Many months ago my parents invited Katie and I to join them on their trip to Spain, in which the were going over Christmas to visit Kelsey. Katie tried to get the time off work but was unable to. I had no desire to leave my wife on our first Christmas so I opted out. End of story... or so I thought. December finally hits and it comes to my attention that my parents aren't actually going for Christmas, but rather on the 27th. Furthermore, Katie works 6 of the 9 days they are going. While I would have loved hanging out with Katie for an hour each day when she gets home from work before she sleeps, Europe was calling. My parents were gracious enough to let me use some of their frequent flier miles and next thing I knew I was along for the ride.
We didn't tell Kelsey I was coming (we hardly had time, I only found out 5 days ahead of time) and got to surprise her. It was great to see her new home in Madrid and her school, but particularly just to see her. It'd been 4 months since we'd seen each other, our longest to date.
Europe was great, but probably more than I feel like posting here. We did 2 days in Madrid, 3 in Rome (including New Year's), and 4 in Venice. Rome was great, so much to see that 3 days didn't do it justice. On the other hand while Venice was really cool, 4 days in a snowy/rainy Venice was plenty. I missed home (especially Katie) but it was a great trip. Most of all it got me really excited for the month Katie and I are planning this summer in Europe!
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