Budapest, Hungary and Krakow/ Auschwitz, Poland (Aug. 14-25) Going further east into Europe for me was like reading Heart of Darkness; the further along you get, the more eerily dark things become as the history of past events shows a dark side to the human condition. Hungary and Poland today are vibrant, recovering countries that have joined the European Union and keep with the fashions of the west while trying to forget about a century in which their lands were conquered, divided, taken away, their people brutally repressed by neighbors on both sides of them and their moral fiber nearly [View Full Entry]

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Florence/ Milan/ Croatia It was hundreds of years ago in the southern parts of Europe that the ‘medieval times’ of armed conflict, disease and poverty started to change; and it was Firenze (Florence), in the heart of Italy, where the businessmen, powerful families and clergy started to fund the arts and sciences. Florence today houses some 20% of the world’s classical art- an amazing amount especially considering how small the city is. My time there was to take in much more of the volumes of art and get a better understanding of the movement and times. It was an intere [View Full Entry]

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Rome/ Athens/ Mykonos/ Lausanne (July 11-Aug 2) Europe in the summer.. there isn’t anything quite like it, especially as you head to the south. With the thermometer increasing steadily, forcing me into the shade during the day, I spent a few days in Rome before moving on to the hype of Greece. In my third trip to Rome, I was determined to see the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums as my previous visits had been brief. I started this trip with a comfortable overnight trip from Vienna to Rome and stayed near the old city, walking distance to most places (thank [View Full Entry]

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Prague/ Bratislava/ Brno/ Cesky Krumlov Following the World Cup- being disappointed not only by the US but then that Argentina lost as well- I headed east to the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Vienna in the final days of June and early July. Things were clearly picking up on the eastern front, the weather was great and summer tourism was getting into full blossom. Prague, my first destination, is the talk of Europe now and Vaclavske Square is filled with tourists. Pavlina had also come over from San Francisco back to her home country for a visit so it was great having [View Full Entry]

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Germany: The World Cup (June 12-27) Munich/ Nuremberg/ Frankfurt/ Kaiserslautern/ Koln and more 7 matches, 8 cities, 14 days, a few 30 + year old men and an RV. What a great time! I had hoped the title of this blog would be ‘USA stuns the world in football’ but our hopes were crushed a few days ago in Nuremberg when the Black Stars of Ghana sent our boys packing. Even though I was thoroughly worn out, hoarse in the voice, catching a fever and lived out of the RV for the last few days, it was fantastic. I started the [View Full Entry]

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Turkey: Istanbul/ Capadoccia/ Ephesus May 24- June 11 Jamming rock concerts. Women wearing covered scarves on their heads. Night life that pulsates through the night. Greek mythology, conversion to Christianity and some of the largest Muslim Mosques.. it’s Istanbul and the Turkiye of today. Turkey is a country overflowing with a vibrant life today and a history that dates back to the dawn of civilization and has witnessed several different distinct cultures, empires and seen religious movements like no other land has. The country has the metropolis of Istanbul and its 14 milli [View Full Entry]

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The last 2 weeks of the safari was an amazing collection of seeing the world’s greatest wildlife, pumping adrenaline out of my body, being threatened by the most dangerous animals on the planet and having incredible nights with what had become some great friends. After a long weekend in Swakopmund to wrap up the first week, we packed up and headed to get more involved with game and found it quickly. Our first stop was at Spitzkoppe, where we saw (and smelled- terrible, by the way) the largest seal breeding ground, home to some 100,000 squealing seals. That was followed by [View Full Entry]

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Capetown, South Africa and the beginning of the safari (April 25-May 7) Capetown... it conjures images of incredible natural beauty and the hope of a new South Africa. But it also lives with the scars of being home to apartheid and the scorn of the world not but 20 years ago. I was incredibly excited to get there and could hardly rest on the flight but did hit the ground running, wandering around Long Street and down to the waterfront. One of the highlights I also did on the first day was to go to Tabletop Mountain for sunset, which showcased [View Full Entry]

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Reflections on South America As I think back on 3 and a half months on this continent, a flood of memories comes to mind and I wanted to create one last blog entry as a reflection on both the continent and my last week in Buenos Aires. It’s been an incredible whirlwind of experiences and cultures that is both difficult to differentiate and put into perspective. Traveling several places throughout the continent helps to put together the collage and struggle of south America; I really believe that you have to see a lot of different places to more fully understand and [View Full Entry]

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Lake Titicaca, Puno (Peru) and La Paz, Bolivia (April 10-16) There was certainly a high during Machu Pichu and having a group of friends around during the previous week so we decided to make our way to more of Peru and Bolivia for some more rugged, if cold and unpredictable, adventure. After a night of defying Peruvian law by drinking past 11 the night before an election, we saw more ruins on Sunday and took an overnight bus to Puno. It was off to a bit of a bad start leaving Cusco when I lost my ATM card and Amy left [View Full Entry]

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