This has been a shit-tastic year and no fooling. Not 1998 bad obviously, or 1986, but pretty damn close. I will be thrilled to see the back of it, though I’m not sanguine about 2008 being any better.
The trip went well, I suppose, although Paris was stressful. I think if we ever manage to get out that way again, the new priorities are Ireland and either Austria or southern Germany, and I don’t think it would take much to get my German back up to tourist-sufficient. The amazing thing this time is that we spent parts of six days in London, and while it made for a nice turnaround, I think we’ve hit a point where we either need to move to London or start spending quality time on other destinations. Not that we’ve exhausted its potential or anything, but there are high-priority spots elsewhere that are more important to see than our third tier of London sights.
It didn’t help that we got sick. I blame the walking tour of York in a slow drizzle and freezing temps, though I would certainly go back. In fact, York and Bath are both places I could go hang out for a while, just to relax and get my head together. Paris I’d like to see again, but only with an ironclad guarantee of Metro service and at least one pass through the phrasebook before leaving. I really think the next trip will be Dublin, Salzburg, the Black Forest, and whatever else of Ireland I can get in. But after totaling the spreadsheet on trip expenses, I think it will be a long time before we can get out of the country again, unless it’s driving to Canada or something.
I’m FREEZING, by the way. I guess it’s time to turn on the heater. I also need a haircut something awful, and something awful is pretty much what I can expect my hair to look like. Going down to the 2/2 was probably an error, but I don’t know if I could still get by with 4/2 or even 3/2 anymore. I suppose I should look a some of the pics and see which looked more viable, but for now I think it’d better be a hat.