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8.30.2008

The Vacation to Remember

Summer is over and kids are in school, can you believe it? How was yours? Ours was unforgetable, awesome, great, beautiful, tiring, exciting and wonderful. (I could add more adjectives but I don't want to bore you.)

We had a grand vacation in Europe last June, it lasted for a month and we visited seven countries. It was our 10th year anniversary celebration. We did not have an expensive Honeymoon when we got married. The entire wedding was expensive enough that we did not have any money left to spend for a honeymoon in some exotic place. We went to Washington,D.C. and spent three days doing the tourist stuff. We vowed that we'll have a grand celebration on our 10th anniversary and we started saving towards that goal.

So off we went, dh and I plus the kids. Yes, all four of us since it's not complete without the kids. The cities we visited were: (in Italy) Rome, Florence, Pisa and Venice; (in Switzerland) Luzern and Wengen; (in Germany) Trier, Koln, Prum, Kaiserslautern, Berlin, Hohenswangau and Munich; (in the Netherlands) Sitaard, Volendam, The Hague and Amsterdam; (in Belgium) Brussels and Antwerp and (in Luxembourg) Luxembourg City. We took our time and weren't running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. We had a lot of rests and Gelato! Italy was definitely a 'walking city.' All those delicious pasta dishes were burned off, thank goodness! Switzerland was the most beautiful in all the countries we've visited. I was awestruck with all the natural scenery. These are two countries that we would love to visit again. Anyone want to meet us in Rome someday? :)
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7 comments:

  1. Hello Beth..ganda naman Europe summer vacation whew! One of my dream place to visit hehehe.
    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Beth!

    I enjoyed reading and viewing the pics of your European vacations.

    My question for you is, did you use a travel agent/tour guide for your trip? Or would it be better and less expensive if you did it on your own? The reason I am asking is we are planning to do a European in the near future for our wedding anniversary also.

    Thanks!
    Rhebs
    ReplyDelete
  3. @Joy
    Puntahan mo Joy, sulit na sulit! :)

    @Rhebs
    Thanks for viewing the pics. :) We did it on our own since we want to be in control of our time and itinerary. By joining a tour group, you are at their mercy and had to abide by their schedule. We don't want that especially we have kids with us. Believe me, it is better this way since you can linger in a certain place if you want to compared to going with a tour group where you are always in a hurry.
    The only organized tour we took was in the Vatican museum (1 day) in Rome and inside the Neuchwanstein Castle (in Germany). I was the one who did all the planning and booking.
    As for the expense, it is cheaper if you go with a tour group since you'll get the group rate and discount. IF you have other questions just ask. :)
    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks, Beth!

    That sounds so daunting I mean the planning, making all the arrangement and booking 7 different hotels and etc. especially you have 2 chikitings in tow.

    Did you booked the hotel ahead of time or you book it as you go?
    ReplyDelete
  5. @Rhebs
    It is daunting at first since I didn't know where to start. I did a lot of research in the internet as to what hotels to stay at and what places to see. We actually stayed in 9 hotels in all (Rome,Florence,Venice,Luzern, Wengen,Strasbourg, Trier, Koln, Berlin and Munich). If you plan to visit any of these cities, I can suggest the hotel where we stayed in.
    As for the reservations, I emailed the hotel directly instead of going through a website like Hotels.com or Expedia.com You need to book months in advance especially if you plan to go to popular spots like Rome, Florence and Venice. I remember booking the hotels around January/February. Venice is the most expensive city we've been in but it's worth visiting once or twice in your lifetime. I relied heavily on TripAdvisor.com and booked the hotels that received high ratings from guests which aren't cheap hotels. I believe that you get what you pay for so my advices is not to skimp on lodging. Get the most expensive room you can afford and you won't be sorry.
    As for the kids, they're very good and well-behaved so we didn't have any problems with bringing them. :)
    ReplyDelete
  6. Babette, you are one very lucky girl! Having a well-behaved, smart and beautiful/handsome kids, wonderful husband and able to take a grand vacation to Europe for a month, what more could you possibly ask for?

    I thank you much for taking time to answer my questions... I am sure, I'll come back for more question when I start doing my own research... hope you don't mind me asking petty or silly questions ;-)

    Thanks again!
    ReplyDelete
  7. @Rhebs
    Oks lang sa kin yon. I'm happy to answer any questions you have and if I don't have know the answer, I'll do research too. :)
    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. :o)

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