This weekend, I am not biking the Loire Valley. This is mostly due to the random foot injury of London Day One , but I'm actually very okay with the decision. I am certain there will be a few regrets when I see all of the pictures of chateaus that the girls will post, but it means I am not gone two weekends in a row. I've done that before, and it is very tiring.
This is how Spring Break is shaping up:
After my classes that Thursday (I have no Friday classes), I am going to take the Eurostar up to London again, then catch the overnight bus to Edinburgh. The other option was an overnight train, and this is much less expensive and apparently not sketchy. I will be sleeping on Clarissa's floor for a few of the nights, but then Katie will be arriving and booting me, as she made her plans first. So I'll move into an excellent hostel I found nearby. Need to confirm the exact nights I'll be doing that....
While in Edinburgh, my plans are to laze about and sight-see and enjoy the city for several days, then take a trip to the Highlands (probably the first weekend, with Clarissa, but that part is still in the planning stages) for a day or two, and I think I will also take a day trip to Glasgow, the coast, or a good castle on a different day. I doubt I will do all of them, because I'm finding that I like having slightly extended vacations places, rather than jumping about like crazy. Spring Break freshman year, I spent the entire week within the city boundaries of Dublin, and had a wonderful time.
Then, in the wee hours of the following Sunday (a little over a week later), I will fly first to London and then to Athens via EasyJet, and meet up with a group of Central Folk who are doing Greece together. I'm not sure of the exact timetables, but I think we have a night in Athens (Sunday night), then 4 or 5 nights on Santorini, then another 1 or 2 in Athens. So, I'll have time to see some sights in Athens, but spend most of my time lazing on a Greek island and swimming in the Mediterranean!
I think it sounds like excellent times.
That all starts up in a little more than a month, and in the meantime, I have a weekend in the South of France coming up in about two weeks, I think. I think any additional traveling might take place the week after classes end, if I can find someplace to stash my stuff in Paris, or taking an extended layover in Iceland on my way home, or just the next time I travel to Europe! I'm no longer stressing about hitting Barcelona and Italy and Prague and Amsterdam and Berlin and somewhere in Scandinavia and... even making the list gets me tired and stressed.
Really, when you think about it, this is the way people approach being anywhere except Europe on study abroad. In New Zealand or Australia, it would be very expensive to go most anywhere else. I don't hear too much of people doing inter-Latin American travelling. If they do, it is one place, for one week, on Spring Break, and that's it. And it's a big deal. Whereas, by the time I fly home at the end of May/early June, I can be assured of having done the following:
- Walked across the Thames
- Walked across the Seine
- Hiked the Scottish Highlands
- Swum (swam? I honestly have no idea which goes here) in the Mediterranean
- Eaten a crepe in front of Notre Dame
- Visited the Parthenon
- Seen castles
- Lived in Paris!
4 countries, the capital cities of all. Not too shabby. I am counting Scotland and Great Britain as different countries, but I'm not really sure how that works. And this is assuming no final week of traveling.
I predict that this will lead to a significantly less stressful rest of the semester. And I'm not really missing anything- I'm just not smashing it all into the next three months. As previously mentioned, I like having longer periods of time places. Time to develop a favorite restaurant, to see all of the little things to see, to not feel guilty when I want to spend an evening in. I was able to see a really impressive amount in London, but let's face it- most places don't have those tour buses. I tried to look for something comparable in Paris, and they all run over 100 euro each. For a day tour! Ridiculous. [Side: I did find some English-language walking tours though, which I am excited to try as soon as I buy some flats that aren't flip flops] And I didn't get to see plenty of places in London- Greenwich, Notting Hill, or the insides of most of the places we passed. So not running around for more 2-day stays in major cities works for me. Yes, it would be nice to have a list 12-strong of countries I visited when I fly home, but I think I've found a nice mix of stretching my boundaries and comfort level and doing what will make me happy and keep me zen. I value my zen.
Thoughts?
To finish, the formatting was being weird when I was finishing up London Day Three, so a few pictures got left out. Once we made our way to Trafalgar Square, we wandered the National Gallery for about an hour, mainly in the Impressionists, and then she departed for her train and I spent my last free hour walking around the Tower of London (though not actually in it). Behold:
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| Soaking wet and lugging an extremely large backpack in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square |
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| Can you see Big Ben in the background?? From the steps of the National Gallery |
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| Inside St. Pancras. It seems so wonderfully International Traveller, doesn't it? I felt very grown up and glamorous. |
Best plan I've heard in a long time! You are wise to step back and take a look at things now that you're there. A good life has a lot to do with having the ability to do that. I can almost feel the easing of your soul :)
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