Realtà....ciò che un concetto! or "What do I do now?"

Now it gets scary...January 1, 2011 means there are only about 9 1/2 months to go before we will be leaving.  The Fantasy is going to be officially over, and Reality needs to set in.

Venezia, our first stop in Italy

Becky got the reality check and started really researching, and has sent me a bunch of e-mails about her plans. She has found some really neat places, but I will let her write about them.  I keep thinking of all the work I did before, and how much fun just play-planning was, and how much really intense work is ahead of me.

I am going to get together with Aldo, a friend of our sister-in-law, Cathy.  They just got back from Rome, and Aldo is a travel agent, not only a travel agent, but a travel agent who is Italian!  I need help with "take-offs", "landings", and the train schedules.  All of the in between things we are pretty much going to let take their own course, but we need to get there, get home, and get from place to place (generically). 

Piazza San Marco, Venezia

So, here is my new plan:
1a)  Set dates (gulp)
1b)  Get hold of Aldo and make an appointment
2)  Find out the best way to get from Scotland to Vienna...be it ferry+train, or train+train, or air.  We really want to do ferry+train, so I hope that works out.
3)  Get my passport extended.  Of course, it is going to expire right in the middle of the trip, so I have to get a new one.
4) Start looking for airfares....which means we have to have dates, so make "pick dates" number one.
5) Take a deep breath...I am making this too hard.  I am getting away from my initial idea which was to make this an adventure.  I don't think it will be an adventure if it is too planned, so I am going back to the basics:  Get there, get back, and have fun in between (see 1a and 1b).

Ok, time to find Aldo's phone number and make an appointment.

To do a virtual tour of Venice, click here.

Dee
+5!