So Here We Go....

The girls are already in transit to Italy, and will be landing in just a couple of hours (I think they're over Saudi Arabia or Israel about now!). Cheryl and I leave for the airport this evening. Twenty-four hours from now, we'll be in ROME !!!!!

To say that we're excited is really an understatement. Of course this is going to be a phenomenal trip. For those who may be wondering, we didn't make a SINGLE hotel reservation -- we're planning to live on the edge, armed only with our Lonely Planet book and our rented GPS! The reason we decided to do it this way is just that we didn't want to be held to a firm day-by-day agenda. If we like a city, we'll stay longer. If we don't, we'll leave. Our "general" plan looks something like this:

Friday: Land in Rome; head immediately north -- probably to Florence
Saturday: Head over to Venice for a day, enjoy some cool canals
Sunday: Head to Montova or Bologna or San Marino, then attend girls' evening performance
Monday: Head to Milan or maybe Pisa / Tuscany, have fun
Tuesday: Down to central Italy, then attend girls' evening performance
Wednesday: Maybe a day in Rome
Thursday: Girls' big performance at national music festival
Friday: Naples / Pompei / Mt Vesuvius
Saturday: Amalfi Coast / Paestum
Sunday: Maybe another day in Rome, then fly to KL

The only thing that would have made this trip even better would have been accompaniment with other friends (riniroo/vitamin j......). The timing is a bit rough: Cheryl is in the middle of her semester and will be bringing her MIDI station along to work on some projects. Ash brought a huge pile of books along as well -- she's studying for her Advanced Placement (AP) exams coming up in May. Oh well, we'll still have fun.

As for me, I am officially taking my first day of vacation since Sept right now! In December the only weekday I took off was Christmas Day. 2008? I have worked through all 7 Malaysian holidays this year with the exception of one (New Years Day). Do I need a break? Uhhhh... I think so. (Yes, that's a huge smile on my face).

If possible, we'll jump into an Internet cafe along the way and post an update. Stay tuned!!

greg

P.S. We're still training for the Sundown Night Marathon. This morning I ran 20 miles in 2 hrs 55 min! Glad to get my long run in before the big trip.....

P.P.S. Cheryl's birthday celebration last week was a bit subdued due to.... busy life. (We did take a celebratory trip to Starbucks, though.) We're going to celebrate yet another "Cheryl's 29th birthday" this week in Europe. Yahoo!!