Tuesday they packed the girls room and the study, so our refuge was the master bedroom. Frank had to return to Prague, in the afternoon, which left Lucille and I to tackle the misgivings. After they finished in the hot, sweaty weather, we stopped at the store to stock up on wine cases of Montepulciano and other Tuscany greats to take with us to China. We visited the girls, at their grandparent’s house, who were happy to see us and we listened to Otto’s questions and stories, as Trude sat patiently explaining.

At the pad, Lucille and I killed the remaining wine and moved on to Champagne, which we were to regret the following morning. We talked and did runes until 1:00 a.m. our usual time, as opposed to the quirk when we considered retiring early at 20:45, before of course we opened the Champagne.

Tuesday, 11 July 1999