The Continent

June 30, 11:30am (GMT)
Luton Airport, England

Its been a couple days since I've updated, due to a bit of spotty internet service at Mark's aunts house (where I've been staying).

Where to begin... this trip is teaching me a lot about the trade-offs between the mystique and adventure of unplanned travel and the security and convenience of planned travel. Getting the Eurail passes turned out to be a bit of a chore, and then figuring out the costs of everything, plane tickets, where to actually go, etc, means that instead of flying out yesterday Mark and I are flying out today. But no matter, we fly!

Also worth mentioning: my last blog post declaring that we were on our way to Paris was premature. After hashing out what our two weeks would actually look like, Mark and I have realized that it is going to be far better to start our trip farther east, and then work our way back towards the Channel and London.

So, without further delay, our itinerary for the next 10 days:

June 30th - Fly to Vienna, Austria
July 1st - Vienna
July 2nd - Arrive in Prague (early morning)
July 3rd - Prague
July 4th - Leave for Berlin early morning, stop in Dresden for part of the day
July 5th - Berlin
July 6th - Berlin (leave for Brussels on overnight train)
July 7th - Brussels
July 7th - Leave for Paris late at night (I really want to get to Paris)
July 8th - Paris
July 9th - Paris
July 10th - Paris
July 10th - Leave for London (night)
July 11th - Fly to the United States (morning)

So there you have it, loyal readers. Vienna, Prague, Dresden, Berlin, Brussels, Paris. Add in the 3.5 days in London, and I'm feeling pretty good about how everything is looking.

A couple quick notes about the time I've spent in London thus far, because our plane to Vienna leaves in about an hour or so.

Mark and I have spent the better part of Sunday and Monday on long, all-day walking tours of London. Its been great. The most interesting things for me are the age and history behind almost every building and structure. Coming from New England, I'm used to something being quite old if it was built in the 1700s. And for other people in the United States, it is quite old. But here, something isn't "old" unless it was built circa 1300. This means that there are all kinds of wonderful nooks and crannies to the city that I don't know you would find in something more modern.

For example, more than once in London I've walked down a "street," marked with a street sign and named on a map, that is little more than a very narrow corridor between two buildings, a corridor that two people couldn't walk shoulder to shoulder down. Halfway down the "street" there will be a small door to some kind of very convivial looking pub, which gives me the sense that these out of the way pubs are de-facto community centers and meeting places, because I don't think they would be casually walked into.

Another great thing about the city is the amount of green space and parkland built into the very center and seemingly around every corner. Fenced in but public, these parks are full (in good weather) of sunbathers, little kids, soccer balls, laughter, and picnic baskets. It really gives an amazing air of peace and happiness to a city that I don't think of in many other places.

Lastly (Mark is tugging at my shirtsleeves), I've gone on a couple early morning runs in England thus far. I've been lucky with good weather and little rain, and the runs have been fantastic in terms of the wide wide open rolling hills and green space I've had the pleasure of running through. I feel as though I've entered into a P.G. Wodehouse novel.

Anyways, hopefully futher updates from Vienna. Tally Ho!