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mchookem finally leaves the continent!


mchookem

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Posted (edited)

I forgot. Sainte Chapelle is a must see when it first opens or towards closing. It's usually crowded as shit through out the day but if you get there at those times, the crowd is significantly less. Depending on what time of year you go, I like the light in the chapel at closing better.

Edited by crash_davis
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@mchookem, this is fun to watch come together and I am glad to see it shaping up. 
 

My advice (toss it or use it) to anyone going to Europe is this— once you have the basic sketch, you should CUT activities and destinations before you try to fit any more in. I know that’s painful as you look at a trip like this but it has always paid off for me.  Getting the most in and having great photos ends up being more rewarding for your friends than for you personally.  Seeing the Med is awesome, but even more awesome is just to give up a bit and experience where you are.

If you are finding a day or block of time, my best advice is to simply not fill it. In your case, I’d just leave unscheduled time in Florence or Rome.  You can wander around, you can go back and get deeper into a place that caught your eye, you can do a last minute side trip that you didn’t think about.  But you won’t regret it. In nearly all my travels in Europe, the unscheduled “let’s see what comes up” have been the best.

Except when my kids demanded another aquarium. Fuck that. There are fish in the U.S. 

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On 3/28/2024 at 11:08 PM, mchookem said:

btw i get to start my attempts to actually get tickets for the big ticket Roman sites (Vatican/Sistine Chapel, Colosseum/Roman Forum) this weekend 😐

i'm not very optimistic and have already prepared myself for just getting to see external views of these places. i mean i knew it was going to be busy as we're there the first week of high season...but i honestly didn't expect 1) their websites to be so crappy (i imagine UI/UX just really isn't a priority for ancient historical sites 😄) and 2) for the whole process to be as stressful and unsuccessful as trying to get Tool tickets! 😂

it's cool... the experience will still be incredible if we can't get in...and it will leave more time to visit the coast and stroll around the city gawking at incredible ancient shit! 😁

yay - success with the Vatican/Sistine Chapel tickets!😀 first choice day was already sold out (i don't even know when that happened, sometime b/t 12-2am locally lol) but got lucky for the next day.

next biggie...Colosseum tickets, can first try about 4 weeks from now.

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God bless you mc, we are having very different trips. I'm in London right now on day 7 of a 35 day solo trip. I pre-booked nothing except my initial accommodations landing in Dublin. 

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  • 4 weeks later...
Posted (edited)

update...

we're about 2 1/2 weeks out from departure, really getting excited now 😊, just working on final touches, reservations, etc. 

some changes...dad suddenly realized there's not much to see at the Eagle's Nest😑 which i had already tried to convince him of, and @rage-a-holic had confirmed, but he had it set in his head (until he didn't🙄)...

but i'd figured out how to make it work and had adjusted our schedule/lodging...and this week he calls and is like 'nah, let's skip it, it's in the opposite direction we need to go anyway' which...DUH, I TOLD YOU THAT A MONTH AGO! lol

anyway...so now instead of Berchtsgaden we're heading to Garmisch-Partenkirchen for a few days. unfortunately the cogwheel train/cable cars to Zugspitze are closed for spring maintenance, but scheduled to reopen our last day...but that actually gives us a plenty of time then to visit Neuschwanstein Castle/ Hohenschwangau Castle and/or Linderhoff Palace, which is awesome. it also knocks over an hour off our drivetime to Strasbourg, also awesome.

and hopefully we'll be able to ride to the top the morning before we leave, assuming Germany keeps the 'trains running on time', which is probably a bad pun re: Germany haha

regarding Rome, i think we are going to take a slower-paced day trip to the coast, probably Ostia as @texasdago suggested. i've been reading up and i guess you can get a good look at the Colosseum without having to go inside - lots of areas to actually look into it, overlook it, etc., there don't seem to be any big barriers surrounding it, and there's just SO MANY other ancient ruins, piazzas, etc...plenty to see! we definitely have the Vatican/Sistine Chapel tickets already, which was what i really didn't want to miss, so the rest we're just going to play by ear. it seems the tourist crowds are already NOLA/LV levels, so i think we'll just end up getting out of the city a bit. 

family hasn't decided if they are going to stay a second night with us in Paris or go on to Luxembourg...but i'm trying to encourage them to also just play it by ear and call an audible once we get to the apartment in Paris. we'll have been traveling for almost two weeks at that point, so i'm hoping my sister will be a bit more relaxed by the time we get there and will want to hang out a bit 😊

finally...i've been the crazy lady riding her bike around Denver talking to herself in French for a few weeks now 😆but it's been a good way to practice, i.e., imaginary 'realistic' conversations lol. took a test today, figured i was A1, maybe A2 at the most...damn if i'm not B1! 😀 i've actually been practicing 'thinking in French' which really helps it be more natural/fluid. i know it's not really going to be necessary in Paris as i imagine they'll get one dose of my Tex-french accent and start talking in english😋but we're going to be spending over a week traveling around the countryside and other places - Strasbourg, Normandie, Brittany - and it will come in handy there. the trick really is just being confident, i think it's okay to make slight gender or conjugation errors if you master the flow and accent (which in all seriousness, my accent is really pretty good). 

brushing up my language skills has actually been one of the more fun things in all this. i'll need to plan a trip to Montreal next 😄  

Edited by mchookem
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  • 2 weeks later...

so here's my first rec...if you're like me and you freak out a bit on flights longer than four hours, and you are willing to pay a bit more for comfort/room/service but aren't a surly 1%er and can't afford Polaris, and if you live in a city that has a nonstop flight to Reykjavik...then I highly recommend Icelandair Premium Saga class. it's basically domestic first class service and comfort. nonstop from Denver, with a 4 hour layover with full access to United lounge in Denver and Icelandair lounge in Reykjavik. 

reviews for economy class are full of horror stories...but splurge for Saga and it's pretty freaking awesome. food was shockingly good, and the gin choices were outstanding... apparently that's an Iceland specialty. i did not know that but i was happy to sample a few! and the lounge in Iceland is open bar... and by that i mean there's just a counter with open bottles of whatever liquors, with an ice bucket and glassware and setups/mixers... and you just make your own drink. 🍸 

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a few shots from the last two days. or three. i'm not sure. the effect of jetlag on me specifically has been interesting...i have insomnia and am a night owl by nature, have been since childhood. then i retired and it became extreme, so at home i am often up very late and typically sleep until at least 930-10, and i only get up then bc i set my alarm every day. that has somehow translated here to...i am sleepy and in bed by 11pm, and am wide awake at 730am. weird.

the thing i'm most surprised by so far...i think i could live in Germany.

Leaning Tower of Kitzigen. we recreated a family photo from 1969 in front of it. pretty cool deal. 

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Munich biergarten 20240516_112453.thumb.jpg.8d63383a0f0691da3f7f8b53ac2120cd.jpg

Zugspitze

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german wine and german funyuns for hotel hh in the rain 

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Edited by mchookem
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a few shots from the last two days. or three. i'm not sure. the effect of jetlag on me specifically has been interesting...i have insomnia and am a night owl by nature, have been since childhood. then i retired and it became extreme, so at home i am often up very late and typically sleep until at least 930-10, and i only get up then bc i set my alarm every day. that has somehow translated here to...i am sleepy and in bed by 11pm, and am wide awake at 730am. weird.
the thing i'm most surprised by so far...i think i could live in Germany.
Leaning Tower of Kitzigen
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Munich biergarten 20240516_112453.thumb.jpg.8d63383a0f0691da3f7f8b53ac2120cd.jpg
Zugspitze
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german wine and german funyuns for hotel hh in the rain 
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I love Germany. Never would have expected that, but there you are. Its great. And yeah, I dig the grub and beer.
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Strasbourg

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Notre Dame de Strasbourg. so big it looked like an optical illusion and it triggered a bit of my megalophobia. i can't imagine what the Paris one is going to be like. definitely had me gawking like a tourist dork. which i am. who gives a shit. 😄

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most of France has had a ton of rain this year, lots of flooding around the country. 

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in general the French seem to be much more engaging and effusive than Germans, kind of snarky and smartass. i fit right in 😄 also, France has ALL the nationalities. 

but wtf with the absolute dearth of ice in Europe. i mean it only requires water, it's not exactly a luxury 🤨

Edited by mchookem
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13 hours ago, mchookem said:

but wtf with the absolute dearth of ice in Europe. i mean it only requires water, it's not exactly a luxury 🤨

Totally a cultural thing.  It's a running joke in our family.  If you ask for ice, and if they have it and will bring it, you get....one ice cube.  "YOU GET ONE ICE!"

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well... we drove across France today. which was mostly just beautiful and breathtaking and there's like 11th century castles just there on the side of the toll road lol...but MY GOD between the traffic and the absolutely torrential downpour... just going around Paris almost did us in 😳 it was like trying to drive 610 around Houston at 5pm during Harvey.

ANYway... the sun was still up at 10pm (which was unexpected and weird!) when we finally arrived here...

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watching my dad walk across the street and stand on Utah beach was...well, you don't get many moments like that, especially at 76. pretty special.

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