12/10 Amsterdam, Netherlands

I knew we had reached the Netherlands when the standard blue or green trains turned multi-colored.  Two guys had hit us up in the train station soliciting us to take a room on their boat.  I preferred being in the heart of the city where access was easier and I could be closer to the coffee shop I decide to write in, but Jenni kind of liked the idea of being on a boat.  I was leaving in a few days and felt that getting her acquainted with another group of people was also a priority.  …

08/04 Mirabellgarden, Salzburg Austria

Today’s plan was to wander around the city in an attempt to locate our choir from home.  After another walk along the river, around the castle and up and down the many streets, I got the feeling we had taken the wrong approach to find our choir.  I began thinking it a better approach to let them find me.  That would at least reduce the walking.  In the middle of the squares in-between the castle and the church sat a large chess set, with pieces about two and a half feet in height.  …

05/19 Los Angeles, California

Imprisoned by my own curiosity. I felt as if I was looking up through trees that encircled my view, staring at the many branches and the fruits suspended beyond my grasp.  I knew I could no longer be satisfied simply to lie here on my back, closing my eyes and dreaming of things out of my reach.

…

09/21 Versailles, France

The wind blowing through the trees surrounding Versailles whispered voices from it past.  Is it a revolt?  No it is a revolution.  Words.  Words that had challenged the cast system of the church and the rich.  Science, literature and invention tore the fabric of the aristocrats.  It started here.  A revolution now and then can be healthy thing.  I followed an English speaking tour to gather additional information.  It was a beautiful home but the maintenance bill must have been outrageous.  I guess it is good to be King?  …

06/28 Bodo, Norway

I picked up a pair of apples and a few candy bars for the trek, while Jim checked the train schedules.  “Track four, ready to go” said Jim.  After a minute or two with no train, it dawned on me that Jim most likely misread the schedules and picked the wrong platform.  I retrieved the schedule from Jim’s bag, “I’ll hold the bags, you go check platform six” I bluntly stated.  In the tunnel between the platforms I could hear Jim’s echo, “Its going!!”  …

08/06 Lienz, Austria

In front of the morning sun we departed toward Lienz.  We were lucky to have the company of a pair of young ladies traveling in the same direction.  An interesting conversation made the time disappear and before we knew it our train had come to a stop.  I needed to exchange some traveler’s check for cash and explained to Jim and the two girls that I would be a few minutes inside the bank.  Once I exited the bank the three had vanished.  I spent well over an hour checking one shop after another, up and down just about every street.   …

07/20 Burgen, Norway

I wandered through the station lingering on familiarities.  It’s amazing how routines destroyed time and sped things up.  There were so many unexpected avenues, detours, new faces and outright pleasures that it seemed as if it had been months since I left here, not days.  I got talking up with a couple on the train that had been reading the same travel guide and discovered out we were going in the same directions.  …

06/11 Island of Skye, Scotland

The West Coast of Scotland was absolutely gorgeous and we still hadn’t seen any bad weather.  Trekking along the coastal cliffs and the Island of Skye can only be described as a religious experience.  This is God’s country.  Gardens touched by the finger of God.  A clouded island littered with crofts and memories of the day before Culloden.  …

08/09 Burn, Switzerland

Jim joined the hostel attitude.  He didn’t want to go anywhere, see anything, he just wanted to stick around the hostel and wash his clothes, so I sought out on my own.  I checked out Albert Einstein’s home and then the modern art museum.  “One man’s treasure is another man’s trash”.  I love art but sometimes.  I wandered the market and the local stops searching for Christmas gifts, but ended up buying chocolates to satisfy my taste buds instead.  …

11/06 Nikolaos, Greece

I woke to the sound of wind that seemed to be gaining strength.  It sounded like cats crying in the distance but no, it was closer.  I went out onto the balcony and noticed two of our lady friends down in the street trying to get somebody’s attention.  Apparently the door was locked and they had no key.  We had an early boat and needed to get moving.  Elspeth discovered her girlfriend never made it back from last night and she presumed she may have gotten lucky.  Either way she wasn’t going to hop on the ferry without her, so we left the two behind. …

07/30 Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

I was intrigued with the works of Escher and understood there was an exhibit in the Hage, so I persuaded Jim to board a late train out of Luxembourg.  We arrived in to Rotterdam even later.  There didn’t seem to be anybody but the two of us, the streets were virtually empty.  We wandered toward the lights advertising vacancies and pounded on doors until one finally opened.  The price the gentlemen in pajamas requested was outrageous.  …

11/19 Lindos, Rhoads Greece

I planned on taking a bus over to the ruins in Lindos but Jenni wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t too motivated to go anywhere.  “I’ll see you tonight” I told her.  The thought of missing something changed her mind and she decided to come along anyway.  It was a nice sunny day with a cool breeze.  A gorgeous little white washed village lodged under a Roman acropolis.   …

06/22 Cherbourg, France

Like a bunch of cattle we were herded from the boat to the train station.  It was in this company we met a group of young ladies from Costa Mesa California on their way to a concert in Paris.  We were scheduled to see U2 in Dublin but that plan kinda got left behind with a bunch of stuffed animals.  …

09/22 St. Malo, France

Along side the rising sun and took the early train toward St. Malo.  On that train I caught up on filling out stories on post cards and when I finally reached St. Malo the post office was my first destination.  I was still disappointed that I had lost my address book back in Scotland, but on the other hand I had fewer cards to fill out.  After I got situated in my room, I took a walk along the shore.  The ocean was crashing against the wall with an authority that made me feel alive.   …