On 2013-04-14 04:48:48 -0500, Mark Brader said:

Dan Stephenson:
On second thought, I'm afraid the Alps and Venice are just too much to
fit into the time available, especially since March is the timeframe
and the passes will be closed to some extent.

March? You're planning a super-rushed trip *almost a year ahead*?
Or does your calendar run the wrong way too? :-)

By the way, I hope you get the calendar-date thing right when it comes
to making reservations based on which day you arrive in Europe.

ha yes I plan well in advance so there are no last minutes rushes or surprises

In this way, the actual trip is laid back and carefree

I lay in anchor points such as arrival and departure, and budget
roughly for sightseeing, so when I am in-country, the travel is
somewhat spontaneous. This was especially true of my travels in the
British Isles. Quite literally, I would plan a day's approximate route
over breakfast. How cool is that? I incredibly loved travelling the
backroads between obscure megalithics.

Even the single lane roads were an adventure... "gee how do we get out
of this one"... when facing another vehicle, remembering where the last
"wide spot" was.

Travelling in the Fall, reaching out of the car window to pick huge
blackberry off the verge. And getting to use words like "verge".

Being completely lost in all ways, and stumbling on a pub in the middle
of danged nowhere, and having a pint of something with a cool looking
logo

Being bemused as the sheep try to be intimidating when visiting some
old ruin or megalithic, a few following you shoulder-to-shoulder as if
to put up a front

Discovering all the ways stiles are made to allow people to cross but
not the sheep

Keeping an eye out for cows, which are not so intimidated as sheep :-)

That wonderful overcast, breezy, cool and drizzling weather (my home is
in Texas, which is typically the reverse of all that)

The lush grass, the ancient history, the locals you can mostly
understand, fish and chips, and television that is either bizarre or
fascinating


--
Dan Stephenson
http://stepheda.com
Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too)