Research and Funding
We’re going to London! And Paris!
By we, I mean Cookie, Sis, and I. BK was invited, but he’s rather like a cake in that he doesn’t travel well.
That reminds me of a story about my Sis’s friend Carmen:
Many, many years ago, when there was still an Iron Curtain, Carmen traveled behind it, to visit relatives in Poland. One of the relatives entrusted her with a broken samovar to bring back to her parents in the US. Why was this heirloom so important? Not even Carmen was quite sure, but it seemed to mean a great deal to this relative back in the old country, so she agreed to take it. She also bought scads of stuff in Poland, to the point where she was going to have to pay a ton of duty if she came clean about every little thing she bought. So she underestimated her expenditures, and just hoped they wouldn’t ask too many questions.
She was going through Customs and the official was giving her the side eye. She still managed to behave as if butter wouldn’t melt in her little rosebud mouth. The official either smelled a rat or was otherwise immune to Carmen’s charm. He pointed suspiciously at the box that held the family heirloom and said, “What’s in the box?”
Carmen said, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
Official: “Try me.”
Carmen: “It’s a broken samovar.”
Official: “You’re right, I don’t believe you.”
So Carmen opened the box and revealed the broken samovar. The official seemed at a loss for a sensible response, though he might eventually have asked why she would bother bringing such an item back.
Carmen replied, “Well, I would have baked a cake, but I hear they don’t travel well.”
The official laughed and waved her through, and she was free to go on her merry way. The little outlaw.
So that’s how I learned that cakes, like BK, don’t travel well. With a broken samovar, who can tell? It was already broken.
Anyway, London! With side trips to Stonehenge and Bath.
Paris! With visits to Versailles and Giverny!
We are leaving really soon. We are stoked.
Any tips, hints, ideas for things we shouldn’t miss at any of the above locations? Comments are not only welcome, but highly desirable.
CB's MoJo 