I have this theory on the evolution of the knowledge of surrealism. You start off with an appreciation of M.C. (Maurits Cornelis) Escher as you start to understand art in general. Here are illustrations designed to play with your sense of perception. His images have been co-opted for jigsaw puzzles and t-shirts and posters (not to mention set design). Continue reading “Boston Public Library Put Its M.C. Escher Collection Online, So It’s Time to Redecorate Your Dorm Room”
Really wasn’t expecting to go the Netherlands this trip, and yet, here I was, just past 8am, hanging out with fully armed Belgian soldiers, waiting for the train to Rotterdam. As it turned out, our train was delayed so we were instructed to take the following train (which had a change rather than being a direct route). This wasn’t a big deal and they announced instructions in Dutch and English. The problem was the poor Albanian guy who was trying to get to Amsterdam (the ultimate destination of the train which would drop me in Rotterdam). He was having a hard time figuring out where to go so I made sure he got on the right train and then changed where we were supposed to. I left him on the second train. I hope he made it. Continue reading “Belgium 2016 Day 4 – Ink, Bridges and a Butt Plug Gnome”
So I got up bright and early and headed down to Turku on the 6:22 train. The idea was to spend the day in Turku and then hop on the ferry to Stockholm. As plans went, it was a pretty good one. I said good bye to Antti and Tiina and got aboard. I’m gonna miss them. For as much as they complained about Vaasa being a small, boring village, I had an absolute blast there. Continue reading “I swear I thought Turku could fly…”
The way my time in Europe has been going, I just roll with the adventures. If someone or something comes along and suggests something, unless there’s a reason, I go with it. With Tiina and Antti, they had several things they wanted to show and do so I put myself in their hands and let myself see a Vaasa I’m sure very few others get to see. Continue reading “Vaasa – Finnish Navy”
The ferry to Helsinki was uneventful, save for a very expensive buffet. At one point I tried to find a comfortable place to sit and maybe sleep for a few minutes, but discovered all the good spots were already taken by folks who were already sleeping! That appears to be the thing to do on the early morning crossing. Pulling into the Helsinki harbor, though, I saw the most brilliant
thing – a tiny island with a tiny house on it! Continue reading “Helsinki Day 1&2 – Attack of the lokki”
I got up and made it out fine and in time (I only had three beers spaced out over the course of the whole evening – but the common room was a mess. I left it as a tribute to the reputation of the English lads). The only problem was the tour company I booked through never bothered to tell me they weren’t the ones who ACTUALLY conducted the tours. So I’m there but I almost missed it since I didn’t know. No worries, I made it. Continue reading “Krakow – land of the Dragon…”
My last day in Vienna was fairly uneventful… this seems to be my pattern now. I got up, and Imbi and I went and dropped my bag off at the bus station before grabbing breakfast (well…trying to find breakfast was an issue and we finally just settled for Starbucks where we could get free wifi). She tried to talk to her mum and dad and sis on skype on my computer but it was too Continue reading “Vienna, Krakow, and the Very Late Bus”
My last day in Zagreb was fairly uneventful. I didn’t do much of anything, really. At least nothing touristy. I wandered around a bit, then found a nice place to sit and wrote my last entry and a bit on my novel and then headed to the train station for my 9 o’clock to Salzburg. I actually went a little early and ran into Annika and Cecelia, who were returning from a day trip so I was able to say a proper good-bye. Continue reading “Cold Realities..”
Another simple day, in that I only did one thing involving touring, but that one thing was a doozy! Before you go any further, though, look at the new picture atop this page. Not only did I take it, but that castle is where I spent my day!
The castle is called Neuschwanstein and it’s located about 2 hours south-west of Munich by train just outside of a little town called Fussen. I met up with a tour group and we headed out around 10am this morning. Continue reading “Mad King Ludwig… the second!”
What a day! This was probably the best day I’ve had so far, mostly because of the company. Last night I met 
these two other travelers – Jenni and Jim. Jim is a rock singer from England and Jenni is
an agro-economy major from Finland. We ran into each other in the lobby of the hotel and struck up a conversation. Continue reading “Old Things to take pictures of…”
So Dresden…
Nice place, but everything is in German so while I could appreciate the architecture and art, I had a difficult time putting a lot of it into historical context. Mostly I took a bus tour (with English narration on headphones) and snapped a lot of pictures. And then, when I went to look at The Blue Wonder, the oldest steel bridge in the area, it started to drizzle… and then it started to pour. Continue reading “It was a rainy night in Dresden…”
Getting the Hang of Thursdays 