An unproductive week as far as preparations for the Tour are concerned, as I have a nasty attack of shingles. Amazing how quickly this has arrived and established itself; how would it be if it had started on Tour? Apart from being very painful, it has the effect (on me, anyway) of dulling the brain and taking away any interest in doing anything. I'm glad that the serious work of deciding the itinerary and finding and booking hotels was done some time ago.
The iPhone World Travel Adapter Kit went back to the AppleStore for a refund, and they confirmed that there is no way they can obtain the continental power adapter in the UK. But the good news is that a contact who lives in mainland Europe has kindly offered to buy one for me and post it when he comes to London at the end of the month.
Updated the rail map with the change to the Lucca-Venezia route, and added hotel locations to the relevant city maps.
The exchange rate offered by CaxtonFX struggled up to an amazing 1.10, so I tried to load some euros onto my currency card. But on a couple of tries there was a technical issue, which turned out to be due to a fire in BT's Paddington exchange. Finally managed it the following day, by which time the rate had inched forward slightly to 1.109 – of course it may continue to rise. There currently seems a possibility of a hung Parliament after the Election, with the likelihood that the pound would crash, so I need to get most of my Euros, I think, in the next week or two. On the other hand, the rate might rise sharply if the Tories get in...
