Giving Vienna
Whoa--it seems that I've lapsed and completely spaced posting anything in over a month! Sorry guys, lack of posting stems not from dullness but from the craziness of a packed schedule.
I opted not to go home this year for Christmas and instead did my gift giving this year at my extended family's annual Christmas Eve celebration. A little over a year since my grandmother passed away, this year's gathering was significantly smaller--only 17 of us were there as opposed to the usual 30+. Still, it was a good time and a great meal. I made away with a White Elephant gift of a griddle for all my breakfast delights and a Bailey's Irish Cream gift set, complete with tumbler glasses. Pretty good pull!
After church on Christmas day, I hightailed down to the Anderson's in Vancouver, WA, where I've spent the last couple of days relaxing and decompressing. I fondly regard my visits to the Anderson's as the most relaxing time I have all year. This family is possibly the most hospitable, inviting, and fun on the face of the earth. Despite living "out there", awesome people regularly drop by to visit, play games, say hi, and deliver wonderful baked goods. To top it all off, the land surrounding the house is the best part---you can't see a neighbor in any direction because the propery is both huge and the trees surrounding the edge are dense and fully grown. It is one of the few places I've stayed at where I feel like I can strech out my arms and not bump into a fence or something. It's a revitalizing feeling.
The title of this post is "Giving Vienna" because that was my gift to myself this year. Or shall I say, purchase of opportunity? ;) Scandinavian Airlines had a promotion for the 24 days of Christmas, where each day December 1-23 was a different SAS travel deal for wayy cheap. The promotion was valid for dates between the beginning of January to the end of March and included destinations like Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, London, Mancbhester, Vienna, etc. On December 24, the travel deals from all previous 23 days were available.
Earlier, I had passed on the travel deals to my friend Bo and he told me to let him know if anything great came up. I was holding out for Budapest, but when the 24th rolled around I sprung for the next best thing---Vienna, at a cost of $500 round-trip. I got ahold of Bo, vacationing with his family in Florida, who immediately began to check his calendar for good dates in March. Within fifteen minutes, we had narrowed it down to March 11-20 and I had booked the tickets.
With our travel plans finalized, Bo and I started calling our friends. I used the line, "Do you happen to have $1000 and a week of vacation to use in March? Yes? How about Vienna, March 11-20?" Within a few hours, three more people had signed on board, one of them even calling his manager on Christmas Eve to make sure it was okay to take the time off. We're a group of five strong.
The best part is that Vienna is only three hours by train from Budapest, my favorite city in Europe. And heck yeah, we're goin'!
Reposted from Adventures of a Vagabond
I opted not to go home this year for Christmas and instead did my gift giving this year at my extended family's annual Christmas Eve celebration. A little over a year since my grandmother passed away, this year's gathering was significantly smaller--only 17 of us were there as opposed to the usual 30+. Still, it was a good time and a great meal. I made away with a White Elephant gift of a griddle for all my breakfast delights and a Bailey's Irish Cream gift set, complete with tumbler glasses. Pretty good pull!
After church on Christmas day, I hightailed down to the Anderson's in Vancouver, WA, where I've spent the last couple of days relaxing and decompressing. I fondly regard my visits to the Anderson's as the most relaxing time I have all year. This family is possibly the most hospitable, inviting, and fun on the face of the earth. Despite living "out there", awesome people regularly drop by to visit, play games, say hi, and deliver wonderful baked goods. To top it all off, the land surrounding the house is the best part---you can't see a neighbor in any direction because the propery is both huge and the trees surrounding the edge are dense and fully grown. It is one of the few places I've stayed at where I feel like I can strech out my arms and not bump into a fence or something. It's a revitalizing feeling.
The title of this post is "Giving Vienna" because that was my gift to myself this year. Or shall I say, purchase of opportunity? ;) Scandinavian Airlines had a promotion for the 24 days of Christmas, where each day December 1-23 was a different SAS travel deal for wayy cheap. The promotion was valid for dates between the beginning of January to the end of March and included destinations like Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, London, Mancbhester, Vienna, etc. On December 24, the travel deals from all previous 23 days were available.
Earlier, I had passed on the travel deals to my friend Bo and he told me to let him know if anything great came up. I was holding out for Budapest, but when the 24th rolled around I sprung for the next best thing---Vienna, at a cost of $500 round-trip. I got ahold of Bo, vacationing with his family in Florida, who immediately began to check his calendar for good dates in March. Within fifteen minutes, we had narrowed it down to March 11-20 and I had booked the tickets.
With our travel plans finalized, Bo and I started calling our friends. I used the line, "Do you happen to have $1000 and a week of vacation to use in March? Yes? How about Vienna, March 11-20?" Within a few hours, three more people had signed on board, one of them even calling his manager on Christmas Eve to make sure it was okay to take the time off. We're a group of five strong.
The best part is that Vienna is only three hours by train from Budapest, my favorite city in Europe. And heck yeah, we're goin'!
Reposted from Adventures of a Vagabond