Fly to Italy

Wednesday, July 12, 2023
London Luton Airport, England, United Kingdom
Itinerary - Meet your tour manager as you arrive, and board the coach for the transfer through the Tuscan countryside to your hotel, in Montecatini.
Ca die fraiti- this was a tip - red wine
My drive to the airport was a doddle and so was getting through to departures even if the queue was massive. My flight departs in 1 hour and I’ve just sat down with a ‘happy holidays’ drink. My tip to the person in charge of washing up would be - try harder!
As my 1st solo travel I played it safe and had my drink in the bar next to ‘special assistance’ and the prayer room, at least I covered most bases. 
I hope the man on the bus next to me doesn’t have a turn based on the amount of medication he has in his see through bag!
Omg, there is a ‘sheppy’ in the seat in front of me - what a small world. I haven’t seen him though cos he is “on the sick”. The plane stood on the tarmac for a while as the vehicle that moves the stairs away from the plane was buggered so we had to wait for a solution. The 2 women either side me were quiet the entire trip.
EasyJet had a full flight today, there were no free seats on the plane which was a shame cos I could have done without the little brat behind me that kept kicking the seat. Other than that, the flight was as smooth as you like and before you knew it we were touched down in Pisa.
It was smooth runnings getting through customs and baggage claim and then I went and joined the other 13 on the Newmarket tour. I would say the average age of my fellow travellers is 75 and I am definitely the only one who has had to take annual leave for this trip. We got to the coach and travelled through the beautiful scenic countryside with fields of sunflowers flanked by marble topped mountains. Id only been on the coach for about 30 minutes and I’ve sussed out who the arse licking, know it all is. He was talking to the tour guide about coffee - should anyone really talk to the Italians about coffee?
Once at my hotel we got checked in and then had to walk up the road to a different building to get to our rooms. There is a couple in this hotel with me. My room is a bit like a converted meeting room, to get to my balcony I have to leave my room as it is over the corridor opposite by front door. The room is very basic but spotless and of the 500 channels on the tele none of them are in English. The wardrobe is so tall but the design is poor, it is split into 2 sections, top and bottom so it is ok if you only have short clothes but if you only have short clothes that would indicate you are a short person so how do you hang anything on the top rail?
I went of a little walk this afternoon to get supplies, I was so hot and sweaty by the time I got back to the hotel and I made such a rookie error, beer in a bottle but no bottle opener - mum, where are you when I need you. Another error is that the 2 pin adapter I have brought isn’t the right size so bang goes a cuppa in the room. Looks like the coke and water will be all I am drinking until I get a new adapter and bottle opener. Maybe I’ll buy a bottle of wine and check that it is screw top!
After a very sweat nap, due to the freak weather they are having, I got myself ready for the evening. Oh no, my water is brown, I’ve broken the plug (it is constantly closed) and I had to clean my teeth in the b day. Omg! Talk about back to bloody basic. It could be an interesting chat with the rep tonight, brown water, shit aircon and no safe. I am carrying all my belonging around with me at the moment but that’s not ideal.
At dinner I met some new group members that had come in from differrent airports so there are now 11 of us in this hotel which is better. There is a group of 4, Chinese Dora the explora and David, Chris and Janette, Martin and Elaine and me. Dinner was “interesting” and afterwards a few of us decided to go down the street for a drink. We are in a really vibrant, teeny park of town and it really came alive. After a nightcap at the hotel we retired to our rooms for a well earned sleep.

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2025-02-08

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