Introduction

My plans to go on Interrail dates back to the early nineties. I never managed to go, however, since every time I tried to organize something, someone suggested going somewhere else and at that age, going by myself was not an option. In 1996 and the year before, we went to France and Denmark. These were the kind of trips that you plan half a year before, with almost no spontaneity to it. Finally, in Denmark, travelling with a bunch of friends including Sybille who would later on become my girlfriend and much later on my ex-girlfriend, I decided to go on Interrail in the summer of 1997. I didn’t know who would join us but I was willing to go, even if I was going to go on my own.

There were two then-friends of ours who also planned to come with us. But it turned out that we had a lot of arguments with them even before the trip. Thus, we decided to go on our own. We packed our backpacks and left Germany on Thursday, July 31, 1997. We would be together 24 hours a day for one month - for the first time. The trip would lead us to France, Italy and Greece and some of the most beautiful places of Europe. It all began in Stuttgart…