Galloping Senility

I’m sitting in a seaside café in the Ukrainian city of Yalta. I know nothing of Yalta except that after WWII it’s where Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt met to sort out Europe. What a meeting that must have been. I now know the girls on the beach are pretty and you can get a good omelette at this café with a name in an alphabet I’m not familiar with.

I should explain that I’m in port from a cruise ship and not wandering around Eastern Europe with galloping senility (‘Galloping senility’ is a term a teacher of mine – a nun – accused me of having when I was nine.) I know I should make every port a learning opportunity but these days I just look for a good cup of coffee and free internet access. When I got on this ship I didn’t even know where it was going. I only knew I boarded in Istanbul and left in Athens. Yesterday I was in a town in Turkey and I didn’t even know its name. There is something very pleasant about walking around with no idea where you are. Maybe I’m just practicing for the onset of senility.

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