All right. I'm going to post this blog. I keep writing blogs and then not posting them because something that seems more important gets in the way. First it was moving my friend to South Dakota. Then it was my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary, then a funeral, my boyfriend, and then first and foremost, EUROPE! So this blog is dedicated to all of our plans so you can all read and be jealous.
We leave in 8 days and will be gone for 23 days! Augghhh! Our flight leaves from O'Hare Airport on June 28th at 3:45. We arrive in Dublin, Ireland on June 29th at 8 am! Talk about major jetlag. By the time we get there it will be time for bed. I'm deciding on how I should handle this situation and let me tell you... it's not easy. I guess I'm going to have to suck it up and be up for like 30 hours. I've thought about adjusting my sleep schedule etc... etc... each idea seems less appealing. What makes this even worse is the following day (June 30th), we have to up and moving to catch another plane to Milan that leaves early evening. Looking back, probably should have flown out on July 1st but we were just too excited. It's also highly possible that I'm going to be so excited that sleep will be the last thing on my mind. I'm going to Ireland... the home of my ancestors and leprechauns and pots of gold at the end of the rainbow!
Like I mentioned, we arrive early morning bum around Ireland most of the day and then leave the next day for Italy (which is actually in a different timezone... go figure). We arrive in Milan at like 8 p.m. and we'll probably just head straight for the hostel. We have 2 days in Milan before leaving for Venice on July 2. We will spend the splendid 4th of July in Venice and then off to Florence and Pisa. We spend like an afternoon in Pisa because we decided all we really wanted to see was the Leaning Tower. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure Pisa is a wonderful city but after intense reading of travel books we decided we just wanted to see the Leaning Tower.
After the fastest trip ever through 3 Italian cities, we head to France! We arrive at like midnight because the only train to Nice from Pisa leaves at 7 p.m. We are in Nice from July 7-9 and then we leave for Paris (which is the place I think I maybe most excited about). Mostly because I know how to say Champs-Elysee in French and sadly it's all I know! I'm that stupid American who knows no French whatsoever but in my defense, I don't know any Italian either. So French people and Italians alike shall hate me forever!
We're taking a day trip to the Loirre Valley and visting chateaux which I'm sure will be fabulous. This happens on the 11th. We're back in Paris until the 13th and we hop on the Chunnel to London! My planning for this trip handles London and beyond. My older sister did Italy and France and I got England, which is better since my older sister is the walking translator. She took 6 years of French and like 2 years of Italian so she can understand all the foreign stuff better.
We are doing everything free in London with the exception of possibly the Windsor Castle. Our plans for England were really sporadic and we decided it would be easier and cheaper to rent a car. I think we're getting a tiny Kia clown car. And yes, we are fully aware that gas is SUPER expensive in the UK. And they drive on the opposite side of the road and the steering wheel is on the other side. We have a car for a total of 2 days. Besides, it was the most direct way to get from London to our ferry in Holyhead (which is technically in Wales). We leave from London on the 16th for Stonehenge. Stonehenge for us will be just a day trip. It's about 2 hours outside of London and I thought it would be fun to go to.
After that we are headed north to visit the Pride and Prejudice country. We will be visiting the manor as Pemberley in the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice. Holla. Then maybe some other trips to float our boats and then off to Caernarfon (try to pronounce that... Ka-nare-i-von) in Wales to return the car and than an hour to Holyhead where we jump on a ferry back to Dublin! Woot! We spend 2 days in Dublin and back to the U.S. That is our trip in a nutshell... we have all of our transportation down. We are tying up the loose ends with the hostels. We hope to have everything finalized by Thursday.
Feel free to live vicariously through this. I will post more later this week with more updates and I will do my best to post while I am overseas!
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