Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Eurotrip 2011

This fall, J and I decided that we were done waiting for our lives to start. What did we decide we were going to do about it?

EUROPE!

This May, we are traveling to London and Ireland. It will be our first trip to Europe. I cannot begin to express how excited we both are. See that counter to the right? Yes, at any given moment I can tell you, without looking at said ticker, how long we have until our trip. Hurry the hell up and get here, will you May!?

This weekend we booked our final hotels. Now that we've got a roof over our head each night, I've decided I would share my itinerary with you!

Day 1 - Leave Seattle
Day 2 - Arrive in London
Day 3 - Explore London
Day 4 - Tour Bath and Stonehenge
Day 5 - Fly to Dublin, tour Guinness, Trinity College, St. Patrick's, etc
Day 6 - Staying in Waterford -fricken- Castle (hellllooo, inner princess, is that you tingling??)
Day 7 - Cork, Kinsale
Day 8 - Kenmare, Killarney, Ring of Kerry
Day 9 - Limerick, Shannon
Day 10 - Cliff's of Moher, Burren National Park, Galway
Day 11 - Fly back to London, Explore
Day 12 - Continue Exploration of London
Day 13 - Fly Home

That is the quick and dirty version. I have a larger itinerary packed with different sights and options. We know that we won't be able to see them all, but short of scheduling every single second of every day, I wanted to make sure that we had plenty to chose from. I've been watching documentaries about Ireland and I've even gotten restaurant and pub ideas from watching shows on the Food Netw.ork! I cannot stop because there is so much we want to do and see! Mostly, I want to take pictures, drink beer, and stay in castles!! Don't worry, I fully intend on sharing the details of our hotels when we return. Filled with my feedback and recommendation. Just try and stop me. You're welcome.

I am serious about my research. To prove it, here is a picture of one of our guide maps. It's how I got started - circle and label all of the stuff we're interested in seeing! This led to reservations, lists, itineraries...

Don't judge my high quality cell phone photo. Mkay?
And yes, it is color coded. My inner Virgo wouldn't have it any other way.

Have I mentioned that I'm excited? Oh, I did? Okay, good. I'm glad we have that covered.

21 comments:

  1. I am 100% Jealous! Have a ton of fun on your Europe trip!

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  2. So fun! I've always wanted to travel to Europe. Never been yet.

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  3. Oh!!! You are going to have such a fabulous trip! I am so jealous! Take lots of pictures!!!!

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  4. I have always wanted to take a trip to England and Ireland! That sounds fantastic! While you are in Europe, I will be in Mexico enjoying the sun and sand. It's fitting.

    Oh! When should we meet up!?

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  5. Fab news... I love London. So many magical places, we are busy planning what we will do when we first take our son. Personal highlights - London Eye, a stroll along the South Bank in the evening, British Museum, sitting in Trafalger Square people watching. Ireland is also lovely but it's about 20years since I last went, whereas we fit in a couple of trips to London most years.
    ICLW

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  6. Oooh, I am jealous! Hubby and I want to go back to Europe but the Air Force keeps sending us to strange states like Utah and New Jersey. Maybe next go around we'll be abroad. Fingers crossed!

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  7. Give me some dates girl! I'm trying to compare your itinerary with mine to see if we'll be in the same town at the same time (that was a rhyme....sorry couldn't help myself....mime). Anyway, we're leaving on the 18th but getting to Dublin on the 19th, but my counter on my blog is for the 18th

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  8. Ohhhhh wait, I think we're gonna be in Galway together!! If your flight isn't extremely early the next day you might want to consider the Trad on the Prom show. We booked tickets for the night of the 26th, along with dinner. The dinner starts at 7, the show starts at 9 and it's at the Salthill Promenade. I heard it's really good!

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  9. After we had been TTCing for five years we packed up and spent 17 days in London and Scotland. It was awesome! We were in London for a week and didn't do half the stuff I had planned. Like you, I planned and planned, had my little folder with everything printed out. While you're narrowing things down to fit in, if you want to know what is most worth it time-wise feel free to shoot me an email. I know you will have a ball! Traveling is one of the things that keeps me sane during the hell of TTC.

    dropped by via ICLW

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  10. Stopping by for ICLW! So much to say -- first of all, I TOTALLY hear you about not waiting any longer for your lives to start! We're struggling with that as well. Thrilled that you're taking such an amazing trip! A few years ago (before we even know about our IF), my husband and I went to Europe for the first time: Dublin, London, and Paris! Very similar to your trip! We had a FANTASTIC time. The Cliffs of Moher were breathtaking, as was the Burren in general. We went to a (free) Evensong at St. Patrick's -- one of the most memorable parts of the trip, for me. Rowed a boat around Hyde Park in London. It was just a friggin' fantastic trip. Hope you enjoy yours!!

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  11. Thank you, everyone!!

    Christa - I sent you an email with a bit more detail. Let's hook up!

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  12. This looks like so much fun!!! You are going to have such a wonderful time. Good for you for not putting your lives on hold for IF anymore!

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  13. I am beyond jealous :) Can I come? Won't be awkward, I promise. ha.

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  14. Sounds like a seriously awesome trip. I haven't been to the British Isles, but I can recommend Spain for a future awesome trip.

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  15. If I give you money will you bring me something completely awesome back?

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  16. I love your inner Virgo!!! I too have an inner Virgo, you should have seen my interary when BJ and I went on our road trip half way around Australia. Let's just say it joined my two great passions planning and Exc.el!!!!

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  17. I have a love for that program too! Something about neat columns and rows... lol. Have you used One.Note? It's a MS program as well. Love. It. I'm basically obsessed. I highly recommend it if you have the opportunity to use it. It comes with an excellent tutorial.

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  18. Visiting from ICLW #15 - Have a great trip!

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  19. Here from ICLW - that sounds great! London is my favorite city in the world and I absolutely love Bath too, it's so pretty!

    We also have decided to take a trip this May because our lives have been on hold way too long. We've both backpacked Europe so we're going to Turkey and Greece, which neither of us have been to. Now you've inspired me to write about it as well :)

    Have so much fun!!

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  20. Here from ICLW.
    That sounds like a wonderful trip!!! I am
    Insanely jealous. I'd love to plan a trip to Ireland. So hopefully you'll have lots of good suggestions. :) also, good on you guys for not waiting for some things. We all seem to put our life on hold with IF and it's great to see people taking their lives back! :)

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