Hello guys!
This Spring I will be going to Europe with my History Honors III class ( about 30 kids) for 9 days, 8 nights. With our teacher we are only going to be seeing Normandy, Paris, Rome, and Salerno. BUT , 2 or posibly 3 buddies of mine, and myself, will be staying in Europe AFTER our group heads back to the USA for probably for 5 or 6 days. We are hoping to hit Berlin, Munich, Bastogne, Hagenau, and Hitlers Eagles nest.
We are not going to be ale to afford a motel/hotel [V] , and we need somewhere to sleep, bath, brush our teeth, ect. If you would be so kind to open yours doors to myself and a couple of my friends for a night or two, [:D] we would really appreaciate it! I am a guy, 16 years old and in the 11th grade. I will be 17 by the time of the trip. And I just soled an airplane yesterday, and will hopefully have my private pilots license by the time of the trip. My friends will be females (maybe one male) also the same age, 16 or 17. If you have any other questions please feel free to ask. WE are flexible, so if you live in say… Bremen, we will be glad to skip whatever we have planned to sleep in a safe home! If you can help me out in any way let me know, thanks and God Bless,
Perry Lockhart IV
Shell Point, FL
Hello there Perry. I’m afraid I’m not in a position to be of real help to you (living in the wrong part of Europe, and in a smallish appartment too [;)]). Having said that, I could probably give you a few pointers where to go since I’ve visited quite a few WW-II related museums/sites in western/central Europe. Unless you’ve already got a full schedule of course. Just give me an idea of what you’d be specifically interested in (museums, fortresses, bunkers, aircraft etc). The Bastogne museum is a good idea by the way: lots of armor and a few aircraft in a nice setting (good lighting).
Hey Filibert,
Thank you for getting up with me. So far you are the only person who has contacted me, and I have posted on several forums I post on regularly, mostly modeling sites. We really don’t have a set schedule yet. The cities I named were top priority on our “list”, but we wouldn’t mind switching something out like I said. I know for sure we are going to hit Bastogne, and hopefully Hagenau. After seeing Band of brothers about 20 times I really want to go see this in oerson [;)]. If you know of any high schools where you live who I could get in touch with, I would really appreaciate it! Maybe a student and his family would be able to take us in for a night or two. Or if you know anybody in your town who would be interested let me know, just as long as we have a roof over our heads and we don’t have to pay [:D]. We are going to try to avoid hostels. I have heard too many bad stories about them. If worse comes to worse I guess we could go to a hospital lobby or something and camp out. At least it would be safe.
let me know buddy, take care,
Perry
I’m afraid there’s no high school in my village (I don’t live in Rotterdam itself anymore), and I’m totally out of the high school loop (=old [:D]). Besides, Rotterdam is a day’s worth of travelling from most of the places on your itinerary so it’s really no use staying here. I don’t know what stories you’ve been told about youth hostels, but I have never had any bad experiences staying there. The same goes for camping sites, but these may not be very practical depending on your mode of transportation (usually located in the outskirts of cities and in the countryside). If you want to be safe (like I implied: Europe is not Compton [;)]), book a hostel in advance. That way you know where you’re going and you know you have a place to stay. If you want to save money, try to do that by travelling cheaply where possible. That’s most likely going to set you back the most. By cutting back on the number and distance of movements you’ll save big bucks. Trains are very reliable and you can get to a lot of places that way, but they are not so cheap anymore. The cheapest way is either by cheap airlines (Easyjet etc., make sure you book in advance), or by bus (Eurolines, which runs between a number of big European cities. I can’t recommend this service though: it tends to attract shady characters.). The density of local public transport varies greatly in different parts of Europe, and you’ll most likely need it to get to your destinations. You’ll be fine in cities but remote locations could benefit from some (internet) planning to avoid getting stranded. It happened to me a few times and spending a night at a train station or car park is not something I’d care to do again. That concrete sure feels hard and cold after a few hours [banghead][;)]. While I’ve succesfully hitchhiked once or twice, I wouldn’t do that in your case. For girls it’s just not the smartest thing to do. Even in a group.
I suppose the best way to plan your trip would be to get together with your friends and decide on some things you want to see. (This is where I could suggest a thing or two if you give me a few hints, like I said before). Then look on the map and try to connect the dots. If you find it’s all going to get too expensive anyway, just decide on one interesting area and check out everything there is to see. You’re already going to Normandy, which would be my number 1 suggestion. But since Bastogne was already on your list, the Belgian Ardennes would be a great idea. Band of Brothers and Ardennes offensive and all [:P]. Lots of stuff to see and a nice area to boot. Plenty of places to stay because tourism is the main source of income over there. To the north, there’s the fortress of Eben Emaël (not normally open to the public but famous for being overrun by a few dozen German paratroops in 1940), and to the south there’s a few French Maginot line fortresses which ARE open to the public and very impressive. All within a few hours’ travel. If you need more info, just let me know.