Monday, May 14, 2007

My Itinerary

So after spending a few days in Calhoun and embracing what it has to offer (i.e. having a yard sale, eating at a meat and three, quality time with the family, and shopping at the Old Navy Outlet), I'm off to Switzerland today. Several of my friends have asked for my intinerary and one of my blogger buddies, I think, plans to track it on her map:) So here it goes:

May 15: Fly from Atlanta to Newark to Geneva, Switzerland. The extra stop stinks, but hey, at least the flight was free courtesy of Skymiles. Arrive in Geneva at 7:45 a.m. (Switzerland time) and head off to find my hostel and leave my stuff while I wonder around bright-eyed and bushy tailed (or not), looking for those yummy smiley-face cookies I remember from my time in Interlaken ten years ago.

May 17 or 18th: I'll probably head to Lucerne or perhaps a small town unless I'm enjoying Geneva too much to leave. Since Geneva is so expensive, I'm experimenting with a bunk bed hostel room on my first night there. Nothing like sleeping with strangers, right?

May 19: Meet Sam in Zurich, Switzerland. I've not seen him in over a year now, so it'll be fun to catch up. Lets hope my plan of ear plugs works in the quest to combat the disruptiveness of his snoring.

May 21: We fly to Malta. And we're staying at the Intercontinental, which will be a nice upgrade from hostel bunk beds.

May 25: We fly to Athens and then catch a flight to Rhodes, which is one of the Greek Islands.

May 27: We take an early flight to Athens.

May 28: Sam leaves, and I hop onto a "Highspeed 4" to check out Mykonos, another Greek Island. I recently discovered Mykonos is known for being a gay mecca of sorts and for having tons of nude photos. Bet you guys can't wait for that post:)

May 29: "Flying Cat 4" to Santorini. Still need to find a place to stay there. My to-do list is just too long. In this case, I suppose that's an excellent problem to have though.

June 1: "Highspeed 5" back to Athens.

June 2: Fly from Athens to Madrid; take a train to Seville (or maybe Cordoba).

June 2-June 18: I'll be in Southern Spain and possibly Portugal and/or Morocco during this time. There are certain must-sees on my list, and they include Cadiz, Seville, and Valencia. If I love them, I might stay for a bit. If not, I'll check out other places like Alicante, Gilbaltar, or Morocco. I tend to like to stay places a few nights rather than hopping around a lot, but I've also never traveled alone like this. Should be interesting. I'm proud to say that my things for 33 days easily fit into a carry-on suiter. After some internal debate, I decided that route was better than a big backpack.

June 18: I'll fly from Madrid to Atlanta (via Newark again). 33 days should be just enough time for me to have a renewed appreciation of ice, air-conditioning, and the like.

If you have any recommendations on things to check out in any of these places, please share. I plan on blogging at least a little and hope to be able to upload some photos too. My mother bought me an early birthday gift today, so I can't wait to use the new (very slim) camera. Hope everyone's week is off to an excellent start!

15 comments:

Aaron said...

I'm anxious awaiting your updates! Whenever I finally get over to Europe, Greece is one of my top destinations. Let me know what you think about it!

(And no pics necessary, but I want to know if you've got the nerve to stroll in the buff on a nude beach.) :)

Accidentally Me said...

You will be my hero if you do the nude beach...at least go topless! Or, just lie and tell us you did:-P

I guess I need to hang the map up and get an "Ally is here today" pin:-)

Douglas said...

God Speed.

You'll be my hero if you go to the nude beach, take photos of old wrinkly people, make out with a gorgeous lesbian, and post photos of it all.

Enjoy.

anne said...

That sounds blissfully wonderful. Enjoy and safe travels. Oh yeah and pictures please!

Clearlykels said...

I can't wait for the updates. That sounds amazing!!! Have so much fun!

ella said...

This sounds so amazing. I am going to miss you on IM!

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to see the photos! Have a safe trip! (Suddenly going to the grocery store seems like a reeaaallly boring day knowing you are on your way to Switzerland!)

Anonymous said...

You've made me figure out what it is I want to do. It's going to take some work and a lot of planning and pushing through people telling me no, but that's what the rest of 2007 is for! Thanks for strapping on a pair!

megabrooke said...

Have a great trip Ally! I can't wait to hear all about it!

Anonymous said...

wow that sounds absolutely incredible. how awesome that you're doing this. congrats. and have a fabulous time.

Anonymous said...

Your Itinerary sounds incredible!

Anonymous said...

I hope you have a super amazingly incredible trip!

Ally said...

Thank you all for the well wishes. Get the pin out AM! As for the nude beaches, I'll keep you guys posted. Interesting hero criteria Billy.....

Anonymous: I wish you the best of luck and hope you'll share what it is you're going to do once you've done it (if not sooner:)

Lost said...

Hey there! Sort of a late comment, but if you decide to go into Morocco from Gibraltar, be careful! I did that exact same trip and it can be sketchy. I wouldn't advise going into Morocco alone. I was with a friend (also a girl) and we were told it was dangerous as a single woman walking around IMPLIES "prostitute". Make sure if you go, you are covered up, long pants or skirt, long sleeve shirt. It's muslim, so women should be covered. Lots of gypsies will surround you (mostly kids) so be careful with your passport & money. We wound up finding a group tour to go into Morocco and they took us to all of the key thing to see...like the Casbah...and a good meal. We didn't stay in Morocco and wound up staying in Gibaltar, which was not pleasant, but doable. It was a really cool experience, you just have to be on your toes!

Feel free to get in touch if you need more info!

HAVE FUN!

Ally said...

Lost: Thank you for the heads-up on Morocco--maybe I can find a tour for the entire thing; I hadn't thought of that, but it sounds like an easier and safer way to do it than alone (and posing as a prostitute and all:)