Planning begins in ernest!

Well the tickets are finally here - it is becoming real now, the anticipation and stress (or distress) are building rapidly - the work that has to be done. Two and a half weeks to departure (still no spending money but i am sure that breakfast is included for all hotels - so don't expect presents!) The GPS is working well so that will be packed with its maps to get me back to Hotels if I go for an afternoon walk. Weather is hopefully going to be similar to here - up to 18 / 21 degree days, down to 12 at night. I don't know what time sunset is but I do not doubt that there is a website somewhere that can tell me... (and there is - 30 August Stockholm 7.59pm - well it is coming into thier Autumn).

Departure date is August 24th at 8pm. First stop Melbourne - now that should be exciting!!! Change planes and fly onto Hong Kong - go Qantas. From there it is change to Finnair to Helsinki arriving at 2.55pm H time. There we are staying at the Hotel Simonkenta (they have a website of their own if you want to see what it looks like).

We leave H on Monday 27th for Copenhagen, where we are staying at the Copenhagen Island Hotel until Thursday 30th when we drive across the water to Malmo in Sweden.

After spending part of the day in Malmo it is off to Lund and Jakriborg (a new replica Hanseatic township - wonderful Planner stuff) then on to the high speed train to Stockholm.

So Stockholm it is (First Hotel Reisen) until departure for St Petersburg on Sunday 2nd September, where we bunk at the Novotel St Peterburg until Thursday 6th September, when we fly back to Helsinki. That is where the PIA Tour ends, and I am sure we are going to be all planned out by that time but wait, there is more...

On 6th I head to Newcastle UK via Amsterdam (no i am not stopping for drugs or diamonds!!!) for a few family days with a flit over to Ireland on 11th / 12th to see what the Euro has done to the country development wise (of course), then back to Newcastle for a Planning Conference at the Uni there for 3 days.

Departure from the UK is 16th, back to Helsinki (staying at the Klaus K Hotel, now that is a website to check out - it is way to cool for me!) before tripping home via HK - changing from Finnair to Qantas again on 17th arriving late in Sydney before curfew on 18th September.

So, the idea of this blog is to give you an update on my progress (once I leave of course) and how much I am missing you all and not liking it OS at all, and hopefully posting some of my sure to be wonderful shots to make you all jealous (hehehe!). Lets wait and see on that score shall we - may not have anything worth showing if I forget to pack the battery charger and power socket thingo!

Well, that is all from me for now, so see you in Helsinki... I won't bore you will all the gory detail on the planning things we are doing yet but there is a high possibility we are going to do a planners tour of one of the world's best art galleries, and also a Russian ballet (I am sure there are planner things in Swan Lake and I have never been to a ballet, so why not one in Russia!). I will try and up date every few days or when something exciting happens.

Cheers and Beers

Kez (next post after 24 August - don't hold your breath)