Hello Winter, 2018!

Hello Winter, 2018                           February 8, 2018

Our winter travels have begun! We had decided not to visit Guatemala this year.  Instead, we accepted an invitation from our New Zealand friends, Vanessa & Graham, to visit them in Cape Town, South Africa, where they are living for a few months.  And, since we would be "on the other side of the pond", we took the opportunity to also knock off a few "bucket list" destinations in eastern Europe.  Our itinerary began with London, where we'll return several times during the next two months, since it will serve as our hub.  Specifically, we plan to visit London (briefly), Prague, Budapest, Krakow, (London), Cape Town, and home via London.   It's a challenging combination to pack for, since it includes both winter and summer climates - but we're up for a challenge :).  Lots of layers.

Our adventure always begins with the process of closing up our house and draining the water pipes to protect them against the ravages of a frigid Maine winter.  While this process takes place, we are so fortunate to have an extended sleep-over with our generous buds, Jane & Don!  It's a great chance to really catch up and to share meals and books and ideas.  

                                   Don & Jane bidding us farewell.

This year, just before our flight took off from Boston, we had an extra treat, visiting friends Jeff & Jing, who introduced us to classic Taiwanese brunch.  A small, nondescript resto in Newton was filled to the brim with Asian families and delicious new aromas.  We tried hot sweet soybean milk, eaten from a bowl like soup; twisted crullers - Chinese version of fried dough; tiny steamed buns filled with ground pork; small beef sandwiches; two different soups with noodles:  it was all sooo yummy!  We worked it off with a brisk walk along the Charles River, through the Commons, and to Boston Public Library - along with Jeff & Jing's sweet doggie companion, Wolfgang, outfitted appropriately in his Patriots shirt!  Even Robert McCloskey's ducklings in the Commons were ready for the big game later that day.  Sadly, all of this fan enthusiasm didn't translate into a win this year.  

With tummies full of Chinese goodies, we settled down on British Air for our overnight flight from Boston, arriving in London to very chilly temperatures.  Despite the uncommonly cold weather, however, window boxes flaunted cheery blue pansies, red geraniums, and a few early daffodils.  It was good to be back in our familiar neighborhood of Earl's Court in Kensington.

Because Bruce was due for a significant birthday on February 6,  he cleverly planned to celebrate in London with dear friends, John & Mary, whom we had met many years ago in France.  You may remember them from our visit to England last fall.  They keep us humble, having just booked their spring cruise to Norway - at ages 91 and 85!

Monday, the 5th, was a day of recuperating and getting our bodies on London time.  On Tuesday, the 6th, we met John and Mary for a fun birthday lunch at the Green Dragon, an old English carriage inn (turned pub) in Barnet.  It's located on the green belt that surrounds London, amazing me with the fact that we can be so close to a city of millions and still have green fields and hedgerows close by. 

    What better place to have a birthday breakfast than a British pub?

Having celebrated Bruce's latest trip around the sun with the British classics of minted lamb chops for me and fish & chips for him, topped off by sticky toffee pudding, we returned to John & Mary's house for tea and more chatting.  Stories of their travels - including their most recent cruise to Morocco - as well as fascinating life experiences stretching back to WWII and earlier, and thoughtful insights on current British issues, always keep us coming back for more.  We seem to share many interests with this amazing couple.

Being in London reminds us, once again, of the massive numbers of immigrant workers here.  This time, we have run into mostly eastern Europeans, coincidentally, from Romania and the Czech Republic and Latvia.  Their countries just don't have the jobs and the salaries to offer young people, even those with university educations.  Here in Britain, they all seem cheerful and eager to do a good job, however modest the job may be.  

Yesterday's agenda was a bit anti-climatic but necessary.  We spent several hours finding our way to Gatwick Airport, on both the underground and a long bus ride.  We stayed in a hotel at the airport before our early morning departure on Easy Jet to Prague today.  It gave us a chance to do some last minute "cramming" on what's important to know about our next destination - and to relax after a busy time of socializing and preparation. 

So, here we are in the beautiful old-world city of Prague.  It's cold and gray and damp and just above freezing temperatures.  Upon arrival in the city center on the airport shuttle, we wandered around searching for our hotel, two old duffers looking pretty confused and pathetic, I'm sure, dragging our suitcases behind us, clutching a map and looking for anything that seemed to match it.  Suddenly we were kindly offered help by a young Czech & American couple, and very shortly afterward, by another American!  Very heart-warming and a lovely welcome.  We did locate our hotel and have had our first goulash and Czech beer.  Stay tuned for other discoveries from Prague!  Zhyah-KWEE (thanks)!