God Save the Queen

Here's the run-down of the London sites we will be taking in over our 4 day stay. The group decided to get the London Pass (2 day), and the other 3 are going to Bath/Stonehenge for one day -- I am going to hit all of the free museums and enjoy the city proper on my own.

Tower of London: It's a tower. It's in London. It was a PRISON! We have secured passes to view the "Ceremony of the Keys", a traditional ceremony that closes out the tower. http://www.hrp.org.uk/

London Eye: It doesn't have great reviews, but it's a quick way to see all of London. Plus, it looks fun and touristy. AND, when will I ever get to go on it again?? http://www.londoneye.com/

St. Paul's Cathedral, the "world famous centre of Christian worship and mission and heritage." ... what does that make the Vatican?? Either way, there is a LOT of religion happening on this trip... http://www.stpauls.co.uk/

Kensington Palace (I'm meeting the kids there before they go to Bath): a "royal residence" somewhere between London and Bath. http://www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace/stories.aspx

ABBEY ROAD. I'm not explaining this to you, as if you don't know the significance of this stop, we cannot be friends anymore.

Tower Bridge-- yes, I *will* be singing, "London Bridges", the Fergie version, per Justin's request.

Globe Theater-- just the tour. We're going to see a show in the "London Theater District." Apparently you can go to the ticket booths at 9:30 in the morning the day of a show and get half-off tickets!

Hyde Park-- it's free, it has the Princess Memorial Fountain, and it's right outside of my hotel.

Westminster Abbey: the living pagent of British History-- home of lots of funerals and the final resting place of many... but we'll go with "living" http://www.westminster-abbey.org/home

Are there sites that I'm missing??

All my bags are packed...

I'm a total geek. I was so wound up yesterday, I bought a crap ton of travel sized stuff, packed my toiletries bag, and started a list of stuff I should still pick up. I don't leave for over 5 weeks, yet I'm about ready to walk out the door!

I met up with Pam, Justin and Jason for dinner tonight at Texas Roadhouse to start figuring out what we want to DO when we're overseas. I decided against the day trip to Stonehenge- I'm going to spend the day in London alone, wandering in and out of free museums :) I'm still on the fence about the Pompeii day trip-- it's a lot of money to see some ashes. I heard it was great to see, but we're only in Rome for 4 days-- is it worth the 5+ hours of travel time, plus lines, etc?

We decided on seeing a show while in London, in the theater district. There are SO MANY SHOWS to choose from! Avenue Q, Chicago, Wicked, Sister Act (hahaha!),Grease... and Naked Men..?! Maureen said its likely that we can get tickets the day of the show for half price if we hit the ticket booths around 9:30-10 in the morning.

I'll start posting my lists of stuff we want to do over the next few days- feel free to comment, add, etc. I need all of the help I can get!

Rejected by the Pope!

...ok, so his schedule was "full," but he won't be conducting a General Assembly Mass in St. Peter's Basilica when I am in Rome/Vatican. His holiness could have consulted me; I'm fairly easy to get a hold of. It has been suggested to me by the General Assembly ticket staff that I attend mass at Santa Susanna's in the evening or the following morning. Apparently Santa Susanna's is one of the oldest churches in Rome. We'll see.

I'm bummed. I was really looking forward to going to the General Assembly mass.

Cash money, yo.

HOLY CRAP, London is EXPENSIVE! I understand that tourism is huge and that the dollar has tanked, but really?! There's not much I want to see there, but the sites I *do* want to visit?! I'm looking at £101 (which is like $150), and that's without a tube/ bus pass, AND without food! There's not much I need to eat over there besides fish and chips, right? They're not exactly known for their cuisine... I can live on peanut butter and crackers through London... I know I can...!

And, that's without the side trip to Bath/Stonehenge. To be honest, I'm not sure how wild I am about going to Stonehenge. Is it worth going to, spending a day there (with tea!), to see... rocks?

London Calling

I'm trying to figure out if I should get the "London Pass" for the sites we/I want to see while in London. http://www.londonpass.com/

The way I calculated it out, it will save some money, but that means we have to see the sights with the pass within 2 days (assuming we go with a 2 day pass instead of a 3, and on one of those travel days we are taking a side trip to Bath/Stonehenge). Rick (Rick Steves- I'm on a first-name basis with him now) suggests getting it for the "whirlwind traveler" which is what I am.

And, I think I'm going to start ordering tickets to events/sites on line. I've been finding that I can get discounts by ordering online at some places, and then I won't have to wait in so many lines... plus, I don't think it will hurt the pocketbook as badly if I can spread out the ticket purchases. Did anyone else buy advance tickets for stuff in London??

Bagages, Deposito...bagáiste?

That's "luggage" in French, Italian, and... Irish? Way to go, Google Translate.

I realized today that Bria is using the luggage I got for Christmas before I will-- she leaves for Florida tomorrow. @#%$. Yes, I let her borrow it. Yes, I'm happy she's traveling, but I'm jealous! I guess she can tell me how wheeling it around Orlando's airport goes.

Have fun, munchkin! And make sure you don't lose my bright pink zebra striped luggage tag!!

Exercise in Europe

Because I'm still a little diet nutty and am training for the Muddy Buddy (too many rhyming words in that sentence) in July, I started looking into gyms and running routes around the cities I will be visiting. I noticed that the Paris hotel is next to a gym and I can buy a guest pass-- however much that will be... and will the machines be different? I already have a hard enough time on an elliptical machine here in the US. This could be a disaster waiting to happen.

I know I will be walking *everywhere*, but want to make sure I don't lose my fitness drive entirely. If I can get in 3-5 exercise sessions or short run/jogs while overseas, I will be happy. Plus, I think the time alone with my ipod and my running shoes will do me some good :)

I was playing on livestrong.com, and I found a running route right along Hyde Park (it's about 4.2 miles), which is about a block or two from my hotel. At my slow-as-a-snail pace, it will take me about 45 minutes to do. I found a route in Paris as well, but I'm not sure how far it is from my hotel (and they have the gym next-door I mentioned above). That's easy to knock off before we get up for the day and go sight seeing... right? Or am I trying to do too much?

Meet Leonard, my new travel buddy.

Jason gave each of us a "Gnome Away From Home" to play with while on the trip. I don't think he knew what he was getting into... anyway, if you see Leonard in any of my travel pictures, you'll now understand why (because he's AWESOME and yes, I plan on getting pictures of him all over Europe).

...who gave HER a passport?!

I've been on vacation before. I've been to Florida, to Canada (what Metro-Detroiter hasn't?), visited DC, been to the Bahamas with family, even took a few random trips to Boston and Iowa for debate trips-- though, I *was* partially confined to a van with a bunch of high school kids. But this is the first REAL BIG trip across an ocean and where a passport is required. It's just... different, I guess. It's exciting and a little nerve racking to think that in a few short weeks, I will be immersed in cultures and languages I have never experienced. It's even a little overwhelming.

For those lucky few of you that haven't had to listen to me rave about this trip in the last 4 months, I am heading to Europe with Pam, Jason and Justin for 2 weeks in May. We start with a day in Dublin, go for 4 days in London, 4 in Paris, and ending with 4 in Rome. Just *thinking* about all that we want to accomplish while there is exhausting- and we still have 61 days until we leave!

I have been in full-blown preparation mode for this upcoming vacation. No joke. I've been buying travel guides and downloading travel podcasts like they're going out of style. Pam and the boys have been watching Rick Steves' Travel on PBS (I didn't know he was on tv!), and Pam has episodes of it for me to watch if I want (um, YES PLEASE!). I've probably been driving poor Maureen crazy with my questions, as she, well, goes to Europe (France primarily) more than anyone I've ever met. I've been boring my non-traveling friends with my random facts about the countries I am visiting- some of it correct, some of it, I'm sure, lost in translation ("Did you know that you can't give the "thumbs up" to someone in Italy? It's offensive and vulgar-- like flipping someone off!").

So, I decided to start blogging about the trip, my preparations for it, and plan to blog while overseas- assuming I can figure out how to use the keyboards over in France and Italy. I'm not (repeat, NOT) bringing a computer OR my crackberry with me (I can hear you laughing!), but there are business centers and/or a public computer in each of the hotels we are staying in, so I can check my email and do this. Maybe even play on Facebook a little bit. But the computers will definitely NOT be used to check my work email. I've always done that- checked my work email while on vacation. Not this time, jack-o! I need a break. But I digress..

I'm using this blog as an outlet so not *everyone* has to hear about it, but also to solicit ideas. My friends, as you already know, are pretty awesome and worldly- I'm sure most of them have traveled and have very helpful hints. Like, do I fold the clothes in the suitcase, or do I "roll" them to prevent creases? How many climates do I need to prepare for? What sites do I need to see in which cities? And, what's the best way for me to get a bottle of Irish Whiskey home in one piece?

I'm currently working on my "wish list" for London-- of course, it includes Abbey Road and Apple Records :) It has the common items- St. Peter's, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, The Globe Theater (I even got the schedule of shows there-- there are still tickets for A Midsummer's Night Dream, kids!!), Buckingham Palace, a day trip to Bath/Stonehenge, a stop at Pancras Station (hello, Platform 9 3/4!)... but what else? Where do I *need* to go? What do I absolutely need to try/do while over there for 4 short days?