First stop on our Euro trip – Berlin. All of us were thrilled to be in capital of Germany which is truly a wonderful city. We enjoyed city architecture, visiting historical sites and monuments during the day, and German beer and bars during the night. City Rally was awesome – it was great to meet fellow travelers from neighbor countries! 
After we were done with Berlin we took the train to Amsterdam summing up impressions about the city we’ve just left.
It all began as an adventure, and maybe all of us thought “is this really happening?”
In the 9th of July we got our backpacks, our dreams, and our biggest desire to explore new places, new cultures and we left our country, some of us even for the first time.
The first city we went was Berlin. Everyone of us was expecting a great experience in Berlin, and no one got disappointed. Berlin is one of the most wonderful cities we visited: A lot of positive energy, historical places & monuments to visit, wonderful new architecture and the last but not the least very interesting people to meet in Berlin.We visited most important places in Berlin by being part of City Rally, and during it we also met new people from different countries which took part in the project.
The next day, July 12, we divided in groups and we left Berlin, with the desire to come back again in this wonderful city.Till this moment we were all together, than everyone went in a different direction in smaller groups. Me and some other students from Albania decided to continue our trip in Stockholm, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Rome and a few days ago we came back in Tirana.
They were all unforgettable places, with their own especialities but I would like more than others to mention Barcelona.Wherever you are in Barcelona, there’s always something to see nearby around the neighbourhood : jewels of home-grown Catalan architecture, modernisme, and contemporary architecture, markets that are a treat for the senses, treasures of the ancient city, parks where you can unwind, and so many great things to enjoy there.
And the best thing of all is, you don’t have to be a great explorer to find and discover all of Barcelona’s neighbourhoods. In Barcelona we find pieces of art wherever you walk, in and out of museums.
The Basilica de la Sagrada Familia is one of the most famous designs of Gaudi. Gaudi’s design consisted of a large church in the shape of a Latin cross. What I found really interesting was a note in the entrance ticket: “The Basilica of La Sagrada Familia is everybody’s, and yours too. With your contribution the work can be finished”
I really hope soon it will be finished and we will see the great idea of Gaudi. Other beautiful places to visit in Barcelona would be Las Ramblas, Plaza de Espana, Plaza de Catalunya,ect.
Every country in Europe has its own amaizing things to see and visit, and is such a great luck to visit these places, getting in touch with different cultures while we are still young and students.
In conclusion, I strongly believe that this experience is worthy for us, our contries and the future that we all want to built.
The next big thing to do was – without thinking a lot – getting a grasp of Switzerland. I didn’t need too much time to get motivated about hitting the road to Zurich, the trendsetter’s city of Switzerland.
I had no idea what that was supposed to mean but it was definitely worth exploring it. A big plus was being able to do Couchsurfing! It’s been a while since I last did it, so I was really looking forward to it! My host recommended taking the Rhaetian train to St. Moritz, passing through a region protected as World Heritage by UNESCO.
I was surprised by Swiss people. They all look chic, spend incredibly a lot of money on pleasures that can be found on each corner in St. Moritz. It was good to be a part of it even for a day. Indeed, the feeling was perfect!
13 day’s ago I was in Sarajevo at the main train station waiting for my train … to finally start my euro trip 
now I’m in Amsterdam having one great day after another the weather is awful, cold and rainy but Amsterdam is still beautiful The city is very fairy tale like … all these small and lovely houses, the vintage shops in Jordan (the best part of Amsterdam…!!! ) It’s quite and peaceful, with lots of great coffee shops where you can eat great chees, fresh croasonts and drink very tasty coffee. Also a lot of great gallery’s and art shops.
After few very intensive day’s in Berlin and a heavy rush of emotions … Amsterdam is dreamy and a perfect opposite. And another good thing about Amsterdam is … it’s very close to other town’s like Brugge, Antwerpen, Brussel and Rotterdam. By train not more than 3 hours
We were yesterday in Brugge … a beautiful town with great chocolate and beer but also very expensive :/ We left Amsterdam at 8:16 after 30 minutes we had to leave the train in schople … why? Well, the train was burning … but don’t worry everybody is fine it was just a problem with the electric Still very funny moment ha ha ha
Today we’ve been in Brussel … very funny and weird experience… but worth The train was fine … huuuh
Tomorrow we are going to Paris I hope the train is not going to burn again and the weather will be fine … wish us luck
The German Marshall Fund published a report on “Travel to Europe 2011″ in the website section “Success Stories” – so that’s what it is. Here you can find the report.
July 9th will be remembered as the day when fifteen youngsters from Kosovo took upon them the challenge of visiting Europe on their own. With our backpacks on, an optimistic attitude and whatever knowledge we had tried to scavenge on Europe, we headed for our first stop in this big undertaking – Berlin.
Berlin was one of the most fun places I would imagine. I must admit, I had previously thought of Berlin as made of concrete, stone and every other building material on the gray spectrum (I blame the movie “Goodbye Lenin” for this mental picture). The reality was quite different. The city is vibrant with energy, lots of new and old sections and tons of historically and culturaly significant places to visit.
Out of the many places we visited, I would single out the Jewish Museum as being the most unique experience. The architectural design behind the building where the museum sits is stunning and its irregular zig-zag shape opens up ones mind to a whole new plane of thinking where each and every single person can get out a unique experience from it.
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This day is going to be different! I wake up and still don’t believe myself: I’m sitting in an EuroCity train from Hamburg to Copenhagen and dream with my eyes wide open. Everything is about Europe these days! Alright, I admit I’ve been always in the heat of getting a grasp of Europe that has long been considered ‘united in diversity’, reconstructing everything I’ve read about it and giving it my own dimension.
I’ve started my Europtrip with the – by all means – culturally most exotic city: Copenhagen. Considering the distance between my home country and Denmark, it has often been a whish of mine to be able to explore Scandinavian living philosophy. Copenhagen offered a lot of rain (!) and a bunch of blond faces. The weather didn’t allow me manuever the streets the way I wanted so I had to pacify my own wild nature. However, I still managed to visit Christiania, Tivoli Gardens and the pedestrian street of Strøget packed with people and eclectic shops. Not even mentioning cycling down the boulevards but it was interesting that the citizens were carelessly riding their bikes for transportation and as a means of socializing.
I was lucky to meet some people from the Macedonian group who previously visited Malmö and shared with them all my insights on Denmark. We all tried to avoid thinking of food (meaning: McDonalds) but the majority of us went anyway to the fast-food temple and waited for a while at the counter until everyone got the desired treat. Having grabbed the food, I hopped on a train to Düsseldorf where my cousin was waiting for me. He said over the phone my aunt had been preparing good food. I just prayed for good weather.
So, what happened so far? The opening event of the program ‘Travel to Europe’ 2011 started in Berlin on July 10. There was a first get-together of the students at one of Berlin’s beautiful beer gardens in the evening of Sunday, July 10. On the next day, the participants started early with the Berlin City Rally, where they had to answer questions and fulfill tasks in mixed teams. After lunch at the Bosch Repräsentanz Berlin, the students met with Gerald Knaus, Chairman of the European Stability Initiative (ESI), who discussed with them the so called ‘European border revolution’ and the European future of the Western Balkan countries. In the evening, the most creative groups were awarded in a ceremony. This was followed by a farewell party for all participants. The next day, Tuesday, July 12, the students left Berlin in smaller and larger groups to explore the European Union countries by themselves for the next four weeks.
Start for “Travel to Europe 2011″ in Berlin: This year’s participants in front of the Foundation’s office in Berlin. 150 students start a four-week-trip through the European Union.
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