Tracy said I had to ...

hurry up and blog again so guess what here I am... hee hee girlie now you got something to read huh??? but the question surely is... will it be worth it?

So we obviously made it home okay...okay so buggered would be a much better word... while we had been able to get something vaguely resembling sleep on the outbound flights... the inbound flights well sleep proved to be more than just a little elusive... do you know how many movies its possible to watch between Milan and New Zealand?
Go on take a guess I would have to as well since they all started running into each other... and drat it all even with a mostly empty plane from Malpensa thru to Dubai do you think we managed to get upgraded thru to business which was as empty as coach! NOPE NOT LIKELY!!!!! though we did get to move to where ever we chose in coach...

Mind we did get a really nice room in Dubai for a few hours sleep, a real loo and a lovely shower that also had a tap that ran at the same time the shower did... and at 1 am in the morning local time (Dubai) I wasn't really worrying too much about that... more concerned that I would never be able to get to sleep in the 35 degree heat that thankfully was controlled very well by the air conditioner set at 12 degrees! So well in fact that I had to reach down for blankets during the night! well if you could call a four hour sleep night that is!
The really funny thing though about the hotel was that instead of a pair of queen size beds which I guess you would expect to find in most hotel rooms it was a pair of SINGLES instead... and no there was no way on this planet Chris was going to convince me to squeeze up together in a single bed... heee hee and then about 10 minutes after I finally crawled into bed the thought crossed my mind of the group of men that had been in the check in line at the hotel before us... three men... one room... and whats the bet they got singles too! that might have come as somewhat more of a shock to them than it did to us! hee hee...

4 airports, 4 security checks, one explosives test (for the Mr) at Sydney no less... he reckons they thought he had an explosive personality! hahahahahaha don't fret at the time I didn't laugh either! and we were back home in the land of the long white cloud with our girls... I nearly said baby girls there but that they aren't anymore... and yes we got some rather amusing emails from them while we were away...
Thankfully Mum and Dad were staying for another week since I spent the better part of two days and nights snoozing while Mr went bravely back to work... hah more like he wanted to get over his jet lag in relative peace and quiet! We have of course been flat out catching up with a huge amount of things since our return... which has resulted in the delay in getting back here...

and no I haven't forgotten that I have yet to add the last few days of our holiday to the blog... spent in Fuipiano... high in the hills near well if you can call and hours drive up a really winding think hairpin winding road from anything vaguely resembling a large town... well you get the idea... Totally stunning place... very very scenic... great food at the hotel too.... mmmm I can still recall with perfect clarity the glorious croissants fresh baked every morning and the melt in your mouth Salmon served up with a salad with everything freshly picked from their garden and all washed down with a bottle of Moretti beer... mmmmm

Now if you are the scrappy type the digi scrappy type that is you might want to check out my new kit fresh in the store tonight... Toscana... yep you got it inspired by the beautiful Tuscan countryside we recently explored... and not by the typical terracotta but by the gorgeous greens found in the olive groves and vineyards that are quite simply everywhere... the rich browns of the earth and the ever present aged metal that you see everywhere from door knockers to embellishments for verandahs ... go on you know you want it... go check it out while its on special... 25% off for 24 hours... so don't think about it too long...


find it here or simply click on any of the above images to be taken straight to my store...

We are on our way home...

how did 16 days scoot by so fast? They have been absolutely amazing... so many things to take in... that will have to be another blog post though... and it will have to wait till we are actually back on NZ soil...

I know some of you are keeping up with our happenings here and I am sorry to have been such a slacker the last few days... can you say busy? Here is some I had started with a brief bit at the end for the last few days... more including pictures when we get home...

We spent Saturday and Sunday nights at Lake Maggiore...

Lake Maggiore is just quite simply stunning! We have a lovely view out over the lake to Isola Bella which we visited today along with Isola Superiore and Isola Madre. Decided on the larger ferries rather than the littler motorboats… you know me and boats… not the best of friends! So little boat was just not gonna happen, well not if I was going anyway!

Our first stop was Isola Superiore a lovely little fishing village, with more than a few tourists and touristy bits too… lots of amazing views… a gorgeous little church some of which was built in the 9th century… other parts are newer… like the 17th and 18th century! That’s the thing about visiting a country like Italy where history goes back to, well often several centuries back.

Isola Bella was up next… oh my word talk about opulent! Take one barren rock, build a huge and yes I do mean HUGE castello that seemed to have no boundaries put on it at all! All the rooms we were able to visit where just massive… and ceilings so high up the people painting the frescoes on them must have been risking life and limb on dodgy platforms and suffering blood noses on a regular basis! Nothing has been left unadorned… the furniture is just simply amazing… a whole lot of it was from the 16th century and still looked amazing… naturally slightly faded and a little worn in spots but heckermole think how old it is! And paintings everywhere and yes I do mean absolutely everywhere!

The garden is equally massive and considering the barren little rock that it started off as you soon realise just how much of an effort it would have been to get enough dirt there to grow anything in let alone getting all the plants there as well! Everything from palms to hibiscus to rhodos and camellias… ferns… you name it it’s there and with statues all around as well!!!!!!!

And last up was Isola Madre... equally impressive but far less over done... the garden was stunning and considering they had a tornado rip through part of it in 2006 the repairs to parts of the garden are coming along amazingly...

Monday saw us heading for Lake Como... we made it finally but not before the GPS tried to take us over the Swiss border TWICE... hey I know we wanted to go into Switzerland but not that day thanks... Our hotel here at Fuipiano is high in the mountains... its 1015 feet up and takes an hour to drive back down the narrow, hairpin turn filled road... you meet all sorts going both ways too... push bikes, cars, trucks with suicidal drivers, the occassional bus... oh and don't forget the scooters everywhere!

We are in Italy ...

Well at last after spending close enough to two whole days and nights either in a plane or at an airport we are finally here in Milan… the weather is quite simply stunning… VERY hot! When we arrived here in Milan it was 32 degrees and is meant to get there again today.
It sounds like August is the hottest month of the year everywhere in Italy. Still great to be in Italy… though I have to say between blocked ears , extreme tiredness , heck we were in bed and sound asleep by 8 last night… 33 hours in a plane or an airport really does take it out of you… I think the worst of it is not being able to stretch out. Our legs are sore as a result. Yeah so we were in bed early last night but had wanted something to eat before crashing thankfully we were able to find a pizzeria open early not far from the hotel… everything around it was shut up tight… not open again yet. It seems like everyone shuts up shop early afternoon and goes home for lunch and a snooze only to get back into it full on later. The restaurant in the hotel here didn’t even open for dinner till 7.30 so to find the pizzeria was fantastic! The young girl in there spoke beautiful English (though apologised for her poor English) which we were both eternally grateful for since our sleep deprived brains weren’t functioning all that well!

So we are off this morning to check out Milan… going to take the Metro into the heart of the city rather than try and find somewhere to park… seriously if you didn’t see it you really wouldn’t believe the way people park here… and everyone has small cars… the only bigger vehicles have been service type vehicles. The whole driving in Italy is an experience in itself… I spent most of the drive from the airport to the hotel yesterday in a flat panic… who moved the ruddy steering wheel???? Mind you I was awake enough to remind Chris that if he was driving he was heading to the wrong door … yeah he automatically went to the right hand side of the car to climb in to drive us from the airport!
The drivers really don’t seem all that horrific yet… Chris was disappointed that we didn’t get tooted at more often… though for one guy behind us our sitting in the middle of the street was obviously enough of an annoyance to make him toot at us! Chris loved it… it was like yeah now that’s what driving in Italy is meant to be! No lane markings mean it’s really hard to figure out whether it’s a one or a two lane road you are on… and then there are the cobbled streets… everyone was driving along the tram tracks… with good reason even in a well sprung modern car the ride was rough to say the least!

The other thing we have noticed is all the motorbikes we have seen here in Milan not one of the riders we have seen have had even a light jacket on, let alone a leather one… the women on the back all seem to have high heels… slip ons at that, no sleeves in their shirts and the number of the riders and passengers that are smoking while they are doing it is just unbelieveable! I am seriously going to have to try and get a photo cause it’s something else that just has to be seen to be believed!

Okay so we will be back later to hopefully show you some photos of what we have seen in and around Milan… hope everyone is well …

The week that was...

pretty dang good actually... brilliant weather! and all those things that needed sorting before we leave kinda mostly got sorted without too much hassle...

Anya had a great birthday and enjoyed her "party" (think a couple of friends, a trip to Maccas, lots of squeals, lots of giggles) thank you so much to everyone who sent her gorgeous cards or gifties... and naturally there was a visit round to Nana's to help her celebrate her birthday also...

and then yesterday Nana and Grandad Bus finally arrived... the girls and I hadn't seen them for a year... it had been longer than that for Chris though... Mum (chris') and Bryan joined us all for a barbeque... yes you read right and yes it is winter... we did end up eating inside but we had a bbq none the less!

And now today... the day has finally arrived that Chris and I leave for Italy... so exciting... we are all packed and ready to go now, its only a matter of hours now before we head off via Sydney, Bangkok (transit stops only no getting off the plane before reaching Dubai where we have a few hours at the airport there before heading onwards to Milan...

I am hoping to be able to post updates here so keep checking back...