VISAS
These past two weeks have really been a whirlwind. So much so that I received one of the worst migraines I can imagine. I think I need to relax and know that with Gods help, everything will work out according to his plan and to stop worrying.
We posted that we would need to obtain a Schengen visa. Well that wasn’t correct. After receiving incomplete or wrong information we made many return calls to different consulates in Miami and the State Dept and translating information from foreign websites, (that was fun) we finally have what we hope is a solid answer. Our final resolution on the Schengen visa is this: We don’t need one because the US residents don’t need a Visa to enter Europe. We are there as tourists and will use our passports. The worst part is we can only visit for 90 days within a 180 day span in the Shengen zone (22 European Countries except the UK, Ireland and a couple others we wouldn’t be visiting anyway). However, all the other countries on our list are under this Schengen “union”. If you are interested and want to learn more, especially if you plan to travel in Europe for a long period of time, here is the link to that site. Schengen Visa.We also learned that of the 90 days within that 180 day span, you can’t stay back to back, meaning, 90 days on the back end of the first stretch and the first 90 days on the second. You have to be out of the Schengen “zone” for at least 90 days before you can come back. Whew, what a nightmare that would have been attempting to travel. The Lord put the right people in place to rattle our thoughts on that one!
ITINERARY CHANGE
So, it was back to the drawing board to shorten our stays in some places, drop a few countries and try to stay out of European Schengen union countries. Sadly, we had to drop Venice Italy but will pick it up on the next trip. Here is our updated Itinerary. Took a lot of work to rearrange but we were able to get it accomplished. I feel so much better now that its done. More airplane flights than I wanted but it’ll be fine! Now we can finally start putting everything in place.
HOUSING
We had already put deposits on Spain and France so we have sent those revisions to HomeAway. This site is recommended by most people we know that travel frequently. We actually found this place in Florida we are staying in now on HomeAway. There is also VRBO and Airbnb. The difference is HomeAway and VRBO will take deposits where Airbnb requires the full amount up front. Today, we booked and paid deposits on Jersey and London U.K. Jersey is a small island in the English Channel between France and the UK. The sweet couple were so thrilled we are staying 40 days. They said no one has ever stayed that long in their home. She said there are plenty of things to do and see and will thoroughly enjoy our stay. I have no doubt. Our next research will be to locate housing in Casablanca, Morocco and the Canary Islands. We’ll take care of that next month.
NEWSWe found out some great news today! After all the rearranging, we will be in the Normandy France area the same time my brother from Texas and his wife (and family) will be there. Susan’s dad fought in this war as well. June 6, 2019 is the D-Day 75th Anniversary Celebration. Chuck is from Bedford, Virginia. Bedford has an amazing D-Day Memorial because Bedford lost the most men (35) per capita to this war than any others. They were all in the same company, some were brothers. Such a great sacrifice for this small town. If you get a chance, read the book, “The Bedford Boys” by Alex Kershaw. When we first started planning, one of our places we wanted to visit was Normandy because of the memories that Chuck had growing up. He was born 2 years after the invasion but the town provided many memories he grew up with. We were not aware until recently that it was the 75th year anniversary. We look forward to this great experience.
Here in Dunedin, FL not much going on. Still learning the area and falling into a routine. We did have a dolphin that dropped by to see us. We see Osprey frequently. I’ll try to get a picture the next time I see one. They are really noisy.
So, back to our planning. We need to look into travel insurance and lightweight, travel easy clothing since it looks like we may be on planes frequently over the next year.
Until next time. May God bless you always!
Chuck & Lea Ann
WorldTravelReynolds 