An inspiration

Sometimes in life we are lucky enough to meet individuals who truly inspire us. Our tour director, Suzy, in Europe was one of those people.

If you have a few minutes, check out the above video. It chronicles an emotional attempt to climb an incredibly high mountain in China along with her gals, a group called the Lipstick Blondes.

Seriously, I aspire to know a third of the knowledge and be as motivated to do such extraordinary things.

Highlights!

H did a great job journaling while we were overseas so that we don't forget what we did on this trip. For the purposes of this blog, though, I thought I'd give you some of my brief highlights and lessons learned off the top of my head (cuz I know you're all dying to hear them!)...

London
- Incredible hotel right next to the Tower Bridge.
- Tower of London. Awesome.
- St. Paul's Cathedral is breathtaking.
- Wicked in the "West End" was phenomenal.
- Go Ahead British tour director insanely knowledgeable. (Looked and talked a lot like our friend Bob.)
- Fish 'n chips and mushy peas are a better option than whole fish specials.
- Can't believe we were so close to the Queen at Windsor Castle!
- Brick Lane - the hipster hot-spot alley - was so cool.

London overall: So much better than I ever imagined. LOVED learning about the history. Can't wait to get my paws on some more books about its monarchy.

Paris
- Everything I ever imagined. And so much more.
- LOVED the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame.
- Montmartre (Painter's Square) was one of my favorite spots.
- Saw a show at The Moulin Rouge. SO random. SO beautiful. Didn't want it to end.
- Versailles was amazing. Can't believe people actually lived that way. (French tour director told us all to see Sophia Coppolla's "Marie Antoinette" as it was a great depiction of how the French see Versailles and the ill-fated queen. A and I watched it this weekend!)
- Cafes open until the wee hours serving delicious crepes and wine. Mmmm.

Paris overall: I could live in Paris. In a heartbeat. Really. There's just something about it.

Rome
- Stood in the Coliseum in sheer amazement.
- So many ancient ruins.
- Food here was absolutely INCREDIBLE.
- How on earth is the Pantheon still around with that gigantic hole in the ceiling, constantly letting rain in?
- Trevi Fountain was breathtakingly beautiful.
- H and I couldn't finish our wine here (which was spectacular) on multiple occasions... too full from the food!
- Perhaps if I were Catholic I would have loved Vatican City a bit more? (Still very beautiful...)

Rome overall: Rome was incredible. Very different than London or Paris. We were warned about it's uncleanliness before we got there. If you look past that, though, you can truly appreciate the rich history and culture.

Venice
- One of the most (if not the most) beautiful places I've ever seen.
- Canals and mini-bridges around every corner.
- Hotel Marin was so cute. Quaint.
- Food was, again, AMAZING.
- 100 euros for a ride in a gondola. (We took a water taxi instead.)
- Got to see my cousin and her boys who live about an hour north of Venice.
- Could spend days here shopping at all the little shops and markets.
- Way too many pigeons in St. Mark's Square (which was so gorgeous!).
- Millions of alleys and NO cars.

Venice overall: I look at the pictures and hardly believe they're real. Honestly. They look like we placed ourselves in front of some beautiful backdrop that doesn't really exist. I would go back to Venice in a heartbeat.

Our European vacation

I have A LOT more (about 630 more to be precise) where these came from but thought I'd give you just a glimpse so that you don't go cross-eyed looking at European buildings, monuments and churches...

See ya on the flip side!

Yay!

Just for fun

Je suis excité visiter si l'Europe. Je me sens comme j'ai attendu ma vie entière pour faire si. Et, maintenant, j'obtiens pour aller avec de de mes la plupart des gens préférés.

J'ai révisé un morceau sur mon français, mais craindre que tous sera terriblement perdu dans Rome. Rien n'aime est perdu dans un pays étranger avec votre une aimée !

*L'amour de Gotta libère les sites internet de traduction... Cela m'aurait pris à jamais pour chiffrer!

Any tips?

As the big trip gets closer and closer, I'm starting to read a bit online about how one gets prepared for such an endeavor. I've read a bunch of tips from strangers online, but thought I'd ask my friends and fellow bloggers who have traveled abroad as to their #1 travel tips?

I've also been reading quite a bit about the pickpockets over there... And am, quite frankly, a little concerned.

Any tips or ideas are appreciated!

OK. Now I'm really pumped.

We just got official word on our hotels for our trip.

The above is the view from our hotel in London.

All the hotels look absolutely amazing...

London hotel

Paris hotel

Rome hotel

It's really going to happen!

Fri 2 May 2008

LV Detroit, MI
AR London/Heathrow

5:50PM
7:05AM

Northwest Airlines

0102

Fri 9 May 2008

LV Paris
AR Rome

12:35PM
2:40PM

Alitalia

0333

Wed 14 May 2008

LV Rome
AR Newark, NJ

11:55AM
3:30PM

Alitalia

0642

Wed 14 May 2008

LV Newark, NJ
AR Detroit, MI

8:15PM
10:30PM

Continental Airlines

2985

I don't know about that five hour delay in Newark, but...

Hooray!!! We now have a flight itinerary!

This makes it much more real.

I look forward to meeting you...

Meet Enrico Schattenmann.

He is an Italian who speaks Italian, English, Spanish and Greek, German, French and some modern Greek.

He is a tour guide with GoAhead tours (the company we're traveling with in May). One of the tours he usually does is the London, Paris and Rome tour.

Why am I telling you all this? Basically, so you'll join me in praying that he is, indeed, our tour guide.

* I'm even quite positive that A and J would fall under Enrico's spell as well...

She won!!!

Jamie's going to Ireland!

Thank you to all who voted for her!

Woohoo!

(Click here to link to contest.)

Help Jamie Get to Ireland!

Click on http://wycd.com/Vote-now-for-your-favorite-Irish-Toast!/1541306 and vote for Jamie (the redhead)! Your votes could help her win a trip to Ireland! (You have to scroll down a bit to cast your vote...)

* Jamie is my friend Dani's sister...

No deals for you

We pulled in to a Hampton Inn at about 2:30 a.m. on Friday morning. (It was either that or keep feeding H energy drinks. We opted for the former.)

Am I the only one disturbed by the fact that hotels (the "nicer" ones anyway) don't offer discounts at such a late hour? Seriously. We only slept about four hours before we got up, showered and were on the road again.

I'm not asking for all hotels to rent by the hour. I know that opens the doors to some shady clientele. But can a girl at least get a discount?

Loads of fun

Well, we're back to the Mitten state and, aside from a slight case of midday drowsiness, I feel revitalized.

It's always nice hanging out with your pals and forget about daily stressors.

Unfortunately, I realized I forgot the memory card for my camera only after I whipped it out to take some pics. Hopefully, one of the girls will send some pics soon!

Thanks for letting us stay K!

A necessary blogging break

Tomorrow I'm off on a road trip to VA with the girls!

Speaking on behalf of H, J and B, we're so pumped to see you K!

Can't wait.

I'm guessing I won't be blogging all that much until Mondayish - at which time I'm sure I'll have some new pics for my loyal blog readers!

Have a great weekend!

Rolling the dice

I put my life in the hands of multiple bus drivers on my weekend excursion. (One driver was actually a really big jerk, but I digress...)
I'm all for public transportation but, when you actually think about it, it's crazy how much faith and trust you have to put in the person behind the wheel. I'm really not all that comfortable with it. For all I know, he/she could have just downed a couple of forties.

Chi-Town

I had an awesome time visiting M and C in Chi-Town this weekend. Every time I go to the Windy City, I'm reminded of how much I love it. The diners, bakeries, grocery stores and pubs around every corner really make it feel more like a quaint community than a big city.

I don't think I (nor my checkbook) could handle the pressure of always dressing in the newest trends, though. Everyone is always so incredibly stylish and unique. I'd be way too tempted to try to keep up with the Jones'.

Thanks M and C for letting me visit. I love you guys!

Backyard Bavaria

Frankenmuth is one of my all-time favorite places to visit in the Mitten State.

I had the opportunity to go this weekend with my sis, cousin and grandma.

It was just like I remembered.

So why visit?

- A town entirely devoted to German heritage
- The garb (Can you say lederhosen?!)
- Chicken, chicken, chicken
- Noodles
- Shops and boutiques
- Family
- Pastries
- Horse and carriages
- Great shopping (Birch Run is at the same exit)

The better question I suppose is... Why not visit?!