NYC here we come...our next adventure!
How could I pass up a terrific airfare to NYC??? I couldn't! So in November between returning home from France and going to Rome for Christmas I'm off to the Big Apple for a long 4 day weekend for more great restaurants and theater!
On Monday the flights were booked and by Friday hotel reservations were made and tickets to Billy Elliott the musical were purchased!
I'm on a travel mission!
As of right now my travel plans look like this:
3 weeks in France in September
possibly a weekend in October in Atlanta
a weekend in NYC in November
a week in Rome for Christmas/New Years
another trip sometime in the fall to Atlanta to see the Terra Cotta Warriors at the High Museum
a week in Italy on the 10th anniversary trip in April/May 2009
and Tallinn, Helsinki and Russia in August 2009
My Gosh...I really do need to plant that money tree in my backyard!
At least I have plenty of research to keep me busy! :)
Friday, July 25, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The new countdown begins...France 2008!
9 weeks from today I will be jetting of to gay Paree!!! The City of Light!
I can hardly believe my 3 week French odyssey is just a few months away. As usual, when I started planning this trip back in October 2007 it seemed like the trip was so far away. Now as I look at my trip planning checklist and see the only thing left to do is book either a shuttle or car service to pick us up at the Charles De Gaul airport in Paris and take us to our hotel I can hardly contain my excitement! Of course I've started to debate wether I really need to book a car in advance or just hop in a taxi at the airport.
The benefit of booking a shuttle or car service is that I know the price in advance, it's one flat rate. With a taxi if there is traffic going into Paris, the meter keeps ticking while standing in traffic and what I think may be a 50Euro taxi ride could turn into much more. Ahhhh...Deciscions, Decisions.
I spent the last weekend refining my travel research and cleaning up the document I created when I was cutting and pasting information I wanted to keep for this trip. I now have a 25 page document with a ton of restaurant recommendations and helpful hints for Paris and Nice and everywhere in between where we will be seeing!
Now the fun part...since I bought a new smartphone (Samsung ACE) that can be used internationally...yay...only one cell phone to bring with me! I will be saving this 25 page "travel guide" I created to my phone and (hopefully) have access to it, instead of printing the guide and bringing all that paper with me. BUT...just to be on the safe side I also emailed the guide to myself at my email account I access while traveling so if for some reason I can't get to the information on my phone I can pop into any internet cafe along the way and get the information I need...I'm trying to cover all my bases!
Stay tuned for my French updates and the status of Rome Christmas 2008! I haven't done much planning for Rome yet...just basic plans right now, but I still have all my research from last year, and I will definitely be using that again!
Au Revoir!
I can hardly believe my 3 week French odyssey is just a few months away. As usual, when I started planning this trip back in October 2007 it seemed like the trip was so far away. Now as I look at my trip planning checklist and see the only thing left to do is book either a shuttle or car service to pick us up at the Charles De Gaul airport in Paris and take us to our hotel I can hardly contain my excitement! Of course I've started to debate wether I really need to book a car in advance or just hop in a taxi at the airport.
The benefit of booking a shuttle or car service is that I know the price in advance, it's one flat rate. With a taxi if there is traffic going into Paris, the meter keeps ticking while standing in traffic and what I think may be a 50Euro taxi ride could turn into much more. Ahhhh...Deciscions, Decisions.
I spent the last weekend refining my travel research and cleaning up the document I created when I was cutting and pasting information I wanted to keep for this trip. I now have a 25 page document with a ton of restaurant recommendations and helpful hints for Paris and Nice and everywhere in between where we will be seeing!
Now the fun part...since I bought a new smartphone (Samsung ACE) that can be used internationally...yay...only one cell phone to bring with me! I will be saving this 25 page "travel guide" I created to my phone and (hopefully) have access to it, instead of printing the guide and bringing all that paper with me. BUT...just to be on the safe side I also emailed the guide to myself at my email account I access while traveling so if for some reason I can't get to the information on my phone I can pop into any internet cafe along the way and get the information I need...I'm trying to cover all my bases!
Stay tuned for my French updates and the status of Rome Christmas 2008! I haven't done much planning for Rome yet...just basic plans right now, but I still have all my research from last year, and I will definitely be using that again!
Au Revoir!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Context Paris Montmartre Tour Booked!
Since we'll be arriving in Paris a day before our group tour starts and the Montmartre area of Pairs is not part of the tour and there are glowing recommendations for Context Travel, I booked the Montmartre Context Paris walking tour.
I'm excited to take this tour because from what I have read this is an interesting area of the city, and it has spectacular views of Paris!! Of course, I will have to keep my fingers crossed that we get blessed with good weather that day! :)
I'm excited to take this tour because from what I have read this is an interesting area of the city, and it has spectacular views of Paris!! Of course, I will have to keep my fingers crossed that we get blessed with good weather that day! :)
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Can it be??? More 2009 Travel Plans!!!
A couple weeks without any quick trips and my blog entries go by the wayside!
A few weeks ago Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door released their line-up of 2009 tours and far be it from me to not jump on the band wagon!
You guessed it....I've now got the workings of a 2009 trip in the works. Well, beside the Tuscany trip, which I may have to re-think because in late August/early September 2009 I am going to....DRUM ROLL PLEASE....Estonia, Finland and Russia!
How excited am I! I haven't even left for France yet (about 10 more weeks until that trip!).
The plan is to do the Rick Steves 9 day Tallinn (Estonia), Helsinki (Finland) and St. Petersburg (Russia). This is a brand new tour in 2009! And since the RS tours really don't start until the late afternoon on day one and are finished at breakfast on day 9, I'm really looking at the tour as 7 days. But, as the norm I will arrive a day before the tour starts in Tallinn and since I will be in Russia...how could I not go to Moscow!! So after the tour ends in St. Petersburg I can hop a one and a half hour flight to Moscow and stay there a few days. And...Delta has direct flights from Moscow to Atlanta for the return home!
A little preliminary research shows that the process to get a Russian tourist visa takes some paper shuffling...but shouldn't be too difficult once all the right forms are complete. However the killer is the price of the airfare and hotel rates in Moscow are astromonical! It may be time to really splurge in the hotel category...afterall...how often am I going to be in Moscow!
And now I am looking forward to this 3 day holiday weekend!
A few weeks ago Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door released their line-up of 2009 tours and far be it from me to not jump on the band wagon!
You guessed it....I've now got the workings of a 2009 trip in the works. Well, beside the Tuscany trip, which I may have to re-think because in late August/early September 2009 I am going to....DRUM ROLL PLEASE....Estonia, Finland and Russia!
How excited am I! I haven't even left for France yet (about 10 more weeks until that trip!).
The plan is to do the Rick Steves 9 day Tallinn (Estonia), Helsinki (Finland) and St. Petersburg (Russia). This is a brand new tour in 2009! And since the RS tours really don't start until the late afternoon on day one and are finished at breakfast on day 9, I'm really looking at the tour as 7 days. But, as the norm I will arrive a day before the tour starts in Tallinn and since I will be in Russia...how could I not go to Moscow!! So after the tour ends in St. Petersburg I can hop a one and a half hour flight to Moscow and stay there a few days. And...Delta has direct flights from Moscow to Atlanta for the return home!
A little preliminary research shows that the process to get a Russian tourist visa takes some paper shuffling...but shouldn't be too difficult once all the right forms are complete. However the killer is the price of the airfare and hotel rates in Moscow are astromonical! It may be time to really splurge in the hotel category...afterall...how often am I going to be in Moscow!
And now I am looking forward to this 3 day holiday weekend!
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