Adventure Overview

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Hello, Bonjour, Ciao, Hallo!

As promised, I am delivering my first post - and it's not even Sunday yet. Or has only been Sunday for about an hour.

I think for this first attempt at writing in quite a while I'm going to keep it simple. I'm a little tired at the moment, so I'll save my profound thoughts and witty humor for later updates and just stick to a basic overview of everything I'm doing on my trip abroad. I've been reeeeally busy lately trying to get all the details worked out - making hostel reservations, deciphering train schedules, decoding foreign websites, etc. Sometimes I feel like it's too much work and I should just fly over and wing it, but then I decide I would just be setting myself up for countless problems that would detract from what should be an awesome experience. I still have plenty more to do, but I'm using this blog as a good excuse for a break.

Okay, on to the details.

I leave the country on August 15th, flying from Minneapolis to Nuremberg, Germany, with a layover in Amsterdam. I will then proceed to have the greatest cultural experience of my life as I tour Germany, Czech Republic, England, France, Italy, and Netherlands. After about a month of little sleep, cheap food, and lots of trains I'll fly to Edinburgh, Scotland on Sept. 13th and move in for the semester. I still plan to travel on weekends and such, but will probably spend the bulk of my time in Edinburgh. My plane home leaves on Dec. 20th, and arrives in Minneapolis 3 hours after leaving Europe (crazy time zone changes).

I won't bore you with all the nitty details (a lot of which are still yet to be determined), but I will give a summary of my plans so far.

Very Simplified Itinerary

Germany Aug. 16 - Aug. 20
Nuremberg
Berlin
Munich
Dusseldorf
Trier
Cologne

Czech Republic Aug. 20 - Aug. 22
Prague
(...not a lot of destinations I guess)

England Aug. 23 - Aug. 26
London
maybe Greenwich

FRANCE! (I'm pretty excited for this part) Aug. 26 - Sept. 1
Amboise
Mont St. Michel
Annecy
Chamonix

Italy Sept. 1 - Sept. ?
Milan
Cinque Terre (five coastal fishing villages... just Google it and see the pictures)
Rome
Florence
Venice

Then on to Amsterdam for a couple days and finally ending my tour with a few days in PARIS, before flying to Edinburgh.


Wow, just writing about it makes me excited. I'll update my preparation progress and state of mind sometime before too long. If you ever have any questions or anything to say, feel free to leave a comment!

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Photos

My Explorer Pose
A little travel inspiration:
"Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World."
- Christopher Columbus
(courtesy of my travel buddy Liz)

Comments

[Rachel]

Travel
You are not excited enough about this Josh, I'm excited just reading the blog!! I want to go.....

[Arthur]

Itinerary
When you get to London - find out when the places you wish to see open. Get there by opening time, and you'll avoid the lines and be able to spend much more time on the sites. This is especially true in the Tower (Very Old Castle - crown jewels - and recreated Medieval Palace c. Edward I). I think Leonardo da Vinci was buried in the abbey at Amboise (now a ruin - the French Revolution was tough on those places). You can take the train from London out to Windsor - awesome castle - and Hampton Court - another awesome castle although only a few of the main areas are still Tudor.

[jrive]

Thanks for the advice!
Thanks for the advice everyone! I will definitely look into visiting all those places, and give reports on which get the best reviews! (Also - I'm a huge da Vinci fan, so I am excited to get to see where he spent his last days in Amboise)