Bulgarian Daze

Today’s feature: Vienna

Best of Times:

* The opera, baby! I tease that I was all cultured and stuff, but really, it was fun to see an opera in Vienna. This is the opera we saw and we paid 4 euro, or about $6 to stand the whole time and watch it. But it was so worth it.

* The Schonbrunn Palace. This was the Hapsburgs summer home. I laugh at the word “home”. HA! This place is huge. Ginormous, even. You could spend a day just in the gardens….and we did. We actually ran out of time to see the inside, but the gardens were totally worth a whole day.

* Cafes. The whole culture here is the cafe thing. You can just sit there and sip coffee for hours, maybe even days. There is a cafe where Trotsky used to hang out and plot his overtaking of the world here.

* Pastries. Helllllooooooo—this is one of the homes of the apple strudel, and I was not one to deny their specialty. Yummmmmmmm!

* Western Europe. This was our first crossover into Western Europe, and it is strange, but you can immediately feel the difference. Having been raised in the western world, I relate well to the Western Europe scene. Places are clearly signed and marked, restaurants and shops have fairly good customer service skills, and there are social programs to keep the streets clean and free of all graffiti (although,in all fairness, Croatia also had many of these attributes).

Worst of Times

* Rain. I did NOT want the rain here, so we ended up spending more time indoors than we had planned. We had planned to walk to a museum, but in the end, we just didn’t feel like it in the rain.

* Being accosted by a strange Nigerian man. He was selling magazines and when he realized we were Americans, he actually asked us to sponsor him for a visa to the U.S. I was torn: Should I feel sorry for the guy, being so desperate as to believe this will happen? Or should I be leery of his true intentions? I chose somewhere in the middle, explaining his plan just wouldn’t work and there is no way to help him…sorry, but time to move on.

I was glad I had the time to make it to Vienna since I had already been to Innsbruck and Salzburg. This rounded out my touring of Austria nicely. The next time I get there, though, I fully intend on finding Trotsky’s cafe and planning my own world takeover. Mwahahahahahaha!

**Vienna pictures now showing in the gallery.

**Tomorrow is our last stop on the European tour.  Look for men in shiny black hair helmets and funny royal stories…..

Today’s Dickens feature is: Prague

Best of Times

* THE FOOD!  We had one of the best meals of the whole trip here.  I had a goulash with knedli, which are like giant dumplings, and my friends had duck.  It was cold and rainy outside and we had walked quite a ways in the wetness, so the thick, warm meal was especially delicious.  We also had mulled wine which is like a steamed wine with cloves in it.  It tasted like a cider.  DELICIOUS, I tell you!

* The atmosphere.  I’m not a person who enjoys rain and cloudy skies, but if there is ever a city to visit in such conditions, it is Prague.  The weather just fit with the architecture.

* The Mucha stained glass window in St. Vitus.  This was the most amazing stained glass window I have ever seen.  The color and the shapes are totally different from traditional stained glass windows.  I really liked it! (Plus, remember…I am cultured now, so I appreciate this stuff, ok??)

* The Charles Bridge. Even though it was super crowded here, the views of the river and the town beyond are second to none.  It is a really peaceful walk (if you block out all the other people around), and there are odd stories, like places on the bridge where people were, um, executed.

* St. Vitus.  This church is definitely worth a visit. It is so so so gothic, plus it has the tomb of St. Wenceslaus, so how can you beat that??

* Funny sayings on souvenir T-shirts, like “Czech me out” and “Czech Mate”.  Get it?  Get it?  hahahahahahaha!

Worst of Times

* For sure, the train ride.  You know, the one where somebody snuck into our compartment and stole from Kanye???  Yeah, that!  Not to mention the whole idea of sitting on a train for 24 hours and dealing with other passengers so so so close for that time.  Might I suggest you fly into Prague?  Just an idea…

* Finding the hostel.  We got lost.  And we were tired from the train.  And we were carrying bags, walking the dark, desolate,spooky streets of Prague.  Not fun.

* The hostel.  Note to self–check if hostel is actually a university dorm.  Because, turns out, I am TOO OLD to be staying up partying until 5am every night.  And I wasn’t even invited to the party.  I just got to listen to it from afar.  And, in my humble opinion, it ceased being fun at like 1am.

* Internet Cafes.  This was also the land of outdated computers and the internet cafe employees who couldn’t correctly operate a calculator, let alone figure out if their computer has the capacity to download a chat program.

And so, that is Prague in a nutshell.  Go check out the photos.  They are way more fun to look at than my boring writing here.  Wait, my writing is NEVER boring.  But still the photos are more fun….remember they are found in the gallery, which is the picture of the yellow church on the right hand side of the blog.  Enjoy!

So….I am uploading pictures of my fantastic European Adventure daily. There are a lot of them, so it takes a while to do. While I was monotonously uploading, renaming, captioning, and ordering photos, I had a brilliant idea. Are you ready?

Each day that I create an album in the Gallery for a stop on my adventure, I will also write a post about the best and worst things about my visit there. Very Dickens of me, no? Who am I kidding? About as far as I got in A Tale of Two Cities was the first two lines: “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” After that, the book wore on me and I yawned my way right to sleep. But I SOUND so smart using that phrase, so literate. Just work with me here. I should warn you, though, that there aren’t too many “worst” times, since I pretty much had the most spectacular vacation EVER.

Anyways, here goes:

Today’s feature is CROATIA.

Best of Times:

* Seafood. Oh how I have missed it. Mark and I are big seafood eaters back home. We eat fish a couple times a week, especially during the summer. But we have refrained since we have been here in Sofia, being that it is landlocked and highly polluted. Croatia had excellent seafood.
* Snorkeling. The snorkeling was great. The water was clear and warm and you could look around for hours.

* Sunning on the Rocks. Nothing more relaxing.

* The bus ride to Korcula. I have never seen more beautiful scenery. It was a windy road which prevented me from sleeping, but that just allowed me to see more.

* Ice cream. It was hot, hot, HOT! So we indulged in ice cream several times. I enjoyed eating it while we walked along the harbor or the promenade. Very refreshing. Very Zen.

* The color. All the buildings were a light beige which made everything seem so clean and fresh. The grape vines and bougainvillea were so vibrant next to the beige. The color of the water…the blues and turquoises was also amazing.

* The islands. Should I ever be so lucky to come here again, I would spend at least a week or more touring the islands. They are quaint and charming, and most definitely the major draw to Croatia.

* The beaches. I cannot say enough about how excellent the beaches here are. Granted you have to lay on rocks,which are not as comfortable as sand. But you just bring and extra towel or two, and it’s fine. The beaches are pretty clean, the water is warm, and there is plenty of privacy if you walk around a bit.

* The resiliency of the place. As I’m sure you know, Croatia has been the scene of many recent wars, one just 10 years ago. And yet, you will find almost no evidence of this when you are there. They have put their cities and historical sites back together with care and the people are proud of their country. I was rather impressed by this.
Worst of Times:

* Snorkeling gear. As I mentioned, I did not have any snorkeling gear with me (who needs it in Sofia??), so I had to buy some. At $13, it was not the best ever. The mask worked well but it pressed against my face in a funny way and then I had canker sores at the very tops of my gums for a week or so afterwards. TMI? Perhaps if I hadn’t spent hours and hours in the water, it wouldn’t have been so bad. But I just couldn’t resist.

* The stairs. Lugging our bags and groceries up and down hundreds of stairs everyday got a little old…

* Transportation. Getting around is an issue. Finding the right bus/ferry/train takes some research. One day we went to the bus station to pre-purchase out ticket to Korcula because we were tipped off that the bus sells out–and it does!–and we had issues finding the place. We got off the city bus too soon and then ended up wandering aimlessly in the very hot sun. One good thing came out of this–I bought the best peaches I have ever eaten from a 10 year old girl. Ooh and she was a good salesperson, tried to get me to buy other stuff and all. Mark should hire her!

Uncategorizable

* Rooms. I don’t know if this was the best or the worst. You decide. It was unnerving to just show up in a city or on an island without a reservation for a place to stay and have random people approach us to rent us a room. But I think we ended up in great places that we never would have had the opportunity to find otherwise. My favorite place was the 450 year old house on Korcula. It had an old courtyard and it was beautiful. But I was nervous about following some strange man to his digs to see if I liked them enough to rent them. You hear horror stories about this stuff. So, I don’t know…good or bad? There is something to be said for going with the flow, and this is the way things are done in this part of the world. But then there is also the issue of security, especially as two females traveling together. What do you think?

Ok, ok enough writing. Go check out the album. There are some great pictures in there and I am sure that once you see them, you will be booking your flight to Croatia! Hey, shouldn’t their tourism board be paying me for this advertisement??

Well, we knew the day would come when we would outlive our hound. And it has happened. A couple of days ago, Guiseppe (who is at home in San Diego) slipped a disc/some discs in his back. This is a problem among elderly bassets and we had it happen with our other basset, Tank. Turns out 50+ pounds of dog on 3 inches of leg is bad for the back.

Once their discs slip, they can have a costly surgery with shady results (and Guiseppe was already considered quite geriatric), or they can be carried to and fro, or they can be fitted for some bizarre sling that still does not allow them to easily go to the bathroom on their own. We are firm in our belief that a dog’s life is meant to be running around, barking and smelling things. Our Guiseppe was no longer able to do these things with joy. And so we made the difficult decision to have him put to sleep.

Guiseppe lived longer than 10 years, which is quite good for a dog of his breed. He was mine and Mark’s first dog together, and he was my first dog after my mom died, and quite frankly, my first dog as an adult. (My childhood dog, Deedee lived for an astounding 18 years and died shortly after my mom did–apparently they belonged together.) Guiseppe was truly my companion. We brought him with us to Bulgaria because we are realists and we knew that he did not have many years left. The last year I spent with him was by far the best year. We hung out day after day and I will admit to having one-sided conversations with him.

When Mark told me that Guiseppe could no longer walk by himself, nor lift his back legs at all, I knew what had to be done. But that did not stop my tears. I cried most of last night and a bit today, even now as I write this. I am currently working on about two hours of sleep with very puffy eyes. Last night we lit a candle and recounted all our favorite Guiseppe stories. We loved him very much and we will miss him everyday. We have already planned to put his ashes under a jacaranda tree at our house in San Diego.
Luckily, I spent a good deal of time with him this year and I have pictures to show for it. And so I offer you these memories of the last year of our dog’s life:

His famous prance on the beach in S.D.

Even closer.

And true to himself, once he comes near and seems all lovey, he turns and walks the other way. Such a tease.

This was how he slept right next to me every night. He loved his leopard print blanket. He was so into luxury….

How can you not love those eyes? That face?

In his winter garb, when we had no heat.

Like me, he was a lizard, finding the one sliver of sun to warm up in.

His G.Q. pose.

This was his way of making us choose between working on the computer or petting him. He usually won out.

So, now you can see why we loved him so much! We are lucky he lived so long and we had the opportunity to spend so much quality time with him in the past year. Undoubtedly he and Tank have met up in doggie heaven and are howling their little hearts out….

Did I mention it is super hot here? Oh, I did? Well, I must mention it again. REALLY HOT! And it is seriously affecting my productivity levels. I know, I know…what productivity, you say?? I mean, I AM in temporary retirement, so how productive need I be? Believe it or not, I have a lot to do that I am just not accomplishing. I brought some curriculum over here that I have yet to read and it is getting close to that time when I need to begin to organize, sort, throw away unnecessary items before we move back home (YAY!).

And I am doing none of that.

Because it is hot. REALLY HOT!

And once I walk with Mark to work and back (a couple of miles each way and uphill–I’m not lying!) I am pretty much toast. All I can manage is to make a few meals and clean up after myself. Oh, and read. And nap. And download great songs from the 80s.
But I refuse to give up. Today I really pushed myself and organized some photos into the gallery here. For you. I did it for you. Ok. Maybe an eensy bit for me, since I know that if I don’t get these photos organized here and now, I will never get to it, especially once I get home and join the working community again (gasp! The W word!)

In an effort to increase my production levels, I have set some goals:

1. Organize and albumize all my latest photos–all 350-400 of them. Check! I already started this one.

2. Share all my fun and funny travel stories with you. Perhaps I will even share the not so funny ones, though they may make YOU laugh.

3. Reconfigure and reorganize my iPod. This may not seem important to you, but I do walk a lot and I need that little guy to get past Mark’s nightly snoring. And hey, let’s face it…I’m a high tech retiree. Some retirees garden or do tai-chi. I iPod. What of it?
4. Finish Season 3 and begin Season 4 of 24. Man, that show is awesome.

5. Watch at least 3 loops of CNN with the exact.same.news.stories daily.

I think that about covers it. Oh wait. Did I leave out that part about doing some professional reading and curriculum organization for work? Silly me. Yeah, add that one in, too….though way down there at number 6!

Let’s hope I have enough time after all that busy-ness to eat.

So, stop reading my rambling here and go check out the gallery. I have made an album for the Mother In Law Diaries: Albena, and don’t forget to also view the sub-album of Balchik. There were a lot of pictures (I let Mark have free rein over the camera and he went a bit nuts), so I divided them into Albena pictures and Balchik pictures. Enjoy! And check back daily for more and more and more and more photos.

As most of you know (and for those of you who don’t, consider this my confession), I grew up in a small suburb of San Diego called Santee. Loganites–stop laughing at me! And as much as I tease Santee for being a small town and oh-so conservative, I really did have an excellent childhood there. My education was superb (I mean, look at me now, snicker snicker), the community was small enough that you couldn’t get into too much trouble without everyone–I mean, EVERYONE–knowing about it, and most of us who grew up there maintained very precious friendships that have endured the test of time.

That said, I believe every Santeean, across all 4 miles of Cuyamaca Street and all 3 miles of Magnolia Avenue, will agree with me on this one point:

The summer heat is unbearable.

Am I right? Can I get a witness, folks? I remember the good ol’ days in the Santee summer with no air conditioning. When we used to run the hose over us until we were all shivery and then slap our freezing bodies on to the steaming sidewalk to warm up and dry off, which would take all of about 3 minutes, only to repeat the cycle again. Or when my mom admonished us four kids NOT to sneak out into the living room (aka her bedroom) at night and sleep in front of the ONLY FAN IN THE HOUSE. And yet, every morning, there we were, 4 kids wrapped in blankets, lying in a row in front of the fan.

And so it is with a perverse pleasure that I offer you this:

This is our grown up version of sneaking out to sleep in front of the fan.

Please, allow me to explain. Eastern Europe has been in the middle of a long-lasting, record breaking heat wave (go ahead, take a minute to read the short news article, especially the part where 16 people collapsed). Every day the temperature reaches about 95-100 degrees Fahrenheit. Need I remind you that all the buildings here are concrete and have very few windows? Oh…and that we live on the top floor of such a building? Yeah. Stifling in here. There is no way to ventilate this place and even when I try, we are invaded by swarms of mosquitoes who, apparently, delight in Amerikanski blood because we keep getting eaten alive and when we ask Bulgarians how they handle mosquitoes, they usually respond with something like, ” well, I see them around, but I never get bitten…”. Grrrrr. This situation has led to basically two solid months of sleepless nights (and sleepless mornings if you factor in the construction noise next door that begins promptly at 8am every morning, including Saturdays and Sundays). Double Grrrrrrr!
But we do have one bright spot. They call this thing “air conditioning”:

This little machine is supposed to cool the entire flat. We can all laugh at the word “entire” since the whole flat here equates to one large living room back home. And you guessed it….it most definitely does not cool the entire flat. It cools the 5 feet in front of its location and that’s about it. So for the last two months, either Mark or I would slip out and sleep on our super hard plastic couch…because we couldn’t decide which was worse, sweating all night long or waking up with a sore neck from the couch. Each morning, one of us would find the other all sunggled up IN BLANKETS in front of the air conditioner.

Well, when Mark came home from work at 1:00 in the morning the other night, I was already snoozing peacefully IN BLANKETS on the couch. I guess he had had enough and could not bear the thought that he would not be able to sleep there. And so he brought out the mattress from the second bedroom–the twin sized one–and threw it on the floor. Now we have a bed in the middle of the living room. Umm, more accurately, we have a bed for a living room, because once the twin sized mattress is on the floor, there is no room to walk around it.

To all of this, I say…..GENIUS! I LIVE on that mattress now. I have wired up my computer, mouse and speakers and I am currently typing from there. I would be listening to some music or podcasts but for the fact that Mark is snoring gently beside me. Sleep at last!
So, as it turns out, I came all the way across the planet to end up….back in Santee.

Since we spent all these days at the Black Sea, it makes sense to lump them together.

Day 6

We headed to Albena, a resort at the Black Sea by plane. We got to the airport nice and early and had an easy check-in. And then we waited and waited and…waited. First in one area and then in another. But at last we made it on to the plane, flew, and landed nice and safely in Varna. Mark’s partner has a friend who is a pilot and just happened to be landing in Varna at the same time. So he picked us up and drove us to Albena, which is about 30 kilometers away. Good to have friends, I say.

We went to our “resort hotel” and got all checked in. Here I am at our room:

I should mention here that it was raining. And not just a drizzle or a trickle. Oh no. RAINING. On our much anticipated trip to the Black Sea, we were caught in a rainstorm. Blech. It stopped once we got there, but I was a bit sleepy…because I don’t do gray weather in July. Hello……I am from San Diego. So I took a nap while Mark and Linda went for a walk around town. When I woke up it was a little bit sunny and everyone else was…asleep. So I went outside to the rows and rows of umbrellas and did some good people watching.

After everyone woke up and got cleaned up, we headed to dinner, which was a buffet. There was some, ummmm, interesting food there, but we were each able to find at least one or two things we could eat. I will say here that the sea, the sand, and the town were awesome, but the food, well….that is not the strong point of this place. We ate, hung out, and went to bed.

Day 7

Not as much rain on this day. We were able to spend the morning out under an umbrella and in the sea water. Mark and I realized that this was the first time we had swam in a sea, not an ocean. Kinda cool. We all read, lounged, napped, and swam all morning. Then, after lunch, we headed into the little town and cruised the streets. Mark found a crazy magnet and bought it and Linda bought some goods to take home. We spent the evening eating dinner and playing cards in an ongoing tournament. A very relaxing day.

Day 8

We went on a little excursion to a place called Balchik on this day. A little geography/history lesson…this part of Bulgaria used to be part of Romania. Then Romania sold it to Bulgaria (I think after World War II??) for 7,000 leva, which equates to about $4,500 USD. But before that, the Queen of Romania wanted a relaxing retreat and so they built Balchik. It is called a palace, but it is not so palace-y. The most impressive part of it all is the gardens. And they are impressive. I had read that they had extensive cactus gardens, which sounded quite boring to me, but once we got there and saw them, I changed my mind. They were actually quite cool. Here are some pictures of our time there:

Linda trying to act all shy.

The palace.

Mark in the cactus garden.

Me in the cactus garden.

The gardens at Balchik.

View of the Black Sea on the way back from Balchik.

It was hot. I needed a rest in the shade.

After the morning at Balchik, we headed back to Albena and hung out on the beach in the afternoon. Mark and Linda had massages, but I just could not leave my sandy locale. It was sooooooo comfy and just my kind of place. So I stayed. I met up with them around dinner. Again we ate and played cards. Then we went back to our rooms and prepared to leave. It was a nice weekend. Sad to leave.

Day 9

Also known as the day of the long train ride. I had decided that we should ride the train back because Bulgaria has a lot of beautiful scenery and the only way to see it (if you don’t have a car….and we don’t) is by bus or train. We had our own little compartment, so it wasn’t too bad. But the bathrooms left a lot to be desired. Really. They did. But we did see some beautiful mountains and rock formations. We made it back in Sofia in the early afternoon and had time to do some laundry and have a nice meal.
The next day, both Linda and I left–she to go home and me to go on my Amazing Race. We had a nice week together. It was really great to have another English speaking companion here. I hope Bulgaria did not scare her off too much, though I am sure it does not quite compare to the south of France…..

And we’re back where left off those oh-so many weeks ago before I left for my European Extravanganza….back to the visit from Linda, Mark’s mom. When I left, we were on Day 4, our adventure to Rila Monastery….you will recall that???

So, we clearly needed a day of rest before another major adventure, such as the one we were about to embark on—to the Black Sea. On the day before we left we spent our time organizing and doing laundry. Well, that is primarily how Linda spent her time. Mark and I had the pleasure of going down to a ministry and applying for our lichna karta, also know as the Bulgarian National ID card…the very document that absolutely proves our legal standing in this country.

Now perhaps you, like me, are noting the pink-elephant-in-the-room paradox here. We have a month and a half to go and we are just now applying for our lichna karta??? What’s the point, you ask? (And I asked it, too.) Well, the point is that for one, I need to have proof that I have applied for this all important laminated card in order to enter and exit the country freely. Also, Mark will need it for his subsequent travels to and fro in the next year.

So we went and applied. But you should not be surprised to learn that the process is not so simple as you apply and then a card is made and then you get it and move on with your life. Ohhhhhh nooooooooo. Not here. You turn in your papers. Someone reviews them over the next 7-10 days (you know, because it takes 7-10 days to look at 4 pieces of paper) and then they get back to you with whatever else you will need. Now, we already know that we will need to notarize–yet again!–my marriage certificate. And…get this…Mark must write out a promise that he will not “throw me out” while we are here and get that notarized. Yeah, I’m serious. You see, I am being granted residency based on his job, so if he tosses me aside, I am no longer legal. You can imagine how well all this sits with me…

Anyways, the important thing is this: I got the ever important stamp in my passport that says I am in the process of getting my lichna karta so I can come and go as I please, which is key since I am leaving the day after we return from the Black Sea.

After the lichna karta business, I returned to the flat and prepared for the Black Sea–not so difficult since about everything Mark and I own right now fits into one bag, and we certainly are not taking everything we own on vacation. Then, in the afternoon, we went up to Mark’s office to meet him and his partners for dinner.

Oh, but a funny taxi ride. Or maybe not so funny to Linda. You see, everyone has been so nice to her that I really felt like she wasn’t getting the true Bulgarian experience—you know, the one where the shopkeeper yells at you for touching the tomatoes, etc??? Well, she had it on this day. We got into the taxi and she shut the door with an average amount of force and the driver, who suddenly now knew English, started yelling at her:

“CAN’T YOU READ THE SIGN???” and points to a miniscule sign on the window that says something like “Close Door Gently”.

“I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY NOBODY CAN READ THAT SIGN!!!! YOU SEE? IT SAYS GENTLY, AND YOU JUST SLAM THE DOOR!”

And then he proceeded to sign and harumph the whole way up to the office. So I did what any good Bulgarian would do and gave him exact change, no extra and slammed the door on my way out. Man, I am like a native here now.

We had a huge dinner at a restaurant and then waddled home to complete our Black Sea preparations.

Days 6-9: Black Sea!

So…I learned that when you travel alone, you can’t really get too many pictures of yourself. And I like scenery shots as much as the next person…that is to say that they get boring after a while and sometimes you just want to see a familiar face. Plus, you have to prove you were actually there and you didn’t just pilfer the pictures off the internet and claim you were there!

And so I offer you my narcissistic series of Kristy in Europe photographs, taken by….Kristy….while she was….in Europe. But before you look, you should know a few things. One is that while my arms are extremely long (my brother often refers to me as a knuckle walker), it turns out that they are not long enough to make me appear to be standing next to the monuments. I am just HUGE, right in front of them.

Which leads me to my next point. I had no makeup on for…oh, I don’t know….the last month…perhaps the last year…ok, for the greater part of my adult life. And I am realizing in looking at these pictures that my daily moisturizer routine is just not cutting it. I can see every wrinkle and sunspot I have acquired in the past 33 years (or, as my best friend and I opt to think of it, the 4th anniversary of our 29th birthday, but whatever….). It doesn’t help that I furrow my brow when in deep concentraion. Not to mention my total lack of hair product and decent hair dryer. So look past the age and hair thing. Really, I am way better looking in real life. And it is the total absence of my vanity that brings you this:

This is me in the old city of Dubrovnik, Croatia.

This is me, near yet another huge bunch of steps in Croatia.

This is me, lizarding.

This is me, with my lizard cousin, the tortoise. We found a bunch of them at our hostel in Croatia.

This is me, on the winding path in the gardens at Hofburg Palace in Vienna.

This is me, in Stephensplatz in Vienna–where the old, old gothic church is.

This is not me. But it is a 2,000 koruny bill from the Czech Republic. I felt cool passing that off. So what if it was really only worth about $16 USD????!!!!

This is me, in the gardens right outside of Kensington Palace, London.

This is me, on one of those double decker sightseeing buses in London.

This is me, at Buckingham Palace, London.

This is not me. I know—you could tell by the shiny black hair. I loved these guys. They were so serious with their big steps and big hair hats. You will see many more photos of these dudes in the coming days.

This is me, in the old palace, overlooking the Thames River, London.

This is me, sitting on an apparently unpaid-for chair in Hyde Park, from which I was later evicted.

This is me, in front of the London Tower Bridge, in…..you guessed it….London!

This is me, at the London Tower, which was also the old palace, used before Buckingham Palace.

This is me, in front of Big Ben, London. Can you name the movie that made this line famous: “Look kids, there’s Big Ben! Look kids, There’s Big Ben!” They said it over and over again. So that was all that was in my mind when I was there.

So there you have it. Pictures of me. That ought to keep you occupied (or horrified, depending on how you look at it) until I have enough time to get all 250 pictures into albums so you can see them all.

This is me…..signing off.

All you oldies–you know the song I am referencing, don’t act like you don’t!!

So, Logan Elementary is almost out of school for the summer. And I can already tell they are excited. So this is where I do the obligatory teacher thing and give all you kids summer advice:

1. READ. Feel free to read my blog as part of your reading time. But also…please read books–the kind WITH WORDS!
2. LEARN YOUR TIMES TABLES. Seriously. You will NOT enjoy my math class if you don’t know how to multiply. And I am a really cool math teacher. Just ask around.

3. PLAY. You better do it now because….come next year (you know, in 6 weeks, when the next school “year” starts???)….you won’t be playing much anymore. Especially if you are in my class. Mwahahahahaha! (That’s my evil laugh.)

Ok, I will see you guys next year. And if you are really lucky, like win-the-lottery lucky, I will see you everyday from 7:45-2:15 next year, if you know what I mean….

HAVE A FUN SUMMER!!!!