Page:Three Years in Europe.djvu/403

Rh From the morning of the 2nd November when I left London to the evening of the 15th December when I returned to London it was 44 days, including both days. In these 44 days I had spent a little over £66. In other words I had spent a pound and a half a day. This is a high average, as a pound a day is considered sufficient for your expenses when you are staying in the continent. But then I travelled so fast that I could not make it cheaper. European travellers generally select a small area of a country where they spend a summer or a winter, and then choose another place for the next year and so on. According to this plan you can reduce hotel expenses, for most hotels make special arrangements when one is living for a long time, and then the railway fare comes next to nothing. But this plan was of course not suited to me, seeing that I have scarcely a chance of coming to Europe once in ten years. I had therefore to travel fast, and that means much Railway fare and high hotel charges. My Railway fares alone come to over £20, and my hotel charges, including hotel extras, over £30. I had, therefore, only £15 left for cab hires and occassional guides, for entrance to museums and picture galleries, and for such guide-books and a few photographs and mementoes as no tourist can help buying.

The coinage is different in each country and gives the tourist some trouble. In Norway and Sweden the kronor is the silver coin and is worth a little more than a shilling. In France the franc is worth 10 pence, and the coinage in Belgium is the same as in France. In Holland the guilden is about 2 francs, i.e., 1s. 8d. In