Can now count down on fingers and toes! 19 days to go.

A worrying few days with the havoc caused by the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland. Thankfully flights are leaving Sydney for Heathrow again (much to Lizzie's chagrin). It doesn't look good for being able to grab a couple of extra seats to spread out though as I'm sure our Airbus A380 will be chockers!
Writing this on Anne's dinky little netbook....almost done with loading all my travel info.
Shopping almost done too...just a few minor alterations to purchases due to height deficiency.
More thanks..... to Val for the loan of the smallest hairdryer I've ever seen.

Well that's enough typing practice for now.
19 more sleeps!

Five weeks to go!

Not exactly starting to get into panic mode but feeling slightly anxious about not having absolutely everything booked!

Note to self "Just let it happen" (Can I do that Nicki?)

Thanks to all family and friends for advice on where to stay...
To Nicki and Phil for where to stay in Lucerne, Poschiavo and Venice and what to see.
To Carolyn and Rob for the Rome B&B recommendation...really looking forward to meeting the host and tasting her Tiramisu :)
To Lizzie for the links to Monastery stays...a real alternative but maybe for next time as I was lucky enough to get a real bargain or two in Italy.
To Anne for the advice on Hotelclub.com....booked Venice with this one.

Other websites I have utilised.... Priceline.com and .co.uk for some great bargains bidding on hotels in San Francisco, Anchorage and Zurich. Pity I hadn't checked out biddingfortravel.com and read all the advice before bidding as I may have got even better bargains....hoping for success and a good bid on Vancouver.

Things to do/buy/borrow
Beg, steal or borrow a travel hairdryer. I cannot do without one for four nights on a cruise even if I am wearing a beanie most of the time.
Just a few items of clothing perhaps (Maryanne says Europeans are so well dressed....pointless to try and compete!)
Thanks to Anne (again) for the offer of her Netbook. It's completely out of the question for me to be offline for 6 weeks! Now looking for a little cordless mouse.
Thanks to Brendon and Emily for the loan of the Lonely Planet Europe phrasebook. I'll be able to say "Mi dia un anestetico, per favore" should I need a filling, or lots of other things I'm more likely to need.

Plan for this week...
Check out day trips in various places. Download brochures etc
Set up Anne's netbook with my email contacts and everything else I'll need while away such as Skype.
That's it for now.