"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”
-Mark Twain
Been a few days.
Sitting here in Coimbra, Portugal on Peg's birthday, sated with a nice breakfast and enjoying the views off the balcony.
Portugal is a cleaner, greener, more civilized version of the Central California coast. We need to bite the bullet and buy a place over here.
Such an eventful week. What will I forget, in my senescence?
My first experience with lay-flat seating on a Transatlantic flight, at the insistence of Issac. He was right--it's a game-changer to curl up and go to sleep as soon as the plane levels off, then awaken to have a cup of coffee in the first class bar. And Virgin Atlantic has showers in their version of the Sky Club, so one emerges from Heathrow fresh as a daisy.
Walking Hyde Park with Peg and Issac, then excitedly heading back to the hotel after Jim messages he's on the ground in London. It's Labor Day weekend here in Europe, so the express train from the airport wasn't running. He got there anyway, and I hugged his neck in the lobby of the Paddington Station Hilton after all these years. A magic moment.
Wandering London, the three of us, in drizzle. Everything's closed --it's Labor Day weekend. Next to Buckingham Palace is some sort of foot race, with blaring loudspeakers and families jogging around a track.
Taking Peg to the Savoy for high tea, again Issac's idea to make his mother's birthday weekend wonderful. And it was. Champagne and finger sandwiches.
The most expensive supper of my life, at the Savoy Grill. A French waitress whose English is spotty spills greens and olive oil on me. It's too great a moment to let that bring us down. Jim takes his leave early, and I walk him to the door, hug his neck, and watch him walk away. The next time I hear from him is early the next morning, safely on the ground in Istanbul. It was all too short.
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