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| The title of this book was VERY misleading. |
Today I spent the afternoon with Mom - going to lunch, taking her have her hair done, grocery shopping, etc. While she was having her hair styled, I went next door to the library and check out a couple of travel books.
Next year Matt and I will celebrate our 20-year anniversary of our first date. We've decided that we want to travel to celebrate and we both knew that we wanted to go to Europe.
At first, we just thought about traveling to England (London) and maybe a side trip to Paris. In college I journeyed to London as part of a school trip. It was an amazing trip and I've longed to return. In addition to London, I want to travel back to the city of Bath and maybe Salisbury (Stonehenge). Those were my favorite stops on the trip.
Matt has never been "across the pond," so we also thought a side trip to Paris would be fun as well.
A conversation with Matt's Dad gave us a chance to rethink our plans. Matt told him that we were thinking of taking a week, maybe 9 or 10 days, for the trip. Matt's Dad, Lynn, asked him why we hadn't thought about taking a longer trip and really seeing more of the continent. His thinking was, "when are you gonna have this opportunity again?"
So now we're pondering taking a couple of weeks, maybe 2 1/2 weeks for our trip. We've got time to figure all that out.
Matt and I being the planners that we are, have started really thinking about what we want to see and do. I'd kinda like to see the International Olympic Committee museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. Matt's heritage is German, so maybe traveling there as well might be fun.
The hard part is how to get all of this planned! There's a lot to think about and a lot of decisions to be made. If anyone has any suggestions, we'd greatly appreciate the advice. :-)
Bon Voyage!
Robert
bwhahahaha on the book title!
ReplyDeleteseek out a good travel agent with a specialization in europe. there must be someone in your town.
Let's just say I had a good chuckle while standing in the library. LOL
DeleteWe have some good travel agencies in town. I'll chat them up soon. :-)
Hubby and I have never been "across the pond" either. I've visited the Philippines, my Mom's home, when I was a teenager. Our 25th is in a couple years and we want to plan a special trip as well. Where? We haven't figured that out yet.
ReplyDeleteDream Big! Both of you should make a list of places you've always wanted to go to and then compare them. You'll know the right place when you see it. :-)
DeleteSpouse & I spent 3 days in Paris (a long weekend, if you will) and had a wonderful time. Its such a beautiful city! Seems to me if you spend 3 days in each city, you should get to all the major cities in Europe in 2 weeks.
ReplyDeleteParis is one of the cities I'm really looking forward to. More specifically, the pastries. I do loves me some baked goods. Oh yeah, and that Eiffel Tower thingy. LOL
DeleteI found that 23 days works well. You travel on off-days. You get a LOT of time to explore. I highly recommend finding bloggers/etc on the places you want to visit. They can give you the insider info, and perhaps host you, or guide you. I can't tell you how much this has meant to my travel in England. DO NOT worry about "the language". Believe me, in England, I do NOT speak English. The same applies in other countries...they speak some form of English where it counts. I like to avoid tours. I prefer seeing the cool stuff that locals think is cool. Oddly enough, this includes things like famous museums and universities, but also includes punting on the River Cam.
ReplyDeleteYou are smart. Research, research, research. Find the place you want to go. Find the things you want to see. Believe me, Stonehenge at 70mph in the fog is AWESOME, top photographs not withstanding! So is a tiny pub in Angarrack, Cornwall, England for afternoon "tea".
My best advice is to find locals to lead you around. Eat where they eat, drink where they drink, visit the things they think are cool. Walking on the Cornwall coast is totally awesome when the only other people are locals!
Oh, and plan to spend more than you plan. Make sure you notify your credit card companies you will be traveling abroad, and check to see what foreign banks will accept your card in their ATMs - which is usually cheaper than getting money at an exchequer at the airport. Their exchange rates are HIGH HIGH HIGH. (Barclays loved me, LloydsdBank did not.)
Want to save money? Buy a $300 point and shoot camera and take a gazillion pictures. Get a lot of memory cards and swap them out every day or 2. Pictures cost almost nothing, and bring back the memories much better than a trinket from a shop (yeah, I bought a Cornish Pirates jersey for £78*, and a few other things like maps).
*Get a currency converter for your smart phone. I use OANDA Currency Converter. Then you know what things cost. (See previous paragraph. £78 = $131!!!!)
Peace <3
Jay
OMG! You're my own personal Rick Steves! I'm not worthy!
Delete23 days might be a bit much for Matt. Yes it is possible to love to travel yet hate being away for too long.
I truly appreciate the advice. I'm gonna have to print this out and take notes!
I am mad-jealous! I would love to see Switzerland.
ReplyDeleteI've been dying to go since I saw Carrie Underwood's performance in "The Sound of Music".
DeleteKidding, Kidding.
I always think that, if you can manage it, two weeks minimum is best. But I'm not one for bouncing around from city to city every couple of days. I love getting to really know one place especially and do day trips to other places. Obviously, you have so many options. Also, I do like to learn some basic phrases in the language of any country I'll be visiting. I enjoy it and I think it also sends a really nice message to the locals in the places you visit. People are grateful if you show that kind of respect and make the effort. (Please, thank you, hello, good-bye, where's the bathroom, and I'm sorry I don't speak _____ ... all really help!) Rick Steve's books are incredibly helpful, although sometimes (and just sometimes) my experience has been that his judgments can be a bit harsh. I also love Rough Guides. This is exciting!!!
ReplyDelete