Roaming Raos

We had an ambitious itinerary for our remaining eight days in Italy after Venice. So, we decided driving would give us the most flexibility to actually execute it despite it being our least preferred means of travel in Europe. Anyone who knows my husband knows he becomes "Restless Rao" just at the thought of driving in European city centers. But, somehow he has always been the designated driver between the two of us and I have always been the nominated navigator. I think it might be because I tend to drive with a lead foot and he is not the best with directions :P

A grand tour of Italy had been on our travel wish list for years. So, when it came to deciding the destination of our first big vacation after moving to France, Italy was a clear and unanimous winner. We decided to start up north in Venice and make our way down Italy. Well, the fact that we were getting cheap air tickets into Venice made us decide, I should say. :P And, when it is a cheap ticket you are either flying out really early or getting in really late.

So, I was a bit nervous about sending our first born on his first ever school camping trip at age 11 (they start at as early as 4 years here in France :O) We figured the best way to keep ourselves from spending the entire weekend fretting about him was to take a little trip ourselves. :P Adeen was off to Buthiers with his class on Friday morning and the same night we drove to Bruges, Belgium after work. It was a comfortable 4 hour drive and we had a nice hotel on the periphery with an easy 10 minute walk to Bruges center.

This was a very quickly planned, short, one night getaway. Even though I am a planner and like to put in considerable time and research into each of our trips, I feel sometimes plans like this one are all you need for a change of pace and scene in life, and come back with a better attitude an a brighter smile. It had been a little over a month since our big move to France and things were moving much slower than we had expected. (I mean, 3-4 weeks to get your internet and TV, really?)