Exploring Europe

 March 30, 2022 It rained quite a bit this morning. So, after a beautiful breakfast in the hotel restaurant, we crawled back into bed to wait for a break in the downpour.  By noon I'd had enough of our room and decided it was time we saw Paris...rain or shine!! We started our tour by walking to the Galeries de La Fayette shopping center where the city can be viewed from the rooftop. It was a good place to shelter from any bad weather. The walk was full of beautiful stores, eye candy galore and pastries...so many beautiful pastries!  My feet...both of them are not happy. I've stopped talking to them no matter how much they complain. How dare they decide that I should not walk as much as I desire!!  When I was here in 2015 they pulled the same trick and I ignored them and saw the city by foot anyway. It is frustrating to bring along such angry im"ped"iments. They are privileged to be making such a wonderful trip. Imagine the feet that have walked these streets over the...

 Airports in major cites are huge.  I appreciate the effort most airport architects must put into design and execution.  They could be sadist or comedians...perhaps a bit of both.  The hike to gates and to customs and baggage can be measured in miles. Or so it seems.  Wear comfortable shoes. Taxi drivers work hard. Most come from war torn or impoverished countries.  Many had to leave their home of birth to stay alive. Our driver to LAX was very friendly and asked us many questions. In the twenty minutes it took for him to get us to the airport we knew his history.  He came several years ago from Afghanistan with his wife and one daughter and five sons. In his country he was a successful businessman selling fur coats and hats. There he worked 5 days a week. Here he works 7 days a week with long hours.  He speaks 5 languages. His wife lavishes love on his two grandchildren and spends "too much money" on them. He tried having a shoes store...lost his...

 Fear can restrict and abort our plans to live life to the fullest. During the past two years even a trip to the grocery store, where "strangers" are filling their baskets, sparked dread. Using online shopping became the norm and masks, controversial as they were, became a political fashion statement. Just when Covid -19 was dissipating, Omicrom reared its ugly head! Now B-2 is traveling amongst all of us pandemic, weary souls having us wonder when will life ever return to normal.  My last trip was January 2020. As my friend and I boarded our flight to Asia, there was news of a strange illness hitting China with 4 reported deaths. Fortunately, Annalisa and I kept ahead of the virus which arrived hours after our departure from each place. A month after our return, the welcome mat was pulled up in all but a few countries, the planet shut down, and we all went into hiding.  I cherish that trip. It was unknown when we might travel again. Then Myanmar had a political revolutio...