07/03 Amsterdam, Netherlands

There were no hedges, nor fences, in the bare and uniform countryside leading into the Netherlands.  We were heading back into the crossroads of traffic back into the circus they had named Amsterdam.  I could see no natural boundaries that separated the courtyard from the jester.  …

11/11 Bethlehem, Israel

I wasn’t sure if our bus could make the trip but luckily Bethlehem was not that far of a ride.  Bethlehem was rather small and unexpectedly vacant.  Typically I liked to walk around the outskirts and then worked my way back toward my destination.  That gives me a better feeling of where I am.  The church was also empty and there was nobody inside its wall but the two of us.  It was kind of a shell of a church with an altar at the far end.   …

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.  …

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.  …

09/10 Portofino, Italy

We 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.  …

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.

11/12 Masada, Jordan

I convinced Jenni to take another day trip, this time to visit Masada.  At the bus depot it was like joining a herd of sheep.  If there was a terrorist attack it would not be good.  Jenni kept reminding me of that.  Alongside the Dead Sea and after passing a few scattered Bedouin camps I found myself wondering how far it was to the next tree.  Masada was a magnificent plateau in the middle of nowhere.  It’s hard to understand why anybody would be motivated to conquer its walls unless motivated by pride.   …

11/20 Marmaris, Turkey

Kate joined us on the walk into town that morning.  She needed to stop off at the post office while the two of us procured tickets for today’s journey.  Kate was a very sweet lady and this was a pleasurable visit.  We said our goodbyes over lunch and she saw us off at the dock.  We met up with the same American gentleman we originally asked directions from when we first arrived.  …

10/06 Pisa, Italy

I was told of a nice beach just outside of Pisa so I snuck in an early shower again and took an early train out.  Tuscany provided an enchanting landscape painted in pastels.  I followed the tourists to the tower in Pisa, gave my two cents and climbed to the top.  With all those people hanging all over it I was surprised it hadn’t fallen and decided to head down before it did.  After strolling through the Duomo and viewing Ramous’s doors I wandered across the river to get a feel for the countryside and sat along the side of the bridge thinking.  Truth, like art is sometimes in the eye of the beholder.   …

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.  …

06/16 Southern Ireland

The gentleman that leased us the car was extremely nice.  I am naturally suspicious of people who are too nice and I usually create a bit of a buffer until I’ve figured out their motives.  We ended up talking a bit over a cup of tea before we departed south.  The agent’s nervous habit of looking out the window was distracting.  …

09/24 Countryside, France

I 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.  …

08/24 Algarve, Portugal

We woke the next morning to a welcome change in rooms.  Perhaps a good night’s sleep awaited us.  Our little dog was adopted as kinda of mascot.  He had been eating and actually gained some weight.  By the affection he was receiving his future looked bright.  Every day was a beach day and today was no different.  Luck did find us.  I spent the first few hours at the bar down on the edge of the sand, hair of the dog like the day before and the day before that.  About every thirty minutes or so, it was back into the water to wash off the sun.  …

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.  …