Unearthing Firsts
It was my first experience abroad. July 2004. Eighteen going on nineteen. Finally travelling to the country of which I had always dreamed. I scribbled much less than I experienced. But, there are some nuggets of reflection to enjoy from my one month studying abroad in Bergamo, Italy: July 03 2004 Charming Italian man with [...]
Barcelona Chronicles: The Spanish Circus…
Continued from Enlivened by the Underground… (Note: My camera became terminally ill at the beginning of my stay in Barcelona. Thus, my photos of the city and my experiences are uncharacteristically sparse.) Barcelona. Barcelona. Barcelona. She is ruthless. She is fiery. She is an enchantress that has both charmed me and ravaged me. Her perfumes [...]
Enlivened by the Underground…
Continued from You’re So Vain… The ground above Hitler’s old bunker, where he shot himself after his fall from power, is a parking lot. Good to know. The tour guide joked that Germans now bring their dogs to poo in that lot. Nothing more than a sign flags the historical space. The tour guide informed [...]
You’re So Vain…
Continued from “More Than I Really Cared to Share…” There’s always a duality present when I consider how I’m feeling when I see Thilo. Always. Every time I meet him he seems both so familiar and so unfamiliar all at once. I don’t quite understand it. But, it was comforting to arrive and spend my [...]
More Than I Really Cared to Share…
Continued from Many Were the Nations… Wow. Life since Guatemala has been a whirling, somersaulting blur. Emotions mounting. A building restlessness. A crescendo to an ultimate decision I have yet to make. A question of addiction – but not what you think… at all. Let me explain by just continuing where I left off. I [...]
Enchanted Bern
There’s no question Bern had a bit of enchantment locked within its mossy colored buildings. Pics are again from March 2008. Click here for the full Flickr album.
Vienna Granduer
In Vienna, you don’t feed the ducks. You feed the swans. These pics are from Mar 2008. Click here to see the entire Flickr album.
Evian et Lausanne
A few pics from Evian, France and Lausanne, Switzerland from Mar 2008. Click here to see the full Flickr album.
Graveyard in Salzburg
A couple pics of a graveyard in Salzburg, Austra that I took in Mar 2008 and never found time to post. I was staying with an intriguing couchsurfer who was academic by day and death metal goth by night. He influenced my dark, graveyard pics. Click here to see more in my Flickr album.
Toys of the inventors
Just wanted to throw a shout out to my couchsurfing friend who hosted me in Salzburg, Austria. Silviu, remember him? Not only has Silviu contributed to Billy’s cause (thanks again!), he’s also developed a pretty cool helicopter project called the JAviator. Both, to me, are true to the typical “couchsurfer” quality. Anyway, the JAviator is [...]
Might Crack a Smile…
I busted up laughing when one of my SE Asia travel buddies sent me this picture. Can you spot me? Yup, I’m the one that looks like a dead body slung over the back of the motorcycle. I think that was day four of our five-day guided moto trip through the mountains, villages, forests and [...]
Find the Magic
My friend Loic, the couchsurfer who hosted me in France, just emailed me. And, even through an electronic email, I was so affected by his enthusiasm and pure spirit. I said before that Loic is a treasure, a simply stunning person. I can feel his zeal for life through his words… I mean I really [...]
Coincidences…
I had wanted to make this certain point in my discussions with Silviu: Too many coincidences have become entangled into the story of my life for me to actually consider them coincidences. Silviu is, as I mentioned before, is a self-professed atheist or agnostic (depending upon how you look at it). And, as I also [...]
Once Upon a Time…
…far far away, in the land of rolling hills and rocky cliffs, lived the Von Trapp family. Okay, okay. I know, my posts are enough of a novel as it is… But, Salzburg, the city that served as the storybook setting for the movie The Sound of Music is, well, something out of a storybook. [...]
Uninhibited African Beats
My head was still in a deep contemplative fog when I arrived in Graz, and that wasn’t a good mix for trying to find the connecting train from Graz to the small village outside of Graz where Claudia lives. Long story short, a major bout of absent-mindedness meant I added two hours to my journey [...]
The Grandeur of Vienna
It was late, half past eleven, when I finally met Vincenc in Vienna. So my first hours in that thriving city of European crossroads were spent getting acquainted with Vincenc while he and I scurried about in the windy chill of the night, catching the various trams and busses we needed in order to find [...]
Making the Most of the Time I Have Left…
I feel like everything inside of me is going topsy-turvy. False illusions are crumbling – some quickly, others decaying rather steadily, but slowly. And that’s a good thing, because my desires and dreams are coming to fill the voids that these crumbling illusions leave behind… and my desires and dreams are becoming more of my [...]
Bottom Surfing in the Austrian Alps
This is written so poorly… but… you get the gist. It’s cliché, but really… the Austrian Alps are breathtaking. Julian and Maria had driven through the night… I was going on just a few hours of sleep… throughout the drive we were all struggling to stay awake in a sleep-deprived delirium… but when those jagged [...]
Snug as a Bug in Saarbrucken
The plan was to either meet Moritz at the train station… or not. Heh. Moritz had given me the directions from the train station to his apartment and said if I didn’t see him waiting there then I should just head to his place. I didn’t see Moritz when I arrived… so I immediately took [...]
So About That Parisian Magic…
****I´m not in Paris anymore… far from it. But, finally, here´s a bit about my stay in that incredible city.** Loic is going to change the world. What am I talking about? He already is changing the world. He surrounds himself with people who are going to change the world… hence, he hosted me. ; [...]
Parisian Magic
Paris is just as magical as this photo looks. I can’t wait to write about it on my train ride to Saarsbrucken, Germany tomorrow! But, just wanted to throw this pic up as a teaser!!
Input on Belgium
Lourens, a fellow free lancer that I met at Agritechnica in Germany, filled me in more on Belgium. So, I thought I would fill you guys in on what he said. Thanks Lourens! Hello Laura,Your report about Belgium needs a little adjustment I think. As you pointed out correctly, the situation is rather complex, caused [...]
Sweet Belgium
***I meant to post this a couple days ago when it was written. Sorry. I’ve actually been in Holland for the past three days now. Heading to Paris tomorrow. Updates will follow.*** Bruxelles… where was I… ah yes… dragging too much stuff through the cobbled streets of the center of the EU, staring at the [...]
Get To Know Luis…
…a little better. For you family and friends out there concerned about the people I might be staying with, here´s a clue: check out Luis´s old blog about when he just up and left his cozy life to go help war-torn Israel/Palestine for 3 weeks. I have so much admiration for what he did! If [...]
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