BACK FROM PRAGUE

THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2004

Now that we’re back from Prague, I’ve started to write my trip report, which will be posted on the SlowTrav site as soon as it’s finished. Right now it looks like it’s going to be a small book. There was just so much to see and do and talk about that I just keep typing and typing.

We haven’t been to the grocery yet, but I plan to go later today. So far we’ve had enough stuff in the freezer and pantry to get us by…thank goodness we brought creamer back with us from the states!

The garden seems to have done okay while we were gone, but it was cool and rainy. The true test will come now that it’s sunny all day and getting hotter. So far it looks as if the site I picked for my impatiens may get an hour of two of midday sun, and that might be too much for them. I’d hate to have to plant begonias there…I just think they’re so unimaginative…but we’ll see how it goes this summer. A few of the plants looked a little droopy, but a good soaking perked them up. Everything seems to be settling in and sprouting new growth. We still need to visit the garden center to look at the last plant that was listed in the garden design. If I don’t like it, I don’t think the spot will look empty, so I’m keeping an open mind. I still need a few more impatiens for some pots, and four more plumbago plants to complete the garden.

We added more mortar to the barbeque before we left, but it’s still a little wobbly. Art wants to add some mortar at the very bottom by tipping the whole thing back…this of course scares me to death! I’m going to try to make some sort of pastry bag type thing so that I can squeeze out the mortar under the base.

We met Marushka’s uncle today…the one from Detroit. His name is Frank and his wife was from San Venanzo. Frank is an American, so Marco and Marushka told him about us so that he would have someone to talk to…they said his Italian was only as good as mine, but this morning I found out that they were wrong…his Italian is better than mine OR Art’s…a LOT better!

Frank told me that they had hoped to retire to San Venanzo, and had bought an apartment here about six years ago. Unfortunately the wife became ill and died not long ago. Frank said he hates the winters in Michigan so he’s moved to Italy. He stopped by to say hello this morning, and is going to come back later in the day for a proper visit.

I’ll post here when my trip report is finished, and also plan to post some pictures on the SlowTrav site as well. Til then, that’s all for now.