Thursday, December 04, 2008

a (mostly) alternative grand tour

well, i've officially booked my entire trip, i have my rail pass in hand, i've started packing, and i'm itching to get out of town! here's a quick look at my plans for break! :)

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12 december: fly from london to copenhagen (denmark)
12-15 december: copenhagen with katie

15-16 december: night train from copenhagen to amsterdam (the netherlands)
16-17 december: amsterdam with katie

17 december: train to bruges (belgium)
17-21 december: bruges with katie

21/22(?) december: a long, long train ride to innsbruck (austria)
21/22 december- 2 january: innsbruck with daniel
28 december: erik arrives!

2 january: train to venice (italy)
2-5 january: venice with erik

5 january: train to florence
5-6 january: florence with erik

6 january: train to riomaggiore
6-11 january: riomaggiore (in cinque terra) with erik

11 january
: fly back to notts

12 january: take an exam and turn in two papers... oh boy...
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some things i'm really looking forward to:
--so many cities with canals :)
--visiting christiania (a huge, well established commune) in copenhagen
--taking a night train
--getting lost in amsterdam (and everywhere else i'm going)
--trying belgian beer
--real snow
--getting to spend the holidays with daniel
--random adventuring with daniel (including the milk-o-mat)
--erik coming!
--seeing gondolas in real life
--david (he's a famous statue or something like that)
--italian food = yum
--long walks along the mediterranean in cinque terra
--more daylight (well, for at least part of the trip. yay for going south!)
--meeting new people in hostels
--taking lots of pictures, but hopefully not too many
--getting to linger in places
--lazy days and sleeping in
--cooking! (the hostel erik and i booked in riomaggiore is more like an apartment)
--more train rides :) i love trains!
--amazing time with amazing friends

some things i think will be, well, interesting:
--language barriers (especially when finding food/ordering food, since it's been an experience even here in the UK)
--amsterdam (because it's amsterdam)
--all day train ride by myself to innsbruck (again, the language thing)
--weather (COLD. i hope i don't freeze...)
--trying to write 2 papers and study for an exam when i'm on the road

i will be bringing my laptop along on my travels, and will try to keep my blog updated while i'm traveling, but i can't guarantee anything. i should be able to update when i get to innsbruck, if not before. and i'll try to be sure to upload some pictures to picasa if nothing else, so check them out!

cheers,
b

2 comments:

Rian said...

EEEK! I'm so jealous!

I've been to Innsbruck in August and it was absolutely beautiful. I look forward to pictures of it in winter! Venice is nice, but I hope that the flooding has stopped by the time you get there.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/3546022/Venice-hotels-offer-discounts-and-boots-after-worst-flood-in-20-years.html

But cinque terra... wow. That is one of my top places to go to in Europe. You'll have to tell me all about it. I've heard many good things about the netherlands and belgium. From what I understand the reputation of Amsterdam is deserved, but only if you go looking for it. A lot of people I know have gone there and come away loving it for many reasons other than its reputation's attractions.

Make the most of this trip! I'm really excited for you.

Ansley said...

Oh my GOSH Beth dear. You are going to remember this for your entire life. I will be sending you lots of love and fuzzy vibes of holiday-eggnog-French-Christmas-mulled-wine warmth this month as you start of on your journey.

Can you believe you're almost done? And the best is yet to come??? I'm rpoud of you, lovely; Go us!!!!