All booked

I see the Fox has already written on this subject, but I just have to say my bit. The holiday is booked! We were at the travel agents over an hour as they measured my wheelchair & checked door widths at the hotel in Pompei.

We didn't book the car hire there. They were going to charge over £750 for the fortnight. You could virtually buy an old banger for that & sell it at the end of the stay. The Fox has now sorted the car hire out on-line for considerably less.

My job is to sort out the holiday insurance. I always hate this job. By the time I've got a few quotes & gone through my medical history each time, I feel like a physical wreck. I'm also usually fuming either at the sheer range of price, less than £100 to over £600, or the humiliation of being told I've got too many problems (Sorry I can't do anything about that! Wish I could), or the terms as people tell me that because I have osteoporosis they won't cover me for broken bones if the plane crashes or a bus drives into me on holiday!

Apart from that it's just a case of learning a few words of Italian. I'm usually good at that. I've already done that much just reading the guide book! I'd like to read a more detailed book on the area we're going to & get a map so we stand a chance of not getting lost & locating the hotel. There will, of course, be the need to get some euros & have my hair tidied up but that's about it.

Now I can sit back & look forward to the trip. I've never been to Italy before. I've read about it often in my schooldays, doing Latin & History (which included the Renaissance & Italian wars then) A Levels. I just hope I'll be able to see some of the ruins at Pompeii, having read Pliny's graphic description of the fateful eruption of Vesuvius.

Above all, I'm relieved to think WE'RE ON OUR WAY!