Yesterday afternoon I played my final opera performance as a tenured member of Opera San José.
Thanks to Bill Everett for this From The Pit photo!
After the concert I was honored at a reception, and then it was off to Il Fornaio where we had dinner. (MANY thanks to Pam Hakl for arranging this!)
Today we board a plane and fly overseas. What a time!
This morning I paid a hefty fee to our accountant, for his tax prep. I changed the bed sheets, washed all the towels, cleaned the toilets, straightened things up around the house, took the recycling and compost out, showered … all the stuff one must do before a trip, of course. Dan did a lot as well. Still, we were ready ahead of schedule.
My sister drove us to SFO … thank you, Carolyn! It took a few minutes to check our luggage (more on that later), and NO time at all to go through security. We are now comfortably seated in the Polaris lounge.
After our champagne we had a somewhat light meal, and now we are sitting back in some comfy chairs, waiting for boarding time.
We’ve had a trip planned for quite a while. Flights have been purchased. (And how we hope nothing gets canceled, but we have to be ready, of course.) Trains are scheduled, along with one bus.
About these trains! What an adventure that is!
Some trains were purchased early. Possibly too early — the prices could have dropped more, who knows? Some were purchased late because they only became available later. Some that I thought would be a straight shot ended up with a transfer. Two then turned out to include a few hours in towns where we can spend a bit of time in before moving on. One was split in two not because I opted to do it but because that particular train company said “it’s cheaper if you split this in two but you can stay in the same seats and same train.” Okay then. On one day we have three trains to take, each leg being with a different train company. (The UK has a LOT of train companies!)
Oooh … guess I just gave you a clue about where we are headed, eh?
But we aren’t headed there quite yet: I have four more opera performances (La Traviata, to be precise), and a few more lessons to teach. When we do board our first plane I plan on a celebratory glass of bubbly: retirement will have been achieved!
Meanwhile, I’m not only packing in my head (which I do for months), but I’m starting to set things out to get a feel for what I must bring, what I should bring, and what I want to bring. The must column will certainly go in the pack. The should list probably will. The wants? Well, that all depends upon weight!
Speaking of weight … yes, I weigh things. A lot. I was thinking of bringing certain pants, but then I weighed those and compared to some new ones I’m feeling are working well and nixed that first pair. I weigh shoes in order to decide which pair I’ll pack (only two pair of shoes for this trip). I weigh purses to choose just one. I weigh underwear and socks. I weigh … well … everything. Because every ounce counts!
But in any case, things are getting set out (currently on top of my printers), so I can get a handle on the all of it. It looks like a lot, but things will get put inside packing cubes and it’s amazing how it all fits. Most everything is merino wool, and that fabric can easily be rolled and squished and still come out looking pretty darn nice.
What a mess, eh? But no worries, it’ll all get sorted!
I’m attempting to use the Sudoku Method for packing this time. Heard of it? After putting it together three of these items (one of each — top, bottom, layer) will be worn on the plane which cuts down, obviously on what gets packed.
When I make the final choices I’ll try to take a photo to show people what I’ve opted to choose. Maybe. Sort of. Unless I cheat.
I would love to say we can manage with carryon only, but we are on one smaller plane going to and from one country, God willing: those are the flights most likely to get canceled because of this abomination of a war someone in our country jumped into on a whim. Sigh. Those little planes are also much more picky about weight and we might not be able to keep our bags as light as they require. 10kg … can we do it? Dunno! That’s 22 pounds, and honestly I really don’t want to carry more than that on my back in any case. The carryon bag/suitcase/pack has to measure 21,5″ x 15.5″ x 9.5″ and for that I’m okay. But then the personal item can only be 15.5″ x 11.5″ x 8″. Mine is 16″ x 12″ x 5″. So the big question is just how picky are they and am I willing to take a chance? I’ll have to ponder that. Or buy a new personal size bag. I’ve been reading up and it appears I’ll probably be fine but …??
So what else has been done or needs to be done?
Well, today we got Covid shots and then drove to get our International Driving Permits. We have a house sitter who can stay here, as well as neighbors who always keep an eye on our place. Mail has been stopped for a month (and then I have to stop it again since we are gone for other a month). Our house sitter can collect a stack of what I’m sure will mostly be junk mail when that first stop comes to an end. Well, junk mail and all the money people are going to send me because they want to sponsor the trip. Right?
RIGHT!!! (I can hear you all agreeing with me. So thanks!)
Yes, I am already thinking about what we’ll do next. It’s what I do, after all! We are hoping for a walking holiday again, so the spreadsheet has been started. Here’s the top of the first page:
As you can see, we have a long list of country possibilities. We had hoped for the Dolomites, but that might have to wait a year, since it’s best to do that later in the year than we were planning. At the moment I’m sort of focussing on Portugal.
(For some reason it looks like you can’t click on the image of the spreadsheet to see it on its own, in an enlarged format, so here is what I list: COMPANY – COUNTRY/AREA & LINK TO PAGE – COST PER PERSON – #DAYS, NIGHTS, WALKING – # OF MILES – ACTIVITY LEVEL – LODGING LEVEL – NIGHT LOCATIONS – ITINERARY & NOTES.
This is ridiculously difficult to read, I know, but here is one walk sample. Maybe if you squint or get a magnifying glass you can read it …?
When I look for a company to work with I browse a lot of them, and then check on their reviews and ratings. I found one in the UK that had walks in Portugal, and their reviews looked fine, but in reading the description they state that they use a local company for the Portugal walks. Of course I’d prefer to use a local company myself, so I did a bit of research and I believe I’ve found the company they work with and going directly with that company saves money. No surprise … the same goes for booking a hotel directly most of the time. (When it doesn’t I write to the hotel and they will usually match the price of a service like Expedia.)
But then we also have a wedding to attend on the other side of our own country. It’s in the fall, so it seems only right to look into what else we might do at that end of the US while we are there, right? So of course I have a spreadsheet for that as well.
I realized I’ve not written here for a time. But that doesn’t mean I’ve not been making plans for an upcoming trip! I have, in fact, gotten all our planes and trains set, and hotel reservations are also complete.
Today I pulled out the clothes I thought would work, and I do believe I have what I will need for a trip during winter.
Yes, in fact, THIS winter!
Let’s see … what will I bring? Down jacket. Rain jacket. Cashmere sweaters. Several merino wool turtlenecks. And merino wool pants as well. Merino wool leggings to wear under pants. Tights. Warm socks. Warm hat.
The big word for winter travel is layers. I will have those. And yes, I plan on carryon only (except for one bit I’ll fill you in on later). Easy-peasy!
I also conversed today with our houseguest. Thus I’m feeling comfortable blogging about the trip. I will share our destinations as we go, though. Gotta keep some surprises, after all!
The last thing I had to find were shoes. I wanted some low boots (otherwise called booties) for walking that would be comfortable and, with my nice Darn Tough socks, warm. I also need a pair of shoes I could wear with my dress, because we are going to four concerts while we are out and about! Yesterday those shoes were purchased.
I hope.
I always buy shoes, get home, and wear them for a time to be absolutely certain they will work. I’ve gotten a wee bit smarter, too, and I now have shoe covers I can put on to protect said shoes until I know they are a done deal.
I’ve been spending far too much time at the computer figuring out … drum roll … our trip to the UK!
Yep, I’m back at it.
I’ve frequently said I really wanted to do one of those walking holidays. Plus I’ve always wanted Dan to see Scotland (I was there in 1976 and while the memories are vague, I know I loved it). For the walk I first looked at what is called the West Highland Way, but it turns out one needs to plan much earlier and things were full when we decided we were ready to go for it. So instead we are doing the Great Glen Way. That was the first bit we knew we had to get scheduled, because we didn’t want to do any more until that was absolutely set.
In reality I think the Great Glen Way walk is better for a first walk. It starts out very gently, and there are, I think, maybe two days that might have climbs. It begins where the West Highland Way ends, so perhaps we’ll run into people who are finishing with that and can hear about their walk. We walk for seven days — yes, we took the most days we could so we can amble and not feel at all rushed. The company I used to schedule our lodging and luggage transportation is Mickledore, and so far they’ve been great. We don’t yet get the full itinerary, though: we have only paid our deposit and they send the entire packet out after we pay in full and it is maybe a few months before the trip (in case they have to change things up). I know some people do all this planning on their own, and part of me feels as if I’m wimping out having a company do it, but I was just too unsure of what I needed to do. When we go out on the walk we do it on our own: the company only plans for us and then is there to answer calls should we have any problems.
Of course if one goes all the way to the UK one shouldn’t “just” do a walk and go right back home, right? Besides that, our son Brandon will be in London at the start of June so it seems to me we have an obligation to meet up at least for a day. So as it turns out we will end in London, and we needed to fill in the space between ending the walk and “landing” in London. Including our day of flying to our first destination (via FRA), we are out and about for a short 27 days this time.
Stay tuned for more to come about the planning of the trip and all. For now let me just say I’m pretty darn excited and even while we don’t leave for 119 days (not that I would be counting or anything) I am starting to pack in my head! (I’ll have to write about what we will pack later as well, since a walking holiday means a slightly different set of clothes and also means we can’t do all carryon.).
Oh … and our house sitters will be back. Thus, I can write about things here!
I’m busy working out train travel in one country: if I do all three legs at once it makes more sense since the booking fee is the same for one or for all three. So I booked them. Or so I thought. I reached the payment page. Oops, time ran out on the first leg since I was rather slow. Okay. Fine. Start over. Do it again. Oops, I put the wrong passport number in for Dan’s ticket on one leg. I canceled that leg, so I could reenter things. Wait a minute! Why did the price go up $20 for the exact same thing? Argh!
Sigh.
I deleted everything and will start over tomorrow. I’ll probably clear my cache first too (and certainly need to clear my head), but I was already signed in so that probably won’t make any difference. Of course by tomorrow everything may have gone up. But I’ll risk it because I’m too weary to do this all over again right now.
They really need to give me more time. I am slow and deliberate because I do NOT want to make any mistakes (They charge a fee for any changes, even while I’m paying extra for “semi-flex” to make that fee lower.)
But once I get those three train days taken care of I’ve done quite a good portion of our trip up through mid-July. (I can’t book one earlier trip in a different country yet: their trains don’t open up until two months before the travel date.*)
Grumble, grumble.
Don’t get me wrong, though: I really love train travel! I just don’t like dealing with sites that give me rigid time limits and change fees on me at the drop of a hat (or when I stupidly put in the wrong passport number!).
*Quick Note: I DID find a site that appeared to offer tickets for the country I said didn’t open up ticket sales yet. Interesting Everything looked just fine … but I did a quick search and, sure enough, it’s considered a scam by many. So if you consider using other sites, do investigate first! I am using Rail Europe for at least one country and they are fine, but another one that begins with the word Rail and ends with the word Ninja is NOT a trustworthy site. One always has to remain vigilant!
