La Dolce Vita

I am up to my neck in work - both in the office, at at home, racing to complete course work etc. But that has not stopped me from fantasing. And planning the trip to Europe next year.

Tentatively I know I want to cover Rome, Venice (for mom). It will be my third time back to Rome and Venice. I am a bit tired of Rome but cannot get enough of Venice. KH says we should live there for a year - ah, pipe dream! But what a lovely one... The nooks and crannies of that ancient city, the twisting and turning of narrow streets flanked by silent canals, flagged by lines of laundry and potted plants, fanning out into tiny unexpected piazzas. There's so much to walk and absorb in Venice. I just love to walk and walk and get lost and when its time to go back to the hotel, just follow the per rialto or per san marco signs. And at nights - just sitting in St Mark's as the cafe orchestras play in a near empty square - you can't beat that kind of atmosphere and romance. So yes, I am still looking forward to Venice.

Still contemplating Assisi, Siena. Definitely one hilltown at least. Italy is not Italy without the hilltowns. But without car, the transfers from train to bus and vice versa might be a hassle. Pleasant puzzles to contemplate.

But this time, I am thinking of moving up to Austria. Not to Vienna (somehow the northern cities leave me cold) but just to Salzburg, and perhaps a day or two on idyllic Hallstattersee, population 1200. Then either west to Neuchwanstein castle in Bavaria or back down to Milan and the Italian lakes. I do think that an Italian holiday is not complete without some 'water' - be it the lakes (Como or Garda are my preferences) or the Cinque Terra in Liguria. And the quiet time by the water is always very therapeutic and healing. My mind keeps going back to Varenna on Como or the cliffside walk in Vernazza.

How nice to fantasise.

And who to bring? Well, baby Trinity certainly. But will it just be mom, me and babe? I always feel Europe is so incomplete without KH. And what about Mr RightBreast as mom teasingly calls Owain? Poor babe will be lost without his nen-nen for so many days!!

Am I getting ahead of myself? Will we even go?