HI all. It's been a busy week. Anyone following along will know that last Thursday I woke up in Frankfurt Germany and headed home to Victoria for a week. I had a very uneventful non-stop flight to Vancouver where I had to kill a few hours before being able to connect to my flight to Victoria.
By the time I got home it was dinner time in BC, but my body thought it was early the next morning. I fought the jet lag for a few days, and then had the brainwave....I'm returning to Europe in a week, why fight it. So, I 've been living my days from about 3AM to 7PM. This seems to work for me and may make it easier for me on my return to Europe.
I had the treatment to my eye done on Monday and was then able to finalize my plans for the next step of my journey. I needed to wait to see when I was being scheduled for the next treatment before I could make any decisions. Next 'shot in the eye" is scheduled for June 23rd...so I will return on June 22nd. I'm going to lose a week from the original plan so I opted not to return to Frankfurt and then head to Prague. That will have to wait untill some other time. Instead, I booked a return flight to Rome. I leave tomorrow morning. Upon arrival I will over night in Rome and catch a train the next morning for Florence...in the heart of the Tuscany region. I will spend 10 days in Tuscany (woohoo...wine country!) and make my way back to Rome.
At the end of May I will board the HAL Noordam for a 10 day Western Mediterranean Enchantment cruise. Keep checking here for updates from some reallly terrific places that I will go to (Monte Carlo, Tunisia, Sicily etc!) The plan after that is to head to Madrid. I've been to Spain a few times but have never been to Madrid and this seemed like a good time to do that. After hitting the highlights I'll head to the beaches of the Andaluccia area before heading back to Rome for a few days before returning home. Adding the 10 day cruise into the middle of this leg changes my original plans a lot...but I'll get to go to places that I otherwise would not have got to. Europe isn't going anywhere, anytime soon. I'll be back!
Gosh, just typing all that tires me out! This time I have a lot less luggage than the last 6 weeks so have opted to take my full size laptop. Hopefully this means that it will be easier to upload photos here. I really do hate that little mini thing I had with me for April and early May. It is just so slow and limiting!! My carry-on is packed and ready to go...that's all I'm taking. I came home with 18.5 kilos packed into it and am returning with 10.5. My goal was 10k but adding the cruise, again added "the shoe issue"!! The laptop and a book and a few other essentials will go into my big purse.
Speaking of shoes. Anyone that saw my photo of the shoe store in Frankfurt that I posted on Facebook will understand this. Pam has suggested, that if I ever find another place like that to use my iphone, take photos, post them immediately on FB and wait for you all to text me with your orders! The apple hasn't fallen far from the tree with my girl when it comes to shoes!
And now to the subject of texting. I added International texting to my mobility pkg to-day. Incoming and outgoing texts are unlimited for the next 60 days. If you have my iphone number, feel free to text.
It's been a very busy few days. Pay my property taxes that will come due while I'm away, clean the fridge, buy more travel med insurance, find a notary and sign the last of the probate forms and deliver to the Court Registry, unpack, do laundry, repack, get a hair cut, get my gel nails redone, book hotel in Rome, buy train ticket to Florence, book cruise, print off all the etickets and boarding passes, talk daily to my Mom, buy some more Euros, pay my bills.....yikes! Into that add hugs from Grand kids, attending a Spring Concert at the school, lunch with friends, and somehow managing to find time to eat occasionally and sleep a lot!
Whew. Next blog from somewhere in Tuscany. Maybe I'll love it there and stay awhile...like forever.
Ciao!!
By the time I got home it was dinner time in BC, but my body thought it was early the next morning. I fought the jet lag for a few days, and then had the brainwave....I'm returning to Europe in a week, why fight it. So, I 've been living my days from about 3AM to 7PM. This seems to work for me and may make it easier for me on my return to Europe.
I had the treatment to my eye done on Monday and was then able to finalize my plans for the next step of my journey. I needed to wait to see when I was being scheduled for the next treatment before I could make any decisions. Next 'shot in the eye" is scheduled for June 23rd...so I will return on June 22nd. I'm going to lose a week from the original plan so I opted not to return to Frankfurt and then head to Prague. That will have to wait untill some other time. Instead, I booked a return flight to Rome. I leave tomorrow morning. Upon arrival I will over night in Rome and catch a train the next morning for Florence...in the heart of the Tuscany region. I will spend 10 days in Tuscany (woohoo...wine country!) and make my way back to Rome.
At the end of May I will board the HAL Noordam for a 10 day Western Mediterranean Enchantment cruise. Keep checking here for updates from some reallly terrific places that I will go to (Monte Carlo, Tunisia, Sicily etc!) The plan after that is to head to Madrid. I've been to Spain a few times but have never been to Madrid and this seemed like a good time to do that. After hitting the highlights I'll head to the beaches of the Andaluccia area before heading back to Rome for a few days before returning home. Adding the 10 day cruise into the middle of this leg changes my original plans a lot...but I'll get to go to places that I otherwise would not have got to. Europe isn't going anywhere, anytime soon. I'll be back!
Gosh, just typing all that tires me out! This time I have a lot less luggage than the last 6 weeks so have opted to take my full size laptop. Hopefully this means that it will be easier to upload photos here. I really do hate that little mini thing I had with me for April and early May. It is just so slow and limiting!! My carry-on is packed and ready to go...that's all I'm taking. I came home with 18.5 kilos packed into it and am returning with 10.5. My goal was 10k but adding the cruise, again added "the shoe issue"!! The laptop and a book and a few other essentials will go into my big purse.
Speaking of shoes. Anyone that saw my photo of the shoe store in Frankfurt that I posted on Facebook will understand this. Pam has suggested, that if I ever find another place like that to use my iphone, take photos, post them immediately on FB and wait for you all to text me with your orders! The apple hasn't fallen far from the tree with my girl when it comes to shoes!
And now to the subject of texting. I added International texting to my mobility pkg to-day. Incoming and outgoing texts are unlimited for the next 60 days. If you have my iphone number, feel free to text.
It's been a very busy few days. Pay my property taxes that will come due while I'm away, clean the fridge, buy more travel med insurance, find a notary and sign the last of the probate forms and deliver to the Court Registry, unpack, do laundry, repack, get a hair cut, get my gel nails redone, book hotel in Rome, buy train ticket to Florence, book cruise, print off all the etickets and boarding passes, talk daily to my Mom, buy some more Euros, pay my bills.....yikes! Into that add hugs from Grand kids, attending a Spring Concert at the school, lunch with friends, and somehow managing to find time to eat occasionally and sleep a lot!
Whew. Next blog from somewhere in Tuscany. Maybe I'll love it there and stay awhile...like forever.
Ciao!!
Sounds great! I love Rome, Tuscany and Madrid and I am sure you will have a great time. Just watch your stuff. I had my wallet stolen in Florence and Madrid and a colleague of mine had all his documents and valuables stolen in Rome. The Italian police returned the wallet from Florence via Rome and Ottawa to me without the money. In Madrid I managed to grab the thief and get him to give me back my wallet. Anyhow, you don't want to end up with stories like that to tell :-) Wolfgang
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