Final Itinerary?

Bonjour! Comment talle vous?

That's a little French for you... I am attempting to learn a few phrases and words so that we can communicate with some of the non-English speaking people in Europe. There is so much to learn and discover before the adventure begins and French is just a taste.

Part of the adventure is the planning process. A few days ago, Tripp and I spent a long time trying to nail down our itinerary. There have been many changes and updates along the way, but the following is where we are sticking. However, we are still completely allowing our schedule to be flexible even while we are in Europe. That is, if we arrive in Switzerland and love it (which is quite possible), we may stay a day extra to explore something we didn't know about or stay with someone who just became our friend. This is as close as we can come on the day-to-day glance before we leave:

ENGLAND
Mo 05.12.2008 TRAVEL (LOUISVILLE->LONDON)
Tu 05.13.2008 LONDON
We 05.14.2008 LONDON
Th 05.15.2008 LONDON/BATH
Fr 05.16.2008 COTSWALDS

FRANCE
Sa 05.17.2008 PARIS
Su 05.18.2008 PARIS
Mo 05.19.2008 PARIS
Tu 05.20.2008 PARIS/VERSAILLES
We 05.21.2008 COLMAR
Th 05.22.2008 COLMAR

SWITZERLAND
Fr 05.23.2008 LAKE GENEVA
Sa 05.24.2008 SCHILTHORN, GIMMELWALD, INTERLAKEN
Su 05.25.2008 SCHILTHORN, GIMMELWALD, INTERLAKEN
Mo 05.26.2008 ALTDORF, LAKE LUCERNE, EINSELDEHN
Tu 05.27.2008 ALTDORF, LAKE LUCERNE, EINSELDEHN

AUSTRIA
We 05.28.2008 SALZBURG
Th 05.29.2008 SALZBURG/HALLSTATT

ITALY
Fr 05.30.2008 VENICE
Sa 05.31.2008 VENICE
Su 06.01.2008 FLORENCE
Mo 06.02.2008 FLORENCE/PISA
Tu 06.03.2008 CINQUE TERRE
We 06.04.2008 CINQUE TERRE/FLORENCE
Th 06.05.2008 SIENA/TUSCANY/UMBRIA
Fr 06.06.2008 ROME
Sa 06.07.2008 ROME
Su 06.08.2008 ROME
Mo 06.09.2008 ROME/POMPEI
Tu 06.10.2008 TRAVEL (ROME->LONDON)
We 06.11.2008 TRAVEL (LONDON->LOUISVILLE)

Fun times ahead, I am sure! The major planning aspects following the composing of the itinerary include making plans for how we are traveling, what we are taking, where we are staying and what we are doing. As for these next steps, we are hard at work.

We have confirmed our flights, both from Louisville to London, Rome to London and back to Louisville from London. (To get from London to Rome, we will be using different types of transportation.) This is the one part of the itinerary that won't change. Even if we do love Europe enough to stay (which will probably be the case), we still plan to get back to Louisville on June 11th. (We depart on May 12th.)

Our packing list is often changing, but it is becoming more solid as we go along. We would expect to carry around 40 lbs in our packs... the problem with this, though, is that we have to pay extra for every pound over 33 lbs during our flight from Rome to London. That's something else we have to figure out...

For our sleeping arrangements, we plan to do it all: sleep in our tent, in hostels, in homes of people we know or meet and anything else we can come up with that is cheap and safe... and somewhat comfortable. Speaking of sleeping... if you are reading this and you know Tripp or me, please let us know if you know of anyone in Europe along our journey that would love a couple guests in May or June!

And the other step of planning: what we are doing. This is definitely the best part. It involves lots of reading and lots of talking to everyone we know who has been where we'll be. More details will follow in upcoming posts about these adventures... but again, if you want to help, please do! If you have any places that we absolutely must see, tell us! We are so eager to learn more about what we are going to experience and would love to hear about your times in Europe!

A bientot,

Laura