Some Additions…

To address issues brought up in my previous post comments, I thought I would write another post.

– I have started writing my fancy thank you notes already. That way they won’t be piling up and waiting after the honeymoon. I just wanted to acknowledge that we have received it somehow, so I’ll send a “we got it” note now, and the formal thank you notes in a year.

– While I realize that some etiquitte rules say that you can wait up to a year to say thank you for the gifts, that just seems really, really tacky. My “how to write a good thank you note” book says to send them as soon as possible. Either do them before the wedding as gifts come in, or right away after the wedding. I agree with that system. Waiting 3-4 months even is terribly rude and makes people wonder if you got the gift or if you just don’t care about thanking them.

– Mike has lived in London, but there was a lot he didn’t do or see. So it is nice to know that he will be able to find our way around, and at the same time we will discover new things. Having a tour guide is good.

– When I went to bed last night, I was thinking “well, London is probably the best choice.” When I got up this morning and saw the Eiffel Tower statue that D got for me on one of his trips to Paris, I thought “but Paris sounds just soooo romantic.”

– Visiting both London and Paris has been considered. I’m investigating that further.

– When I visited Paris 13 years ago, I got away with knowing just hello, goodbye and thank you in French. As long as you attempt to speak the language in a foreign land, they are normally nice to you. They realize you don’t really have a clue – they just get bitter when you don’t even try.

– I loved, loved, loved Ste’s photos of Venice. However, I went there when I did the Eurorail thing in the early ’90s and got massively dehydrated. I was miserable. And there was no way I could read a map in that city. I swear that every single square had the same name. I’m sure being sick didn’t help.

– However, Venice has been brought up on the list. I want to give it another chance, I know it is an awesome city. When I was there, I swore I would come back with someone I love and rent a gondola. I really want to ride in one of those.

– Scotland was also brought up, but Mike travelled there some with an ex when he lived in London. That taints Scotland just like parts of Germany.

– Bavaria absolutely ROCKS. I have been to Italy, France, Austria and Switzerland – but could not wait to return to Germany. As mentioned above, I left a lot of emotional baggage behind there, so it might not be a good honeymoon spot. (The Danube cruise doesn’t touch my baggage cities, so it’s ok.)

– We have both seen some of the same things in Paris – like the Eiffel Tower. He didn’t go up in to the tower at all; I only went up to the second level. I swore I would return someday to go to the top. I visited Notre Dame, he didn’t. I haven’t ever been up on the roof though, and I love the Gargoyles, so I must make that trip someday. (Again, go and check out Ste’s photos. *le sigh*) I also want to see the Louvre. Versailles. A lot of other places. And I want a good photo of the Arc d’ Triomphe.

– Let’s be honest. No matter where I go, it will become a giant photo tour. Fortunately, Mike is ok with that. (He would have to be, otherwise I couldn’t have married him. Seriously.)

– I’ve never had a desire to visit Australia or New Zealand. I know, I’m strange like that. I also don’t want to go to Japan or really anywhere in Asia. There are some places in the world that just seem to call to me. I feel most at peace in Boston (I know, that probably sounds weird) and England and Europe just call to me.

– New Orleans is dirty in a way, but … well, we still found it romantic. When we visited last summer we had a great time, but it was too short. There is so much we still want to see there. I still want to go on the cemetary tour – that’s an absolute must someday. (Yeah, I didn’t get to go last summer. I’m still bitter.) It’s close enough though that we can visit on a 3 day weekend.

– We briefly discussed beach locations – Jamaica, Hawaii, etc. Then we realized we are city people, not beach people. Europe became the front runner then.

– There is a certain “stress-free” factor to returning to a city that one of us knows like London. However, I was able to get around the Paris subway system without any problems at all, so that is an option too.

Maybe we can pull off 10 days – 5 in London and 5 in Paris. Some down time, not moving around too much, but getting to see it all. Hmmm…