Mumsy and Guvna take on Europe: A 2016 Europe Trip Report! updated 5/29/2017

[theworldneedscolor]

I am definitely following along with this! I'm hoping to do a Europe trip once I graduate in a few years...plenty of time to save up, I'm hoping. Although I might blow it all on a 21st birthday Disney World/Universal trip

If I could win the lottery sometime soon, that'd be great

 

[annegirl]

I am definitely following along with this! I'm hoping to do a Europe trip once I graduate in a few years...plenty of time to save up, I'm hoping. Although I might blow it all on a 21st birthday Disney World/Universal trip

If I could win the lottery sometime soon, that'd be great

Great! I can relate. The call of the Disney World trip is always there! I am with you on the lottery. They need to call me.

 

[Chicago Mo]

oh my... This is a photographers DREAM!!! so beautiful!!! I can't stand it..

 

[annegirl]

oh my... This is a photographers DREAM!!! so beautiful!!! I can't stand it..

It sure seems like all of Europe is! I can't wait to see it in person.

 

[annegirl]

A little change of plans!

Well, really we won't know for sure until we get our flights which, like I said, I will be watching over the next couple of months.
BUT, Doug felt like our arrival was going to be too rushed and that we needed some wiggle room to not start out the trip tired and stressed. Love that he thinks about stuff like that.
So I looked up some other options.

If nothing changes we are now planning on flying out of Salt Lake City a day early.
The flight takes us to Seattle where we will have an annoyingly long layover with not much to do (almost 5 hours but from what I have read it is not worth it to leave the airport and try to do anything) but then we will be getting on a flight that will take us to Iceland and we will get there at about 6:30am.
Instead of hopping on another flight right away to London we will have about a 9 hour layover.
In this time we will visit the Blue Lagoon to soak in the water!

Then we will board our flight in the early evening and arrive in London a little after 8pm.
We will take our time going through immigration and then we will take the train to Paddington station where we will find a close hotel (I had one recommended to me but I haven't booked it yet) to stay the night.

I am excited about this new plan since it will not only allow us some time in Iceland but also to be able to start the next day taking our time, having breakfast somewhere, and then riding the train to Bath from Paddington so we can not be stressed about picking up our rental car on time and having time to see the Bath sites.
From there it will go as already planned.

The only downside is that it is one more day away from my family.
But Doug said that while on the trip that extra day may seem like a lot, once the trip is over it will have just been one more day and it is worth it.
So, I am grateful not only for the fact that he is cool about me taking this trip and having to be the only one in charge for over 20 days but also that he is so encouraging about it!​

 

[KatMark]

That is awesome that Doug suggested that and that it is going to work out that you'll have a little more "rest" and still be able to do everything you wanted.

 

[Chicago Mo]

MORE time!!! Doug is a good man!!!

ohhh that looks amazing!!

 

[annegirl]

That is awesome that Doug suggested that and that it is going to work out that you'll have a little more "rest" and still be able to do everything you wanted.

Yes! I am excited that we won't have to be rushing. Also if anything goes wrong with flights or luggage it will be a blessing to have wiggle room.

MORE time!!! Doug is a good man!!!

ohhh that looks amazing!!

Yes. Yes. He is. It really does look amazing. And after a long flight I think it will be heavenly!

 

[missangelalexis]

So awesome that Doug is so understanding AND so helpful! And he's right, in the grand scheme of things, you will end up appreciating that extra day!!

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Your second plan is much better IMO if you want to stop in Iceland. If that's not an important part of your trip, I'd look into some other airlines as well.

As somebody who's traveled the globe extensively I'd say that 1) less stopovers is way better. It's less tiresome and leaves less room for things to go wrong. 2) when you have them longer layovers while irritating are far less stressful in the end. Delays happen and it's tough to sort all that out with international flights if a flight is missed. Plus you have a better chance of your bag arriving with you.

 

[mariezp]

I just stumbled across your thread as I was searching to see if anyone ever posts trip reports for their European adventures. I'm going to follow along with you as I would love to hear how your trip progresses. Sounds lovely so far!

We took our first trip to Europe in late August/early September. We visited England, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. It was quite a 2 week whirlwind trip but it was also the most amazing trip of my lifetime!!!!! And, of course, now I am dying to go back! Maybe your report will inspire me to find a way to make it happen faster. lol!

 

[annegirl]

So awesome that Doug is so understanding AND so helpful! And he's right, in the grand scheme of things, you will end up appreciating that extra day!!

Yep. He is being so cool. He even surprised me with something for the trip last week. I will post about that hopefully tomorrow!

Your second plan is much better IMO if you want to stop in Iceland. If that's not an important part of your trip, I'd look into some other airlines as well.

As somebody who's traveled the globe extensively I'd say that 1) less stopovers is way better. It's less tiresome and leaves less room for things to go wrong. 2) when you have them longer layovers while irritating are far less stressful in the end. Delays happen and it's tough to sort all that out with international flights if a flight is missed. Plus you have a better chance of your bag arriving with you.

I agree. I am looking at all airlines at this point. So far Icelandair is HUNDREDS less. I would LOVE to have one flight that took off from here and went straight there but since that isn't possible from SLC I am looking at having at least one stop but usually two on almost every airline.
I am actually really excited about the Iceland plan so I am hoping it will all go well.
I have been watching the rates and they have gone up a couple of dollars and then back down so it has been staying at 1,084 round trip for over a month. Not sure how much better than that I can get but I plan on watching for a while to see what happens.

I just stumbled across your thread as I was searching to see if anyone ever posts trip reports for their European adventures. I'm going to follow along with you as I would love to hear how your trip progresses. Sounds lovely so far!

We took our first trip to Europe in late August/early September. We visited England, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. It was quite a 2 week whirlwind trip but it was also the most amazing trip of my lifetime!!!!! And, of course, now I am dying to go back! Maybe your report will inspire me to find a way to make it happen faster. lol!

Awesome! I'm glad you found my thread! I would love to hear more about your trip. It sounds very close to mine! Except we aren't going to Austria unfortunately.

 

[annegirl]

Last week Doug came home from work holding a big box.
I casually asked what it was thinking it was probably something for his computer.
He said, "I got you a present."
He then told me that he had decided to get it for me for our Europe trip but decided to get it and give it to me early because he was afraid that if he waited until right before the trip, I wouldn't know how to use. it.
I opened up the box and inside was something I have wanted for YEARS!

I have to tell you that I did cry a bit.
Yep.
I was that excited.
I have never had more than a small point and shoot so I am so excited to have a really nice camera.
It came with the two lenses shown and a really nice carrying case. It also has some gadget that makes it so the pictures can go straight to my phone or Ipad.
I am still getting used to it and have yet to figure out how to do much with it but I am so excited to learn!​

 

[KatMark]

What a sweet, sweet surprise from your hubby.

 

[annegirl]

What a sweet, sweet surprise from your hubby.

And it was so unexpected!

 

[Chicago Mo]

I am still getting used to it and have yet to figure out how to do much with it but I am so excited to learn!

OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A camera!!! What model?!?! and two lens!!? That's fantastic! you have the best Hubby ever!!! WTG Doug!!!

 

[missangelalexis]

That is SO awesome!!! DH is such a sweetheart! I'm sure you're gonna have tons of fun playing around with it before the trip!

 

[mariezp]

Awesome! I'm glad you found my thread! I would love to hear more about your trip. It sounds very close to mine! Except we aren't going to Austria unfortunately.

Can't wait til you have more to share! I am having huge withdrawals for some European related reading!


In the meantime, to pass some time until I can work up a second trip for us, I finally got around to making a trip report so you can come on over and read a few details from out trip here. http://www.disboards.com/threads/re...-id-like-to-share-our-trip-to-europe.3423143/

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And, I have to say that your husband is amazing! What a great guy to surprise you with a camera! Looks like a really nice one too! I got a new camera for our trip too but I had to buy it myself. Unfortunately, the one I got did not take the quality of photos I had hoped it would but at least our trip is documented and I do have so many memories I will never ever forget.

 

[annegirl]

Can't wait til you have more to share! I am having huge withdrawals for some European related reading!


In the meantime, to pass some time until I can work up a second trip for us, I finally got around to making a trip report so you can come on over and read a few details from out trip here. http://www.disboards.com/threads/re...-id-like-to-share-our-trip-to-europe.3423143/


And, I have to say that your husband is amazing! What a great guy to surprise you with a camera! Looks like a really nice one too! I got a new camera for our trip too but I had to buy it myself. Unfortunately, the one I got did not take the quality of photos I had hoped it would but at least our trip is documented and I do have so many memories I will never ever forget.

Just went over to your report! I am so excited to read it.

 

[annegirl]

OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A camera!!! What model?!?! and two lens!!? That's fantastic! you have the best Hubby ever!!! WTG Doug!!!

It is a Nikon D3300. One lens says 18-55mm and the other says 55-200mm. I still havent' figured out all its tools and such but I had a lot of fun taking pictures with it at a Scottish festival we went to a couple of weeks ago.

That is SO awesome!!! DH is such a sweetheart! I'm sure you're gonna have tons of fun playing around with it before the trip!

I have had so much fun so far! It is tricky to get used to when I have only ever used my phone or a small pocket sized camera but it takes such good photos even when on auto mode. Now I just have to watch all the you tube tutorials I have been posting on pinterest to figure out how to use all the other cool things on it!