New Travels with Sidd

Well Sidd is on the road again – and where Sidd goes so go we!  I realize that I’ve been away from the blogging scene for some time now and a few people have even suggested that I have been missed.  Well okay two people showed a mild interest in to why I have not been clogging the net with my thoughts, feelings and, particularly, information on the Hounds from Hell.   So as we begin another adventure with Sidd I thought I’d pick up my pen – well actually open the laptop – as I sit here in Trudeau Airport and in some way chronicle of trip.

In the next 26 days Sidd, and Laurent and I as his faithful porters, will be using bus, plane, ship and train to celebrate 35 years together.  No not 35 years with Sidd – 35 years with Laurent.  

It all started back in August – no not the 35 years with Laurent that started in November 1978 – when I received an e-mail offering a wonderful deal on an 11 day cruise from Rome to Seville.  I mean it was one of those opportunities you just couldn’t pass up – no not the 35 years with Laurent, well okay that but I’m talking about the cruise here.    And that was the kernel of the trip – 11 days on the Azamara Quest; but of course since it started in Rome and I hadn’t been back in two years it only made sense to arrive a few days early – get over jet lag, stop of in a few familiar places, see a few exhibitions and, more importantly, see as many of our dear friends as we can.  And it turns out the last direct flight from Montreal to Rome was scheduled for today.  So the trip was extended to 17 days.

Sidd, ignoring the bad weather on the Greyhound trip from Ottawa to Dorval.

The cruise ends in Seville – and though we had spent time in Madrid and Barcelona, Andalusia has been sadly missing from our travel diaries.  And while we're in that area it would be criminal to miss Granada and the Alhambra.  Make that 23 days!

Sidd and food - something new - well he's never eaten at Dorval Airport.

Getting back to Canada was the next goal and if you’re travelling on airline passes the most frequently flights are out of London.  How to get to London from Granada – well the Man in Seat61 suggested train – and I’m a sucker for trains.  Particularly when its an overnight hotel train where you have a dining car and a comfortable cabin – which would get us to Paris.  These days with the Eurostar it’s only a hop skip and a jump to London and a short visit with friends before heading back to the New World.  Ergo 26 days – god and the Air Canada flight loads willing.

So here we are waiting for the Air Transat plane to board after a bus ride from Ottawa – that’s two modes off the list.   Though I can’t promise that I’ll be recording our every move or Sidd’s every adventure I cover as much as I can – just to prove that I can still clog up the net with blogging.

October 26 - 1861:  The Pony Express officially ceases operations.