Wednesday, February 20, 2008

oh, the places you'll go...

i have been knitting, i really have. but for some reason, i haven't been able to force myself to snap photos of the latest creation. soon, my pretties!

so since i'm not feeling good, damn flu, i've been putzing around the house in my pajamas all night. i decided to start doing a visual inventory of the places i want to see on my trip to europe. so many of the itineraries online have "go here, do this," but without pictures. i am a visual person, people! i need pictures.

so i thought i'd start putting my own together. this inventory will undoubtedly grow substantially over the next few months.

stop 1: barcelona!
la sagrada familia.


catedral de barcelona.


la barceloneta beach.


parc guell.


casa batllo.


la pedrera. oh, that gaudi.


montjuic.


more montjuic.


side trip - montserrat.


stop 2: valencia!
city of arts and sciences.


l'oceanografic.


plaza de la virgen and barrio del carmen.


stop 3: paris!
sacre-couer basilica and montmarte.


arc de triomphe stairs.


the eiffel tower, of course.


notre dame (and the roof, of course).


musee d'orsay.


the iles... ile de st-louis.


stop 4: venice!
just venice being venice.


basilica di san marco. my hotel is halfway between here and the rialto bridge - and right on a canal, of course.


the grand canal.


palazzo ducale (doge's palace).


the view from the campanile tower.


murano.


stop 5: rome!
the colosseum, of course.


st. peter's basilica.


the vatican.


the pantheon.


museo e galleria borghese.


janiculum hill.


then... then i will drag myself to the airport, most likely very, very sad to leave.

Monday, February 4, 2008

europe? it is SO ON!

look what i did today!

080204. lookee, lookee!


we've got france! we've got spain! we've got switzerland! and we've got italy! aw, yeah.
080204. eurail pass purchased!


and... the flight!
080204. plane ticket purchased!


the travel agent lady was so helpful. my ticket price actually has gone down since amelia and i were there a little over a week ago - i paid $900 to fly from chicago to barcelona, returning from rome to chicago. oh, yeah! the eurail pass was just under $600, so my credit card is hurting a little right now. but! she told me if they book the hostels (i was planning on doing it myself originally), i pay in US dollars now (so if the dollar weakens even more - likely - i'm not penalized for it) AND all of their hostels take pre-paid vouchers, meaning i wouldn't have to wander cities and trains with lots of cash... just vouchers! and if i were to lose a voucher, unlike cash, i can just have them fax a copy over to the hostel. that would be an enormous help and would make me feel a lot safer.

so here's my latest revised plan, which i think is pretty much the sort of solid plan for the trip:
5/19/08: Lv. Chicago 7:45 pm
5/20/08: Arr. London 9:15 am; lv. London 11:15 am
Arr. Barcelona 2:25 pm
5/21-5/23/08: Barcelona and Costa Brava
5/24/08: Train from Barcelona to Valencia
5/25-5/26/08: Valencia
Overnight train from Valencia to Paris
5/27-5/29/08: Paris
Overnight train from Paris to Venice
5/30-5/31/08: Venice
6/1/08: Venice to Rome
6/2-6/4/08: Rome
6/5/08: Lv. Rome for Chicago 8:15 am

i am so, so excited. SO EXCITED!!! it's really going to happen. here i go, all. off to europe with me!

and in crafting news, i have been addicted to the threepenny sweater i'm working on. i'm nearing my first neckhole. neeeeck... hooooole!
080201. three penny sweater in the works.


and here's me, being silly on sunday in my sunny, colorful, very messy kitchen.
080202. messy, colorful kitchen. silly girl.