It’s been 10 years, 10 years since I was in Europe. I came home from Europe on the eve of the September 11 attacks in New York and now it’s time to go back.
This will be so different for me! I am so used to being in Asia, that I’m not sure how I will cope! Ok, I’ll set the scene first. I’m off to Holland for a Fundraising conference (which I am super excited about) and then am tacking on a week in Spain afterwards. The point of going to Spain was to see a friend of mine who lives there, but now I find out he will be out of the country for work, so I am pretty much flying solo in Spain.
There is only 1 sleep to go, and as normal…I’m not ready. I will be doing a lot of running around today and tomorrow (thank goodness I fly late tomorrow night!) to try and get things done. I get into Amsterdam Monday afternoon (their time) and then have 1 day to get over the jet lag before conference. Think that day will be a chill out day to get my head straight. I’m staying near a beach, but I think it will be FAR too cold to even contemplate much more than just sitting on it with a coffee and trying to keep warm!
After my conference in Amsterdam, I am off to Barcelona, which everyone tells me is amazing. I’m lucky enough to be catching up with friends Betty & Kath when I am there for a couple of days. They will have been tripping around Europe for a month by then (lucky!) so it will be nice to spend a couple of days with friends. Though, Sunday is Kath’s birthday AND the final of the rugby world cup, so I believe I will be most likely in a pub somewhere watching football on Sunday…
The plan after that is to head to Granada in the south, then Seville, home of the flamenco singers and matadors! My wonderful friend Jose has helped me out with booking flights etc (there is nothing like receiving an entirely in Spanish which you think is a train ticket…). After Barcelona is the flying solo part, so I’ll be sure to keep you all posted.
PS – I am doing a fundraising blog for work people about the conference, so if you are interested you can check it out at www.fundraisingchangestheworld.blogspot.com.
H x
