Back and busy

Hello! I'm back. Actually we came back a couple of weeks ago but I have been so busy that I have been unable to find a moment to write. Sorry. Busy with lots and lots of sewing - I was working frantically on making stuff to sell at a private sale this last Sunday which turned out to be slightly disappointing in terms of the number of people that showed up but in all a great learning experience! (Thanks girls!). Also a couple of health issues have kept me off the computer - I have convergence problems with my eyes and I was getting headaches from looking at the screen for any amount of time however tiny and a neurologist confirmed just yesterday that I have quite a bad case of carpal tunnel syndrome that will probably require surgery. Ho hum. Italy was amazing. We hired the best apartment with the best location in the best village of the "cinque terre" (five medieval villages perched in the cliffs by the sea about 90km south of Genoa).
The weather was mainly good so the kids got lots of beach time and we went for lovely walks and ate ice cream and met some great people and wow just relaxed and had fun! From there we went to Genoa and were there at the same time as the Pope and the rain. So we left early and tried Pavia but the rain followed us so we moved on to Milan. Might as well be in a big city if it's raining. We got there the day Inter won the Italian Football league and so were caught up in the celebrations - fantastic! I don't think any of us will forget the rain, the car horns, the fireworks, the black and blue stripes, the chanting, the joy. I was wearing an Inter football scarf the next day and got interviewed for the television about it all! Makes me cringe just thinking about it. Anyway the kind of holiday I love... four of us on foot with two tiny rucksacks, so free to go where we like without hauling bags around. Phoning hotels from train platforms and making last-minute decisions about where we want to be. It really feels like freedom to me. So many people seem to need to have everything planned on their holidays but although we always have a structure of some sort (there and back tickets for example) within that we literally do arrive at a station and say to the ticket seller OK where can we go from here, for how much, when do we leave and what time do we arrive? And we decide there and then where we are going next. And I love trains and especially Italian trains that are so reasonably priced and can hold such adventures. We have just booked our summer holiday travel and will be taking the night train to Milan - I already feel excited about it! Oh and I would just like to say that we have never had a problem getting a room for a night anywhere - even with the Pope in town, in August on the south coast of Spain, or arriving at 1am in a town, we have always found great places to stay... Hurrah for holidays and freedom and adventure!

Argh I realise that I may have chosen the wrong photos since they don't seem to illustrate the text I have just bashed out!!! I am tired and so will leave them and the layout in disarray to better contemplate the whole tomorrow!

Le français suivra... même si vous ne me croyez plus!!!