Mariaclaudia is not una donna to mess with.
She protects the town of Padova like one of her bambini and she is right to… she is beautiful and precious.
Which is why she smelt un ratto when the bould one on her press trip asked for himself and his colleagues, let’s call them Constance and Kieran (for that’s their names) off at the train station when we were given the afternoon off from our itinerary.
Sheepishly I had to admit that I was leading a recce to Venice but swore that I’d have them back in four hours for that evening’s grand reception in the Botanical Gardens.
I’d figured of course without the particular idiosyncrasies of the local rail network.
And so six hours later our motley crew arrived back with one of our number, Kieran, still in his T-shirt and Hawaiian boardies. At least Myself and Constance had taken a change of clothes.
At the risk of offending Mariaclaudia again, and I wrote a glowing letter to her bosses on my return, Aer Lingus has up to 20% off Venice and other hot destinations which makes it €81.99 one-way.
Travel between 21 July and October 16. Book by 22 July. Visit http://www.aerlingus.com.
And I’ll dig out that article on Padova… Padova, Mariaclaudia, do you hear?
Border country
Hard border, soft border… is any other island split like us and faced with this interminable headache.
We don’t have to look too far for the answer in Europe.
Cyprus which even has a buffer zone.
If you’re fascinated by borders check it out. The taxi driver father of a soldier who was stationed out there told me that if either flag was higher and bigger than the other it would cause a diplomatic incident.
Ryanair has 20% off its seat sale for Autumn to Paphos and other destinations. In all it is offering these discount prices on 50,000 seats.
A tip on babies on board
It’s an old wife’s tale but it works. Damp teabags over a baby’s ears to ease the pressure on flights.
And just one of the tips that are passed on down the line by more experienced air stewards to their younger companions.
So as the KLM stewardess gets earache for asking a customer to cover up when breastfeeding, (and I’m not going to slaughter an airline who I’ve flown with and enjoyed,) it’s worth remembering how often families and other passengers are helped out by cabin crew when a baby makes its needs known.
Check with your airline before you travel on all aspects of childcare.
And while I’m on the subject I should flag up Etihad’s Flying Nanny Service. Visit http://www.etihad.com.
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