Odorheiu Secuiesc
July 21. I drove to Sovata on the way to Odorheiu Secuiesc. Sovata had been recommended to me, though I didn’t know why. I drove through really pretty mountains on […]
Mănăstirea Neamț
July 19. I awoke and headed to Mănăstirea Neamț. It was early, 8:30am, but there was already a mass underway in the fortified church. I donned long pants, long sleeves, […]
Károlyi Castle in the Eastern Carpathians
July 17. I awoke in a corn field, a cold wind blowing, and drove to Carei, the county seat of Satu Mare. It looked like a dingy conglomeration of crumbling […]
Hortobágyi National Park
July 16, 2017. I awoke early and packed, then spent half an hour talking with Katalin and storing 4 bags that I didn’t want to shlep with me on my […]
From Eger to Budapest – 2017
July 10. I slept in, awoken by fierce thunder. A powerful storm ensued, complete with tumultuous rain and thunder and lightning, only to clear in the afternoon. It was a […]
Kazimierz Dolny and Southeastern Poland
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 […]
Wieliczka Salt Mine, Krakow, and Wadowice
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 […]
Orava and the Western Tatry
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 […]
Stary Smokovec and Vysoké Tatry
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 […]
On to Eastern Slovakia
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 […]
Zebegeny and Budapest
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 […]
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
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 […]
Along the Danube in Hungary
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, […]
Hungary – 2017???
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 […]
Along the Rhine and into the Black Forest
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 […]
Geneva and Basel
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 […]
Bordeaux, Lyon, and Beyond
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 […]
The Dordogne and Caves of Forgotten Dreams
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 […]
Toulouse in the other southern France
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 […]
My memories of Frank Freeman
I met Frank Freeman in 1997, the first year I was at Apple. He was working as an IT contractor, and was so proud to be working there. He had […]
Imbolc
I wrote the wrote and led the following ritual for the Sunnyvale UUFS to celebrate Imbolc or Candlemass, a Celtic holiday marking the beginning of spring on February 1. After the […]
I am the Lorax
Yesterday I dipped into the deep grief that’s been masked by depression over the last few months. It’s been hard to access my sadness, deeply buried and rarely excavated as […]
Why I started this blog
I always return from my travels wanting to make my home life more like my travels. To integrate habits like giving myself time to read, explore unknown urban and wild […]
Election or Bloodless Coup
I’ve been depressed since November. I’d been in Europe for the previous 6 months, having reached out several times to friends in the US for reassurance that Trump would not win. I’d […]
Weaving ancestral threads
A few weeks ago I went back to Potomac Maryland to pay my respects to my uncle Bob Cook who had passed away this summer. It was my first visit to […]
Not a Republican
Last night a friend said that Republicans are Democrats who have been robbed and that Democrats are Republicans who have been imprisoned. I woke this morning remembering a time 4 years […]
Ode to One
Last week I rescued three worms that I found while walking a well-trodden trail at Rancho San Antonio. I placed them gingerly to the side, urging them to find sanctuary. One had […]
Winter solstice
I volunteered to write a winter solstice ritual for the Sunnyvale UUFS this year as I had done last year, though I changed it substantially. It’s ironic because although this […]
A Polish Christmas
My father was born in Poland in 1932. He was only 7 when Germans invaded Poland, occupying the house his childhood home in Bielsko Biala. The family were forced to […]
Catalonia
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 […]
European Roadtrip, 2017
Hungary It was cold and rainy the first three days of my time in Budapest. I was here to see Dr. Windisch, who I’d found when I lost a tooth […]
Swabia
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 […]
Lake Constance
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 […]
Zurich and Lake Lucerne
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. […]
Haute Savoie and the Alps
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 […]
Provence
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 […]
Bratislava and Vienna
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 […]
Central Slovakia
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, […]
Land of castles and rolling hills: Kosice and environs
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 […]
Budapest: a troubled past – 2016
June 27, 2016. Arrived after Greek trip – stayed with Tim, Airbnb. See Land of Shaven Heads – first time seeing Dr Windisch After a week of culture shock, the […]
Lisa Karpinski 