Plane, train, bus and taxi!

Last year I applied for funding to the British Council for the TACCLE2014 having seen information on the SLA website. I submitted the application and didn't expect to be accepted but surprisingly I was! After the initial excitement of receiving materials, trying to explain to work colleagues I was really going to Italy to do a course on elearning and not have a jolly, I booked flights and then promptly forgot about  the course.
Suddenly March was here and I thought it was time to remind myself what I was doing. Looking at the plane, train and bus connections, I realised that this was going to be quite a challenge.

The organisers had set up a Google communities group to share information and introduce ourselves and I had made contact with another person travelling from London.

On Sunday 6th April I set off, having agreed to meet the other attendee at Heathrow at 6.30am! The plane to Bologna was of course delayed but that went in our favour as we had arranged  another person travelling from Belgium at Bologna.

Next challenge finding our way to the train station, the bus was just outside and so were the smokers! We forget in the UK what it is like to walk into that cloud of smoke..... At the station we had to wait an hour for the next train to Pesaro, the journey was great apart from the fact that we didn't know that you are allocated a carriage on the train so that involved moving once we were settled!

Arriving in Pesaro we had to wait 90 mins for the bus. Finally on the bus, the driver seemed to know it was the last run of the day and he raced along the roads with us being thrown around like ragdolls!

Arriving in Urbino an hour later we had arranged for a taxi to take us to the hotel, as we got off the bus the bells in the old town were riniging out Ave Maria. It was a beautiful sound on spring day and somewhat apt as it had taken us 13 hours to get to Urbino. It was quicker to get to New York last summer!

The evening was not over yet and there was a meet and greet and a meal, nodding off at the table was not a good look so I eventually took myself off to bed!

If the journey was like that the course has a lot to live up to!