Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

Well! We flew through the worst snow storm of all time, but made it to Europe, had a fabulous week, and lived to tell the tale! We are all jet-lagged at the moment. It's amazing, though, the amount of teaching you can do while your internal clock is entirely screwed up.

Spills made friends from all over, discovered the world's tiniest but most immaculately tiled cat door with the words "Casa Gato" on it, performed Sanjaya songs for a whole pile of bemused senior citizens, was proposed to by a retired British school teacher at the top of a mountain, walked the ramparts of her first real castle (in princess regalia), was knocked over by the Atlantic ocean, ate a lot of glorious Portuguese frozen goodies, made friends with every stray animal (and there were plenty), tried octopus, visited the site of Henry the Navigator's school, bartered with a street seller from Africa ("Make me your best offer, my dear!"), attended a real ancient Roman spa, and consumed a lot of yummy custard tarts.

Her marriage proposal took place at the end of a highly memorable lunch, during which she and the retired teacher in question (James) were in complete cahoots with each other, giggling away together shamelessly while their respective luncheon parties looked on and rolled their eyes. James was highly piqued when she turned him down with the explanation that she was going to marry Robbie.

James: "But does this Robbie fellow have any money?"

Spilly: [with energy] OH, YEAH!!!

James: But I haven't told you about my house in Manchester. Did you know it has fifteen rooms? And did you know my library has over ten thousand books in it? And did you know that I have three cars? Except that the Rolls is in the shop at the moment.

Spills: N-O spells NO.

James: Can he tell you jokes like I can? Does he know the name of every fish? Because I do. I know because the fish tell it to me. I go right up to the edge of the aquarium like this, and I put my face close, and I say, "What's your name?" And do you know what they all say?

Spills: [in a hushed tone] What?

James: They all say, "Bob."

Nothing he tried could sway her, but he did give us his card and ask that we come to stay with him in England. And then he slipped her a 5 Euro bill, as if to seal the deal. Amazing the doors that a Spills can open.

As for Mommy and Daddy, we had an excellent time sampling the cuisine of the region. I am a definite fan of sardine paste, olives, cheese, and chewy Portuguese bread. I also like vino branco, and can order white coffee with the best of them.