Love the pictures...so good. The Castle, the two boys...perfect! Question for you: how did you plan the trip? Figure it out yourself? Have a travel guide plan it or advise you? How long were you gone? And since I'm a cemetery nut, I would have LOVED to explore that! Enjoy these travel columns a lot! 👏👏👏👏👏👏
For the trip, I truly loathe packaged "tours" as does my wife. Realistically, we use the Rick Steve's guide books for where to stay and tips and tricks when in any city. He will get you into the smaller, homier lodgings, and steer you to the local character.
We start with the beginning and the end, and my wife (mostly) figures out the in between bits. We keep it loose. For example, when we were in Italy last, we had a room booked in Palermo, but we were notified at the last minute (the night before) that a massive pipe had burst, and our room was out of commission, so we stayed an extra two nights in Cefalu, and did a day trip to Palermo.
For France, she knew she wanted to spend I think 4 days in Paris, and end up in Chamonix, and let the map do its thing in between, landing on Normandy (I am pissed, Substack ate that post, and I need to recreate it), Loire River valley, Lyon, and finally Chamonix.
Italy is better as the trains will get you close to any place you want to go, so you don't need to drive. France is much less well covered, so we rented a car.
Also, in Paris, near the cemetery where Jim Morrison is buried are the catacombs, where when they recycle the graveyards, they stashed the bones they dug up. Creepy and fascinating at the same time!
All excellent advice. Honestly, I would be apprehensive to go alone...I need a travel buddy. Two and three weeks to get into things is ideal. Rick Steves would certainly be the way to go it sounds like. I'm pretty sure the universe is telling me to leave Philly (after 6 years...there is nothing for me here now after Tim died) and go back to my farm in NE Missouri. I can live there for almost nothing (save it for the travel) and be in the center of the country-2 1/2 hours from St. Louis to grab the plane. You've inspired me, Geoff. I'm in the process of getting my passport renewed right now!
Wow, that is too much pressure, to have inspired you.
Seriously, bumming around Europe is not too expensive if you stay off the beaten path. The food is amazing (I don't think we ever spent more than 5 euros on a bottle of wine in France) the people are (mostly) friendly, especially if you make an attempt to learn a few words of the language. And the sights are just astounding. I once ate in a restaurant in old town Geneva that had been a restaurant since the 1600's. So much history.
HAHA... remember, I've never stepped foot out of the country except Canada and Mexico. And I'm from rural Missouri. 🤦♀️ To me, Europe sounds like the moon. So your input is valuable. Now that I'm starting to beat this flu shit, I can start to think clearly. I still have to visit Boston and Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn before I'm fully done with the East Coast!
Love the pictures...so good. The Castle, the two boys...perfect! Question for you: how did you plan the trip? Figure it out yourself? Have a travel guide plan it or advise you? How long were you gone? And since I'm a cemetery nut, I would have LOVED to explore that! Enjoy these travel columns a lot! 👏👏👏👏👏👏
For the trip, I truly loathe packaged "tours" as does my wife. Realistically, we use the Rick Steve's guide books for where to stay and tips and tricks when in any city. He will get you into the smaller, homier lodgings, and steer you to the local character.
We start with the beginning and the end, and my wife (mostly) figures out the in between bits. We keep it loose. For example, when we were in Italy last, we had a room booked in Palermo, but we were notified at the last minute (the night before) that a massive pipe had burst, and our room was out of commission, so we stayed an extra two nights in Cefalu, and did a day trip to Palermo.
For France, she knew she wanted to spend I think 4 days in Paris, and end up in Chamonix, and let the map do its thing in between, landing on Normandy (I am pissed, Substack ate that post, and I need to recreate it), Loire River valley, Lyon, and finally Chamonix.
Italy is better as the trains will get you close to any place you want to go, so you don't need to drive. France is much less well covered, so we rented a car.
Also, in Paris, near the cemetery where Jim Morrison is buried are the catacombs, where when they recycle the graveyards, they stashed the bones they dug up. Creepy and fascinating at the same time!
Paris was 2 weeks, Italy was three weeks,
All excellent advice. Honestly, I would be apprehensive to go alone...I need a travel buddy. Two and three weeks to get into things is ideal. Rick Steves would certainly be the way to go it sounds like. I'm pretty sure the universe is telling me to leave Philly (after 6 years...there is nothing for me here now after Tim died) and go back to my farm in NE Missouri. I can live there for almost nothing (save it for the travel) and be in the center of the country-2 1/2 hours from St. Louis to grab the plane. You've inspired me, Geoff. I'm in the process of getting my passport renewed right now!
Wow, that is too much pressure, to have inspired you.
Seriously, bumming around Europe is not too expensive if you stay off the beaten path. The food is amazing (I don't think we ever spent more than 5 euros on a bottle of wine in France) the people are (mostly) friendly, especially if you make an attempt to learn a few words of the language. And the sights are just astounding. I once ate in a restaurant in old town Geneva that had been a restaurant since the 1600's. So much history.
The memories will last a lifetime!
HAHA... remember, I've never stepped foot out of the country except Canada and Mexico. And I'm from rural Missouri. 🤦♀️ To me, Europe sounds like the moon. So your input is valuable. Now that I'm starting to beat this flu shit, I can start to think clearly. I still have to visit Boston and Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn before I'm fully done with the East Coast!