I'm Tired of Summits, Thank You Very Much

As mentioned, I was in London on 7/7. What I hadn't realized was that the bombings were linked to the G8 summit. Somehow that had slipped my mind. That's making the news of the massive protests over the G20 a little more unsettling to me. I just pray that my kids' parents aren't watching the news like I am right now. It's going to be a traffic and security nightmare as it is. I'm thinking the less we're on the Tube, the better and the sooner we're out of London, the better I'm going to feel. It really pisses me off to say that, too, since there is really no city in the world I'd rather be in than London.

I'm packed and about to change into plane clothes and load up the car. It's going to be a long night, but I'm hoping the cough medicine will kick in and knock me out on the way over. I don't want to be jetlagging on top of all this damn stress.

Testing posting via text even though my phone won't work overseas.

Email Posting

Just testing blogger via email.

Here We Go Again!

Tomorrow I leave for London on another school trip--10 days to London, Paris, Florence and Rome. I'm especially psyched because I've never been to Italy AND I have a better camera thanks to my daddy letting me borrow his. This trip will be more about pictures (and clothing, of course) than the chotski I usually buy. One can only have so many tiny Eiffel Towers and Big Bens, you know.

I thought that it would be best to document this trip from the earliest stages since I'm all about detail in the beginning and not so much at the end. ADHD in action, folks. Some may remember the great suitcase search of 2005--that was quite a struggle and I'm sorry to say that the suitcase is not making the trip this time because it was so frigging big I kept overloading it on the return trip. I've had to throw away books and overpack carryons every time, so that sucker is in the attic and in its place is a gorgeous new black Delsey that was a gift last Christmas...and I've probably already blogged about it because I lvoe my suitcase, but it's just that fabulous. Much better.

I'm trying to keep it to one suitcase and one carry on, plus my travel bag (which is enormous beyond all reason, but will look very chic in Paris). Packing has never been my strong suit, but I'm trying desperately to cut down on the clothes so I can bring cool new clothes home. The weather is going to be tricky since London and Rome are quite different, but so far, fingers crossed, rain isn't a big issue and it should be fairly warm. I'm the Queen of Jackets, so I'm doing the travel-wardrobe layering look. Shoes are a concern, but I'll make them work. Black is very forgiving.

I've waited to pack until tonight--aka the night before I leave. This is unlike me. Usually I have most non-clothing items packed, but not tonight. I started at 7:00 and, well, you can see how it's gone thus far:

Phase I: Sorting it all out. This is a rough phase, made that much harder by the fact that I've managed to lose my French electric adapter. I do, however, have two that can be used on my next trip to Fiji.

Obviously, this is not all going to fit in the carry on...and I am NOT taking a bigger carry-on...I hope.

I'm going to take lots of black clothes since it's Europe and they hide the dirt, so I thought, "What the hell, let's get a shot of the lens cap, too." It was on purpose. Really.

Suitcase--until 7:45 this is all that was in it. Three jackets, a pair of jeans and a belt (leftover from my birthday trip to Jasper).

This is it at 8:29...there's a lot more in it. Progress is being made. Note the gray and black skirts on the top of the pile--you will see them in many photos. Not sure about that plaid coat because it's gonna wrinkle like hell. And that watch is about as ugly as it can be, but I needed one with an alarm...What that white stuff is, I have no idea since I don't usually pack much white for London since it all just gets icky.
I found the passport last week--for those who don't know, this is not always such an easy task. I'm very proud to announce that THIS passport is going to make it through 4 overseas trips! A personal record for Kim's passports. I had one that made it one trip and another that did three...well, technically, I think it actually made it to Mexico, too, but that wasn't really OVERseas, so this passport--#3--is the winner. Evil #2 hid in the storage drawer in my van and cost me $100 and a near heart attack when I was heading to London in 2005 (note the stamp in #3). I made it, though, and was there just in time to see the Olympics announcement, go to bed and wake up to the subway nightmares. I didn't realize I had the July 6 stamp.
I rounded up the pounds and euros to take along. That would be 22 pounds (I'm too lazy to find the symbol) and 3 euros and some change or roughly $31 and $4. Not bad. I found the ten pound note when I was cleaning all the Tube passes and receipts out of the passport holder. That's my trusty EF phone card there, too. It's been on several trips with me as well.

Now I have to go see if I can find my Top-Up card for my London mobile phone or else I'm afraid it's going to be useless. That I found the charger for the damn thing is a bloody miracle.