This trip has been many years in the making.

I have fantasied about Italy for a long time. 

I've read all the books, you know the ones..... Under The Tuscan Sun and Eat, Pray Love - to name but a couple. It's something that I have always wanted to do.

The dynamics of my life, however,  didn't seem to allow for a trip of the magnitude that I initially dreamed of.  You see I wanted to spend at least several months there - to actually go and live in Italy, to live the Italian life so to speak! (You see where the fantasy part comes in?).  I wanted to wander to the village each day to pick up whatever was fresh and plentiful in the market place, mingle with the locals.  Enjoy la dolce vita!

I kind of gave up on the idea for a while.  Who was I kidding?  It was never going to happen, not with kids still at school, how would it work?? It all just seemed too hard.

One thing I didn't give up on over the years though was saving my money.

A wise friend once told me to save all my $5 notes, and $2 coins (of course there was a lot of other tidbits of money that also ended up in the "piggy bank" - birthday money, odd jobs that I had had over the years where I was paid cash).  Over time the "piggy bank" grew heavier and heavier.  One day I figured it was time to count my secret stash.  How much did I really have tucked away for my "dream"? The first count showed me that I was getting very close to actually making this trip a reality.  The hardest part now was figuring out how, and when, I could actually do the trip.

If I was going to make this trip I would probably have to do it alone.  Could I do that??  I first dreamed about a trip to mark my 50th birthday - but that came and went - call me chicken, but I didn't think I could do it on my own.  This year I decided (after counting the money of course) that I was brave enough to do this on my own - other people could do it - so why couldn't I?

So..... I took those first tentative steps, and actually ventured into the travel agents and started making enquiries.

That was when a quirk of fate stepped in and changed the trip's direction.

As I left the travel agents, after enquiring about cost of flights, times of year to go etc.. and a bundle of brochures under my arm, I bumped into a friend that I hadn't seen for a while.  She asked me how I was?  Excitedly I told her I was going to Italy (of course this was not yet set in concrete - but I figured if I told someone, then there was no turning back!!!  I would now have to honour my words, and make the trip!  As I told her my plans she commented that she had always wanted to do something like that too.....

The rest, as they say is history!!!

So here is our story, I hope you enjoy our adventures.