Back in January as Justin, Chris, Daniel, and myself caught up and shared tales of our 2008 Christmas adventures, we started thinking. Christmas only comes once a year….and it’s a perfect time to take a two week trip for the price of a week or less of vacation… and so the potential planning began…before we knew it we (okay, I), had pulled out my laminated map of Europe’s railways and we were quickly developing a trip that was a synergy of places some people had never been but would love to see, places people wanted to return to again to explore further, as well as a skiing adventure thrown in the mix just to keep it interesting. :)
And so we adjourned our pizza dinner with the challenge to each other to actually bully each other into making a Christmas trip happen. We set out with such determination we decided to refer to ourselves as the Fellowship and have since collected more members.
Our very excited crew consists of Daniel and myself, Justin, Chris, Ginger, and Phil. To make things even more complicated we are all bound in different ways. Daniel, Justin, Chris, Ginger, and Phil all went to Clemson together – some for undergrad, some graduate school. Daniel, myself, Chris, and Justin all have bought homes and live in our neighborhood now. Phil and Justin used to be college roommates. And Chris and Ginger are a couple.
So after a very crazy, harried few days, our fellowship is now waiting in the airport terminal in the Orlando Airport for our British Airways flight (which has narrowly escaped a strike this week). We are all tired and extremely ready for vacation and very excited about our trip.
Where are we headed?
12/19 – Amsterdam
12/20 and 12/21 – Berlin
12/22 – Prague
12/23-12/26 – Kaprun, Austria to ski (just outside of Zell am See)
12/26-12/28 – Munich
12/29 – Venice
12/30-01/01 – Rome
01/02 – Wake up in London and fly home
I’m a little anxious because our dear friends have entrusted their vacation time and savings to this trip that they have encouraged me to craft, but I am hoping it will turn out to be one of the best we’ve taken yet.
I’m personally waiting for that absolutely magical moment where you suddenly feel the magic of Europe – perhaps when you step through an alley and realize you are in the city’s main square, or you step into a church steeped with grandeur and solitude and feel so very small, or when you enter a true European bakery and pick your first unbelievable pastry of the trip… I’m really looking forward to the realization that I’m in magical, amazing, beautiful, enchanting Europe and taking that that deep, excited, totally-in-love-with-traveling, breath in and think “ah, I’m really here!”
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