We leave in 4 weeks!

I am very excited to say that in 4 weeks from today, we will be on a plane to Paris! I can't decide what I'm most excited for. Ryan keeps asking "So tell me what we're going to do, day one." He's asking of course, because I've had a full itinerary planned now for a few months. No, I'm not a complete control freak. It's mostly due to it being dealthy slow at work and the fact that I always have my head in some far off destination. I have googled endlessly for months for the best crossants, bread, crepes, espresso, etc and now I can say I'm pretty happy I did all of that. To be honest, we will probably stick to about ten percent of everything I have planned mostly because the joy of traveling is making your own foot print and finding your favorite cafe and spot for a picnic but I'm glad I've been able to get to know the cities a little bit better. Here are the major places we are going:
Paris

(Please tell me you've seen "Forget Paris" if not, you must!)

Next we're off to Rome:

Then off for a day in Florence:

After Florence, we leave for our day in Venice:

We bought a cheap flight to Barcelona for a three night stay:

I've never been to Barcelona but I hear it's a very interesting city, I'm excited to explore. I knew I couldn't have a Europe trip without stopping by London!

Originally, I had a day trip to Scotland planned but it just seemed way too expensive so we looked at aerlingus.com and got a 20 dollar flight to Dublin!

The whole trip is 17 days, including Halloween! I am desperate to find something to do in London for Halloween since Ryan feels the way about Halloween the way I do Christmas.  Here is a day to day what we have planned (Ryan, you really should print this out seeing as you ask every day haha)

PARIS

-       DAY 1: arrive at 1pm, check in, walk day 3 of map, eat at L’as du falafel for dinner, walk down to the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, walk down the Champs Elysees to the Louvre, and then eat crème brulee at Les Philosophes.  

o   Les Philosophes 28, rue Vieille-du-Temple Metro: Hotel de Ville or St.Paul

o   L'As du Fallafel - 34 rue Des Rosiers 75004 Paris Neighborhood: 4ème arr. For dinner

o   Walk down the Champs Elysees and go to Laduree to get maccarrons for later. – 75 Champs Elysees open til 11pm.

o   Place de l’Hôtel de Ville – 4th

-       DAY 2: (see the Opera Bastille, Pantheon, Palais de Luxembourg, Montparnasse) breakfast, Louvre until 1030, bike tour at 11am meet at Eiffel tower. dinner.

o   Creperie Josselin - 67, rue de Montparnasse – eat after day bike tour, go see montparnesse and the sacre coure. Open 12-11pm.

o   Before bike tour:

o   Pascal Barillon (Au Levain d’Antan), 6 rue des Abbesses, GREAT pastery shop/bread.

o   Shakespeare and Company - 37, Rue de la Bûcherie

o   Musee d’orsay is open 9:30-6pm and 8 euro.

-       DAY 3 Walk some of our walking tour maps, night bike tour.

o   Louvre 9-11,

o   opera bastille, pantheon, palais de Luxembourg

o   BAKERY - Miss Manon - 87, Rue St Antoine – go before the louvre to get breakfast, go to yeliz after for lunch then 7pm bike tour.

o   Yeliz – good cheap Turkish food 41, rue de Clignancourt Go to Miss Manon after.

o   Arc de Triumphe is open 10am-1030pm.

-       DAY 4- Versailles come back at 12, lunch, train to rome.

o   Lunch:  Le Grenier a Pain - 38, Rue des Abbesses – GREAT pastry shop

Some other great places to eat that I want to try:

Fauchon (30 Place de la Madeleine, in the Eighth; 33-1-7039-3800

Dalloyau. 101 rue du Faubourg St-Honoré, 8e

Ladurée Royale. 16 rue Royale, 8e

Pierre Herme - 72, Rue Bonaparte

Le Soufflé – 20 euro - 36 rue Mont Thabor

ROME

-       Day 1: arrive at 10 am, walk around and get lunch and an espresso. Night tour at 6:30 pm to see the most famous sites at night.

o   Coffee: Tazza D'Oro Coffee Shop: Via degli Orfani, 84, 00186 Rome

o   Coffee by the coliseum - Collio Oppi

o   Deli -  Volpetti Delicatessen or Market in Campo Defiori

o   Pizza: Pizza Zaza Piazza Sant Eustachio, Rome, Italy

o   Dessert: Sweety Rome: Via Milano 48, 00184 Rome, Italy

-       Day 2: 8:30 AM tour of the Vatican followed by a 1:15 private viewing of the Necropolis. Stop for lunch by the Vatican, spend our last night over pizza and a bottle of Pinot Noir.

o   Deli : Osteria Pistoia Piazza Madonna delle Salette, 13-14, Rome, Italy

-       Day 3: Bus to Pompeii for the day, grab some local pizza and gelato and see the ancient sites! Things to see in Pompeii:

Ancient ruins, Oplontis and Villa Poppea,

House of the Mysteries (Villa dei Misteri), Forum,

House of Menander, Fullonica di Stephanus,

Great Theater (Teatro Grande), House of the Faun (Casa del Fauno),

Temple of Jupiter, street of tombs.

We have to come back to the hotel, pack and leave for Florence early the next morning.

Apparently in Rome there's a little secret that bakeries make fresh baked crossants at 1 am and if you're lucky enough to find one open, it's the best time to buy. Here are a few places I've heard about: Pasticceria Laboratorio Lambiase-Via Cernaia, Trastevere: Unnamed bakery/pastry shop on Vicolo del Cinque, No name pastry workshop on Via Alessandro Volta.

FLORENCE:

-       Lunch: Trattoria Mario: Via Rosina 2r | Corner of Piazza del Mercato Centrale, 50123 Florence, Italy – kinda pricey.

-   After lunch there will be a possible bike tour, or we will just rent a few and get a little lost in the city.

-       Sites to see: Piazza della Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio, Il Duomo - Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Ponte Vecchio bridge, Galleria degli Uffizi museum, buy tickets ahead of time. Boboli Garden and Pitti Palace look at the garden, across from the bridge.

VENICE:

-       After taking the ferry from our hotel to San Marco’s square, we meet with a small tour just to see the most famous things in Venice followed by a gondola ride. Al Bottegon is a great place for a meal that is light on the wallet.

-       Make sure to see the Palazzo Capello Malipiero, Palazzo Dario, Santa Maria Della Salute, Palazzo Grassi and if you have the time go to the Grand Carta restaurant, even if it’s just for dessert.

-       The best thing about Venice is getting lost in the narrow streets and alleys. There aren’t any cars so the city has a peaceful feel!

(Grand Canal Restaurant)

After just a short day in Venice, we're flying off to Barcelona! I can't wait for authentic tapas!

Barcelona:

-       Walk up and down Passeig de Gràcia - specially around 7pm when everyone is out for a stroll.  Just take in the wonderful architecture and do a bit of window shopping.

-       Day 1: Arrive at 2 pm, walk around and see Sagrada Familia, Casa Batllo, Guell Park and have a picnic, Casa Milla, Passeig de Gracia. Take the rest of the evening to walk around and find a good dinner.

o   Maitea Taberna - Casanova, 157 - tapas

o   La champaneria - Carrer de la Reina Cristina, 7 – tapas and beer

o   La Plata - Carrer de la Mercè, 28 – tapas

o   Some great grocery stores to check out are: Granja Viader, Mercat de La Boqueria, or Pastisseria Escriba.

-       Day 2: Walk around the gothic quarter: Barri Gotic is Barcelona's most famous district then at 11:30 meet up with our bike tour. (I purposely schedule all of these walking and biking tours to offset all of the tapas and wine!)

o   Magic Fountains of Monjuic. They run from 9.30pm - 11pm - free!
o   Dessert at: Escribà, Papabubble, La Granja

o   Wander to find some of the most beautiful churches: Sant Pau del Camp and the Santa Maria del Mar.

-       Day 3: walking tour of the Gothic quarter.

o   Rita Rouge for dinner.

(Tapas in Barcelona)



London:

-       Day 1: Arrive on Halloween around 1pm, check in and head to St James Park for a Halloween festival! That night walk around and just enjoy all of the city, it’s so beautiful at night!

o   Have a few drinks at the Ice bar - 31-33 Heddon Street, London, W1B 4BN. Take the tube or oxford circus or picadilly circus

o   Ye Olfe Cheshire Cheese - 145 Fleet Street (pub)

-       Day 2: Day tour of Warwick castle, Oxford, and the Cotswolds. Yes, Oxford was where scenes from Harry Potter was filmed and yes I will try not to act like a total tourist when I see it!

o   Sherlock holmes pub – closes at 11pm - 10-11 Northumberland Street, Westminster, take the tube to embankment

o   The Grenadier - 18 Wilton Row (Pub)

-       Day 3: High tea at Fortnum and Mason, walk around to see Buckingham and Kensington Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and the Tower of London (I have a small obsession with Henry the 8th and Anne Boleyn so I’m really excited!)

o   Windsor Castle Pub - 114 Campden Hill Road

o   Wagamama – cheap chain food place, really good

o   Tamada restaurant. 122 boundary road

(The English Cotswolds)

There you have it! A rough draft of what I hoep to do (and eat) on our trip! With such little information so far, I can't believe this is all I have! I better get back to my google searches!