1. Mediterranean Madness

I have only ever visited Italy in the winter, so this trip will show me a completely different view of this wonderful country. It is almost 49 years since my first trip to Italy with my family in December 1977. We covered a lot of distance by car; two adults and four kids squished on the back seat. That trip was probably the inspiration for National Lampoons European Adventure. My second trip was almost 10 years ago, in December 2016. Tom and I took a Trafalgar tour through Italy and thoroughly enjoyed every part of it. I especially enjoyed covering the same places as I had almost forty years prior.

This one will be completely different. We are preparing to embark upon a week lolling around the Italian lakes of Maggiore, Iseo, and Garda with a side trip to Como and a tour into Switzerland on the Bernina Red Train followed by an all-inclusive trip on the Silversea Silver Muse, which includes everything, even a selection of shore excursions in each port.

The weather reports for Europe this summer are predicted to be diabolical, a feature that cannot be planned for twelve months ahead. We also didn't count on a war in the Middle East, but our Qatar flight via Doha is still going ahead.

So, with an unstable Middle East and a hot European summer ahead of us, anything can happen and probably will.