Frankfurt and Rome

We've arrived in Rome after a wonderful day in the Frankfurt airport and a bus ride through the German countryside. We're staying with Uncle David and Auntie Catherine in their beautiful south-Roman flat in a neighborhood desigined by Il Duce himself. So far we've seen a big church (St. Paul?), the catacombs (which were a delightful escape from the 90+ heat outside), and had lunch at an authentic wood-fired pizzeria (where Uncle David's credit card was "lost" and then found when he confronted the manager).

That's all for now. Carrie is jet lagged and wants to rest, and I want some gelato.

-Jim and Carrie

Packing

It's 10:00 pm PDT and we're almost all packed - over 12 hours early! Here are some things that I (Carrie) did not bring last time that I am bringing this time, and reasons why:

1. Excellent new digital camera - because it can hold 6,000 pictures and/or videos. It's so cool, it makes videos of Tala.
2. Mp3 player - I would've brought this last time but it hadn't been invented yet.
3. Domestic partner - because I can lie on him on the plane/train and it's like I have two seats instead of one.
4. Canadian patches for packs - because Clinton was still in office when I went last time.

Here are some things I brought last time that I am not bringing this time:

1. Sleeping bag - because last time I took it to my first destination, Paris, but was too hot and had Uncle David mail it back to me in Philadelphia.
2. Jeans - because they got wet in Switzerland and didn't dry for a week and a half.
3. A casette walkman with 10 casette tapes - because it has been replaced by the MP3 player which can hold 70 CDs.

Carrie

Contact Info

For anyone who would like to contact us during our trip, e-mail is the best way. If you want to call (and can figure out how to dial these weird looking phone numbers), we can be reached at our hotels in Vienna (Aug 6-10) and Berlin (Aug 18-20) as follows:

Vienna:
Hotel Bristol
(43)(1) 515160

Berlin:
Westin Berlin
(49)(30) 20270

Please remember that these cities are 9 hours ahead of California and 6 hours ahead of New Jersey!

Jim and Carrie

Itinerary

We've been asked to provide a loose itinerary. Here is what I feel are the most likely stops & dates:

Rome, July 29-Aug 3 (with a possible day trip to Pompeii/Naples)
Cinque Terre, Aug 3-4
Venice, Aug 4-5
Vienna, Aug 6-10 (with a day trip to Budapest)
Alps city TBA (Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany is most likely), Aug 10-13
Prague, Aug 14-17 (with a day trip to Cesky Krumlov)
Berlin, Aug 18-20
Frankfurt, Aug 21

We have reservations in Rome, Cinque Terre, Venice, Vienna, Berlin, and Frankfurt, so it's likely we won't deviate from this plan too much.

Departure is in a little over 24 hours!

Jim and Carrie

Willkommen! Benvenuto!

Friends and Family,

Welcome to our blog! We'll be posting here over the next month or so to keep you all informed about our travels to central Europe in the summer of 2005. Departure is little over one week away!

Our current itinerary (subject to change, of course) is to start in Rome, perhaps take a day trip to Pompeii, spend a day and a half each in Cinque Terre and Venice, go to Vienna for a few days with a day trip to Budapest, carry on to hike in the Alps (city TBA - probably Innsbruck or Garmisch), then go check out Prague with a day trip to the small Czech town of Cesky Krumlov, before finishing up in Berlin.

Before we get to that, unfortunately, we have about 24 hours of travel from LA to Chicago to Frankfurt to Rome...

More to come.

Jim and Carrie