Thursday, March 12, 2009

Athens and Berlin and DUBLIN and London.....OH MY!!

That's right folks....SPRING BREAK 2009 is HERE!!!!

And I am WAY PAST BEYOND PUMPED!!!

Sidenote: I apologize....I am going to have to take a break from catching you up on our 10 day trip and stop with Rome because there just isn't enough time to blog about it before leaving. Sounds crazy, right?! Because that just means that coming back from Spring Break, I'm going to have DOUBLE the adventures that I will have to blog about!!
But this week has been MEGA packed and we're running out and just about OUT OF TIME!!! So much has went on -
Jonathan getting oh so very sick, migraines, HUGE, HUGE presentation/review that was due/occurred today (if you only knew the preparations that have been going into the projects, everyone has worked SO hard), Silvia, the administrative assistant of Genoa has had me helping her out like crazy- that I couldn't fit everything on my to-do list in. And yes I have one and yes it's very long. I only checked off the absolute necessary this week.

And then of course, when you're about to take such a monumental trip as we, there's so much to do before leaving. Washing clothes, packing, cell phone minutes, itineraries, maps, flight info, hostel info, where are you going to go, what are you going to do, necessary personal papers when traveling. I'm telling you....it's a lot....but it will SO be worth it come next Monday, March 23rd!!!

So, anywho...........
Here's what's going down:
Basically, my fellow independent travelers and I have gone completely NUTS and have booked a
10 day trip to 4 different countries completely spread across Europe. It's literally like: BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM....if that makes ANY sense!!! :)

We're starting off by leaving TODAY (btw -I'm SCREAMING OUT LOUD, GOING CRAZY as I type this because I am SO EXCITED about this trip...it's going to be the trip of a lifetime!!), Friday, March 13th and taking a train from
Genoa to Milan. We'll spend the night in Milan, taking it easy with a cheap dinner and getting some rest.

Then it's up EARLY Saturday morning, March 14th, hopping a plane, and we're off to
Athens, Greece. GREECE PEOPLE!! :) :) We plan to primarily see the Acropolis, among other things, have some kebabs (new obsession; LOVE these things) and baklava, and stay in town for 1 night. We'll spend most of Sunday in Athens doing some more mingling with the Greeks.

That evening will jump another flight to
Berlin, Germany where we'll stay for 2 nights. While there we hope to visit the Jewish and Holocaust Museum, which we have been told is very realistic and touching. I'm pretty excited to be able to visit this museum.

So that get us to Tuesday, March 17th.
ST. PATRICK'S DAY ya'll!!! And what better place to spend the Irish born holiday then with the IRISH....in DUBLIN, IRELAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sidenote: It's only been my dream since I was about 12 years old to visit Ireland, and more specifically to see the lush, green countryside. One of my all time favorite movies is PS-I love you. If you haven't seen it. Go. Go now and rent. You will NOT be disappointed. So anyways, dream being fulfilled here people. BIG DEAL!!

Back to DUBLIN........
Needless to say, I am so pumped. Ireland for not only St. Patty's Day, but also an additional 2 more days. So it's Ireland for 3 nights while seeing the popular Book of Kells and Trinity College among many other things. Oh man. I'm SO excited that this is happening, I'm on the brink of nervousness that I'm not truly prepared for all that Ireland has to offer!!! ;)

We're almost through our 11 days...what better place to end than by grabbing that jet with our fannies on Friday, March 20th and setting out to
London, England!!! Another 3 night place, we'll be seeing all the typical touristy places; Westminster Abbey, The Palace of Westminster and Big Ben, The London Eye, Buckingham Palace....you get the picture, right??? Yeah. :)

So then on Monday morning, we're jetset on the last flight from
London and back home to Genoa just making studio at 3 PM by the hair on our chinny chin chins!!!

I'd say it's probably the most
ridiculous (and I mean ridiculous in a good way like the kids are using that word these days) Spring Break I have ever had planned. I can't believe we're seeing so much and in such a short time period!! WHOA!!

My traveling partners will consistently be throught the entire trip my precious, precious love, Jonny and of course our Dupree (you know the movie....You, Me, and Dupree....but OH how we LOVE our Dupree!!) Derrick. We'll have some additional friends on various parts of the trip; Heather B. will join us in Milan and Athens and Heather N. and Lura will join us in London.

You, Me, and Dupree :) 

The ONLY downside to this trip is this:
The flights we're taking are on
very small jets....therefore, the size of your carry-on is limited AND it's 15euro for EVERY checked bag. Well, we don't have that kind of money AND when you're hopping from city to city, you don't leave a lot of time for lost luggage because by the time it is found, you might be 2 cities gone!!
So what does that leave us with???
That's right. You guessed it.
We have to pack in a
very small carry on. 10 days worth. That's it. Yeah. What??!

So, I've decided 2 things:
1) This trip will NOT be about fashion or looking good. It will be about necessity. And getting by. So when I share pictures when we return, don't you DARE comment on my shabbyness unless it's to make me feel better, k?? ;) Haha!! Because I can promise you, packing THAT light for 10 days, I'm bound to look
rough AND wear the same thing AT LEAST 3 times!! HA!!

2) By the end of our stint of living in Europe, I'm convinced that I can take on ANYTHING when it comes to packing light or by necessity. I also think that I will know all sorts of traveling/packing secrets that help you get by ever so minimallistically. I will be a traveling/packing/necessity pro. And, I wll know how to suck up and WALK more than I've ever walked before, just simply put, "ROUGHING" it!!! ;)



So that's it. We're off!! Please keep us in your PRAYERS as we'll be traveling MANY miles during the next 10 days. We truly do appreciate them, and can feel them as well when times may get hairy.

Until next time as the
Greeks, Germans, Irish, and English would say:
αντίο, Auf Wiedersehen, goodbye (in some fun accent I'm sure), and goodbye!!! :)


3 comments:

Victoria said...

Wow sweet girl - this is the best!!! Thank you so much for taking the time to give us such a review or your amazing plans. I am so jealous and will be praying for you every step of the way - Can't wait to see and hear all about it - Take care of each other and as I told Derrick - watch each others backs!! I love you all - Vicki - another Mom.....

SM Edens said...

Just ONE of those places would be enough to keep me busy for more than a week! -- Today you are in Greece - it seems almost like a dream to me that you and Jonathan (and other friends) are seeing all these places -- maybe I can believe it when the pictures start rolling in! Love lots -- San

Anonymous said...

so, it is st patrick's day and i'm sportin my green and clovers and just wishin i was in your suitcase or your pocket traveling through ireland with you right now!!! i'm so jealous but more importantly, so excited for you and jon and all the traveling friends! i miss you and love you dearly!!! be safe and have SO much fun!!! :)