Again, the title says much of the character of this month. The month started with a trip to Bletchley Park (now our third visit). You will recall that BP is famous for its wartime role decoding our enemys' secrets. The following day we went to the Light Aircraft Rally at Sywell in Northamptonshire. Sadly for the organisers, the weather was not kind. Never-the-less I saw much of interest to me - (maybe more in the months to come?).
The highlight of the month was a tiring but very enjoyable trip to Italy. We flew from Bristol to Pisa and took the coach into Florence, staying for three nights. Margaret had always wanted to visit this beautiful city. The photograph shows the Ponte Vecchio bridge.
During our time in Florence we were especially fortunate to meet up with some Italian friends who live in Florence and we first met three years ago. They treated us to an excellent meal in a genuine Italian seafood restaurant away from the multitude of tourists. (Yes, we were tourists!)
From Florence, we traveled back to Pisa airport by coach and picked up a hire car. In this we now drove up to the resort of Lerici. Margaret had chosen our hotel well. Although it was something of an effort to walk up and down to the harbour, the view from our balcony was just fantastic.
From Lerici we were able to take a ferry and view the Cinque Terra. The trip took all day and we could see the five villages that make up this extraordinary coast.
The next day we drove first to Genoa and specifically to the Staglieno Cemetery. This is the location of my Uncle Stephen's grave. He was killed along with his four crew members during WW2. You can find more details at my website www.hf694.org.uk.
The picture shows the five Commonwealth War Graves on which I planted five memorial crosses.
After Genoa we drove to the village of Polverara and I walked once again into the hills to where Uncle Stephen died. I placed a further cross here before we drove to the village church where I placed a poppy on the memorial plaque I had presented in 2013 (70 years after the crash). Given my myeloma, I had not expected to return to Polverara. I am incredibly fortunate.
Now it only remained to drive back to Lerici and then the following day to drive back to Pisa airport where I handed the hire car (undamaged) back. After a night in a local hotel we flew back home. It had been a very busy week but oh so enjoyable and rewarding.
Perhaps only Confucius could have said of travel:
Wherever you go, go with your heart
Keep well, and remember, YOLO
Stephen
