Whatever happened . . .

. . . to that European vacation I was talking about for the spring? Nothing. Not yet, anyway. Our next step is to decide if we are really serious about wanting to do it. My guess is we'll say yes, but I wouldn't put the odds at better than 2 to 1.

If we do decide to go, I wouldn't be surprised if we scratch Florence off the itinerary. I'd like to see the cathedral and the old bridge over the Arno and maybe even Michelangelo's David. But beyond that, what? It might be wonderful to spend a summer wandering around the Uffizi, but I don't really have any interest in spending just 2 or 3 hours there.

Earlier today, Katka sent us some information about a cheap flight from Vienna (the other Vienna) to Venice. It doesn't really fit into our plans, but I got to clicking around here and there on the web and wound up at the Hilton Paris, a 4-star hotel "in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower," and it was offering rooms for $27 a night for the next month. $27 a night! I decided to check what the price would be in April. $350!

Later today while I was out raking leaves, I thought, what the hell: We've got plenty of bonus miles and we don't have to do Paris on the same trip that we do Italy. Maybe we should go to Paris next week: If we can get free airfare and a room for $27 and be home in time to celebrate Christmas with Abby, why not? So I came back down to the computer only to find that the $27 rate had vanished. The cheapest room now was something like $280 per night. The moral, I guess, is strike while the iron is hot (to coin a phrase).

Alternative moral: Dan is a giant dope.

PS The "Hilton Paris" sounds strange doesn't it? I wonder why they don't call it the Paris Hilton. Oh. Never mind.