Previously... 2.18.10

On the old blog I have made a few posts that I'm going to move over here, starting with this one...

02/18/2010 The Grandpa Trip

I want to talk about the Grandpa Trip, but before I do, I need to sum up what the Grandpa Trip is. So here goes:

I started dreaming about going to Europe when I was in grade school. It took me around 30 years to get there but eventually I did, in 2007. I spent 3 weeks, mostly on my own, in England, Paris and Italy. Best Time Ever.

But I always wanted to go. I knew that travel like that would change me and I wanted to experience that change. And since I’m her mother, I wanted Hannah to experience that, as well. And soon. What if those changes could happen while she was still in her teens. When my dad passed away I knew that some part of my inheritance was to go for that trip, as a graduation gift to Hannah from her Grandpa, that he wasn’t able to give her himself. Why do I get to go along? Well because I’m her momma. And I’m matching the funds so we can stay away so long.

It’s Hannah’s graduation present, but it’s also her grown up present. For all the many things she’s learned since she got here. How to talk, walk, hold a fork, ski down a mountain, manage blood sugars - all that she’s done. I’m proud of her and want some kind of grand gesture to say good job and keep on because look how amazing the world can be.

She graduates in May of 2011. Since she has such a bad time with the heat, we’re going to hold off and go at the end of summer, also avoiding peak season in some places. Hannah will skip her first semester of college, but I think that will be ok. I skipped my first semester and still got my degree. My brother skipped his first semester and has an MBA. So she’ll still go back to school and stick with it. Besides, after she’s 19 she’ll need to be a student to get health care and live, so I’m not worried that she won’t start if she doesn’t start on time. Better late than never. I subscribe to that.

So here’s the plan.
Before I drag the girl to other countries, I thought it would be good to show her New York, NY first. That way her first giant city is still in America, and she can see some of the wonders of her own country. We’re planning to see all the sites, be at a taping of the Daily Show, and visit a lot of very good old friends.
From there we fly to Dublin and make a loop around the west and south. On to Scotland. Edinburgh and the highlands. Across Hadrians’s Wall to the Lake District and on to Wales. Then England’s Salisbury Plane. Followed by Chichester, the official town of Miss Jen and then London.

Now that, just that on it’s own is an incredible trip, right? Of course right. But we’re not stopping there. Next we’re taking the chunnel to Paris for just two or three nights. To see the hilights. To visit Versailles. And to take the Henry Miller walk. We want to eat a sandwich between Notre Dame and the Seine. And I’ve wanted to check out Versailles for a long time. I don’t even care if I go in, I don’t think, I just want to tour the gardens and the petite trianon and the little town. so crazy. I can’t wait to see it. I’ll make Hannah visit the Orsay and the Louvre and then she’ll ace Art History when she comes back.

From Paris we fly to Italy, but I don’t know in what order. Florence. Venice. Rome. It depends on if we’re going home from Italy, or going on to Greece. This is the tricky bit. We want to go to Greece but a. don’t know if we’ll have the money and b. don’t know how long we can enjoy being away from home and stuck together. It’s possible our friend Joel will meet us in Greece and let us stay in his swanky but good deal resorts. That could really rock in Greece. I want to go to Athens, Delphi, Crete and Santorinni. Right now we’re in wait and see mode about that last link of the journey.

And that’s it. It might already be too much, but it’s just a plan at this point. changes are easy to make. I am so excited. I want to talk about it all the time. I like talking about what I’m going to see, choosing hotels, what I’m going to take and what I’m going to pack it in how we’re going to get from place to place… Planning a trip is the second best thing to going on a trip. Only about 17 more months. that’s really not so long when you’re 43.

So this is the Grandpa Trip. Maybe a dorky thing to call it, but I wanted to call it something and since he’s basically making it happen, it seemed fitting. I like it. I hope you’ll like me talking about it too much!