Let The Race Begin

We had been standing outside the pizzeria for well over an hour, when D said we should give up, and I agreed. We were approaching the temporal limits of being able to get some pizza from Antica Pizzeria da Michele and still catch our flight to Palermo. Periodically the host would come out and rattle […]

October 2017, The Road Awaits

It is October, my friends, and the days have grown short. We are well into autumn, and a quiet comfortable summer has finally drawn to a close. Fall began with a hot spell that continues still. As the first days of the season passed on the calendar, the nights were hot when they should have […]

Budapest and Bratislava: Wrapping Things Up

As I head home, I’m left with a few thoughts that haven’t previously been blog-worthy. First of all, the people in both countries were warm and welcoming, and most people spoke fluent English. This made me feel a bit guilty, as I didn’t really try to learn any of the local words. I used […]

Really, It’s A Synagogue

Far too quickly, this trip is wrapping up. Today was my last full day, and I started the morning with a quick breakfast and a return train to Budapest. I finally understood something that happened on my outward trip. On that trip, the conductor came through and checked my ticket, and later in the trip […]

In A Place of Broken Walls

I feel as though I’m starting the days a little later when I travel now, and I’m not trying to cram quite as much into a day, although that may reflect the fact that Bratislava is a smaller city, with fewer things for a tourist to do. As I consider this, I’m finding that it’s […]

In Which I Take the Advice of Strangers

The train finally drew to a halt and I stepped out with a crowd of other departing passengers. I joined the press of people in the overstuffed doorway, and saw a big blue sign that announced, “Welcome to Slovakia,” in great, capital letters. In smaller print, it declared Slovakia to be a “Little Big Country.” […]