The CoronaVirus issue that currently plagues the world may now have an impact on our own travel plans. We have dear friends that had a exotic trip planned for Vietnam. They cancelled it entirely, due to potential concerns brought about by that virus. As it turns out, though it was not formally in the area when they decided to cancel, it now is. So they dodged a possible bullet. Now we face similar concerns.
We have visited Italy 4 times during our years of travel (with nary a regret, I might add!). Each time, regardless of where else our countryside explorations there might take us, we have always managed to stop for a day or two in Venice. On this occasion we were going to be in Florence for a few days, after leaving Copenhagen, with a day trip (by train) planned to Venice. COVID-19 has now arrived before us. Venice is shutting down it’s carnival two days early, as Italy struggles with outbreaks in its northern regions.
With that in mind and an ever-watchful eye on the news, Plan B is likely to become a reality. Is that a ~bad~ thing? Certainly not. Florence (and Venice) will see our faces again, albeit possibly more down the road than originally anticipated.
So…just what is Plan B? Portugal! Being a bit of a Port aficionado and having been to Portugal (other than the Azores on this particular cruise) only once before (briefly in Lisbon), it seemed like a splendid idea to visit northern Portugal and the lovely city of Porto! There will be more information as it becomes more set in stone (because Florence is NOT out of the question entirely just yet). We would love to stay with Plan A as everything is set and ready for our arrival, but caution is the word of the day.
How this really plays out is yet to be determined. Whatever the end result, however, our travels will be exciting, rewarding, and hopefully, enjoyable to read about. 🙂