travelsincognito

CHEESE, PLEASE: After roaming along the beach, drying our damp towels and bed sheets at the RV park's clubhouse (I make the mistake of airing them outside on a fence, not realizing that sunshine is fleeting here) we get away in the early afternoon. Soon we cross the Columbia River estuary on a bridge high enough to allow ocean-going freighters to enter Astoria harbour on the Oregon side. This state charges no sales tax on goods and services, and so Kathryn wants to take advantage early on. We shop at Costco for a new memory card for her old digital camera and have a frugal lunch by indulging in food samples on offer at almost every aisle in the store. Then we scour the neighbouring strip malls for a heater to help take the chill out ... read more

INTO THE UNKNOWN: This is going to be a trip into the (partially) unknown. What I do know is that I need to return by the end of April to start my summer job as a Victoria Harbour Ferry skipper. What I don't know is how long it will take to reach Los Angeles, and if there will be time to carry on eastward into the desert states with their Native American cultures which fascinate me so. My travel companion, Kathryn, and I are planning to meander down the Oregon coast in her burgundy VW Westfalia camper van to eventually end up in her hometown of Venice Beach, CA. PORT ANGELES: We're taking the MV Coho vehicle/passenger ferry across Juan de Fuca Straight to Port Angeles, WA. Want to find a higher elevation to get a ... read more

In Tallinn, Estonia: Karoli (tour guide) for the private tour of Old Town and for finding my grandfather's apartment building; Kulno (music retailer) for giving me such detailed information about Estonian artists and cultural events in Tallinn; Viive (communications manager) for teaching me some useful Estonian language phrases and an insight into the Russian-Estonian dilemma; Kustav-Agu (costume/set designer) for generously spending his birthday afternoon to take me on a private tour of Tallinn City Theatre. In Halle, Germany: Andrea (English teacher) for inviting me to her language school's closing party; Barbara (fashion merchant) for getting me in touch with two great friends, helping me find that canoe rental, and making me laugh with her impressions of the local dialect; Ines (hotel proprietor) for all those breakfast chats and the delicious Ayurveda tea with ... read more

12 July: THE ARTIST who conducted guided tours in the Bergedorf castle park had told me, "On Saturday you must go to the Deichtor (dike gate) exhibition grounds." Problem is, when I get there I find not one but two art retrospectives going on simultaneously in separate buildings. Which one was I supposed to view? I should pay more attention. At first I'm not interested in the show of fashion photographer F.C. Gundlach, but find it increasingly fascinating as I wander around looking at location shots taken of models in such bold natural settings as the Sahara desert or grandiose man-made structures as in Brasilia. There are also black-and-white documentary photos taken during film productions, gala parties and the like in the late 1960s. In one room, which features fashions from the op art and flower ... read more

8 July: TRAIN TRAVEL IN GERMANY is a joy. Halle - Hannover 2 hours 15 minutes (travelling by car on the Autobahn you'd have to add at least another hour)! Thirteen minutes wait for the InterCity Express to Hamburg, 1 hour 20 minutes. And they are on time... by the second! I have a six-seater compartment -- like you see in those old movies -- window seat all to myself for much of the trip. Ah, feet up on the seat opposite (shoes off, of course), write on my laptop computer for a while, then doze as the landscape whizzes by -- from east to west. Conductor slides open the door to check my ticket, but of course no border police appears, like in the old days. After all, this is now one Germany, a united ... read more