A Malta Christmas and a Jerusalem New Year!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and that you all will have a safe New Year's Eve!

Let me just say that our pre-Christmas privately escorted tour of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London by the “Lay Canon” (the highest non-ordained official in the church) – from Nevada City, CA. Peter was gracious and incredibly knowledgeable and took us places that ordinary “tourists” never get to see. Then we got to sit in the choir loft for Evensong, with the boy’s choir singing right next to us. It was one of the most sublime experiences of Wally’s life, and Maria thought it was pretty cool, too.

My classes are done, except for a make-up class next week, and our papers –which are 100% of the grade in both courses – due in mid to late January.  I am excited to be doing so much exciting academic work, and it’s possible our project on an actor/director’s edition of Shakespeare’s works will find a publisher soon, too. Keep your fingers crossed!

In the meantime, I am examining a document at the British Library from the English Ambassador to Denmark with a list of Christmas dinner guests for December of 1585. The list includes the names Rosenkrantz and Guildensterne, and the name of Belonious is on it. This is significant because of the date (the Stratford man did not come to London before 1589 at the earliest), the fact that it was a private letter to the Queen and her ministers (and so never published), and the fact that these names with only slight variations pop up in Hamlet, a play which has no reliable composition date attached to it and was referred to as early as 1589, making the Stratford man an extremely unlikely author of the play. Still working out the details, but it may make an interesting article down the road.

Since mid-December, we have been busy! We found a deal on a time share from our company (Diamond Resorts International) in Malta and decided to spend Christmas there! We then found a (relatively) cheap airfare from London and took off on December 20, returning on December 27th.

Since we had always wanted to visit this Mediterranean island nation off the coast of Italy, we were excited. The weather is warm and semi-tropical, the languages are English and Maltese, and the Euro is the currency. It is a mixture of English, Italian, Arab and Spanish influences, both in its traditions and it architecture, and is striking in so many ways. The people are warm, friendly, and have a great sense of humor, too. We met many talented and helpful folks while we were there, and we made many new friends. We visited several theatres, including the magnificent Manoel National Theatre in Valletta and the Ta' Qali Amphitheatre in the national park, and are looking to arrange a cultural exchange or visit from our folks to do productions there.  

The churches were amazing. Maria is downloading the pictures on to our Facebook page now, and we’ll give you some websites at the end of this blog, too. The country is 90% Catholic, and there is still a very strong connection with the historic Knights of Malta, so you would expect the churches to be grand. They are. There’s no space to put another piece of art or gilding or a monument anywhere else in these places. In Valletta, St. John’s Co-Cathedral (no, that’s not a typo) is incredible, and so is St. Paul’s in Mdina.

Driving in Malta was an adventure, too. We do not have a car here in London, so it was our first real experience with driving on the left hand side.  No, no accidents...just an adventure. You know you're in trouble when the official guidebook says 1) "Cars are supposed to drive on the left hand side of the road, but many drivers do not follow this rule", and 2) "The many potholes are sometimes quite jarring". Both of these statements are true!

The best thing about Malta? The climate, the beaches, the history, the food – they’re all contenders, certainly, but our favorite thing in Malta was probably the people. They are so warm, so welcoming, so friendly. They come from a multitude of backgrounds, but they all were very charming and sincere. It’s truly a magical place, even with such oddities as “disco bowling” and the traffic “rules” and a street in Paceville (near our hotel, actually) that is basically all nightclubs and bars on s long set of stairs (I don’t know how many drunks fall down these wide, block-long stairs, but it must be dozens every summer). A memorable visit, and I hope we can return one day.

On New Year's Eve, we are going to see the amazing, talented and really nice Mark Rylance in "Jerusalem" at the Apollo Theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue in the West End. Besides being a smart, honest, down-to-earth all-round good guy, he is "the best actor of his generation" (the critics agree with me) and won the Olivier and Tony Awards for this play in London and on Broadway. We have great seats and will hopefully be able to talk to Mark after the show, if he's not too tired. Then it's off to the Thames to watch  the fireworks and ring in 2012 in a way we have never done before! Should be fun! Happy New Year, everyone!

Here are some websites for you. Thanks for reading!!!!

Short history of St. John’s: 

http://www.maltawiki.com/wiki/St._John's_Co-Cathedral_in_Malta


Inside Photo, St. John’s Co-Cathedral, Valletta:

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Europe/Malta/South/Malta/Valletta/photo1018560.htm

St. Paul’s Cathedral, Mdina: 

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=st.paul's+cathedral+malta&hl=en&rlz=1R2ADRA_enGB458&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=CzX7Tq_lGI6n8gOI97GlAQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEEQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=556

What a great two weeks! (Again!)

What a busy couple of weeks it’s been! We have seen wonders here in London, beginning with a stirring performance of Hamlet at the Young Vic Theatre in Southwark. (That’s pronounced “suth-ick” for those of you who may be wondering.) A brilliant performance by Michael Sheen as Hamlet, a great set – the show takes place in an insane asylum – with terrific scenes and a surprise ending that will literally make you gasp. Incredible stuff.

We also got back twice to the British Library, where Maria did her genealogy thing and I did the Shakespeare thing, enjoying every moment of it – including our foray into “Eat Street” behind the Kings Cross/St. Pancras Station for great street food, including NYC hot dogs and really good Mexican burritos. Yum.

Classes are going very well, although I am trying to make more time for my end-of-semester projects so they don’t bog me down at Christmas.(They are due mid-January and are 100% of my grade.) I have made a good start on all of them, fortunately, and have even begun some in-depth research on the subject of my MA Thesis, a proposed system for examining all the evidence in the Shakespeare authorship controversy. That is an exciting prospect, but I must do the coursework well too, so it is a motivation for me to complete that as soon as possible. My instructors seem pleased with my work so far, though, and that’s good.

This weekend was amazing. Saturday night we had a traditional British Christmas dinner with the BFI Group, Brunel international students, which was really fun and tasty too. We started with the traditional Christmas crackers (packages that blow up as you pull them apart, and have small gifts, jokes, and/or candy inside). Then we had turkey and dressing and vegetables for the meal, and Christmas pudding cake and mince pies for dessert. Lots of fun, and Maria and I sat next to students from China, Croatia, and Iran.  In fact, today (Tuesday), we are having Farzad, Elahe, and Masheed over to our apartment for a special meal. Spanish/Mexican cuisine, i.e., Maria’s famous chicken enchiladas and Spanish fried rice. Also her fabulous home-made salsa, although without the smoke flavoring, since they don’t have that here. Yumm –O!

The most amazing part of the last two weeks for me has been the first public showing of a new documentary film at The Globe called “Last Will. And Testament” last Sunday. Maria and I were privileged to be in the small (100 person) audience as Mark Rylance introduced the film-makers and the panel of experts. We saw the film in three ‘acts’ and at every break we discussed what we had seen with experts who had appeared in the film, including Diana Price, Roger Stritmatter, and my Professor, Bill Leahy, who is the head of the Programme here and a respected scholar in the authorship issue, too. It was really well done. The film, after disposing of the man from Stratford-Upon-Avon as a possible authorship candidate most convincingly, goes on to postulate that other candidates should be considered, choosing to focus on Edward DeVere, the 17^th Earl of Oxford as the leading candidate. There are powerful arguments here against the Stratford man and for DeVere, but I invite all of my readers to think for themselves and read all sides. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust has been really nasty about this as the authorship issue is highlighted in the recent film Anonymous, so please read both sides before you decide. There is also a Statement of Reasonable Doubt available should you wish to sign it. I will include the links below. Be aware that David Kathman and James Shapiro are pretty nasty in their comments, and have been for some time. I am leaning to Oxford, but remain convinced that I am not informed enough to make a decision on the issue. Perhaps one day!

We had a great Sunday Night Dinner at Wagamama’s – although I did not get the Toffee Ginger Cheesecake with the caramel chili sauce this time, it was still delicious! Another great time here in London!

Thanks for reading!

The Shakespeare Authorship Trust site:

http://www.shakespeareanauthorshiptrust.org.uk/

The Shakespeare Authorship site:

http://shakespeareauthorship.com/

The Shakespeare Oxford Society (U.S.)

http://www.shakespeare-oxford.com/

The Mary Sidney home page, which features a book written by my friend and professor next semester, Robin Williams:

http://www.marysidneysociety.org/

The British Library and American Hot Dogs

Hello, everyone! It's been a busy two weeks here in London, and there are several highlights we'd like to share with you.

I have had a hectic two weeks of classes and research, but lots of fun and discovery. We both discovered the wonder of the British Library this past week, and have returned to find even more amazing things.

My instructor for the Research Methodologies Course, Dr. Elizabeth Evenden, was the chief bibliographer for the Holinshed Chronicles Project last year before an illness forced her to concede the honor to a colleague. She is a magnificent source for the British Library, and took us on a learning tour of the facility. Maria and I both secured our Reader's Passes, which enables us to enter and use all of the Rare Book Rooms in the library. Liz had already "reserved" the 1577 (original) edition of Holinshed's Chronicles, the enormous history source from which Shakespeare created plays such as Macbeth and King Lear, and we got to learn how to treat a rare text by handling it (carefully!) and reading it ourselves. We were also trained on how to discover the watermarks on ancient paper using a special light behind the page, and other amazing things as well, and are now "trained bibliographers" able to access all texts,available in the Britsih Library. Next month, we get to read from a First Folio.

I have now studied from original quartos of King Lear (1619), Titus Andronicus (1607), and many others, as well as the original copies of Palladis Tamia, Greene's Groatsworth of Wit. It feels incredible to hold history in your hands, my friends. When Maria and I walked into the rare Book Room, we both knew we had died and gone to heaven. We still feel that way after our second visit on Friday. Maria, while looking for extinct peerages in the Humanities Room, found a six-volume called Segar Baronagium Genealogicum, with every English peerage and full family history listed in it. Since she traces her family line back through several of these lines, it is truly a providential find for her personally. If anybody out there thinks they're related to royalty, or wants to trace their lineage (in any country), Maria is unquestionably the person to find that information for you! E-mail her at genealogy@wam-enterprises.com for more information. Her clients are astounded at the "finds" she makes: not only information, but records and pictures are out there of your relatives, so just let her know you're interested!

We wandered down King's Boulevard behind Kings Cross Station (Harry Potter's Hogwarts train left from Platform 9 and3/4 there!) also. Known as Eat Street on Wed-Thur-Fri, the vendors there have some amazing things to eat. We decided to go with the Big Apple Hotdogs...His sign said "If you find a better dog anywhere, I'll eat my cat!" OMG...amazing dogs, next week I'm going for the BBQ ribs. Saw the film Anonymous again last night too -- it's incredibly good the second time, too! Actually, even better the second time...!

Oh yes, our New Year's Eve plans are set. We're seeing Mark Rylance in Jerusalem that night, then (possibly) seeing him after the show! We will see Mark, Vanessa Redgrave, and several friends on Sunday November 28 at the Globe Theatre for a special screening of a new film Last Will and Testament, followed by a panel discussion with leading Shakespearean scholars, including my professor Bill Leahy, our friends Roger Stritmatter, and Charles Beauclerk, who we hosted in Sacramento during his CA visit many years ago. Wally is really looking forward to meeting Diana Price, since he is working on a model for evaluating evidence relating to the Shakespeare authorship question, and Diana is the authority on that subject! Should be fun!

Thanks for reading! More later!

Happy Halloween From London!

It's been an amazing two weeks here! The weather has remained beautiful -- it's 60 degrees here today -- and we have had a fantastic weekend we've got to tell you about!

On Friday, we decided to get an early start and go into central London, about a 45-minute Tube ride from Uxbridge. When we arrived, Maria and I went directly to Westminster Abbey, because one of Maria's great-grandfathers is buried there. I stayed outside because of the horrendous admission prices they charge (we had forgotten it was about $25.00 each), and Maria went in instead. She did the smart thing- she asked one of the attendants about finding her relative. He not only conducted up to their very beautiful private library, he copied their records for her and let her take photographs of the site (Westminster Abbey strictly forbids photography!) She was so excited! SHe's really getting into her family tree and those of her clients, too, so anybody who wants quality geneological research done, get it from the woman who can now trace her ancestry back directly to both William The Conqeuror and Malcom and Duncan of Scotland. (I've always said she was a royal pain sometimes...)
After that adventure, we went to a little Italian place near the Leicester Square TKTS booth and had some great, cheap, pasta for lunch, then walked up Charing Cross Road to the "cinema", as they call their movie theatres here in Great Britain. By the way, they take their Halloween seriously here: there was a 100-person line just to get into a trendy Halloween costume store, and it got longer as the day progressed. Arriving at the cinema, we got our tickets for the new movie Anonymous, which we have highly anticipated seeing, since it included a pretty radical theory on the Shakespeare Authorship Question, namely that Edward DeVere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, in fact wrote the plays attributed to William Shakespeare of Straford-upon-Avon. Having met the director, Roland Emmerich, the screenwriter, John Orloff, and the star, Rhys Ifans the previous Monday at an event in London, we were VERY anxious to see the film!

It was everything a good Shakespearean play should be: a fine ensemble cast, murder, comedy, royalty, and pathos, and I'm going to have to see it again just to get everything I missed the first time! The backgrounds are beautifully created, the scenes are staggeringly realistic, and the acting is uniformly brilliant. Please go see it, even if your old English teacher is doing somersaults in her tomb...! And join the revolution if you so desire: one site I like is http://www.shakespeare-oxford.com/, which has numerous followers and a tremendously balanced FAQ about the authorship question.

And if you're looking for reviews of the film, let me just say that Rex Reed and Roger Ebert and huge number of good critics liked it, and that's pretty high praise. Also note that there is an enormous amount of nasty name-calling and other vituperative behavior coming from those fully invested in the Stratford legend: as you all know, when you don't have the facts on your side, you insult the other side. It's pretty sad behavior, actually, and I think they're going to lose the battle eventually if only because so many of them are so pompous, rude, and condescending. One "expert", author and professor James Shapiro, intimated that the director (who is German) was actually a Nazi at one event, then proceeded to actually lie about Shakespeare's will and the possible inventory associated with it, but never found. It's kind of sad. Anyway, on to brighter things!

After Anonymous, and after seeing Alfie Boe on a side street (he is the star of Les Miserables here and played the role to world-wide acclaim at the 25th anniversary show), we had a quick dinner and went to get house seats for a show we have never seen and which has been in London since before I was born. That's right, we saw The Mousetrap Friday night! Great fun, and still playing to packed houses after almost 60 years! We saw Performance Number 24,555. Amazing, funny, and Maria had it figured out -- at least down to 2 suspects, one of which did it -- by interval (intermission is called interval over here)! She must have been a cop in a previous life...! Definitely a full day, and another great one!

Saturday morning, we were up early again and headed into central London, this time on the south side of the Thames and the National Theatre. It's pretty ugly on the outside, 1976-era concrete and dark glass, but the inside is functional and beautiful, too. Thanks to our friend Robin, we got a fantastic tour of the 3 theatres in the complex, and even got to "meet" one of the puppets from their incredible hit show War Horse. It was truly amazing to see how a very large thrust-stage theatre (the Olivier), a traditional proscenium theatre (the Lyttleton) and a up-to400-seat "black-box" theatre (the Cottesloe) are all integrated together back stage and in the shops. We highly recommend that tour, and it will be getting on the 2013 London trip itinerary!

After a morning tour, we got to see a new play, The Veil, at the Lyttleton Theatte. The acting, the sets and the costumes were all excellent, but the play's ending disappointed us both. It seems that the script was not quite as fully fleshed out as it could have been, possibly because the playwright also directed the show. Those of you who know me well know that one of my "doing theatre rules" is that you never direct yourself on stage. After seeing this show, it seems that maybe you shouldn't direct your own play on stage either. In any case, it was a quite fabulous afternoon, complete with double-cream ice cream at interval (I had caramel-hazelnut, which was simply divine!) Another wonderful day of discovery in London!

Sunday was church in the morning, studying in the afternoon, and then Buster, Maria and I settled in to watch a show at our favorite theatre venue -- Lakeland! Through the magic of Skype and our friend Leslie Carver, we had seats for the last performance of Jekyll and Hyde. it was great to see the show, and very nice to see all of the wonderful people who are taking care of Lakeland while we're gone. Thank you, everyone!

But it's Monday and I have to do two major presentations for classes on Wednesday, plus I have a Tuesday morning appointment with my advisor on possible dissertation topics. Thanks for reading!

Lunch at Rules Restaurant With Our Delightful Cousins and The Tempest With Voldemort

Another beautiful week in London, and we actually got to go into the West End on Saturday for a wonderful lunch with our newly-found cousins, Martin and Cathy Hurst. Before leaving home, Maria sent an e-mail out to a second-cousin of Wally's letting him know we would be in London and like to meet him. Martin and his wife Cathy met us for a wonderful lunch a "Rules". For anyone who has not eaten there, "OMG". We had a reservation for 1:15, got there around 1:00 and stayed until 5:45. First of all "Rules" is the ultimate in English fare. Meeting cousins and bonding with them for several hours intensified the enjoyment. http://www.rules.co.uk/ is the website: visit it and you will be amazed at the menu, especially the wild game, most of which is raised and bred on Rule's own wildlife preserve.

At Wally's urging -- he is studying Shakespeare, after all -- we then went and got "house seats" for The Tempest, starring Ralph Fiennes, at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, just down from Picadilly Circus. This recently refurbished theatre has a grand and glorious history and has hosted performers such as Ellen Terry, John Gielgud, and most recently Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in a production of Waiting For Godot last year. We seated ourselves in the seventh-row center seats -- one of the advantages of being a producer is that you really can get terrific seats to shows anywhere (paying full price, of course!) -- and prepared to see a great production of Shakespeare's last play, his "farewell to theatre", as it has been described.

 We were somewhat disappinted, then, when we saw a bunch of terrifc actors in a not-so-great production. The set was fine, actually it was the old Godot set (confirmed by the staff), and the lighting was well-done, but the "special effects" were not that special, some of the costumes were not very good, and the music was bad, bordering on awful. (There is a music composer listed, but not a music director.) Very surprising, especially from Trevor Nunn, the director of Les Mis, Cats, and a dozen other towering and succesful musicals.

Even the star, Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient, the Harry Potter films), seemed to be off his game last Saturday night. Some of his longer speeches actually took on a "sing-song" delivery at times, and at other times, he grabbed his head like a crazy man trying to stop the really loud voices shouting inside it. The flying was okay, but not really special: the actors playing Ariel went side-to-side and up and down only, no big movements at all, all slow; not very exciting, especially for a spirit who runs a lot on stage when he is not flying. While the costumes for the shipwrecked royalty and Miranda were fine, (except for their white-soled slip-on deck shoes for the mariners) Caliban wasn't much of a monster with a half-turtle shell on his left shoulder and a glove extending two fingers of his left hand. And poor Prospero, when he is "restored to his dukedom" near the end, puts on what is obviously a woman's dress with at least two dozen buttons up the front -- that he never does get buttoned very far -- and blue velvet bedroom slippers from the modern era. I guess we were disappointed that the production values were not as good as that cast. Trinculo, Miranda, and all the royals were very, very good, and the comedy in the play was done to perfection, well-timed and easy to watch. The music was off-key and shrill and the flying was lackluster, so the "ethereal" scenes were a complete dud for us.

We do better flying at Lakeland than they did, and we actually have a music director when we sing, too. Needless to say, we were dispappointed that the tech didn't match the actors' talents on stage Saturday night. We are really looking forward to seeing mark Rylance in Jerusalem soon, though! Thanks for reading!

An Ode to Wagagama's

Wally here, taking a break from studies for a quick entry.

Ah, Wagamama’s. For those who have never been to this wonderful and ever-growing chain of “Asian-fusion noodle bars”, let me say that you have missed one of the most subtle and un-subtle dining experiences afforded to those of us here in the United Kingdom. As you arrive, often going downstairs to a basement room here in the London versions of this restaurant, you are greeted by a person who tucks you into a row of tables and communal benches next to your fellow diners. Okay, you say, I’m eating right next to other people and there’s a paper placemat on the table. Nothing fancy here. You’re quite right – and oh, so wrong.

The menu has enough exotic stuff on it that your head is swimming just trying to make sense of it all, so you pick out some items that you know most of the ingredients that are listed, and go from there. Maybe an appetizer, too, if you’re feeling adventurous, like our favorites, the goza, or pot stickers or fried dumplings, depending on where you’re from.  Your server takes your order on a PDA, writing your order # down on your paper placemat, and the order goes right to the kitchen, where fresh ingredients are combined to make your food ready. The food is served as soon as it is ready, by your server or whoever happens by the open kitchen, so not everybody gets served at once. This allows those not being served yet to drool and lust over the lucky person(s) who have been served, possibly asking for a taste of that wonderful-looking dish, or remarking how big that serving is. The servings are large here, another non-subtle feature.

So where’s the subtlety, you ask? It’s in the rich and beautifully blended flavor of the food you are served. For instance, my ginger chicken udon was gloriously complicated by the flavors of ginger, light  soy, shitake mushrooms, carrots, sesame seeds, spring onions, regular onions, spices and even cilantro in it. The combination was spectacular. These people are not afraid to mix it up, and Maria’s dish was just as complicated and the Yaki Soba was just as good. Did I mention the noodles are impossibly fresh and so flavorful you might be tempted just to order them plain? Ramen noodles out of the box( or cup) will forever have you remembering what REAL noodles are like, and remembering Wagamama’s fondly.

And when you have finished or almost finished that giant plate of happiness, you might think your dining experience is complete. Not so, noodle-breath – there is dessert yet to come! How can dessert be different, you ask? How about a chocolate layer cake with a hint of wasabi in the frosting? How about my favorite, the white chocolate ginger cheesecake with a caramel/chili sauce on the side? That’ll liven up your dessert course, trust me. And again, the flavors work so remarkably well together you’re  enchanted by the amazing combinations.

Have I made you drool yet? Well, get a drool bucket and get over here. We’ll take you to Wagamama’s!

Loving It here in Uxbridge!

October 7, 2011

We are settling in now, at home and at school. Wally’s second week of classes is now over, and he has mountains of reading and two significant projects to do. Our instructor Elizabeth (Liz) Evenden kindly permitted Maria to sit in on a class this week, where we were deciphering ancient text together: everyone enjoyed it immensely, including Maria, of course!

Then Thursday Maria and I had our first German class, about 28 students learning together. One of the first exercises was learning where we were all from: two were from England, 4 from the US, and the rest were from Bangladesh, Uganda, Thailand, Iran, Italy, Ireland, Iceland, Mauritus, Norway, China, India, Spain, Chechnia, Taiwan, France, and Turkey. Wow! It was a great class, and it felt like the two hours passed in about 10 minutes. Looking forward to next week!

I had an entry written up for you last week, but my computer evidently didn’t like it. The highlights were Krispy Kreme doughnuts on the quad at school, the fact that they do have Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Burger King, KFC, and Subway here – although Subway’s best- selling sandwich here is Chicken Tandoori – and the fact that we haven’t gone in any of these establishments will not be surprising to any of you who know us well.  The pubs here have better food and better names – The Queen’s Head, The Three Tuns (a “tun” being a about a pony keg of beer or ale or cider), and The Slug and Lettuce. We still have to explore about 8 more here in Uxbridge and surrounding towns, too.

The good news about the library: it is ultra-modern, including a device that lets  you stack all your books that you want to borrow in an opening/shelf in a machine – it’s enough space to hold 5-6 textbooks – and it reads  the books and checks them out to you in about 3 seconds. The other good news is that we grad students have our own study area just off to the side of the library that is available to us 24/7, reachable only by a postgraduate ID card. The other good news is that they are building/refurbishing the 3^rd floor (the 4^th floor in America) as another grad-student-only section inside the library, which includes the special Shakespeare Authorship Collection.

The only bad news is that it isn’t quite ready up there yet, so I have to avoid workers there during the day if I want to get into that section. (At night, it’s no problem. I just walk in like I own the place.) The best news is that, unlike the other three floors of the library, this is a completely quiet zone. On the bottom three floors, this place is quite abuzz with conversations, some quite loud at times. And they’re not small snippets of conversation, either – they’re lengthy epics that drive you nuts if you’re trying to concentrate. Before the top floor was accessible, I actually asked a librarian if they had a special “would you shut-the-h@ll-up” zone anywhere in this library? She laughed and said it was bad, but that it usually settles down after the first few weeks. Liz says she sometimes walks around and looks at the most blatant offenders and says, “exactly what are you doing here anyway?” She’s really mean, too – I like her a lot! Maria also talked to the assistant director of the library last night and she may soon be helping catalogue and shelve the new section!

In household news, we got a mattress topper and it seems to have done the trick for Maria’s back. We also bought a TV table and set our large dining-table-size coffee table on top of it, making it a nice work table and eating table, too. We have a friendly black cat who visits us regularly, jumping up into the window or through the back balcony railing to be petted for a while before he goes out again. Our apartment is really nice – we’ll try and post pictures soon – but our view out the back balcony is not much right now as they try and sort out an endangered species of newt that may or may not be living there. (Insert Monty Python reference here, all of you!)The weather is now changing after a month of warmth and sunshine, and we’re looking forward to a great autumn season here! More later, and thanks for reading!