Interlaken Adventures

Well we have been in Interlaken for the past few days and it is absolutely gorgeous. Spring has sprung and there are lots of flowers everywhere around here. It is absolutely amazing to look up and see snow-capped mountains...especially the Jungfrau (despite it raining this afternoon, which makes it rather cool out there)!! Tuesday was a daytrip up to the Jungfrau. In one of the small towns, we even saw a St. Bernard with a keg on its neck!! Once at the top, it was kind of cloudy, but it cleared up for a few minutes so we were able to see a small bit of the 13 mile glacier that is up there (11,333 feet). After we got back, we went to a pub and had a few drinks and then went to a restaurant for dinner...it was YUMMY!!!

Today we went to Lucerne for the day. We saw some old churches and even went up on the fortress wall that was once used to protect the city. It is a very pretty place with the lake surrounded by mountains. Immediately after we finished eating at a cafe on the sidewalk, it got really blustery and cold and began raining. We then decided it was time to come back to Interlaken so we jumped on the train and headed back. Hopefully tonight we will have another delicious Swiss meal and then come back to pack up. Tomorrow we head to Venice for the night. Friday we will do a ¨Venice in One Day¨tour and then that afternoon take the train to Rome. How exciting!!

We miss everyone but we are definitely having a great time - and as you can guess, I have taken a LOT of pictures already!!!

Packed & Ready!

Well, I am about to jump in bed but just wanted to comment on how relieved I am that all my clothes I am taking actually FIT IN THE BAG and it doesn't make me fall over when I walk!!!! I still cannot believe that I am only taking that small amount of clothing for 2 and a half weeks, but I think I can make it. We did double check that we DO have our passports, so at least we will make it over there :)

I guess the next time I write we will be halfway across the globe...HOORAY!!! Guess we will see how good airplane food and movies really are....

Last day at work for THREE weeks!

OK so as I sit here and quickly type this at work, I am SO excited. All that is left is packing (I hope) which should be rather exciting in itself. I have an idea of what I am going to take and let's hope that it actually fits in my pack!!!! Anyway, I just got really excited that I will be on vacation for 3 weeks .... more to come before we leave :) I have a lot to get through between now and Sunday morning, so here's to all of it going smoothly!

4 MORE DAYS!!!!

OK so I just had to count on my fingers how many days we have until our departure, and I CAN DO IT ON ONE HAND NOW!!!! That is just so thrilling :) I am also now making yet another list of things that need to be accomplished before we head out. I think we have all of the big stuff taken care of (thank goodness), so now it is making sure the necessary folks have a key to the house, that I have uploaded all my pics from my camera onto the computer so I start with a clean slate, and all that kind of fun stuff!

Working is becoming more and more difficult by the day - i.e. As I am sitting here, I am thinking, "Wow, a week from now I will be in Switzerland and exhausted from an exciting day out and about!"...I believe the time difference is 7 or 8 hours ahead. I guess I will find out for sure once we arrive.

The main thing that is making me anxious at this point is packing - trying to fit almost 3 weeks of crap into a bag that size just is NOT right! If I think of it, I will take a picture of everything layed out and then a picture of it all fitting into my bag (cross your fingers!!). Well, I am off to accomplish some of my tasks!

It's All Becoming So Real

Well our Friday night consisted of eating a late (but yummy) dinner at Thompsons Station Grill - amazing, home cooked, Southern food! Anyway...then we came home and decided to look online to see if we could find some tours for our trip. Well, we were quite successful!! And of course we (meaning Brad) had to make a spreadsheet that includes a timeline. The information captured on this timeline includes day, date, location, travel info, hotel/accomodations, and tours of the day. So here is a list of the tours/activities we decided to do:

• In Interlaken, we are not sure what the schedule will consist of, but we do have an idea of the activities we will do (like going to the Jungfrau, Lake Lucerne, & Grindelwald)
• "Venice in One Day"
• Vatican Museums Walking Tour which includes the Sistine Chapel, Raphael's Room, and St. Peter's
• Ancient Rome Walking Tour which includes the Colisseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, & Pantheon
• Naples and Pompeii for the day (we get to see where Mt. Vesuvius is!)
• Full day of Florence touring
• Going to the Chianti region of Tuscany to tour a vineyard and wine tasting
• In Nice, we are kind of winging it!
• A Night Biking tour of Paris (which also includes a boat ride on the Seine River...and ice cream!)
• Montparnasse 56th floor Observation Deck
• "Paris Pass" which gives you access to about 60 museums and attractions (including the Louvre among other neat places)

So - YiPPEE!! It is all starting to become so real. Next challenge....fitting all my crap I plan to take into the pack that we bought...

11 Days & Counting....

Well only a week and a half until we leave for Europe!!! I started thinking this morning, again, about everything we need to take care of before we leave....

• Sadie's accomodations
• Calling all the credit cards & banks
• Scheduling any automatic payments that will be due while we are gone
• Making sure we have all necessary clothing
• Making a list of things we want to do in each city
• Finding a ride to and from the airport
• Making sure someone gets our mail
• Canceling the paper
• Getting someone to cut our yard while we are gone (at least one time)

..and the list goes on!! I guess this weekend we will take care of a lot of that - plus, not to mention, we still need to get our yard in good shape (i.e. pulling weeds, fertilizing, putting all the flower seeds I bought out...). So much to do STILL!! Not to mention that it is SO incredibly hard to work when I am at work (once again, I am blogging instead of working) because we are so majorly excited about our trip and a little anxious about getting everything in order. Well, it is finally time to leave work...what a gorgeous day outside...I can hardly wait to drive with the window down and the sunroof open listening to fun music!! :)

Let the countdown begin...

So 12 days from now, we will have just landed in Atlanta on our way to Zurich, Switzerland! We can hardly wait - each work day it becomes more difficult to concentrate on the work at hand (hence why I am composing a blog as opposed to actually doing my work) and we are more eager to head across the big pond! I am a little nervous about how the heck I am going to pack 2 1/2 weeks work of clothes and stuff into one of those camping packs that go on your back, but I guess I will manage. We have done some shopping for some pants (because apparently jeans are not a good choice because they are bulky and heavy) and other travel accessories - for instance, inflatable neck pillows for the plane and train rides. So much to do and not too much time left to do it in!! We still need to sit down and discuss all of the places we want to tour and see in each city - exciting! Stay tuned for more...