09/11 Milan, Italy

I found a good cup of coffee on the square in front of the Duomo, sat there and caught up on my journal while I watched Milan wake up around me.  The morning light danced past its arches onto the adjacent building.  It was a breathtaking sight, absolutely gorgeous, a very unique structure.  I spent some time queuing inside and then sat along the edges of the square.  I discovered an excellent restaurant just not far from the Duomo and relaxed to a bottle of wine.  …

08/17 Madrid, Spain

I woke up in the middle of a desert of reddish clay painted orange by the rising sun.  As the ride wore on the sun converted our compartment from a cozy bed into practically an oven.  Each hill looked the same as the one before it rolling one after another past my window.  If one didn’t know any better it could be assumed that my window was the backdrop to a movie set.  …

05/30 Stonehenge, England

Like a string of pearls, one complaint began to lead into another.  One minute it’s the weather, next minute it’s the price of food, carrying too much shit and then it was his feet.  “I’m not walking any further, maybe I’ll just fly home”, confronted Jim.  I reminded him that I was not his mother and if he thought I wanted to hear this shit, he had bigger problems than just his feet.  “Nobody’s putting a gun to your head and you don’t need my permission to make choices”.  I explained that I was not budgeted for repeating every other step and had a plan of what I wanted to see and experience and sometimes those things aren’t at the end of a train line.  “I’m committed to go forward and if you find it in your best interest to detour, I’m more than willing to meet you anywhere else on the map”.  “There’s no rule that says we have to do everything together”.  I provided an example of picking up women.  “I expect this to happen along the way and when we reach that fork in the road I’m sure you’re not going to be wanting me hanging around as a third wheel or vice versa.  We’ll just meet up someplace down the road”.  I tried to be a good person and attempt to avoid confrontations but traveling together has a tendency to bring these things to the surface.  Conflicts start and end with words.

Surely I dreamt today, or did I see. I wandered in this forest thoughtlessly
the clever boy that I once knew; with pebbles white and bread crumbs too
left no trail and lost my way, where all my pictures were thrown away

Through the forest, in the middle of a glade, forever nagging to persuade
no plank or bridge was placed in sight, only fists clinched as if to fight
the wind, the wind has caused me harm; you pulled too many false alarms.

12/05 Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia

Our train ended in Karajevo where we were left to wait for a bus.  There was nowhere to hide from the cold so we all had to move around a lot and it seemed like the bus was ever going to show.  We had scattered moments of sleep, moving here, moving there, trying to forget how cold it was.  That was one bad night.  The bus eventually showed up late and wasn’t scheduled to enter Dubrovnik until around breakfast.  I just dazed out looking past my reflection at blackness that was the sea passing by in a blur.   …

11/21 Marmaris, Turkey

I was up early, grabbed a table and a few chairs and set them up on the sand.  I sat and gazed out on the empty bay writing until the others woke.  A pot of coffee soon followed and then breakfast. The girls were taking about exploring the city’s bizarre, a female shopping ritual.  I on the other hand I was invited to go with the men.  Bear hunting was on the agenda.  We all loaded onto a friend’s boat and headed along the coast to a location that supposedly had a recent bear sighting.  …

10/07 Siena, Italy

I had earmarked a hostel on the outskirts of Siena but the travel guide didn’t provide a good description of how to get there.  I asked a young lady who was sitting across from me on the train if she knew the best way to reach this destination.  She made a few attempts to explain but probably the combination of her hearing herself and the expression on my face persuaded her to just show me, so I followed her off the train.  …

07/06 Uppsala, Sweden

With a cup of coffee and a cigarette, I got an early start and headed toward Gavie to see its shores.  All this talk about love and kissing had got me thinking about it as well.  In regards to the young ladies that had entered my life that I have loved, I always acted as a gentleman and never took control until the door was open and I was invited in.  I needed a green light.  …

11/15 Jerusalem, Israel

Over the years I’d met so many people that believe, believe in their personal God.  When I would seek answers, ask questions, express an opposing opinion or different view, or anything that might contradict their belief system, they would jump into a defensive or offensive position, a position of judgment.   …

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.   …

05/27 Avebury, England

One night at Mik’s place while passing around the pipe, he weaved stories of sprits possessing the trails between the white horse and the many rock circles heading north.  I could almost visualize these images he was painting and hear the pounding of drums in the wind, as I focused in on the flames dancing with the beat.  …

08/15 Heidelberg, Germany

In a middle of a dream a young man introduced himself to me, explained that we knew one another and that he had something to show me.  I looked at his face and couldn’t recall where we had met or when.  He stated that he had been given permission to show me something and at that moment opened what could be best described as a door.  Behind the opened door I saw billions of people of all ages, with all characteristics, moving frantically as if searching for someone important to them.  As I moved closer I noticed that my mind did not perceive the physical characteristics of these people.  …

11/28 Pamukkale, Turkey

Walked up one of the local hills and watched the sun rise over the valley.  Then I took a trek back to the pools to get a few pictures without people climbing all over in them.  They were so beautiful and unique.  Shallow petal shaped pools with large expanses that had the texture and the look of snow.  I expected the crunch of snow but was met with the resistance of rock.  I sat alongside them for rest of the morning, just day dreamed and enjoyed the view. …

06/14 Dublin, Ireland

We paid twenty pounds each for deck passage to Ireland.  Everybody we had been crossing paths with had one priority, duty free beer.  Especially a couple of guys from the states.  One was from San Diego and the other from somewhere outside of Boston Massachusetts.  I was still tired from the long walks and late nights in Liverpool, so I thought I’d catch up on some sleep.  After two beers sleep wasn’t hard to find.  Jim volunteered to watch our bags so I wandered off and found myself a comfortable place to grab some sleep.  …

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.  …