Everyday Is A Shopping Day

So today we decided to get the bus to Caorle. It's really easy as the bus goes from outside the camp and drops you off at the bus station. From there we headed to the shops with Miss B leading the way.

Purchases were made and Mrs J got a present - a fine pair of sandals - with a heel - shock. One way to try and catch up with Miss B in height I suppose... I've added a photo of them as proof that Mrs J will get some Birthday presents.

We went to the beach for a stroll along the promenade and stopped for a drink at a delightful cafe - The Blue Kiosk bar. The view from there was amazing and the beach has multiple platforms out at sea - not sure if these are exclusive to the hotels or not. Will need to find out. If it is public we may need to pay them a visit.

Spent a few hours looking in the shops and venturing down side streets exploring but then Caorle shut. At 12.30 the shops shut and remain closed until 5pm. Only a few hardy individuals remain open to mop up any passing trade.

After the BBQ incident of last night we were all hungry and found a nice restaurant down a side street for lunch. It is obviously a good sign if there are locals eating there and this was no disappointment. In my continuing pursuit of the perfect Lasagne, today's offering was superb and ranks as my favorite so far on this year's trip.

Before catching the bus back we checked out the Aquapark where the girls want to spend an afternoon. That will give me a chance to find a nice bar and pass away a few hours. Better still could stay at the campsite - will have to wait and see.

The bus back was uneventful and the girls went to the pool until closing time at 6. After showers to freshen up we are deciding where to go and eat tonight.

I Want To Ride My Bicycle

So after a night of thunder and lightning accompanying a torrential downpour we stepped back out into glorious sunshine and not a cloud in the sky.

Anyway back to last night. We had eaten and were going for a bit of a stroll.  The girls were just about to go on the go karts when the wind picked up and we sensed it was about to pour - the thundrous black clouds were a bit of a clue.

So the girls decided to hire a bike for half an hour - the four seater variety where supposedly everyone pedals. Having experienced being a passenger in a go kart in Florida last year I decided to go food shopping. I sensed this wasn't going to be a relaxing cycle in the sun and a rather frazzled Mrs J returned with Miss B and Miss H moaning about back seat drivers...

The girls saw a lot more of the park and found a few more places to eat and found the adventure golf. Will there be a 2013.challenge? You will need to wait and see.

So it's coming up to 12 and we are sat on the decking just enjoying the sun and chillaxing - I'm not a fan of the word but it does sum things up well.

I think it will be off to the pool shortly to cool down. And so it was... Plenty of dunking and then back for lunch.

You know when you are settling in when you embrace the customs. One that we are all taking advantage of is the siesta. Two hours of silence and a chance to refresh your batteries. Most enjoyable...

Then it was off to the beach for a bob - nothing but blue sky as far as the eye could see. It's not a very wide beach - as in the distance to the sea but is enough for us. We're not great beach lovers and much prefer the sea.

So tea was a BBQ - not a great success but not for lack of trying. It waited until we had given up and then blasted into life. Managed to cook some sausages and burgers but couldn't tell you what they were though. Tasted fab anyway.

Just walking round the village this evening. The girls have found a rollercoaster they are 'small' enough to ride and now all 3 of them have gone for a land train ride so thought I would catch up with my blogging.

That will leave time for a nightcap before returning home to apply the aftersun.

So The Weathermen Were Wrong

So today we decided to venture into Porto S. Margherita on the bus. There is a bus stop just outside the camp entrance saving us a walk to the road. PSM is a small village with a marina. It's a very quiet seaside town with only a few shops. We then decided to walk back along the beach promenade - we were told it was only about 3km but that was surely not correct - it took us 45 minutes to walk and you know I walk at a fair pace.

We decided to eat at the beach cafe for lunch - it's fair to say that the staff work extremely hard but are not the friendliest bunch in the world. Sometimes you get the impression you are invisible. I'm sure though if you tried to leave without paying they would spring into action.

So must update you on the WiFi situation - you can pay for it or you can obtain a password for free access if you purchase food or drink. The WiFi is only available when the restaurant is open but once you have the code... And given that they hand out a printed piece of paper it's fair to say that this doesn't change very often, hence the large number of staff and holiday makers taking advantage of this free service.

We then decided to head back home - it was then that we started to notice drops of water... This certainly wasn't forecast in the weather bulletin I posted on here before we left. It got so blowy we needed to retreat indoors. Then came the rain and it is still raining while I write this. The pools stay open until 6 but given the thunder and occasional lightning I'm sure they have closed the pools anyway. Not sure whether the girls will get to have a swim today.

So Miss B has headed off in the rain to use the free WiFi - you can't keep a good business woman down :)

So it's a quarter to six and the sun is shining again. Just to give you an idea how windy it was - there was significant tree damage and the camp staff have been clearing debris and using chainsaws to remove broken branches. There was a lot of damage but by the time we went outside again it was all cleared up.

Birthday Girl

So we woke up for our first day in Italy and there was another cause for celebration - it was Mrs J's birthday. We had brought all the cards that had arrived before we left, with us and decided to treat Mrs J to a rendition of happy birthday, on the hour, regardless of where we were...

I have to apologize in advance for the lack of photos of Mrs J on her birthday - the pictures are on Miss B's camera and the ones on her iPod we can't seem to transfer despite both devices having Bluetooth and being paired. Oh well...

We will look out for presents while we are away. I'm sure this will cost me more doing it this way but nevermind...

It was an absolute scorcher today -  very hot - would say easily about 40 degrees. We had a quiet day exploring the campsite and getting our bearings. After lunch we headed for the pools for some kiddie dunking. The water was very warm - ideal for whiling away the hours. Then it was off to the beach with the wabobas - you will need to Google this if you don't know what they are... Suffice to say these are one of my best purchases - not sure how we came across these but really glad we did.

It's not often that I get to say this but the sea was warmer than the pool, and the pool was warm... The sand was so hot I needed to put on my shoes to walk to the water.

For tea we decided to try the Golf Clubhouse restaurant - there is an eighteen hole course next to the site. So we all got dressed up and went out for a pizza. I'm not going to keep count...

Then it was back home for a good night sleep...

So Here We Are

So it's been a really long day. We were up at three this morning and on the road by quarter to four. The drive to Gatwick was really quiet - not really surprising at that time of the morning. It was the first time that the four of us have been in the new car and with all the luggage we were well loaded.

After the transfer to the airport and a quick tour of the duty free shops it was time to go to the departure gate. Suffice to say the credit card was required...

The flight left a little late due to the volume of aircraft wanting to leave. There was a fair amount of turbulence on the flight and my ears were really uncomfortable. For those of you who don't know, I currently have a problem with my synases and my hearing is shot. So the flight was a kill or cure moment. Suffice to say I'm still here but I wouldn't say it was pleasant...

From Venice we caught the bus to Caorle where Ali was on hand to meet us. What a star!!! Ali took us to the campsite and settled us in, before taking us to a supermarket off site. This is much cheaper than the Spar onsite and has allowed us to get stocked up on essentials for the next few days.

This is probably the first time we have arrived on camp so early and thanks to Ali our accommodation was ready to move straight into. I probably should explain about Ali. She is an assistant area manager for Eurocamp who Jo knows from M&S. Small world and such a lovely person.

The girls decided to go for a dip whilst I and Mrs J went for a quick explore. Well that and a sit down with a cold glass of wine. It was from here that we went outside and took the picture for today's blog.

No editing required...

If You Keep Your Eyes Peeled...

Only joking... When we went on holiday a few years ago, the campsite had a webcam and we arranged to be in front of it on a certain day and time so that our families back home could see us.

This worked really well so wifi permitting we will let you know where and when we will attempt this again.

Here's the all important link that you will need

http://www.yr.no/place/Italy/Veneto/Centro_Vacanze_Pra'_delle_Torri/

The webcams are at the bottom of the page. Obviously the success of this will depend on how often the webcam updates so no promises...

If we find time to do this we will let you know in a post during our holiday (hence the earlier remark about wifi).

It's The Final Countdown...

So here we are with 1 day to go. It's hard to imagine that this time tomorrow we will be in Italy.

As we speak I am dialled in to work still trying to finish things off, despite having technically finished yesterday.

Check in has opened and I have completed that and printed off the boarding passes.

Still no sign of any packing... Not sure if I should be concerned or whether we are going for a truly laid back approach for this year after the 'full on' rush of Florida last year...

Talking of being relaxed or is that last minute.com, Miss B and I are off to get some Euros in a little while.

In terms of the weather, here's the latest... As you can see the key trend is SUN... Yay...

Long term forecast forCentro Vacanze Pra' delle Torri, Veneto (Italy)

Date	Time	Forecast	Temp.	Precipitation	Wind
Saturday27/07/2013	23:00–05:00		25°	0 mm	Light breeze, 3 m/s from south-southwest
	05:00–11:00		24°	0 mm	Light air, 1 m/s from north
	11:00–17:00		27°	0 mm	Light breeze, 2 m/s from south-southwest
	17:00–23:00		28°	0 mm	Light breeze, 3 m/s from south
Sunday28/07/2013	23:00–05:00		25°	0 mm	Light breeze, 3 m/s from south
	05:00–11:00		24°	0 mm	Light air, 1 m/s from north-northeast
	11:00–17:00		27°	0 mm	Light breeze, 3 m/s from south-southeast
	17:00–23:00		28°	0 mm	Gentle breeze, 4 m/s from south
Monday29/07/2013	02:00–08:00		24°	0 mm	Light air, 1 m/s from southeast
	08:00–14:00		25°	0 mm	Light air, 1 m/s from east-northeast
	14:00–20:00		28°	0 mm	Gentle breeze, 6 m/s from south-southwest
	20:00–02:00		28°	0 mm	Gentle breeze, 5 m/s from west-southwest
Tuesday30/07/2013	02:00–08:00		25°	0 mm	Light air, 1 m/s from east-northeast
	08:00–14:00		25°	0 mm	Moderate breeze, 8 m/s from northeast
	14:00–20:00		29°	0 mm	Light air, 2 m/s from east-southeast
	20:00–02:00		28°	0 mm	Light breeze, 3 m/s from west
Wednesday31/07/2013	02:00–08:00		25°	0 mm	Gentle breeze, 4 m/s from east-northeast
	08:00–14:00		25°	0 mm	Moderate breeze, 7 m/s from east-northeast
	14:00–20:00		29°	0 mm	Light air, 1 m/s from east-southeast
	20:00–02:00		27°	0 mm	Light breeze, 4 m/s from west
Thursday01/08/2013	02:00–08:00		24°	0 mm	Light breeze, 3 m/s from northeast
	08:00–14:00		24°	0 mm	Light breeze, 3 m/s from northeast
	14:00–20:00		28°	0 mm	Light breeze, 4 m/s from south-southwest
	20:00–02:00		27°	0 mm	Light breeze, 3 m/s from southwest
Friday02/08/2013	02:00–08:00		24°	0 mm	Light air, 2 m/s from north
	08:00–14:00		24°	0 mm	Light air, 2 m/s from north-northeast
	14:00–20:00		29°	0 mm	Gentle breeze, 4 m/s from south-southwest
	20:00–02:00		27°	0 mm	Light breeze, 3 m/s from south-southwest
Saturday03/08/2013	02:00–08:00		24°	0 mm	Light air, 2 m/s from south-southwest
	08:00–14:00		24°	0 mm	Light breeze, 3 m/s from east
	14:00–20:00		28°	0 mm	Light breeze, 4 m/s from southeast
	20:00–02:00		26°	0 mm	Light air, 2 m/s from south-southeast
Sunday04/08/2013	02:00–08:00		24°	0 mm	Light breeze, 2 m/s from east-northeast
	08:00–14:00		24°	0 mm	Light breeze, 2 m/s from northeast
	14:00–20:00		29°	0 mm	Light breeze, 4 m/s from south-southwest
	20:00–02:00		27°	0 mm	Light air, 2 m/s from south