I started putting the feelers out early last year about us all getting together to raise some money for a local charity in the style of the original Rylstone Women’s Institute calendar of 1999.   And although I initially had a bit of a job persuading the girls they really wanted to remove items of their clothing (in the best possible taste!) for the shoot I now seem to be inundated with people willing to take part – so much so that the calendar will now feature girls on one side and boys on the other.

The calendar will be on sale from October and all proceeds will be going to the Bosom Pals Appeal, run by the Southend Hospital Charitable Foundation.  You can read more about the tremendous work they’re doing here http://www.sh-cf.org .

I think we were sitting on the banks of the Danube having a beer on Friday lunchtime last week (the second day of our trip) when it dawned on us that we had better start making alternative plans to get home rather than risk turning up at the airport on Saturday for the Easyjet flight which was scheduled to leave that evening.

So we joined an ever increasing queue at the train station and felt quite pleased with ourselves that it only took a couple of hours to get booked on a train the next morning to Verona in Italy, via Austria and Germany, where we’d pick up an overnight connection to Paris.  All in all about a 28 hour train journey.  Piece of cake right?  Problem solved right?  No.

The first leg of the journey to Verona was reassuringly straightforward and we heard of fellow passengers’ similar plights.  But our luck was about to run out as we had no seat reservations for the overnight Verona to Paris sleeper train and no amount of pleading could stop us being ordered off the train late at night, with the prospect of no accommodation booked, and the ticket inspector clearly not interested in helping us out.  That was probably the lowest point in the trip as we struggled to comprehend how someone could have been so unhelpful in what was now becoming an international crisis – a jobsworth who we think added another 2 days to our travels. 

Fortunately, we eventually found some accommodation and gained a friend that evening, a girl who was travelling on her own from Bucharest and was trying to get back to Dublin.  So now there were three of us and we thought we’d hire a car and drive to Calais to take our chances of a crossing there.  But there were no hire cars available and the websites kept crashing and we were running out of ideas.  That evening was a bit of a turning point as we realised that we just weren’t going to be able to move on the next day and so we resolved to stay another night and enjoy the sights of Verona which is such a beautiful place.  And we actually relaxed and had some fun, almost forgetting that we were stranded as we strolled around the city.

Onwards and upwards the next stage of the journey was mapped out by available trains rather than geographical planning and we left Verona on Monday afternoon for an overnight stop in Zurich, and seats booked for Zurich to Paris, via Milan, on Tuesday, and a Eurostar service back to London on Thursday evening. 

But the best news was yet to come as my husband had been able to get a return ticket on Le Shuttle with the car and picked us up on our arrival in Paris on Tuesday night, driving us to Arras which is about one hour from Calais for the last overnight stay before making our crossing from Calais to Folkestone on Wednesday morning.  Celebration beers were cracked open that night as we reminisced about the events of the previous days.

Looking back now there were loads of high points and only a couple of low ones.  We were fortunate enough to have enough funds to repatriate ourselves and family and friends back home who helped out with arranging accommodation from a distance, but I know there are people who have been stuck at airports with no choice other than to stay put and wait for flights to resume. 

We were able to get enough information about what was going on by watching BBC World and from people back home but had to make decisions based on what was available at the time rather than the most cost-effective or logical route home.

It’s been an incredible journey, quite literally.   We’re all so relieved to be home but in a strange way glad to have had the experience.

Have been so busy on the blog this week I almost forgot to mention my visit to Focus on Imaging, which is Europe's biggest annual imaging show, and a must for any serious photographer.  With over 200 exhibitors and all the very latest digital cameras and processing equipment, it's a geek's paradise! It's also a great opportunity to catch up with my suppliers and I always make a bee-line for the Tony Sarlo's stand, for a warm Italian welcome and a glass of something fizzy!  The Company is based in Contursi, Italy, and run by Tony and his wife Sandy together with their three sons, Stefano, Andrew and Ashley.  Their wedding albums are absolutely exquisite - every one is hand made, book-bound and finished by a member of the Sarlo family, so this ensures an extremely high standard.  The Sarlo's have also invested heavily in new technology to lead the way in bespoke digital wedding album design and production.  I was lucky enough to visit them in Italy a few years ago and not only got to see the album production first hand, but was also able to sample some fine Sarlo hospitality.

Manager Mée Wolff explained that despite the intensive makeover and skill of the waiting and kitchen staff, nothing is being left to chance. Mée explained: “We wanted to get the new Manoly off to the right start and enjoy another 25 years of good fortune, so we invited a trio of Buddhist monks to perform a complex and very beautiful traditional blessing ceremony.”  So I went along yesterday morning to photograph this ancient ceremony for them, as well as the 'Private Viewing' yesterday evening where the Mayor of Southend, Councillor Brian Smith, performed the official opening.

Take a look at the short video I've put together of some of the images which I think really capture the essence of the place.

And on Wednesday it was the Women in Business Network monthly lunch where I gained some volunteers for my 'Calendar Girls' charity project in aid of Havens Hospices, whose fundraising team work tirelessly to raise awareness of the hospice which provides respite breaks, symptom control and end-of-life care for adults and children living with serious conditions and illnesses such as cancer.  I've been banging on about this calendar for months now and finally, now they've realised I wasn't kidding(!), it looks like we can get this off the ground.  Thanks so much girls... we are going to have a ball, I promise!