A Romantic Get Away.

My boyfriend and I were considering going on a 3 night trip to Venice in December. We never really came to a firm decision on it and now we've missed the deadline for the offer; but like he said, "We have the rest of our lives to go to Venice." But I would still like to go on holiday with him either this December coming or next. I like the idea of getting in the Christmas spirit abroad and experiencing some of the build up to Christmas in another country, to see how it's similar and different to the build up to Christmas in England.

While my boyfriend is off in LA and San Francisco, with his dad and brother, I have a  lot of free time, too much to know what to do with to be honest with you. And the other night I started thinking whether or not it would be possible to go on holiday with him for a similar price to the Venice trip. That's when I had a light bulb moment and wondered how much cheaper a ticket on the Eurostar was compared to a flight to one of my dream destinations. It turns out that a St. Pancras - Gare du Nord return is around the £60 mark -a lot cheaper than any flight I could find to one of my dream destinations in Italy. I also found a hotel near the station and its cheapest double room is £301. So the total cost of a 3 night stay in Paris would come to around £210 + food and travel fares, which is £60 more than the Venice trip.

Because it'll be £210 with travel fares, three meals a day and other expenses on top I'm doubtful that we'll be able to make the trip this December. Which means I have 14 months to save up for it; that then makes me wonder if by next December we'll be able to afford a trip that's a little longer or a trip somewhere else. I like the idea of our first holiday as a couple being abroad and a week or two before Christmas. But, although I know Paris will look lovely at that time of year, I've never really wanted to visit there, especially as the destination of my first holiday with just my boyfriend, because it's just such a generic place to go for that sort of holiday. Plus I've always wanted my first trip abroad -bar the Republic of Ireland- to be Italy.

But then I think that it might be a good idea to go there or somewhere else in France as I'm able to speak a little bit of French and understand what people are saying; whereas if we went somewhere like Spain, Portugal or Holland we'd both be very lost in translation and not have a clue what was going on communication-wise most of the time. I'd even be confused in Italy because my ability to understand French is a lot better than my ability to understand Italian.

I guess all I can do for the time being is do some further research while I wait for my boyfriend to get back and discuss my ideas with him then.