Anticipayayshun

*Sings at the top of her lungs*...is making me wait.  It's keeping me WAYAYAYAYAYATING...

You would think that after a while I would calm down about traveling, but it seems the opposite is true.

I don't know exactly what it is about this trip as opposed to the one we just took to Costa Rica, but I am walking around like an orgasm waiting to happen.  I would think that the Unit Innocent Bystander being gone had something to do with it, but even when he was still home I was feeling like I was one stroke away from exploding.  I am and have been positively VIBRATING.  I reckon it paid off in the inserting of slot A into tab B-it was a wicked fun goodbye week.

I mean, I was excited about going to Costa Rica and I learned a great deal, but that one was more like going to Disney World or Six Flags than our trips to Europe.  It was exhilarating and beautiful in a natural and relaxing and physical way, whereas Europe is exhilarating and beautiful in a very manmade, stimulating and MENTAL way. 

The minute we step out of Centraal Station in Amsterdam, we are surrounded with history.   The architecture is amazing-churches, government buildings-even the hotels.   And the art-don't even get me started on the art.  I know we have art here in the US-my parents are both artists (in fact, Dar and I are going to the opening of a new gallery my Daddy will be showing in tomorrow night for V-day).  But the US has nothing on Europe for historical art or the Masters, and personally, I DIG old.  And you know how we US Americans feel we have this wonderful melting pot (and believe me when I say that that is written tongue in cheek) of a country?  *shakes head*  I don't know how it was before the European Union in effect dissolved its borders for 'member states', but we have NOTHING on Europe as far as melting pots go. 

Maybe the reason I am so titillated is that we have been trying to finger out a way we could spend a couple of years there, and had kind of zoned in on Spain as our destination of choice (mostly because  it seems to have the least restrictive temporary residence requirements)(but the birds are a huge cog in this fantasy). Going to Barcelona to me is somewhat of a scouting mission, and the fact that I will get to see some of one of my favorite artist's (Dali) work is just a boner.  *bitch slaps self* ....er...BONUS, people.  It's a BONUS.

And?  It is all carved in stone.  All of our reservations are booked-airline tickets both to, from, AND in-country, as well as hotels in both Amsterdam and Barcelona.  We had talked about taking a train to Paris again and staying there for a day, but decided that that would be unfair to both Paris and us-we did that last time we 'crossed the pond' and Paris deserves a trip of her own. (Although we got an AMAZING amount done in the day and a half we were there, including TWO trips to the Musee' d'Orsay, my favorite museum in the world.)  That is FINE AND DANDY with me-it just ensures another trip!

I'm off to pack.  Again.  I do leave SIX WEEKS from today, don'tcha know?  

~~~waves~~~