and we leave on Tuesday. We are about 90% packed, just a few minor things to do. Tonight I plan to write down everything we need to know for our few hours in London before getting on the Eurostar (Tube stops - etc.) and the same to get to our hotel in Paris that night. Hopefully we will go to the Eiffel Tower that night too. I should look into getting reservations...
Just went to www.tsa.gov and got the low-down on liquid sizes and limits for carry-ons. So glad I did - now we will won't be holding up the security line! (hopefully!) So many little things floating around in my head - I can't wait to get going so I can just forget what I am going to forget and deal with it!
Kids haven't done school in two weeks. What on earth made me think we would be plowing through math and history right now? I was thinking last night though about a good read-a-loud and grabbed "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" by Victor Hugo. Should be appropriate!
Have been blessed with so many wonderful phone calls and visits these last few days with friends and family. Everyone is so excited! We Lindbergs are sort of wandering around in a daze! It is surreal to think that we will be in Germany this time next week!
With all that Bryan and I have learned this past year as we put this trip together, we can't help but be thinking of where we want to go next! Bryan is thinking a few weeks in Central America, while I am thinking two weeks in Spain and Portugal! So funny - we are great armchair travelers! Let's see what we think when we come home : )
So...
Basketball today, church and dinner with my mom and brother tomorrow, then the kids get their teeth cleaned on Monday, gotta run into Walmart and then home to finish cleaning the house. Funny how we clean BEFORE we leave. Bryan will enjoy the clean sheets and floors while we are gone. Chickens and snake are staying with friends and the cat and dog food cans are full. I think we are ready! My to-do list is done!
I haven't sent any friends or family this blog address yet, but probably will tomorrow. I hope we will be able to post entries and photos while we are gone - I worry about my technical abilities! Thank goodness Elijah is computer savvy!
Well, the next time I write will probably be from France! If you pray, please keep us in your prayers!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
testing camera and netbook
The countdown begins!
Alright, reality is beginning to set in - we are leaving in 9 days. Actually, in 9 days we will be GONE! My list of things to do is surprisingly short, yet, as last minute details go, quite important.
One of the most exciting aspects of this trip for me, as the mom, is being able to have this experience with my kids. I have been to Europe twice before, once with a casual friend to London for a week and a few years before that to France with a family friend. Both trips were fun and exciting, but without family. My memories and perceptions were all my own. This trip will be a collective experience with shared memories and I think that will be awesome.
Also, the fact that I have been planning this trip for over a year is wonderful. Hammering out the details for such a long time makes me feel oh, so prepared! (I will probably laugh at my naivete) And now that I have made purchases specifically for this type of trip, I hope that we will continue the adventuring! Bryan is talking about South America next year (exchange rate being so horrible in Europe). Each of us will have a back pack (horrors to Bryanna, who could fill a backpack with make-up and hair paraphernalia alone!) - I imagine it will get old by week 5, but wonderful to think that we can fit all we need into a 22" by 18" bag.
Since my last post we have met two people with good advice for our trip. One is a Catholic priest, Father Farnon, that lived in Rome for 8 years and another a friend of a friend that is a native Swiss. Both have warned us about driving in Europe. Italy in particular sounds like a scary video game, and Christa from Switzerland says that driving in Europe is very stressful compared to driving in the US. She says a European would not consider driving 3-4 hours one way to only turn around that evening and do it again. They would spend the night, she says.
So I am trying to find a Mont Blanc alternative. Mont Blanc is a very expensive excursion, so adding a hotel cannot happen. Earlier in the trip, we plan to leave Paris in our rental car and head to Bastogne, Belguim for lunch to see the trenches and memorials then onto Germany through Luxembourg. Might not happen that way, but we can only wait and see...
wish I had packed that tent after all!
Although, taking away the huge expense that Mont Blanc was going to be, adding a train trip to say Venice from Florence is more do-able. Christa had a few suggestions for Swiss Alps (as apposed to French Alps or Italian Alps) enjoyment that will probably work well too. We are never really done planning, I am discovering!
Flexible. We will have to be flexible. So I am starting now to pray for patience and the ability to adapt to any situation AND to not freak out and scare the kids. That last part will need divine intervention, but He has done it before, so I trust He can do it again. Can you imagine if all the kids remember from this trip was, oh yeah and then so and so happened and mom freaked out AGAIN! No, not the memories I am looking for.
I am also starting to pop Airborne like candy and making the kids take vitamin C. I seem to be developing some sort of sinus thing. Sigh. Never in my life have I had sinus issues, why now? I actually stayed home from church this morning (gasp!) because of this horrible run-down and bruised feeling that lets me know I have a doosey coming on. Praying....
Well, I am going to try out my new pocket camera now. One of those small details that need to be worked out: getting photos from my camera and onto the blog. Very important detail! Wish me luck!
One of the most exciting aspects of this trip for me, as the mom, is being able to have this experience with my kids. I have been to Europe twice before, once with a casual friend to London for a week and a few years before that to France with a family friend. Both trips were fun and exciting, but without family. My memories and perceptions were all my own. This trip will be a collective experience with shared memories and I think that will be awesome.
Also, the fact that I have been planning this trip for over a year is wonderful. Hammering out the details for such a long time makes me feel oh, so prepared! (I will probably laugh at my naivete) And now that I have made purchases specifically for this type of trip, I hope that we will continue the adventuring! Bryan is talking about South America next year (exchange rate being so horrible in Europe). Each of us will have a back pack (horrors to Bryanna, who could fill a backpack with make-up and hair paraphernalia alone!) - I imagine it will get old by week 5, but wonderful to think that we can fit all we need into a 22" by 18" bag.
Since my last post we have met two people with good advice for our trip. One is a Catholic priest, Father Farnon, that lived in Rome for 8 years and another a friend of a friend that is a native Swiss. Both have warned us about driving in Europe. Italy in particular sounds like a scary video game, and Christa from Switzerland says that driving in Europe is very stressful compared to driving in the US. She says a European would not consider driving 3-4 hours one way to only turn around that evening and do it again. They would spend the night, she says.
So I am trying to find a Mont Blanc alternative. Mont Blanc is a very expensive excursion, so adding a hotel cannot happen. Earlier in the trip, we plan to leave Paris in our rental car and head to Bastogne, Belguim for lunch to see the trenches and memorials then onto Germany through Luxembourg. Might not happen that way, but we can only wait and see...
wish I had packed that tent after all!
Although, taking away the huge expense that Mont Blanc was going to be, adding a train trip to say Venice from Florence is more do-able. Christa had a few suggestions for Swiss Alps (as apposed to French Alps or Italian Alps) enjoyment that will probably work well too. We are never really done planning, I am discovering!
Flexible. We will have to be flexible. So I am starting now to pray for patience and the ability to adapt to any situation AND to not freak out and scare the kids. That last part will need divine intervention, but He has done it before, so I trust He can do it again. Can you imagine if all the kids remember from this trip was, oh yeah and then so and so happened and mom freaked out AGAIN! No, not the memories I am looking for.
I am also starting to pop Airborne like candy and making the kids take vitamin C. I seem to be developing some sort of sinus thing. Sigh. Never in my life have I had sinus issues, why now? I actually stayed home from church this morning (gasp!) because of this horrible run-down and bruised feeling that lets me know I have a doosey coming on. Praying....
Well, I am going to try out my new pocket camera now. One of those small details that need to be worked out: getting photos from my camera and onto the blog. Very important detail! Wish me luck!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Planes, trains and automobiles
I have spent all day (in between schooling of course) researching train, plane and automobile options for the travel portion of our trip. As usual, I am coming in over my budget, which keeps my wheels spinning, thinking of different options.
My biggest concerns are when we are needing to cover a large distance. At one point in the trip, we need to get from Todtmoos, Germany to Rome, Italy. According to my calculations, that is close to 600 miles. In another, we need to get from Florence, Italy to Barfleur, France (about 900 miles) in a day. My guidebooks warn about tolls and fuel prices, plus I wonder if we shouldn't stop along the way to see Milan or Venice... adding a hotel, parking, more food, etc.
I had originally thought we would drive the entire time. I started out today by researching train schedules. Maybe I am reading things wrong, but that is a very expensive option. What I did discover, was that for some reason Milan is just about the cheapest place to fly out of in all of Italy! If it didn't matter that I would be arriving in Paris at 11pm, I could have flown the four of us for about $20 each! Of course, I need to get into Barfleur at a decent time (4 hours away) so I settled on about $70 each.
All in all, I might have saved a couple hundred dollars. My biggest objective was met though, we will not be spending 2 1/2 days in the car and a night in a hotel when we are skipping countries. I could figure out how much money in tolls and fuel I am saving (1500 miles!) but I really should get out of my pjs and feed my family... it is 4:30pm after all.
It is hard to believe that we will be on a plane four weeks from tomorrow. Phew! I have got a TON to do!
My biggest concerns are when we are needing to cover a large distance. At one point in the trip, we need to get from Todtmoos, Germany to Rome, Italy. According to my calculations, that is close to 600 miles. In another, we need to get from Florence, Italy to Barfleur, France (about 900 miles) in a day. My guidebooks warn about tolls and fuel prices, plus I wonder if we shouldn't stop along the way to see Milan or Venice... adding a hotel, parking, more food, etc.
I had originally thought we would drive the entire time. I started out today by researching train schedules. Maybe I am reading things wrong, but that is a very expensive option. What I did discover, was that for some reason Milan is just about the cheapest place to fly out of in all of Italy! If it didn't matter that I would be arriving in Paris at 11pm, I could have flown the four of us for about $20 each! Of course, I need to get into Barfleur at a decent time (4 hours away) so I settled on about $70 each.
All in all, I might have saved a couple hundred dollars. My biggest objective was met though, we will not be spending 2 1/2 days in the car and a night in a hotel when we are skipping countries. I could figure out how much money in tolls and fuel I am saving (1500 miles!) but I really should get out of my pjs and feed my family... it is 4:30pm after all.
It is hard to believe that we will be on a plane four weeks from tomorrow. Phew! I have got a TON to do!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Confused blogger
Okay Blogger! What did you do with the blogs I clicked on "follow this blog" the last time I was on here? I will never ever remember their names! How do I find them again?
And why so random? Why can't I look for blogs on subjects that are of interest to ME? So much time wasted filing through endless comic book sites (no offense comic book blog fans). Sigh.
I could whine some more but I am just all worn out from my fruitless search.
Next I will post some pictures - stay tuned. Oh, and if you have any answers to the above questions, do share! There must be a better way.
And why so random? Why can't I look for blogs on subjects that are of interest to ME? So much time wasted filing through endless comic book sites (no offense comic book blog fans). Sigh.
I could whine some more but I am just all worn out from my fruitless search.
Next I will post some pictures - stay tuned. Oh, and if you have any answers to the above questions, do share! There must be a better way.
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