Lounging around before the wedding

As the time draws closer to the event that bought us to the beautiful Tuscan town called Lucignano we continue the holiday way of life. Just lounging around drinking beer and wine also having my fill of some of the finest gelato in Italy, 5 ice creams a day is my quota but could go higher if required . Steff&Jake are happy that we have made the effort to share this special day with them ,and we are ever grateful for the invitation. With most of the elder members of the family on Roman soil we will share this wonderful day in good old Aussie fashion, as we stroll these narrow streets of Lucignano crossing paths with our newly made friends this is a very special time to bond with Steffs relatives and share these few day with some excellent people. Today the weather is again hot so it's more gelato more beer and more sitting on our bums in some small street side cafe.Life is being good to this old Aussie in this beautiful country, as the outback seems to be a million miles from here this will do until I return to my own beautiful land. I'm sitting high above the valley that surrounds this ancient city catching the odd gentle breeze and watching the world pass by below,this is retirement at its best. The wedding is set down for a 4 pm start , and by now it is very hot as we trudge to the venue. What a day everything just fell into place just I would have expected, with the bride on time this show is humming. It is now very very late WADDA is about to shut down for the night, the sun has gone down on this poor sole so good night....WADDA

The neighbors 

The beautiful Lucignano

As l gather my thoughts high above the  Tuscany valley from the  beautiful walled city of Lucignano I am stunned by the sheer beauty of the surrounding countryside ,from my very elevated position i can see many many towns some nearby some faraway but this unspoilt area is for ever etched in my mind. The straglers have all arrived safely so we now wait for this wedding to happen on Saturday,most of our crowd are still training but l am afraid some maybe overtraining only time will tell. Walking the streets of this place brings many surprises from old churches to museums and many beautiful old residences .As the temperature climbs into the mid 30s I feel the need to join my teammates in a short training session, be back soon. After a couple of hours of solid training it's back to the task at hand and finish this blog, tonight we are off to meet and greet again and I feel danger lurking for some of our over trainers are showing signs of wear and tear, gotta go...............WADDA

Rome to Lucignano

Up and about early to get ready for our road trip to Lucignano some 250ks north of Rome, others are jetting in from places unknown to me so today it's off to the airport to await the arrival of these stragglers . The plan is for a couple of mini buses to take us this remote region of Italy so I hope everything pans out ok,but you just never know what can happen this far from home. But before all this can take place we need to fuel up on the BIG Italian breakfast which is awaiting me somewhere out there on the streets of Rome. Stomachs now chockablock with some very tasty Italian cuisine and just enough time to visit the last of this beautiful cities historical sites .With our self appointed tour guide Jane she then leads us to the Spanish Steps  which are under repair, the group is disappointed so it's onto the beautiful Trevi Fountain.Wow what an absolutely beautiful place ,contact has been made with the stragglers who have landed so we head to the airport to meet up. Departing from Rome international airport in a18 seat mini bus full of family and luggage, the A1freeway has our name written all over it. Pete the pizza delivery driver is at the wheel and we are off ,traveling at130 to 135ks and the Merc is fairly humming as we push further north deep into theTuscany region. With the traffic not to bad Pete continues to cane the Merc, as we arrive at the stunning walled city of Lucignano I thought the long overseas flight to get here was well and truly worth the effort. This ancient walled city and our hotel are so beautiful and history laden ,unless you were here you it is difficult to explain ,As night falls the families gather to meet and greet so let's not dilly dally let's get this show on the road, the men to the north and the women the south. Many many hours later we meet up and decide that we aren't that bad after all, this will be a great wedding. As the light fades on some of the guests we call it a night..............WADDA

Bedroom ceiling 

London to Rome

Our night in the Heathrow Hilton was a some what of a struggle with the time zone difference sleep did not come easy and by watching tv and eating lollies at 2 30 am the time passed quickly until sunrise. Brecky begins at 630 so I need to be ready to attack a fine English breakfast so as to not fade away. Today we are heading to the Italian capital of Rome to meet the rest of the family wedding guests ,our Roman arrival was unheralded so there was no pressure to hit the ground running. Very soon contact is made with the others and arrangements were soon in place for a night out on the town. Seafood was on the menu so we mounted a challenge to rival the Deadliest Catch,with large glasses of beer we all chowed down. With stories being told and beer being drunk we've done the family proud in this faraway place, as we wander through the back streets of Rome I think of just how lucky I am to have such great people to spend this quality time with. Tomorrow we will do it all again as the rest of the team hits town, then we all head up to Lucignano for a family wedding. ..............WADDA

Action at 14000 metres

Departure from Tullamarine airport was a cold wet and windy affair late on Monday evening. After about 11 hours of flying and as we were crossing the Arabian Sea a 74 year old gentleman took a turn for the worst a started to collapse, Wadda sprung into action and was soon treating the elderly patient until they located a doctor , the gentleman recovered after further treatment and went on to complete his trip to London. It's now7am in Dubai the temperature has already risen to 33c thank god our stopover is only for a couple of hours, pretty soon we are London bound . The next 7 hrs goes without a hitch besides my non stop eating marathon we are doing ok. The Heathrow Hilton is soon located and check in is complete, with room service ordered and eaten its early to bed try 7 pm ,as the sun doesn't go down until around 9.30 pm I put on my sunglasses to try to tone down the glare. Tomorrow we head to Rome to assemble the troops for a tilt at wedding glory, the light is fading so goodbye .................WADDA

Wadda does Europe Aussie style

As I've mentioned previously we are about to take off again ,this time we are heading over to Italy to a family wedding to be held in Lucignano some 70 ks south of Florence. When the fun is done and dusted 4 of us will heading back to the UK for another 3 weeks of  R&R taking in Ireland and Scotland . Well that time has finally come as we prepare to leave for our biggest event of 2016, the rest of the party goers have departed our shores for other European destinations in wait of next weekends big bash or should i say Jake&Stefhs wedding . Wadda and Denny will depart later on today and head to London for a quick overnight stay then on to Rome to team up with the other members of this raiding party. When this goodtime family gathers in large numbers like this it usually means game on ,being so far from home should not worry this hardy group of Aussies who are well drilled in the art of self enjoyment. Wadda will be off the air for a couple of days until I load my mobile broadband with some European computing power ,so stay tuned for more updates on how this European adventure unfolds over the next 32 days..............WADDA

Just having a practice