| Europe 2002! |
| Okay, so here are the basics: I'm leaving on August 26th and returning (much too soon) on October 8th. I'm going with a terrific girl that I work with, Caryn. Yay Caryn! We're planning a whirlwind tour (if 7 days in each country is whirlwind) of Europe. We'll be flying into London at 7am on August 27th. I'm looking into a London Pass. It's about $150 for 6 days and includes transportation, entrance into over 60 major attractions and other great freebies. (Don't I sound like a Tour Guide?) Downside- a bit of structure... We'll end up in Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest which ends October 6. We'll then make our way back to London and fly out on the afternoon of the 8th. The tentative plan is to hit Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Milan (Florence too?), Rome, somewhere in Greece and Berlin also. I've been spending most of my spare time reading information about... well, everything.* What to bring, where to go when and the scariest part- HOW MUCH IT WILL COST! I already bought some spiffalicious hiking boots, a GIANT backpack and a neck pouch. No matter what you picture when you hear the words "neck pouch" it is probably as silly and ugly as the actuality. I also got some ugly hiking socks. I just recently acuired 4 more pairs of socks from the shelter I work at, a very cheesy watch (I spent $6 and when I tried to change the time I broke something), a bedroll, some waterproof bags, and a knife. Now I just need to spend another $300 on other silly things. This is a list of some of the things I'm looking at. Most of it's from REI.com I got a pretty good deal on tickets using Priceline.com It was just over $1,000 for 2 roundtrip tickets to London. Keep in mind that when you go somewhere for over a month it gets more expensive. We just got rail passes, and they cost almost $400 each, with a little extra for things like the Chunnel, etc. Then there's food, travel, accomodations... <SIGH> All in all it's going to cost me about $4,000-$5,000 altogether for this thing to work. *I am so excited about this trip though and I've been researching, researching, researching. Here are some of my online resources: www.backpackeurope.com www.counciltravel.com londonpass http://www.hostelseurope.com http://www.europeonrail.com http://www.bugeurope.com http://www.hostels.com/ Passport Info Rei.com Any questions? E-mail me! [email protected] |
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| August 26, 2002- We're on our way!!! |
| UPDATE 6/6: It has begun! Caryn and I have purchased our Eurail passes and we have reservations in Munich for 9/30-10/5... since the only hostel that was open would have cost us $550 we decided to camp out for those few days. We're on our way, wish us luck! |
| UPDATE 6/16: Caryn and I will be staying with my cousin's friend Gianluca while in Milan. My aunt arranged for us to talk because she's worried about me. Obviously he's Italian. And one of his first suggestions was to go shopping. Hooray! I'm sooo looking forward to this trip! |
| UPDATE 8/16: I'm FREAKING OUT!!! I'm leaving in just over two weeks and I don't even KNOW what I need, let alone have it all together yet. I don't even have money, lol! Okay, so I'm just freaking out, but I know I'll be okay! =D |
| UPDATE 8/26: I'm leaving today. I'm freaking out! Be on the lookout for updates! =D |