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Tonight is our last night in Europe at our London home, London Guest House. We went down to Acton town for dinner at The Belvedere Pub. That was somewhat difficult because Jean’s knee is acting up. We haven’t gone out for two days to try to rest it. Hobbling to the bus and then to the pub was as much as she can tolerate at the moment. The airport will be a bit easier because we have arranged with United for special handling with wheelchairs, etc. Jean already has an appointment with our doctor for Thursday.

We leave Europe with mixed feelings. There is no question that we are ready and happy to return home after such a long absence. On the other hand our traveling has established its own rhythm and pattern that has become quite familiar.

Some things I will miss: new sights, meeting people, fine art surprises, British fish and chips, baguettes, croissant, and soccer as the major sport on TV.

Some things I’m looking forward to at home: familiar surroundings, quiet, time to paint in my studio, seeing our friends, home cooking of some favorite foods, reliable internet connections.

I hope to begin painting some pieces inspired by my favorite memories of our trip and will blog about those memories when I post the resulting paintings. Of course we also will be traveling again, both with Picasso (our trailer) and in the spirit of Picasso. Stay tuned for those posts!

Retirement is comepletely underrated!

Paul