The first thing we did was to list places we would like to see and things we would like to do. Separately. Then we compared lists and came up with our top wishes: London, the Cotswolds, Madrid, Lisbon, Barcelona, Rome, Venice and Paris. And a cruise. Then we started thinking. We had to be BACK in six weeks, in relatively good shape (not totally exhausted), ready for chemo.
Time to rethink strategy.
London was a given. Not only is it a great city worthy of a visit anytime, Carol lived and worked there before emigrating to Canada. So a bit of a homecoming. Good so far.
Ok, it seemed sensible to fly in and out of London but what about the rest? What if a cruise could connect some of the other cities? Hmmm...
I've never been on a cruise so imagine my surprise when I was told about Vacations To Go! My head was spinning for days. And, because our timing was exquisitely lucky, we found a P&O repositioning cruise leaving Southampton about the right time and finishing in Venice. Perfect.
So the cruise became the driver of our trip. We would fly to London four days before it started and book time in Venice after, with one more stop before flying home. The cruise was 17 days and included some of the cities on our initial list so the final stop became a choice between Madrid and Paris. We had never been to either so we chose Paris because we were feeling romantic. And because the connections were easier.
There you go. Itinerary set. Easy peasy. All in a day's work. What could go wrong?