It's barely a week until Alison and I head off on our second European adventure. This trip was actually planned to occur a few months earlier, but unexpected gallbladder surgery dictated we postpone it; we also truncated it from the original eleven weeks to a more manageable six. Given that Elizabeth is only ten weeks away from giving birth to our first grandchild (a boy, which we affectionately call PJ or Pete Junior), and the fact that she has recently been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, the timing now doesn't look too flash. Nevertheless, we will push ahead with our trip, despite a few misgivings.
Our six weeks this time will take us to Athens and then two of Greece's more popular islands, Mykonos and Santorini. From there we fly to Vienna, where we plan to soak up some culture, and then travel by train to Slovenia, as recommended to us by our daughter, Imogen (and if we don't like the place, we'll be pushing her for a full refund). Leaving Slovenia, we rail back to Austria for a week or so, then head to the Czech Republic, which we are led to believe is beautiful. From Prague, it's a flight to Barcelona and then two weeks of travel through Spain.
We've a week to go, but already we are experiencing a mixture of excitement and some trepidation. It's been an exceptionally wet winter back home, and leaving the property a virtual quagmire does cause us some concern. Nevertheless, all the arrangements have been made, the bags are nearly packed and we can almost smell the jet engine fuel. So, we're Europe bound for the second time.
