golfkat's Guestbook

Kraut
Dear fellow traveller: It is very unpolite to use the term Krauf for Germans like me. It is like the N-word for Africans or simalar expressions for Asian people like you. I think it should be banned. The second world war is over for a long time. At least where I live. In fact it is very stupid to blame us for eating Sauerkraut (which we don't do that often) and which would have helped sailors of the usual seafaring nation (like the English) against scurvy in the 15th to 18th century. I assume that you are an educated fellow and should know facts like these.

San Diego
On top of the expected Italian food options, San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood is a food lover’s paradise. i was travel last year in san Diego. That's why i know about san Diego. Such a beautiful place

Welcome to Greece if you are vaccinated
Great post Gerry. A great reminder to those anti vaccers who do their best to make sure the rest of us can't travel from our countries that are trying to defeat the Covid 19 virus.

Bad Timing
When we visited the Parthenon and Acropolis some years ago, we had the bad timing to see it when much of it was shrouded in scaffolding and it pretty much ruined the atmosphere for me. Visiting the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion had more of an impact for me and we saw the spot where Lord Byron carved his name. I think he may have had the bad habit of doing that at other places he visited as well.

Awful tethers, these
I've used several of those over the years - and they are not great. They encourage the dog to strut/run by the bike, rather than pull the bike forward (and are really bad at redistributing pull force). Ultimately, not much fun for the dog - unlike bikejoring. Still better than nothing, of course.

I became a coffee drinker later in life than most. Prior to that I was strictly a tea drinker by choice. But your post made me think about places where I've enjoyed coffee while traveling. There have been a few but they weren't strictly coffee shops either. While I once thought that Seattle was the coffee-drinking capital of North America, I changed my opinion about that after visiting Vancouver, British Columbia.Coffee shops in Vancouver were as common as restaurants once were in New York City. I'd love to have a favorite coffee shop, but I haven't found it yet! Great post!

Doner Kebab in Berlin and Istanbul and Leberkäs role in Bavaria
You should try the turkish doner kebab which is famous in Berlin and Istanbul. When I was a student it was one of my favorite dishes. Is it known in the US or East Asia? It consists of turkish bread, veal or chicken and vegetables. Plus some hot spices if you want. You find it in every city in Germany and of course in Turkey itself. Costs are 5 Euros or less or more if you eat it on a plate with fries. The meat is cut in thin slices which are good and easy to eat. On the Bavarian side, where I life and come from, you can make the "Leberkässemmel" famous in this blog. It translates as Leberkäs role. There are no vegetables in it but mustard and the meat is a mix from pork liver plus other things which nobody knows. This was an important lunch for me when I had afternoon classes at school. You should get one for around 3 Euros in Bavaria.

So True!
I love maps and thought I knew a fair bit of geography. But a few years ago my I realized that my understanding of where South America is located in relationship to North America was clearly off the mark. After flying all the way from the east coast of the US to Peru on the west coast of South America, we still found ourselves in the same time zone!

Typical map
The first map in your blog is a typical map made in the US, as North America is in the middle. It shows the Soviet Union and Eastern Germany by the way. A typical map made in Europe shows Europe in the middle and a typical map made in East Asia shows this area in the center. My desk pad since the age of 10 or so had a world map too and this might have been my first inspiration for travelling. My parents only went to 6 countries with me but now at the age of 46 I have seen around 55. In 13 of them I did IT projects.

Souvenirs - A Many-Splendored Thing
I had to smile reading this nice blog. I also recently posted a similar blog on this very thing! I used to buy many more souvenirs than I do now -- some were hits and some were definitely misses. Either way, they evoke lots of memories for me and they are another way to document where I've visited so I treasure most of them. I like to think that the craft/souvenir pieces I've bought helped provide some income to the artist's family. In Morocco children were selling little camels woven from palm and hopefully the money they received for them helped in some way. I rarely bring home food of any kind, but I love magnets which I display on the side of an office cabinet.

Getting By Without Travel
Enjoyed reading this blog! It has been a tough 12 months for travel addicts like myself. Your examples of things to enjoy (destination cocktails, movies, travel shows on TV, travel books) should be good options for many suffering from travel withdrawal. For me they just re-awaken the simmering travel beast within! However, I have been enjoying hearing some of my similarly travel-addicted friends talk about their tentative travel plans for 2022 as well as making up my own list of possible adventures. (Sad to say Myanmar is now off the list.) This same group of world-wide travel friends, once members of a blog site that was bought and jettisoned by TA, still communicate regularly discussing travel, have been the best antidote for my wanderlust during these trying times. So I totally agree with you that making friends around the world is one of the most rewarding aspects of travel. I'd be comfortable calling on friends from Bulgaria, England, Australia, Portugal, Romania or Ireland for advice or help while traveling to their country -- that's priceless! Hope you enjoy your upcoming travel!!