Today is the two year anniversary of my youngest daughter's and my trip to Europe. We planned this vacation in a period of about three months. It just happened to be a time in our lives that we both were unemployed, so we saw it as our window of opportunity to do something we might not ever get a chance to again. We had the time, we had some savings, and we both definitely had the desire to go to Europe. I was so delighted that my daughter wanted to go on a month long trip with her mom! My other two kids were married and had families, and I wanted to make sure it was ok with them that I took this trip with their younger sister. I didn't want them to feel left out. Once I got their approval and blessings, I felt better about it. My daughter was 26 years old, and her boyfriend was totally supportive of her going on this trip, too.
I found the airline tickets online at AA.com about a month and a half before we left. I was so lucky to have found these tickets!!! It cost us each less than $300 for round trip, non-stop flights. We flew from Chicago, where Alisa lives, and directly to London's Heathrow Airport, on April 1, 2009. The flight was an overnighter, and it was comfortable since we had empty seats next to us so we could lay down, but it was still hard to sleep because of our excitement. Coming home, we left from Frankfurt, Germany, on May 1st, one month after we arrived in Europe.
We arrived in London early in the morning on April 2nd. We were dragging our feet that day but we managed to get a lot of sight-seeing in, by riding the double-decker bus and getting off at several different locations, and even went to a broadway show that night. It's funny, because the show was a rock and roll show about the band, Queen, called We Will Rock You, and even with the loud music and awesome performance, we were both nodding our heads throughout the show. That night we slept well, and after about a couple of days we became acclamated to the time change.
It was supposed to be a back-packing trip, but we soon realized we were not the type to walk around with back packs. After about 10 days we both bought suitcases with wheels. It was more difficult getting up and down the steps at train stations (funny stories about that), but all in all, it was much better for our backs. Plus, we could pack our things a lot easier in the suitcases, and there was room for purchases, too.
One thing we did that was so important for me, was to go back to my former high school in Frankfurt Germany, and to the base we lived on in Hanau, Germany. I lived in Germany my senior year because my dad got transferred there for his job. I attended Frankfurt American High School, and graduated in 1974. I hadn't been there since then, and I always wanted to go back. The Old Argonner housing base was closed, but we could walk around and see it through the gates. The former school closed its doors to the American students in 1995, I believe, and it is now a German technical school. It was awesome being able to take my daughter there. All these emotions welled up in me as we walked up to the school, as soon as we turned the corner on the street and I saw the school. It brought me back in time. I just can't explain it, but I was just so emotional. Luckily, a teacher invited us in and let us look around. It was so cool!
There's just way, way, way too much to tell about this trip, and I just don't want to start, because if I do, I will write pages and pages! I have my journal to reflect upon today. To sum it all up, it went something like this...thirty days of traveling, thirty two cities, eight countries, including England, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, Austria, Czech Republic and Germany, 4,500 photographs, riding numerous trains, buses, and doing A LOT of walking, getting lost at times, shopping, laughing, sometimes laughing hysterically, crying, seeing things we never thought we would, seeing things we came to see, yelling at rude Romans (well, one), learning more about the world and each other, surviving some dangerous situations, shopping in local markets, sharing meals if we ate at expensive restaurants, eating different foods, meeting people from all over the world, getting a little drunk once (sorry, but it's true), learning different languages with every country we visited, trying to use those languages we just learned, writing our wonderful thoughts and experiences in our journals every night, staying at hostels, bed and breakfasts, and budget hotels, sometimes just leaving the train station to find one, washing our clothes in the sink and hanging them to dry, and hoping they'd be dry before we had to pack up and leave the next day, or going to the laundromat, doing what we wanted, when we wanted, but still following a basic itinerary and keeping within our budget, and having the most amazing, incredible, memorable time of our lives!
On the plane ride home, we both stayed awake the whole time. It was a day time flight, so that was easier on us even though it was a long flight. We finished our notes in our journals and then enjoyed reading each other's stories. It was interesting to see our different interpretations and what we both thought was noteworthy. The flight home was a time of reflection.
Here's just a tiny selection of pictures of our wonderful European journey...remember, we took over 4,500 photographs!
I'm standing in front of my former high school, Frankfurt American High School. It is now a German technical school.
