.....every creature was stirring, ...hey, where did that mouse come from!!!!! Well, after much running around and not a few freak-out moments, here we finally are, on the eve of our exciting adventure.
Passports, itinerary, thermal undies - all packed and are ready to go. I finished work last Tuesday night, so this has been an excruciating week. Poor kids have had a rather distracted mum, but no-one can accuse me of under-planning!
Tomorrow, at 1220 (lunch-time) the three of us will finally be leaving hot and sticky Cairns - these last few weeks have been disgusting, the kind of weather where you are towelling off sweat rather than water as you step out from the shower! - for much more temperate climes. Osaka, here we come! We arrive at Kansai Airport at 1910, where we will make our way to Bus Stop No. 9 to catch the Airport Limosine Bus to Nara Station. From there, we make our way by train to Oji Station, which is right near the traditional Japanese guesthouse (Yougenda Ryoken), where we will be sleeping on traditional Tatami Mats (when in Rome....).
I'm sure it will be a bit of an adventure, just getting to our accommodation from the airport, to kick off festivities!!! Organising the whole airport transfers issue was a real headache for me a while back...It is going to cost us $A140 just for airport returns to Nara on the Limosine Bus, which was actually the cheapest option I could find! But, I guess it's too far to walk and the airport is on a man-made island out in Osaka Bay.
We are just about to go for our last supper at our friends Julie and Emma's house, so I will just do a quick overview of our itinerary dates for those of you at home who'd like to play along:
Dec 15 Travel to Osaka
Dec 16 Day in Nara
Dec 17 Day exploring Osaka City
Dec 18 Day in Kyoto including a traditional Japanese Handicraft workshop
Dec 19 Fly Osaka to Frankfurt, with a 2hr layover (just enough time to change planes!) in Amsterdam. We pick up the hire car from the Airport and make a rather scary journey to our hotel in Frankfurt (about 18klms) to recover from the long flight.
Dec 20 Drive from Frankfurt to Goetteldorf (Can't wait to see Andrew, Rachel, Sophie and JJ!!!!)
Dec 21-25 Hang out with the family
Dec 26 Drive across Germany to Luxemburg/Belgium/France border, where we will stay the night
Dec 27 Continue on to Paris, where we a staying with a non-English speaking french homestay family
Dec 28 Eiffel Tower, boat trip down the Seine River and explore of Paris
Dec 29 Disneyland Paris
Dec 30 More Paris fun, including some time at a Bakery/Patisserie with 'Meet a Parisien at Work'
Dec 31 Back to Goetteldorf to see in the New Year with the rels
Jan 1-4 More time with the family, including a little excursion around Lake Constance - breakfast in Austria, lunch in Switzerland, dinner back in Germany
Jan 5 Drop off hire car, fly from Frankfurt to London - yayyy Clare, Becky and Abby!!!!!!
Jan 6-12 Fun in London, including a West End Show (The Lion King), kids will spend a day at school with the girls and definitely a ride on one of the red double-decker bus!!!!
Jan 13 Not too happy about flying on this day (being a friday and all!!!), but next stop in Amsterdam
Jan 14-15 A visit to Anne Frank house and a trip out to a traditional dutch town for some windmill gazing and clog-hopping!
Jan 16-17 Home via Narita Airport - depending on funds and energy levels, may or may not include a little trip into Tokyo
Jan 18 Will be wading our way through the soup that is tropical summer Cairns.....
Well, that's the plan, but you know what John Lennon said.....
Yum, I wonder what's for dinner (I'm hoping not sushi or frogs legs, but you can't always get what you want!!!) haha, full of song lyric references today... :-)
Update...dinner was a very delicious Thai coconut curry. Thank you Julie and Emma for your wonderful friendship and for sharing your supurb cooking skills with us....love you lots xxxx
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