July 7. I bolted out of bed at 7:30am, suddenly aware that I had parked in someone’s driveway and that they needed to go to work.  The hazards of trying […]

July 4. I had forgotten that it was the 4th of July.  A call from my very close friend Tom reminded me, and hearing his message made me feel like […]

July 1.  I awoke in the small room in Zuberec that I was sharing with Beata, Monika’s daughter who is very gifted in languages and working as a Swedish translator […]

June 27.  All my life I have dreamt of hiking in the Vysoké Tatry (the High Tatras), which are the highest mountain range in Slovakia and Poland with an area […]

June 23. I packed and left Kismaros for Gödöllő, about 20 miles northeast from the outskirts of Budapest. The town is home to the Szent István University, the main education institute […]

June 21.  I awoke excited to join my friends in Zebegeny for an evening solstice trip to the island.  This was organized by Maruska and Endre, who seemed to be […]

It was the eve of June 20, summer solstice, and I was in fairy land.  I had started to climb to the lookout above Zebegeny and had decided to continue […]

June 14.  I woke to find Luis scraping paint off his window frames. He has big plans to repaint his house, winterize the windows, clear furniture to expose the chimney, […]

June 8. The day after my first surgery of the trip, I slept fairly well, given that I was in a hostel with a drunk girl in my room who […]

June 4. I awoke in Bad Bellingen and wrote for a few hours.  I probably should have waited till reaching my friend’s the next day, but felt that my memories […]

I left Bordeaux heading in the direction of Geneva, driving for hours for an adequate camp site.  The corridor between Lyon and Paris is quite industrial (especially relative to the […]

June 1. Thanks to the few trees on the outskirts of the Château near a few miles from the center of Bordeaux, I was able to actually sleep through the […]

May 26. After writing for a few hours I crossed the Eiffel style bridge and decided to go for a walk along the Dordogne between Floriac and Carennac. I found […]

May 5.  I arrived in London on a layover to Toulouse.  I had less than a day to explore high Kensington Street, which was near the Barmy Backpackers Hostel where […]

Upon leaving my camping site near Eygalieres, I decided to stop in Mausane to fill up my water bottle, buy some cheese, and go to the artisanal biscotterie.  I did […]

I arrived in the small artisan village of Grozjnan inland on the Istrian peninsula around 3:30pm and had a nice walk around, then inquired about a place to stay.  Most […]

On my way from Lake Contance to Schwabisch Hall, I decided to stop in Villingen, where my aunt’s (mom’s sister-in-law) family is from.  I thought it was in the Black […]

I had taken Janusz’s suggestion to explore the little town of Stein am Rhein on the Rhine near the mouth of Lake Constance.  I arrived at 8:45pm after spending a few […]

I ran into traffic.  It was Sunday evening and everyone was heading home from the mountains to escape the blistering heat in the valleys, where it was in the high 90s. […]

I was now in the department of Haute Savoie, also known as upper Savoy. The House of Savoy, made up of lower and upper Savoy, was the longest surviving royal house in […]

My apologies for the previous version of this post.  I was using an AZERTY (French) keyboard which is distinctly different from the QWERTY keyboard that I’m used to.  For those […]

I arose bright and early and packed my unwieldy backpack.  I had entertained the notion of leaving 2 bags of uncessaries behind in Monika’s attic, but remembered nightmares when I […]

Monika, with whose family I had been staying with for the past 2 weeks, suggested that we go on a special 2 day outing to central Slovakia to visit the chateau of Budatin, […]

I was relieved to escape the sweltering heat of Budapest.  After getting a clean bill of health from the dentist, I took bus, tram, and metro to the train station […]

After a week of culture shock, the dust is beginning to settle.  I’m starting to realize that what I sense here, just under the surface, is the pain of tremendous […]

Almost every Hungarian man I’ve seen in Budapest has a shaved head. At first I thought it was in response to elevated summer temperatures, though the hottest it’s been here is 32 […]

After visiting archaic Messini, I drove back to Kalamata to visit some friends then headed for Kiyetes and asked where to find souvlaki.  I only had 3 Euros in my pocket, and […]

I crossed a bridge from the mainland to Chalkida on the island of Euboea and drove along the south shore of the island toward Eretrea, hoping I’d find a camp site. After a hour, […]

I enjoyed the sunset views and aroma of citrus orchards as I drove southeast from Gythio along the coast toward Vigklafia where I would catch a ferry to the island of […]

I planned on leaving Kardamylli after touring the Fermor abode, but the weather had other plans.  Normally summer rains in this part of Greece are light and infrequent.  Not so […]

I drove back to Exochori to see its museum on Wednesday morning.  It is located in the former elementary school built by local villagers.  There I met Giannis Koumendeas, the […]

I spent much more time in Kardamyli that planned.  Four days to be exact.  And given that I only had the rental car for 19 days and had to travel […]

Yes, I really did.  I cried when I left, that’s how much I fell in love with the Ionian island of Kefalonia (also spelled Cephalonia).  After arriving on Poros on […]

Apologies for the belated nature of this post.  It turns out that using a folding bluetooth keyboard with my iphone is not an ideal computer system for speedy typing. Too […]

In June 2000, my mom and I spent 3 weeks in Ireland.  It was the first time I’d ever been.  Unfortunately, I haven’t been back since.  We landed in Dublin […]

I hated that drive.  It took me 12 or 13 hours and by the time I landed in Lodz I felt beaten up and thrown out to dry.  Speaking of […]

I drove to the end of the spit where the dolphin sea world type show is held.  I don’t like seeing animals in captivity perform, so opted not to see […]

Armed with a map of the Baltic countries and a GPS that belonged in a computer history museum, I found my way to Klaipeda and a good (free) place to […]

I spent the day wandering around downtown Tbilsi, going to the big market near the stadium and buying a small fan to cool me off on hot nights.  I went […]

The next morning, I packed and took the metro south of Tblisi on the road to Armenia.  I was lucky to get some rides to the border where I met […]