Greetings! Hope everyone is well!
Italy traveler’s tip XXIV: Seeking local directions? Ask a woman. She knows or she doesn’t and will say so. Males often feel honor bound to help, even when they have no idea. And a group of Italian men will get into an argument over the best route. I hear rumors this holds true in Spain, Portugal and Romania.
We are comfortably ensconced in Orton Hall, a tad south of Scotland.
Looks and feels like the ancestral home of a Scottish Laird.
Construction dates from the 1600’s.
A pullout bookcase (no kidding!) leads from our great room to the kitchen, bath and bedroom. (“Put the candle back!!)
The winner of this month’s best sign in the UK award, several strong contenders notwithstanding, is the one on on the condom vending machine exhorting customers to, “Play Hard!!”
Honorable mention (restaurant): “Leonardo di Caprio never ate here.”
Driving UK is a challenge. Wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road. After so many years, perhaps driving becomes more autopilot than we care to admit. Winding, narrow picturesque country roads especially so.
Years ago in Nova Scotia I was introduced my host’s friends as, “Mike, from away.” Away? Not America, California or LA, but from “away.” The sole qualifier being from another place, elsewhere. Anyplace elsewhere.
Home is a moveable feast. It’s where we are today, and where we’ll be next. And next. The journey is the destination.
The world is big. I want to see all I can before it gets dark.
Got a new UK phone number, which will hopefully work everywhere in Europe: +44 7365 003407.
Very Best to All!
Mike + Cookie