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08/17 Madrid, Spain
11/27  Pamukkale, Turkey
05/27 Avebury, England
05/25 Bath, England
09/15 Zermatt, Switzerland
06/27 Oslo, Norway
06/17 Cliffs of Moher, Clare Ireland
08/13 Giessbach Switzerland
10/14  Marina Piccola, Capri Italy
07/15 Archipelago, Sweden
08/12 Eiger, Switzerland
08/07 Lugano, Switzerland
11/02  Crete, Greece
09/21 Versailles, France
08/14 Heidelberg, Germany

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. 

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11/27 Pamukkale, Turkey

A small mini-bus arrived and toted us off to Pamukkale.  I only knew what I had read in the bible and in travel brochures about Pamukkale.  I understood that it was one of the seven churches Apostle Paul wrote letters to and was coined the “Cotton Castle” of the ancient world.  There was an extremely old hot spring that was believed to have healing power and over time became a center of a pagan cult.  Large limestone steatite created a beautiful arrangement of pools. 

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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. 

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05/25 Bath, England

We caught a morning bus into Bath.  There was such a beautiful view out the window I hardly noticed any of the other passengers.  I could almost imagine hearing the hunter’s horn heralding from the hills, the sound of dogs running alongside the hooves of horses.  I gazed at the many sheep spattered like white paint against the green, divided by a patchwork of trees and fences. 

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09/15 Zermatt, Switzerland

A trip to Zermatt was next on my agenda, so the next day was nothing but train travel.  When I finally reached Visp I hit a fork in the road and needed to make a decision on whether to fork out an extra nineteen dollars for a round trip train ticket or to thumb my way into Zermatt.  The rail to Zermatt was a private railroad and not covered under my rail pass.  I looked around and since there was not a single car heading in that direction my decision was made easily. 

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06/27 Oslo, Norway

We ended up in Oslo’s train station an hour and a half earlier than we had originally planned.  We had eaten and kind of ran out of touring options and found ourselves debating on which train to depart on.  One train left at eleven and the other at midnight.  Jim was having another one of his bad days, randomly complaining about everything and anything that came into view.  I wasn’t up for spending much time sitting in this vacant station with only Jim’s attitude to entertain me.  When the first of the two trains arrived, Jim walked the length of the train while I watched the gear.  “There’s no first class, so let’s wait for the next one” Jim demanded. 

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06/17 Cliffs of Moher, Clare Ireland

This 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. 

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08/13 Giessbach Switzerland

We discovered Lake Brienzersee early that next morning.  My entire side was bruised and I had scab from elbow to waist, even through the pain the lake’s unique color of blue was almost hypnotizing.  We docked at Glessbach to walk the falls.  Fighting through the soreness of my abused legs was worth the effort. 

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10/14 Marina Piccola, Capri Italy

The next morning I took advantage of the locations that I had found the day before.  It was another beautiful day with the sun shining down under a dense curtain of trees.  I lounged around in-between the shade of the trees and the heat of the sun.  At the end of the day I sat down in the harbor and watched the passing faces leaving the island.

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07/15 Archipelago, Sweden

The young man, who originally invited me to his parent’s house, got up at first light and ran off to work.  His friend Brent left to pick up his girl friend.  I began to prepare omelets for the returning couple and took the liberty of cleaning up the house from the night before.  Brent’s girlfriend was very sweet and quite attractive. 

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08/12 Eiger, Switzerland

With the crack of dawn we were up to conquer the monster.  We had taken the first train into the heart of the Jungrau region, Grindelwald to the base of the Eiger.  We surveyed the landscape against a local map and selected the West slope since it was opposite from

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08/07 Lugano, Switzerland

I was awakened by the sound of sweeping in the distance.  It’s funny how things looked different under the light of the day.  I really thought we had selected an isolated location where we could be unnoticed but the fact was we practically slept on top of a monument.  It was comfortable and no one bothered us and would have been perfect if we weren’t sharing the space with a colony of ants. 

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11/02 Crete, Greece

One of the secrets learned while traveling is the advantage that can be gained by finding that right taxi cab driver.  Once I have selected my chaperone for the day I inquire about his business, ask a few questions to ensure he had the right personality, then I’d ask him to explain the best day he’s had in the taxi business.  “I once made twenty dollars”.  Then Id’s offer him twenty five to more depending on the economy.  Taxi drivers know their way around, where to go and what to see. 

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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? 

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08/14 Heidelberg, Germany

It was a perfect day for drinking beer.  We found shade within the Hafbrouhaus.  While we downed a few beers alongside a couple of pretzels, our waitress dropped a hand full of mugs behind me and they shattered on the floor.  A few pieces of glass had jumped up and cut her ankle.  Since I’m a man, it was  my job was to rescue her.  I picked her up to the humming of the crowd and carried her into the kitchen.  They brought Jim and me a free beer. 

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