On The Move

I found a lull in my work this morning (which isn't good given what I have to get done by COB tomorrow) so I took some time to get together documentation and such for our upcoming trip. I like to think I'm a very organized traveler but for some reason this time around I completely forgot about a few key things until just today. I called my banks to let them know to expect foreign transactions which is always key. Since our first Ireland trip we have kept some Euros on hand so that we're not in a crunch to get cash immediately upon arrival at our destination. Prague is not on the Euro, however, which means we have to get money at the airport and the ATM is the best option. In the past when I've called my credit card they have tried to sell me on credit monitoring and protection plans and they would be pretty forceful, using mild scare tactics. If you're smart these services aren't necessary. The past two times I've called they haven't even brought it up, which I appreciate immensely. I also didn't make plans for what to do with our mail but I might just let it build up in our mailbox since there are a couple of Sundays and a federal holiday during our trip.

Okay this post is actually sounding pretty dull. My apologies. The post-trip recaps will, obviously, be more entertaining. We saved some money by booking our series of flights (DC to Prague, Prague to Amsterdam and Amsterdam to DC) all together via Orbitz. In comparison with the actual airline sites we ended up getting the jump between countries for "free". Unfortunately there are not a lot of flights that go in or out of Prague without a stop in Germany. For our flight over we connect in Munich, which we've done before. It's a lovely, modern and smooth airport. For our flight to Amsterdam we connect in Frankfurt which I have heard from coworkers can be a nightmare. Of course I've heard that connecting in Paris-Charles de Gaulle is also a nightmare and I didn't find that to be so bad so we'll see. It was actually not that much more expensive and a great time-saver to fly between the cities then try to take the train. Hopefully we don't end up regretting that decision.

One of my very good friends just started working on a client site that is a couple of blocks from my office and so we're meeting for lunch today. I am totally thrilled since I tend to not get out of my office for lunch all that much. Time to rekindle my love affair with the Cosi Signature Salad. You know how I lurve me some dried cranberries.

I found my CharlieTicket, from riding The T this past weekend, in my wallet this morning and it made me smile. The artwork on the back side of the pass is kind of cute so I pinned it up at my desk with the other various items I have collected including a slew of ESRI's GIS-related buttons, a promotional compass from Cruzan Rum company, an article about rehabilitated penguins in Venezuala from 2005 and my favorite, an old polaroid of my grandfather with my brother and I as youngins. I've been told I look like an elf. Dunno how I feel about that but I love the photo regardless.