Coffee machine
For AC I love coffee. I have been drinking instant coffee since I was five and the real stuff since I went to Spain when I was seventeen. A delightful addiction, I like it strong and black, though when I was little my mother used to pour in lots of Carnation milk (made from the […]Read Post ›
The missing ink
By Philip Hensher. Andrzej gave me this book for Mother’s Day last year. It’s a book about handwriting, of all things. Very significant, I thought, as he has the most beautiful handwriting – or at least he did when he was at primary school – it’s changed a bit since then, I think, and mine […]Read Post ›
Happy New Year
Every day is the beginning of a new year, or a new century or new millennium. The date is just an arbitrary convention. Yet we insist on trying to change our lives on January 1st each year. Why? I have already, as I started to type this, broken resolution no 1: do not procrastinate; do […]Read Post ›
Trousers
When I was very tiny I was sent to a private nursery school where I was a boarder. This was a traumatic time for my parents and for me because they couldn’t afford to look after me by themselves in London. At the time, however, it wasn’t considered such a shocking thing as there were many […]Read Post ›
Florence 2
This is a picture that I found today of Zbyszek in Florence. Looking at it it now he seems so young, though he was 45. And much thinner than I remember. The spring weather was astoundingly beautiful. Flowers everywhere and this particular azalea was outstanding. This must have been taken near to the place where […]Read Post ›
Florence
For KGK who has just been to Florence and it reminded me of my time there. In April 1976 I went to Florence for a fortnight with my mother’s husband, Zbyszek. The year before he had come out to Spain to visit me on my year abroad and had enjoyed himself so much that he […]Read Post ›
Menaggio
We’re off to the Hotel Merloni today, just to say hello, because of the great memories the motel has for us. The year after our disastrous, for me, holiday in Tuscany we decided to go back to Lake Como as it so beautiful. The Internet was in its infancy but I managed to find this […]Read Post ›
Cernobbio
We first came here 19 years ago on our way to Tuscany. It’s a miracle we ever came to Italy again. Cernobbio was and is tiny and pretty, beautifully set on the edge of lake Como. Near by is Como town itself. We stayed then in the hotel Centrale which was simple and ok. This […]Read Post ›
Heidelberg
We got to Heidelberg Saturday night. Again one of my favourite cities. A lovely university town, apparently saved from the bombs by the British generals who had studied there before the war and determined to preserve the hallowed halls of academia. I however have never studied there, though my stepfather D grandfather did for a […]Read Post ›
Life Through Basia's Eyes 