I don’t think that I’ve ever had such a marked change of gear in my life than that between yesterday and today. Yesterday was Mum’s funeral service, and a joyful celebration of her life it was. Today I’m having to adjust to leaving the country for what I hope will be the learning experience of a lifetime. It’s been an awkward transition, but doing nothing but travelling has helped.

It was another early rise to be out the door by 7.15am and thankfully, although the bypass was busy as usual early in the day, we made it in good time to the airport and it was a smooth transition through security. Flying KLM to Schiphol then on to Rome, so two flights, which both left on time, were well organised and both had very smooth landings – I passed my compliments to both pilots. Then things got a bit hairy. I inadvertently (!) bought a ticket for a minibus taxi to Termini instead of getting a train to Trastevere. It nearly cost me my life! The bus was driven by Mad Max, and with 8 + driver on the motorway he was doing 160 kph, ie over 100 mph. I think if I had been in the back I would have been sick, but it was scary enough seeing the tailgating from the front. And he was on the phone hands-free every minute of the journey. One bloke jumped out and got his bag from the boot when we stopped at a red light in the city centre! Thankfully, we arrived safely at Termini.

When looking for a train to go somewhere, it always helps to look at the departures rather than the arrivals. Blithely watching the wrong board, I suddenly realised my mistake, and that the train I wanted was about to depart from a platform that was hundreds of yards away. I gave up running and prayed that the train would be late. My prayer was answered!! It was running ten minutes late and I managed to get on AND get a seat on what was a really busy train. Express it was not, but at least it got me to my destination and my life was not under threat.

My B&B is a very modest little place with helpful staff and not very expensive. I was given a bit of guidance on where to eat and had a nice meal, the main course of which was a 75cl bottle of water and a bottle of lager. Hydration levels were running low. Now I’m chilling out ready to head for bed and what I hope will be a good sleep before embarking on the Jewel of the Seas for this great adventure.