Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here

We've been having too much fun living our adventure to write about it!  Now we're not, so it's time to post.      JUST KIDDING!

Here are the players in our adventure:

Patricia McLaughlin Everwine

Janice Jones Beane

Diane Kelley

Mary McLaughlin Fisher

Wayne Fisher

Melaney Mulvenna Jordan

Gene Jordan

Joining us in Nice:  John Tockstein

We met up at the airport in Philly mid-afternoon for our early evening direct flight to Venice, Italy.  The U.S. Airways flight was smooth, the food was bad and the little old ladies of undetermined origin were out of their seats, visiting each other and blocking the movie screens most of the night.  In other words, a typical trans-Atlantic flight.

Quick and easy immigration line and we were ready for the Aliliguna boat to take us into Venice.  So we waited on the dock.  And we waited.  And waited.  And sweat. And sweat. And bitched. And moaned.  And sweat some more.  The boat arrived, we got on with the other 427 damp people and enjoyed our one hour boat ride.  At our stop, we were met by the Caretaker of the apartment we rented and shown up the four winding floors to our apartment. Then up one more to the main area then up another floor to the loft bedroom and the rooftop terrace.  Yeah, lots of stairs.  63, but who's counting.  Great apartment, though.  We didn't have enough air conditioning units for the entire place so it was really hot most of the time, but what a view of Venice!

Venice - laundry day

Venice - off the tourist shuffle

Venice - The Bridge of Sighs

Venice - Setting up Shop at 6:00 a.m.

Venice - Laundry Day

Early Morning Arrivals in Venice

We spent the next day and half exploring beautiful Venice. Most of the gang took an evening gondola ride and we were up early the next morning (around six) to walk before the heat and crowds descended.  We walked back through the narrow, cobblestoned streets and saw the vendors sweeping the area in front of their stands using handmade brooms of thick twigs tied to a broomstick. Much more efficient then straw brooms, I think. 

During that one sweltering day in Venice, some took in the Doge's Palace and others braved the  crowds at San Marco Basilica.   One,who shall remain nameless, purchased FIVE leather pocketbooks in various colors and is still searching for the perfect hobo bag in Tiffany Blue.   Can you say late-blooming fashionista?

Saturday morning at 5:00 am we were all up, smiling, (not), happy to roll our luggage down to the dock to pick up the boat that would return us to the airport for our short flight to Nice and the French Riviera.

Thanks, California. We owe you.

Big hug to all of you who sent encouraging emails and FB messages.   That felt good!

Lots of questions about just what it is we’re doing, so I’ll tip my hand early and set this up.

Last year five of us “Jersey Girls” jumped from weekends in New York or Maryland to a ten-day trip up the California coast.  We rented a car in Los Angeles and slowly moved our way up to Napa.  Along the way we visited friends and classmates who now live in that beautiful state, as well as Venice Beach, Hearst Castle, Monterey Aquarium, Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco and Napa wineries.  To say we had a blast would be an understatement.  The most amazing part?  Five women in one hotel room each night and not one incident of bathroom rage.   Believe it.

Of course, the next logical step was to take this show global.  So over the Christmas holiday a few of us decided that France—with a toe touch into Italy—would be a good start.  I mean, a country that has been bouncing back from invasions since 1792 can certainly handle our little group, non?

By mid-January eight of us were on board and deposits had been put down on an apartment in Venice and a villa in St. Jeannet on the Riviera.  We added a hotel in Paris for a few days, ordered two cars for the Riviera portion, bought plane tickets and started squealing things like, “really? Are we really doing this?”  Which is pretty much what we’ve been repeating for the past five months.

Let me interject something important (to me) here:  This kind of trip is extremely doable on most budgets.  Splitting costs eight ways brings things like a villa on the Cote Azure within reality.  This is my first tip for your future travels.  Thank me later.

So there you have it.  Venice Beach to Venice, Italy.  Makes sense to us.  I’ll provide the names of the players soon (after I get permission) and one week from today (July 4^th) our adventure begins.

On second thought, let’s make that “our adventure continues.”