Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Summer Travel Plans

I was hesitating writing a blog post today, but I know that a few of you out there will appreciate it.  

Here is a list of my Summer Travel Plans, as they have already began and I am writing to you all tired and sunburnt from Barcelona, Spain.

Currently I am in Barcelona visiting/mooching off of a good friend Lilli and her wonderful English Roommates, Sofie and Lauren.  I will be here from May 2nd through May 20th.  I know it is a long tim to stay in someone's apartment, but I am doing my best to pay for drinks/meals and wash every dish I can....so there.

On May 20th, I fly out of BCN to London to meet my brother on the following day at Heathrow Airport.  Let the games begin.  We will spend about 4 and 1/2 days in London and surrounding areas (possibly Bath and Stonehenge) before we move on to....

Bucharest, Romania.  On May 25th mid-day we fly to this Eastern European city.  We will be visiting my brother's good buddy Brett who is doing the PeaceCorps there.  (I literally just had a Deja Vu when i was typing that....ahh).  He speaks the lingo and already has a kick-ass itinerary set up for us.  We will hit up the beaches on the black sea coast and then come inland a bit and hike the beautiful mountains and probably camp a bit.  We are in Romania until June 2nd, when we leave very early in the morning for.....

Rome.  I have heard both good and bad things about Roma.  I am sure it is dirty, and probably sketchy like everyone says....but there is so much history there.  There is way too much to do there, but I think we will spend 2 maybe 3 days in Rome sightseeing.  From Rome we head north to:

Florence?  Siena?  Other Tuscan towns?  I am not totally sure yet, but we will have a few days to bum around up the Italian coast and check out cities like these until we arrive in....

The Cinque Terre.  It is 5 towns in Northern (not too north tho) Italy.  They are not accessible by car or bus (however there is a train and a ferry from town to town).  Kale and I will spend our days hiking from town to town, stopping and whatever beach we may pass, and we shall spend the nights feasting on seafood, pasta (one of these towns invented pesto!!), and great wine (or so I hear). 
From the Cinque Terre we take a ferry from a little further south, Livorno, Italy to....

Sardinia!!!  If you dont know where sardinia is, it is a large Italian island in the mediterranean sea.  It is known for its unreal beaches.  Kale and I will camp on Sardinia for about 6 days before we catch a plane to Barcelona on the 17th of June.  

We fly back to Seattle on the 22nd of June and will probably arrive in Seattle sometime early in the morning on the 23rd.


whew.  Sounds exhausting doesn't it?  Sounds amazing doesn't it?  On one hand I really cannot wait for my brother to be here and for the traveling to begin and also to return home for the summer and see family, friends, and some great music.  On the other-hand I do not want to be distracted from the present by future events.  Tomorrow is never guaranteed and today is beautiful.  I try to live in the moment, for the moment, because I know that it will never again  be the same as it is now.  I hope all of your todays are beautiful too and I hope you are enjoying your present moment.

Check for updates of BCN!!!

Halbury


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Buddy! this is Greg. That trip sounds like a lot of fun. Don't let the nay sayers put you down on Rome, it is worth every piece of trash there to see the sights...you will be blown away trust me. It may sound corny but you have to see all the main attractions, Pantheon and colliseum as well as old Rome, they are so big it is ridiculous. I'm glad you chose Cinque Terra after all. Get those hiking shoes ready and I hope the weather is good for you bc it makes it that much better. On another note I heard you and your bro might be moving to Tacoma when you get back??? I am way excited for that if it is true. Have fun man!

Susan Iverson said...

I totally agree with Greg. The history will overwhelm you in Rome. Don't miss the Sistene Chapel either. The majesty of the talent of Michelangelo permeates throughout. If you are undecided where to go next, Florence is an excellent choice. I almost liked it better than Rome. Anyway, whatever you do, it will be awesome.

Anonymous said...

And I will again agree with Sue. Florence is an awesome place, I also would rank it equal to, if not better than Rome. the art in Florence is like nowhere else. A lot of the four ninja turtles masterpieces there. Greg here.

Anonymous said...

You guys are going to have a blast!!!

Kids rec. their 'goodie' package from you today!!! It was very very thoughtful of you!!! Thank you so much for thinking about them!!!!

Madissen wanted to send a card right away, but we weren't sure as to where to send it....so, we will keep it here, until your safe return!!!

Have loads of fun!!!
We are very excited for you guys, but we can't wait till you return home!!!!

Lots of loves-
C, J, A and M Wicks 8-)

writer said...

Hey Hal! I'm pretty excited for you and your trip to Italy (etc.)! I can't help but agree with your mom, I could spend weeks in Rome, there's so much history there, and Florence is almost as cool (don't miss the boboli gardens, and go to the top of the duomo!)

Cinque terre is BEAUtiful, great, siena, if the weather's good/you can stop at a vineyard, also good; also Pisa might be sort of on your way, but the only thing there is the tower, so only if you're real interested in seeing that stop there.

Sounds like you're not getting much farther north than cinque terre, but if you do have time to kill and want a little mellow town on a gorgeous lake nestled near the mountains, check out stresa, on Lago Maggiore. Isola Bella, the island in the lake was worth a wander if I remember... Como, on Lake Como is similar, but maybe a little more visited. (remember, como is not Italian for "like"--it's a place! they get irritated with that...spanish and italian are only similar to those who don't speak either...) Milan was where I lived, it's typically disappointing to tourists, for pretty good reason, but if you feel tempted just spend a couple hours there at most, unless you're seeking crazy nightlife...

wish I had some groundbreaking advice, not that you asked, but my time there was a while ago and besides that, you guys will do fine making your own way around. SOOO jealous of sardinia, never been. I have a bit of a bias toward Sicily though...

have an awesome trip Hal!
-katie

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