Welcome to the record of our "Happy Adventure" in Rome and Italy over the next three months.  We invite you to come along on the adventure. 

When we were planning a trip for after Bill's retirement, we started thinking,  a one month trip, but after exploring accommodation costs for longer periods we realized that the longer we stayed the less expensive it became.  Airfare and a 3 month stay in an apartment cost less than airfare and a 3 week hotel stay, it was a no brainer as far as we were concerned.  Conversely, medical travel insurance becomes more expensive the further one is from their 61st birthday (ask me how I know that).  So, if we  were going to take a longer trip, now was the time to do it, while at least one of us is still a junior senior citizen.  The decision was made ........ three months it will be.  Why Rome again?  Simply because we have not yet had our fill of seeing old sites, ornate churches, dead bodies and their burial places, chunks of broken stone and all those things that speak of centuries of man's existence.  Plus, there is much more of Italy that we would like to explore.

Our trip starts Feb 28th.  From Campbell River we fly to Vancouver, then on to London, England.  We overnight in London, actually Gatwick, which is southwest of London, then a 2 1/2 hr flight to Rome.  We will be staying in the same apartment we used when we were in Rome 2 years ago, so it will be very familiar to us.  The address is Piazza di San Giovanni, 44, if you are interested in looking it up on a map - or happen to be in the area and want to drop by for a vino or two, or...!?!.

For those who might have a wish, desire or need  to contact us while we are in Rome, we do have a phone number that is based in the United States.  It is 360–203–3241. This number will ring straight through to our computer and if we are not available to pick up the call when made, it will leave us a message that a call was made to us from you, so we could return it.  If you have a phone plan that has calling to the United States it would be covered under that otherwise it would be a charged at as a long-distance phone call to the states.

The area we are staying in is central to most of the city's main tourist areas, as well as being on a bus route, near an underground station, close to the train station, with grocery store, drug store, wine shop, laundromat, a church, (even a hospital across the street) and numerous restaurants all within a few blocks.  What more could you want!?!?

Jan 23, everything was booked, passports renewed, money ordered and the waiting has begun in earnest. 

Now to try and learn a little Italian. I think it will be quite amusing to listen to me, because I keep mixing French in with the Italian.   Maybe English with gestures and drawings will be better understood, that's generally how Bill will be handling it.  I'll keep you appraised of how it's going.

 February 26, two more sleeps and we're off.