this little guy was probably about a quarter of the size of my pinky fingernail.
i bought all of my stationary and travel toiletries (only some of which are pictured) for europe eariler this week, and elly and i got together and finally booked ALL of our accommodation and completely finalised our itinerary. her friend confirmed that we can stay with her while we're in london and some friends of her parents have said we can stay with them while we're in liverpool for the john lennon festival in november. i'm starting to feel less nervous and more ready for what this will bring. it's less than three weeks til i leave and i know it will be hard to be away from saxx for so long, as well as friends and family, but i know i need this. i need to satisfy this feeling in my chest. i need to smell the air and feel the sun warm my skin in a hundred places i've never been. i need to see, smell, taste, touch, hear new things, meet new people, make new memories. i don't remember enough from the last time i was in europe, it was so long ago. but i'm going to make sure i write every day and take photo after photo so i never lose a moment.
i am also sad to be missing spring. we'll be leaving eight days into my favourite season and i can only hope we'll have some warm weather over there. i'm expecting it to be extremely cold in norway, sweden and scotland towards the end as we'll be there in late october/early november, but i'm hoping for some sunshine while we're in barcelona and rome particularly. here's hoping. at least i get to see the start of the cherry blossoms before i leave and i know i'll come back to some beautiful weather. as time slips towards winter and the days get colder i experience this feeling of being physically weighed down, so i can't describe what it's like when i first begin to smell spring in the air. i've known this feeling since i was young. when the sun is shining and the air is warm and sweet, everything is alive with infinite possibility.
our itinerary is as follows:
- 8th September - leave Sydney, Australia
- 9th-15th September - London, England (including Stonehenge & Oxford)
- 15th-17th September - Brussels, Belgium (possibly including Bruges)
- 17th-20th September - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- 20th-26th September - Paris, France (including Versailles)
- 27th-30th September - Barcelona, Spain
- 30th-5th October - Rome, Italy (possibly including Pompeii)
- 5th-7th October - Milan, Italy
- 7th-9th October - Zurich, Switzerland
- 9th-13th October - Munich, Germany (including Dachau)
- 13th-16th October - Prague, Czech Republic
- 16th-21st October - Berlin, Germany
- 21st-24th October - Stockholm, Sweden
- 24th-29th October - Oslo, Norway
- 29th-1st November - London, England
- 1st-3rd November - Liverpool, England
- 3rd-5th November - Edinburgh, Scotland
- 5th-7th November - London, England
- 9th November - Sydney, Australia