What a trip, what a terrific time, what a memory! We had great joy, laughter and fun with a bit of panic and excitement mixed in. It was a trip of a lifetime for this 40+ gal and a trip of a lifetime for the almost 8 year old gal. We will try to chronicle our journey in a few blog posts.
Day One:
We left home at 8:30 a.m. to be at the airport for 9:00, our first flight left Ottawa at 11:00. From there we landed in Toronto, took a shuttle to terminal 3 and waited several hours for our flight to Rome. At 4:00 we boarded an old A330 and prepared for the 8.5 hour flight. It was LOOOOONG! During our flight we did some time travel and gained 6 hours they woke us up at 11:45 our time which was 5:45 a.m. there time and they served us breakfast. It was odd but helpful for getting us on the right time schedule.
After breakfast we got to watch the sun rise over Rome!
Touching European ground for the first time. 7:10 a.m. in Rome 1:10 a.m. in Canada.... yawn
The airport was filled with shopping opportunities but our hearts just weren't in it yet. We were tired and a bit out of sorts so just found a corner and sat and waited for our connecting flight to Bari.
Sid just adores Megan. They have become even closer friends over the course of the trip.
Ahhhh in Bari. It is now almost 9:00 a.m. Luggage is collected and we were just picking up our awesome rental car. It was parked in the car rental lot "Just 200 meters out that door"!
The 200 meters out the door was really quite far, especially for Megan lugging the Green Beast as it was then dubbed. But we did find the car! We had a tremendous drive. Not in an inspiring, wow that was great kind of way but in a OMG we are lost in Italy, can't get the car in reverse and are stuck on a toll highway going in the wrong direction. It was a harrowing experience and as we finally found the more than secluded resort we got a text from our traveling companions "Lost in Italy, can't find resort! It's been 3 hours!!!" We were a bit relieved that we weren't the only ones completely lost and even more relieved when our team mates pulled into the resort just minutes before us. We all had arrived safe and sound. A little worse for wear, very travel weary but finally home for the week.
We checked in, got some food and the girls went for a chilly swim.
Beautiful Orange trees outside my front door.
Day 2! Sid slept 15 hours, I woke her up at 11:30 but knew we had missed breakfast so texted Beth around 10:15 asking her to pick us up something at the breakfast buffet. The servers packed us a plate of sugary breads and cakes. Sid had Chocolate cake for breakfast. She was pretty happy about that!
It was really sunny and warm and the only thing on the agenda for day 2 was weigh in and Team Canada Meeting so we went roaming.
We took the free shuttle into Castellanetta Marina. It is a tourist town. It is not tourist season :)
Almost everything was locked up and closed but we did find the Polizia!
We came across a small home selling their own wine but no one was there!
We had two hours to roam so we walked until we found the beach. It was so barren!
The first touch of water proved very exciting. It was warmer than the pool. We now had to make plans to swim in the sea before we left. It was on the Italy bucket list! Time to head back to the shuttle to go back to the resort.
This was the vespa belonging to the gypsy guy who came down to the beach and tried to go through Beth's things while our backs were turned. There wasn't another soul around but he appeared and snuck up on us. Thankfully we were with a small group of people from the resort and someone spotted him before he stole her purse.
On the way back to the shuttle, a Sculoabus drove by with all the kids coming home from school. I pulled out my camera so they did a U turn and drove past us again. This place was so quite, the tourists became the attraction LOL.
Back at the hotel we had completed weigh in and made it to the team Canada meeting.
Team Canada was well represented! Sid, Megan and Dave are on the far right. I was unable to get everyone in because I just couldn't back up far enough with all the people there trying to take pictures.
Happy Thanksgiving from the Puglia region of Italy.
After dinner it was time to check out the tournament venue. The girls brought their gear and practiced a bit. They had a great time playing on the mats together and working out.
Anti-Gravity Sid, her speciality!
We picked up this XXL sweatshirt for the girls to share, we thought it would be more cost effective than buying them each one ;)
That's all for now! Next post will be Days 3 - 4, stay tuned.
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