7:08 PM |
Author: Publius
So, we have our three spots: NE England, Portugal and Germany. We have had a lull in the planning since last week - or at least until we decided to head to Germany.
The plan for Germany is fairly simple: see more castles and drink beer.
So the plan is actually to do a bunch of spots on the Romantic and Castle road or something and drink lots of beer. In looking at it, we also decided that we would take a day trips to Innsubruck and Salzburg, Austria. Salzburg is the place of Mozart's birth (I think). Regardless, I just looked at some pictures and it looks amazing. Innsbruck is smack in the middle of the Alps. If the boys were older and could do it, I would have loved to just hike a ton in all of the Alps - perhaps a future trip.
For the record, the jealousy hasn't gotten much better.
Where the hell was I?
Oh yeah, today. I sent Jess a text while I was on the way home (stopped at a light of course), really, while at a standstill on the Belt. I told her to get the options for the flights together so that we can make a decision when I got there.
I arrived after a typical Friday journey home - racing on Ocean and battling the hoards of idiots on the Belt and the Southern State. Jess had a few options picked out for the flights - Frankfurt and Munich at this point had pretty much gotten to be the same price - or we could leave a few days earlier for cheaper flights.
Now, I put a lot into getting these days off and I plan on using them. Thankfully, my supervisor is very understanding of just how stressed and spread thin I have become this year. We have had a number of very good conversations this week and when I talked about my stress level and the fact that I was in need of getting away, she said, "Yeah, I got that when you put in your request for the entire month of July off!" Also, I am thankful that she knows and values the work that we are doing in the school and knows that a tired and stressed me isn't going to do anything well next year - and I do believe that next year could be a massive year for us as we continue to develop practice and change the culture.
Since the prices went up, we began to tinker with a few ideas…what's close? Do you really want to spend that many days in Germany? Where else can we go? What are the prices for other nearby major cities? How much will the one way fees for the car be and would they be less than the flight home from Munich?
We looked at the distance and prices to Amsterdam, Paris, Milan, Prague and maybe one or two other places. Now, we have been to each of these cities before with the exception of Milan. We do both like Italy…
There were a number of calculations flying around the room. Siri was working her ass off but she sucked at times, not being able to handle the requests. Jess asked, "Do you really want to go to Paris again?" And, no, I don't, because I hate the French but, I do have to say, Paris is a cool city but definitely not my first choice to end the trip. We debated a bit more, crunched some numbers and finally decided that when you look at the reduction of price per person for the flight, the reduction in the hours of the flight compared to the cost of the one-way fee for the car, it was best for us to wind down our trip in a city that we have gone to before but didn't spend a lot of time. During our first two trips to Europe when we just wanted to be number whores and hit as many places as possible, we spent about a day or so in this city. I have always said I would love to head back to it again one day. The flight is on Norwegian Air and somehow, the flight was cheapest when you booked on Norwegian's website in Norway which is written in Norwegian. It was like an extra $100 bucks on their US site and 50 or so more on another European countries. Jess translated the entire site on google, I assume and, we got out flight, for the cheapest price possible.
So, after dinner, Jess decided that we should play a family game. This family game would be Jess' version of Who's Line Is It? One of her favorite bits is when they used the props. We would be doing the same, only Malcolm would be our prop. "Really, are you sure that is a good idea, considering Neil is trying to assassinate him?"
Jess started, she was supposed to be a snake. I knew this and purposely did not answer, since I had just opened this:
Touché.
So there was a noter round or two and Neil ended with being a saltwater crocodile (from Octonauts). At some point, I said saltwater croc and Jess used this against me to make it my turn. So, I proceeded to get down on the floor and start doing MY best saltwater croc, when Neil got up of the couch and kicked me right in my fucking eyeball. Not like, kicked me in the eye and hit me on the bone around the socket. No, the point of his big toe hit me right in my fucking eyeball - lid open and all.
That shit hurts.
And so, that ended the worst game of family charades yet. Neil went to time out, Jess showered and Malcolm hung with me as I nursed the remainder of my World Wide Stout. The evening wound down and Neil and I ate a few Oreos.
I think he looks like Matt Dillon's character in Something About Mary. Somehow, that movie ends up in like every friggin' blog based on a trip. We did see Cameron Diaz is JFK one time waiting on a line to go through security - it was either when we went to Spain or NZ/OZ.
Oh yeah, so, we have our flight home. July 2-Aug 2. New York-Manchester-Newcastle-Faro-Lisbon-Frankfurt-Prague-New York. 32 days, 5 countries, 3 flights, 2 95 lbs car seats, 2 adults who argue over directions and navigation and 2 kids under four. WTF are we thinking?
The plan for Germany is fairly simple: see more castles and drink beer.
So the plan is actually to do a bunch of spots on the Romantic and Castle road or something and drink lots of beer. In looking at it, we also decided that we would take a day trips to Innsubruck and Salzburg, Austria. Salzburg is the place of Mozart's birth (I think). Regardless, I just looked at some pictures and it looks amazing. Innsbruck is smack in the middle of the Alps. If the boys were older and could do it, I would have loved to just hike a ton in all of the Alps - perhaps a future trip.
For the record, the jealousy hasn't gotten much better.
Zombies...
I suppose this blog will be as much about family as it is about traveling in Europe with two kids under four, on a self-imposed budget with two adults who both know everything. And so, I imagine that this blog will be a little look into our lives, the good, the bad and the ugly. Let's face it, we're all each of those every day. Some of us are more bad than others though.
Oh yeah, today. I sent Jess a text while I was on the way home (stopped at a light of course), really, while at a standstill on the Belt. I told her to get the options for the flights together so that we can make a decision when I got there.
I arrived after a typical Friday journey home - racing on Ocean and battling the hoards of idiots on the Belt and the Southern State. Jess had a few options picked out for the flights - Frankfurt and Munich at this point had pretty much gotten to be the same price - or we could leave a few days earlier for cheaper flights.
Now, I put a lot into getting these days off and I plan on using them. Thankfully, my supervisor is very understanding of just how stressed and spread thin I have become this year. We have had a number of very good conversations this week and when I talked about my stress level and the fact that I was in need of getting away, she said, "Yeah, I got that when you put in your request for the entire month of July off!" Also, I am thankful that she knows and values the work that we are doing in the school and knows that a tired and stressed me isn't going to do anything well next year - and I do believe that next year could be a massive year for us as we continue to develop practice and change the culture.
Since the prices went up, we began to tinker with a few ideas…what's close? Do you really want to spend that many days in Germany? Where else can we go? What are the prices for other nearby major cities? How much will the one way fees for the car be and would they be less than the flight home from Munich?
We looked at the distance and prices to Amsterdam, Paris, Milan, Prague and maybe one or two other places. Now, we have been to each of these cities before with the exception of Milan. We do both like Italy…
There were a number of calculations flying around the room. Siri was working her ass off but she sucked at times, not being able to handle the requests. Jess asked, "Do you really want to go to Paris again?" And, no, I don't, because I hate the French but, I do have to say, Paris is a cool city but definitely not my first choice to end the trip. We debated a bit more, crunched some numbers and finally decided that when you look at the reduction of price per person for the flight, the reduction in the hours of the flight compared to the cost of the one-way fee for the car, it was best for us to wind down our trip in a city that we have gone to before but didn't spend a lot of time. During our first two trips to Europe when we just wanted to be number whores and hit as many places as possible, we spent about a day or so in this city. I have always said I would love to head back to it again one day. The flight is on Norwegian Air and somehow, the flight was cheapest when you booked on Norwegian's website in Norway which is written in Norwegian. It was like an extra $100 bucks on their US site and 50 or so more on another European countries. Jess translated the entire site on google, I assume and, we got out flight, for the cheapest price possible.
So, after dinner, Jess decided that we should play a family game. This family game would be Jess' version of Who's Line Is It? One of her favorite bits is when they used the props. We would be doing the same, only Malcolm would be our prop. "Really, are you sure that is a good idea, considering Neil is trying to assassinate him?"
Jess started, she was supposed to be a snake. I knew this and purposely did not answer, since I had just opened this:
And that my friends, has at least a 20% abv - and since this one is a year and a half old, probably a little more. Eventually, Neil guessed something and it was his turn, to be a snake. And this continued, as Jess was a gorilla, then Neil was a gorilla. Somehow, I guessed tiger. I was wrong.
Then I was supposed to use Neil as my prop, but somehow ended up as his - I was an animal that he was going to ride.
Jess was a fireman and Malcolm was her hose. I thought she was using him as a battering ram to break into the house that was on fire. Neil guessed that she was a fireman and then did the same thing by jumping around the living room and saying something about fire. He didn't use Malcolm as a hose, and that must have confused me because I guessed "a really bad dancer?"
It was my turn, I cracked open his top and gulped and said, guess what I am doing? Neil guessed that I was a seal.
So there was a noter round or two and Neil ended with being a saltwater crocodile (from Octonauts). At some point, I said saltwater croc and Jess used this against me to make it my turn. So, I proceeded to get down on the floor and start doing MY best saltwater croc, when Neil got up of the couch and kicked me right in my fucking eyeball. Not like, kicked me in the eye and hit me on the bone around the socket. No, the point of his big toe hit me right in my fucking eyeball - lid open and all.
That shit hurts.
And so, that ended the worst game of family charades yet. Neil went to time out, Jess showered and Malcolm hung with me as I nursed the remainder of my World Wide Stout. The evening wound down and Neil and I ate a few Oreos.
I think he looks like Matt Dillon's character in Something About Mary. Somehow, that movie ends up in like every friggin' blog based on a trip. We did see Cameron Diaz is JFK one time waiting on a line to go through security - it was either when we went to Spain or NZ/OZ.
Oh yeah, so, we have our flight home. July 2-Aug 2. New York-Manchester-Newcastle-Faro-Lisbon-Frankfurt-Prague-New York. 32 days, 5 countries, 3 flights, 2 95 lbs car seats, 2 adults who argue over directions and navigation and 2 kids under four. WTF are we thinking?
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