Oh dear, that’s a long drive. Don’t let anyone kid you, it’s a really long drive. The beginning was interesting. I-40 coming out of Asheville is a lot more winding and downhill than I’m used to. You know the road is mountainous when there are signs instructing trucks that they can use the shoulder to…
Okay, if you’re ever planning a trip to Asheville and you really want to see the place (and I recommend it), allow yourself a few days at least. I really only had one full day. If I had hit the road super early yesterday and not dawdled, I could have had a day and a…
Not a ton to report from the first leg of the journey. Got an early start this morning (for me), leaving Alpharetta around 8am. The stretch to Greenville got pretty monotonous. Shift right to pass, shift back left, shift right again… joy…. There’s not much of visual interest once you pass the lakes as the…
It occurred to me on the flight back today that the trips to Europe tend to be made overnight, i.e. in search of the sunrise, but the flights back are all chasing the sunset, such that it feels like I went through the longest day. I saw the sunrise at around 7:30am in Rome (six…
I went to bed reasonably early last night after finishing a book and recharging my phone (I’m a bit afraid to leave it plugged in while asleep on foreign currents). still, when I went to bed, my other two room-mates were not there. I could tell the one from the first night, Mel, was still…
Long day. Up earlier than usual to see Brandy off to the train bound for the airport and her flight home. Two more days I’ll be doing the same trek myself. Since I was up early, I decided that I would go check out the big market in Porta Portese Piazza in Trastavere. It’s held…
Brandy and I got up this morning. The room still wasn’t what either of us would call hot but far warmer than anything we’d experienced to date in Sorrento. We briefly saw the night clerk last night when we got in. It appears she quit. She told us after settling the bill and telling us…
What a day! This morning we had to drop off clothes for Brandy to get washed (her bag was still MIA this morning). Afterwards, by here for breakfast and a little internet time before heading out. We went by the room to pick up our stuff and as we were walking out I happened to…
One more full day in Sorrento and one night to go. The room has remained cold. It’s not so cold that one truly wants to go outside and sleep on the grates, but I can not imagine recommending the place we’re staying to anyone in the winter. I guess all the positive reviews I read…
Where to start? I’ll save some suspense and first describe where I am because this alone is a unique experience. The only night time internet spot in Sorrento as far as we can tell is a club. We laughed last night when we saw it. Little did we know the next night we’d both be…
Well, I guess adventure is fun. In the future, when we talk of this, I will refer to this as an opportunity to spend another day in Roma. I got everything packed up last night and thought I was doing pretty darn well. All I had to do was get ready and head out the…
Well, I’m batting zero on getting up early. If I get up as late tomorrow as I did today, Brandy will be waiting alone in the train station! In other words, I woke up after 10am. I was up late. First I wandered over to the movie theater nearby. They supposedly sometimes have some “lingua…
Off to a spectacular start for the new year if you’re a fish. This is becoming a trend for me as New Years in Edinburgh last year was so wet that I went and watched a movie… now there’s an idea… I had something somewhere that mentioned there were english movies – could be interesting…
Okay, so I didn’t accomplish nearly as much today as I figured I would but it was a nice day. Last night when I got back, I met one of my (barely) room-mates, a guy (I swear) whose name was Tito (???what it sounded like???) from Belgium. Nice guy, we talked a bit. I could…
First off, if you see any weird characters or out of place symbols, blame the Euro keyboard for having characters I’m not used to in the place where I’m used to characters I need. I had less trouble with UK – let me tell you! I left Atlanta yesterday afternoon in a complete scatter. I…
I held off on mentioning this partially because I’ve been slam-busy and partially waiting for things to firm up, but I’m no longer going to Italy completely solo. I’ll still have some me time, but part of the trip, Brandy, a friend for more years than either of us probably care to admit, is joining…
Well, if you’ve talked to me or e-mailed with me in the past month or so, you’ve probably suffered through a good deal of trip talk, i.e. “Should I stay or should I go now.” More than a month ago, I started contemplating Rome for the New Year. It’s the off-season yes, but it cannot…
Today was my first full day back in the states. Incredibly tired. I guess a combination of being on the go every day for a week and jet lag. Going the other way was not nearly so tiring, I know. As I said in an e-mail I sent out to an assortment of people from…
Wow, basically two days to catch up on! I never found time yesterday to sit with a computer. I woke up on the late side, but in plenty of time for yesterday’s plans. I wanted to go try the British Museum again – this time with one of London Walk’s tours. I have a MUCH…
Very long day. Well, I slept late at least, but I haven’t stopped moving since. It was nearly 9am when I got up. That’s not my norm on Sunday mornings, but then I normally have a large AJC waiting on me to read and I haven’t been operating 5 hours outside my normal time. Once…
End of day 3… Wait, I guess I should begin at the end of Day 2, since I left at the beginning of said day… I didn’t do the B’ham Palace and Westminster deal. I had done both before and the weather was decidely not fun. Instead, I went on a tour of the Victoria…
It’s morning of Day 2 in London. Had a nice breakfast in the Hostel. I never did that last time, but I got up early enough this morning that I could. Right now I have a room to myself. The room I booked is a six bed room “en-suite” – which refers to the fact…
Well, it’s really London, and it was more of a 767 than an Eagle… At any rate, I arrived here a bit after 11am. The drive to the airport was hell. Apparently an accident on I-285 which backed up 400 more than normal. Then all the Cobb countians tried to go down 400 and bang…
Woke up early on Monday to take the train to London. I had already begun considering not stopping in York. I was tired and just had a feeling based on my trips to Stirling and Dunfermline that a few hours (which was about the max I could give) wouldn’t be enough to orient myself to…
Feeling more well rested today. Didn’t do a lot yesterday. I did go on the tour of Mary King’s Close. It was quite neat. They ham it up a little bit for the tourists – the guides and re-enactors are dressed in period clothes and all and claim to be from the period when the…
Very tired today. Slept until nearly 10am. Am having breakfast as I write this. I only have one definite plan today and that’s a tour of “Mary Kings’ Close.” I don’t recall the full history but it’s a section of the city that was walled off during one of the plagues. Most of the people…
I’m SO TIRED. My feet ache like I can’t believe. I just stopped at a Boots and paid an exorbitant (when changed to dollars) amount for some arch supports before my feet just die. When I walk at home, I do about 2 miles in half an hour. Supposing I’m coming close to that walking…
By and large doing well. My feet are about walked off. I can’t imagine how many miles a day I’ve walked. I know I won’t be walking for the rest of the week when I get back. I don’t think today will involve quite as much walking since I’m not taking a train anywhere (walking…
Another morning in Edinburgh. Back in McD’s. Up too early to take advantage of the breakfast provided by the hostel. Haven’t eaten here yet either, so this will probably be short. I had a good time yesterday. Rode the train up to Dunfermline, which is the ancient capital of the Scots. Really picturesque place but…
My flight arrived on time yesterday. Both times I’ve flown BA, in flight they’ve said that we would get to London half an hour early. Both times, we’ve missed and been on time. Don’t tease me like that! This time, the only sleep I got was while we were circling the airport, so I guess…
Okay, I spent the past several days living life with no time to write about it. But I did take down the odd note in my notepad and I will shortly preserve the experience in writing. I just got back from London and boy is EVERY part of me tired. London Day One I arrived…
Note: In addition to other affiliate programs, Prezactly.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com, other Amazon sites worldwide and other affiliates.