Change the Conversation - 03.31.09

Mind the Gap!

Sorry about the interruption in service. A lot has happened since I last wrote. For one thing, it's snowed nearly every day. Six inches covered the pretty little crocus in the last post. Luckily I wasn't in Austria for most of the snow, because I accompanied Form 7B to London, where it was cold but springlike! Here's Kensington Park and our glorified youth hostel, The Royal Bayswater Hotel, in the background (left).

We were in London for five days and change, and we saw soooo much! We saw Portobello Road on Market day (cue the song from Bedknobs and Broomsticks), Camden Town, Covent Garden, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral (above). We went to the British Museum where I saw the Etruscan sarcophagus of Seianti Hanunia Tlenasa. It was like running into an old friend, because I've taught Seianti in Women in Antiquity and Roman Archaeology for so many years.

We also went to the Tate Modern Museum, and I went to the National Gallery. We spent time at the London Dungeon and at Madame Tussaud's. Here I am with William Shakespeare:

Speaking of Shakespeare, we also went to the Globe Theater, which was one of the highlights of the trip. Here you can see part of the stage, the seating, and the thatched roof (first in London since the Great Fire of 1666):

On Tuesday evening, we all went to one of two musicals. I went to Chicago which was quite entertaining, but then I was familiar with all the songs from high school; the others went to The Phantom of the Opera. We took a river cruise to Greenwich, but a sudden downpour kept us from visiting the prime meridian. marker. An hour later the sun was shining (sunset over Hyde Park)!

On Thursday, I took a day for myself while the students went to Cambridge. The highlight of my trip was cream tea at Fortnum and Mason, a fancy department store in Piccadilly. I was joined by an elderly gentleman who had lived in the U.S. for 15 years and we had a nice chat.

The students were so awesome! No one fought, got in trouble, was injured, went missing. Sometimes they even spoke English! :-) And despite the fact that breakfast was a nightmare (standing room only with only toast, cornflakes and instant coffee), some rooms had no electricity, others had flooded bathrooms, and it took 45 minutes for water to boil on the antiquated stoves in the kitchen area, we still had a marvelous time!

Thanks, 7B, for inviting me to go along! You ROCK!

The first crocus of Spring

It's a beauty, isn't it? Can sunny days and grill parties be far off?

P.S. Happy St. Patrick's Day, y'all!

...but winter isn't!

UPDATE: Due to the danger of AVALANCHES, the highway

that passes by Irdning at Trautenfels has been closed.

Check out this link for villages that are completely snowed in! http://steiermark.orf.at/stories/348425/

Pruggern (center black pixel is a sledder!)

March in the Ennstal is nothing more than a taunting game of weather roulette. It's too warm for ice skating or Eisstockschießen. A week ago Irene and I went sledding in Pruggern under gorgeous sunny skies. On Sunday my friends and I dined al fresco at their alpine cabin (40˚F!). Pussywillows are in bloom everywhere and there are snowdrops in Irene's garden. Ants have invaded the apartment in Irdning, another sign that fair weather can't be far behind. But right now it is snowing; in fact it has been snowing off and on for the past three days.

It's enough... it reminds me of a song that we learned in junior high school (copyright Mr. Bowles, wherever he may be):

I just can't sit around waiting for winter to melt into spring

Because summer's just gonna be too late, and I know

Deep down way under the ground there are flowers

Just waiting to blossom and winter is gonna make them wait...

Day after day as I sit and listen springtime is trying to propose

Beckoning through all the ice and snow to daisies and iris

and violets and roses.

So maybe if all of us sing about sunshine

and flowers that bloom in the springtime

Wait, isn't that when April showers?

And summer when temperatures rise to a

hundred and twenty degrees in the shade

That's when summer's got to go.

By then I'll be wishin', forget about fishin'

By then I'll be wishin' for snow!