Paris Bound

I take off today on my two month trip to Europe flying out of Minneapolis, MN. I had a whirlwind 10 day midwest swing, having two bachelor parties, partaking in an amazing wedding, fishing, grilling, trampolining dodgeball, and spending lots of time on different types of boats. It's always great to see family along with my college and high school friends from days gone by that it seems like hardly a day has passed since the last time I got together with any of them. Thanks everyone for putting up with me on your couches and giving me rides places.

With the help of my dad I have the opportunity to house sit in downtown Vienna, Austria and take care of 2 cats for five weeks. I decided to take advantage of my full summer "off" by taking a larger tour of Europe. I put off in quotes because I have some deadlines for my research that may hinder my ability to do some sightseeing, but as it is the reason I am even able to do a trip like this I can't really complain too much. My biggest concern in the weeks the I spend in Austria is that I become some kind of crazy cat hoarder lady....

Anyways, without further ado here is what I have planned so far.

Tentative Itinerary:

June 21: Depart MSP for Paris
June 22 - 26: Paris, France; Sightseeing
June 26 - July 2: Chamonix, France; Hiking in the Alps
July 2 - 4: Bern, Switzerland; Sightseeing
July 4 - August 15: Vienna, Austria; House sitting
July 10: Women's World Cup Quarterfinal Augsburg, Germany
August 15 - 16: Paris, France
August 16: Depart Paris for MSP

I've left some things unplanned to date as that is one of my favorite parts of traveling, but one thing that worries me a bit is my lack of a place to stay in my time in Paris. I always have some nerves before a long trip like this, but most of the time they're good. I spent over a week looking for hostels for even just the night I arrive, but everything is sold out and I have some reservations about throwing down over $500 a night to stay in downtown Paris. Showing up in a city like Paris gives me slightly more anxiety than usual, but at this point there isn't much I can do until I show up. I'll try to publish a picture with every blog post and of course a few more on my flickr (Over there ---->). Here's a dragonfly picture from Crosslake earlier in the week.



The next time any of you hear from me I'll be in Paris. Have a great summer.