Ah, Ms. Brown,(green for Ireland next week, and perhaps as in envy), far from being captain of this, your rightful forum, I remain your humble and obedient servant, sort of, if I'm lucky, your Sir Walter Raleigh to his matchless Queen Elizabeth (please don't cut off my head, and you're a lot lovelier than she or Bette Davis ever was). I am so happy to hear all our past messages have helped keep your spirits higher recently. I know your travels, with all their joys and discoveries, have also been occasionally stressful and sometimes full of anxieties (How DO you pronounce Neueschwanstein?). I well remember my first morning in London, arriving for a couple of months of dissertation research in English history, but I had never been to England before, nor knew a single soul there (not anyone who was still alive, anyway), and didn't even know what hotel I would be staying in to start things off. And I vividly recall sitting there in Bedford Square, blackbird singing in the bushes, suitcase by the bench, my little Nicolson's London guide in my hand, wondering what in the WORLD was I doing here? How had I ever gotten myself into this? Well, naturally it turned out to be a great experience, and I kept going back, for the sheer fun and fascination of it, virtually every year since. But I still remember many of those first nights there when, suddenly no longer busy and crushingly alone in a grotty hotel room (none of your 5 star palaces, Samantha), I certainly could have used a message in a bottle from a devoted friend (no Kinkos for internet access right off Chancery Lane then...). In your most recent episode, either Amsterdam or Brussels, I believe you place in your script the term 'gift' for that which your wondrous episodes are for us. So please, Ms. Brown, do accept our chatter on your forum here as the least we can offer as gifts in gratitude and appreciation for you. We owe you far more than that.
So how about a second season, then?
Actually, I have been to Venice, Sam, though about 15 years ago. But it was in late March, and the weather was actually very nice (and no Aqua Alta either) and very few tourists there to ruin things. In San Marco Sq. there would in the morning be maybe twenty people only among the thousands of pigeons. Drawback was that some restaurants and even hotels weren't open yet, but it was an exquisite time to nose about that most mysterious and romantic city all the same. The ringing of bells and soft sound of footsteps on stone in the morning fog you really should experience as it surely will touch deeply the romantic that obviously lives within you. I promise that much to you. If the Travel Channel is going to send you to so many cities in the wrong time of year anyway

, Venice is actually a great one to be so treated. I would not want to see you there in July, either. I'm just happy we'll get to see you at all.
This post may single-handedly send this on to page 3 as it is, so please don't ask me for suggestions in this response. Must be in the recent Pimm's Cup thread I think I rattled off some. I get about 20 very easily (am astonished, Samantha, you haven't already done a Loire River wine cruise

), but I'll think a little more about that subject, which I imagine is very much in your mind right now. Next post, then, for that. An ancient English country house tour is my mania recently, but I doubt I could interest you in particular for that one - although I really must have just missed you by a week or so at Stanway House in Gloucestershire with that wonderful golden stone gatehouse you were filmed in front of briefly in your nice tweed jacket and faithful little hatchback (see, we do remember your episodes). From your enthusiasm and obvious love of what you're doing, though, I think it's more important that we see the sights you want to show to us, Samantha, and we'll love them just as much through your eyes and perceptive ideas wherever they may be.
I struggled through my tours today with that lovely post-nasal drip and disabling cough of the day after a cold has ended, and it reminded me of how wonderfully you perform in front of the camera, Samantha. Even if you get a few extra takes which I don't, it still is most impressive because I know it is difficult to do (when someone asked me late the other day when I was worn down and losing concentration what a certain floor was made of, instead of "parquet floor of beech and cherry", I suavely announced it was "beef and cheddar"). It's tough sometimes, speaking in front of groups of people or a whirring camera. And you are such a joy to see perform. I also second KthyNoll's praise for your journals - again a pleasure to experience.
And speaking of cheddar, I'll ask you one silly question as it seems we're NOT really asking you about your recent travels, and this is our golden opportunity for doing so. So IF, Ms. Brown, someone laid out a table full of all those street and finger foods you risked your life and stomach lining in sampling for us, which two or three of these would you pop down a second time? Let's choose from among:
extra chewy escargot in Brussels (surprised no sprouts served on the side)
minced heart and lungs in posh Viennese restaurant
tangy sauerkraut juice in Salzburg
cod-n-chips in north London (I hate vinegar myself)
banana crepes in Paris
steaming streudel in Prague
gooey herring in Amsterdam
curried something on a bun in Berlin
Belein (sp?) tarts in Lisbon
monestery baked goods - was that Madrid?
clotted cream and scones in the Cotswolds
fried Mars Bars in Edinburgh
and of course chocolates, either Zurich or Brussels
But some healthy vegetables have to be in there somewhere in your choices.
And finally, I truly loved your Vienna and Salzburg episodes. I expected to enjoy Vienna; I wasn't expecting to be so enchanted by Salzburg.
I look forward greatly to Ireland. Thanks greatly for your kind post. Until the stock market does A LOT better, I cannot retire fully anyway (actually don't really want to). But as long as you stay on the air, I suppose I must post. Enjoy your own vacation, Samantha; if you still miss Europe in the interum, remember you can run up to The Cloisters and steal a few quiet moments there. And with that we return the forum to her rightful Queen.