Old cultures, especially agrarian ones, love their seasonal festivals, and the best time is after the hard work of planting, tending, and harvesting is done. Late summer, as the hot afternoons stretch and… Continue reading
The problem with being human is that we only live our own lives. On Day Two of my Benelux Tour, we get a chance to improve on that. Ensconced in our personal present… Continue reading
There’s a time honored formula for the first day of a tour. Welcome meeting to go over everything, then a moderate orientation walk with light-to-medium content on the way to dinner together. It… Continue reading
Back in the paleotechnic dawn of the 21st century, my mother’s request was understandable. “Just call me once a week to let me know you’re alive,” she said, as I wandered off across… Continue reading
The orientation meeting went extremely well, dinner was positively delicious, and my introductory walk around Bucharest was going splendidly. The after-heat evening air was hot with both the indolence of summer and the… Continue reading
Guitar cradled in front of his chest, the young man was living the dream. His heartthrob crooning filled the summer street where the evening passeggiata stroll around Bucharest was well underway. Behind him… Continue reading
The bright little lights sparkle all the way down the row of tidy stalls. They seem sharper in the cold winter air. Look above the row to see the dignified old buildings of… Continue reading
I wasn’t sure about Luxembourg. I enjoyed it as a largely clueless tourist, but would it satisfy the discerning Europhile I had in mind for a tour member? I’ve lived in and love… Continue reading
Romania is a place of endless human stories, kings and autocrats and invaders and defenders and the people caught up in all of it. But the day after walking on a church’s rampart… Continue reading
Romanians curse a lot. My favorite of their more playful profanities is when they tell someone to go away. We might use two simple words to form an expression that makes very little… Continue reading
