2014 EUROPE by Rail 2 - Communicating with the Outside World

OK, so it didn't go the way we planned with WiFi or Internet access. Couldn't do the travel blog as we went along in Europe. I thought I had properly prepped, but ...

We got a European SIM card for our iPhone through our Eurail pass. It was free and good for 18 minutes of talk time. Figured if we got messed up with train schedules or something I could call the next hotel and adjust arrival. No problem in physically installing the card, but directions to activate did not work or maybe it was operator incompetence.

In Brugge, Belgium we actually found an authorized Apple dealer to help us. The tech guy was able to get the SIM card working (for free), BUT only in Belgium. I guess each country needs a little something different in firmware.

Thank goodness we did not have any delays or major snafus. And we had enough time in this access window to arrange dinner in Berlin with Cory, our niece's significant other. So we used the phone mostly for an alarm clock(!!), with sketchy WiFi hotel access for local information. Next time we will get a burner phone to avoid all these communication issues.

We also set up our iPad for cellular access, but apparently Sprint does not work outside the U.S. because we had no luck there either. The Apple dealer sent us to another vendor to fix this problem. But same deal, they could only set it up to work while we were in Belgium.

So we had access to WiFi / Internet only for about 12 hours in Belgium. That obviously was not enough to enter our travel blog diary. So I will start updating now. Just pretend it is coming out in a timely fashion. Hope you will still enjoy our delayed adventures.