Itinerary

The last two weeks have been quite productive. Today marked T-minus 6 weeks to the bar exam, and I think my preparation is coming along well. (It's been the better part of the day every day, so it had better be!)

In addition, I have spent a fair amount of time wrapping up the itinerary, deciding which places need to be cut, which need a little more time, etc. I have also started booking hotels and hostels, activities, tours, and a rental car (for Tuscany). I also booked Jen's plane ticket (into Venice, out of Rome) and planned out all the train routes and times for the entire trip (thanks, RailEurope.com). Very fortunately, everything seems to be lining up perfectly. Seriously--when you are juggling this many cities and factors, there is a huge potential for things to conflict. For one, Nathan and I have agreed on everything--cities to hit and cities to skip, time spent in each place, accommodation (price vs. quality), etc. Also, when I finished planning the Madrid-to-Cinque Terre leg of the trip, it lined up perfectly that Jen would fly into Venice to meet me by leaving on a Friday, she would the miss two weeks of work that include Labor Day, and her break will span three weekends. The route developed pretty naturally, and getting accommodations in each city has been extremely easy. Add on the fact that both tourism and the Euro are down, and I have felt extremely blessed in planning so far.

It's a bit late and I have class in the morning and a little more reading for tonight, so for now I will just post the list of cities and then discuss a few thoughts about the trip.

And without further adieu, the itinerary for Europtrip 2010 (aka "The Euro in 2010"):

• Depart San Francisco, CA
• Madrid, Spain
• Porto, Portugal
• Lisbon, Portugal
• Lagos, Portugal
• Seville, Spain
• Algeciras, Spain
• Tangier, Morocco
• Granada, Spain (home to the Alhambra)
• Valencia, Spain
• Barcelona, Spain
• Nice, France
• Cinque Terre, Italy [Vernazza] (After Cinque Terre, Nathan and I split up for two weeks.)
• [Milan, Italy?]
• Venice, Italy (Jen comes!)
• Bologna, Italy
• Florence, Italy
• Siena, Italy
• Tuscan Hill Towns (e.g., Montepulciano, Montalcino), side trip to Assisi
• Naples, Italy (for an afternoon and a pizza)
• Amalfi Coast (for three days in Positano)
• Rome, Italy (After four days in Rome, Jen heads back to the States. Sadness.)
• Vienna, Austria (Rendezvous with Nathan.)
• Budapest, Hungary
• Prague, Czech Republic
• Berlin, Germany
• Munich, Germany
• Zurich, Switzerland
• Interlaken + Lauterbrunnen + Grindelwald
• Amsterdam, Netherlands (After Amsterdam, I head on to Brussels and Latham & Watkins orders Nathan to fly home.)
• Brussels, Belgium
• Paris, France
• Bayeux, France (Normandy--tour of American D-Day beaches and the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Omaha Beach)
• London, England
• Glasgow, Scotland + the Scottish Highlands
• Edinburgh, Scotland
• Return to San Francisco, CA

In thinking about the aspects of the trip that excite me the most, a few things come to mind. For one, this is the first real extended break that I have had in the past seven years. Between engineering school, summer classes, summer internships, working between college and law school, law school, law review, my two law school summers at firms (while writing on to the law review or grading law review write-on packets), and now bar preparation, I have not had any extended down time since I was 18 years old. So first, I'm excited for a bit of a break.

Second, I am excited to travel through Italy with Jen. We have always wanted to travel through Italy together, and this presented the perfect opportunity to make it happen.

Third, I cannot wait to spend some time in some of the world's truly great cities. I feel privileged to live right near what I consider to be one of them--San Francisco. What makes a city one of the world's great cities, in my mind, is that you cannot go for a short period of time and feel like, "Oh yeah, I really got all that place had to offer. My curiosity is fully satisfied." From its diverse neighborhoods, raw intellectual power, Golden Gate Park, cultural offerings, culinary scene, and incredibly beautiful wine country and natural surroundings, you cannot just take in a place like this in a weekend. That's why I have given Rome, Paris, and London each four full days. Yes, of course you want to see the sights and the notable museums, but I really believe that you should get out, walk the streets, and really fade into cities like those to get the full experience. I've never been to Rome or Paris, but I spent a few days in London when I was 16 (almost a decade ago--a realization that shocked me), and it made a huge mark on me. In my mind, these are great cities in their own rights, but they are put "to 11" by their incredibly rich histories. For example, I will never forget the moment while walking around London with my British Literature class when our guide pointed to a commonplace-looking street corner and said, "And Charles I was beheaded right there in 1649." Our law, our culture, our history, our philosophies, and literally the western world as we know it have been shaped in and by these cities. They are amazing in their present forms, but to me, it is their present forms interwoven with their rich histories that makes them so fascinating.

Fourth, I am excited to be doing the great majority of the trip (save for much of Italy, Paris, Brussels, and the UK) with Nathan. It will be great to be with a good friend while taking in so many new countries and cities. So I am looking forward to a lot of bro time. Indeed, more than Nate would ever want. (He is going to be blogging the trip, as well.)

I am also looking forward to a few other notable things. I am going to be able to see our expat friends, Keenan and Lily, while I am in London. Keenan works for Jen's consulting firm, Duff & Phelps, and transferred to London over a year ago. He and Lily became fast friends with Jen and me when we moved to the Bay Area, and they have been more than generous to offer to let me stay in their flat. I am really excited to see them in their new city, and it will be great to see some familiar faces after such a long trip.

In addition, you tend to meet some great people when you travel. Last summer in Australia, we met Mike and Lora from Toronto, and we had a great time with them. Already, I have been e-mailing with one of the hotel employees in the Amalfi Coast because he is pursuing his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on clean technologies. (I should also mention another friend from the Australia trip: Markus from Germany. After about 30 minutes, he offered to let me stay with him in Germany, and he showed great emotion while describing how much he missed sausages and real beer.)

I am definitely looking forward to the Interlaken, Switzerland stop on the trip. I expect to be suffering from severe city fatigue at this point, so three days to relax and hike in the Alps will be much appreciated.

And finally, I am excited for everything I am going to learn and experience for the first time. From escargot in Paris, to the stone-walled hill towns of the Tuscan countryside, to the beauty of Lauterbrunnen Valley, to the 200th Anniversary Oktoberfest celebration in Munich (and the city's world-famous Hofbräuhaus), it's going to be an amazing ride, and I know I am both privileged and blessed to get to do this. Until then, wish me luck in my bar studies! Thanks for reading.