Vacation bound!

In 24 days I will be boarding a plane to the United Kingdom. I can't tell you what sort of excitement is filling my heart at the thought of finally finally setting foot in the country that's held my fascination for the last two decades.
In preparation for my first proper holiday in over four years I'm getting ready for my British excursion in the best ways I know how.
Namely, I'm immersing myself in British TV shows; currently on my third episode of Sherlock in two days. I've finished the first three seasons of The Tudors (yes, I watched three entire SEASONS. What can I say? There's lots of sex and killing, it's rather addictive), and I'm on the second season of Luther. All of this is to attempt to numb my gut wrenching immediate reaction to British accents. Which is to say, I squeal uncontrollably. The trouble with having a life long interest in a place or person, is that, eventually, you get to go there or meet them. And you can either make an ass of yourself (like I did in March 2007 the night I met Eddie Izzard; it's a tragic story featuring myself as the buffoon) or you can prepare to try to conduct yourself as an adult.
Frankly, I'm expecting to fail miserably.
In other news, I'm getting excited. I'm thinking this might present the occasion to buy a hat. I'm thinking that the very act of setting foot in the "mother country" might be excuse enough for the purchase of a topper. I mean, Britain, it's the country of hat wearers. Hats for weddings, hats for special occasions. In fact, as a wedding photographer I learned to recognize a British wedding simply by scanning the wedding guests. Or rather, their head gear.
But this vacation. I feel like a kid waiting to go to Disney World. Not Disneyland, Disney World. The big one, the real deal.
Lucky for me, I've got an honest to god Londoner as my tour guide. So while the likelihood of me galavanting off at the sight of a black cab or a red telephone booth is still high, the chances that the lovely Mark will keep me from getting irrevocably lost are also high. Let us all pray for his sanity in dealing with an over eager and extremely excitable me for ten days. Perhaps I should pack some sedatives for when I get out of hand?
Did I mention there's been talk of Paris? Oh goodness. I haven't even considered it.
Yes, I'll be flitting around for the next 24 days in excitement. God help us all by the time I board the plane!