2 June 2010 (In the Frankfurt airport)

(From my journal)

"We're in Germany, waiting to board onto Venice. I am so incredibly tired. The whole flight here we were in this time warp of changing days in the middle of the night. I didn't sleep at all on the plane and I'm so tired now. Hopefully I can sleep on this short flight."

* * *

I didn't sleep at all on that incredibly long flight. I watched Valentine's Day, part of Planet 51, part of Inglorious Bastards...maybe that was the returning flight.

We flew above the night the whole flight. Finally, we reached Frankfurt.

So close!

Leaving Portland

Days before the trip began, one of my housemates, Jessi-Ann, and I had begun to pack. We were constantly running into each others rooms asking "Are you bringing this? What about this? Do you thing we'll need this? I don't know how this is all going to fit...." I was constantly down-sizing myself. I tend to over-pack and that was not something I wanted to do if I was going to carry all my stuff for three weeks (plus whatever I bought while I was there). I was amazed to see all of this this:

fit into this:

The morning that we were leaving, my wonderful boyfriend called me to wake me up. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am not a morning person. There was no way I was going to wake up at 6 and actually get up on my own, even for the trip that I had been looking forward to for over a year. Josh repeatedly asked if I was actually up and out of bed. (Since he's in Illinois, the two hour time difference makes it convenient for this kind of thing to work.)

Jessi-Ann had already been up for quite some time and had gotten us coffee, bless her. Four of us drove to the Portland train station where we waited for everyone else to get there. That's when the adventure began - on the way there. Downtown Portland is a maze of one and two way streets. We made a left turn from a one-way street onto what the driver thought was another one-way street. It wasn't. Thankfully the on-coming traffic was far coming and shouts of "TWO-WAY! TWO-WAY!" from all parts of the car saved us. Everyone got to the station (Mandy just barely in time) and we got on the train to Seattle.

Trip Overview

Alright.  So this is our route from the US to Italy, then France, and back home.

June 1st we leave from Seattle, WA on a plane to Frankfurt.  From there we catch a train into our first stay, Venice.  We get to explore the channels of this sinking city for two days enjoying the sites, music and food - including a gelato shop (Fantasy Gelato) that one of my professors says is the best in Italy.

Then we move to Michalangelo's home town, Florence.  There we get to see priceless works of art such as Michalangelo's David and the Birth of Venus (one of my favorites).

From there we move to Assisi.  As in Saint Francis of Assisi.

Next is the capital, ROME.  Here we are staying right across from the coliseum!

Then we are on to Cinque Terra, for nothing but relaxing.  Cinque Terra is a combination of five small fishing towns right along the coast.  Brightly colored buildings hug the cliffs of the coast and boats tied to their docks fill the harbor.  The only thing we're doing here for a couple days is relaxing, swimming, hiking, anything we want.  The water is so clear that if you swim out a ways in the calm water you can see clear down 30 feet.  The only way I will be able to leave this beautiful coast is knowing that our next stop is France!

We will take the chunnel over to France and move our way to Arles.  I believe here we get to see Van Goah pieces.

Then we move on to Carcassone, a completely medieval town complete with ramparts and moats.  I plan on taking pictures posing like Robin Hood.  We are staying just outside the city here, and then moving on to Rocamadoor.  It is here that legend says Zachius brought mother Mary's remains after she died.  He traveled up to what is now known as France, at the time barely populated.  He rode up rivers as far as he could until he came to this secluded area.  He then carried her remains high into the cliffs to guard.  Over time however others slowly discovered him there (as often happens with sacred items).  They built a monastery there keeping the remains of the Modonna hidden.  Then during the times of the crusades, knights would often make this place one of their last stops before they went off to battle.  They would buy a candle and on their knees pray and climb hundreds of stairs to get to the Black Madonna then pray before her.  We get to visit and pay our respects as well.

Then as we move on we will find ourselves in the Loire Valley.  Here was a court of France and the area is filled with beautiful estates.  When I have been drug away from this beautiful country, we will be in another medieval town.

Chartres is filled with Gothic cathedrals that we will be allowed to roam (with our knees and shoulders covered, of course).  Then, to the capital!

PARIS!  The city of love.  Here we will go to the Louver, travel out to Versailles if we wish and explore!  By this last stop on our trip we will have mainly free time.

All over I plan to journal, take pictures, try wonderful food, and shop a little.  I’m so excited!  I’ll keep you updated on each location as I get more information on it.