Pop Pop's War Diary

Thanksgiving was great in NJ. I brought my great grandfather's WWI war diary home with me so that I can take some notes about where he was in France while he was in the 104th Army Engineers. Already found out that he was at the battle of Verdun and helped make many roads there for the allies. Will go over it in more detail and hopefully find some of the exact places he was 90 years ago and then visit them when I'm there. It has also further inspired me to keep a written journal of my own during the trip. I will, of course, use this blog to post many things during my days in Europe, but a real journal should be where I write everything first.

Happy Thanksgiving

See subject.


Heh, it's funny for me to post this. No one at all has started reading this thing yet.

Passport In!

Well, I got my passport in the mail today. Quite a fast process, that expedited renewal option. My thanks to the lads and ladies at the U.S. Dept. of State. Well worth the extra $60. Actually brought the priority envelope in from the mailbox a couple days ago and realized only now what it might contain. So, that's out of the way, and I guess I can start preparing for the trip.

Still need to bolt together some more concrete plans with a hotel reservation or two, etc. Need to look into "Ryan Air" I think. That's a European regional air service that I may use rather than the TGV to get to England/Ireland. I met someone at a bar in Newport who said I should most definitely visit Kinsale, Ireland if I head over that way. Apparently, it is the official sister city of Newport.

Need to start going over my preliminary list of supplies and gear and then figure out exactly how I'm going to pack for this trip. So far, it looks like I need to fit everything I'll need for three weeks into a single pack. Then there is a money belt, traveler's checks, the new cell phone... I swear I won't be finishing the last details the night before my flight. I did get a new knife already, though. Gerber AR 3.0. Great damn knife. Same as the one I lost in San Fran, except it's all stainless. Of course this means I must check my bag at the airport. Probably better anyway because I may go ahead and buy a new, larger pack for this trip and it will be too big for carry-on anyway.

Still debating whether or not to bring my great-grandfather's WWI compass with me. He was in France during the war, I think. And I just think it would be amazing to navigate through a bit of the french countryside with it about a hundred years after it was first there in his hands. But the thought of losing it or having it stolen makes me think twice. I will have Houdini with me, of course.

I'm heading to my dad's in NJ tomorrow for Thanksgiving, and he is holding on to Pop Pop's war diary for me, so maybe I'll at least look up some of the specific locations where he was and be sure to set foot there in respect of him and the country of France.

One Destination Finalized

I will be spending three days with Uncle Joel and friends in Ischgl, Austria. I just got an e-mail from Joel saying that he needed to know if I was in, because he and some friends are renting an apartment there for a short ski trip. I doubt that I will ski, but it should be great fun regardless of that. The pictures I've seen of Ischgl are wonderful, and several of Joel's party will not be skiing either, so I will have some people to hang out with during the day. Prepare yourself, Austria. I am coming back.

Passport Application Away!

Well, it only took me a month to put the renewal form in an envelope with my old passport and drop it in a mailbox. Sent it two-day priority so it's nearly there already, and since I'm using the expedited service, they should be done printing out my new passport by Thanksgiving. Hopefully there won't be any complications and I will find it in my mail box before the trip. Now I have to start buying some gear and fine-tune my virtually non-existent itinerary. Going to need to look into getting a new cell phone, too, because I want one that will work internationally and also have GPS. I'm leaning toward a Blackberry, and also puking at the same time, because I told myself I would never EVER buy such an unnecessary technological device and become one of those people. They're too big to fit in your pocket comfortably, for one thing, and that makes them ultra stupid. But... it would solve my cellphone and GPS problems simultaneously.

I've changed the location of my France trek from the eastern side of the country to the western. Specifically, Bretagne (Brittany). It seems it won't be quite as cold as the eastern provinces, which will help. Looks like the daily temp will swing between 5 and 10 degrees C. That's an average of about 46 degrees F. Another bonus about this is that I'll have to cross the whole country to get there from Germany, so I'll see a lot more of it. This will also open up the opportunity to incorporate Paris into the trip. According to my french teacher, I simply must go to Paris. She lived there for the last two years, so I will trust her advice. And after all, it is Paris.