Traveling to Europe is different

Everyone knows you need a passport. You can't just hop a plane and go. Generally speaking you don't need visas within the Eurozone and even for some of the neighboring countries, but we checked all the countries we planned to visit. 

Planes within Europe are smaller and have a smaller luggage size and weight allowance. Check your airlines – all of them! Then adjust your baggage accordingly. Don't forget to check the weight limits too.

If you are renting a car you may need an International Drivers License. You can get that from AAA. You don't have to be a member, but if you aren't you pay a little bit more. Plan ahead if you will be crossing borders with a rental vehicle. Sometimes special advance authorization and paperwork is required. (We needed that for Serbia.)

People no longer use traveler's checks in Europe – just use an ATM and your debit card.

Credit cards are another story. Much of Europe has gone to PIN and Chip credit cards – especially in the UK, Ireland and France. I won't bore you with all the details, but if you are interested you can read more at CreditCard.com
http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/american-travelers-guide-emv-chip-cards-1271.php

Also Flyer Talk maintains a list of banks and credit unions issuing PIN & Chip cards and PIN & Signature cards: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ani-u3tGk5hedGRvcE1ELVg5UmlGZk01SHZvTUMxdUE#gid=0

And then there is power,110 volt in the US and 220 volts in Europe. If you are taking electronic equipment, check each item. Most will work at either voltage. But hair dryers and electric razors are another story. You may have to buy a converter, new gadgets or do without.

Once the power problem is solved, you have to worry about plugs. Ireland and the UK use a three pronged monster; the EU a simple two prong; but the exception is Switzerland which has it's own special plug. UG!

More on plugs and electronics next...

Cave Baths

Of course, we couldn't just stop with waterfalls.  In her unending research of places to see, Mom kept sharing different sites she came across. For the most part, this was Mom's trip, so I was willing to go wherever tickled her fancy.  But a few of her suggestions caught my fancy, one of them being the Cave Baths of Miskolc Tapolca.  These I wanted to see!

We have the best travel agent in the world!

It helps that my travel agent is also my oldest and dearest friend.  

She spent Thanksgiving with us in 2012 while we were still in the talking phase of the trip. When she left we had a deadline.  The airline tickets had to be purchased by the end of January 2013.  Talk about planning ahead!  

That gave us two months to set our itinerary.  It was complicated.  I live in Florida and Melissa is in North Carolina, so we decided to fly to Atlanta and meet in the airport for the final leg to Europe. 

Initially we were going to Hungary and Serbia to search for information on my paternal grandparents and of course Plitvice National Park in Croatia, but we had to fly out of Paris so it seemed a shame not to arrange a stopover and see the Louvre. (Every time we've been to Europe we planned to go to the Louvre, but for one reason or another we never made it.) 

We then found it was better to fly into Dublin, which gave us an opportunity to search for the birthplace of Michael Woods who died in Albermarle, Virgina in 1762.  Instead of just a trip to Eastern Europe, our plans expanded even more to include Switzerland, the ancient home of our Felder ancestors.  

I have to give credit to Rick Steves for all the advice available on his website and in his books.  The tidbit that finally set the itinerary was his suggestion to start in the north if traveling in late summer, so as you move south the temperatures will usually be dropping. The result should be a fairly even climate.  Also to save the places where the water is iffy and the food unusual for the end of the trip on the theory that if you get sick, you don't ruin the entire vacation.

The itinerary was set:
View Vacation 2013 in a larger map

Fly to Dublin - stay 3 days
Fly to Paris - 3 days
Train to Zurich - 2 days
Night train to Budapest - 3 days
Drive to Miskolc - 2 days
Drive to Novi Sad - 2 days
Drive to Erdevik - 2 days
Drive to Zabreb - 2 days (includes trip to Plitvice)
Return to Budapest - 1 day
Fly Home

21 Places to see before you die

I love waterfalls.  When I saw the picture of the Plitvice Lakes waterfalls posted to Google+ by Ralph Roberts, I just had to share.

Photo copyright Jack Brauer, used with permission.  For more of his
photography visit http://www.MountainPhotography.com
 
Melissa saw the photo and said she really wanted to see the falls. 

I had been thinking about crossing the pond to do a bit more genealogy research so we stuck a deal.  Melissa would accompany me and assist and we would also visit Plitvice.

That's the way it all began...