Tschuess, Servus, Ciao, Au Revoir, Etc.

It is 11:00pm in Cork, Ireland. Tomorrow Lindsay and I leave to embark on our month-long European adventure. Have I packed anything? Of course not, you all know that I tend to procrastinate. Somehow though, everything I need for the month must fit into the backpack shown in the photo. I may leave things until the last minute, but at least I can fold neatly and pack in an organized fashion.

I am pretty sure that this month has the potential to become one of those “defining” moments, you know the ones that blockbuster movie plots center around. Really though, travelling for a month in foreign countries is bound to have some sort of impact on me. How could it not?

Germany is the first stop, following a flight out of Dublin, and I hope to sample tasty beers and perhaps find a lovely stein to bring home and enjoy a few more out of, once I am of legal drinking age in the U.S. of course! Next on the itinerary is Austria with a stop in Salzburg. “The Sound of Music” tour is on Lindsay’s must-do list and after “starring” in the chorus of my high school’s rendition of the show, I am sure I will enjoy it. Something I am looking forward to greatly is meeting up with my sister Meghan in Venice for a week following my romp in the musical hills of Austria. Once I Google directions from the train station where Lindsay and I will arrive to the airport where Meghan will fly into, I will be all set to finally set eyes on a friend from home! Lindsay and I will be spending more time in Italy once Meghan goes back home; our plans are to see Florence, Rome, Naples, Pompeii, and Pisa before heading to Paris, France. A short, but I am sure still be memorable, stay in the City of Lights is to be followed by copious amounts of Belgian beer and chocolate in Brussels. It is after this stop we plan to ditch our EuroRail train passes and take the ferry to London for the final leg of our journey. From London we will be flying back to Cork, dragging ourselves back to our apartment. Tired, bedraggled, but still more worldly and cultured than before, we will most likely collapse in heaps in our beds.

As excited, as I am to see so many amazing places, I am nervous. I am just hoping and praying (please do the same for us) that things will go as planned as much as possible, and that, above all, Lindsay and I will have safe travels. I am going to do my best to blog as we go, if not though, I am long overdue for blogging Ireland weekend trips and daytrips so other European adventures will be added to the to-do list. You can expect many entries once I am in the Virginia because until then I will be away from my own computer and at the liberty of internet cafes, then on to exams at UCC, followed closely by a plane ride back to Boston and a long car ride down to Mary Washington for summer session classes. My ability to stay in contact is, from this very point on, rather limited.

Well, it is time for me to pack. My camera memory card has been completely cleared and my travel journey is close at hand. I am ready to do something completely new. I’ll only be gone for a month so try not to forget about me completely!