logistics....

ok so....yesterday at our mother's day luncheon.....my eldest sat down, and put his arm around my shoulders and whispered the words that a mother longs to hear......'as my gift to you, i'll let you plan my 3 week grand tour....'...gentle readers....i live to plan trips.....and before the day was done i had already figured out that he was better off flying into berlin, and working his way down through the required sites of dresden, munich, vienna, venice, florence/sienna, rome before heading north to paris through milan.....a railpass limited to 4 countries and 8 legs was cheaper than most......and 4 overnight trains maximizes travel time and saves on hostel fees......so now comes the big question....do i hook him onto to his brother's end of june/chunnel to london from paris trip......or take the less risky choice of flying him back from paris as his required itinerary dictates......i use these inflexible terms because the trip he has won has multiple stipulations to which even the widow of the donor still holds firm.....despite acknowledging that the gift does not cover the reasonable cost of a 21 day grand tour.....ah well.....that is what meanparents are for......to fill in those gaps left by life's uncertainties.....