Norway

I have not posted anything for a very long time, but the trip to Norway, to my father's homeland, was something very special.  First of all, I will post a few pictures. 

Scotland and England

Pousada Palacio de Estoi

We flew from Lisbon to Faro and took a taxi to Estoi to stay at this refurbished villa built in the 1800s in the style of Versailles. The rooms were added to the original building, so they were totally modern, but the original building retains the flavor of another age. There was very little in Estoi so we took the opportunity to explore nearby Roman ruins, walk, swim in the pool and read.

Castelo de S. Jorge

Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35MaagUOFDU and listen to Pedro Godinho play his classical guitar in the Castle that overlooks the city of Lisbon. The only other sound we heard in the castle that day was birdsong, as the castle had very few people in it. It was quite magical and Michael counts it as one of his favorite moments of the trip. This is the view from one of the castle towers. You can see the sea in the distance.

The tiles in this square are meant to simulate the movement of the waves in the sea. (Lisbon is a city that overlooks the sea.) This picture was taken our first day as we rode a tour bus on the Belem Line in order to get oriented to the city (while recuperating from a sleepless night on the plane). The weather was mild, the skies sunny, and the buildings painted in lovely pastel blues, purples, light coral colors and various shades of yellow. Buildings were a blend of old and new.

More tiles

In 1755, Lisbon suffered an earthquake that virtually destroyed the city. So when the streets were reconstructed, they were embellished with black and white stone, symbolizing the city in mourning. There are various motifs that can be seen throughout the city. This pattern decorates the walkway that surrounds the King Eduardo Park.

We just got back from a week in Portugal. We spent 2 days in Lisbon, 2 days in Estoi (at the Pousada Palacio de Estoi, a Versailles like estate which has become a hotel) and the remainder of our time in Faro, on the coast. The weather was in the 70s, the food was delicious, and people friendly. Obrigada, Portugal for a wonderful holiday. I will try and post more in the next week or so.

The last two weeks of July, Michael and I travelled to southern France to celebrate our upcoming marriage by visiting with friends in Teste de Buch, France. We spent two days in Bordeaux and one in Mimizan-Plage, with the rest of our time spent enjoying the sun and the water around Arcachon.

Forks, Washington

All during last year, I watched my students devour the latest books by Stephanie Meyer: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and most recently, Breaking Dawn. I didn't understand the phenomenom...so what's so great about vampires anyway?
We drove into Forks, Washington, and because I was hungry (as usual), I suggested we stop for lunch. We pulled into a little diner and had a mediocre meal, but on the way out I suggested we stop in the local drugstore which was advertising t-shirts on sale. As we entered, I saw signs advertising the books and assumed it was because the newest book had just been released. BUT NO! This was the mecca for the fans of the book, because this was the town where all the action took place. So I bought a bookmark that said "I was bitten in Forks" to bring back to one of my students and a friend at the bookstore. En route north of Forks, we passed this beach. Now that I've read the book, I can just picture the characters sitting on the driftwood talking about the history of the Native American werewolves and the visitation of the vampires. Here's the beach.

The diversity of Washington

Mount Rainier, the rainforest and desert, all in one state.

Here is my favorite picture

Those first two pictures are of the Seattle skyline from the water and Pike's Market which is worth a day at least! But my favorite picture comes from a night spent on the west coast in a little cottage on the ocean. The accomodations weren't fabulous, but the sunset was incredible.

I'm back but SO much has happened!

This summer, Michael and I traveled to Seattle, Washington to visit my daughter and then went on to explore Washington State. I have some great pictures from that trip that I would like to share. But the news is that my house in NH has finally sold, I am living in Maine, and I have changed jobs, still teaching but at a different school. SO many changes. But let me share my pictures of Washington here!

Strasbourg and Riquewihr

Our first all day excursion was to Strasbourg in Alsace. The bus dropped us off at quite some distance from the heart of the town, and as a result, we ended up getting back to the bus late that afternoon, causing us to miss the scheduled excursion to Kaysersberg later in the day. But we enjoyed our visit to the cathedral in Strasbourg which houses the astronomical clock that was built nearly 800 years ago and still operates today. We walked to Petite France which is an extraordinarily picturesque section of Strasbourg and then proceeded to get lost (hence, the late arrival at the bus). We drove to Riquewihr which is located in the center of wine country in the Vosges Mountains. It is famous for its white wines and the town is surrounded by tiers of vineyards. The town is walled and has almost exclusively pedestrian traffic. We arrived back at La Malgrange around 6 in time for a party at the school. One of the more interesting activities involved a sing off between the American students and their French counterparts of their respective national anthems. The French won.

It may seem strange to include a picture of a shopping cart, but shopping in France was one of the other differences noted by the students. First and foremost, due to the relationship of the euro to the dollar, they noted how "expensive" things were. For example, gas worked out to be almost $10 a gallon! Of course, cars were smaller, but it explained why public transportation is so important, why many people ride bikes or walk. We also noted some of the more environmentally conscious habits here. People bring their own bags to the grocery store. And this shopping cart must be "rented" for a euro or token that is returned when the cart is returned to the bay. Packaging for bread and for fruit is in paper rather than plastic, and recycling and composting is commonplace.

This is the view from the media center of La Malgrange. It is the former palace of Stanislas Lexzczynski, father in law of Louis XV in 1736. The chateau houses the administration and the rest of the building serves the student body. The school day begins at 8 am, there is an hour and a half for lunch, but classes can run as late as 6 pm. During our stay, a number of the students were studying for the bac or were undergoing what is known as the bac blanc (a test that serves to give the students a taste for what the bac will be like the following year). One major test took place on a Saturday! Our students were impressed by how committed the students were to their education. During our stay, we celebrated May 1st, French Labor Day, and so students did not have classes on that day. But we also experienced several classes in French covering Impressionism, Verdun, Versailles (because we were scheduled to visit these cities as well as the Musee d'Orsay) as well as short classes on mots-valises and slam poetry. Our classes were housed in a classroom attached to the library, but our "correspondants" had classes in the building you can see from the window in the picture. Four of my students attended an English class and were asked questions about our country: whether or not our students worked, when they started work, whether or not they drove and had a car, what they thought of the elections, and more. It was an interesting exchange.

One of the first things the students spoke about was the food. Yogurt and ice cream were the favorites of many. And oh! the French bread. That first day, many ate pack lunches in the park, but Mme Smart and I ate at a small restaurant on Rue Gourmande (that's not it's real name, but it is famous for its food) with Benjamin, a former student who had visited Epping several years before and is currently studying engineering.

The trip with 22 teenagers

This is where it all begins: Nancy, France. We left Boston on April 29th, arrived in Paris on the 30th, took the TGV (my first trip on the high speed train) and were taken to La Malgrange, the school that hosted us for nearly 10 days. The following day we took a tour of this beautiful city in the province of Lorraine.