Let us go then, you and I...

Our summer 2007 trip is now less than four weeks away, so most of planning has already been done, but I’m starting off my blog with some notes on how the plan progressed. I’m new to this blogging business so please be patient with me while I get my sea legs.

March 2006 was my first trip overseas with my mother and sister. Barely off the plane, I’m already plotting my return. Somehow, someway and soon, I must return to these wonderful lands so drenched in culture, art and history. My husband and daughters will disown me if I attempt to travel without them again, so this next trip will be a nuclear family affair.

Decision 1: can we afford this??
After much discussion about the state of our finances, Dave and I decide to take our daughters to Europe. (Retirement savings...bah, who needs 'em?!)

Decision 2: when should we go?
With two kids in school, summer is our only option for a family trip of any length. Yikes, that means we'll be battling the heat, the crowds, the sky-high season prices - this last causes us to rethink the "can we afford this" question - but by now, there's no turning back no matter the hurdles.

Decision 3: where in the world shall we travel?

Since my father lives in England, I figured we should fit a visit in with him too, seeing that we'll already be across the pond anyway. So I decide what the heck, why not ask for FOUR weeks off? To my delight, my Director says no problem. So, the four of us will travel to Italy for two weeks, then the girls and I will head to England for two weeks. (Alas, Dave can take only two weeks off so must head home from Italy.) How fortunate we are to have the chance to spend a month overseas. My excitement is dampened somewhat by the fact that Dave cannot join us in England. (Of course that just plants the seed for a return visit with him!)

Now comes the hunt for airfares that don't completely obliterate our travel budget. This proves to be a challenge since we do not live near a large hub like Toronto or JFK, however Halifax does offer several reasonable options. Zoom and Canadian Affair have some decently priced charter flights direct from Halifax to London (decently priced for high season, that is) but the timing isn't good (Thursday to Thursday, or Tuesday to Monday). Since Dave only has two weeks, I want to try for two full weeks sandwiched between weekends to maximize his stay, and also to allow us to take advantage of weeklong apartment rentals in each city.

Vacation rental research hits full stride. Wow, there is a lot to think about. We again discuss location, but since we're not renting a car, the countryside is ruled out again.

I send request after request, with no response or “sorry, not available”. I keep trying...

After getting our flights and accomodations settled, I then move on to sightseeing, not so much a day by day itinerary as researching different things to do in each location. We'd rather play it by ear after we arrive instead of having to follow a set schedule. So, with this in mind, I look into various passes that will give us the freedom to visit sites as we please and not be tied to reservation times, at least as far as that's possible.

I've been trying for the past couple months to get the girls to give me some specific thoughts on what they want to do in Florence, Venice and England. Eventually I just took to leaving my guidebooks laying around and commenting that one can open to any page and find something amazing...try it, I say, try and you'll see, I say...

This week, they finally looked through the books and here are some of the things that caught their eye.

It would be lovely to attend a church service or two while we're in Italy. Mind you, I'm not Catholic nor do I speak Italian, so odds are I won't have a clue what's going on during the service, still the idea appeals to me. But there are so very many churches in Italy, how on earth does a passerby choose?

The two that pull at me most are:

For the most part, I don't want to pin down our days to a set schedule, but instead be free to wander around and look at whatever appeals to us. Of course, we have to decide on a framework (eek, did I just use the word "framework" outside of the office?!?!)

I do want to have a good idea of which sights are where in the various areas of the city so that I don't inadvertantly make reservations for say, the Accademia and the Capella Brancacci before noon on the same day! (Fat chance, but one never knows...)

I can't believe we leave in two weeks! Our trip seemed so far away and now suddenly it's almost on top of us and I'm starting to get that "oh my gosh, what have I forgotten to do in advance?!?!" feeling. At least I got my exam over with last night, so no more studying to worry about (for me anyway...The Ginger has exams right through next Friday).

Time for a recap to see if I've missed anything major...the following checklist probably won't make for very interesting reading, just so you know!

Hi, my name is Anne and I'm a book-a-holic!

Naturally my newfound passion for Italy has infiltrated my reading habits. My list of already consumed novels grows longer nearly every week. At the moment, I'm engrossed in Jacqueline Park's "The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi". It's a novel of a Jewish woman living in Renaissance Firenze (and Mantova). Grazia's character is given depth, intelligence and imperfections. And the historical aspects seem to be well researched, although I am far from an expert on the subject. In any event, I'm quite enjoying this very readable novel.

On the non-fiction side, I've been reading "Italia, the recipes and customs of the regions" by Antonio Carluccio. My mother gave this to me for Christmas (thanks Mom!) This is a beautiful hard cover book chock full of recipes, gorgeous photos of people, places and food, reflections on the culture of the various regions, information on the food and/or beverage specialities of each region. It's a culinary odyssey from Fruili-Venezia-Giulia to Sardegna to Abruzzi to Sicily and all parts in between. I'm so glad to have it...and one of these days, it might even make its way back to the kitchen and actually be used as a cookbook!!

Other books I've read, partially read, or intend to read:

Here I sit enjoying my coffee, Suffolk Souvenir Picture Guide and my GBHP Guidebook in front of me. Come to think of it, I should probably be sipping tea whilst contemplating jolly old England, but no, I must have my morning coffee. And NOT from Tim Hortons either...the stuff has reached iconic status in Canada, but personally I think it's misleading to even call that swill coffee!

Wow, there is a lot to see and do in the Suffolk and East Anglia area! I knew there was much to see in England in general, but hadn't realized what wealth of natural and historic sites there are in and near Suffolk until browsing through my books. I've been getting the quick glimpse of the attractions from the two guidebooks, then looking them up in my Treasures of Britain tome for more detail.

We are staying the Southwold area to visit with Dad and Maggie, and meet some of their friends (dad's planning a combo retirement party for Maggie/meet and greet the Canucks, complete with cases of that yummy Spanish champagne-like beverage that can't be called champagne because wasn't made in the Champagne region of France...sounds like a hoot!) But honestly, I hadn't known Suffolk and surrounds were so loaded with wonders that one could happily spend a lot of time there even without the added bonus of a family connection.

That's how I was greeted by The Ginger when I came down to the kitchen first thing this morning...I know she's really excited when she calls me mommy. I can hardly believe our departure date is getting so close. I should really say 8 sleeps since what odds I'll actually be able to sleep the night before we leave! I just know I'll be awake all night with visions of canals and cathedrals, towers and museums, winding Renaissance streets and hushed calli, statues, bronze horses and the David...sigh...

We'll be flying high - literally and figuratively from the rush of adrenaline as we set out on our month long vacation next Thursday. Our flight is scheduled to leave at 7:30 pm (I pray there will be no delays like getting socked in with an evil Atlantic fog or something equally horrid!)

Well the seminar I was on today ended a little early, so while waiting for Dave to get off work, I grabbed the opportunity to pick up a few items. Inflatable neck pillows for The Ginger and Miss Ninja (to be referred to as TG and MN when I'm feeling lazy), money belts, tiny locks and a handful of luggage tags. For the tags, I had my choice of Spongebob, Dora the Explorer or plastic Canada flags...unfortunately there was only the one Spongebob tag so I got the flags to avoid a household skirmish over who got to play the part of Spongegirl Squaretraveller. (Sniff...I really wanted that tag!!!) I had though about making SlowTrav luggage tags, but doubt I'll have time before we leave. I still plan to look for something else with a bit more flair than the ole maple leaf though (not that there's anything wrong with that...) Oh and I just realized that I still need to get eye masks...

Not much planning went on today, although I did lug a verrrrrry heavy bag of rolled coins to the bank for deposit. $102Cdn worth, to be exact. We've been saving them since we decided to take this trip, so finally time to cash 'em in. Miss Ninja counted out the piles and then she and I rolled them. I didn't weigh them, but let's just say I was seriously worried about the handles on my (double) bag breaking and causing me to chase rolling coin rolls down the streets of Halifax (some of which are quite steep!) My friend/coworker Jane accompanied me to the bank (hey, those Brinks guys always travel in pairs, shouldn't I do the same?!)

We reach the bank and wind our way around the strange things going on...in the lobby is a camera setup with a big F_RST sign as a backdrop. We think they are interviewing customers so we turn away and go around the back entrance (turns out they are just photographing people). In the main banking area is one of those indoor putting greens, with people trying their hand (or club as it were) at a hole in one. There's no way to go around, so we zip through, heads down in a "don't bug us" kind of way. In the lineup, I meet my friend Doug (for the second time in a week - hadn't seen him for 5 years prior to that and then twice in a week...odd coincidences go on in this world). We'd reconnected and exchanged new email addresses etc a few days ago (and discovered that we work only a block away from each other), so this time just chatted for a moment until a teller was free and I hauled my sack of coin over for deposit.

Whew, today was "the" last minute details day. I finished my lists...I checked them twice...uh oh, I seem to be missing several key items, such as spare contacts, extreme SPF sunscreen for my two redheads, Afterbite, a Tide stick, etc.

I zip up to my eye clinic. My particular contacts are only sold by the box. I don't want a box, I want a pair. (I'm due for an appointment in August so darned if I want to buy a six month supply, only to have my prescription changed after using only one pair.) I politely decline the box and sigh oh well, I'll just have to stretch the time on the ones I have (a big no-no in disposable contact-land). My not so subtle tactic works - I'm offered a free trial pair to tide me over until I return from my trip. Seems they could give me a pair, but they couldn't sell me a pair...

We have only two days to get through before our journey begins!

I repacked last night, and again this evening...my aim being to have as few clothes as possible but still have at least a few different outfits (in case I don't feel like doing laundry every day). Hard to say if I'll revisit my choices again tomorrow before closing the zipper on the case for good! Of course Dave packed once and that's that. I'm feeling pretty good though. All I have left to pack are the things I use every day such as my contact solution, glasses, drivers licence etc.

I noticed that the Foreign Affairs Canada website recommends that travellers bring their birth certificate with them in order to facilitate a replacement passport if that document is lost, but I'm just not comfortable lugging that along. I don't worry overly about identity theft, but a birth certificate is not something I'd want to lose or have stolen! I'll take my chances with a photocopy of the passport and the fact that mom knows where our original certificates are kept in the event of an emergency.

...but hopefully not running late! I can't believe this day is finally here, even though Dave laughs at me and says how can you not believe it, you've been counting down now for months! I say counting down is one thing, reality another.

I've been up since 4:46am...didn't get much sleep, mainly because of the heat. My bedroom was 27C (and humid so feels hotter) when I went to bed, which is a degree or three higher than the past few nights. I haven't been opening the windows at night in an attempt to climatize myself to our A/C-less apartment in Florence...I think my plan has backfired though since ideally I would have begun our journey well rested instead of hot and tired from lack of sleep. Well on the bright side, I might be tired enough to sleep on the plane this time! This was the first night that the heat kept me from sleeping though, so I guess I'll be ok as long as we can keep our apartment at least 26C or cooler at night!!

--- short pause while I go fetch a second cup of coffee ---