Epic or Crazy? Either way, it will be a summer to remember.

This summer we’re spending 6 weeks with 2 backpacks and 1 eight-year-old travelling  5 different countries = Greece, Israel, Jordan, France and Germany.  We’ve spent almost as much time organizing this trip as we will spend on the trip!  We’ve successfully secured 38 nights of lodging, 7 flights, 3 Greek ferries, 1 overnight train, and an understanding of how to find countless taxis, buses, and metro transfers.  And, we’ve thrown in some pre-booked tours too (like a private driver to take us to Petra, and a bus/bike tour of Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria).  Last summer I was impressed by our living out of a Prius for 2 weeks.  I was so naïve.

So, here is our itinerary.  Follow along as we go!  I’ll blog occasionally, when I have the right mix of time and internet access.  I will at least let the parental units know we’re still alive!

June 14:   last day of school
June 15 – 16:  depart Portland at 10:30am, layover in Seattle, then fly to Frankfurt.  Five hours in Frankfurt, then on to Heraklion, Crete, arriving 10pm on June 16. 
June 17 – June 23:  on Crete.  First tour Palace of Knossos, then take an island bus to Chania and check into our base until June 23. Lots of time in sand and calm water.  I can’t wait!
June 23:   overnight ferry to mainland Greece.  Wake up on 24th and switch to another ferry headed to Naxos island
June 24 -30:  lounging on Naxos, here.  More lying about on the beach.
June 30:  ferry back to mainland, taxi into Athens
July 1-2:  in Athens, touring Acropolis and at least one museum.  Likely just walking around taking in the iconic temples of Western culture.  Eleanor and Sabina are reunited as our friends join us here in Athens.  We’ll travel together until July 10th.

July 3:  flight to Israel with our friends, settling in this night in a hotel in Haifa.
July 4:   touring Haifa area
July 5:  We’ll move south to Jerusalem by the end of the day, to stay with our friends.  We plan to…  see the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Israel Museum, view the city from the cemetery, and walk around the old city a little.  We also hope to leave the girls time to just hang out in Sabina’s new room/ garden.
July 8:  travel out to Dead Sea, take a float, then head south into Eilat for two nights in an apartment.
July 9:  A private tour guide will pick us up at the apartment and take us into Jordan to wander around Petra .  We’ll eat lunch in Jordan, then be brought back to Eilat before we burn up.  It is the desert, in July, after all.

July 10:  head back to Tel Aviv for our flight out to Paris.  Start this day in Israel, sleep this night in Paris (wha?!?)
July 11-15:  in Paris, in a lovely apartment in the 16th, not too far from the Trocodero.  Need I say more?  Ok… pastries, art, pastries, lights, pastries, frenchy things and pastries.  We'll also be in town, accidentally, for the big fireworks show behind the Eiffel Tower July 14.  My sister Amy joins us here! (and stays with us until we leave for the states)



July 15:  after a day of seeing the last of our must-do sites in Paris, we’ll catch an overnight train, couchette class, from Paris to Munich.  Classic European adventure!
July 16:  We awake in Munich!  Staying in a fantastically located apartment, we’ll use Munich as our base until July 22.  We’ll bike around Munich, see the Glockenspiel, shop in the farmers’ market, drool over German toys, visit Neuschwanstein Castle, fossil hunt in Naturpark Altmuhltal,
and day-trip to Mittenwald to take in some violin making Bavaria.
July 22:  depart Europe and head to Wisconsin via Dublin and Chicago.  Crash with the St. Clairs in Wisconsin for a week.
July 28:  arrive back in Portland!