We really didn't have a winter here as it really never got below -4C and most of the time it was 4C or above. No snow on the ground here; ever! Tomorrow it's going up to 12C, so I guess that's it for winter.
The thrice weekly market didn't stop for winter; still selling fresh everything and now flowering spring bulbs. I didn't wear my boots once! Shame that I packed them.
It's good to be out of the snow and being able to wear shorts and tees. I'll really miss my garden come spring. Good that getting some sunshine and vitamin D; very healthy.
I wish my mum would consider a Carribean resort at least, but she is very stubborn. I remember when Lydia's mom went with Helen and Paul to the Carribean for the first time, and Lydia said she'd hate it, but when the Baba came back, I asked her if she'd go again and her eyes lit up and she said YES! with a big smile. Well who wouldn't? No cleaning, no cooking, no making your bed, and everything is done for you so you can just sit back and relax and enjoy the sound of the ocean waves and get a cool drink from the bartender. Heaven! She should have gone years ago.
I'm reading all about the Hapsburgs through the eyes of Sissi, aka, the reluctant empress, a Bavarian princess who was cousin to Germany's Ludwig II of Neuschwanstein Castle fame. She married the emperor at only 15 years old and was totally dominated by her controlling mother-in-law Sophie and the snobby royal critics of the Viennese court, and rarely got to see her own children! They Aristos thought she was a dullard because she was really quiet, but in reality, she was observant and very intelligent and was quite liberal in her views and politics and in her late twenty's finally realized her power (she was considered a great beauty), and cajoled her husband to give Hungary back their constitution. She never did learn French like her mother-in-law insisted, but went ahead and became fluent in Hungarian which is like a hundred times harder to learn...just to spite her in-laws as they all hated the Czechs and the Hungarians and considered them vulgar. She also pissed off the court by speaking English with her visiting siblings from Germany so that no one could gossip about her, plus, the Viennese didn't know the language! Quite fascinating.
I also learned that Belgium used to be owned by the Hapsburgs, but they started losing a lot of money in badly timed wars, so gave it to one of their royal cronies in the Netherlands to rule over. Now I know why so much Flemish art ended up in the Vienna and the Rikj's museum in Amsterdam! It's all connected!
