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[Suzi Q]

Well ladies finally got the 40th wedd trip 13mnths late and with this and the trip home in Dec/Jan
Ive travelled since 30th December to 28th Jan. AND 7th April to 29th April 59.000klms about 34.000miles
Geoffrey asked me to go to New Zealand in June for 5 days (his work) I said NO thank u IM staying home
The trip was fantastic we landed not in the North but in London and did 6 days doing Stratford AGAIN!
Winchester and Oxford and we also did the MIdsummer trail loved it.BUT odd not to go home!!!!
Venice for 4 nights arriving in Venice on a  boat for just us the same one George Clooney arrived in
We spent 4 nights@5 days there it has to be the most fab place. Lovely hotel with my own roof garden
I smoke!!. We did hardly any touristy things as wed been before. So we went where the Venitians live
Then off to Rome fantasmagorical the Hotel Ceasre was like something from a film set bedroom was as big as all 3 of mine put together with room left over a 4 poster with a huge garden with fairy lights
Men coming up with free drinks or so I thought one thing u had to get dressed up every night tie the lot
Its a Roman/Italian hotel@boy was there a lot of Dads with their daughters??? yet it was the cheapest?
Then we went on to Paris been before loved it couldnt wait to go BIG DISSAPOINTMENT wasnt happy
Same hotel even the same room with views to Notre Dam 6th District St Germain Latin Quarter.
Cant put my finger on why this time with a week instead of 3 days I didnt like it much?
Loved seeing Jim Morrisons Grave we really travelled on the Metro and to the outskirts to Mont Marche
Walked the Champ elys isnt that exy plenty of normal shops now like H@M ZARA M@S and many more I bought loads cos they arent in Ozz or not in Brisbane yet@cheap 29Euro for a Jkt bought 2 diff ones.
IT didnt hit the spot the French walked around like they were in a John Paul Sartre Novel all miserable
Knowne smiled I can speak enough to get by with out looking stupid but I got to a point I didnt bother
Id not go again Maybe tour in the country if the op arose. BUT my retirement BLIST is Venice and Italy.
Now Im back 10 days@finally the shoes dropped over Dads death I dont want to think Of the trip at all
I want to forget it IT was soooooo the wrong time to have gone. Geoffrey said hed wished hed fought
The insurance companies to delay the trip till September and we know we could have but we were so!!!!
One tip Ladies never fly with a cold I developed one in Venice last but one morning the next day we flew to Rome only 45 mins but B hell the pain my ear drums went BANG and felt like a needle been pushed in/ Took over 24 hrs to hear properly. Glad Im back our Zeke had almost forgot us.
So hello ladies and I wish u all well hope ur doing OK and ur looking forward to ur summer holidays x

[Annie0710]

Oh the good bits of your break sound lovely !

We have decided next year we aren't booking a 10/11 holiday abroad, instead we want to go on about 4 mini breaks instead, my OH hasn't been to many countries so this would be a great opportunity for him plus he loves history


Annie

[Suzi Q]

Id go to Venice for 3 nights u need that I can recomend the Hotel Fiorenze its not that exy mid range
One thing arrive in Venice by water Taxi. With Venice you have to be careful about the flight plans
Cos you HAVE to fly to Rome first and you can end up as we did BOTH times waiting 4 hrs in Rome
 7am Flight from Heathrow got to Rome 10am there time but the Flight to Venice didnt go till 3pm
We didnt arrive in Venice till nearly 5pm. When wed booked plane from Rome/Venice left At 11.30am
We would have been in Venice about 1pm THATS a big diff if youve only got 4 nights as we did
We lost a good half and lost a a mid afternoon trip wed booked. Another tip book Skip the Line tours
For all your day trips or sightseeing trips in fact everything. Its  great to walk past 500 people lining up AND u walk right in. Few Eros more but its well worth it, The trip wed lost they just re booked for free
Rome is the same you need 4 days 3nights if you do it right. Last time we went before this time
We flew to Rome direct 7am was in Hotel by 12pm had afternoon trip 2.30 afternoon ride around Rome
We were back by 5pm  in the evening 7.30 we did a walk by Night tour finished at 11pm@ with a meal
When you have a short time you run run run and sleep like a log we tried to make sure we had afternoon trips@ then evening trips so we didnt rush for breakfast then take it easy it works really well.
We stayed at Hotel  Guillio Ceasere u can find it its in the Embassy district 15mins walk to Trevi Fountain Spanish Steps Pantheon the lot yet away from the crowds and the resaurants were cheaper
All Italians mostly and the streets looked like Paris yet only 15min walk or 3mins on Metro to Trevi!
In Ozz thats what we do have 3/4 nights away we really enjoy having 3/4 trips away
I should have gone to NZ but decided not. But in July we are going away for 3nights for Xmas in July
With the ULY group in Septemeber we are going for 3 nights Whale watching in Hervey Bay with pals
In October my cousin comes we are going to Sydney for 3 days shes never been
And also Im taking her to the Grt Barrier reef for 3 days its enough
27th Dec till 2nd Jan we are going to NZ using our F/F points (free flights) and hiring campervan
We are doing these things now as Geoffrey is retiring in 19mnths time and things will have to ease
We have enough to fly home 2 times each return with our F/F points weve been saving them for 4 years
We wont be broke weve been saving in our self funded retirement super fund since 1989
We wont be eligable for an OAP only the really poor get them in Ozz
Weve also saved up as we paid our house off 10 yrs ago due to having kids at 19 and not overspending So we are buying a campervan and a SUV for our retirement that will be our holidays mainly.
Weve been very lucky weve bought and sold 14 houses aND made money on all of them
The last one before this one we doubled our money in 4 years which enabled us to buy this cash at 50
Knowone gave us nought we worked@worked hard as most people do we just got lucky with property
Buying them doing them up and selling at the right time this is the first house since we left Wallasey
That we bought did up for us to LIVE in NOT RSELL yayyyyy
U book and pay and get the vouchers for your trips through SKIP THE LINE only way it can be done

[Annie0710]

we normally take 10/11 night holidays I meant to say but a year is a long time to wait for the next break although we do go away 3 or 4 weekends to various UK cities, I love London

I was lucky as my parents had a camper van when I was little so we'd travel Europe and then onto spain for 2 weeks but OHs childhood was very opposite and as much as I'm far from a rushy about person I quite like the idea, well I'll know for sure if we do it !


Annie

[bramble]

Suzi Q,
Glad to see that you are back safe and sound. You didn't want to go yet your holiday sounds fab apart from Paris. You can now settle down a bit and recover from all that travelling. It has been a busy six months for you.

Bramble

[Suzi Q]

The only what I call holidays we have beside the few times a year we have long weekends
Is the overseas and the last one was Sept 2010 thats a LONG time between holidays
Bobbles takes his holiday time off but we usually spend it at home saving for the BIG holidays
Yet we are so lucky some people work ard and never have enough for more than a week away camping
Nothing wrong with camping but we all like a bit of LUX and LUSH
Bramble I didnt want to go and still wish I had been able to change it to Sept 15
But not too be and as you rightly say time to settle down well for a bit anyway xxxx

[Hattie]

the italian hotels you stayed in look fab SuziQ - always good to have a recommendation as some italian hotels even with a 3 star rating that we might think are good are in fact not - not that i will be going back to Italy but it brought back memories of when we stayed in Rome - we had a central apartment for a week which was lovely.

The weather may be worse in Sept !! - we went one year to Singalunga near Sienna at end of Sept early Oct - i packed summer clothes, one thin cardigan and one jacket - i was wearing my husbands spare jumper at times it was so cold.

you must be looking forward to when Geoffrey retires - my husband used to work away a lot before retirement - it took him some time to wind down once he had retired.

Suzi - i have bumped a thread started by Hellen in Personal Experiences while you were away - i just wondered if you are able to help her more than i have been able to re. vagifem - she has been put on 70mcg a week for 3 months.

Take Care Suzi

Hattie X

[oldsheep]

Glad you had fun. Paris is quite unlike the rest of France. Ive never got into it either although I love France.
Italy sounded wonderful

[Suzi Q]

Id loved Paris before had a ball and couldnt wait to get back but this time? Should have stayed in Italy
Couldnt p nut my finger on it not as buzzy weather was fantastic bar one afternoon
There seemed to be no happiness there? OH Im not explaining it right
I didnt feel as if I was on holiday there I felt a visitor didnt feel part of it
It has changed in 5 years not anything like the money even Champs H@M ZARA M@S Primark next
Striking marches everyhwere it wasnt welcoming thats the word and the feeling of being a nuisance
Everything seemed too much trouble my French isnt FAB but I can pass for French accent wise@language
I love Italy they were brilliant people hotels rests cafes nothig was too much trouble and they smiled x
And I can hardly speak a word of Italian did they care not one bit

[CLKD]

Italy can be FabULus! although their Legal System is pants apparently ……

Glad to see you back!  I think all holidays have ups and downs and it is said that one should never go back to a place which has been really enjoyable 

As for the camper van ………. 

[Suzi Q]

Yep CLKD the great camper van saga we wait to see what happens after a few days in a rented one?
As for not going back 50/50 loved Italy was sad about Paris wont be going there again thats for sure x

[CLKD]

It's 9.20 a.m. here 

Up-date us on the camper thread? - I have posted a Link which might be of interest 

Your DH won't find it a problem in a camper - there are 100s of designs to choose from World Wide ........ mine is 6ft and in the larger ones he could stand up and surprisingly, they are very light inside.

[Limpy]

Re - Parisians
Don't think the French themselves like them very much.

[Dulciana]

Maybe holidays can be right time/right place, even if you've been somewhere before and loved it.  And I think it can work the other way round, too.  When Dad and I went to Malaysia last year, I didn't really like it - I found it far, far too hot and there was just too much spicy food for me. I began to crave pork chops and mashed potato! Now, though, I find myself daydreaming about the place, the people (we've got wonderful friends out there, who we stayed with and who were kindness itself) and even the hot weather!  I think I would know what to expect if I went there again, and I hope I do - perhaps even with Hubby this time!

[Suzi Q]

Duliciana
O am 100% certain its the mood you are in. Id just lost my Dad 2nd January
We found out he was ill 5am Xmas morning and had to arrange a flight from Ozz to Manchester
Got there NY EVE Dad died 2nd hate passed away where too? Only me left Mum and Brother are dead So me and Bobbles to arrange everything and it was such a mess financially in every way possible.
Thank god for my cousins who took us in and looked after us in fact ones my Power of attorney
I just got tonight a message saying Dads house been sold contracts exchanged (I will look after her)
We werein UK for almost a month back 28th January had to go on or 40ann trip a year late due to a fall
I fell 2 days before we were due to go last September If Id not have fallen Id have seen my Dad FATE!!
So when we couldnt delay the trip in April to later in the year I wasnt in a great frame of mind
To say I didnt want to go would be an understatement. I recon with GPs note it would have been able
Tp delay it insurance etc BUT Bobbles needed this trip hed worked so hard over Dads mess 160 G/Bags
I havent go to that place yet where Im looking back in fact like Xmas none of it seems quite real?
AND I know what you mean about meat Im not a real meat eater maybe not even once a week
BUT we ended up paying 95E for for Lamb chops for me and a teeny steak for Geoff in Paris.
Malaysia is dreadfully hot very humid but the people are so lovely and its so clean xxx
I worked out weve travelled over 34.000 miles since NYE