LONDON!

OK, so it has been quite a while since my last post to this blog. In that time, Jackie, Sebi, Aleeza and I have been on a whirlwind tour of Europe and the UK. We visited Athens, Budapest, Dublin and Lancaster (in the north of the UK). Last Monday we arrived here in London and have been settling in to our flat and exploring the city ever since. The London-term International Enrichment students arrive today in the afternoon and we'll all be meeting up for a group luncheon/supper as soon as they've dropped their bags at their apartments.

I can only hint at the various adventures we've had over the past month. So, here are some of the highlights:

1. The ferry from Chenia, Crete to Piraeus (the post of Athens). We had cabins and were able to sleep but got up in time to stand on deck and watch the sunrise over Piraeus.

2.In Athens, the Acropolis, the Temple of Zeus, the Plaka and Old Olympic (Panathenic) stadium were all highlights. The Museum of Archeology was impressive, full of ancient Grecian (and Hellenic) pottery, statues and jewels. It was blazing hot and dusty while we were in Athens and we took a siesta every day in the afternoon. Luckily we missed the fires.

3. In Budapest, we stayed with Jackie's dear old freind Janos and his wife Gabi. He's a sociologist turned economic consultant and she is an art historian. Together they run a foundation devoted to the preservation of Roma (Gypsy) art. When we arrived they were preparing to move to Estonia where Janos has some sort of economics-related job with the Hungarian embassy so we had the place to ourselves for the last couple of days.

They overwhelmed us with hospitality, including fixing us a meal of traditional Hungarian sour cherry soup and Janos' special noddles with paprika and onions.

Besides seeing our friends, we also explored the city. We climbed up to the castle and wandered around the banks of the Danube near the exquisite Parliment building.

The kids, though, really enjoyed our outing to the City Park (which features a castle of its own) and especially to the grand Szechenyi Bath. The Bath is housed in an enormous late 19th century, Neo-Baroque complex and features three pools: a warm one which has a whirlpool and a jacuzzi in the center and fountains emptying into it; a hot one for soaking where old men play chess on water-proof boards; and an ice-cold one for swimming laps. We stayed for the entire afternoon.

Well, I have to run. I will post later about Dublin, Lancaster and our first week in London. Chow...