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Spring Forward, Travel
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March 31, 2011

Cleveland

Putting it Together (Part 2)

Like my 1987 five-week Italy/Switzerland/France trip, my current twelve-week extravaganza is requiring LOTs of planning. 

The strategy is further complicated by the fact that the trip has a dual nature:  Mostly work, but some play.  This greatly affects planning, since the Client pays for the former, me the latter.

It’s like putting a huge sculpture together with an extensive Lego set.

It's on its way!
It's on its way!

The Client portion is all in the bag:

Client Trip Elements In Place

  • Flight from LAX to Cleveland
  • Hotel(s) in Cleveland
  • Flight to New York
  • Hotel in New York
  • Flight from New York to Brussels
  • Brussels Hotel
  • Munich Hotel
  • Flight from Munich to Moscow
  • Moscow Hotel
  • Flight from Helsinki to LAX
  • Russian Visa secured (in process)

The visa for Russia was a surprising amount of work, but my portion is done.  I’m just waiting for my passport with the thrilling official Russian visa stamp affixed to it to arrive in the next few days.

But there’s a great deal of work required for my portion of the trip:

Personal Elements of Trip in Place

  • Round Trip Train from Brussels to Paris (reserved, paid for)
  • Hotel in Paris (reserved, paid for with Marriott rewards points!)
  • Flight from Brussels to Vilnius (reserved, paid for with frequent flyer miles)
  • Flight from Vilnius to Berlin (reserved, paid for with frequent flyer miles)
  • Hotel in Vilnius (cousin is making reservation)
  • Hotel in Berlin (reserved . . .  this is going to be the single most expensive piece of the personal portion of the trip)
  • Train from Moscow to St. Petersburg (reserved, paid for)
  • Hotel in St. Petersburg (reserved, probably going to be paid for with Marriott rewards points)
  • Hotel in Helsinki (reserved, paid for)

 

Personal Elements of Trip Still to be Done

  • Train from Berlin to Munich
  • Transportation from St. Petersburg to Tallinn (Ferry preferred, bus or train possible)
  • Hotel in Tallinn
  • Ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki

 

I hope to see an old acting buddy in Helsinki!
I hope to see an old acting buddy in Helsinki!
ferries-baltic-sea
Baltic ferry lines

So I feel like I’m coming right along.  I’d take care of more things in the Still to be Done list except I’m really stuck until I get another paycheck.  I have to outlay the cost of the hotel in New York and expense it, so I have to keep my credit card nice and open for that.  The only part I’m slightyly anxious about is the St. Petersburg to Tallinn segment, but I’m sure it’ll be all right.

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Spring Forward, Travel
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Cleveland

Putting it Together (Part 1)

One of the most fun things about any trip is the planning.  At least for anal retentives like me, I guess.

 I remember my second trip to Europe in 1989.  I was to spend a month in Italy before meeting friends in Paris.  I had a wonderful time mapping out my trip, checking train schedules, and carefully making hotel reservations in my halting tourist Italian.It was to be my second trip to Italy.  In 1987 I had the good fortune to go to Pisa, Florence, Venice, and Milan.  Amazing trip, but pretty easy, planning-wise.  Not so with the 1987 journey.

The beautiful and mysterious hill town of Assisi.
The beautiful and mysterious hill town of Assisi.

Here were the stops on my second trip:

1987 Europe Trip Destinations

  • Rome
  • Tivoli
  • Naples
  • Pompeii
  • Perugia
  • Siena
  • Rimini
  • Assisi
  • Ravenna
  • Bologna
  • Ferrara
  • Verona
  • Sirmione (Lago ie Garda)
  • Stresa (Lago Maggiore)
  • Cervinia
  • Zermat (Switzerland)
  • Lausanne
  • Geneva
  • Dijon
  • Paris

I had a pretty horrible claustrophobia episode while climbing to the top of this damn thing, the tallest brick tower in the world.
I had a pretty horrible claustrophobia episode while climbing to the top of this damn thing, the tallest brick tower in the world.

  It was a GREAT trip.  Rome knocked me out.  For a history buff, Rome is heaven.  You can see the various layers of its vast history all around you.  Memorable moment:  Seeing Who Framed Roger Rabbit in Italian at an open-air cinema in Trastavere. 

My day trip to Tivoli was memorable because of The Villa d’Este, a spectacular hillside estate with water gardens that cascade down the hill.

In Siena I climbed the tallest brick tower in the world.  In Assisi I saw the altar where St. Francis preached to the birds.  In Rimini I attended the Mr. Olympia World Bodybuilding Championships.

In Verona I soaked up Romeo and Juliet lore and experienced my first earthquake.  I saw both sides of the Matterhorn, the Italian side (Cervinia) and the Swiss side (Zermat).  Saw a pretty good production of Evita in Geneva.  Met my friends Laura and Ceci for a week in Paris.

Except for one missed train connection in Italy, which resulted in the one and only time I have ever hitchhiked in my life, my vast planning paid off handsomely.  Everything worked.

I realize that planning a trip extensively doesn’t seem very sexy to many people.  “Where’s the spontenaeity?” they ask.  Well, spontenaiety is great if you are rich and have unlimited time.  But if you’re not, and you wait until the last minute to book things, you can get shut out, shut down, and wiped out.

Tomorrow:  Planning progress for this trip!

[Note:  I have many great photos from the second trip to Italy, but alas, I don’t have access to them while I am on the road.  I’ll put some up when I get home.] 

In Rimini I got to see the Mr. Olympia competition in 1989.
In Rimini I got to see the Mr. Olympia competition in 1989.

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