Blech

I'm not sure, but I think that is the sound of someone being sick. That has unfortunately been a large theme of my life lately. First of all, I have been spending an inordinate amount of time in transit between places. In the last ten days I have taken 2 planes, 1 boat, 15 or so trains, 6 buses, countless escalators, 3 cars and 1 truck ride. Not to mention I have eaten and drank strange things, including the official sweetest breakfast cereal I have ever had in my life (believe it or not there was oil floating on the top of my milk), strange alcohol like Pastisse, Vodka, Wine, wine, wine, beer, Port, Sambuka and some other strange ones (don't worry, I didn't have them all at once), and enough chocolate covered waffles for a lifetime. Add to that not enough sleep every night.
Sum it all together and you guessed it, a pretty much constant feeling of Blech, necessitating the use of airplane gagbags, garbage cans and toilets. A couple of weeks ago I even had to use two pillowcases stuffed together.
I'm sorry if this is grossing anyone out, but it is life. At least part of my life right now. I am being challenged to rejoice despite circumstances, even though most of the time it makes me feel like crying. And crying, you guessed it- makes me want to eat more chocolate.
So just one piece of advice: no matter how hungry you feel, never ever wolf down a burger, a pop and a bag of onion rings just before getting on a three-hour bus ride on British roads. They're not like Canadian roads that go straight and turn once in a while. The turn all the time and once in a while, if you're lucky, they go straight.
But enough said. I intend my blog to entertain and educate, so I will close with one last wonderful educational and entertaining fact.
In cathedrals and churches across Europe, thousand-year old stones get dirty and occasionally need cleaning while at the same time minimizing degradation and avoiding movement. Guess what they use to clean them!!!!! Yes, a polymer! Latex, actually, which comes from the Indian rubber tree hevea brasilienis, but is now synthetically produced. It is applied to the stone and then carefully stripped off, along with all the grease and grime. It is cost effective, gentle and it does the job beautifully.
lots of love