18 October 2009 - Chiangi Airport, Singapore - A City In Itself! Then on to Frankfurt for a Stopover

We didn't sleep much on the plane but it was a very smooth trip. Thank the Lord I didn't get a blood nose or other complications, which my Haematologist had thought might occur, but chemo bruising became quite severe on my hand - something to keep an eye on. We arrived in Singapore at 5.50 a.m. with the temperature 27 degrees already, even with an overcast sky. Chiangi airport is HUGE! Miles and miles of corridors, shops and arrival and departure gates. The airport itself was stunning - quite an unusual adjective for an airport, but true just the same - with colourful orchid gardens, cascading waterfalls, amazing sculptures, a serene butterfly house and relaxing koi pools. After wandering around and being amazed at the variety of areas, we finally took the monorail to Terminal 1 and booked two Rainforest Slumberettes for four hours in order to catch up on some sleep. It was quite expensive but certainly worth it, with Steve catching about three hours and I managed about one hour - as I had only been catching about two hours each night for the previous six weeks due to the effects of my meds, one hour was a blessing! Then we enjoyed a refreshing shower before taking the shuttle back to Terminal 3 and enjoying lunch at The Hardrock Cafe. Next we were off to Frankfurt - 11 hours away - leaving Singapore at 2.00 p.m. with the flight being quite smooth. I watched Malaysia passing below us, with so many waterways meandering down to the coast, and then Afghanistan - so bleak and stark with no greenery or rivers, just bare, brown mountains and I wondered if the Taliban was hiding out in one of the many caves. My next view was a long, dirt road snaking across Turkmenistan, before a spectacular sunset over the Caspian Sea - so many places I had only read about or seen on TV and never imaged seeing with my own eyes, even if it was from thousands of metres in the air! I managed to sleep for about three and a half hours in total, which was another blessing, and with none of the nausea which had plagued me for the last few weeks. I watched "The Proposal" and "Cheri" while Steve watched "Ice-Age 3" and then we both watched a couple of documentaries before arriving in Frankfurt at 8.10 p.m. where it was 8 degrees - a bit of a change from Singapore and quite a brisk wake-up call for us! We got through Customs very quickly and our luggage was the first off the plane, which surprised both of us, before our free shuttle bus arrived just as we exited the airport - another wonderful blessing! God was certainly looking after us. On the way to the Frankfurt Airport Mercure Hotel and in the middle of an industrial area we saw a mink run across the road in front of us - quite an amazing sight - and about 100 metres down the road a rabbit also ran in front of us which was a nice welcome to a very busy city! Our hotel room was very clean and roomy and even had a bath which I was able to soak in before crawling into a warm, comfortable bed - ah, bliss, sleep in a proper bed after 36 hours traveling and 48 hours since being in a bed!

17 October 2009 - The Trip of Our Lifetime

17 October to 21 November 2009 Flying Brisbane to Singapore, Overnight in Frankfurt, Flying to Rome via Budapest, Two Weeks Driving Through Mid and Northern Italy with a side trip to Switzerland, Flying to Budapest via Vienna, Cruising the Danube, Main and Rhine Rivers for Fifteen Days from Budapest to Amsterdam Through Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Germany and The Netherlands, Three Days Spent Wandering Around Amsterdam, Before Flying Home to Brisbane via Singapore.

Well it took us three years of saving, countless hours of overtime as well as tightening our budget but we were finally off to Europe - we'd wanted to go, dreamed about it, tried to imagine what it would be like over there but were never sure we'd actually make it, and now we were finally packed and ready to depart! Here we were calming watching Getaway, as we did every Thursday night, in November 2008 when it was announced that the first 50 callers would win free airfares to Europe if you booked the 15 day Scenic Tours Jewels of Europe River Cruise. Steve looked at me and said, "Go on, ring them, you've always wanted to do that so here's our chance." Needless to say, it didn't take much convincing and suddenly it was announced I was the 49th caller! So all of sudden the ball was in play and we had a year to save and get ready for our trip.

The next 10 months were spent organising the rest of our trip - two weeks self-driving through Italy and three days in Amsterdam - choosing and booking accommodation in Rome, Tuscany, the Italian Riviera, Lake Como, the Dolomites, Venice and Amsterdam, what to see, how much it would cost, which route to take for the best sightseeing, and hundreds of other details to ensure we made the most of our time and savings.

Then just six weeks before we were due to leave I had a major health scare, which necessitated radical drug intervention, umpteen blood tests, ultrasounds and scans, as well as weekly visits to the Haematologist but eventually I got the all clear that we could still go. Phew, that was a roller-coaster ride for both of us! I became Sponge-Bob Square Pants due to severe fluid retention from the drugs I was taking, but at least Manic Molly didn't raise her ugly head, which was supposed to happen but, Praise the Lord, didn't - much to Steve's relief!!

Our plane was due to leave Brisbane International Airport at 11.45 p.m. - we couldn't believe it was actually us who were about to fly so far across the world! - and, while waiting for our plane to board, we met a lovely young man from The Netherlands who kindly took this picture of us. It was great chatting to him as he was able to give us some hints about Amsterdam and Europe in general.

We boarded our Singapore Airlines flight and found that the seating configuration was two seats on each side of the plane with three in the middle section. We had been allocated the two together which meant a window seat and lots of room to spread out while not disturbing or being disturbed by a "neighbour". Our trip was off to a good start!