Where have you been the whole time?

This is the question I get most often these days from my friends. Well, can I blame them? I took off for two months, besides the occasional status update via Facebook, I was not around the whole summer. Also, I have been dragging my bags around with me, jumping on planes and off trains all over Europe, even I, myself, have trouble keeping track of all the places I have been, let alone other people.

It was not until I finally got home, did I count the countries and places I have been. So here are the stats: (I know that I can make all kinds of charts and graphs with it, but I will leave it for another day)

• Total travel time: 59 days (6/11/10-8/10/10)
• Total distance traveled: 4,600 miles (only within Europe, if I include my flight to and from Europe, I would have traveled for 14,000 miles)
• Places visited - 8 countries 12 cities

View Ally's Europe Tour 2010 in a larger map
• UK (London)
• Germany (Berlin, Munich) 
• The Czech Republic (Prague)
• Hungary (Budapest)
• Austria (Vienna)
• Italy (Venice, Florence, Rome)
• Portugal (Lisbon, Porto)
• France (Paris)

• Favorite place: Budapest. Unlike most of the other cities I visited on this trip, Budapest is not a huge international tourist destination, so you don't get surrounded by shops and restaurants that are catered to tourists. It is also a big city, so can easily absorb all the tourists that do come to visit, so you don't feel like every other person you meet is a fellow traveler. As a result, you have a chance to eat, relax and hang out just like a local. And let me tell you, the locals have a pretty good life here! There are countless spas that you can easily spend a whole day there; beautiful parks offer shade during the day and become incredible music venues by night; delicious food at affordable price all around town. Maybe because they have such nice lives, Hungarians are very sweet. Every time I pull out a map, someone immediately offers help. 

Ok, this is just a quick summary. I am going to fill out all the details in the coming days. I know procrastinated and should have posted stories about my travel as I was traveling. However, think about it differently, I lived in the moment when I was traveling and now I get to relive my travel again through my travel blog.