No luggage!! Not even one of our two well organised, several times reconsidered and repacked 23kg bags. They did started out as 2 x 28kg bags when we finally got to pack Saturday night, but she who has to be obeyed recommended that let's take some of the tinned food contents in our hand luggage, well we all know how that turned out!!! Good in theory having more lighter bags than 2 very big heavy ones, my Sands was just looking after my dickie tennis elbow that turned up 2 weeks prior to departure. Where did that come from, I don't even play tennis!
Why so much luggage at the start of our trip you may very well ask, this question we both did ask of each other. Well as we are being hosted in a few locations and revisiting people that made our last trip such a great cooking experience we didn't want to come away without gifts from our Aussie homeland. So with some packaged and correctly labeled food stuffs that managed to go undetected in the safely of the main bags, some of Sandy's culinary tools of trade, picnic set and umbrella for romantic roadside lunches under the Tuscan sun, several bags of north QLD Macadamia Nuts, jars of Vegemite so about 15kg. Some Aussie trinkets, key rings, fridge magnets, also beaded Indigenes bracelets and small paintings from a tribe in The Northern Territory plus enough furry Aussie animals to make a village of Italians kids happy for a year or two, so there's another 10 kg. As well we have our two pillows complete with their own hygienically sealed bags and enough toiletries to get us through the whole trip ... yes I know they have pillows and that one can buy toothpaste in Italy but ... I like mine from home!! Pampadour / backpacker travellers that us!! Perhaps a bit more on the pampadour side....
Also when we travel we won't take anything that we don't want to not come home with, we put some spare cloths in our carry on baggage, wear no jewels or flash cloths to attract the attention of the gypsy people that want your stuff more than you, so odd, comfortable and old cloths plus one good outfit. All of which we divide 1/2 into each other's case so that if one case gets lost in transit we have the other to get us through until it is found.
So by the end of the trip with all toiletries gone the worn out cloths and shoes replaced with some new bits for an Italian wardrobe when we get back and that leaves loads of space to bring some exotic goodies home.
OK this was the theory but at this point standing quietly side by side and occasionally looking at each other then back at the empty baggage carousel tensely watching and waiting as it goes around for yet another empty lap, you then know it's not good as the carousel comes to a stops.........than from a distance a Emirates baggage person come from the far carousel apologising that our bags had been temporally placed on the wrong carousel, so all was good again and we have been reunited with both of our cases.
Close call hey!!!
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