Pacific coast: Oregon USA

Not far from Tillamook on the Oregon Coast. 

Grandson, Lucas

In guard uniform at MiniEurope, Brussels Belgium

First stop in 7 country trip to Southern Africa through Europe

Village Church, La Villa Sud Tyrol. Italy

     This church is a delight and it is obvious that people take care of it. The church yard with its tombstones is well kept and shows regular visits by the locals. While not very well attended most weeks, it is a place of community gathering and expectation.

European Languages

     This is a photo of the Prague Castle taken from the Charles Bridge. I do not speak a word of Czech, but fortunately the Czech people speak a good amount of English.
     In European Countries, many people speak English. It is the popular second language there and in South America. It is rude to expect it, however. Start with something in the local vernacular. They will take pity and break into their best English.
     Thus, it is important to learn some basic words in the language spoken to you as starter. I speak enough French, Italian, German and Spanish to get by. Only once in awhile - in a small village far away from the city -  do I have problems; then I use hand signals.
     Examples of hand signals is the time we were in the far reaches of Spain. We wanted lunch at a small cafe. No one spoke English, but my Spanish got me as far as hand signals. I ordered by walking around the room pointing at dishes in front of folks.
     The only other struggles were with Span-lish in Gibraltar and English in northern Scotland. In both case the English is mixed with something else.

Traveling with young people

This is my granddaughter and three of her friends in the courtyard in front of Edinburgh Castle. The younger folks see things older ones miss and they also add energy to the exploration.

Ultralight plane gliding over the Danube, West of Vienna

     Along the Danube, it is easy to look down at the river or along the bank at the castles and churches, In this case looking up was a pleasure as the ultrlight flew overhead.

The French shop that changed several habits

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     This is a market as seen from the window of our flat in Paris. Each day, like locals, we went down to the market to buy things for the day. Not much room to store things in the flat The largest room was the bedroom followed by a lovely bathroom/ laundry room and a living room. The smallest room was the kitchen and even then it was over furnished  with appliances.
      Thus, we made daily trips to the market (and to the bakery, butcher and larger fruit stand.) It was in this market that we discovered and learned to appreciate white pepper - they did not carry black pepper, cheap French wine, and Persil Laundry detergent. Persil was all that they had and we had never seen it, (We learned later that it was one of the first products brought in after the Communists were sent packing from East Berlin.) These products and the baguette are now often on our shopping list.