Eurovision & planning

I have had fun the last few days. Eurovision! I enjoy Eurovision, have been watching it for many years. So I made my choice of which country I thought was best in the first semi-final, Montenegro, then threw that aside at the end of the second semi when I heard Italy's entry. Great voices, great song, three lovely men, so much to like. So I voted for Italy, first time I've been able to vote, yay! Sadly they didn't win but I think they got third which was great. The winner was Sweden. Again a great song, great voice & a lovely man, with the addition of novel animated graphics. A good choice, & it was fun watching the convoluted politics of the voting. Not unusually UK only got one vote. Golly, that happens so often. Puzzlingly I don't think Austria got any votes. For the host country that was strange. But I guess the oddities are part of the Eurovision charm. I enjoyed it all!

My overseas plans are progressing v slowly. Hiccups have been happening financially which have delayed my ability to make bookings therefore it's becoming difficult to book accomodations so late. The best options are gone, drat it. But I have to deal with that & continue anyway.

I'm making bookings chronologically so I'm all done for accomodation, plane, trains, etc up to & including four nights in Assisi after the pilgrimage. Next are the trains & accomodations for Cinque Terre. That area sounds really lovely & I'll be able to swim as it's coastal walking through the five towns.

Plans are afoot, albeit slowly. More to come.

Ciao!

Cammino di Assisi

It's official! I have registered for the Cammino di Assisi & the organisation has approved my start date of 12/7/15. I fly into Athens on 9/7/15, stay in a hostel near the Acropolis 1 night, then fly to Milano on 10/7/15.

Next I must book 1 night there, then the several trains to Forli & a bus to reach Dovadola on 11/7/15. I have registered 1 night in the refuge there where I'll meet Don Alfeo & receive my official Pilgrim's Credential & Guide Book. I'll commence the pilgrimage on the 12th. From there it's up to me to keep walking & climbing for two weeks.

What a massive challenge! I am excited & scared & so hopeful that I can do this. Everything else will follow after the pilgrimage.

A rainy Easter weekend

I'm going to enjoy a long, 5-day Easter weekend even though it's rainy. I have five books to read, some handy work to do, some house cleaning to do & I still need to do hill training. I am not going to walk in the rain though. I have a stepper which I will make use of & I have two sets of stairs. Most uninspiring but I'll do something fit, lol.

My travel plans are going well. I've just booked a hostel in Athens for one night then a flight to Milan the next morning. Next I have to settle a start date for the official pilgrimage with the Cammino Di Assisi & sort out trains & bus from Milan to Dovadola, the start of the pilgrimage. This is going to be a huge challenge for me. One I lately realised I was trying to wriggle out of. Not any more! 

Pilgrimage = challenge! Hopefully a challenge I can achieve. So basically I've mentally tossed my Italy plans out of the window & started again with the pilgrimage at the forefront, as it should have been.

More to come!

Being a handywoman.

It's Downton Abbey time again, not to be missed, eh.

A rainy weekend, so I've been repairing three 2nd hand chairs I picked up locally. They are small, wooden armchairs with purple faux suede covering on the seats & back. The backs had become insecure because the screws had stripped their threads. In fact, one back was unattached. Last night I glued matches into all the holes, they dried overnight, & today I repaired the worst one adding a jute wrapping to the arms.  Now it feels strong & secure, & looks great. Two more to fix, then I'll have extra seating for visitors. Nice to be doing something handy again.

I wish the sun would come back though, lol.

Oh, I do love to be beside the seaside!

Okay, I'm all set. A new season of Downton Abbey on TV, a cup of tea beside me, stretched out in my recliner chair, ready to write a new post.

I now live, as per the title of this post, at the seaside! I've moved to a small seaside city north of Brisbane. It's a long commute to work by bus & train, a minimum of one & a half hours, but it's worth it to live here. I am five minutes walk from the beach which also has a man-made lagoon on the foreshore, & I'm surrounded by numerous hotels, restaurants & cafes. There's a small cultural centre, a play theatre, a movie theatre & numerous shops around the area. In the winter I will walk five minutes in the opposite direction to the local heated swimming pool. The flat I've rented is only a year old & nicely modern with three levels, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, balcony & a teeny, tiny courtyard. I am thoroughly enjoying living here. The city is on a small peninsula & I found, shortly after moving here, that the circumference is approximately a half marathon. That makes a good training walk, now all I need is somewhere for hill training. There are fifteen kilometres of lovely beaches with good walking paths & great scenery & seascapes. All in all, this is a great place to live. If I get fed up with it, I can move, but I don't expect I will yet! 

Anyway, nicely timed. Downton Abbey is finishing now. Next post will be my travel plans which are progressing nicely.

Oh, I do love to be beside the seaside!

Ciao!

Yay! Work got better!

It's 31st January. I'm hoping to write at least one post a month this year. Just made it for January, eh!

Amazingly, after my disappointment in my last post about my part-time hours, I was offered a permanent full-time position at the Uni. At last! Since 1st January I have been working full-time. Fantastic! Now I can get on with my travel plans.

So, my flights are booked from Brisbane to Abu Dhabi, stay 2 nights with Dan, then on to Athens, hopefully for another 2 nights to sightsee. Then I'll get an overnight ferry to Italy & start wandering around. I have places I want to go in Italy, Lake Orta & Assisi for sure. I'll travel by train & local buses most of the time & stay in hostels. I might take a side trip, not sure yet. I eventually head back to Athens in time for a 10 day coach tour of Greece continuing with a 5 day cruise around some of the Greek Islands including a brief stop in Kusadasi in Turkey. It all sounds marvellous. I've paid my flight & I've 2/3 paid on the Grecian tours. Nearly there!

Half the fun is in the planning, lol.

I'm missing all my entertainment though. No concerts, shows, outings, so sad. But it's the only way to save. I will go to one concert though. One of our students is performing in 'Spring Romance' & he suggested I go to hear him, so I will. He is a baritone & has recently realised he can also sing tenor., gives him a much greater range. This will be his first tenor role. I'm looking forward to that.

So all is sounding good, looking promising, & I'm optimistic. Oh, I also found a great place to live but I'll relate that next post. Ciao!

Possibilities abound!

Work can take a running jump, it's just a job, no more jumping through hoops.

There, it's time to be proactive. So I'm now looking for a temporary place to live, suitable for about 18 months. Then I may be able to consider longer term, I hope. Thanks to my v handy daughter there's a possibility coming up in a couple of weeks, so I'm hoping.

I've also started planning my next overseas trip for July/August next year which is exciting. I want to do a pilgrimage through Umbria in Italy along The Way of St Francis finishing in Assisi. There are two choices; the official accredited pilgrimage of 13 days, about 20 or more kilometres each day, maybe alone for long stretches each day, staying in basic refuges along the way & carrying everything in a backpack, OR, join a shorter, possibly more convivial, organised tour of 8 days, covering 15-20 k's each day, staying in B&B's or hotels, & my luggage would be transported each day, only need to carry my daily needs. Either way, I will have to do a lot of training. This pilgrimage is over mountains & foothills! Quite a challenge. Then there's a continuation option of 6 days walking to Rome - I'm not sure about that. Again over mountains for a couple of days & then several days flat terrain. Choices - I'm thinking.

Anyway, after Italy I'm considering Greece & maybe Turkey. Also hoping to stop along the flight at Abu Dhabi & investigate Oman. I still want to go to Egypt but that'll depend on fighting & politics which also may affect visiting Turkey. I will be constrained by finance, of course, but it'll be fun sorting out the possibilities. Italy, Greece & Abu Dhabi are definite.

Never forget - life is interesting! If you land in a rut, lift yourself out of it.