Hampton Court Palace was great

We decided earlier this week that we wanted to see Hampton Court Palace since it was recommended to us from more than one source (Mr. Brannon and Margaret Kelley). We added up admission prices to the palaces we wanted to see and figured out that it would be just a little bit cheaper to buy a yearly family pass (for 1 adult and several children) than to pay admission to each, so if we manage to come back within the next 12 months (unlikely), we could still go into the ones we miss. There are five properties in total and we plan to see three before we leave here on Saturday.

I didn't really pay attention to the signs telling me this while at the Tower of London yesterday, but noticed them at Hampton Court Palace today. Apparently none of these historic palaces are supposed at all by government funding or the Crown (which is a pity), so even if we didn't get to visit enough to make the admission a deal for us, I'm glad that we supported the renovation and conservation of them. We plan to go to Kensington Palace tomorrow though--it is in easy walking distance of our flat--and we will save on admission at that point. I told Eleanor I want to have "tea" in the orangery at Kensington Palace too. Her response is generally that she doesn't like tea. I informed her she could have a sprite, but I was having a proper British tea, complete with sandwiches, scones and little cakes (and tea). :-)

Hampton Court Palace was amazing. The hardest thing for us was NOT taking pictures in the state rooms of the palace. Eleanor was almost sick that she wasn't able to take pictures in the Great Hall or the Chapel Royal. I bought the book about the palace so we would have the pictures to refer to in the future. The Tower gave us a copy of their book when we paid for the membership yesterday so we have that one too. We weren't as wowed by the Tower of London comparatively. We were very impressed with Henry VIII's home at Hampton Court. I actually liked it a lot better than Buckingham Palace where we went last year. I'll have to see what I think of Kensington Palace.

We started our day out on the tube to Victoria Station. I mentioned to Eleanor as we were switching from Underground station to train station (Hampton Court is outside of London about 35 minutes by train) that I had read that there were cheaper "same day" tickets available for Billy Elliot at the theater box office each day at 10:30. It was 10:24. :-) We didn't end up buying the same day seats. They were in the first three rows and the lady in the box office said all of them had restricted views. Instead we bought the "nose bleed" seats for 17.50 for tonight. The lady at the box office said they were good seats. I'll let you know. This was actually on my list of things I wanted to do...I was going to forego it in the interest of cost since we saw both Spamalot and Swan Lake, but the tickets were really pretty inexpensive, relatively speaking, so I decided we should go. It will be our last splurge though. Tomorrow's plans don't include admission prices!

We then bought train tickets to Hampton Court (pretty cheap at 1 pound for Eleanor and 6 pounds for me--return). While I was waiting in line for the ticket agents, I sent Eleanor after bottled water in a shop in the station. She came back and asked if she could buy Krispy Kreme too--yes, an Alabama company in London. I said sure and she came back with two glazed doughnuts...a nice little taste from home. We then boarded a train within minutes and were on our way.

Eleanor took 130 pictures today. I'll just post a couple! There was a display of some of the more elaborate costumes from "The Other Boleyn Girl" movie. We were allowed to take pictures in there. Eleanor had some made with costumed guides too. The whole place was interesting and informative. We even went through the maze--I took one of the dead-ends and so Eleanor beat me to the center of it. She took a picture of herself in the center which I'm posting! We had a very late lunch (around 3PM) at a restaurant across from the palace on the main road, so we will probably grab a snack after the show tonight.

We came home for about an hour in between our trip and needing to hop on the tube to see tonight's show. Eleanor has gotten dressed up in her new lace dress from the market stall in Covent Garden. I might dress up to nicer capris than the blue jean ones I have on, but that is as much as I am going to do. It's not that hot today, but it is incredibly humid. I know that I will be drenched in sweat by the time I ride the tube to the theater anyway....it would be nice if the threatening rain would actually fall here!

I'll check in and post after the show. Gotta give highlights!......

Amazing show! I didn't realize how political it was though. I haven't seen the movie that it was based on. Apparently the live musical hasn't come to the states yet, but posters in the tube stations indicated that this was the last summer that it would be exclusively in London. The principal actors in the show were all children. There are four different young men who share the part of Billy Elliot. We aren't exactly sure which young man did it tonight, but we saw him after the show leaving the theater with friends. He was pretty cute. We made eye contact, but didn't have a pen handy and didn't truly identify that it was him until he had headed on. Shame--we would have asked for an autograph. The accents on some of the actors were so heavy that we didn't understand parts of it, except from context--and I had a better basis for context than Eleanor did. I told her we need to rent the movie when we come home and watch it with subtitles.

A man and his son were in the seats next to us and we struck up a conversation. He was a history teacher (and AP Govt too--go figure) from California. I think Eleanor is a little embarrassed by the "never met a stranger" aspect of my personality. I also ended up in conversation with some men on the tube earlier today. One was wearing a KU and NCAA Final Four ball cap. Turned out they were from Overland Park, KS (although one had a really strong Irish accent--said he had been offered a job in Birmingham, AL once but didn't take it). We had a very nice conversation about Kansas City and how it has grown up, the medical center there, the baggage mess at JFK and London.

Still hasn't really rained and so the humidity is still pretty thick, although being close to midnight helps. The temperature is a little better, even if the air is thick. I need to post this and head toward bed I guess. I believe Kensington Palace opens at 10AM and we want to be there early. One nice thing about this membership we bought is that we sail right up to the gate--no queing at all. I think we may go back to Covent Garden since we wanted to see some other stalls (but Camden Markets or Notting Hill markets are a possibility too). I want to see the Victoria and Albert Museum too--it is open until 10PM (although we won't be that late) which means that we won't have the 5PM closing deadline to contend with. Our time is up in less than 36 hours. Hard to believe....

Good night.

The Tower, Leadenhall Market and a teen flick....

The first picture is of Leadenhall Market; the next is Lloyd's of London. They exist side by side.

We got up (with an alarm this time) and headed to the Tower of London this morning. Eleanor went with a fully charged camera this time and went crazy taking pictures. We liked the jewel tower a lot and felt like we could handle the weight of those crowns. :) Honestly, though, we didn't go into every building in the complex. About half was good for us.



We then walked through the City and tried to take the Tube from Monument to Bank....only to find out that it was a simple walk THROUGH the underground stations to do it. That felt a little odd. We wanted to check out Leadenhall Market because I had read that it was where they filmed the Harry Potter scenes in Diagon Alley. It was really pretty--very elaborate Victorian architecture. We stopped in a little cafe offering "British Grub" and Eleanor got adventurous....she ordered steak and chips. :-) We asked for the steak well done and it was more medium or medium rare. She felt embarrassed to ask them to put it back on the grill, but I told her that was perfectly acceptable and they were very nice about it (as they should be).



The really old "Lloyd's of London" bank has built a very modern steel building right next to the market--very odd juxtaposition of old and new.



We then decided to go to a British teen flick called "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging." It was really cute. The rating was 12A (no one under 12 years old without a parent)--seemed like it would be PG or PG-13 at home. I don't think it would be popular in the states, but it was "dead on" about adolescents and life at 14-16. We enjoyed it a lot.



Random observations:





1. We found the "hood" today. It was near Bayswater tube station....not too far from where we are staying actually. Amazing what a couple of blocks one way or another will do. This city is so diverse. Every area and every tube station has its own vibe and personality.





2. The movie theater had a bar (liquor, beer and wine) in it, a candy by the pound place and the usual popcorn and soft drinks. Eleanor asked for butter on the popcorn and was told they didn't do that..."this isn't America, you know." That cracked us up. It also led us into a nice conversation with the young man.





3. Everything is outrageously expensive here. I haven't bought a "meal" yet that didn't cost us close to 20 pounds (that's $40)...even if there wasn't much to it. We are eating in this evening with groceries from the local store. Still more expensive than home, but not crazy. I really wonder how much money you have to make to live in this town.





We are having an early evening in tonight, with a plan of going to Hampton Court Palace tomorrow. I have to research exactly how you get to Hampton Court though. I don't think we use the tube--I think it might be national rail. Gotta get on that research in a moment.

I'm going to attempt to attach a short video. The bathrooms in the little mall where the theaters were had the most innovative technology for washing and drying your hands. The air dryer was really cool. I had Eleanor take video of it...she thinks I'm weird! :-) We didn't take a picture of the sink...but it was really a slanted shelf/ledge that the water run down and into a long drain area. Very interesting, I thought.

Bomb Shelters and Swans, oh my

Well, we started off slow again. We finally got out the door here a bit after noon and decided to take a bus and a little more scenery instead of underground like moles.... We took the bus up Oxford Street, turned onto Regent Street, and headed to the Apple Store to see if I couldn't pick up a little souvenir for Will. I regret, my darling, to inform you that there is no such thing as free trade in the UK either apparently...the iPhone is locked here too! The helpful sales people talked amongst themselves for a moment though and came to the conclusion that they think it might be unlocked in Italy....there's a good reason to go to Rome next summer! :-) The store was huge and the sales people were typical Apple sales people though, I'm happy to say....friendly, accessible and helpful.

We then headed back to the tube for our sightseeing stop for the day. Eleanor found a couple of scarves at a street vendor which she bought--she is into scarves now. We took the Tube to Victoria Station and decided to have lunch there before changing Tube lines. It was now a little past 1PM. The place we chose was horrid. Waste of money, energy and time. Live and learn. We certainly won't do that again. McDonald's would have been a better option honestly.

We then headed to the Churchill Museum and War Cabinet rooms underneath Whitehall. Absolutely terrific museum. Eleanor took so many pictures, she wore her battery out in her camera. It is charging as I write. We both agreed that Papa needs to come to London just to see this particular museum. We spent about 3 hours there and both of us stayed interested the entire time. Our legs just gave out.

We headed back to the Tube to head toward Covent Garden at this point. Along the way, we couldn't find the public toilets, and the nice Methodists allowed me to use theirs (it was after hours too--thank you to the Methodists for their hospitality!). On to Covent Garden. We ate at a little cafe there in Covent Garden (pizza and salad, which we shared) and then browsed some of the street market stalls there. Eleanor found a cute little black lace dress for 20 pounds which we bought and we saw lots of irreverent but really funny t-shirts which we didn't buy. I agree that some of them were hilarious, but they not only wouldn't meet the school dress code, they don't meet my parent dress code either (although I did laugh at them).

It was about 7:00 at this point and the market was closing....just in time to head into the Royal Opera House for the ballet. Eleanor felt conspicuous at first because we came in our jeans and shirts because we lacked the time to go home and dress up. We then saw others dressed much more casually than we were--we actually looked o.k. in our nice jeans and shirts--and so we relaxed about that. The only seats I was willing to try and afford were way up in the amphitheatre. I thought they would be so high that it would be difficult to see, but that wasn't the case at all. They were absolutely lovely seats. We were about 10 rows up (in the upper balcony) and in the center. The performance was absolutely wonderful. I can't think of the appropriate adjectives to apply to it, to be quite honest. We are both happy that we had the opportunity to see it.

Now we are home and determined to get up earlier tomorrow! We want to go to the Tower of London in the morning and to the Victoria and Albert Museum tomorrow evening (late hours on Wednesday); maybe we will manage to fit in St. Paul's as well if our legs and feet don't give out (at least for evensong if not a tour).

I'll post pictures tomorrow. Good night!

Day 3 in London

Well, we did better today! We got up around 8:30 and were out the door at 10AM....which was about 30 minutes later than we planned, but much better than 1 or 1:30PM! The grocery store was closed when we returned home last night and so we didn't have anything in the flat for breakfast. There is a little bagel shop next to the underground and we stopped there for breakfast and then hopped on the Tube to go to the half-price ticket booth in Leicester Square for Spamalot tickets. We got seats in the 8th row, center for tonight. This is the one thing Eleanor absolutely wanted to do this trip, so we are making sure it happens early!

We then spent an hour or so in the National Portrait Gallery. It started with the Tudors and moved forward. We didn't go through the whole gallery, just the 3rd floor which took us up through the Regency period (just before Queen Victoria in the 19th century) and then through the BP Art Award paintings for 2008 on the ground floor. We started walking afterward and decided to pop into TGI Friday's for lunch....more sticker shock....but I won't belabor the issue. :-)

I had heard that Top Shop was a good and reasonably priced store for teens. It had really cute stuff, but it was not reasonably priced. Eleanor is very practical and said it was all too over-priced. Amelia would have grabbed it and run! LOL

We then found the Freed's of London store (which is a ballet and pointe shoe maker) and tried on pointe shoes. Eleanor's foot is very narrow and these shoes were very wide, so I got lucky and didn't spend money on pointe shoes in London!

We then walked to Covent Garden and bought tickets to see Swan Lake tomorrow night performed by the Chinese National Ballet. They are nosebleed seats, but that is all we were willing to try and afford!

It's 6PM here now and we are about to eat some dinner and then head to the theatre to see Spamalot.

Good night!

P.S. Olivia--look what store was in Covent Garden!!! The other picture is of a street performer in Covent Garden.

Another postscript....Spamalot was absolutely terrific. We laughed so hard. Eleanor showed great restraint in not wanting a t-shirt that said "I'm not dead yet".....Mr. Head would appreciate it. Sorry, David, we would have gotten one for you, but the dollar to pound exchange rate is too horrific to contemplate the souvenir for you! :-) We had great seats--K8 and K9 in the stalls (that's on the floor about 10 rows up for you yanks!). Sorry, I didn't zoom in on Eleanor, but we wanted the whole Spamalot sign up above. She's the one with the ponytail in the black leggings underneath!

Day 2 in London

We were obviously more tired than we realized. I woke about 7:30AM, but was still really tired. I got up and switched the washing machine to dry--yes, I finally figured it out last night, thanks to some advice from the travel forums at fodors.com--those guys always come through! I then went back to bed with the guidebook to read to see today's plan of action....and feel asleep until about 10AM.

We had bought some pastries at Tesco last night and I had a croissant for breakfast and looked at the guidebooks. I think we are going to try the Camden Markets in a little bit. The weather is supposed to be clear until dinner time and then scattered thundershowers. We'll carry the "brolly" to be safe. I hope the weather stays clear until at least 8PM or so. We want to do the Harry Potter walk tonight (with a guide) and I don't know if it might be cancelled if the weather isn't clear.

Random observations:

1. The combo washer/dryer unit is incredibly inefficient. It takes about 8 hours to wash and dry a load of clothes....and then said load is smaller than you could get in any washer I've ever owned--even at 1/2 the normal capacity. I did figure out the dryer, but now wish I hadn't. I guess it's something to do with heat settings, but Eleanor's pink ballet tights are now a tan color. My white slip is also a beige, as is the white elastic on some white camisole tops that Eleanor has. I guess it's a heat thing, but I'm really not sure. I'm scared to dry the blue jeans in there. I think they will get hung to dry, even though that is also inefficient. We might not be able to wear them otherwise though.

2. Eleanor was excited to find Dr. Pepper here in London and that was the soft drink we bought for the flat. It doesn't taste the same as US Dr. Pepper though in my opinion. We are following the European custom of buying the large bottle and refrigerating it. I briefly considered making ice cubes in the ice cube tray with bottled water, but decided I can wait another week for my ice again.

Well, scratch the original plans. We were really lazy this morning. We slept in, ate our pastries and then hung around a little longer before we moved toward showers. On some information from the travel forums, I found out that I could apply for a discount travel card for Eleanor because she is under 15. I did so about the time we got out of school and indicated that we would pick it up at Heathrow. At that time, I was planning on us getting to our flat by tube. When I arranged for the car to pick us up, I asked for an extra half hour to collect the card. However, the flight was half an hour late (probably because Obama was landing or taking off and we couldn't land--we did circle for about 20 minutes) and then it took our luggage a really long time. I didn't want to pay the driver to wait for me--who knows how much that would have cost, so we decided to collect it later. Later was today. When I hopped on the transport website and saw how much cheaper all transportation is for Eleanor with that card (all buses are free and the tube is at child rate--about half), I told her we needed to go and get it. The trip to Heathrow was just under an hour. We took the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow, got the card and then took the tube back into the city.

We decided to go on a guided walk based on the Harry Potter theme offered by London Walks. Eleanor is under 15 so she was free. The cost for me was 7 pounds. We went to the appropriate tube stop and decided to get lunch and sit outside and enjoy it. The rain never materialized today and when you could catch the breeze, it was quite nice (without a breeze, it was beastly humid though!). We grabbed a sandwich at Quizno's and ate in the Victoria Embankment gardens. We then walked along the embankment of the Thames and took a few pictures, used the public loos and then meandered to a spot to watch for the tour guide. We walked an unknown distance. The walk had several stops and gave us a commentary on some of the traditions and themes that JK Rowling drew upon in the HP books, along with a nice walk around. Eleanor took tons of pictures.

After the walk, we were pretty walked out. We took the tube back to our stop (Notting Hill Gate) and it looked like everything was closed--it was after 7PM on a Sunday, so we ended up eating McDonald's for dinner--took it back to the flat to eat it. Wow--7 pounds for a couple of "value" meals (that's $14).

After I finish this report, I believe we will make plans for tomorrow. I need to check the weather first. If it's going to be rainy, we'll make it a museum day. If it's going to be clear, we'll make it a Tower of London day. More later.

Pictures: The tour guide is the gentleman in white; the other is of me and Eleanor taken outside the park.

Hello from London

Eleanor and I got up bright and early this morning in Serbia and got ready to leave. Stevan picked us up about 8:20AM which actually worried me. We stopped for fuel (butane was $1/liter) which I bought in order to be fair and pay our way. We arrived at the airport around 9:30AM for a 10:40AM flight. It was fine though. We had just enough time really to go to the restroom and then get to our gate. The flight was easy and Eleanor and I both dozed a little during it since she got in late from her outing last night and of course I didn't sleep until she did get in.

We arrived in London about half an hour late and our luggage seemed to take forever to be loaded on the belt, but it all arrived and for that I am thankful. I got some cash at an ATM and turned around and there was our driver with my name on a card. We had an easy half hour ride to our building and got checked in easily.

London is a seriously expensive city to visit or to live in. Nice hotels seem to start around $200 night. After much research on the travel forums at fodors.com, I decided to look into apartment rental this summer. I found a studio flat (meaning it's all one big room) for less than $200/night for the week. The flat is on the 5th floor, which is really the 6th floor since the 1st floor is labeled Ground. :-) The regular lift is broken, but the porter took us on the service lift with our luggage which was greatly appreciated. He didn't really give us much in the way of instruction however. the flat is nice and large--it's like the Taj Mahal in comparison to our little room in Serbia.

We managed to figure out how to start the washing machine (finally) and have finished one load; however, the machine is a combo unit (one drum) and we haven't figured out how to make it work as a dryer yet! I think I'm about to hang a line in the bathroom or on the balcony and hang clothes up to dry. Geesh!

After we unpacked and got oriented (and talked to Will), we went out to explore the area a little. We found a cute little restaurant called "Ask" and ate lunch/dinner there, then went to Marks & Spencer Simply Foods (very high priced in retrospect) and bought some fresh fruit--all organic and grown in Britain--the name of the grower and the place where they are grown is on the label. We just finished off some blackberries from County Kent.

We then walked back down the road to Tesco Market and got some bread, cheese and drinks (much more like a normal grocery store in prices) and came home. Eleanor made herself a fruit salad with her high-priced fruit, but said it was all very good.

We are seriously considering just hanging out this evening. It's only 6:15 though and the night is young. We may decide to go out and walk around in a little while after we just enjoy the space and comfort of the apartment versus our little room in Serbia.

The flat is cute and has a Murphy bed and a futon sofa (but a cushiony futon sofa). I'll take the bed and Eleanor will take the sofa! It also has a little table and chairs, a small kitchen and, by our standards of the last couple of weeks, enormous bathroom. I'm going to turn on the "telly" in a few minutes and see what is on TV here in the UK.

I had Eleanor write a list of her "must dos" for London this time and it is pretty short and therefore quite doable. I need to research one of them though. It wasn't something that was on my list at all and so I don't have much in the way of information. She is operating off a recommendation from a former teacher to definitely see Hampton Court Palace, so I need to see about operating hours, etc.

We considered going to the Tate Modern for a while this evening since it is open until 10PM on Friday and Saturday night, but instead we walked down Palace Gardens Terrace and looked at all the embassies near Kensington Palace. Some were really beautiful. When we neared the end of the road, we saw police barricades in front of one and police men guarding it. It was the Israeli Embassy. It's really sad that is necessary. Something tells me that if we go by the American Embassy in Mayfair, it will be much the same though.

We then walked through Kensington Park and saw the Round Pond and the statue of Queen Victoria. We exited the park and considered riding the tube back one stop to our flat, but saw an ice cream shop and decided to get some. Since food isn't allowed on the tube, we walked back and found that it was really close. We had some serious sticker shock on the ice cream though. A small cone with 2 scoops of ice cream in Novi Sad was about $1.20; here a waffle cone with one scoop was 2 pounds--$4 to you mate!

We are settled into the flat for the night now. I have run what I hope is a dryer load on our underwear, but I still may end up hanging them up on the balcony in the breeze coming in. It is finally cooler. It isn't hot here, per se, but it was humid earlier and that got us a little warm. The flat had an electric fan in the closet though--it is running and we have a nice breeze going with the double doors to the balcony open too.

Cheerio and good night!

P.S. Identifying the pictures. The first is me and Eleanor, taken by Eleanor with the camera held in front of us. The second are the swans on the round pond in front of Kensington Palace. The third is of the "living area" of our flat. The sofa turns into a bed.

Our last day in Novi Sad

Eleanor during the two pas de deux (dance with two)


Today dawned bright and fresh. Eleanor went on to dance and I slept in. Around 11AM, Lynda ran out to find the photomat and get some pictures printed of the group to give to them at the performance this afternoon and I took a shower. When I got out of the shower, it was pouring! Eleanor and Allie came running in, dripping wet, asking to change clothes and have some money for lunch. I asked them to give me 10 minutes and I'd take them to lunch. We met Lynda and Amanda on our way out and Lynda joined us for lunch.






After lunch, we went to get a little more cash (not too much though since I don't want to try and trade it back in--that rate is always unfavorable) and then popped into a souvenir shop again. This time I was very tempted. She had some original oil paintings of scenes of Novi Sad. One of the fortress was particularly pretty and cost 6000 dinars (about $120). I resisted temptation, but it was difficult because it really was beautifully done and would look lovely on my living room wall....we'll just have to come back I guess!






We then made our way to the market to find some roses for the dancers at their performance this afternoon. It was rain washed and lovely. Lynda bought some blackberries (the sweetest I've ever had) and I bought some little berries on twigs that I have no idea what it is called. It is a little sour and a little sweet. I'll have to take some pictures and see if I can figure out what it is called.






We have about an hour until we need to leave for their performance so I am hanging out here and writing this. I should be starting on my packing since we leave for London in the morning. Maybe in a minute... :-) Separating dirty clothes from clean in our suitcases shouldn't take but a moment and so I really don't anticipate this taking too long. I might be wrong though...... I'll let you know later. I did arrange for a car to pick us up at Heathrow and take us to our apartment in London though. It wasn't much more than taking the Heathrow Express and it will deliver us straight to our door.





Back again.....





The performance was good. I got what I hope will be some good pictures. I plan to upload a couple here tonight. There was a little party after the performance with food prepared by Stevan's niece Zlata. She made an absolutely wonderful cake that her daughter Sondra called the 15 minute cake. It was made with biscuits, whipping cream, fresh blackberries and fresh raspberries. It was heavenly and I am skeptical of it only taking 15 minutes to create!





After the party, I headed back to the dorm alone and started organizing my world to pack. Eleanor showed up about 30 minutes later, just in time to talk with her father for a short while on Skype, take a shower and inform me she was going to spend the evening with the young people....which I expected. They went to dinner on their own and then were going out to a cafe to have cokes and dance. She did pack first though! :-)





I went out to dinner with Lynda and Amanda at a little fish restaurant that we passed the other day around the corner from our hostel. It was absolutely charming. When we arrived, there was no one else there. We chose the largest table which was in front of the front window, and included a window bench seat in the open window--which is where I sat, partially because it was just fun and partially to protect myself from what I expected would be cigarette fumes as others arrived. The waitress, luckily, spoke English. I say luckily because these menus (unlike others we have experienced) did not have any English. I had salmon in a cream sauce as did Amanda. Lynda ordered a chicken dish which she said was wonderful. Because both Lynda and I had started out requesting something different....and because I think they just wanted to please new patrons, they brought us an appetizer plate of some different local cuisine at no charge. They also ended the meal with some fresh fruit (watermelon and pears) drizzled in honey and either cinnamon or nutmeg. The really interesting thing about the restaurant though was that the kitchen was across the lane from the restaurant, so our waitress had to walk across the street to give our order and get our food. It is probably the most expensive meal we have had so far. We decided to just split the bill 3 ways rather than trying to figure out each person's share. The total was 3800 dinars, which is about $76. It was also the best restaurant meal I've had while I've been here though. It was magnificent. Lynda, Amanda and I then walked to the square to have some gelato (just because I've only had it once) and walked for a little while through the park before heading home.




I'm packed, with the exception of the clothes I'm presently wearing and my toiletries, so I'm good to go in the morning. Stevan is going to pick us up at 8:15AM which would put us at the airport around 9:15 or so. Our flight is at 10:40. I hope that is enough of a margin. I told him I'd be ready by 8:00!




So, for now I'll say "dovejenia" (butchered spelling). It means "see you later" in Serbian!




P.S. We walked in the door and within 5 minutes, it started raining. Talk about excellent timing!

Thursday....

I can only identify a few of these dancers, but here goes:

L to R: Eleanor, their modern teacher, Vivian, Allie, Jenn, and then I'm lost since I don't know the Serbian dancer's names (sorry about that)

The sun finally peeked out from behind the clouds again today...at least briefly! It also reached 71 degrees--what a change from the 50's on Tuesday.

Eleanor and I were up late last night and I went back to sleep after she left this morning. I finally got up around 10:30 and we went out around 11:30. On today's agenda was finding an 'Apoteka' (apothecary) to buy some gel to relieve insect bites. I got some last year and it was so much more effective than anything I get at home. I bought two tubes.

I also stopped a linen shop that I saw last year and never went into. Souvenir shopping was in full gear! :-) I did buy a couple of beautiful embroidered lace tablecloths at good prices--I just couldn't resist.

We were invited today to have lunch at Stevan's nephews home. It was a long and leisurely lunch, which is customary here. I found out that I like feta cheese. At home, it is hard and crumbly and I really don't like it. Here it is soft and has the consistency of cream cheese...and it is terrific. I had it spread on fresh bread, along with bean soup, and more homemade baklava. Truly wonderful. Debbie and Mykell joined us on our journey back into town after lunch. We window shopped and I found a tote bag to use as a carry-on. I have bought just enough souvenirs that I can't fit into my luggage on the way home--whoops! Amelia will want to steal this bag from me. It is pink and very cute!

We got to the dance studio as they were ready to leave and stopped and had a drink on the way home. There is quite the cafe' culture here. The city center is lined with tables and umbrellas and it was warmer today, so there was a bustling business at them. We came home for a little while and then back out to a cafe' for dinner. Not much going on really. I watched a little TV this evening...nothing special, but there are quite a few channels in English....and then there are the more "exotic" channels--things that you either have to pay for at home or that are only shown late at night if you know what I mean. They are inserted into regular programming like commercials here--it's quite a shock to the puritan values! :0

Dragan, one of the porters here, brought us some cookies and fruit to try this evening. He called the fruit "smokva". Eleanor correctly identified the fruit, while everyone else guessed around the truth. I saw it and immediately knew what it was since we have several of the trees in our backyard. It was a little green though and I really prefer mine in a Newton! :-) Yes, it was a fig. Everyone argued good naturedly with me about it and so I came back to the room and looked up the word on the internet--it is indeed a fig! The name of it is interesting though--I thought it had a smoky flavor and the name "smokva" sounds that way.... At least, I found that interesting.

Eleanor took some pictures today, but it's after midnight and I don't have the energy to upload them right now. I'll do so in the morning and add a picture to this post at that time. Tomorrow is the last day of class, with a performance at 4PM. I should have pictures to add tomorrow too.

Random thoughts:

1. Food is served differently here from home...at least in restaurants. Food is brought to the patron who ordered it whenever it is ready....piecemeal if that is how it is ready. So, in other words, there were 7 of us at dinner tonight. Three people ordered Greek salads which were served quite quickly; then came soup for Lynda; then a while later came everyone's elses food, except for Eleanor. Her side of fries came and she munched on those, but her main course of bacon and eggs took so long that we were wondering if they had forgotten about it or not written it down (it came about the time we verbalized that thought). You are expected to eat your food as it arrives, even if everyone else in your party has to wait awhile. Very different from home.

2. A reiteration of the thought that a smile and an effort at communication go a long way. The lady in the linen shop spoke no English, but the language of commerce spoke eloquently and fluently.

That's all for tonight. I'm too tired to type any more! Ciao!

Lazy, rainy day

Second day of rain...and that's o.k. I looked on weather.com this morning though and it is apparently going to rain the rest of our visit here-at least the temperature is expected to rise from the 50's into the low 70's after today--I truly only brought one pair of long pants! The rain will make it extremely difficult to do laundry since it would need to dry outside if I did a real load. I think I'm going to wash out Eleanor's underwear and hang it to dry and she may have to just re-wear some of her other clothing. Honestly, she isn't wearing her other clothing much since she is in a leotard and tights all day long. Thank goodness, the flat in London advertises a washer and dryer. That will probably be the first order of business when we arrive on Saturday!

I woke up with Eleanor this morning and started myself on the path to a more normal sleep-wake schedule today, but I haven't done much today. I have straightened up a little and will do a little more to make this room a little more comfortable for the three days I have left. I'll also take a picture of the room--it's an interestingly decorated room. Just wait until you see what they did to this beautiful 8 foot door!

I spent some internet time this morning and researched prices and hours of operation for the attractions we want to see in London this year and came up with a little tours/entertainment/ground transportation budget, so I'd know where we stand at this point. I need to run it by Eleanor first and see if she wants to tweak any of the plans though. So far, we are planning to see The Tower of London, Leadenhall Market (where Diagon Alley was filmed for Harry Potter), the Victoria & Albert Museum, Parliament, the Churchill Cabinet War Rooms, the Harry Potter walk, and perhaps try to attend an evensong service in Westminster and St. Paul's rather than "tour" them. Eleanor wants to see Spamalot. I found that the discount booth in Leicester Square sells tickets to that show, so rather than order online, I think we may just do that. I did some research on getting tickets to Swan Lake with the visiting Chinese National Ballet. The only really good seats are terrifically expensive though. We have to decide if cheaper nosebleed seats are worth attending in--they probably are. I'll let Eleanor make that call and then I can order online and pick up at the box office on the day of the performance. That is all I really have planned. I want to see more of London, but I don't want to plan a schedule so packed that we kill ourselves trying to do it. There is value to making a sandwich and sitting in one of their lovely parks with a good book for an hour or two also!

My plans today include laundry, television and a little knitting. I'll have to see if I can find anything in English on this TV. Lynda says there is a movie channel that shows English-language movies with Serbian subtitles. I think I'll have to check that out!.......Oh my goodness, there is more than one channel that shows US shows with Serbian subtitles, including the Hallmark channel! I have it on as background while I update this a little more.

I took a shower and the nozzle broke off from the tubing...uh oh. I managed to finish my shower, but I'm going to have to get them to come and fix it shortly. It's 1PM though and I haven't been out for any meals. I had some peanut butter crackers around 10:30 this morning and think I should probably go and eat something more nutritious. Strange thing is that I'm not really hungry. I'm going to head out though. I'll write more later this afternoon. I'm going to try and finish up today before Eleanor comes home from class. She wants to get on here and play on the internet in the evenings. I can't complain. I took her computer to DC with me and she has been without it for 2 weeks.

I went out at lunch time and had a ham/cheese pastry and some water, walked down a little ways and hit the motherlode of nirvana...a chocolate shop! It was even called "Chocolate Shop". I found some Serbian chocolates that are made here in Vjovodina (the name of the province). I bought a bunch of them to bring home...what a terrific souvenir. Amelia and Olivia should expect a little chocolate souvenir from me.

I watched a little bit of dance class this afternoon again--jazz class, followed by partnering again. It was so much fun. Partnering is dancing with a partner. It's much harder than the professional dancers make it look. Eleanor is mortified at this point. She accidentally slugged her partner a couple of times and stepped on his feet once. She is embarrassed. The rest of us were amused. She must have apologized to him fifteen times. Her teacher for partnering, Boris, told her not to worry about it--the partner was a "big Serbian guy" and he could take it. It gets better each time though. It is a learning curve.

The rain finally cleared up around 2PM and it is at least not drizzling on us, even if it wasn't sunny. It wasn't as cold today either. I'm not sure of the final temperature, but I was o.k. in capris and a sweatshirt walking around.

Random thoughts and incidents today:

1. High point--finding the chocolate shop--the man there spoke absolutely NO English--but I managed to make him understand that I was looking for dark chocolate. I paid cash. In Europe, the credit cards have something called the "chip and pin" system which is different from our credit cards. I took Lynda back to the shop and he couldn't figure out how to make our debit cards work--so over to the "Bankomat" (ATM) I went so I could buy my souvenirs. This was on trip 2 after I tried what I bought on trip 1! Debbie, Stevan's wife (Stevan and Debbie own the dance studio we take lessons at) and her grandson Mikel went back with me so she could buy some chocolates for her nieces here that they are going to see tonight. The shop owner and I are old friends by this time and I have brought him lots of business. I almost managed not to buy anything the third trip, but I bought Mikel a sucker (Mikel is 3).

2. While I was walking to meet up with everyone after the first trip to the chocolate shop today, a woman stopped me on the street and started talking to me. I thought she was looking for directions, so I stopped her and told her Engleska only. She switched to English, while apologizing for her poor English. She then proceeded, in flawless English, to try a con on me (while I tried to subtly make sure my purse was zipped shut!). When she hit the part of her spiel about "a woman will give you secrets of dark magic", I shut her off and told her that I didn't want to discuss dark magic and I walked away. That was surreal. I guess she was a Gypsy. My only experience with the Gypsies, or Roma, last year was that they stand (or sit) around and beg on the streets, sometimes sending their children. This lady was a little more direct on her con--I managed to escape with all my faculties and my money intact. Who knows, maybe she cursed me as I left though!

3. I also braved the post office today. This was a good one. The first time I went in, I stood in a line for a moment and then asked the woman in front of me if she spoke English (she did). She directed me to a window on the side for stamps. When I got to the window, I showed my postcards to a man there and indicated that I needed to post them. He got up to go and get what I needed when a woman stopped him and said she'd handle it. She then told me I had to go out the door and to the right. O.K. Out the door and to the right was a glass wall--no place to buy stamps. Every place other than where the lady and man were was a long line so I went away. After dance class, I decided to try again. I went to one of the lines and stood there for a little while. I finally found someone who spoke English and asked where I would purchase stamps. He directed me to the window from earlier. This is good now..... The same woman was there this time. I told her I needed to mail my postcards and she took care of me. ?????? It was an interesting lesson in bureaucracy I guess. Maybe I didn't look assured the first time or something.

4. I found out that butane is only $4/gallon, while petrol/gasoline is $9/gallon. I would probably convert my car to lighter fluid in that instance too. :-) The air quality here is awful though--there is a horrible exhaust from the fuel in the extremely old cars (many of which are Yugos). It makes me think Europe should stop fussing at the US on emissions standards!

Eleanor is bugging me to get off here and let her on, so I'll finish up and head off. The picture I've included is from today. The people in the picture are: Front--Eleanor and Allie Gilbert; Back--Igor and Vivian (Igor just got a contract to dance with the National Ballet of Serbia), Boris (the teacher) in the center, Jennifer and Boyen (he's Eleanor's partner that she accidentally smacked-notice how far away from Eleanor he is in the picture) :-)

Day 3 in Serbia

Today dawned gray and rainy, but that was o.k. Eleanor was up and ready for dance on time. I went back to sleep until about 11:30. I think I need this time with some extra rest and so I feel absolutely no guilt.

Lynda, Amanda and I went to the center square and found a bread and pastry shop where we each had a brunch/lunch and then made our way toward the dance studio to check on the girls. I met the modern dance teacher. She is really nice. Lynda told me that her husband is a film maker and she met him in New York while dancing there. He is Serbian as well and they decided to return home. Their piece is "interesting"...as all modern pieces seem to be....to me at least.

While the girls were dancing, Lynda and I went to find the "Kineska" (Chinese) shops in search of an inexpensive umbrella. It rained all day, by the way. I had found these shops last year as an inexpensive alternative to "mall" prices. It should be no surprise to anyone to know that the Chinese will probably eventually own the world. They already make everything in it from what I can tell...even here. She did find an umbrella and I bought Will a souvenir tape measure--all metric. It's pretty sturdy too. He should be able to actually use it.

After dance, the girls headed back and Eleanor promptly hopped on the internet. Lynda, Amanda and I meandered back more slowly. Lynda wanted to look in a souvenir shop for something for Caleb, her son, and so we wandered into a little alleyway that had a shop advertising "suvenirs". Across the alleyway from the souvenir shop was a sewing shop. I wandered in there and had my most charming encounter so far. I browsed around, looking at the ribbons, buttons and embroidery thread and then found the back room with the yarn. The shop owner knew absolutely NO English and I know almost no Serbian, but we communicated beautifully. I asked her if she had knitting needles. It is amazing what a smile and a little pantomime can do to increase understanding. She led me to the knitting needles and I selected a pair and then wandered back to find the yarn I wanted. While she was going back to find the prices to place on the hand-written sales ticket, I looked around some more and found the circular knitting needles, which I prefer. I told her to wait and exchanged them. Something obviously clicked with her when I made that preferential choice. She asked me if I was the knitter; I said yes; and a world of understanding flowed between us. It was lovely! Those are the kind of moments that I will always remember--I still remember sitting in the hallway last summer, knitting, and having one of the ladies there stop to comment and then show me her knit-work. It was also a wonderful exchange!

We went to dinner as a large group tonight--Me, Lynda, Amanda and all 4 girls who are in the group from the US. The girls chose an Italian restaurant which was quite good, but also quite smoky. We have managed to avoid the smoke by eating inside up to this point since the weather has been lovely and most people have chosen to eat outside at the tables under the umbrellas and the open sky. Since it was still rainy and quite cool, people moved indoors today. I feared that and would have been willing to eat outside myself (to avoid the smoke), but I was the only one who felt that way. I had to take a shower after we returned home because the smoke was in my hair and quite strong.

Eleanor finally gave up the computer to me just a short while ago and is anxiously awaiting my finishing up and stopping the pecking on the keyboard. I told her she would have to be patient with me--as it is, she turned out the lights on me. I hate to tell her, but I'll have to turn on the bathroom light in just a bit. She said I snored and woke her several times last night, so I guess I'll attempt the CPAP machine again tonight. I haven't been very successful with acclimating to the darn thing on this trip and don't know whether I will be able to do so now either, but I'll try for her sake. I still have to finish getting it set up though and that will definitely need a light! Actually, I don't know that I can make the darn thing work. The plug is at the foot of my bed and I would have to lay the machine on the bed to try it. I don't think that is a very safe thing to do, honestly.....

Today's revelations:

1. A smile and an honest effort at communication is all you need to get by in the world.

2. There is much more English spoken in Serbia this year compared to last year; not sure what that implies or the reasons why

3. The 106 temperatures of last year apparently really were an anomaly; today was half of that (although I think this temperature is an anomaly too).

4. This is still very much a nation of smokers.

5. The girls commented that they had seen no black people here. That doesn't surprise me, based on location, but it did them.

6. Staying up late and dancing all day will eventually even take its toll on my 14yo daughter--she is asleep and breathing hard (almost snoring) herself already--it's been about 10 minutes since she turned off the light!

P.S. I'll add a picture in the morning. I downloaded the pictures on Eleanor's computer log-in last night and I can't seem to access them from my login at the moment. I will add one in the morning by logging in as Eleanor! Changed my mind--the computer did one of those weird reboot things that it does and I wasn't finished checking email, so I just logged back in as her. I'll post a picture now!

I think I'm going to open the window again too...even though we are on a very busy street and it sometimes gets noisy. Amazingly, considering how cool it is outside, the room has really gotten stuffy since we closed the window an hour ago.

Wow, what a difference a year makes!

Average temperature over 100 a year ago....it was 73 degrees F today! I'm sitting here with the windows open and no need for A/C at all...typical. When I need it, it isn't available; when I don't, it's here!

We were up pretty late last night, but Eleanor didn't have dance class until 10:30 in the morning, so I woke her around 9AM to shower and get ready. When she left, I laid around and eventually went back to sleep. It was a nice lazy morning. I got up around 11:30 or so. Lynda and Eleanor came and got me around 1PM when ballet class ended for the morning to take me to join the others for lunch. It was nice and I spent the afternoon watching their partnering class. They learned variations from Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty and practiced dancing pas de deux with some local boys who also dance--Eleanor says they are all straight. :) They did a lot of turns and even some lifts. It was really fun for them and for those of us watching class as well. I didn't have a camera with me though, so no pictures at this point!

Afterward, Eleanor and Allie wanted to go shopping, so I gave her some dinars and she and Allie went shopping. She came home with a cute top, a dress, a belt and a necklace for approximately $40US. Good shopping.

The adults went to Stevan's nephew's house for some home-made baklava (which was unbelievably good) and some pear schnapps (which was pretty potent--I really could only handle a swallow or two). We had a good time visiting and catching up together. Then we came home and I caught up with the family at home via skype. I love that program. We can not only talk for free via an internet connection, but we can see each other too (via webcam).

For dinner, Eleanor introduced me to "Serbian Chinese" food which she finds far superior to "American Chinese" food. ???? We stopped after dinner for ice cream. I can't believe I let myself get past last night without having some! Tonight's flavors for me were chocolate and cherry. Ran by the local convenience store and picked up some Blue Fanta which we fell in love with last year and returned to the dorm/hotel...just ahead of a sudden sky-opening downpour of rain. Eleanor and Allie read some fanfiction on the internet for awhile and we then gathered in Lynda and Allie's room to play cards. I lost!

I talked with Will again on Skype and am typing at 1:30AM. I think I need to get completely acclimated to this time zone...you think? We had the windows wide open and it felt lovely, but the street that this hostel is on is a very busy one and everyone around us also had their windows open and the noise was bothersome, so we again have on the A/C. Hard to believe, but I find it a little cold.

Random thoughts so far:

1. Stevan's nephew, Mickey, has a car that runs on butane. Isn't that lighter fluid?

2. They still drive in ways that will make your hair stand on end over here. The streets are really narrow and they drive little bitty cars at break-neck speeds. Someone's parked too far into the road...no problem, just drive up on the sidewalk. My Durango would be in some serious trouble over here. I don't think we would get very far at all with its size....plus fuel costs....are you ready....approximately $9 per gallon. And we think prices are bad in the US.

3. Novi Sad is still the city of shoe stores. I might have to go and try some on before I leave on Saturday. I'm really enjoying watching Eleanor get excited about the clothing here. She really isn't a shopper, so seeing her enjoy trying some things on and buy a couple of new things for school is fun.

4. They don't appear to have shower heads here. They have spray nozzles that basically require you to get wet, turn it off, soap up, get wet again. I noticed that at the dorm last year and in our tiny bathroom here. When we were at Mickey and Zlata's house, I used the restroom and noticed that they have the same setup. I'm not sure exactly what's up with that. It is probably more economical and environmentally friendly, but I KNOW that I will really appreciate taking a shower at home when I return.

5. No one has clothes dryers either. They all hang their laundry outside to dry. Contrary to what was advertised, the hostel does not have laundry facilities. I asked one of the young men who works here for some direction though and I now have an address of a place where they will do your laundry for you for a fee. I'm going to go tomorrow and try and find it and get Eleanor's laundry done. If last year was any indication, it will be reasonable in cost, if not in convenience.

6. The picture I'm including is one of the many pictures Eleanor took of local graffiti. Much of the graffiti here is sad phrases spray-painted across walls by young people. She found some much more elaborate and detailed graffiti when they went to the Fortress apparently. I'm also going to include a picture of Allie and Eleanor last night at dinner.

Greetings from Europe 2008

I have had a busy summer so far and it hasn't slowed down yet. I spent one week in June in Bowling Green, KY, training to teach AP Government. I went home for a week and then headed to Washington, DC for a two week seminar on separation of powers (Pres/Congress) which was terrific. Yesterday morning, I boarded a plane for London and arrived around bedtime. I am now a believer in daytime flights to Europe to cut jet lag. It probably helped that I had a short night's sleep on Friday night (bed around 9:30PM and up at 2AM to shower and take the shuttle to BWI for a 6AM flight). I flew all day, arriving at 9:00PM London time. Got on skype and talked with Will and the girls (and Popo) and then headed to bed around midnight London time. I got a full 8 hours sleep and woke up quite refreshed, ate a hearty breakfast and headed back to Heathrow for my flight to Serbia (which sat at the gate for an hour and then another 20 minutes on the taxi way--it's amazing we were only about half an hour late arriving in Belgrade).

I got to Novi Sad around 7:30PM local time. Eleanor and the group went to the beach this afternoon and weren't back when I arrived, but Stevan's nephew called and checked on them and she hurried back...unfortunately the cell phone call had been cut off and I didn't know she was headed back, so I went out to the town square to get some dinars (money) and some food. I came back and she was waiting for me, not having eaten yet. Apparently they have been keeping a pretty late schedule. I went back out with Eleanor, Allie, her mother Lynda and Amanda for dinner. I had a dessert crepe since I had already had dinner. It's 12:42AM on Monday now and I still feel great....no jet lag at this point at all. I think I will take daytime flights from the US to Europe from now on!

I'm not sure what's in store tomorrow. Eleanor will have dance all day. I may search out a laundromat. I came with a suitcase full of clean clothes and can make it to London on Saturday (where there is a washer/dryer in our apartment), but I think she is about to run out of clean clothes. She washed leotards and tights out in the sink today....don't want to do that with jeans!

The weather is much more pleasant this year.....those who read my posts last year know that it was 106F here last year with no A/C, etc. We are staying somewhere different this year. There is A/C and Wifi....woohoo! Tomorrow's temp is supposed to be 73 degrees though, so I probably won't really need the A/C at all during the day tomorrow. Electricity is really expensive here, so I only plan to use the A/C when I need it--like tonight--it was hot today and is still 78 degrees after midnight (not really hot, but stuffy). The only drawback I see so far is that this place isn't a non-smoking facility. There is a slight smoke odor in the furniture in our room. I think I'll be o.k. though. Eleanor has been keeping the windows open to dissipate any of it and the A/C should also help. I have my inhaler if I need it!

Gonna run to bed now. This isn't very exciting yet. I'll try to spice it up when I'm more alert. Good night!

P.S. The picture was taken up at the Petrovaradin Fortress on Saturday. The girls from the US and the girls from Serbia all went on the excursion. I don't know who everyone in this picture is...but Eleanor is 4th from the left in the little blue jacket.