holiday 2008...

Early this year (or was it late last year?), I got all excited about a proposed trip to Morocco. Even went to get another guidebook, DK Witness this time since I've fallen in love with the series. Also asked about airfare at Reliance. Both Emirates and Etihad flies to Casablanca, via Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively. Alternatives include flying via London, Paris, Amsterdam or many other European cities... then take a connecting budget airline down to Fez, Marrakech...


But after all the excitement, tak jadi. Not enough quorum, according to AAA. Actually, boleh je kalau nak pergi bertiga... AAA, wifey et moi. But I can't force them, could I?

Deflated betul after hearing that the whole she-bang tak jadi. I was really looking forward to it.

Then... I heard about the MAS travel fair. Every year without fail, I would get a ticket to go somewhere during either MAS or MATTA fair. It started with a trip to Bali in 2001, east coast USA in 2002, Paris & Rome in 2003, Disneyworld in 2004, west coast USA in 2005, Istanbul in 2006 and finally Holland-Scotland-Belgium in 2007. These were personal trips paid entirely from my own pocket. Tapi in addition to these I've been fortunate enough to make some side visits sempena official trips along the way.

By Friday evening I still hadn't made up my mind on where to go. My usual partner-in-crime is cutting down on her travels this year as she's about to be a mortgage holder. Also, this year, I wanted to give my parents a treat. It's their 35th anniversary. Wanted to gift them with a nice holiday and sambil tu I tumpang sekaki, haha.

I showed Papa the advertisement in the newspaper. I wanted to propose a trip to South Africa. Lepas tengok Amazing Race, became sangat teruja with the natural beauty. Tapi Papa was not keen... having heard about kisah orang kena rob at gun point etc. "Kita pergi Germany lah", he said seeing that ticket to Frankfurt was second cheapest after Stockholm. "Germany?" I asked. I mean, Germany was never on my list of places to visit... ye lah, I've hardly hear people recounting their holiday tales in the land of bratwurst. I must have made a face because the next remark Papa made was "OK... mana2lah, asalkan bukan South Africa". He actually elaborated a bit but I shall not put here what he said. So... that was it. Not something that I can persuade him. "What about New Zealand?" he asked. Well... yes, NZ is a place I wanna go but since I just went to Scotland last year, I figured that the scenery would be in certain aspects similar. I was looking for more culture and history...

I then asked NAK who is an avid traveller herself. Eastern Europe popped to mind. I wanted to save Egypt for a trip with Ina later this year and Italy next year. Not much left, and we're pretty sure that we wanted to head west. Turkey was another option but baru sangat pergi. And US was a bit too far. Wanted to go to a new place. NAK told me to browse through her photos on facebook... which I did.

That's how it all started. I was torn between Praha - Warsaw - Vienna - Budapest vs Berlin - Munich - Bavaria - Frankfurt. I researched on my ever dependable Frommers and Fodors travel website. I stayed up pretty late into the night on Friday... scouring for more info and photos. By the time I went to bed, I was already about 75% sure...

The final decision was to do England and Germany. Why England? Basically because tickets murah to Frankfurt dah habis. We've been to Paris before, was in Amsterdam just last year, heard that things are very pricey in Sweeden, and it feels funny to go through Rome but not see the country (plus I've been to Rome before). So that left me with London.

But I've just been to London 2 years ago. True... however, there's still plenty to see. This time, the aim is to head southwest and midlands... to Oxford, Bath, Bristol, the Cotswolds, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. Tak pernah pergi sana. After touring those places, we'll fly into Berlin, then Munich and wind down with a drive through Bavaria en route to Frankfurt.

So that's the plan. It's going to be a long trip... about 2 1/2 weeks. Managed to get a great deal on the airfare. I deliberately bought an open jaw ticket... into London out of Frankfurt = RM2980, all inclusive. Will get one of those budget airlines for the European legs.

Am soooo looking forward to the trip :)