Stockholm!

Visiting with Good Friends -- Stockhomites  (The lovely lady in the middle lived with us in Portland one summer long ago.)

Ut FART!

Still have so much to write about London, yet find myself in Sweden!  Am writing from our hotel overlooking a large downtown square.  Ulys and the kids were just down there at the farmer's market (4 large stalls all selling exactly the same thing).  He bargained and got the strawberries and cherries down from $10/lb to $7/lb -- though he thinks he wasn't given a full lb.  

The man asked him,  "where are you from?"
-- US
"OH!  Welcome to Sweden!"
-- Thank you, where are you from?
"Bulgaria."
-- OH!  Welcome to Sweden!

When we landed at Arlanda International airport, I said,  "Hey!  We're back in Oregon."  On the way from airport to downtown, Tai, "This is just like Portland, except for the buildings."

Ulysses started taking photos while we were still in the airport --  "Look at this real wood floors and minimalist decor!  Amazing!"

We've been here about an hour and the kids are STILL laughing hysterically after saying "Ut Fart"  over and over again.  They are under the impression that that means "Exit" -- so are saying things (well gasping things, given their laughter), such as "Ut fart my bed-en!"   "Ut fart the couch-en!"  "Ut-fart the bathroom!""

Maybe I'm too provincial . .

BUT  I never heard of a Fish Pedicure until today --- so I had one!
Apparently diminutive fish -- piranha cousins -- like to eat dead skin.  They love, love, love to chew away dead skin and callouses.  Very strange, but not painful, sensation.  10 minutes wasn't long enough . . .

I should buy my own.

As you can imagine it is QUEEN O RAMA around here -- with the Diamond Jubilee (60 years as Queen!) and yesterday's celebration of her birthday -- the Trooping of the Colour.  We could have gone, but couldn't face the crowds -- might have stood for hours to stare at the back of a British head, rather than to gaze upon the Royal Family in person -- though I would have like to.  I actually have a great deal of admiration for the Queen; and Kate and William seem pretty darn cool.  I would also have liked to see the horses  (Windsor Whites and Cleveland Browns).

All the museums have special Queen exhibits (in addition to their regular Queen exhibits).  My favorite is a wall of large photos showing families with Queen stuff at home -- and a wall where visitors can write about Queen stuff they have in their homes.  I'll put the photos to the left (click to see them all) and my favorite comments:

London is FANTASTIC!!!!

We are actually having sunny warm days and a wonderful time.  I feel completely at home here -- I remember that that's how I felt when I lived here so many years ago.  At age 22 I went back to the states to go to college -- but would have put it off even longer had the weather been like this!

Here's some photos of London from the London Eye: