With all the time I’ve been spending on trains I started to find it difficult to sleep without the cluttering of wheel against rail. I had an address of a hostel in Frankfurt that somebody had suggested along the way. It was late and dark when I reached Frankfurt and I didn’t have the best luck making sense of the piece of paper I was carrying. …
Continue ReadingThe clouds had parted and the wings of our plane began to dry. The very first thing I noticed was that “I wasn’t in Kansas anymore”. Gatwick Airport had green pastures on both sides of the runway. Unconcerned cows looked up at our passing plane. This was a total contrast to the cement landscape we left behind in LA. …
Continue ReadingWe were up early, followed advice we received during the last night socializing and joined the “Club Innsbruck” for a day hike. A young Belgium woman had crossed our path searching for the same location. It was early in the morning and we were the first to arrive, so there was nobody gathered outside to identify if we had found our destination. She seemed very nice but didn’t say much. It was apparent she was very shy. They began handing out daypacks and boots if needed. …
Continue ReadingToday’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. …
Continue ReadingWe traveled into Cote D’azur, then into San Remo. The weather was just perfect. It couldn’t have been any better with the white sand, blue water and cypresses dancing in the breeze. Another day beckoned us to swim. We stopped off in Ventimilia in search for an open bank. There too we hung around the waterfront and just let the days slip away. We arrived in Genova late one night and ran into a bit of difficulty locating a room. This is par for the course. …
Continue ReadingThis world was filled with small narrow roads hidden by hedge groves, secluded lakes, isolated rivers, hills to climb and valleys to explore. Tracking down a castle, graveyard or whatever we had earmarked on our map of antiquities was like our very own secret treasure hunt. Then at the end of every one of these little adventures, we found ourselves staring again at a wonderful pint of local ale, in a small pub in the center of whatever it was the center of. …
Continue ReadingAt the breakfast table there were rumors of another train strike, so about six of us headed out early to attempt to board the last train prior to any stoppage. Our destination was Mont-St-Michel. When the island first came within view I stood there for some time and gazed at its glory. It had more a look of a cover to a picture book than something actually real, a castle right out of some fairytale. There were endless fields of mud waiting for the imprint of somebody’s foot. …
Continue ReadingWe were on the road for about an hour after sunrise. I was passing a small automobile with what looked to be three construction workers on their way to work. As I sped up to pass them, I caught some of the loose gravel and slid sideways into them. I’d say we at least traded paint but when I slowed down to deal with the situation they kept on driving. …
Continue ReadingI wandered about the northern coast of France skipping from hostel to hostel and enjoying their fine cuisine. Finding excellent food was easy but locating a smile or a friendly gesture from the locals was sometimes impossible. I felt that the rudeness the Northern French dished out actually provided the glue that bonded us tourists closer together. I came across a nice room in Blois and utilized it as home base to visit the chateaus in the area. …
Continue ReadingAs I reached the Arctic Circle, I got off the train in what seemed to be a ghost town. I would assume it was at least three in the morning and everything in sight was closed. Although early in the morning the sun was still up creating an odd feeling, like being on a set of a twilight zone episode. You could tell something was off. I was carrying an address of a good place to stay that was given to me somewhere along the road. At that point I really didn’t care how nice it was as long as it had a working shower. …
Continue ReadingWe divided up the day between Rembrandt and Van Gough. Sadness is Van Gough’s greatness and without his blood and wed of failures, such masterpieces perhaps would have never been put to canvas. I can relate to the color and texture of his turmoil and find myself too at times walking around in a daze. In contract his colors were bright and unique. …
Continue ReadingShe had circled a small hostel up along the west cost of Northern Ireland in the little travel guide she carried. It was a gorgeous drive and well worth going out of our way. I’ll never forget the look on her face when she first saw her hostel. It was in the middle of nowhere and when the young men came out of the house to greet her, all the sheep ran for the hills. She had the look of a newborn, clinging to our car as if it was her mother. …
Continue ReadingI’m an early riser and that provides advantages. Like in the morning, there were no lines leading to the showers. I walked around until breakfast and then took the shuttle down to the beach where I planned to spend that entire day on the sand. When I reached the bluffs I began exploring. Jim followed duplicating every picture I took. It is just better to ignore his competitiveness than to give it thought it doesn’t deserve. …
Continue ReadingSometimes when I take photographs I place more value on where I am standing than what I am looking at. In Rouen I stood where Monet stood. I preferred the light and shade of a subject, the dark spaces that define its character and capture the surroundings of the moment, revealing its alternations. That evening’s twilight was a symphony colored in grey and rose that I watched as I waited for the sun to set. …
Continue ReadingAs we crossed into Montpellier, we were followed by a young Austrian girl after crossing paths on the platform. The three of us wandered through the gardens and down along the Roman aqueduct. Eventually we ended up strolling down the narrow streets gazing into the many store windows. I was attracted to an antique brass figure of a dancer, very Degas. It was absolutely gorgeous and about a hundred years old or so I was told with a price tag to match. …
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I HAVE BEEN TAUGHT THAT ………………we now come to know the nature of change through Cognition ……… …
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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. …
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These rules are in no particular order.
A REAL MAN ……
1. Don’t lie to Doctors
2. Will fake peeing at the urinal or will wait on a toilet before walking out in tandem with another guy.
3. Never talk about their privates or name any appendage of their body. That’s just weird.
4. Know how to Spit. A pouhhhhh is unacceptable. If it takes practice, practice.
5. Never park in front of a bar. …
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Together we searched, above it all, as clouds, we wandered free but when us two, came to be one, we parted company. It’s a lonely road that comes to an end. I’m sorry my love but I must head home.
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I HAVE BEEN TAUGHT THAT ………………we now come to know the nature of change through Cognition ………
“Cognition”, is defined as the mental process or facility by which that knowledge is acquired. …
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Where went the loveliness ……. I know you by, do I know the place
lost in all perfection ……. no longer shy, a dance without that grace
Pretty little dance ……. around we use to spin, a subtle touch ……. our eyes were one, we wandered like the wind
