traveling

I suck at blogging these days.  Sorry about that!  Fortunately I'm leaving tomorrow morning for Europe, so I will be sure to blog about my travels, even if it's only for my own record keeping.  I just finished packing and as someone who normally way overpacks, I feel like I may have gone too far to the other end of the spectrum.  I'm tired of packing a bunch of things that I end up not using, so for a 17 day trip to Dublin, London and Paris, I have packed the following:

• 2 pairs of jeans (wearing one, packing one)
• 2 fleece vests (wearing one, packing one)
• 4 long sleeve shirts (wearing one)
• 5 pairs of underwear
• 5 pairs of socks
• pajamas
• rain coat
• 2 tank tops for layering purposes
• sturdy boots (wearing)
• black flats
• umbrella
• toiletries
• 2 bras (wearing one, packing one)

 I'm planning on doing laundry while gone, so I'm thinking this should be plenty.  I also packed a mini bottle of Febreze so I don't stink.  :)

update and pics

Last weekend didn't go quite as I had planned.  Instead of hibernating and eating cake, I ended up spending the weekend in Wyoming, playing nurse to an injured friend.  No worries, though, it wasn't quite as dreary as it sounds (despite the lack of cake).  I actually had a great time, as always seems to happen when I'm up there.  It gets harder and harder to leave every time. I swear one of these days I'm going to go for a weekend and just not come back!

Since I'm doing updates, I should also mention that there's only three and a half weeks left until my trip!  Woot woot!  I decided to cut my time in Dublin and London a little bit short and spend some additional time in Paris.  My dad is on sabbatical this semester and will be in Europe at the same time, so we're going to meet up in Paris to finish out both of our trips.  We'll be staying in the same condo we were in last summer.  So yeah, 5 days in Dublin, 5 in London and another 5 in Paris.  Speaking of Paris, I never did post any pics from last summer's trip.  I didn't actually take any pictures on the trip, but I stole these from my brother:

The Moulin Rouge.  Sadly, Ewan McGregor was nowhere to be found.

From the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

Did I mention that I hiked up many, many stairs to get to the top?

Stained glass at Sainte Chapelle

This place was pretty amazing.

Pictures obviously don't do it justice.  It must be experienced in person.

I love gargoyles and other grotesque carvings.  Good times!

The atmosphere in old churches . . . amazing!

Mass at Notre Dame.

Notre Dame

More Notre Dame

The Steps from Midnight in Paris.

People watching is always half the fun!

From our boat trip on the Seine.

Loved all the little scenes like this.

Chopin's grave

Pere Lachaise Cemetery

The area dedicated to WWII was unbelievable.

The monument for Auschwitz.