European Vacation trip, 5 years in the making...

Finally, after years of talking about going on my European vacation for about 5 years!  It's happening this summer!  I cannot begin to describe how excited I am!!  Not only do I get to see loads of family that I haven't seen since I was twelve, I get to do touring in England that I never had the opportunity to do when I was a child.

I'm going on this adventure with my bestie, Alicia, and my sister-in-law, Dawn.  We leave on June 28th, a little over 5 months away and this date can't come fast enough!!

We fly into Dublin for a short stay.  We're planning on touring the Guinness factory in Dublin, visiting the Temple Bar (which is the smallest pub in the world), and then taking a day bus tour up to Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney stone.  And, a new experience for me:  we're staying in a hostel in the Pub District of Dublin!  (Not sure that being in the Pub District is going to be a good idea...haha)

Then, after two days in Dublin, it's off to England via ferry and train.  We will be staying with my Aunt and Uncle near Banbury for a little over a week.  While in England, we plan on doing lots of touristy things; Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, British Museum, and Madame Tussauds (where I finally will be able to get up close and personal with Robert Pattinson, be it a wax figure of the man...LOL).

We're also planning a ride on the London Eye, trips to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, Windsor Castle, and of course, the Harry Potter Warner Bros. studio tour.  We're all VERY excited about the Warner Bros. studio tour as the three of us are all Harry Potter nuts!! LOL

Outside of London, we're going to check out Stratford-On-Avon, a place that I visited during one of my summers in England as a child.  Because I was so young, I don't think I fully appreciated the visit and the history of the area.  And, of course, no trip to England will be complete without a visit to Stonehenge.

After a week or so in England, we're going to take the Eurostar to Paris.  We've rented an apartment in central Paris for a week's stay.  We've got a HUGE list of things to see in Paris; the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Napoleon's Tomb, Moulin Rouge, the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay....the list is endless.  And the funny thing is that I think we're all most looking forward to the food.  I'm probably going to gain 10 pounds during the week in Paris!  I cannot wait to eat crepes and pastries!!  YUM!

The next major thing I have to do is buy my plane ticket next month and then make it through about 5 months of waiting!  We're planning on buying a lot of the tickets in advance so that's one less thing to worry about!

How will I make it???  LOL

Off to do some housework....  YUCK!