Spur-of-the-moment travel plans: Venice to Mantova

Our friends Liz and Ritchie are leaving today for Europe on a trip they've been planning since last summer.  They fly to Amsterdam for a bike and barge trip to view the tulips, then spend two weeks in Paris and end in Venice for another bike and barge week.  They wanted us to do the Venice part of the trip with them but last fall we said no to the plan because we were going to be selling our house and moving.

Well, about a week and a half back they were visiting us in our new home and we looked online to see if the trip was sold out or if there might be space for us to come along. And there was.  So, on the spur of the moment we signed up.

Last week was spent sorting out details and making travel plans for a three-week trip.  On April 30, we will fly to Venice and spend seven days on the boat with our friends on the canals and rivers in the Veneto area.  Each day we will bike a ways and explore small towns and villages and farming areas in the flat Po valley.  The trip ends in Mantua and from there we'll spend another two weeks visiting Padua, Trieste and the northern Croatian Istrian peninsula.

While we're away we will be having some work done in the back garden area.  Our friend Sue who lives upstairs will be taking care of Geordie.  Meanwhile we continue settling in and sorting out our new home.