UK Adventure

16 May, Sunday: Woke up at 7:15 after sleeping like a baby. Took my shower before anyone else was up, but when I got dressed, Stasha and Alexander were up. Rob and Bea slept until 9:15 when I woke them up.

Wrote out yesterday’s notes in one of the courtyards of the house. Sunshine, birds singing, no sound of cars or people. Exquisite.

This morning I asked Stasha why they live only in the older small section of the house. She said they are more comfortable there and they enjoy having the new part for guests.

While I was typing yesterday’s notes into the computer, it suddenly popped and Bea yelled, “It’s on fire.” Thank God it wasn’t my computer and thank God we were home at the time. It was the converter that I had my camera charger plugged into. She quickly unplugged it and tried to take it outside. At this point you could see that there was a tiny fire inside the converter. She jumped over some furniture and tripped over a plant and tried to open the door to the front terrace—and it was locked. She finally was able to flip open the lock and took the burning converter outside. Very soon it burst into flames. Quite a sight. I told her she was my hero.

Earlier, breakfast was again a superb experience with many of the same sumptuous presentations. The meat was veal sausages from Poland. Again, I ate way too much—especially of the breads and cheeses, but it was so good!

We piled into the van and went to see the statue of the Little Mermaid in the harbor. Because of the Copenhagen Marathon many of the streets were closed and we had to park at quite a distance. But the walk along the shore was wonderful. Warm and sunny weather. So many people were out enjoying the day. We took tons of pictures.

Then we went to a Laundromat (wasketoria) so R and B could quickly do their wash from Poland. Poland was Bea’s home for the first 18 years of her life, so they spent a week there visiting Grandma and other relatives. Rob loved seeing where B grew up and he learned lots of Polish in that week. Beata was so proud of him.

While at the Laundromat we drank Carlsberg’s Carl’s Beer. Tasty. Then of course I had to find a toilet. None anywhere. I even looked in a bodega. Found a public toilet outside on the street—a pissoir. The facility was a squat toilet which I’d previously experienced in Japan, but this one had water running though it nearly continuously plus a hand washing mechanism. But I still hate squat toilets!

Then we went to a section of town where people have summer garden houses. The houses are so small, almost like doll houses, but so cute. We took many pictures.

After we returned home, Rob helped Alexander with yard work, Stasha began dinner, and Beata and I ironed. I hope that realization doesn’t cause heart attacks in my family members, but I really did iron.

posted by Jerilyn Dufresne, author @ 17:29