Eurail with Sarah - an adventure through Italy - Slovenia

Sarah has always wanted to do a train trip through Europe. July was the perfect time for that. I quit my job at the Europe North Area office on June 30 in preparation for our move back to Utah and to have July open for travel. Sarah found a 20% off Eurail coupon and with that our 4 day Eurail pass cost us only £50/day. We started our trip from Basel, where we stayed after Salome’s wedding.

Monday 14 July, 2025 Basel - Milan - Verona

Our first destination was Milan. The beginning was a bit rough: on day 1 we were rushing to get out the door on time. Josh, Janette & Jared and Dan & Sage flew the day before from Basel to London and then back to the United States (except for Josh who had to go back to work to train his replacement in England). We had a great week in Switzerland with everyone and now had to clean up the Gessler’s apartment from the mess we made before we left for our adventure.

Finally, at 9 am we were ready to leave the Gessler’s apartment in Kaiseraugst. By then the rain came pouring down and so our first leg of the trip consisted of us running through the rain with a very old semi-collapsed umbrella and our huge backpacks to the train station. Well, we ran so fast that we even caught the earlier train to Basel!

Here we are, soaking wet on the train:

Next leg was Basel to Zurich. We sat in the unmoving train for about 20 minutes when it was announced that there are technical problems with the train and that we needed to take a different train. Well, Sarah got out of the train and I was about to exit when suddenly the doors shut closed and the train moved a few feet. That was one of those panic moments with Sarah and I looking at each other through the door window- not knowing if we will be separated. The conductor behind me said that he can’t open the door. Luckily after one minute the door opened again. I exited the train and Sarah, and I walked relieved down the platform to catch another train. Suddenly, everyone started running towards us and we found out the train was fixed. So, we ran back onto the train and the train finally departed. An hour later we arrived in Zurich where we learned that the Zurich to Milan train got cancelled! Good thing, at the info center they were able to rebook us on another train one hour later and through Lugano. Because of this, we had about 45 minutes to explore Zurich.

Fast tour of Zurich:

And we got a 15 minute glance of Lugano:

Finally, 16:50 we arrived in Milan, 2 hours later than we planned. We deposited our luggage at the Milan train station (an almost impossible task to find the luggage deposit in that huge train station with the poor signage!). Then we took the Metro to the Duomo.

What a magnificent cathedral!

Sarah was asked to cover her shorts and had to get a "short extension" to get admitted into the cathedral:

The outside of the cathedral had some wonderful detailed carvings:

Next to the Duomo is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle II, the fanciest arcade I have ever seen:

We found a pizzeria by the arcade and enjoyed a real Italian pizza with the best pizza crust ever and it only cost about 12 € each.

We didn’t stay long in Milan and I guess, the only other interesting thing for me to see was Leonardo’s last supper mural in Milan, but the tickets for this was sold out months ago. And Sarah planned this trip and had us going to 5 countries in 5 days to make the most of our Eurail pass in the one week we had! Well, I was happy to tagalong and see a lot.

Therefore, from Milan we took the train in the evening to Verona, where we arrived at 22:30. Good thing the hotel was only an 8 minute walk away. We stayed at the Hotel Martini, which was a very good and inexpensive hotel, only about a 10 minute walk from downtown Verona.

Step count: 16,000

Tuesday, 15 July Verona, Italy to Bled, Slovenia

At the breakfast in the Verona hotel our table neighbor Bella, a 30 year old solo traveler from the Philippines/Canada started talking to us and soon we found ourselves visiting Verona with her. We had a great time with her, took lots of pictures and became Facebook buddies to stay in touch.

First stop was the Arena, a place where the Romans held the gladiator and other gory games and where now operas are held. I had a special interest in this place because one of my childhood memories was watching an opera with my family in that arena.

Just outside the arena, Sarah was even able to meet a gladiator!

Next place was Juliette’s house, famous from the movie Letters to Juliette, Shakespeare has never been to Verona, so even though they make it look like Julia’s balcony, it literally is just a place that was picked for the movie- so a total tourist trap. At least it did not cost anything, the line was fairly short and it was pretty.

From there we just wondered around the city and enjoyed the colorful homes and the Italian feel. I liked it there very much, despite it being quite busy with tourists. It is as Italian as one can imagine and was much cleaner than I remembered Italy as a child.

The palace:

Around 2 pm it was time to head to the train station for a long journey to Bled in Slovenia. The train ride was very pretty, we were able to even see the Dolomites from far:

We changed trains in Venice and then headed to Villach, Austria, where we had a 1.5 hour layover. Enough time to take a quick stroll through the village and get the funniest video with us walking with the broken umbrella in the pouring rain, and get a cheap Wiener schnitzel, that tasted not too shabby.

From Villach we took the train for the final stretch to Bled, where we arrived at 9:45 pm. I arranged for a taxi to pick us up and bring us to our accommodation, on the other side of Lake Bled (that was much cheaper than in the town Bled). We stayed at Oriana studios, which was perfect for our needs.

Wednesday, 16 July Vintgar Gorge and Lake Bled

This was going to be our many steps day. First we walked to the Vintgar Gorge Parking P1, about a 15 minute walk from the studio apartment and took the Vintgar shuttle to the entrance of the Gorge. The gorge itself round trip was about 3 miles. It was very pretty and we loved to see the emerald geen water. Unfortunately, it was cloudy, so the water was not as pretty as it would appear in sunlight. The path was mainly on boardwalk and not much uphill until we looped back to the entrance through the forest (the boardwalk is only a one way). There must have been frequent rockfalls, because we were required to wear a helmet:

End of gorge:

Next, we took the shuttle back to P1 and walked passed the Oriana studios to lake Bled. The view of lake Bled with the chapel on the Island was beautiful, even on a cloudy day. There was here and there very light rain, but some people were still swimming in the lake and occasionally we saw small boats rowing to the island.

We had lunch at the lake: the best mushroom soup ever and Sarah had a goulash, also very yummy:

Then it was time to pick up our luggage and walk to the bus stop to head to our next destination: Ljubljana, Slovenia. However, the bus to Bled never showed up, so we ended up walking another 15 minutes to Bled with our backpacks. Well, that wasn’t too bad. In Bled we tried the famous crème cake that was super delicious.

From Bled we took the bus to Ljubljana, which was about a 3 hour drive for just $10.

In Ljubljana we walked around the city. I think by that time we were a little tired, so even though Ljubljana is supposed to be one of the more picturesque city, we didn't enjoy it as much. The light rain drizzle didn't help. I didn't think it was that pretty of a city.

Our favorite part in Ljubljana was the dinner: we had the best dinner so far on this trip: Risotto with mushroom and a shrimp dish:

Instead of staying overnight in Ljublana, we caught the night train to Budapest. Unfortunately, it was a bit delayed, so we were at the trainstation for an extra hour at around 10 pm. Finally, the train arrived, and it looked just the same as the train my family used 40 years ago! It also reminded me somewhat of the Orient Express movie. In the sleeper compartments were 6 very narrow beds, 3 on each side in that compartment. We shared it with 3 young guys from Sweden. They seemed very nice, but it was a bit weird to sleep in a small room with 3 guys. Sarah and I had the top 2 beds, so a little bit of privacy. There was no wifi nor a plug to charge the phone, just old fashioned entertainment without electronics, aka a newspaper. Haha.

Here's Sarah trying to get comfortable:

Step count: 25,000

Thursday, 17 July Budapest

After a surprisingly restful night, we arrived in Budapest around 8 am. We took the subway to the TG hotel Apartments Budapest. It was the tiniest hotel room ever! It wasn't much bigger than our bed. However, it was clean, cheap (($68/night) and in a great location to explore Budapest. We were able to deposit our luggage at the hotel and went and explored Budapest. The city is quite beautiful and fairly clean. We enjoyed walking in the city a lot. Budapest is made up of 2 sides: The Pest side of Budapest, where our hotel was, is on the flat eastern bank of Budapest, more commercial, with lively streets and nightlife, while Buda is on the hilly, western bank of the Danube, known for its historic sites and panoramic views.

Near our hotel: The beautiful St. Stephen's cathedral:

And Budapest's parliament building:

Near the Parliament is the shoes on the Danube bank memorial to honor the thousands of Jews killed by the bank of the Danube. They were asked to leave their valuable shoes behind.

Here we are on the famous Széchenyi Chain Bridge. Interestingly, later we learned that this is the grander version of the Marlow Bridge, near our home in High Wycombe, England. Both were designed by William Clark, an English Civil Engineer.

Across the river we found ourselves on the Buda side and walked up to the Buda Castle where we enjoyed the view from above:

Buda Castle with the Hungarian National Gallery:

View from Castle:

View of Parliament from the Castle:

There was also a funicular to get up and down to the palace, but we preferred to walk (and save the money). For the way down we found a hidden elevator, that was for free:

Next stop was to one of the famous bathhouses: We chose the Gellert Thermal Bath and spent about 3-4 hours there - it was that nice! Entrance cost about $30 and we prebooked that. The Gellert bath is one of the oldest baths in Budapest and consists of several indoor and outdoor pools. The baths contain water from the Gellért Hill's hot mineral springs and soaking in the water is supposed to be very healthy.

Here are some pictures of the inside (from the internet):

This is the lap pool, the only pool that required a swim cap (which we skipped):

Exit/Entrance of bath:

After the bath we had just enough time to get back to our hotel, change, grab a bite to eat and head to the "City Highlights Sightseeing Cruise" on the Danube. It only cost us $16/person, and that was one of our highlights of our visit in Budapest. The timing of the cruise made all the difference: We departed around 7:30 pm, - early enough to catch the sunset in Budapest, and late enough to see the city lit up at night. The views were stunning! We also appreciated the recorded narration on the boat, which shared interesting details about the city's history.

Friday, 18 July 2025 Budapest and train ride to Zagreb, Croatia

We checked out of our hotel in the morning and deposited our luggage at the hotel for the day. Today was our Guru walk, which was one of the most interesting free walking tours we've been to. The history of Budapest is fascinating and sadly quite rough. They were occupied by the Romans, the Mongols, the Ottoman empire, the Habsburg monarchy, and by the Nazis and the Soviet Union. The country went through much terror, destruction and repression. After the communist rule in 1991, Hungary tried to remove all reminders of the Soviet occupation and rebuilt many lost structures to their pre-war designs. Hence, the city is now very beautiful with these pre-war structures.

With our guide on the banks of the Danube:

One of the fascinating story is about this memorial for Victims of the German Occupation in Liberty Square. The memorial shows the Germany eagle attacking Archangel Gabriel, symbolizing the Nazi invasion. Critics view this as a distortion of history, because plenty of Hungarians were active participants in the atrocities. Hence, the memorial is covered in message telling what truly happened here.

Here is the only communist memorial left in Budapest (ironically right outside the American embassy):

Nearby is the statue of Ronald Reagan commemorating his efforts to end the Cold War and promoting democracy in Eastern Europe:

And the statue of George H. W. Bush to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the fall of the communicst regime in Hungary, and showing Bush's support for Hungary's transition to democracy:

Also impressive was the memorial "1956" near the Parliament to honor those killed during the massacre on Oct 25, 1956 when Soviet troops opened fire on peaceful protesters:

After the tour we had one of the best lunches on our trip at the SEF Deli-Cafe-Bakery. I don't remember what it was, but something Hungarian and it was sooo yummy!