Europe Trip - We Leave in a Week!

My husband isn't a hunter, or a sportsman of any sort. He's very anti-killing and goes so far as to help spiders out of the house instead of smashing them. Nonetheless, tonight we went to what he claims is his favorite store, the Sportsman's Warehouse. The place is full of outdoor supplies, hunting equipment, and camping gear. Neither of us are campers, as we recently comfirmed on a semi-camping trip where we stayed in a campground in a funny little round structure called a yurt. It was heated and had lights, but we still had to get dressed and walk past several other campsites to reach the bathroom and sit on cold toilet seats in the middle of the night (again, semi-camping, as I know true camping never involves a bathroom).

Anyway, we were at his favorite store to buy backpacks for our upcoming trip to Europe. It will be my first time there and I want to pack light, and we'll be on foot a good bit of the time so I don't want to lug a heavy suitcase. So, backpacks it is. I'm sure we'll stick out like silly Americans for sure. My new backpack rocks! Our original plan was to buy a Germany/Benelux rail pass and take the train everywhere, until I started planning and discovered what a confusing mess trying to plan European rail travel is. Plus I'm lame and can't face backward on the train without getting sick. Not to mention that taking the train is very expensive -- so we found some less expensive flights and are now flying almost everywhere. Thanks to a great sweepstakes win, our business-class tickets to and from Europe were free!

We're flying into Berlin, spending a few days with friends in the Heidelberg area, then heading up to Amsterdam, down to Bruges, and making some obligatory return flights through Amsterdam and Frankfurt to get back to Berlin and head back home, presumably exhausted. The only longish train ride that should come into the picture is from Amsterdam to Bruges, and I've equipped myself with Scopolamine patches to avoid the motion sickness I experience so easily (even at the movies when the picture is jerky).

Whenever I travel I like to do exhaustive research to find the best itineraries, fares, routes, and hotel rates. This time I found some good deals in what have turned out to be very expensive cities (especially Amsterdam, yikes!), but still need to find out exactly where to go to catch local trains and trams to reach the hotels, sightseeing, etc. I'm most excited about seeing Bruges because I love historical architecture and have never seen buildings that date as far back as many of those in Europe. I'd like to see Ghent as well. I hope it's not too cold there. Belgium has chocolate!