weekend visits and musings on travel

We have a houseguest at Chez L-Sock this weekend, a friend from London who is in town for a wedding. He's not our first visiting-Toronto houseguest, and in a few weeks, another friend will be staying here while seeing the Red Sox and the Toronto FC.

It's so nice to be able to offer a place to stay, and so much easier than it was in New York. Partly that's because we're in a house and have more space. But our apartment in New York was very spacious, so that's not the only reason. One big difference is no longer having an emotionally unstable dog, so people can come and go as they please. When Buster was alive, one of us always had to be home. It becomes a big logistical issue, and more often than not, I didn't offer.

The person who's here this weekend is the spouse of a friend of mine from Haven. Another dear friend from our Brooklyn days - long ago! - also lives in London. Both have extended standing invitations to visit, and now the idea is beginning to taking root.

For a while I've been saying our next trip to Europe will be to Spain. This morning over coffee, J pointed out that it's much less expensive to fly to London than Barcelona, and once in London, travel to the rest of Europe is very easy and inexpensive.

We love London and I certainly wouldn't mind an excuse to visit again, see my old friends, and use their locations as a jumping off point for Spain. (And Paris! Can't be in Europe without setting foot in Paris.) The last time we visited London, in 1998, AW1L and F were living there, and we made similar excursions from their place.

Not sure where this fits in with visiting Stacie and Rupert (and a dozen or so other canines!) in the Yukon, but both should happen in the next few years.

J, our houseguest, is originally from New Zealand, and J&M plan to relocate there in the future. I have a good internet friend in New Zealand as well. I've always wanted to go. I don't know how we'll have the time and money to get there, since I think we would need two stop-overs in both directions. Perhaps having friends there will be an incentive to figure it out.