The Plan...

“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” 

– John Steinbeck

“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” 

– Martin Buber

 

 I believe Anna thinks I have every waking minute of this trip planned. 

I don't. But I like making her think I do. She wants room to be spontaneous. So I told her - Sunday between 4pm and 5 pm we can do whatever she feels like. Maybe :)

In truth I am a bit of a type A personality. I plan. I organize. I prioritize. Its a gift (and a curse). At the same time I know when to step back and let go. I'm not fazed by hiccups or when thing's don't go according to plan. That's life. That's my life.

So here it goes: The PLAN 

Anna and I will be traveling from August 16th (a Thursday) to September 2nd (a Sunday). We actually moved the dates a bit so we could come back on the 2nd since the 3rd is Labor Day and this will give us time to rest and readjust before going back to work.

August 16th: 

•  Flight to Edinburgh from the Sacramento International Airport. Departing at 7am. I just realized we'll have to be there at 5am. Oh well, I wasn't planning on sleeping that night anyways.
• We have two connections on our way to Edinburgh. This is to avoid Heathrow (London) at all costs. Its chaos there at the moment with the Summer Olympics!

August 17th:

• Arrive in Edinburgh, Scotland at 10am!
• Travel to hotel to check-in.
• The budget motel we are staying at is only a 20 minute walk from Edinburgh Castle! 

August 17th - 21st:

• Explore the city with our Edinburgh Pass! 
• Sunday we will spend visiting our Pastor's old church in Musselburgh and fellowship with the church family.
• On the 21st we have tour to see Sterling Castle and a few other sites.
• Visit all of the Reformation church history sites :)

August 22nd:

• Morning flight to London! The crazy part was that a flight was actually cheaper than taking the train. We wanted to see the countryside but for that kind of price difference we can forgo the pleasure :)

August 22nd - August 27th:

• Explore the city using our London Passes! This includes a trip to the famous Windsor Castle! 
• In honor of my upcoming birthday we will go see the Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theater.
• We bought tickets to take a tour of Buckingham Palace! Its only open for a few months out of the year and we are going to make it just in time :)
• We have a tour planned to visit Salisbury Cathedral, Stonehenge, and the city of Bath.
• Visit the Metropolitan Tabernacle on Sunday for services. This is C.H. Spurgeon's old church! We'll also meet up with a friend of mine and do a bit of church history/Reformation sight seeing

August 28th:

• Morning Euro Star train to Paris. The train goes underneath the channel of water that divides England from France.  It only takes 2 hours to get between London and Paris.

August 28th - September 1st:

• Explore the City using our Paris Passes. The Paris Pass includes a trip the beautiful Versailles Palace and Gardens.
• We'll spend half the day exploring the Louvre Museum!
• We'll also probably eat more than go sight seeing ;)

September 2nd:

• Morning flight from Paris and arrive back in Sacramento at 8pm on the same day.

So that is the general plan. Trust me, the final plan will be much more detailed! Except for the days for which we have tours, tickets, or church services - all other days will be more of a "go with the flow" kind of deal. I'll definitely have a list of places we want to see just so we don't miss anything important or try to remember what is it we wanted to see.

Hopefully, we'll get to experience everything we want to and more. If not, and Lord willing, there is always next time! 

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