MY BROTHER AND SISTER ARE ALMOST HERE!

OKAY. So, Thursday I basically did nothing. I stepped on glass the night before and my feet were absolutely killing me, so I avoided walking as much as possible.

Friday I basically spent the entire day planning the itinerary for when my brother and sister and everyone comes over here.

Saturday I did one load of laundry. I thought I’d save money that way…but it was a pretty stupid idea. I forgot that I hadn’t washed one of my new black shirts yet, and so everything came out a darker shade than it went in. Lucky me.

That afternoon Gavin and I went into the city. We both got a kebab and Gavin needed to do some shoe shopping so I tagged along. That night there was a barbeque going on at Concordia, so around 10pm, I walked over there. THEN, everyone decided to go to the city, so back I went. We went to Havana Club and Die Burg, and then around 4 we caught a taxi home.

Sunday I got all of my stuff together for the trip. Then I talked to my mom and sister online till super late at night. Didn’t end up going to bed until after 5am!

Today I went to class, then ran to the hauptbanhof (main train station) to check on some tickets for our trip, came back, and packed everything up!

Tomorrow my train leaves at 11:35 pm, stops in Venice at 2:52 am, and then at 5:15 I get back on and make it to Treviso at 5:35 am. My plane doesn’t leave until 12:35 that afternoon, so I’ve got a good long seven hours to kill that morning. …hopefully there is a Starbucks in the area.

So, after getting on my plane, I’ll land in Frankfurt around 1:30 pm, find my hostel, do I don’t know what, go to bed, wake up, go to the airport, and PICK UP MY BROTHER AND SISTER!!!

FROM THERE, here is the itinerary that I’ve been working on for the past couple weeks:
(BY THE WAY, please don’t waste your time reading this. It’s more for my own knowledge. Just in case I happen to get lost somewhere, I’ll be able to get online and figure out where to go and how to get there!)

A General Euro Trip Guide

Wednesday, May 28
6:00 PM – Depart from Chicago.
Duration of flight is 7 hours; there is a 7 hour time change.

Thursday, May 29 (HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY DANE!)
8:00 AM – Land in London Heathrow airport.
9:50 AM – Depart from London Heathrow airport, terminal 2.
12:20 PM – Land in Frankfurt International Airport.
Andi will be there to pick you up and she is expecting a giant hug from each of you.
3:00 PM – Take a shuttle bus either from the Frankfurt Airport or from the main train station to the Frankfurt Hahn Airport. Bus will cost 12 euro per person. Duration of bus ride is 1 hour and 45 minutes.
If place of departure is Frankfurt Airport (departs at 3:15 PM): Bus-Station, Terminal 1, arrival area in front of hall B, bus-stop number 22.
If place of departure is Frankfurt Main Train Station (departs at 3:00 PM): Bus-Stop at Mannheimer Street. Bus-Stop is marked with a "RYANAIR/Bohr" sign. It is located on the south side of the main-train-station.
4:45 PM – Arrive at Frankfurt Hahn Airport. If we happen to miss the 3:00 shuttle bus, there is also one at 4:00. They depart every hour.
7:30 PM – Depart from Frankfurt Hahn Airport.
9:20 PM – Land in Girona Airport (Barcelona)
10:00 PM – Take the Barcelona Bus from Girona to Barcelona City Center. Bus will cost 12 euro per person for one-way, or 21 euro per person for two-way. Duration of bus ride is 1 hour and 10 minutes.
11:10 – The bus will drop us off at the Estacio d' Autobusos Barcelona Nord (Barcelona's main bus terminal) in Barcelona city centre. From there, we can either take the underground or a taxi to our hotel.
If we take the underground:
- The nearest underground station is the Arc de Triomf. It is a 5-10 minute walk from the bus stop.
- Get off at the Llucuna underground. Walk northwest on Carrer de la Ciutat de Granada for one block until you hit Carrer de Pallars. Turn right. Hotel will be at the end of the second block.
Express by Holiday Inn Barcelona
C/ Pallars 203
08019 Barcelona, Spain
Phone Number: 0034 934 863 991
Check-in is at 2:00 PM.
Abby reserved this hotel so she must be the person to check-in.

Friday, May 30
Spend the day in Barcelona.

Saturday, May 31
3:45 AM – Take shuttle bus from Estacio d' Autobusos Barcelona Nord to airport.
4:55 AM – Arrive at Girona Airport.
6:50 AM – Depart from Girona Airport (Barcelona).
8:35 AM – Arrive in Paris Beauvais Airport.
8:30 AM – Take a shuttle bus from Beauvais Airport into Paris. Bus will cost 13 euro per person. Duration of bus ride is 1 hour and 30 minutes.
10:00 AM – Bus will drop us off at the Porte Maillot (congress center).
If we take a bus to our hotel:
- Take line 62 or 132. Get off at the Bibliotheque Francois Mitterand.
If we take the metro to our hotel:
- Get on line 14. Get off at the Bibliotheque Francois Mitterand.
If we take the RER to our hotel:
- Get on line C. Get off at the Bibliotheque Francois Mitterand.
n From Bibliotheque Francois Mitterand, walk southwest on Rue De Tolbiac to get to our hotel.
Paris Park and Suites Grande Bibliotheque
15, rue de Tolbiac, 75013 Paris
Phone Number: 0033 (0) 8 9268 3000
Check-in is at 2:30 PM.
Abby paid for this hotel so she must be the person to check-in.

Sunday, June 1
Spend the day in Paris.

Monday, June 2
Spend the day in Paris

Tuesday, June 3
6:43 AM – Depart from Paris Nord Station.
Duration of train ride is 2:15 hours.
7:58 AM – Arrive at London St. Pancras Station.
- Take the pink line to the Royal Oak station.
- When exiting Royal Oak, turn right and go under bridge. Hostel is next to the shell station.
London Torquay Hostel
1 Torquay Street
n Via Victoria:
- From the Victoria Station, take bus number 36. There are stops just before, or just after the shell station. Hostel is next to the shell station.

Wednesday, June 4
3:00 PM – Depart from London Victoria Station on the Gawick Express Train.
- Tickets are available at Gatwick Express office in London Victoria and Gatwick Airport. Train comes every 15 minutes.
- Discount prices are available for groups: Four or three adults pay for only two tickets when traveling together between London Victoria and Gawick Airport.
- One single adult ticket is 17.90 pounds for one-way. The entire group would only have to pay for three tickets. Total is 53.7 pounds, or 6 pounds per person.
Duration of train ride is 30 minutes.
3:30 PM – Arrive at Gatwick Airport.
5:00 PM – Depart from Gatwick Airport (London).
8:25 PM – Land in Ciampino Airport (Rome)
– Take shuttle bus into Rome OR take taxi directly to hotel (hotel is 12.4 miles away from the Ciampino Airport).
n If we take the shuttle bus:
9:00 PM (aprox) – Bus departs from Ciampino Airport
Duration of bus ride is 45 minutes. Cost is 5 or 6 euro per person.
9:45 PM – Bus will drop us off at the Roma Termini train station.
- From Termini, take the underground Line B to Tiburtina Station. They come every five minutes between 5:30 AM and 11:30 PM.
- From Tiburtina, take the Blue Bus Cotral to Palombara. This bus comes every 50 minutes. Get off at the Marco Simone area—the bus stop before S. Lucia of Mentana.
- Hotel is north of golf course; Via Pedica delle Ginestre intersects with Via Palombarese. The address of our hotel is:
Residenza Villa Maria
Via Pedica delle Ginestre 16, 00012 Marco Simone
Phone Number: 0039 (06) 80 77 492
Check-in is at 2:00 PM.
Abby paid for this hotel so she must be the one to check-in.

Thursday, June 5 – Spend the day in Rome OR Venice…it’s up in the air.
6:50 AM – Depart from Rome Termini train station.
Duration of train ride is 4 hours and 27 minutes.
11:17 AM – Arrive at the Venezia Santa Lucia train station.
6:36 PM – Depart from Venezia Santa Lucia train station
Duration of train ride is 4 hours and 32 minutes.
11:08 PM – Arrive at Roma Termini train station. Use directions above to get back to hotel.

Friday, June 6
Spend the day in Rome

Saturday, June 7
7:00 AM – Take bus or taxi to the Ciampino Airport. Bus departs from the Termini Station, so use the same directions we used to get to the hotel.
9:35 AM – Depart from Ciampino Airport.
11:40 AM – Arrive in Schonefeld Airport (Berlin)
- Take the train (either the RB14 or the RE7, 18 mins) or the S-Bahn (line S9, 25 mins) from the airport train station to the Ostbahnhof.
- Directly infront of the Ostbahnhof Station, the street Straße der Pariser Kommune begins. You just follow it crossing the square Franz-Mehring-Platz. Then you will find the Pegasus Hostel on the left hand side of the street in a bright yellow house with dark blue oriels. Please note that the Straße der Pariser Kommune continues after the Franz-Mehring-Platz.
Berlin Pegasus Hostel
Str. der Pariser Kommune 35
10243 Berlin, Germany
Phone Number: 0049 30 2977360
Check-in is at 2:00 PM.

Sunday, June 8
8:00 AM – Depart from Schonefeld Airport.
9:15 AM – Arrive at Hahn Airport (Frankfurt)
9:45 AM (aprox) – Take shuttle from airport and get dropped off at the Frankfurt Central Train Station.
- Take the bus line 37 in the direction of Gutleut/Briefzentrum. Get off the bus at the stop Johanna Kirchner-Altenheim. Our hotel on the right hand side. It is about a 10 minute bus ride.
Express by Holiday Inn Frankfurt-Messe
Gutleut Strasse 296
Frankfurt, 60327 Germany
Phone Number: 0049 69 506960
Check-in is at 2:00 PM.
Abby paid for this hotel so she must be the person to check-in.

Monday, June 9—Everyone except for Andi
5:00 AM – Take a train from the main train station to the Frankfurt International Airport. Trains run every 15 minutes and it is only a ten minute ride. Cost is 3.30 euro per person.
5:10 AM – Arrive at Frankfurt International Airport.
7:25 AM – Depart from Frankfurt International Airport.
8:10 AM – Land at London Heathrow airport.
11:15 AM – Depart from London Heathrow airport, terminal 3.
2:10 PM – Land at Chicago O’Hare Airport.

Monday June 9—Andi’s plan
5:00 AM – Go with the group to the Frankfurt Airport.
7:00 AM – Say goodbye to everyone L
7:15 AM – Take shuttle bus to Hahn Airport.
8:45 AM – Arrive at Hahn Airport.
10:50 AM – Depart from Hahn Airport (Frankfurt).
12:10 PM – Land in Treviso.
2:27 PM – Take train back to Klagenfurt
6:04 PM – Arrive at Klagenfurt train station.