A Lovely Day...

My friend, Fanny, and her husband joined us this week for lunch and a long chat. Fanny and I met when I was in college and decided to spend my first summer in Europe. We're from the same area in the Midwest, but didn't meet until we were in France. Fanny actually connected with me when hotel rooms were assigned in our first city. I was distraught that I was assigned a single room...there just happened to be an extra room and I was the lucky one that had my own place for the night. I was very excited to be spending the summer in Europe, but I was YOUNG and didn't want to be in a hotel room without one of the other students.

Fanny knew I was in tears and we were roomies for the rest of our days in Europe. We spent a lot of time in search of potties all over Europe. For some odd reason, I took a lot of pictures outside the very interesting potties that were new to both of us. Fanny has always been a bit braver than me, and we were joking today about how I stood very timidly on the top of a mountain, looking at the clouds below us, and Fanny kept climbing all over the mountain. We agreed there should have been some safety rails, and I kept saying, "I don't think you should be doing this..."

We visited the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa. Close up, she looks like it has been a hard life. Kind of surprising to see her in person. The process of being swept out of the Louvre was very interesting...the guards literally swept folks out of the building, including us.

I ate the oddest pizza with peas in Italy and was sicker than a dog the next day. Sick, as in barely able to make it to the bus. Sick as in, if I didn't have to move, I wouldn't have moved. Not. An. inch... Fanny took over, made sure I had water, made sure my luggage was transported to the bus, and didn't let them leave me behind when I could barely get my aching bones and muscles to our beloved bus!

Old ladies warned us not to wear our gold necklaces visible, on one street, and through their motions told us that bad guys on motorcycles would rip them off our necks. Okay, gotcha. We had many lunches of bread and cheese, and Fanny introduced me to Cidre, which is a fermented form of cider. Apple cider with a punch.

One of our travel mates became ill and died while we were in Italy. It took months for his body to be returned to the US. We attended a memorial for him, months after his death. Lesson: Do not pass away in a foreign country.

In Germany I danced with the craziest guy in lederhosen. A crazy man. He is probably still dancing. Ask Fanny, she'll tell you. We went to a beer garden, but I don't drink beer. That was very fortunate, as they charged money to use to potties. I've heard that beer in equals lots of trips to the potty. The lines were REALLY looooooooong. The place may have made as much money on the potties as they did on beer that night...There was a lady that worked at the beer garden that could carry a gallon pitcher on each of her fingers. I'm not kidding! Ten gallons of beer between her two hands!!! What a woman! Scared me a lot.

We saw where The Sound of Music was filmed, and saw the little glass house when the song is sung about being 16, going on 17...We went to Mount Saint Michel in France, where you better not get lost! We were able to drive out to the island, but the bus had to depart before the tide came in. I took a walk, but not too far.

We shared so many firsts during that summer, and you really do learn a lot about a person you're traveling with in foreign countries. It seemed funny that we'd lived so close to each other, but didn't meet until our time together in Europe. We returned, continued college, and took our little sisters camping. I rented a tent from my college, and some experienced campers could tell we didn't know what we were doing and helped us put the thing up. I put my finger in a hole in the tent while it rained during the night. The band-aid fix hadn't worked.

You know you've got a true friend if you can enjoy each other as travel buddies through foreign countries where you don't speak the language and survive a camping trip.

Fanny spent most of her career in Europe, working as an occupational therapist. We've spent time together, as time permitted, throughout the years. So...it was really lovely to have lunch together, catch up, and just hang out together. She's married a lovely man from Scotland named Steve, and we got a chance to know him a bit better, too! My friends are in lots of different parts of the country and world and I always appreciate the opportunity to connect and catch up!

P.S. It is also a true friend that walks in, sees the Christmas tree in the corner, and says that the scene is "Uplifting." Thanks, friend!