thoughts, tales and travels
As much as I like beer and chocolate, I like history even more. In Bruges, I hope to visit St. John’s the oldest existing hospital (12th century) in Europe. The whole medieval city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The beer from their biggest brewery is piped underground to...
My plan to listen to Sibelius on the long flight from Seattle to Amsterdam was foiled because the plane did not have free WIFI, so I couldn’t use my wireless earphones. I could plug into the plane’s entertainment offerings, so I listened to sleep and classical mixes and Billie Eilish....
The Portland Airport experience this morning was about as calm, uncrowded, and smooth as I’ve ever seen. The new version of the Portland Airport carpet just isn’t quite the same, though. I was a fan of the turquoise. I even have a pair of Portland Airport carpet patterned socks, but...
Wednesday, July 26, 2023. Portland, Oregon. Today I packed forty-three pounds of clothes and etceteras (one pound under the limit) for a trip I didn’t plan for. I am a somewhat reluctant traveler. We signed up for this trip to the Nordic countries because a gap in our summer schedule...
Last year was truly memorable, like being reborn. It was our first year of living fully engaged with the world after the isolation and frustration of the pandemic. A new year free of the fear that I had Parkinson’s Disease, a fear that was finally banished after consultations with specialists...
And this was the reason for the trip. Bill with his new Grandson Charlie.
Our trip to Honolulu was January 7-14, 2020. Hey, we weren’t expecting Paradise, just someplace warmer and hopefully drier than Eugene in the winter. An interesting American city with a unique cultural history and vibe. The first evening we checked into our condo and strolled out into the Waikiki evening,...
We decided to stop in Park City, famous for Robert Redford’s Sundance Film Festival, so that I could adjust to some altitude before visiting Bill’s son John in Leadville, Colorado,. Leadville is above 10,000 ft. The last time we were there, we spent a glorious golden day of autumn hiking....
We are on the road! Maybe for the last time driving–we’ll see.First day was very fine. We left Eugene in the morning and arrived in Boise Idaho just in time to check in, have dinner, and take a quick look around Boise. First stop was the familiar Sahalie Falls. Lots...
Today we took a 40-minute train ride from Shanghai to Suzhou. The Shanghai train station and fleet of bullet trains all look shiny-new. Most people are still off work enjoying the week of national holiday, so the station was very crowded. Our trip went very smoothly in spite of the...