Europe Adventures
Traveling to Europe has become part of the thread of who we are. We have some favorite go to spots but also try to explore new places each trip. This trip was different because we took Scott and Chris with us. We took Scott when he was a teenager but Chris had never been so it was really fun being able to explore with them both.
We wanted to curate a trip that gave a good feel for the beauty and history of Europe but not be completely touristic. We started in Paris (of course) where we visited some of the areas highlights like Versailles, the Louvre and Eiffel Tower, but also went to some lesser know venues like the Nissim Da Cammando - a private home turned museum and the Egouts de Paris - because who doesn't want to know where there poop goes! Needless to say we ate at some great restaurants and walked and walked and walked.
France went on strike 2 days before we were scheduled to leave (apparently 64 is a RIDICULOUS age to retire) and in typical French fashion, everything shut down or was affected - including our flight and trains to the airport. We scrambled to find a new place to stay and find a new flight. 2 days later and a lot of hours on the internet we managed to get a flight to Barcelona. Unfortunately it shortened our time in that awesome city but we managed to see some great Gaudi sites and eat some really good food. The weather was warm too, which was nice because Paris was cold!!!
Last leg of this trip was to Crete, where we had been only a few months before. We have been looking for a place for a second home somewhere in Europe and Greece, specifically Crete seems to fit many of the things we are looking for so we went back to continue that search. Crete too was unseasonably cold and although we had a nice place with a great view we couldn't use the pool. We spent a lot of this trip working with a realtor and a builder and time will tell if any of our efforts come to fruition.
The last few days of the trip had me not feeling so great, so the trip home was arduous. First off, getting to or from Crete off season 100% means flying through Athens and then onto another European hub or New York and this trip our hub was Paris but all that flying is a pain. I had an upper respiratory thing that ultimately turned into pneumonia and its zenith for me was somewhere over Greenland. 10 miserable hours later, upon final approach San Francisco was experiencing a rare cyclone which caused us to go around after almost at runways end only to be hit by lightening somewhere over Oakland which was followed by one of those 'sideways' landings you see on YouTube where the plane is not parallel to the runway and then pulls violently once the wheels hit the pavement. Fun…
Glad to be home, but as always, looking forward to the next trip.
We wanted to curate a trip that gave a good feel for the beauty and history of Europe but not be completely touristic. We started in Paris (of course) where we visited some of the areas highlights like Versailles, the Louvre and Eiffel Tower, but also went to some lesser know venues like the Nissim Da Cammando - a private home turned museum and the Egouts de Paris - because who doesn't want to know where there poop goes! Needless to say we ate at some great restaurants and walked and walked and walked.
France went on strike 2 days before we were scheduled to leave (apparently 64 is a RIDICULOUS age to retire) and in typical French fashion, everything shut down or was affected - including our flight and trains to the airport. We scrambled to find a new place to stay and find a new flight. 2 days later and a lot of hours on the internet we managed to get a flight to Barcelona. Unfortunately it shortened our time in that awesome city but we managed to see some great Gaudi sites and eat some really good food. The weather was warm too, which was nice because Paris was cold!!!
Last leg of this trip was to Crete, where we had been only a few months before. We have been looking for a place for a second home somewhere in Europe and Greece, specifically Crete seems to fit many of the things we are looking for so we went back to continue that search. Crete too was unseasonably cold and although we had a nice place with a great view we couldn't use the pool. We spent a lot of this trip working with a realtor and a builder and time will tell if any of our efforts come to fruition.
The last few days of the trip had me not feeling so great, so the trip home was arduous. First off, getting to or from Crete off season 100% means flying through Athens and then onto another European hub or New York and this trip our hub was Paris but all that flying is a pain. I had an upper respiratory thing that ultimately turned into pneumonia and its zenith for me was somewhere over Greenland. 10 miserable hours later, upon final approach San Francisco was experiencing a rare cyclone which caused us to go around after almost at runways end only to be hit by lightening somewhere over Oakland which was followed by one of those 'sideways' landings you see on YouTube where the plane is not parallel to the runway and then pulls violently once the wheels hit the pavement. Fun…
Glad to be home, but as always, looking forward to the next trip.
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