket here (6 Euros). The only way to get up there is through another elevator. There's no way I am walking up there if there's stairs.

經過一段時間之後, 終於到了巴黎鐵塔二樓. 如果想去塔頂的話需要在二樓買票 (六歐元). 上去的唯一方法就是坐電梯. 如果有樓梯的話我也不會爬上去. 爬上去腿應該就軟了.

The view from the second floor.

從二樓看的景.

Jardins du Trocadero.

特洛卡迪公園.

It's pretty high up already. I wonder what it will look like when I get to the top?

其實已經蠻高的了. 不知道到塔頂的景觀如何?

The pictures below were shot from the top.

以下的照片是在塔頂拍的.

Arc de Triomphe from the top of the tower.

從塔頂看凱旋門.

The Louvre. You can see a tiny pyramid.

羅浮宮. 你可以看到小小的金字塔.

Champ de Mars.

戰神公園.

On the top of the tower, there's a indoor observatory. You can see the skyscraper around the world. As you can see, Taipei 101 (Taiwan) is taller than Eiffel Tower. The dash line is the height of the Eiffel Tower.

塔頂上有一個室內觀景台. 裡面可以看到世界上高樓圖表. 台北 101 (台灣) 比巴黎鐵塔高. 虛線是代表巴黎鐵塔.

Taking the elevator back to the 2nd floor. It's way too windy and cold up at the top!

坐電梯下樓囉. 塔頂實在是太冷了, 今天風蠻大的.

You can see Taipei 101 everywhere.

隨處都看得見台北 101.

Another kind of pride of Taiwan.

這也是台灣之光吧.

The line for the elevator is getting longer. This is crazy!

往下走的時候, 看到在等電梯的隊更長了!

Can you tell which one is the real tower? I got myself a nice souvenir at the Eiffel Tower so I decided to do something cool with it.

哪一個塔才是真的呢? 我在塔上的小賣店買個自己一個一直想要的紀念品. 買了之後我就帶著它去拍些有趣的照片.

This is another attraction that my dear bro, Yoyo recommended. Jardin du Luxembourg. It's really peaceful with people enjoying a good Sunday afternoon.

這是我老哥, 祐祐介紹的一個美麗的景點, 盧森堡公園. 這個公園隨處可見大家在享受悠閒的星期天.

You can see kids playing with the small boat at the fountain.

可以看到小孩子在噴水池玩模型船.

This is the boat, powered by sticks. Kids will use the stick they have to push the boat.

這就是小孩子在玩的小船, 這船的動力來自一根棍子. 小孩子們用手上的棍子推這艘船.

My dessert croissant and chocolate cake.

我下午的小點心, 可鬆和巧克力蛋糕.

Chocolate cake I think. Or chocolate brownie. It tastes more like a brownie.

巧克力蛋糕? 但是吃起來像是布朗泥.

I am back at Arc de Triomphe again. I love the city so much that I want to visit all the attractions during the day and at night. The sun sets at 4:30 and I arrived Arc de Triomphe at 4:26, perfect timing.

重返凱旋門. 我超愛巴黎, 愛巴黎到每個景點都想在不同的時間觀賞. 現在歐洲四點半太陽就下山了, 我剛好趕在太陽下山前到凱旋門.

It's always hard to take a picture of the Arc with no cars in it. I usually have to wait for a while to get a good shot.

在凱旋門想拍張沒有車的照具有挑戰性. 我通常需要等一陣子才有好的空擋拍張照.

Grand Palais.

大皇宮.

Before ending my day trip, I walked all the way to the Louvre from Arc de Triomphe just to take some night shots. I know I can take the Metro here but I want to enjoy the nice view.

結束我今天行程之前. 我從凱旋門一路走來羅浮宮就為了拍一些夜景. 我知道我可以坐地鐵但是我想要享受外面的風景.

The classic Pyramid.

羅浮宮的經典 - 金字塔.

I love Paris even more now. This is my dream city and I never thought I would get a chance to visit it. Now I am finally here and I don't want to leave.

我發現我更愛巴黎了. 巴黎是我的夢想城市, 我從來沒有想到我會有機會來拜訪她. 我現在終於到這裡而且我不想離開了.

See you next time the Louvre. I will miss you.

下次見,羅浮宮. 我會想念你的.

This will be my last dinner in Europe. I got a hamburger from the hostel that I stayed at 2 nights ago. They have faster Internet and a good common area.

這就是我在歐洲最後的晚餐.  我在之前住的(兩晚前)青年旅館吃晚餐. 這邊網路快很多而且比較寬敞.

It's 2 am in the morning now. My flight is at 11 so I am going to sleep now. I will write a conclusion when I get back to the States, also I will include some tips (do's/do not do's) on each city. I will see you in the States.

現在要凌晨兩點了, 先睡覺去. 明天早上十一點的飛機. 回到美國之後我會寫一篇總結也會包括一些每個城市該看/該做的事. 美國見.