More Middleburg

              

We took David and Margaret out to dinner to thank them for putting up with us at a tavern known for its trappist beers and had some ribs.  We talked about trying to go to Antwerp on the day that they had off from work, but decided that John and 

I were all for just hanging around a small town and not trying to see 2000 things in a day.  We’ve been able to use this time at their house as a respite from traveling.  We have a bathroom available to us (which in Europe is a very     precious commodity),

   a kitchen where we can just go in and make a sandwich or get a drink, and regroup at little.  We have spent time running around Middleburg looking for furniture for the house, reading, catching up on email, and having philosophical debates 

because they can’t be avoided with John and David in the same house.  We got to meet a colleague of David and Margaret’s who is an ex-pat Georgian and she and John were able to talk about south Georgia.  Funny enough, they are both from down there and had pets that committed suicide when they lived there… Does that tell you anything about South Georgia? 

Getting a whole bunch of people who used to live in the states and now live abroad brought about some interesting observations.  They pointed out that they are not able to get medications that treat the symptoms of illnesses.  Sarah said that she will always buy lots of things like nyquil and dayquil, cough syrup, and mucinex before coming back because you can’t get these things over in Europe.  

She states that the concept is “to suffer” through the cold and then move on.  She said that the doctors want you to rest anyway and to not alleviate the symptoms ensures that you do rest.  She also related that 3 year old mucinex that is expired loses its ability to release itself over time, so she got a little high off her last time taking it.  Ah, the things you learn when travelling…
 It’s Thursday and in Middleburg and that is market day.  David and Margaret live at the beginning of the market section of town with shops all around, but on Thursday, the big market comes into the square.   Unlike some of our markets, this is not just produce, but fabric, flowers, food, clothes, everything and it takes up the whole square, but winter is the slow time.  We were able to wander the stalls after John got done giving a guest lecture in David’s Intro to Philosophy class.  He felt that he was rusty because he hasn’t been teaching this semester, but believes that the class went well. 
So more shopping and wandering around the town for the day, but it is nice to come back to David and Margaret’s house and just spend time without your face freezing off.  Again, this is a city that sits on a sea, so the wind that comes through is wet, cold and seems to have the ability to cut through any barriers that you put up, not to mention what it does to the skin that is exposed to the elements.  I bought myself a Danish scarf and John had to break down and buy another hat in Amsterdam because he had left his at the hotel.  So, the weather has caused both of us to make purchases we weren’t expecting.

   I know that the weather has been bad at home because of people who are responding and keeping me up to date on doings back in the US, so I can’t really complain because there is no snow on the ground and we haven’t experienced any power outages.