Vacation

Planning for our Spring Vacation is underway!  Oh, it can't get here soon enough. 

It looks like we're starting in Pittsburgh to spend a couple days with my in-laws.  My mother-in-law loves to play dominoes (and taught me the game), so it will involve many hours of sitting at the table playing with her and her sister, and sometimes my father-in-law, husband, brothers-in-law, whomever.  I'm going to have to be very careful with what I eat since it will be right before the marathon, but I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out.  Lots of times we go to the store ourselves and buy whatever we're going to want for groceries. 

Then Boston, getting there on Sunday and heading straight to the expo.  Then marathon on Monday.  Need to come up with an awesome plan for dinner Monday night -- somewhere appropriate for our second anniversary.  Send any great recommendations you may have, bearing in mind I'm a vegetarian (I especially hope for a rec or two from Becca, since you're moving back).  Also need to choose which hotel reservation we want to keep and cancel the others -- nothing downtown, our choices are by the airport or on Soldiers Field Road.  Just not sure which will be easier to get to after the marathon on Monday.  I've heard it's fairly chaotic, and I remember the metro being full after MCM in DC, so I'd rather not have to deal with that if possible.  Then we'll spend all day Tuesday walking (hobbling in my case) around Boston.  Hubby has never been there, and I've only been once and it was about 15 years ago I think.  Places I remember that he should see are Boston Common, Fanneuil (sp?) Hall, and the Freedom Trail. 

Then Calabria, Italy.  We're going to spend the first night in a new hotel, then we'll stay with family the rest of the time, including for Good Friday, Easter, and Easter Monday, all of which are very big holidays with his family.  I'm very excited about this new hotel.  Many years ago before we went to Italy together for the first time, my husband asked me if I'd rather stay in a hotel right on the beach, or one in the main town square.  I chose the latter, and he said that was his preference too.  But when we tried to make reservations, we found out the hotel on the square was closed for renovations.  So we decided to stay at the beach hotel and checked out the piazza hotel during our wandering.  Then we went back a year later -- still doing work inside, stayed at the beach hotel.  Then we went back a year later again and got engaged, stayed at the beach hotel that night, piazza hotel still under construction.  We figured surely it would be open in another 1.5 years when we got married.  And even though we were going to have our reception at the beach hotel, since the ceremony was at the castle right on the piazza, maybe guests would have both hotel options.  Nope.  Still under construction.  Well, believe it or not, after many years, piazza hotel is finally open!  Hubby emailed me this note:  "Let's go now."  And he sent this picture, a view from one of the rooms where we can see both the bench where we got engaged and the castle where we got married. 



We'll only stay at the piazza hotel one night, just the first night we're in the country. It usually feels so chaotic with all the travel and being tired, adding on translating and family makes one night on our own seem ideal. His family is always disappointed to learn that we didn't come straight there, but we've decided it's worth it to have a night to adjust. While we're with his family, we'll spend lots of time visiting people, eating, drinking, and hopefully taking some day trips to other parts of Calabria. This year we'd like to go to the forest there, La Sila, and maybe out to one of the islands, like Stromboli.


Then Paris. We'll only be there for I think 3 nights, but it should be long enough for hubby to see the basics since he's never been. My job is to pick a hotel since he thinks I'll have a better sense of where we should stay. So send me any recommendations you may have. I think we're going to do the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay, and then hopefully just wander the rest of the time. Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and Arc de Triomphe of course, Champs Elysees, lots of people watching I hope.

Then back to Pittsburgh, just for one night before our flight home. I'm not thrilled about this since I've found the trip home is usually not much fun and once we start travelling, I'd rather just get home than stop anywhere. Last spring, we had an agonizingly long trip back. Moscow to Stockholm (overnight), to Copenhagen to Chicago (overnight b/c cancelled flight) to Dallas. While we crashed at my brothers' empty place in Chicago so we could do laundry and manage our own schedules, we were both pretty grouchy and just ready to be home. I hope Pittsburgh will be more fun, but knowing myself, I'm probably not going to love that final stop. But an extra day with family is an extra day with family, I like that, I'd just rather do it on the front end.

Then home!  All told, we'll be gone less than 3 weeks. Ooh I can't wait! A little intimidated by all the miles I'm going to run before then, but this trip is really something to look forward to, regardless of how the marathon goes.