Travel to Europe - Tomorrow!

Our second adventure of the year, a trip to Germany, France, Switzerland and the Czech Republic, begins tomorrow. Phillip and I are excited about seeing Julie, our exchange student from 2003; her parents, Jaja and Jacques, whom Phillip has never met; and our niece, Becky, and her family who moved to Germany in July. This will also be our first real European trip. We've been to Barcelona, but only to get onto a cruise ship. We stopped at a few Portugese ports on that 2009 cruise, but spent no extended time in Europe.

Jaja and Jacques have been eager for us to visit them since I retired. We've always had Europe on our travel list, and this year, everything fell into place to get us there. The euro is down against the dollar (in 2009, 1 euro=$1.40, today, 1 euro=$1.15). Becky and her family have a 4-bedroom house, so six of our European nights will be rent-free. With Julie living in Paris, we will have our own tour guide, and Becky has found great things to do in her area of Germany, between Munich and Nuremberg.

Phillip and I fly into Frankfurt, a non-stop flight from DFW that lands Monday morning. We'll spend two nights in Frankfurt, not because it's a must-see destination, but in case we have any jet lag issues. Then, a high-speed train to Paris. Two nights in Paris followed by more trains to the French Alps with Julie to visit with her parents. Sunday, we leave France for Switzerland, with three nights in Lausanne (on Lake Geneva), a full day in Bern, and a day in Basel. Then, to Germany to spend the weekend with Becky and her family. When her kids go to school the following Monday, Becky will put us on a train to Prague. Friday, we return to Becky's house for our last European weekend before going back to Frankfort to fly home.

For our transportation within Eurpe, I purchased Eurail passes. Even with the passes, I also paid for seat reservations, required on 3 legs of the trip, optional on some of the others. I wanted the peace of mind that our transportation needs were handled. The Eurail website was easy to use and created a train itinerary for me that listed all the info for each train, in chronological order. Several of the trains are high-speed, but some are slower, regional trains that will give us delightful views of the countryside. I'm excited about all of the train travel.

And the history and sights! The Alps, the castles, the beer gardens, the WWII locations, the Charles Bridge in Prague, the Olympics Museum in Lausanne. So much to see. Also, the food: French bread in France, German sausage in Germany, Swiss chocolate in Switzerland, kolaches in the Czech Republic. Can't get more authentic than that.

We're all packed and ready to go. Two small carry-on-sized suitcases (such a great investment!), my trusty backpack, and Phillip's bag-o-snacks. This time, he isn't overdoing the snacks for us because his bag is full of candy for Julie, Jacques, and Jaja. A box of Reese's peanut butter cups from Sam's (Jacques likes peanut butter) takes up most of the space in Phillip's bag. Julie's favorite is Pangburn's Millionaires (made in Texas), so three boxes of them for the trip. We will have room for souvenirs during our return! I wasn't sure all our clothes would fit in the suitcases as we are taking long-sleeved shirts and sweaters, unlike the wardrobe for our Asian travels. No worries, plenty of room as some items, notably bug repellent and bathing suits, are not in the suitcase for this trip.

Considering the countries we are visiting on this adventure, closing my first post with this quote from Benjamin Franklin seems appropriate. "In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is Freedom, in water there is bacteria."