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So last night, my mother and I were talking about taking a trip to Europe. I know it’s cliché but we’ve decided that we have to go to France. Because of work I’m only gonna give myself like 12 days max to roam. The question is if we should do all France, a London-Paris hybrid, a London-Paris-Nice hybrid, or even a London-Paris-Amsterdam trip.

Sure I could do either of the last two but mind you, the price jumps up almost $1.5k compared to the London-Paris hybrid! Ugh but I’m going nuts, because even if I decide to do the three city tour I don’t know if I should do Nice or Amsterdam. Actually just thinking about it now, Amsterdam seems like the better choice.. seems like it’s for a much younger crowd and I’m in a totally different country!

Also I decided to take a tour instead of winging it on my own. If I was with my friends I wouldn’t mind winging it, but I’m with my mom and I think she’d prefer to be escorted around. What’s also great is that the tour (from Monogram Travel) actually gives you days to roam around on your own. So in a way it’s structured but with a certain degree of freedom.

What I’m also excited about this London-Paris thing is that we get to ride the Eurostar. I’ve always liked trains as a kid so taking the Eurostar is important. And if I decide to go to Amsterdam, then I get to ride on the Thalys. Going to Nice would mean I’d take the TGV.

Now is it just me or am I really pushing this 3 city thing? lol Argh! It sounds super awesome but I’m not sure I wanna spend so much money for it. =\

Anyway, we’re still thinking of going on March or April so it’s still far away. As you know from my post about New York, I have a habit of planning things way way way in advance. It’s so far in advance that the tours I’ve been looking at don’t have prices for next year yet.. and I’ve been basing my estimates on this year’s prices.

In the meantime, I’ve been watching way too much YouTube videos of airplanes, airports, and now trains just to satiate myself. Now who can forget Top Gear’s Aston Martin vs Train race! For the train, they actually took the Eurostar and the TGV! OMG, this could be my trip right here (sans Aston Martin)!

From the YouTube video description:

Air traffic control tapes of Swissair Flight 111 have finally been released after a legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The ATC tapes, released by the Canadian Press, have not been made public since the 1998 crash that killed 229 people.

The tapes contain hours of recording including the final dramatic 12 minutes of the flight before the aircraft plunged at high speed into St. Margaret’s Bay, N.S., near Halifax.

“Swissair one eleven is declaring pan pan pan we have smoke in the cockpit,” one pilot said.

“Pan pan pan” means there is an emergency on board the aircraft, but that there is no immediate danger.

Later, another said, “We are declaring emergency now” (this can be heard on part four of the audio link to the right).

They were told they could commence the fuel dump, discussed altitude and the approach to Halifax airport with air traffic controllers. They were asked to advise when it was complete.

There was one last garbled “hello,” then presumably electrical failure cut off communications. About six minutes after the last transmission, everyone was dead.

Can I just say how glad I am that I have HD TV right now? If you’re wondering what I’m watching, it’s the tryouts for men’s diving. lol ohoo yummy. Now is it jsut me or do a lot of the guys seem gay? Actually that David Boudia guy.. doesn’t he remind you of Lucas Grabeel??

Hrmm.. maybe not. HAHA

Oh and have you seen Thomas Finchum? It’s amazing what 4 years can do eh? Thank god he no longer looks like a kid, but I’ll be a little mean here and say that he still sounds like one (as in his voice hasn’t changed).

Anyway I’m actually excited about the Olympics now. It’s a whole new ballgame because I finally have HD and DVR. There’s no more staying up at 2am waiting for the freakin’ badminton game. So when is the Summer Olympics you ask? Sept 6 – 17.

I miss the Concorde. It just looks so cool and as a kid I always imagined it to be the best plane out there. C’mon NY to Paris in under 4 hours! It was fast! Too bad I never got to ride it, but at least I was fortunate to see one at JFK.

I was telling my mom earlier about the iPhone and it turned out that she already knew about it (including the price). I was shocked! This is my mom we’re talking about! She doesn’t care too much for technology and yet she knows just as much as I do about the iPhone.

Anyway, does anyone have any ideas as to what the 3rd generation iPhone will be called? Will it be the 3G iPhone? 2nd iPhone 3G? 3rd-iPhone-but-2nd-iPhone-3G? ZOMG 4G network is already out so it’s possible (not probable) that it’ll be called the 1G iPhone 4G. haha! ok i lost myself with all this crazy logic.

Oh well, I can’t wait for July 11. Then again, should I wait for fall in case a 32GB version comes out??? Or what if that comes out during Macworld Expo?! ARGH!!!!