Originally planned for the summer of 2020, this trip was twice delayed by the COVID pandemic.
In early 2022 it was starting to look like the trip might
finally be possible, so we gambled and began booking things in February.
The gamble paid off, and was beneficial in many respects: by the time the trip became almost certain, airfares had nearly tripled and European hotels were fully booked.
Perhaps the final "victory" was when, in early June, the US dropped the inbound covid test requirement.
There are still some minor limitations (eg: some cities still require masks on public transport), but for the most part, European travel has returned to business as usual.
After being delayed, and wondering if the trip would ever be possible, it was a wonderful treat to be able to take this trip before Annie went off to college.
This trip is similar to
Dave and Bee's trip in 2015, but with some differences: a few more days, a few more cities, but still a modern version of the
Grand Tour.
Some numbers for this trip:
- 24 days
- 12 hotels
- 10780 air miles
- 1234 driving miles
- 1154 train miles
plus many more miles by bike, Segway, subway, bus, taxi, tram, cable car, and, of course, foot.