The Thrill of Anticipation...

It is March.  After months of planning and waiting, “The Trip” is finally here.  Tomorrow we will be en route to Geneva, Switzerland to see my parents, and the master itinerary will awaken from its dormant slumber and be set into frenzied motion.  I have so enjoyed the planning of this adventure:  the apartment and hotel searches, the compilation of “where to eat,” “where to go” and “what to do” lists, and even the hours spent poring over train schedules.  I am almost afraid for the planning stage to end and the journey to begin.

Whenever there is lots of build-up and anticipation, there is an attendant fear that the experience itself will somehow not measure up… because we’ve all experienced moments when it hasn’t:  a must-see blockbuster movie, a new trendy restaurant, a new ride (with a 2-hour line) at Disneyland, the “you are totally perfect for each other” blind date… 

In my mind, I have already walked with the children down ancient cobblestone streets, introduced them to Wiener Schnitzel and Italian gelato, played card games with them on trains (pausing between turns to take in the beautiful Swiss scenery), and watched their faces as they caught their first glimpse of live opera in Vienna’s grand opera house.  These are scenes plucked from a hazy memory, photos from travel books and websites, and pure imagination.  I have loved watching the movie play out in my head.   But yesterday, as the opera scene was playing, I took a moment to pause the film and study the picture.   To my dismay, I noticed that we were all wearing perfect opera-going outfits (that I am not packing due to suitcase space constraints), we were sitting in perfect seats (not the cheap side-balcony ones) and we were all holding hands with serene smiles of joy on our faces.  No one was whining, no one was bored, and no one needed to run to the bathroom.  I quickly searched through the other movie scenes.  Sure enough:  no missed trains, no crying, no tired legs, no rain, and no bad hair days.  That’s when it hit me.  The movie in my head has been sheer fantasy -- a perfect but predictable fairy tale.  It will be nothing like the book.  So with only hours to spare, I am reassessing.  I am adjusting the “anticipation” setting from “fantasy” to “adventure…”   And I’m hoping that the book will be even better than the movie.

Itinerary:

March 4^th to 9^th  --  Geneva, Switzerland (Bern, Murten)

March 9^th to 11^th --  Zurich, Switzerland (Luzern)

March 11^th to 12^th – Linz, Austria

March 12^th to April 24^th – Vienna (Budapest, Prague, Bratislava)

April 24^th to May 1^st  -- Bad Gastein, Austria  (Salzburg, Hallstatt)

May 1^st to 5^th – Geneva (Yvoire, France)

May 5^th to 8^th – Rome, Italy

May 8^th to 15^th – Montone, Italy (hill towns in the Umbria region)

May 15^th to 22^nd – Florence  (Venice, Pisa, Lucca, Siena)

May 22^nd to 29^th – Cinque Terre, Italy (Genoa, Sestri Levante)

May 29^th to 31^st -- Geneva