Been a long time, but we've been busy. Although I see no reason to change the name - and probably couldn't anyway - I'm no longer "musing by the Rotte," but rather thinking things over by the Potomac, not far from George Washington's home, Mt. Vernon. In fact I sit on land that used to be one of his farms.

About mid-May, KHZ Movers - who I would highly recommend - packed us up. School ended on 9 June and that marked the beginning of our last look at Europe. Before we boarded planes on the 15 and 22 July, one or all of us had been to Germany (Bavaria), Austria, Poland, Hungary and France. Our first stop was in Garmisch where we reprised a trip we had made a the previous year. Just me, the girls, and their Finnish sister, R. A neat trip, even if it meant a long drive on the autobahn. And speaking of -bahns, we made it back to our favorite rodelbahn, just outside of Salzburg. On the right is Rosa nearing the end of her run... it's a 20 min. or so chairlift ride to the top...

We returned from Bavaria, and chilled for about a week. I began what was ultimately a successful search for a librarian position with FCPS. Took a short trip up the road to Madurodam with the V's. it's Holland in miniature, and a place one should go when newly arrived in the NL. Still, it was worthwhile & fun

The CG Activities Europe change of command was up next. Of course this was an opportunity for the girls to buy new outfits. It was a very moving ceremony, but bittersweet as were a number of things that we did in the closing weeks of our time in Europe. It was a odd departure for us... not only were we leaving, but a number of people we knew were also departing, meaning that the community we knew was slowly ceasing to exist. This is not to say that we do not have good friends who remained, it's just my observation that things were irrevocably changing. So it goes...

The day after the change of command, we flew to Krakow where we stayed for 4 nights. A neat city, probably one of my top three in Europe, the others being Edinburgh, and, of course, Helsinki. Has one of the best squares in Europe, along with some of the finest beer...



Not all the sights were as pleasant as those shown above. We took a day and visited one of history's searing reminders of man's capacity for evil, and what remains a great open sore upon the earth, Auschwitz. It's hard to know what to think about the place... the day we visited was a very pleasant one, with the birds singing, and no immediate sense of what the place was. After awhile, after seeing the vastness of Auschwitz II, seeing the human hair and the pictures of the victims, the evil begins to seep in. It's a good place to leave. It's not a place where you take pictures of your family, just shots like this one (you'll please forgive the jarring juxtaposition of images...).

From Krakow, we flew on to - via Warsaw - Budapest. A fun city, but hard to classify or categorize... With some notable exceptions, such as the '56 Revolution, it has remained on the fringes of history, even European history. Here are the girls above the Danube with the Chain Bridge and the Parliament in the background. And in the far, far distance, there is Slovakia. Alas, someday...

After 3 nights in Hungary we returned to Rotterdam. Moira was the first to say her goodbyes as she ventured off for 2 weeks of French language - and culture and cuisine, for better or worse - immersion. She and I walked the dogs together for the last time in Holland the night before she left. I'll leave you with the images she captured... Tot ziens...