Around the world in 40 days but no Gallipoli

[Flying mermaid]

Five years ago we read about a Military History Tour group planning a visit to Gallipoli for 2015. It sounded great - boat booked so no issues with good accommodation and a nice itinerary. So we booked immediately. However it hasn't gone well. After a few years the Australian Government started to become concerned over numbers and then after another year started a ballot - we knew we were doomed then as we never win anything and sure enough ended up at 26000+ and 32000+. However our guys were planning their own dawn service and it sounded ( and still does) great with the mayor of the town and Turks participating. However this year things went downhill for us where we were dropped off communications for 6 months by mistake and our suite given to someone else in a mix up when the boat was changed. We were offered a full refund and took it - we don't like crowds and I think it would be more moving to tour the battle fields when they are more deserted, so that goes back on the bucket list

Because we were spending 11 nights on the boat ex Venice I organised lots of other little things and then ended up filling with boat hole with more little things, so this trip is a bit of a Cook's tour.

this is is the plan

CBR-VCE mainly F on QF1 but then CE with BA to Venice

5 nights Venice then swap to rail
3 nights Florence
2 Nights Pisa
2 nights Milan
1 night at Rome airport
then BA CE to Istanbul
3 nights in Istanbul (one good thing about the change is I get to spend 3 nights at the Four Seasons in Sultanahmet - I really loved it last time we were in Istanbul.
swap to Turkish air
3 Nights Ephesus with a day trip to Permukkle
4 Nights Cappadocia (Uchisar)
1 night Istanbul airport
BA CE to London
train to Windermere
Hire car and 3 nights Lake District
train back to London and 2 nights there
BA F to New York
2 nights in New York - mainly to see Chicago
AA F to SFO
Hire car and 3 nights in Yosemite
2 nights in SFO to catch up with Master FM
QF 12 in F home

Hmm- I feel tired just looking at that.

Have just started packing and one dog has gone off to sulk and the other is staking his claim to go with.

 

[under the radar]

I will be following your travels/thread....does that make me a stalker??

wishing you and yours, happy and safe travels

 

[Flying mermaid]

I will be following your travels/thread....does that make me a stalker??

wishing you and yours, happy and safe travels

Thank-you! I think we are all stalkers - it allows us to treble our journeys.

 

[RooFlyer]

Taking the dog would be a vary European thing to do . You can even take it into Yosemite National park, including the supermarkets etc.

 

[dmitri]

what a great itinerary, if you want an awesome night out in venice, head to " I rusteghi" wine bar. A very local spot, the owner/barman is a one man show. I purposely stopped in venice on my last trip to have a night out there.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Taking the dog would be a vary European thing to do . You can even take it into Yosemite National park, including the supermarkets etc.

I always felt in England that dogs were more welcome than children!

 

[amaroo]

Checked-In ... ready for the first glass of bubbles!

Safe travels.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Checked-In ... ready for the first glass of bubbles!

Safe travels.

Safe travel to you too - looking forward to the Gallipoli report

 

[Dr Bob]

I think this will be well worth stalking along.

 

[Flying mermaid]

In the Qantas F lounge at the moment. Just got the bad news that QF1 has been delayed by 2 hours. They are hoping to catch up out of Dubai so we might still make our Venice connection. Worst comes to worst there is another flight out of Gatwick later in the day.

So so far all has gone well. Chauffeur Drive was immaculate, flight from Canberra was pleasant. We had a big gap between flights as Mr FM wanted to fly on a 717 not one of the 400s, so that meant leaving early....

We wandered around Duty Free which we haven't done in years and then had lunch. I forgot to take photos of the mains courses (I promise to do better), but I had the scallops and Mr FM had the perch - both excellent. Accompanied of course by Tattinger. Vintage or non vintage I just love it.

Dessert was chocolate cake for me and plums and Gingerbread for Mr FM. the chocolate cake was to die for - crisp on the outside and melting inside.

Just about to go for my Spa treatment. Heaps more time to kill after that, than I anticipated. Oh well plenty of books to read!

 

[Flying mermaid]

Delay on QF1 is now 3.5 hours. We have been booked on a flight to Venice out of Gatwick and will be getting to Venice nearly 5 hours later than anticipated. Qantas have been very proactive in sorting this out and have promised we will be met in London to tell us what to do with luggage and to get to Gatwick. Mr FM has told me I am not allowed to do connections anymore - apparently we have to stop overnight everywhere. . Might need to break my rule of only 2 glasses of bubbly in the lounge and go and have a third. Spa treatment was beautiful.

 

[Major]

A very interesting itinerary. Looking forward to the nitty gritty

 

[sinophile888]

Mr FM has told me I am not allowed to do connections anymore - apparently we have to stop overnight everywhere.

That is exactly how I like to travel. No overnight flights.

 

[Flying mermaid]

That is exactly how I like to travel. No overnight flights.

I must admit that is starting to sound attractive! It will be over 40 hours from when we left our home in Canberra until we check into our hotel in Venice. Still we should get a good sleep between Sydney and Dubai and be able to go to sleep at a normal time in Venice, which will help with jet lag. There are always positives. .

 

[amaroo]

Bit of a downer with the delay ... just as well you're in one of the best lounges.

We'll also be catching a Speedbird when we arrive next Wednesday ... our destination is ATH so there's a 6hr LHR transit locked in.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Bit of a downer with the delay ... just as well you're in one of the best lounges.

We'll also be catching a Speedbird when we arrive next Wednesday ... our destination is ATH so there's a 6hr LHR transit locked in.

It's not too bad - with the late departure it makes it easier to get a good sleep between Sydney and Dubai. The First Host has just spoken to us and said that we will be met at the aircraft, our luggage will be collected for us and we will be put in a car to take us to Gatwick, so really can't complain.

Hope your flight has less problems.

 

[TomVexille]

Sounds like a great trip.

Looking forward to following along

 

[Flying mermaid]

Once we finally boarded it was a smooth trip. Had a brief meal with canapes, soup and then some prawn dumplings. In Dubai we just had time for a shower and a light snack before we were off on the final leg.

 

[Flying mermaid]

When we landed at Heathrow, as promised a First Host was at the door of the plane, to ask us to describe our luggage. We then went through immigration and after a short wait at the carousel, he joined us with our cases and gave us directions to the Chauffeur drive. A driver was waiting for us and we were soon (well about an hour's drive) at Gatwick. In fact it took around 2 hours from when we landed until we were checking in at Gatwick. The lounge was fine but not in the same league as T5 at Heathrow. There was Tattinger NV, so I had a glass of that to finish my champagne indulgence. I counted up and that final glass made 8, which sounds terrible, but if you count the journey as starting from Canberra and finishing at our hotel in Venice, that was 8 glasses in 41 hours, which doesn't sound as bad!

Pictures below are of Gatwick F lounge.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Venice is just incredible. Because of jetlag we have been getting up really early and getting to St Marks square at 5:30 am when there is literally no-one in it. Walking into the deserted square with all the lights lit was just stunning. There was a heavy mist the first morning, but today was clearer. Our hotel is in a quiet back area, but only 10 min walk to St Marks. Yesterday we just wandered around exploring venice and looking at shops. We even found steam punk masks. We spent the afternoon at Ca' Rezzonico - a beautiful mansion built by a nouveau Riche merchant in the late 1600s/ early 1700s. It has wonderful frescos - many by Tiepolo, and is now a museum dedicated to 18th century furniture. It has amazing glass chandeliers. I am going to let the photos do the talking, as soon as I get them off Mr FM.