European adventures

For the last year or so we've been planning a sabbatical to coincide with Ella's last year in primary school. Actually, it took about a year to decide where to go (a place that would be good for my work and educational for the kids, without being boring for Nat) and another year to arrange. But last week, the big day finally arrived and we headed to the airport, encumbered with 4 months of luggage (and ski gear). We'll be based in Grenoble, France, for most of this time, but are starting with a short winter holiday in Italy. On Thursday, the time came around, and we said goodbye to our cute dog (hoping not for the final time) and headed to the airport.

Ella and Katy were both pretty excited, albeit tempered by some trepidation. All these emotions were soon replaced by boredom as we waited in airports - first Canberra, then Adelaide, Doha and ultimately Venice. I think the parents would have appreciated the kids to have little more sleep and a little less movie-watching, but there you go. The immigration queue in Venice was particularly frustrating, and hauling our 100kgs of luggage through the streets (and bridges) of Venice was somewhat Herculean, but we finally made it to our accommodation by mid-afternoon on Friday.

First task of the day was to stop the kids going to sleep! So, out we went for a 'short' walk around the town. We were hoping to take in some Christmas markets, along with another handmade bookshop with limited success. We found both places, but the markets were non-existent and the bookshop a little out of out price range. But, more importantly, we had a nice flavour of the town and despite approaching the end of our limits by the time we struggled home, it was well worth it. All ready for a full day the next morning.