Catching up

I hadn't realized until I came to this page that it had been so long since I'd written. Nine weeks to be exact. I guess that's what happens when you're having fun.

The chief cause of this hiatus was my, and my friend Laurel's, change of mind regarding the Hong Kong trip planned for October. In late August we decided we didn't want to deal with riots and blocked trains and closed airports so we spent September trying to decide where to go instead and then making plans to do so. We went to Europe, traveling on Eurail passes and visiting cities we hadn't previously visited, including Berlin, Prague and Vienna. And Paris of course, because there's always Paris.

It was a good trip but tiring. We walked 19,000 steps one day and 24,000 the next and though I didn't keep track every day, such long walks were typical. Between cities we rode the train and rested our feet. We attended a concert in a baroque Prague church (Mozart's Requiem), took a boat tour in Berlin, ate pastries in Vienna and toured the Spanish Riding School, and walked some more in Paris. A SNAFU regarding our tickets gained us a last day in Amsterdam so went went to the Rijksmuseum and saw the Rembrandt/Velázquez exhibition.

A cold awaited me at home, along with a week of jet lag, but I returned to yoga this week and feel the better for it. And of course winter arrived while we were gone, so I have plenty of excuses to sit by the fire and sip cognac over a good book.

I'm including a few photos below, though there's no way to capture everything—and I'm not Ray. (click to enlarge)

I couldn't go to Europe without visiting old friends
John & Carolyn in Norwich, England.

Boat tour in Berlin

Brandenburg Tor, Berlin

Prague square

Prague at night

Prague gate

The Spanish Riding School

The Riding School arena—fit for a king.

Baroque in Vienna

Notre Dame reconstruction

Up, up, up the steps to Sacré-Coeur 

The Basilica

No trip to Paris is complete
without a visit to Galeries Lafayette.