lairdandjonelle

So far, so good — we have always made it back to our hotel!  Off for the Golden Horn/Bosporus voyage — quite cold on the water, I always forget that.  Saw lots of stuff but only one stop, the former Sultans’ hunting palace, which actually wasn’t a palace — well, maybe if all you’re doing is hunting you might think so, but no bathrooms, just four fancy, fancy, gilded and swirled and pasha’d up four reception rooms on first floor, four reception rooms on the second floor.  Lot of sitting around room when you consider it was probably only guys out shooting things — don’t think women came along.  And why would they if they had to use an outhouse once plumbing was invented??? At some point Attaturk lived there, but our guide pointed out a REAL palace, second largest after Topkapi with a name I can’t spell, where he was supposed to have lived and I think somewhere else as well.  Plus, if Ankara was the capital, wouldn’t he have to live there while being in charge?  He must have had more houses than a sultan!  Maybe he was a paranoid and slept in a different house every night.  We ended by spice market so we strolled through there — how much fun it would be to know how to use all the things we saw; someone should start a school.  Tonight was the dervish performance — I so want a dervish outfit!  The cotton looks so wonderfully soft and I bet it’s such a neat feeling to have the skirt swirling around your legs as you whirl.  The taxi ride to the cultural center was so scary we decided to walk back to hotel instead of wearing our hearts in our throats for the 10 minutes it would take to ride.  Lovely night, soft air, pleasant weather and we even figured out how to find Sultanahmet square, with its color-changing fountain, the Blue Mosque lit up at night with palm trees silhouetted against it.  Ahhhhh.  We got a lesson in pottery at a gallery, then went back to the restaurant we first went to — the food is delicious, the staff is great and the prices are reasonable, what more could someone want?

Off to the palace I can’t spell tomorrow, or that’s the plan.  Can’t wait, it looked so very palacey from the water.  I’ll even learn to spell it.  Scribely yours, jm

Turkish breakfast.  Yummm.  There’s something about eating cucumbers, olives, cheeses and good bread first thing in the morning.  But, really, nescafe?????  Oh, and Tang for the juice.  I miss Ohori’s Kenyan!  Laird’s off to the money machine — there’s something about foreign money that makes spending it so much easier — it’s not real after all, doesn’t look like anything you had to work hard for. Well, until you get home and get the credit card bill and bank statement and realize you have to get a second job.  I wonder if I could still waitress?

The day is beautiful outside, seagulls calling in the air.  Tulips still blooming (we just missed the Istanbul tulip festival) and pansies and those flowers that look like pansies but don’t have the center colors like pansies.  No, not Johnny Jump Ups.  At Topkapi the tulips are, I believe, Ottoman tulips — with the very pointed petals.  Anyway, that’s what we’re going to know them as from now on.  Great trees at Topkapi, too.  A couple of them looked like they could have been 1,000 years old.  One tree was one type of evergreen, with one branch of cypress sticking up.  I assume some kind of natural accident because what’s the point of grafting one branch?

We’re off to yacht on the Bosporus!  OK, it won’t be a yacht, but I can pretend.  jm

Sunday we went to Gallipoli — I don’t think I told you about it because we were beat to s***t by the time we got back.  I had no idea it was FIVE HOURS AWAY!  Then four or five hours to tour, in the bus, out of the bus, in the bus, out of the bus.  Our guide had such a strange way of talking, and I’d forget to listen to what he was saying as I tried to figure out whether he had a speech impediment or what.  Lots of dates and deaths.  The location is magnificent, the Dardenelles, the hills — so much better as a resort sight than a months’ long battlefield where so many died.  I woke up about 3:00 a.m., that was that, had to get up at 5:30 to get ready and downstairs for bus at 6:30.  We drove and we drove and we drove.  Stopped for breakfast about 10:30, finally got to whatever the town  below Gallipoli is named, had lunch then on a bigger bus and off we went.  The cemeteries are maintained by an international graves organization that keeps up, I think, war cemeteries in numerous countries.  They have done a great job here.  So beautiful, yet so sad.  What a tragic waste, even more than “normal” battles because there wasn’t a way in hell the allies were going to win.  Well, yes, they did ultimately win, but they didn’t win Gallipoli.

We drove and drove and drove back to Istanbul, got back about 11:30 and we were DONE.  We didn’t wake up this morning until almost noon.  Walled to Topkapi for lunch on the Golden Horn and another walk around the palace.  I want to live there!  I want to live with all those stunning tile walls and decorated ceilings and large verandas looking out at the Bosporus.  Tomorrow we go on a boat tour and a dervish performance, then dinner at a recommended fish restaurant.  I went to hamam this evening, the oldest one in Istanbul supposedly; built in 14something.  Laird stayed here.  Said he didn’t enjoy the one in our hotel; tried to tell him that a self-service hamam is NOT the same as a real hamam, but he was not convinced.  It was quite swell, and I think I’ll have to fit in another time before we leave.  though I expect to be sore tomorrow — these ladies are not gentle — and us whussy Americans who are used to nice, padded massage tables instead of ungiving marble are in for a rough time.  Particularly when someone is mauling you.  But lying on hot marble is pretty damn relaxing.  Oh, but then the bring out the brillo pad glove and off we go!  Then back to hotel (free pick-up and return, isn’t that cool?) and dinner at restaurant on corner.  We shared mixed plate of appetizers, a shepard’s salad and shepard’s kebap — yummy.  I do so like the food here!  OK, it is almost tomorrow so time for bed, up for Turkish breakfast then boat ride around the golden horn.  Or the Bosporus, I forget.  Sweet dreams my sweeties!

So where was I? In the beginning, I FINALLY woke up and got down to Turkish breakfast before it closed.  Yummmm, Renee!  Cucumbers here have so much more flavor.  Good cheeses, not great bread, but that was ok.  Good olives, too.  And off we went to Grand Bazaar.  Before we even got there, I had spent like three times my Istanbul budget!  Maybe even four times.  And, I can’t believe this, I bought a rug!  Now talk about coals to Newcastle — where am I going to put another rug????  We met two very charming men, Kurdish, brothers in law, from whom I bought a couple of presents and then Omer insisted that we go to his rug shop.  I told him I wasn’t going to buy, but clearly he knew better.  He was so charming, I couldn’t resist.  After those two shops I was so exhausted and leery, I was afraid to stop or even slow down in front of any shop in grand bazaar.  Long walk home, and way past time for nap.  Now, I think the post picks up at the post below.  I can report that hamam was nice, but nothing special — there is a big, important, oldest-in-Istanbul hamam that I want to go to, with 2-3 chambers of warm, hot, hottest marbles.  Just have to find it, find out how to get there, have time to get there.  After 8:00, time for bed again.  We forgot to take our No Jet Lag, bummer.  Now I know the stuff works when you take it instead of leaving It in the overhead bins during flight.  Always good to know something works, I guess, even if by omission.  Good night, sleep well.  jm & lg

Yea, were finally here after a fairly brutal 12.5 (I think longer) trip from LA, plus all those hours getting to LA and waiting for Turkish airlines flight. Very bumpy ride, made drinking hard to do. I watched 4 movies and read a lot during the interminable hours. I realized I should have written a “we’re off!” blog before we left yesterday — was it really only yesterday???? Thanks so very much to Dona for coming to help us with loose ends and taking us to airport and being willing to pick us up on what is probably the last flight into ABQ on June 2! Thank you, thank you! Plus, she’s going to sell the bracelets we made, the button flowers I made and the potholders and towels that Sandy made at the Turquoise Trail volunteer fire dept flea market on Saturday — everyone go out to support them and buy our stuff! Anyway, we got into Istanbul, went through a hideously long immigration line, though to be fair it moved relatively fast — at least they had more booths open than the US usually has. Got our luggage, found our driver and got to the Hotel Perula in Sultanamet area. Room is small, but it’s very nice and has a hammam, a Turkish bath that I can’t wait to use. After getting connecting internetly, we went out to late dinner that was amzing. Hummel (close approximation of spelling with umlats and other things) sultan and ravan kebab — oh so tasty. The hotel guy showed us the restaurant and even though they were busy they seemed genuinely happy we were there and treated us so well — such a joy, makes me want to leave big tips. So now it’s 10:30 Friday night Turkey time and I last slept about 3:30 a.m. on Thursday morning, so I really, really hear this bed calling me. Tomorrow we are off for adventures in the Grand Bazaar — we’ll tell all about it! Love, jm and lg

Great — Putin is considering invading Ukraine on the eve of our planned trip to Russia. Of course we have paid for our tickets! Of course I bought loads of Indian jewelry to take as presents! Of course our teaching pay is in rubles, which has tanked against the dollar! I see dollar signs passing before my eyes and vanishing into the vague, unknown future! On the plus side, I could buy a whole lot more presents for the same amount of money; but on the minus side, they wouldn’t fit in my suitcase. What’s a person to do? And meanwhile, I’ll still have to prepare TWO public lectures on the as-now continuing assumption that we’re going — and they have to each be 90 minutes long. Laird, of course, already has his done and keeps adding and adding to them every day. By now, he has a two-year course of study prepared — and I still haven’t decided on my topics! But my sweetie bought me a laptop, so at least I’ll have something to frantically work upon on the plane ride over.

Everybody please put peaceful thoughts out into the universe for the stand-off to resolve itself into the big “Never mind!”

Hello, All — we’re off to a new adventure.  We’ll finally get to use our international TEFL certificate we got in Prague a couple of years ago.  We’ve been so envious of our classmates who stayed in Czech Republic and taught for months.  Eric is still there having a great time.  David went back to Australia and Michael has moved to America and gotten married.  Actually, I think they all found sweethearts in Prague — how great is that?!  But we stayed home last year doing god knows what.  But now we have our chance at teaching.  We’ll spend April in Ekaterinburg, Russia teaching Ural Federal University students and giving two public lectures each — on what, I have no idea.  Then we go for a month in South Africa visiting our dear, dear friends.  We love South Africa and are very excited that our friend Noekie has come up with all sorts of things for us to do — it will be an amazing trip, we’re sure.

Let me interject with a recommendatory word, a commercial as it were:  we had Sarah Gamber at Airtreks make our travel arrangements and we were thrilled that she found a way for us to miss the Moscow airports going to and from Russia.  It turned out wonderfully because she serendipitiously routed us through Istanbul, which let us have a week layover to spend in Istanbul — where we will hook up with another dear friend from Ankara.  If ever there was a city that needed time spent to see everything, it’s Istanbul.  Can’t wait to go to a Turkish bath — a real one, not a tourist one. Sarah did a great job for us, got us really good deals.  And did I tell you how happy we are that we don’t have to transit through Moscow?  Yea, we get to go directly to and from Ekat.  What a blessing that is! If you don’t know Airtreks, they are experts at multi-stop international travel planning.  Our trip was a little one for them, but Sarah took it on anyway and did a great job.  Now I’m beginning to regret that we didn’t take advantage of a stop-over in Abu Dhabi — that was sorta dumb, but I keep forgetting that we will be out of money long before we get there, so it’s just as well   

I recommend Sarah and Airtreks highly — hope you’ll use them next time you’re traveling internationally and want to go to several places.

OK, so now you know we have a great trip planned:  month in the Urals (even though it is April and might be a tad chilly), a month in hot but exciting South Africa — yippee!  So we’ll be telling you more as we finish up working for the legislative session and try to figure out what we’re going to teach and lecture on, how we’re going to pack one suitcase each for two totally different climates, along with gifts for everyone we know or will meet, and how I’m going to get all my treasures back home.

Stay tuned!

Well, all good things must come to an end. A looooonnnnngggg end. By the time we got home around midnight last night, we’d been up for a little over 24 hours. And damn if we didn’t wake up at our usual times — that certainly wasn’t fair. I so wanted to sleep late this morning! We had such a great time drinking, eating, walking, ohhhhing and ahhhhing and, the last ship night, dancing. I don’t know why it took until the end of the cruise to do that, but we had great fun. Lots of people complimented us on our dancing, which made us feel fabulous, of course. Even coming up to us the next day, when they didn’t have to, to say how much they enjoyed watching us because we looked like we were having so much fun. One woman voted us Couple #1 of the evening and one came up to us the next day to say we had inspired her to think she could get her nondancing husband to dance at their wedding in two weeks. I don’t know how that would work, but we’re happy to have been of assistance! There were a couple of places on the ship we didn’t even discover or remember about until the last couple of days — we could have been doing something every minute of the day or night instead of just most of them. We walked the jogging track — 13 laps = 1 nautical mile, which = 1.15 land miles. It occurred to me that I like the confined-space nature of laps and treadmills much more than walking free-form. There’s something about that containment that keeps me going and motivated that walking the roads of Rancho Alegre doesn’t. I think it feels much shorter than “out in the open”, more prescribed. Or something. I got on the scale this morning and all I can say is, it could have been so much worse. If I had really, really eaten everything I wanted, it would have been worse. Laird has not gotten up the nerve to weigh yet. Diet time is upon us. Right after we eat this wonderful spread Asa’s mother, Ava, fixed for us for homecoming dinner. For me, it was homecoming breakfast. And lunch to follow, also dinner as she provided a feast. Great BBQ brisket, cole slaw, onion and corn salad, boiled eggs, watermelon, rhubarb pie — I’m sure I’m missing something. What a wonderful gesture and much appreciated since our fridge would have been barren otherwise.
I spent all my prepaid internet minutes on the last day trying to get our boarding passes, so didn’t get to blog. We didn’t get them for some reason that still hasn’t been explained; we even had a little trouble at Heathrow getting them. Even though we were confirmed on our flight and had seats, the British Air computer just didn’t want to give us boarding passes. Our concierge (and I) spent 35 minutes on hold with BA trying to find out the problem before we gave up and hung up. We had pretty good seats, each an aisle catercornered from one another, except that there was not enough room to cross one’s legs. But the flight attendants were so friendly and cheerful — not something we see on most USA airlines, except for Southwest. The good thing about international flights is the free booze, helps to knock off the edges of discomfort a little bit. But they never have enough ice on board for flights to US. Europeans just don’t get the concept of ice, I think. On the ship, I kept having to go back to the bar to get extra ice for my oh-so-wonderful Hendricks gins and tonic.  The secret of a good G&T is COLD.  That means ice.
Laird is going to see if he can figure out how to get pictures on the blog — now that we don’t have to pay 42 cents a minute. But he’ll be happy to carry his computer to anyone who wants to see — or maybe we will have an At Home evening and y’all can come out here for drinks and nosh and travelogue. That would be fun! [Laird interjects: As we speak (write?), I’m editing the Stonehenge pics. Good sky, and some panoramas with people in view to give a sense of scale. I think some of the bigger stones weigh up to 15 tons! I’m not convinced they have any good idea what the Stones are all about or how they transported or erected them. Of course, I haven’t done any research.]
I had told myself not to go souvenir crazy and I didn’t, though mostly that was from not finding much that I wanted. OMG and I getting too old?????? Well, except I would have bought tons of stuff at the Delft porcelain factory if I could have afforded it, and the expensive shipping. God, there was some beautiful stuff there!  I wanted it all, even though Delft doesn’t really fit into the SW style.  It is clear that I really must find a job as a souvenir consultant — I couldn’t find potholders; dish towels or tea towels were limited and mostly ugly or not on point; there was too much schlock and too much breakable stuff — oh, and too much heavy stuff. The industry needs me! If they only knew.  Maybe we can start putting Laird’s pictures on tea towels for sale?????

Our new superlight luggage really did the trick — we’d have been waaaay overweight if not for them.  So if anyone is traveling in the future and wants to borrow, you’re welcome.  We have two large suitcases (fit the airline overall size requirements), one purple (of course) two-wheelie and one black four-wheelie.  Jon and Pam — do you need?????  I, naturally, carried too much clothes, but actually wore almost everything.  I could have doubled up more.  I have to get the right outfits.  One woman we met says she packs 1 pair jeans, 2 other pants, 3 tops for each pair of pants, superlight (I assume nylon) panties that can just be rinsed, hung and dried overnight, 2 bras, 2 pair shoes, 1 dress-up jacket and one weather jacket and she’s off.  That’s sorta what I did, but her suitcase is way smaller than mine was — must have been all those extras.  Reading weather report said everywhere was going to be cold and rainy.  It wasn’t.  We had beautiful weather, actually too hot for Floriade and Chelsea.  One COLD day on ship.  So we packed according to reports.  That turned out to be unnecessary weight, but who who would have known? But I’m getting closer to downsizing each trip I take!  Thanks to Alex for coming out to say “take those, leave that, do you really need more than one of those, etc”.  She saved me enough weight that we got home with the few things we acquired without either of the airlines complaining.
Hope to see most of you soon.  Thanks for reading us and thanks to those who commented — it was great fun to hear from you.  Homingly yours, l&j

A little more from Laird… I was only a partly diligent photographer. I took a lot of pics of cathedral interiors and exteriors, cool medieval facades, and of the French countryside as we were cruising up and down the Seine to Rouen. So I’ll edit up the mass of pics and select the 150 or 250 best. Skies and backgrounds were not as cooperative as they could have been and were for our Prague adventure last fall. We also can say we loved the Normandy area of France. We cruised down the Seine on Monday afternoon — and since it was a French holiday (V-E day), many, many families came to riverside and whistled, waved and appreciated this cruise ship willing to make the passage up and down the lower Seine. It upset some of our hardwired dislike of the snooty French! Maybe we will have to visit Paris and meet real people, not just tourist service folks.

While we expected some rabbit and squirrel depredations and some damage from inadequate watering of the garden, we didn’t lose as much stuff as we worried about. The big winds last week overturned the new garden shed. However, that may give me the opportunity to build a new one to one pattern we liked a lot at Chelsea, or another of a timber framed shed we saw on a sidetrip to Le Havre.

So, as Jonelle says, homingly yours. See you all soon. Laird

Cool morning, hot day. We went into town, found the train station and took a train to La Havre — a waste of time — and then back. Tonight is the big deck party, which will be some fun, perhaps a lot. We have enjoyed Azamara, though not quite as rabid as others. There are lots of diehard fans, none more so than a couple we met at our wine pairing dinner — gay couple in their 40s, I think, who have been on 60 cruises, 18 of them with Azamara. They now refuse to go on any other line and have 10 more cruises this year and 22 next year, already booked! One is retired, the other still works, but he can work in his stateroom (a suite, of course) — he does something in financial management, with clients. They live in Henderson, NV, but apparently that doesn’t mean much in terms of residency — I think Scott said they were taking the month of Sept off from cruising; otherwise they have and will be on the sea most all of the rest of the time. Wow, that’s diehard! We have had lots of fun, met some swell folks, and now it is almost over. We have some time in port tomorrow, then we sail for Southampton. I say what day we’d be home, but I don’t remember what the calendar looks like anymore. Laird has tons of pictures to share, so get ready.
We read about the fire in NM, what a bummer that is — is there going to be any wilderness left in the state?????? Any trees??? Scary that this is just May.
Hope all is well with everyone. Partyingly yours, l&j

Yesterday was a real sea day and we did nothing but lie around on sun deck (with blankets, it was COLD) and read in between eating. That’s not totally true — we did do our 13 laps around the jogging track — walking, of course, me in blanket — for a mile.  I even tried jogging a bit.  It was a pathetic sight, as you can imagine.  But thanks Sandy for giving me those yoga pants — I wear them all the time now.  Well, until I went and changed into my fleece pants and a turtleneck because it was so cold.  Last night was special wine pairing dinner, which was delicious and delightful, with great tablemates. Even the white wine, even the chardonny, was good! That’s saying a lot since I basically hate white wine. Today, we sailed up the Seine to Rouen, very picturesque until we hit the place we’re docked, which is ugly industrial. Oh, well, the town is beautiful enough to make up for the parking lot view — and at least we’re not looking at the humongous grain elevators that are loading grain, with attendant grain dust. Don’t they know that stuff is flammable???? Anyway, we did a short ride on a tourism “train” around the town, then went to see cathedral and another church — all very medieval, flamboyant architecture, but very plain insides. After the churches in Prague, most have a far way to go to measure up. Walked around, looked in shops, then had a fabulous normandy lunch, with a bottle (make that full bottle) of Cotes de Rhone wine, after which I was totally on my lips and had to come back to ship before I was liable to stumble and do a face plant on the cobblestones. Plus it is very hot in town, very hot. So we made it back, got cooled down and rested and now it’s time to do something. Oh, I know, lie on the sun deck and read! Actually, I left Laird sleeping in the cabin — I’ll have to go wake him up to come to the deck. We were really impressed with Rouen’s charm and beauty. Haven’t figured out what we will do tomorrow. One choice is to take train to Paris, another is to go someplace else. A couple of hours in Paris doesn’t seem like enough to bother with, but we’ll see. Monet’s gardens would be great choice. Who knows? That’s the beauty of vacations — one doesn’t have to decide until the moment.
Hope all is well with everyone. Frenchly yours, l&j

Coolarama! The Chelsea flower show is everything I thought and more — way more people, too; for some odd reason, I never imagined all 157,000 ticket holders showing up on the same day and standing in my way! But even so, it is a gardner’s paradise — and for those of us who are not gardners, it makes us wish, wish, wish we were. And living somewhere with moisture to grow all these amazing flowers! Can you imagine a river of orchids, a sea of delphiniums and digitalis, every bromeliad there is, plus ornamental pineapple in pink and lime?????? And the gardens — makes you drool! The floral arrangements were a Big Drool moment as well. Laird is all set to build a shepard’s wagon for a potting shed.
After an exhausting day, what better than a massage. I just had a terrific one and now it’s time for — what else — dinner! I think all we do is go from one meal to the next, with snacks in between. Man, are we going to have to diet when we get home! What a lovely day, wish we could have shared it with all of you! Floweringly yours, l&j

This is a lazy day, also known as sea day — whether we’re at sea or not. That’s what I’m going to start calling those days at home when I feel like doing nothing. I’ll be having a sea day. Having one today, too. Laird went off to see the Cutty Sark and the Prime Meridian and whatever else, but I couldn’t work myself up to caring about them, so I stayed and did the laundry and napped on the sun deck. I think I’ll have sunburned ankles, between my yoga pants and low-top socks. Cute. We’ll probably go out and about this evening. But I have to save myself for tomorrow, the CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW! Very excited about it! Maybe I’ll even get to see Alan Titmarsh (famous English landscaper and BBC personality). Royalty will have already come and gone earlier in the week, so it will just be us hoi polloi. Will report anon. Sealy yours, l&j

We’re in Brugge today, actually leaving shortly. Whoever it was — there were several of you — who said Brugge is wonderful are right. Beautiful city, lots to look around at everywhere — oh, the rooflines, the buildings, so dreamy. Luckily the bikers aren’t as nasty as they are in Amsterdam and Antwerp. I just love these medieval cities! Great architecture, great Belgian waffles, lots and lots of chocolate (fortunately for me, not my most favorite taste). We got to see a Michaelangelo, apparently one of the few outside Italy. Question: why is the Baby Jesus mostly shown naked? In Antwerp we saw a beautiful Madonna and Child statue that they dress, like they do the Infant of Prague — when he does get dressed, the Baby Jesus has GREAT outfits!
Tonight we must decide between going to Indian food buffet or lobster night in regular ship restaurant. Oh dear. Everything is fabulous onboard, as we knew it would be! Hope everyone is doing swell, we miss you even if we do want to stay here longer.
Wafflingly yours, l&j

OK, everyone who likes gardening, flowers, plants, the environment, the green movement, innovative ideas — get crackin’ to get your plane tickets to Antwerp before the middle of June so you don’t miss the Floriade. It is spectacular! Every superlative (the good ones) you know applies here. Sandy, you especially, need to get over here — I’ll come back with you if you like. You would just be blown away by the masses upon masses upon masses of plantings. The place must have every plant known to man. About 163 acres of landscapes. Alas, tulip season is over, so we didn’t get to see the masses of tulips that were planted outside the ticket gates — a bunch of HUGE beds leading from bus parking to gates. No wonder it’s only on every 10 years — it has to cost a giddy fortune to put one on! Lots of gardens and exhibits from around the world, the Chinese and Indonesian exhibits were particularly wonderful. Still, my favorite was a “green” house that turned inside/outside inside out. And a humongous grass sofa — I think Laird and I should do that near our new patio and veggie garden, but with artificial grass of course. Hope pictures turned out so we can amaze you and do justice to the 2012 Floriade. Want to come back Sandy????? Anyone else??? Now on to Chelsea!
Horticulturally yours, l&j
p.s., leave a comment if you’re reading this. thanks.

This morning, Laird went to see the massive Holland delta flood control project and I went to Middleburg, a medieval town that had been bombed to smithereens in war and rebuilt. Laird was much more excited about his gig than I with mine. But now we’re in Antwerp — very OMG territory. We walked down to the plaza in which the most amazing cathedral stands — of course not open. Bummer! What a beautiful place, so far second to Prague. For all you beer drinkers, we passed a bar that proudly proclaimed “247 beers”. Or some high number. Tomorrow is the Floriade — 10 HOURS long. 2 hour bus ride, then SIX HOURS walking around. I will be weeping before I ever get to six hours of viewing pleasure! As I told some of you, this is a decennial horticulture show, but what I learned today is that it is in a different place each time because they actually build a park. Isn’t that cool?! At the end, they take away all the commercial stuff, but leave all the hardscape, grass and plants, etc. they’ve planted or installed for the event. So that makes it even more exciting — though methinks that 4 hours of transportation and 6 hours walking around may dampen my enthusiasm. I may HATE the Floriade by the time we return to ship. And then we have yet another shore excursion the very next morning. Yikes! My body is not holding up all that well; I may be really crippled by this time tomorrow.
Laird and I are wondering how we can get TEFL courses to teach in Antwerp, though. Or, better yet, how can we find something we can teach on a cruise ship?????
hope all is well with everyone. Let us know if you’re reading this. Theodore and Sia, we miss you!
Antwerply yours, l&j

We went to a talk on Dutch Master Gardens last night and walked in with an elderly lady from Naples, Fla. She, other members of her garden club and other friends are on this cruise, about 10 of them. She is an orchid afficianado and proudly reported that she has had an orchid named after herself! Her name is Lauren, don’t know what her orchid’s full name is — will have to ask her; stupidly forgot to. So if you go to Naples, or an orchid store, look up Lauren!
How nice to wake up to the sea passing by! It’s still a gray day, but clearing a little, chilly, but we’re moving through water, which I love. We’ll tell you about sea barriers and medieval towns later this evening. We still haven’t figured out how to upload pictures to this blog. Surely there must be someone on this ship who can tell us, que no? Have a great day, boys and girls! Flushingly yours, l&g

Actually, sometime later, the Orchid Lady corrected me: her name is Lorna.  Towards end of cruise, met another Orchid afficionado, from Tampa.  She has an orchid named after her, too!  Her father was a Very Big in the Orchid World, think she might be, too.