Okay, so maybe I'm no little orphan Annie, but I am soon to be European traveler extraordinaire. I've got my GoogleDoc itinerary planned out, my packing list marked with checks (save a few things to grab this last week), my room strewn with clothes (oh wait, that's normal), and my spirits high. My week will consist of meeting with neighbors from Prague, planning online with French friends, coordinating with friends and family meeting me over there, and finding as many cheap and exciting activities abroad as humanly possible. So far: bike tours around Versailles (hold the cheap), pub crawl around Budapest, HASHING in a castle in the Netherlands!
For those of you who don't know/understand/aren't cool...my personal goal in Europe is to participate in hashing as much as humanly possible. The Hash House Harriers are an international group with the tagline: "A Drinking Club with a Running Problem." My mother hash, the VooDoo Hash, has been the highlight of my year. I ran my first trail in January 2011 and have been HOOKED ever since! Upon learning that there is a summer European Conference in the NETHERLANDS in a CASTLE for THREE DAYS (aka 3 days of running and boozing...in a freaking CASTLE), I knew that my European Excursion was changed forever. Now, instead of only exploring the historical Europe I was oh-so excited to see, I get to run, with locals, around crazy parts of Europe where I never would have gone.
Example: On June 15th I will be running in the Vatican Full Moon Hash. This essentially means I will meet up with a rowdy group of Italian Hashers under the full moon, run around the secret alleyways of the Vatican city, and then sing crazy, dirty drinking songs as we booze into the night. In the Vatican City. Who DOES that?! This is just ONE example of the many groups of hashers I shall meet, trails I shall run, and boozes I will booze.
But, first things must be first. Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start). I must figure out this whole cell phone sitch (calm down, parents), plan hosteling in Spain and Lake Como (first 2 weeks of trip), and mentally prepare for what will most likely be the best three months of my life. Ohhhhhh SNAP!
Europe...HERE I COME!
Okay, so I know you probably haev JUST arrived to your first local (short for location, duh). But I am already anxiously awaiting your first blog post on some trouble you inevitably found upon arrival. Allow me to start vicariously living through you now... and go!
ReplyDeleteKisses from over the Atlantic :)