Every time I started a new blog post for the past 7 years, Travelpod asks me to come up with a catchy title. I think I have come up with some pretty clever ones in the past, but a person only has so much of that in her. 

Yes, I'm going on another trip. I don't think anyone is too shocked when I say this every 6 months or so. It has kind of become standard. And I'm not complaining ! This one takes me from Chicago with another layover in Istanbul (Turkish Airlines has unbelievably low fares lately) and then on to Cologne, Germany. A few days will be spent in Cologne, eating schnitzel with noodles and drinking kolsch beer, followed by a short flight to Riga, Latvia. The main purpose of this is to get to Tallinn, Estonia, by bus. I will spend a few nights here, followed by a long layover in Istanbul where I will actually get to leave the airport this time. 

Trip highlights: 

Cologne Cathedral (Kolner Dom): One of the largest and most beautiful Roman Catholic cathedrals in the world. Like any cathedral, I have the opportunity to climb 500 steps to the top spire and sweat like a drowned rat in the process. I might pass on that. 

Cologne Beer Tour by rickshaw, with samples: This should not need an explanation. 

Spas & Saunas: Germans are big on spas, and Estonians, like their Finnish neighbors, are big on their saunas (SOW-nahs). Apparently in Estonia it's common to get "whisked" by a friend with birch twigs to improve circulation. They call this "whisking." We'll see. Not sure I want a strange Estonian male to just whisk away at me. 

Tallinn's Old Town: This area of Tallinn is supposed to be magnificent, and one of the best preserved Old Towns in Europe. 

Istanbul's Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia: Not sure if I will have time to go inside, but at least I should be able to marvel at them on the outside. 
 
 
I don't have a ton of things scheduled for this trip, and the idea is to actually, dare I say it, RELAX. I have ideas on things to do, but I want to be a little more loose in my planning. See what each day brings. 

Take off is in two days. Gotta pack! 
- Jamie