Life in Weyers Cave

Duvets. Proof that America is superior. The duvet is a cover that Europeans put over their quilts and blankets to keep them all together and clean. The idea maybe makes sense, but in practice they are ghastly. All of the duvets we have had in Europe have been so short that even MY feet stick out from the bottoms of the sheets. Perhaps the biggest problem with the duvet is that when you are sleeping, you either are covered or not. So you are either hot or cold. In addition, usually you put a quilt inside the duvet. I big fluffly white one. But they tend to be poorly made and the stuffing shifts so if it is over a year old or has every been cleaned, the stuffing has shifted to the edges so where your body is, it is extremely thin. Since there is no top sheet, they call the bottom sheet the top sheet because it goes on top of the mattress. Europeans are not known for their cleanliness so perhaps they seldom wash the sheets on their beds. But washing and replacing them is extreme...

   

   

   

   

   

Next week we will be in London. It is strange. If we were in the States and going to London on Thursday, we would be spazzing and packing and talking about it nonstop. But here it is kind of ho-hum. Been there, done that. Yeah, it's nice, but kind of like going to dinner at a restaurant you've been to before. A couple of weeks ago I dragged David to a new restaurant. I have wanted to go to this Japanese place and David kept putting me off, but I finally dragged him there. He really enjoyed it. Last night we took Jim and Liliane there, the two local co-hosts of the program (she's a Flemish PhD, he's a Texan - great people). She has lived here all her life and they have been married 20 years, so they thought they knew all the good places. This place is on the river across from the castle. You wear a kimono and they cook at the table. The food is really good quality and we had an outstanding meal. Jim and Liliane don't smoke, so it was really nice to have...

My friend wrote and asked me if they say "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas" here. I had a hard time with this question, because I haven't heard either. Of course, it might be my un-mastery of the language. So I have started looking for it, not just with me, but with others as well. Although there are some Christmas decorations here, there aren't a lot. Some Christmas lights. A few trees and tinsel. A couple of Santa Clauses and St Nicholases. (They do look quite different.) But not a lot. I haven't seen any advertising outside of the ordinary. No Christmas or Holiday flyers or ads. When I started looking, I found one sign that mentioned Christmas, none that alluded to the holidays in general. In the paper I see articles about Christmas activities. "Merry Christmas" doesn't seem to be tabooed by the politically correct crowd here as it is in the states. But I really don't feel like it is Christmas. Even though the kids...