 Our mascot attached to our day-pack
With just over five weeks til we depart we are starting to get very excited. Of course the rest of the family blithely carries on while I am in a constant state of mental check-listing: what is there still to do? What have I forgotten to do? What will happen if the Chinese don't let us in? Sorry, back-up there. What was that last one?
Well, it's like this. While browsing and searching, comparing and re-comparing flights and fares from Sydney to Rome I discovered that we would save a considerable amount by taking a stopover in China. For the sake of a 15 hour break in our flights we would save close to $5000. We can do an awful lot with $5000! I investigated further and after a few false starts, mainly where the stopover was over-night (pointless) I booked a flight which has us spending the day in Guangzhou (previously known as Canton). Our return flight also has a lengthy stopover in the same city but will be overnight and by then I am sure we will be grateful for the break and opportunity to sleep. So, the reason I am fretting about our entry into China is that we needed to get visas which are issued on either a single (30 day) or multiple (90 day) entry basis. We were issued 30 day visas and I have been worrying about whether we will be permitted to re-enter the second time. My husband has since re-assured me that the visa states two entries so we will be fine. Our flight home also gives us an eight hour stopover in Paris - just enough time for a whirlwind trip in to see the Eiffel Tower! Go to next article: Today I Booked a Car |
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 Okay. I agree. That's not that exciting. Well it kind of is. You see, we weren't going to hire a car in Sicily. We had hoped we'd be able to just get around by local transport. As it turned out, various factors meant it just made sense for us to hire a car. We will arrive by air into Catania from Rome at 10:30 on a Sunday night. The town we will stay in is more than an hour away and the family have normal work and school commitments the next day. Plus there are four of us with luggage! So after shopping around I booked a VW Passat Estate. Apparently it is automatic and air conditioned and has room for five people and up to five bags of various sizes. The one thing I am sure about though is that it's much easier to hire a car in Italy in advance rather than leave it until we are there on the ground. This week I also borrowed some travel books from my local library. Well, they're not really travel books in the traditional sense. They're not guide books, put it that way. They are more personal journals and all three are about various Italian experiences. I have finished reading one already. It was such a good read I quite literally couldn't put it down. 'Vroom with a View' tells the story of one man's dream to travel Italy by Vespa. Helped by the knowledge that I will shortly be tramping many of the same paths as he describes, I sat with a pen and my Lonely Planet by my side and noted highlights as I read. I know my experience won't be anywhere near as adventurous as his but I plan to make the most of every minute I am there. And if making the most of some of those minutes involves sitting by the pool with a book in one hand and a glass of Chianti in the other then that's how it will be. Go to next article: We Are Staying in a Palace! |
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