TOC's

We just happily had company for the last 8 days, two of the five peeps we were supposed to visit in Vermont last month but missed due to scheduling problems because of that pneumonia thing and being stuck in the hospital. The blow was softened by the fact that we knew these two friends were coming to Munich to see the Christmas markets. These two women, Liz and Flo come from upstate New York, and we originally found them one year when they rented our house in France (www.flertwig.de Sorry, gotta throw that plug in there). We took to this group right away but I think our friendship was cemented in the moment that they announced that they also hated George Bush.

These women are the kind of guests you can only dream about. Even though they were in a foreign country and basically don't speak German, they are well traveled, friendly and outgoing, so they get by just fine wherever they are. And most importantly for me, they do not need a babysitter. They would strike out on their own with no hesitation, shop until they couldn't carry anything more, come back, drop it all off, and strike out again. They basically took Europe home with them this week. It was something to watch. I was able in the meantime to get the laundry done and the floors mopped.

So earlier this week we went to Milan and stayed with my pal Donna who moved there this year. We toured Milan quickly one day and went to see the original of DaVinci's Last Supper. We pretty much agreed that even this alone made the trip worthwhile. If you happen to be in Milan, try not to miss it. Huge, incredible, and hard to quit staring at.

Here is a shot of Christmas in Milan taken by Donna that I especially liked. This is the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle near the Duomo in Milan. She was gone a long time working on this photo and now I see it was worth the wait! The tree is covered in Swarovski crystals...ahhh.

But back to my company. At one point while Liz and Flo were zooming around in Italy, Donna made the comment that they were kind of like her mother-in-law on crack. We enjoyed watching them zoom around, but just could not believe it. They earned the new moniker "Travelers on Crack" since they are the least likely two people on earth to ever use illicit drugs, and actually would never need them. Liz especially can go go go with minimal sleep. They are the first people I've ever had visit who went from the airport straight to downtown Munich for shopping and Christmas marketing. So they are now officially the TOC's. Never have I seen two people who thought they could manage to do and see just about all of Europe in a day or two or three. Experience tells me that they also somehow pull it off. I loved having them and we named them TOC's in the most loving of ways!

Liz and Flo, come back any old time the shopping bug hits again. It was great fun for us all having you here.