Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Trekcapri's 2010 Vibrant Europe Adventures . . .

Well, I finally did it and purchased my airfare tickets which makes it official. In a nutshell, I've decided to head to Amsterdam (Netherlands), Bruges (Belgium) and Berlin (Germany). It's another late fall (November) trip so I have just a little over two months to get all the trip planning done. I'm actually staying in an apartment in both my home bases of Amsterdam and Berlin with a brief two night hotel stay in Bruges. I really didn't think I could pull it off with it having been so busy and difficult at work. But I have a very kind supervisor and he encouraged me to go on the trip and even take three weeks (I was originally only going for two). And truth be told, I'm happy I'm going.

I'm excited about visiting each place for all the unique qualities and unbelievable history (good and bad) that I'm going to learn about. I never would have dreamed that I would actually stay in an apartment in East Berlin Germany. Never, never would have dreamed that was possible and yet here I am. The wall is down and East Berlin has become this thriving community which is heavy on the cool and art factor!

I have many people to thank for the inspiration of this trip, which I'll blog about in future posts. And now, as tradition would have me do, I have given my trip a special nick name and have created my trekcapri trip video! LOL!
 

10 comments:

  1. Congratulations! And how wonderful that your boss threw an extra week in there. I loved Amsterdam. There are all these Indonesian restaurants where you can eat rijsttafel, kind of like dim sum or tapas. Awesome!

    I really enjoyed seeing the Rembrandts and Vermeers in the Rijksmuseum, and the Van Gogh museum is wonderful too. I loved the Anne Frank house - very sad but I'm glad I saw it because I'd read her book and couldn't really picture what it was like.

    Happy planning!

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  2. I'm so excited for you. I'm glad you have such a nice supervisor and happy you wlll travel for 3 weeks. Can't wait to tag along with you as you travel.

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  3. Woohoo!! Lucky you - sounds like this is a good prescription for you. Only been briefly to Belgium so you will have to keep as detailed a log as you have in the past....put a smile on my face:-)

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  4. Oh, Kathy, how exciting!

    I bet you will be busy planning this trip, with only two months until it happens.

    I will be watching for further updates.

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  5. Kathy, good onya! I am so excited for you. I can't wait to follow your trip preparations. We were in Berlin right as the wall was coming down. It was a very exciting time. I even have a piece of the original wall (somewhere in storage.) Maybe you will motivate me to write some of those stories!

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  6. Hi Everyone....wow my heartfelt thanks to all of you for your kind comments and support.

    Annie, I was so grateful to my boss for encouraging me and throwing in that extra week. :) I'm so happy to hear that you loved Amsterdam. I stopped there very briefly years ago on my first trip to Europe. And I don't remember anything so I'm treating this trip as my first. :) Thanks so much for your tips on the Indonesian restaurants. I love dim sum and tapas so I will definitely try some Indonesian places to eat so I can try rijsttafel. Sounds yummy. I love Van Gogh and have it on my must see list. Thanks so much for the tip on Rijksumuseum. I also love Rembrandt and I think Sister Wendy mentioned Vermeer too. I love her. I'm going to research the Rijksumuseum and add it to my must see list. I think I need to read Anne Frank's book before my trip too. I think it will help me appreciate what I'm seeing more. Thanks so much for your great food tips and on seeing the Rijksmuseum. Very Cool!

    Hi Barb, thanks so much for your comments. I am indeed very lucky to have a great boss, one who understands my passion for travel. :) I am so happy to have you tag along. I think the fun part of travel is being able to share with other travelers. I love reading when everyone is traveling. I learn and am always inspired by everyone's stories and experiences. I only hope that I can return the favor in some small way by trying to share as much as I can too.

    Hi M, whoo hoo is right! Thanks so much for your comments. That's so cool that you've been to Belgium. This will be my first trip to Belgium and I'm going on Tuesday! I'm soooo bad. :) I'll try my best to keep you smiling. I've been using every spare moment to read about the three countries and cities I'll be visiting so I can appreciate seeing them more. Grass hopper has definitely learned from her much wiser and more experienced Slow Traveler teachers.

    Hi Nancy, thank you so much for your comments. I am totally excited about this trip and am already counting the days. I have started a little bit of research but there is much more to do for sure. Good thing I have a nice long holiday weekend coming up. :)

    Hi Maya, thanks so much for your comments. Wow, you were there during the time when the wall came down! Oh I hope that you do write about that experience. It would be very cool to read what it was like from your perspective. I remember reading and seeing videos of that and it was pretty emotional just watching it, so I can't even imagine what it must have been like to have actually been there to witness it first hand like you did. Shannon from Slow Travel blogged about her time in Berlin and she loved it there. I have a strong feeling that I will too. I'm hoping to see Check point Charlie and a section of the original wall that is now a gallery. My supervisor visited Berlin a year or two after the wall came down and he said he has a piece of the wall somewhere in storage too. :)

    Thanks so much everyone. And thank you so much too for writing your blogs and sharing so much of yourselves and about your experiences. I am so appreciative.

    Hope you all have a wonderful evening.

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  7. Congratulations, Kathy! I can't wait to hear more about your travel plans, I think you're going to have a brilliant time!

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  8. Hi Sandra, thanks so much for your comments. I've been reading quite a bit and learning so much. Today I have off because of the US Labor Day Holiday, so I'll get to do more research today, Yay! It's fun.

    Have a great day today.

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  9. Great choices. I love Amsterdam and Bruges. I'm glad you could get away. Yes, definitely try the Indonesian food. It is good but very spicy. Annie's recommendations are right on.

    Netherlands is small so you will be able to see a lot while there if you want to get outside of Amsterdam. There are lots of options. I've lived there three times - so ask if you have any questions.

    One initial tip - definitely take a warm hat, scarf and gloves. The wind blows in off the North Sea and it can be bitter cold.

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  10. Hi Marta, thanks so much for your comments. I've actually been reading your blog about your time in Leiden and I'm so impressed with how much you were able to travel around and see the country and all by public transportation. I hope to see a couple of the towns that you mentioned liked Den Haag. I'll be in an apartment so plan to try to cook some of my own meals but I really love eating out while traveling because I get to sample their cuisine. I totally have the Indonesian restaurants on my must see list. In fact, I hope to visit one my first night there. :)

    I will be reading your blog posts and taking notes for sure. Thank so much for offering to answer my questions. And thanks again for the tip on the warm clothing. From the Youtube videos I'm watching it does look bitter cold.

    Thanks again for your tips and comments.

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It's me Trekcapri (aka Kathy). Thanks so much for visiting and leaving a comment.