Happy Easter & Countdown to Departure!

Hope everyone is enjoying their Easter break & spending time doing something special. The weather is certainly being kind (well here in Central Western  NSW anyway), although I suspect we had our first little taste of frost last night. Official minimum was 0 degrees C, so in my books that's a frost. Considering it is late April, we have been very lucky this Autumn, however, there is certainly a chill in the air & although we have yet to turn on the heating, that day is very near.

Given the fact we have just a smidgen over 3 weeks before we depart for the European Spring & Summer, Bathurst's cold frosty Winter in not a major concern to us at this point! Maybe when we return in late July we will be wishing we had another month in Europe. Unfortunalety my Lotto win last night (I actually dreamed I won $20,000) only amounted to $11.15, so no extensions possible this time.

On the preparations front, all is progressing well. We were contacted by our travel agent last week to say all our documentation for both sections of this holiday, has arrived, so we have an appointment Wednesday to sort through & make sure all is in order. Once we have those tickets etc physically in our hands the reality & excitement really sets in.

One area of this trip which was not organised by our TA was the train journey from Genoa, Italy to Monte Carlo. Because the TA was unable to access tickets until next month, last week I decided to go ahead & book myself. After an interesting journey via a few Europe Rail web sites, I managed to secure tickets in 2 sections on the date/times required (fingers crossed). Because we are travelling through 2 countries (Italy & France) we need to change trains. So the first segment from Genoa to Ventimiglia, in Italy takes approximately 3 hours. Then we change trains at Ventimiglia for Monte Carlo which is a trip of approximately 20 minutes. As the tickets are mostly in Italian, I just hope we can find the correct platform, carriage etc. Should be an interesting exercise considering we will each have 2 suitcases to juggle onboard. I have researched the distance between the cruise port in Genoa, where we disembark, and the rail station so that should just be a 10 minute taxi ride. As we have about 3 hours from disembarkation until our train leaves, all should be fine. Time will tell, so stay tuned for my post on June 1st!

The only other aspect of this trip we have booked ourselves in the hotel in Venice for our 2 night stay pre Mediterranean cruise. Hotels in Venice are very expensive, so finding one with a lift, airconditioning & in the right location is not that simple. Once again I did heaps of research & eventually found a nice little Hotel (Hotel Violino D'oro) located very centrally just off San Marco Square & within easy walking distance of all attractions. It is right on a canal overlooking a Gondola Station so should be lovely. The last time we visited Venice, briefly in 2010, we stayed in Maestre which is located outside the island & requires a bus & boat to reach Venice itself. This time we were determined to stay right in Venice itself to soak up & experience the local culture. Because there are more than 400 pedestrian bridges in Venice, Hotel selection is important as the least number of bridges you have to drag your suitcases over to reach your hotel, the better. I think we have 2 or 3. Once again, only time will tell if our selected Hotel was correct. Stay tuned :)

Until we can finally pack our belongings we just have the last minute bill paying, hair cuts, obtaining sufficient medication supplies & sorting paperwork left to do. No excuses to be anything but super organised for this trip. Hopefully that will be the case.

Until next time ..... enjoy Easter :)

Betty & Mike