I think I can live with a firm ride and 165hp for a week, just.

I've yet to find a worse road anywhere than my local roads here. Even the donkey tracks of Kefalonia are better.

There's not a road within 5 miles of where I live that isn't stuffed full of traffic humps and bumps and mined with potholes you could bathe in.

Quite a pleasant drive from Pisa airport, through San Giuliana Terme to Lucca, we stay at the Albergo San Martino when in Lucca. Not much parking in the Centro Storica but they have their own carpark.
If your're planning a night or two in Pisa the Hotel Grand Bonanna is a nice place, on the right side of town driving from the airport and it's about 15mins walk from the tower.

If murphyv310 is heading over in September there's plenty going on. The festival Luminare Santa Croce in Lucca is 3rd Friday in the month (they light the centre of town with thousands of candles and have a noisy procession) followed by a large antiques/fleamarket on the Sat-Sun. The womens Giro di Toscana is in September too, if you're into bicycle racing/ladies in Lycra
Venice has the Historic Regatta on the Grand Canal, 1st w'end in Sept, the Film Festival and the Burano Regatta, late Sept. Burano is beautiful (about 15mins on a vaporetto from the Grand Canal) with lot's of brightly coloured houses, not as crowded as Venice itself.

Hi.
I meant to reply last Thursday, Anne had her operation and is now recovering at home. It is a fairly long recovery and all the extra running around has worsened my issues on the left leg. At least we get some respite at weekends as our youngest daughter comes down from Glasgow and helps out for a few hours.
Will now need to see how February and March go before making too many plans.

murphyv310 said:

Hi.
I meant to reply last Thursday, Anne had her operation and is now recovering at home. It is a fairly long recovery and all the extra running around has worsened my issues on the left leg. At least we get some respite at weekends as our youngest daughter comes down from Glasgow and helps out for a few hours.
Will now need to see how February and March go before making too many plans.

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Best of luck - hope everything works out.

Hi all.
Well 2018 wasn't the year it should have been and this year has been devastating to myself and the family.

Anne didn't recover too well last year, after her hysterectomy in January of 2018 she improved but seemed to plateau after 8 weeks. She never got back to her former self and any thought's of holidays were shelved. She had to give up two of her clients she cleaned for as well. Come September she complained of random pains in her tummy, but thought they were healing pains and didn't bother with the doctor. These got worse a little bit, not enough to go to the doctors. Come Boxing Day the pain was in her shoulder and under her lower right ribs. on the 27th December she went to the doc and he thought it was Pleurisy and prescribed antibiotics. The problem got worse and two weeks after the initial diagnoses she was in Hospital. Within four days she was diagnosed with Bowel cancer and secondary Liver cancer. It was a terminal diagnoses and the poor wee soul passed away in the early hours of the 26th of January this year. We are all so devastated at this, it was so quick and hard to take in she wrote me a beautiful card in the early hours of the morning before being told by the oncologist that treatment would be too risky. She only lasted a few days after this.

She wants me to travel if I'm able but as yet I cant get my head round all this, the funeral is Wednesday the 6th in three days time.

The picture is us at our sons wedding in 2012 standing by my Rover 75 and a copy of the card she wrote.

Anne will be greatly missed by myself and the family.

Trevor, I'm so sorry to hear your sad news. My wife lost her best friend not so long ago to ovarian cancer. She lived just round the corner from us in the next street so we would see her and her husband often. Over the years we had become very friendly with her family and been on several cruises with her and her husband. Getting used to her not being there any more and trying to comfort and support her husband has been emotional and difficult. I find it difficult to imagine what loosing your lifetime partner must be like, but I shall think of you often, especially on Wednesday, and will be wishing you well.

I'm very sorry for your loss.

gr J

So sorry to hear of your bereavement - I lost my brother in the same way in July, two days before his 74th birthday, so I have some idea of what you're experiencing.

I am so very sorry to hear this sad news, Trevor. My heart goes out to you and your children.

That's awful - you have all our sympathies, I am sure.

Goudrons said:

Cheaper to fly to Pisa rather than Florence and what I save there I can spend at the Hertz desk.
They can hire me a 595 Turismo for a week for £109!

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Read the small print regards damage to the car and what the insurance actually covers. It's probably cheap for a reason.

I didn't bother renting one in the end, I bought one.

In regards to car hire, I buy a car rental excess policy that covers the UK and Europe for a year, only costs around £35.

When you work out some hire companies can add on around £80 or more excess insurance at the desk for a week and I rent around 5 or 6 cars a year, I'm quids in.

Don't need to worry about adding on expensive cover at the desk, just book the cheapest car I can find on a search engine, which usually have high excess/deposits and if there is any damage charged, just claim it back.

Only had to make one claim so far, some tourist didn't understand the Greek give priority to traffic entering a roundabout. (he soon learned)
No trouble with the claim even though the receipt for it was in some ancient Coptic script, paid in less than a week.