Off the Treadmill and Onto the Cobblestones

One thing our time in Europe has taught me is patience.

You want a shower: turn on the water 10 minutes early and wait for it to warm up.

You want to cook on the stove: turn on the element 10 minutes early and wait for it to heat up.

You want clean clothes: wash them a day early and wait for them dry on the drying rack.

You want to visit the nearby yarn store: you wait three weeks for their summer holiday to be over.

Things take patience, and they take advanced planning -- two things I am not good at. I will hopefully come out of this experience a better person. And if not, I will hopefully at least appreciate my North American conveniences a little more. Especially the hot water.