Pete’s Easter Break Adventure Thing

My apologies (again) for not being a more reliable blog-updater; however, there's been almost nothing update-worthy since my last post. My days have been primarily filled with classwork, with little in the way of travel or Danish observations to make. (When I do find little things along the way, they end up getting posted on my Twitter, so it might be worth sifting through the whining about schoolwork for those.)

However, the time has come when my educators reluctantly offer me a week off, so the traveling shall soon commence. Yes, I'll be breaking the already-loosely-defined theme of the blog, but it's sort of related. I guess. So, without further ado, my Easter break plans:

----

To celebrate finally getting a week off, as well as to cross as many "must-see" places off of my list at once, I'm going on a trip. John and Tanya are coming with me, albeit for different legs of the journey.

Being a lazy American, the only appropriate way to embark on a journey of this magnitude is by automobile. And what better place to go on a week-long road trip than the land of the Autobahn?

Here's the gameplan:

Friday, April 3^rd

• Secure rental car from the Malmö South train station in Sweden at 8:30am. (Why Sweden? Denmark won't let me rent until I'm 23. Sweden's cool with 18, and they don't tack on any silly underage driver surcharge, either. Allegedly.)
  
• Stock up on (relatively) cheap Swedish groceries.
  
• Drive across the literally awe-inspiring (and friggin' expensive) Øresund Bridge
  
• Hang around Copenhagen for the day doing cool things with the car until everybody's out of class and we can get on the road.
  
• Drive for 7 hours to Berlin. (The ferries are too expensive and don't cut enough time out of the trip.)
  
• Reflect on the fact that I drove through three countries in one day.
  
• Partake in some of Berlin's renowned nightlife.
  

Saturday, April 4^th

• Do cool things around Berlin. Not sure exactly what yet, but it'll probably involve the Reichstag and the Wall and a bunch of other awesome historical things. I'm quite open to suggestions. Ideally, I'd spend more than a day in Berlin, but I only have a total of 6 days to work with and a lot of ground to cover.
  
• Take advantage of the Autobahn to make it to the hostel in Bonn by nightfall.
  

Sunday, April 5^th

• Visit John's historical homeland of Königswinter.
  
• Oh, I dunno, lap the Nordschleife a couple of times in my economy rental hatchback. (Don't tell Europcar.)
  
• Hit Stuttgart. Obligatory stop by Porsche HQ. Maybe Mercedes too, if there's time.
  
• End up in Zürich.
  

Monday, April 6^th

• Zürich. More cool things. Still not sure what they are, exactly, but it's one of the (if not the) biggest cities in Switzerland. Stop by the Swatch factory, or something. I dunno. Again, open to suggestions.
• Brian-submitted suggestion: Lindt factory outside of Zürich. Still not sure if they give tours, but it's close enough that I can just drive by and take pictures and be generally creepy like that.
  
• Stop by the Paiste factory in the canton of Lucerne. Hit a ton of cymbals. Leave feeling strangely satisfied.
  
• Drive through Swiss Alps. More awe.
  
• End the day in my historical homeland (alright, my father's father's father's (father's?) homeland) of Lugano. Pretend I'm not as far removed from this part of the world as I actually am. This may involve wine.
  

Tuesday, April 7^th

• Hang out in Lugano. There's a lake. Unwind for a day… Almost.
  
• Hit the road again, travelling across the Swiss Alps one last time.
  
• Drive through the entirety of Liechtenstein. I'm setting aside maybe half an hour for that.
  
• Sneak through Austria to get back into Germany.
  
• End the evening in Munich. Get a stein of beer. Empty it. Repeat.
  

Wednesday, April 8^th

• Munich. I need to unfortunately spend the bulk of the afternoon and evening stone sober, but there'll still be room for beer. And of course, BMWs. Hopefully both simultaneously. Still open to suggestions.
  
• Biggest day of Autobahn exploitation yet. Munich to Hamburg. Let's see what this underpowered VW Golf (or possibly diesel Audi A3 -- we'll find out at the check-in counter) is capable of.
  
• End the evening (exhausted from almost a week of driving) in Hamburg.
  

Thursday, April 9^th

• Wander around Hamburg for whatever I have left of the morning to work with.
  
• Hop in the car around 11am, drive flat-out to Malmö to return the car by 6pm.
  
• Sleep.

Here's a more concise summary:


View Larger Map

The trip would be longer, but my mom is coming into town on Friday morning to ruin it all for me. (Kidding.)

Oh, I'm also going to London this weekend, too.