Paris is gritty, beautiful, busy, tranquil, vain, and brimming with dreams. We purchased a 3-day metro pass that allowed us to freely traverse the city. We went from the Northeast to Saint Michel, from Montmartre to the Champs Ely sees, and back again. The public transport here is brilliant; there are even bike stations where you may rent a bike and drop it off across the city at another station. Of note is that there is a strong odor of putrid urine in public squares and in the Metro; not constant, just occasionally wafting. Josh is convinced the French are just [View Full Entry]

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Prague (Praha), Czech Republic 9.5.09-9.8.09 At least three Jan’s We were greeted by a nice guy named Jan (pronounced Yan in Czech) with a Cramer sign in his hands promptly after deplaning at the Prague airport. On the way to the St. George Hotel, Jan sped around and tried to sell us a rental car. As planned, our friend Matt (AKA Kozel) met us at the hotel circa 6:30. He was to be our host for the first night in town. Matt took us to a fine, candlelit restaurant specializing in vegetarian food—which was very good for us since we had [View Full Entry]

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Budapest, Hungary 9.2.09 Day two in Budapest was an eventful one to be sure. We began our morning with some fresh, “continental” breakfast at our Hotel Erzsebet. Continental breakfast in the US is often code word for cheap donuts, fake pastries, and bad fruit. This was not the case at our hotel. Breakfast consisted on fresh cheese, fresh fruit, fresh pastries, health food, what looked to be a salad bar, home made dips, yogurt and fresh granola. These food items were accentuated by fresh coffee (French pressed) and juices. What a great way to start our day. Over breakfast we [View Full Entry]

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We arrived around noon yesterday (Thursday I think) on a plane with propellers. This was our first propeller plane trip ever. Again, a nice man with a Cramer sign greeted us at the airport. It is unbelievable to me that this whole porter thing is actually working. He drove us for about 20 minutes to Hotel Polski located just inside of Florian’s Gate (Gothic Tower built in the 1300’s at the entrance of old town). What a beautiful hotel! It was clear to us immediately that the exchange rate for US Dollars must be quite good. The hotel is very old [View Full Entry]

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Two weeks ago, or thereabouts, on a Friday, Joshua and I were enjoying an evening with Don and Deila. At one point, the discussion turned to our planned Auschwitz-Birkenau visit. The four of us engaged in an intellectual dissection of this place, its significance in the annals of history, and its significance to us. Deila asked that upon our visit, or shortly thereafter, that I share my emotional reaction to this rather than my (usual) analytical perspective. So begins the diagnosis of my soul on 09.04.09. The Auschwitz Muzeum at Ocwiecm, Poland is not a museum at all, but a cemetery. [View Full Entry]

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Ottawa, Ontario 8.31.09 We arrived in Ottawa, Ontario (Canada) on 8.29.09. What a pleasant city! Our first impression of Canadians was our shuttle driver; she had a thick accent and was uniquely friendly. A frequent visitor to the states, she really could be hired by the city of Boston or state of California to consult for their economic development team. “I have flown over Nebraska a few times,” she said in response to our state of residence. No matter where you are it seems as though Nebraska is a flyover state. The hotel room was, uh, clean. Way too many floral [View Full Entry]

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Budapest, Hungary 9.1.09 We flew into Budapest Hungary after about 12.5 hours of flight from Ottawa. As you could expect we were bushed! At first that our porter friend did not show up at the airport but eventually there was a nice Hungarian man with a sign that said Cramer. He took us to our quaint hotel Erzabet in the old town square. Our first stop in Budapest: the Gellert public bathhouse. The structure was leftover from the Turkish rule of Budapest. A beautiful, art nouveau structure adorned with marble, fountains spouting out of stone creatures, and beautiful domes towering over [View Full Entry]

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This first entry is for those of you who have been squalling for a schedule of our tour. (Sorry, Gram, I know you'll not like that I said you "squalled":) Without further adieu... August 29, 2009 Depart Omaha, NE at 10 AM Arrive Ottawa, Ontario, Canada at 3:24 PM Staying at Monterey Inn Resort, Ottawa August 30, 2009 Attend Dave and Evelyn's Wedding August 31, 2009 Depart Ottawa 2:35 PM Arrive Washington DC (Dulles) 4:07 Depart Dulles 5:31 PM Arrive London Heathrow 5:55 AM Depart Heathrow 8:45 AM Arrive Budapest, Hungary 12:15 PM September 1, 2009. Staying at the Hotel Erz [View Full Entry]

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