Cannes france

Ah, now I am with my people! My peeps, who drive Maseratis and Porshes and own yachts. Who wear linen all the time. And, by the way, had more police presence than other city. No riff raff here. Or you are kicked to the curb.

Its a small town with designer shops and a large theater for the Cannes Film Festival. I made sure I have my very best hat from Marshalls and our beach bag from a tourist shop. Chic. Sophisitcated.




I will say this-we use our sunscreen. Thank God. Cause this was a typical look:




Sitting on the Mediterranean Sea for the day was just what the doctor ordered. Despite having to hang around with the common folk. Topless beaches are a norm here. I commented how comfortable Europeans are with their bodies as opposed to Americans. There are men in bikinis with large bulbous stomachs stretched out above the bikini line. And women whose breasts have embraced gravity and swing in the breezes, with no care in the world. You don't like what you see, too bad.

Great lunch at the beach..all in French. God thing we have Google translator. Ok, back on my yacht. Well, Norwegian's yacht.

Florenzia

This was a city I would love to revisit. The architecture alone was breathtaking and a smaller city feel to it. It was packed with tourists, as we suspected. We did do a tour of this city and it was a quick and dirty one. We lunched at Sabastiani, a old restaurant in the heart of Florence, where we dined on pasta, meats, and lots of wine. Dessert was Limoncello cake. I really have to shake my head sometimes at tourists we were travelling with, as a couple around my age had nothing positive to say about anything on the tour. They wanted to be able to shop and take pictures of the architecture. And they couldn't understand anything the tour guide was saying. People, read the descriptions. We are n Florence for 4 hours, then off to Pisa.
Pisa I could easily pass by. It is a leaning tower. And alot of street vendors. Not much else.

Marathon walking for 3 days. It would be nice to give my feet a break.

Rome

I have always had a romantic vision of Rome. Sidewalk cafes, sipping Italian coffee, everyone looking very cosmopolitan on quiet streets. This is so not the case. We did Rome on your own and was promptly dropped of at the Colliseum with a map and some general warnings and information. Now, we have been able to get around most European cities we have visited and this one proved to be the most challenging.


No street signs on many of the streets. Bad enough they are in italian, but some don't exist. I asked a vendor what street we were on, he vaguely pointed to my map and mumbled and answer. I asked a police office f he spoke English-he said no and turned away. Not very helpful. FInally, after an hour, we got our bearing sand set off to see all the highlights of ZRome in 6 hours or less. not an easy task. Street sellers are aggressive and pushy...and they are everywhere. I think i was asked to buy a selfie stick 87 times.

Everywhere was crowded..and again,m people trying to sell you tours to see the sites you are standing in front of. That cost no money to see. We did have a good lunch of Pizza and fresh pasta before we tackled the Vatican.
We were told the subway system was extremely simple-only 2 lines. They started a third line, and got to the third station and discovered ancient artifacts and construction has halted indefinitely until archiologists can study the area. So, yes, good news-2 lines. Bad news-don't ride it. Pick pockets everywhere. Someone tried to get into my purse, but I was on high alert and noticed and shooed this your 20 something girl away.

Vatican was a version of Rome on crack. We did make it to St. peter's square, but thats about it. Too much for Maddie and too much for us.

An overwhelming place that is better done in an off season in at least 4 days.

Sorrento and Pompeii

I did have high expectations with the Almalfi coast and Pompeii. And by far, it exceeded it.

Pompeii stands in a time warp from 78 AD. Yes, AD. Yet there was evidence that nor much had changed in the last 2000 years. We had issues with drainage and donkey shit in the c=streets so they built stones to get from one side of the road to anothe so no one had to step in, well, shit. They had the rich, who had benches in front of their homes for the less fortunate who needed to be fed. They would sit on the bench outside the home and wait until someone came anfd gave them a meal. The longer the bench, the richer one was, as they were able to feed a number of people. Imagine if we had that today.

There were bordellos everywhere, stone beds still in tact, with pictures 2000 years old-a menu of sorts, of what services were offered and for so much. I also found a number of stone penises out side many homes-tour guide said there were more penises than people in Pompeii. Apparently you were to rub it everytime you left and returned to your house to bring good luck. Hmmm...Freud might have a field day with that.

See, I only bring you the greatest highlights in my opinion. And what continues to make one uneasy, Vesuvius stands in the background, still very active. Seems to stir every 50 years.

Sorrento
It had to be one of the highlights of our trip. Beautiful blue waters, quiet, quaint town, very nice Italians, a easy town to maneuveur in...just a great experience and return in a heart beat. Our last stop was a farmhouse where we learned how olive oil was made as well as mozzerella cheese. And then we wwere treated to a delicious lunch of meats, cheeses, pasta, lemoncello cake, and alot of wine. Temps were in the high 70's, with cool Mediterranean breeze that flows all the time. I think I made some friends on the bus. Mom, be forewarned-the person I made friends with wants to get her PH'd at Hopkins and is going to stay at your house.

Tomorrow is Rome. A class by itself.

Europe June of 2015

One never knows how much your depend on the Internet until you don't have it for a while. Cruise ship costs for Internet were ridiculous and it was difficult to find wifi on the short times we were on land.
So I ma going to play catch up, as we are now in Barcelona until Thursday. It actually feels good to be in a roomy, yet simple European hotel room. Equipped with a bidet of course.

In any case, we began the trip in Barcelona, where we took a quick cruise to Barcelona's Cathedral before boarding our ship. We just got a taste of this beautiful city until we return in a week.

Day 1 on the ship was a sailing day. The cruise ship houses 4500 people, 3K guests and 1700 employees. It is the biggest ship Norwegian has and it felt that way. Just pulling out of Barcelona required some maneuvering, as it completely turns the boat around to sail out.

I want to say I was most impressed with the talent in the entertainment portion of the ship, but I always felt like I was in an SNL skit and Bill Murray was going to jump out from behind the piano. They did have circ de soleil, which was quite good. So, we spent a lot of time at the pool. And having a beverage card soothed the eye rolling, as we could drink to our hearts content. A good ting and as bad thing really.

Tomorrow I am reporting on Naples.

More library humor

Article appeared in the Huffington Post.....



In the 15 years that I've worked at my local public library, I've learned that we librarians do plenty of things for our patrons that aren't in our job descriptions. After a patron asked me to change her flat tire, and another wanted to check out our pencil sharpener, I logged onto my favorite librarian hangout on Face Book and asked: What's the oddest thing a patron has ever asked you to do?

The first response?

Someone just asked me for a good book to read on the toilet.

Quickly followed by:

A patron who was on his way to the casino wanted to rub my red hair for good luck.

Last week a woman came in asking for my help to get the witches and demons to stop pinching her.

A patron once asked me to sit on his lap. (I laughed at him.)

Unusual Patron Requests proved to be a hot topic. Within a day, I had over 100 responses, as librarians shared stories about that special patron who:

Asked if she could leave her kids at the circ desk with me while she ran errands.

Wanted me to find books to prove that he was Julius Caesar, reincarnated.

Asked me to tell the man sitting at the computer next to hers to stop controlling her computer with his thoughts.

Brought in a mounted wildebeest head and asked if we could store it in the archives for the summer.

I soon realized that Odd Patron Requests fell into categories. Some requests were from patrons who wanted to look their best -- with our help.

A woman once asked if she could trade pants with me because she was going on a job interview.

A man once asked me to use library tape to remove lint from his suit jacket.

I've been asked my opinion about which frame a patron should select for her new glasses.

One man asked if he could use our community meeting room to shave with an electric razor. ("Is the power out at your house?" I asked. "Nope," he said. No further explanation.)

After asking me a reference question, one patron pulled a toothbrush from her fanny pack and went to town on her teeth as I spoke. And when that was done, she brought out the dental floss.

Some requests were car-related:

People have been known to come to the reference desk and ask if we have jumper cables.

A patron once asked to borrow my boss's car.

One of our regulars asked me to drive her to a town two hours away so she could look at apartments.

There were numerous requests for Library Hanky Panky:

Last week, a patron asked me to have sex with him in the alley. I didn't.

A 50-year-old guy asked our Children's Librarian to join him in the rest room. No dice.

One patron asked me to meet him in the copy room. (Wink wink.) Sorry, no.

I once had a male patron in his 50s who wouldn't leave the reference desk until I told him he was naughty. (Handled by stating, deadpan, no eye contact, "Go on with your bad self, then.")

Librarians have been asked to break the law:

A male patron once offered me $100 if I'd go into somebody's yard and steal a cactus.

A patron once offered me $50 to make her a fake passport.

One patron wanted me to tell her my son's social security number so she could use it to get more financial assistance. (I said no.)

Many unusual library questions are medical in nature:

One patron appeared in my office doorway holding a cotton swab and a petri dish and began by saying "You can totally say no to this...." (I did.)

Let's just say that if I wanted to diagnose Athlete's Foot, I'd have a MD, not a MLIS.

"Does this look infected?"

Some patrons want to take our innate helpfulness and eagerness to serve the library community to the next level:

One patron phoned and asked me to check out a list of books for her and drop them off at her house.

A patron once asked for my home phone number so she could phone me with reference questions when I wasn't at work.

Patrons have asked me to do their taxes, clean their homes, and perform at their children's birthday parties.

A patron once asked me if he could borrow $7,000.

A woman once asked me to go look for a dead body she was sure was buried by a lake, because the police wouldn't listen to her.

We are also called upon to Identify Things:

A patron once asked me to identify a dead bug she'd taped to a piece of notebook paper.

I was asked to ID the snake a patron had caught in a bucket.

"There's a brownish-grey fluffy animal under my porch. What is it?"

We've also been called upon to research a variety of interesting topics:

One patron wanted me to find a book to teach her dog German.

I've been asked to research how to avoid being cloned without your permission.

A patron once asked me to direct her to the books about Brazil written specifically for Unborn Children.

I once received a reference query from an inmate a nearby correctional facility for "books on how to levitate."

Librarians are helpful by nature, which means that often we're just fine with going above and beyond our job descriptions to perform small acts of library kindness:

An elderly woman just asked me to tie her shoes for her. (I did. She was too old to bend down and reach them herself.)

A patron recently asked me to help her find the tune and lyrics to patriotic songs so she could sing them to her Marine boyfriend on their upcoming road trip to the state capital. (Sadly, this woman had a mental illness, and there was no boyfriend or road trip, but I treated the question as if there were.)

Despite the odd requests, we librarians remain undaunted. We continue to love library work. And of course, everyone loves a library story with a happy ending. For instance?

A divorced dad came to Story Hour, asked me out, then asked me to marry him!! I did!

crazy times

What a whirlwind as of late. We are wrapping up the end of an era at Chesapeake High school, which is okay with me. Maddie finished strong, despite a very serious case of senioritis. She received 2 local scholarships, in addition to the generosity of NC State, which will cost less than sending her to Frostburg State University. At least this year-guessing everything will go up next year.

Graduation was fine, unless I looked at pics of her getting on the school bus on her first day of kindergarten. It really does go by with a blink of the eye.

She finished 5th in her class of 340-VERY impressive. And in 2 months, she will move to North Carolina. And I will finally be able to clean her room the way it should be and have a guest room! UH....no, it will always be her room. A shrine. Yeah, that's the ticket.

I will miss her greatly. She is my Ravens fan, my sci fi film go to girl, my teatime partner, and my baking buddy. She has always shared my love of great food and great road trips. I could go on with comments about her kindness and compassion, but I won't embarrass her. Needless to say, there will a great void in the house when she leaves. That Andrew will try his hardest to fill.