Spring Break!

I realized today that I have not really told anyone at home my plans for next week. March 20-30 is our Spring break here at school. The Palace now is abuzz with people talking of all the places they will be going: Ireland, Switzerland, Mediterranean Cruise, Amsterdam, London, Paris, Germany and Italy. That list is not even a complete one.

My friend Katy is arriving Saturday afternoon. We will spend the night at her sister's in-laws and then on Easter Sunday we will be flying to... pause for dramatic effect... Italy!

After much planning this is the final itinerary of our trip.

Saturday 22^nd

Bus- Edinburgh to Glasgow Airport, Katy arrives at 3:45pm

Car- Katy’s sister’s family will pick us up and take us to their house/castle.

Home- Staying with the fam.

Sunday 23rd
Plane-Glasgow Scotland to Milan Italy
Train-Milan to Venice
Hostel- Stay overnight in Venice

Monday 24th
Bus- Leave early morning to city center and see the sites.
Train- Late afternoon, Venice to Florence
Hostel- Stay overnight in Florence, two nights.

Tuesday 25th
Feet-We are going to be in Florence the entire day. Our feet will be our primary mode of transportation. The hostel was very inexpensive so we decided to stay there two nights.
Hostel- Same

Wednesday 26th
Train- Early morning train to Rome
Bed and Breakfast- A little more expensive but I thought it would feel safer than a hostel in such a big city. It is a beautiful little place with rooms that have themes. We should check in around 9am.
Feet- We do not have a schedule for what we are seeing each day yet. That is yet to be determined. I have heard though that even if you spend weeks there a person will never see all of it.

Thursday 27th
Feet- Seeing the sites around Rome

Friday 28th
Feet- If there is anything else to see we will do it early morning. We will then check out of the guest house.
Train- Rome to Pisa, we will jump off to see the tower and then get back on the train. Everyone has told us that there is nothing else really to see in the city. But we HAVE to see the leaning tower.
Train- Pisa to Milan, depending on the time, and money for the museum, we will stop in Milan to see the Last Supper, the famous mural painted by Leonardo da Vinci.
Plane- Milan to London, very late flight, we will arrive close to midnight.
Hostel- Stay overnight in London

Saturday 29th
Feet/Tube- Katy and I have both been to London before. We will therefore be very selective about what we see. We were going to see Emily's roommate Sarah, but were unable to meet here there. We might see a play, and I want to see the Chinese Terracotta Soldier exhibit at the British Museum.

Bus- Overnight bus to Edinburg, it leaves at 11:30 pm and arrives in Edinburgh at 8:30am. Thankfully there are no changes so we can just sleep.

Sunday 30th

We will be pretty tired after all of that, therefore I am planning a relaxing day at the Dalkeith Palace. I have lots of food in the freezer from my cooking class with Henry so we will have free meals. I am probably most excited about this part of the trip because I can't wait to show someone from home where I live. It is exciting. We may go to church but I am not sure yet.

Bus- Ali, Tyler and I will escort Katy to the Edinburgh bus station. She will be heading back to the Glasgow International Airport. It will be late so I didn't want her to have to get there by herself of course.


Well that is the long extensive itinerary for my trip. I have a very meticulous budget, since I do not have a lot of funds for the trip, so I am afraid there won't be many souvenirs or presents to show off. I will probably just have enough to get into a couple museums after all the traveling is done!

Yikes! I was talking with my friend Brianna today, telling her that I still didn't quite believe that I am going to Italy. I probably wouldn't have considered it at the beginning of my trip. But it seems as though my world has expanded quite a bit and since Scotland is feeling more and more like home- Italy doesn't seem as far away as it used to.