Here I sit - on a plane headed back home after more than two weeks of some extended vacation. I just finished my second book during my trips (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest), and figured I might as well be productive. As I sit back and reflect I realize that I've been out of town for 16 of the last 18 days which seems a little crazy in hindsight. When I return home it will be time to unpack and get back into a routine of work, working out and finishing up my Operation 30 list. Thankfully I've used my recent traveling extravaganzas to check off some items (four, actually), so I won't have too many left to go. That's an extremely good thing considering I only have one month until the big day, and much of that time will be spent fulfilling my National Officer duties for ZTA and preparing for Missouri-Kansas Zeta Day and getting psyched for some Kentucky Derby fun. It's going to be a busy April, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
This blog post will be dedicated to what I lovingly refer to as my European Extravaganza. It was a twelve day, seven country tour through arguably some of the best parts of the Continent. My friend, Diane, joined me on the adventure and we had an amazing time. This was my first time doing such a tour, but for anyone who hasn't, I highly recommend it! Why? It took all of the hassle out of planning, because instead of focusing on where to stay and how to get there we could focus on the important things like what to do once we were there.
Where did we go? It might be easier to talk about where we didn't go. (Only kidding.) Our overnight stays were in London, Brussels, Frankfurt, Innsbruck, Venice, Lucerne, Dijon, and Paris, but we also stopped in Rothenburg and Verona and got to enjoy a few boating adventures across the English Channel, along the Rhine River, and across the Giudecca Canal (to Venice). The pace was definitely fast and for the most part involved us riding with 36 other tour-goers in a comfortable motor coach every morning to our destination, spending the afternoon and evening enjoying the sites of that city, and then waking up early the next morning to do it all again. Our Tour Director, Tibor, (who was from Hungary), and bus driver, Carlo, (from Italy) made the trip absolutely awesome with the information they gave about each location, and their sense of humor. It wasn't nearly enough time to do most of the cities justice, but definitely enough time to prioritize where I'd like to go back. (Switzerland and Italy - consider yourselves warned!)
I could easily write a short novel about my trip- and in fact took five pages of hand written, bulleted notes in my iPad just to make sure I didn't forget anything- but realize that for blogging purposes I should probably stick to the cliff notes version. So here it is, a somewhat abbreviated version of highlights from my European Extravaganza...
Day 1 (Friday) - Arrived in London at about 11pm, cabbed it to the hotel in Hammersmith, then immediately headed to the only bar within walking distance, Belushi's. That's where Diane and I had our first London beers/ciders, heard some US party music, and met some interesting people from New Zealand and Australia.
Day 2 (Saturday) - Took the Underground (yes, we minded the gap) to hit the highlights of the West End, Westminster, Southwark, Soho and the rest of the city on foot. Saw Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Tower Bridge, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, London Bridge, the Tower of London, and rode in the London Eye. Naturally, fish and chips and various beers were sampled as well. Full day!
Day 3 (Sunday) - Another day in London (and a free agenda, as we wouldn't meet up with the tour group until the next day). Decided to take the train for about an hour's journey to Windsor Palace. Did the tour, loved it, and even got my picture taken with one of the Queen's guards. Then we spent the afternoon shopping. Both Diane and I bought fascinators from TKMaxx (for the Derby, of course...something to compliment our Friday attire for the Oaks races). And no, that wasn't a typo for TJMaxx. Something about the British seemed to be J-averse. Not sure why... Topped it off with a Mexican dinner in Notting Hill.
Day 4 (Monday) - First time meeting up with the tour group. Our group was 38 strong and included people of various ages from the US, Mexico, Australia, Malaysia and Japan. Drove to the Dover port where we took the ferry across the English Channel to Callait, France. Met Tibor and Carlo and proceeded to drive directly to our next destination: Brussels, Belgium. This was the only place on our tour that I had been before (on work trips, as my company headquarters is only 20 minutes by train in Leuven). Reveled in the sights of Grand Palace and Manneken Pis, but also added Jeanneke Pis (ah, Brussels and their peeing statues) and Delirium (a bar with over 2000 beers to choose from). Let the "Market research" begin!
Day 5 (Tuesday) - Woke up early to hit the road on our way to Frankfurt, Germany. We stopped in a quaint town for lunch and some shopping before taking a cruise along the Reine River. Saw some impressive castles that I might have to inquire about as a vacation home someday. :-). Franziskaner Weissbier was a main part of dinner once we finally arrived. Felt good drinking my favorite German beer in Germany.
Day 6 (Wednesday) - Another early morning to trek the miles in our trusty motor coach along the Romantic Road in the southwest part of Germany. Stopped midday in Rothenburg which was a beautifully quaint town (think of the opening scene from Beauty and the Beast where everyone is in front of their storefront cleaning or repairing something and says hello...or Guten Tag). Had a good lunch, enjoyed the town square, church and clock towers, and then proceeded on our way to drive the rest of the way to Innsbruck, Austria. It was ......(pause for effect)....... GORGEOUS! The mountains and views were breathtaking. Bought some crystal earrings and a necklace at Swarovski in the town center and enjoyed the beautiful view of the mountains as a backdrop to the happy townscape.
Day 7 (Thursday) - Italia! More beautiful scenery along our drive and ferry ride to Venice. Had a glass blowing demonstration at a small shop near Piazza San Marco, then did a Gondola ride complete with a group serenade as we floated through the "streets" of this amazing, interesting city. Ate gelato and made sure to sample the local drink made with Campari while taking in the local scenery near the Rialto Bridge. As usual, headed back to the hotel with the group for our prearranged dinner. This time rather than walk to our surroundings (which we were outside of (Venice), we decided to bravely navigate the city bus system back to Venice with some of our tour companions. We were glad we did, as we ended the North side of the city and were able to shop, have a drink, and enjoy the bridges and scenery along the way.
Day 8 (Friday) - Stopped in Verona to shop and see the Casa di Giulietta where there is a balcony rumored to be the Capulet's and a statue of Juliet. Made sure to partake in the ritual of touching Juliet's right breast so that we could have good fortune. (You can't tell from the picture, but it's worn bare from so many people doing the same.) Beautiful drive through Italy and into Switzerland. Arrived at Lucerne and took a ton of pictures of the picturesque mountainscape and lake. Participated in the excursion to a Swiss Folklore evening which was awesome. It included a liter of beer, fondue and an entertaining show of singing, yodeling and music. The instruments (or I should say the common items that were used as instruments) they played were fascinating. A very entertaining evening!
Day 9 (Saturday) - Spent most of the day enjoying magnificent Lucerne, Switzerland. (My favorite part of the trip!) Went on a lake cruise in the morning, which was nice despite it being windy and chilly. Then did another "excursion" up to Mount Pilatus. It took a while to reach the top by cable car, but it was well worth the journey as the views from the top were a-ma-zing! Afterwards, we had time to spend downtown shopping and enjoying the scenery of the bridges and walkways over the lake with the city and mountains in the background. Mid-afternoon we left to head to Dijon, France where we enjoyed dinner and beers on a main strip near our hotel.
Day 10 (Sunday) - To Paris! Arrived midday and were immediately able to enjoy the shops on Rue de Rivoli, walk around the Louvre Museum, and enjoy lunch at a cafe. My Croque Madame (ham with cheese and a fried egg on top) was absolutely fabulous! Had a guided city tour on the motorcoach from Geri, our tour guide. Got to go inside Notre Dame too, which was gorgeous. This was the last evening the tour group would be together so we signed up for a farewell dinner which offered escargot and frog legs as menu options (of which I chose neither, but my french onion soup was delish). Entertainment was also provided in the form of an accordian player and guitar player, one of which frequently made duck noises. (I presume because duck was one of the entree menu options.) Afterwards we had some last chance tour group bonding at the hotel bar which was enhanced with some Jack Daniel's and fun dialogue with Tibor and Carlo. Great times.
Day 11 (Monday) - Many in the tour headed back, but Diane and I chose to extend our time in Paris so that we could enjoy more of what the city had to offer. And I'm glad we did! We navigated the subway from our hotel to the Eiffel Tower. I thought the New York City subway was crowded, but this was ridiculously packed! Totally changed my perspective on how many people can fit into such a confined space. Diane and I decided to walk up the first two levels of the Eiffel Tower, mostly because the line was shorter and we had a ton of other things we wanted to do that day. At the second landing area we took the lift up to the tippity top where we took even more pictures. Such a cool landmark! Afterwards we walked along the Seine River, had some nummy chocolate crepes, and then took a river cruise to see more of the sites. Then we ate a late lunch at a cafe and walked to Avenue des Champs Elysees (the main shopping drag) where we did even more shopping. (Yes - I was successfully able to fit all of my purchases in my checked luggage. Although the expander was definitely necessary.) I had my scarf stolen out of my purse while waiting in a median to cross the street near the Arc de Triomphe...stupid pickpockets. Luckily that's all they got and I was able to go back to the store later and purchase the same one again and be a little less peeved about the whole situation. Our evening was spent walking in Jardin des Tuileres near the Leuvre Museum and having a relaxing dinner at a cafe. (I think it's so neat that the cafe fronts have all the chairs facing the street, so it's a constant show of people-watching and taking in the scenery.) Back to the subway, we headed to our hotel to prepare for our departure the next day.
Day 12 (Tuesday) - All good things must come to an end. I admit that while I had an amazing time seeing Europe, by this point I was ready to come home as I had developed quite a cough and was feeling generally worn down from lack of sleep during my travel extravaganza. Our flight left from Charles de Gaulle airport at 12:30pm and by 2:30pm (after a nine hour flight) we were in Chicago and back on American soil. (I love traveling east to west - always feels like I'm cheating time. It's awesome!) After going through customs and noshing on some nachos at Chili's, our short flight back from Chicago to St. Louis was uneventful (other than making significant progress on my book). By 7:00pm or so I was back home and looking forward to unpacking and getting settled. Well, settled at least until my next trip which happened to be on Friday of that same week and will be the subject of my next blog post.
Until then!
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