EUGEN 2009: A small detour
One year after my first experience with EUGEN in Switzerland, I was keen on going to their next event. The 2009 EUGEN was being held in the Netherlands. From the original Romanian group, only a few of us returned. Additionally, a few new colleagues of ours decided to tag along. As opposed to the prior year’s organized group travel, this time we decided to each go our own way and meet up in the Netherlands.
At around the same time of my trip, my mom and I were invited over to our relatives in west Germany. Thus, we decided to fly to Germany together where I would spend a day, before hopping on a train to the Netherlands.
First time in Germany
My mom’s cousin and his family lived in the city of Wuppertal, northeast of Cologne. This was the first time I visited Germany. As brief as it was for me, it left a good impression.
Wuppertal is a highly industrial city, with a divers array of home industries such as metallurgy, textiles, automobiles, chemicals, electronics and many others. Despite this, the city seemed fairly clean and green. Quite different then the industrial cities I was used to from back in eastern Europe.
One of the most unique features of Wuppertal is the Wuppertal Schwebebahn suspension monorail. Built just before the dawn of the 20th century, the monorail is the oldest electric elevated railway with hanging cars in the world.
After a day of walking around the city and getting to know my extended family, I was ready to my Netherlands adventure.
Eindhoven
I took a train to Eindhoven in the Netherlands, where I met up with one of my friends. We had an entire day to pass before we could catch a ride to our campsite. Unfortunately, the weather was not ideal for walking around town. It rained the entire day. Still, we got a good look at the colorful town.
The Dutch sure love their red bricks. I’ve never seen so many red brick buildings in one place anywhere else. Not that I’m complaining.
If memory serves, our stay in Eindhoven was shortened when a fellow EUGENeer we got in contact with offered to give us a ride to camp. So after a short wet day in Eindhoven, we made our way to camp. Thus began the wild ride that would be EUGEN 2009.
