switzy2

So today is the day to meet some 'new'relatives in Clayton NC The Unchained tour group are making their way to the next destination in the Blue Ridge Mountains, whilst I travel on to Clayton NC I'm trying to follow a trail to a lost part of my family tree - the ancestors and descendants of my grandmother Chana Eisenberg - born in eastern Poland I know my grandmother came from a small rural village called Czervonka, which I have visited. She was purported to be a farmers daughter - probably a small holder* I know she had at least a brother and two sisters and that one sister Rose (Roze) went to to California, one Miriam went to Montreal, and the brother (nickname Tuncho) went to Argentina My cousin Faigie in Montreal suggested I contact ... read more

Sunday 11th June A leisurely start to the day - late light breakfast as we are due for lunch in Georgian old Alexandria on the Potomac riverside My hostess Rene - and husband Bill took me down to Old Town Alexandria VA Lunch is in an old warehouse dockside - at Chadwicks on Strand Street. http://www.chadwicksrestaurants.com I went healthy - honest Carol! Had Kale & Roasted Beet - Crumbled feta, dried cranberries, spiced walnuts, lemon vinaigrette and salmon - see picOur waitress is not long back from living in the UK, turns out to be of Irish descent (snap Rene) - and looking for a job to do with international border security (or something like that, I'm a virgin on this one!) maybe in the intelligence community. Lucky for her Bill is ex C*A and able ... read more

Went into Washington DC today to do an open top bus tour with Rene O'Brien Harlow and Bill Harlow (Big Bus Tour of Washington D.C.) An impressive array of museums, monuments and galleries The Washingtonians have put their 'awl and their all' toward embedding their constitutional pride into the landscape. Towering majestic monuments and impressive museum collections testify to the founding (fathers' you will note) principles There is a gob smacking array of monumental and well kept symbols of American freedoms. One of our tour guides Fowzia (pseudonym) was full of insights and amusing anecdotes As an American born Muslim - she was notably sensitive to landmarks of ethnic significance - keen to point out the broken Swastika of the Holocaust Museum, highlighting the newer African American Museum and its popularity, the symbolism of the American ... read more

* One year later and I am still trading on the memories and dreams of our trip to Canada and the Appalachians last summer 2009. I now realise why I still work - it's for the journeys made possible by the pay cheque! This summer holiday is going to be a low budget domestic affair - vehicles to service, divorce to complete, jobs and property to find. However with an unusually hot summer in the UK it's not all bad. Best times for taking a motorcycle ride in the SE England is 7 p.m. onwards when the air is cooler, the roads are clear and the scent of wild honeysuckle and garden bar b q's descends into our narrow country lanes as cool air settles at low level. For those of you wanting an escape from ... read more

Finally home again, and the reality of work kicks in as a few days later we hit the ground running, as teachers back to school. On reflection this is one of the best holidays I've ever had. Its taken me 50 something years to get over the mental block of visiting the US. Yes, they are a myopic, politically naive bunch who manage to do more than their fair share of screwing up our planet, but somewhere in there are hearts of gold and the vestiges of the welcoming pioneer spirit. Nobody was rude to us, and most people were more than welcoming and curious about who we were, even if sometimes only superficially. Moments; Most serene moment was watching the mist swirl down onto the lake, and deer strolling by at Peaks of Otter Lodge ... read more