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10/13  Marina Piccola, Capri Italy
10/28  Matala, Crete Greece
11/28  Pamukkale, Turkey
08/06 Lienz, Austria
11/30  Ushisar, Turkey
09/21 Versailles, France
06/06 Edinburgh, Scotland
09/30  Freiberg, Germany
06/15 Dublin, Ireland
06/30 Trondheim, Norway
08/15 Heidelberg, Germany
07/30 Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany
06/08 Northern Scotland
10/11  Pompeii, Italy
06/27 Oslo, Norway

10/13 Marina Piccola, Capri Italy

I awoke the next morning, took an early walk and just couldn’t believe how beautiful everything was.  Every so often I claimed a bench with a view and sketch out some thoughts.  I headed down toward the harbor to catch a bus to the other side of the island.  I planned on seeing the blue grotto.  I couldn’t figure out where to pick up a bus and nobody would give me a straight answer so I decided to walk.  

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10/28 Matala, Crete Greece

I woke to what I thought was a scream.  Eventually I realized that it was the manager of the hotel yelling at somebody.  Apparently Dawn had spent the night with a young man who got himself caught on his way to the bathroom.  That was the sign I needed to change locations and find a new room closer to the restaurants.  I managed to locate a much nicer room directly across the street from what I had labeled the best restaurants and it was a whole lot cheaper.  I guess this time I didn’t to have to compensate a taxi driver. 

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11/28 Pamukkale, Turkey

Walked up one of the local hills and watched the sun rise over the valley.  Then I took a trek back to the pools to get a few pictures without people climbing all over in them.  They were so beautiful and unique.  Shallow petal shaped pools with large expanses that had the texture and the look of snow.  I expected the crunch of snow but was met with the resistance of rock.  I sat alongside them for rest of the morning, just day dreamed and enjoyed the view.

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08/06 Lienz, Austria

In front of the morning sun we departed toward Lienz.  We were lucky to have the company of a pair of young ladies traveling in the same direction.  An interesting conversation made the time disappear and before we knew it our train had come to a stop.  I needed to exchange some traveler’s check for cash and explained to Jim and the two girls that I would be a few minutes inside the bank.  Once I exited the bank the three had vanished.  I spent well over an hour checking one shop after another, up and down just about every street.  

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11/30 Ushisar, Turkey

We had planned on seeing Urgup and the Goreme Valley and headed out into the streets in search for the tourist office.  It was still very cold but it was like a reversed microwave, my bones were colder than my skin.  We located what we believed was the tourist office but there were no brochures or posters to confirm that we had found the right place.  Everybody inside was huddled around a small stove trying to keep warm.  They explained there were no buses or organized tours this late in the year and suggested we find ourselves a taxi driver. 

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09/21 Versailles, France

The wind blowing through the trees surrounding Versailles whispered voices from it past.  Is it a revolt?  No it is a revolution.  Words.  Words that had challenged the cast system of the church and the rich.  Science, literature and invention tore the fabric of the aristocrats.  It started here.  A revolution now and then can be healthy thing.  I followed an English speaking tour to gather additional information.  It was a beautiful home but the maintenance bill must have been outrageous.  I guess it is good to be King? 

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06/06 Edinburgh, Scotland

We headed north into Scotland.  Initially we didn’t wander too far from the train stations but eventually we stretched our arms and headed into the countryside.  The weather had been wonderful.  I truly believe the sun had been following us for weeks.  The primroses were in bloom and the fields were scattered with frolicking rabbits. 

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09/30 Freiberg, Germany

I found a gorgeous room in Fribourg that overlooked the main square that surrounded the church.  It had a lovely café out front and was an ideal location to watch foot traffic and to catch up on my journal.  There was a gentleman who showed up playing the harmonica and really put on a show.  Talk about envy, “I wish I could play like that”. 

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06/15 Dublin, Ireland

The clouds were telling no lies, this time they opened up and delivered rain.  Bicycles were now out of the question, so we planned on thumbing our way south.  We were hardly out of town when Jim started whining again.  He’s like one of those thimble banging monkeys.  Once his key gets turned there’s no way to turn him off, until his springs loosen. 

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06/30 Trondheim, Norway

With the morning sun we said our good-byes and headed south back toward Trondheim.  Jim turned into a broken record and kept repeating his exploits.  When he finally he fell asleep, I soon followed.  Somewhere in the middle of a dream the train came to a stop and a voice was broadcast over the intercom.  Everybody around us quickly got up out of their seat and ran toward the doors.  I didn’t need to understand Norwegian to know I should be doing the same. 

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08/15 Heidelberg, Germany

In a middle of a dream a young man introduced himself to me, explained that we knew one another and that he had something to show me.  I looked at his face and couldn’t recall where we had met or when.  He stated that he had been given permission to show me something and at that moment opened what could be best described as a door.  Behind the opened door I saw billions of people of all ages, with all characteristics, moving frantically as if searching for someone important to them.  As I moved closer I noticed that my mind did not perceive the physical characteristics of these people. 

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07/30 Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

I was intrigued with the works of Escher and understood there was an exhibit in the Hage, so I persuaded Jim to board a late train out of Luxembourg.  We arrived in to Rotterdam even later.  There didn’t seem to be anybody but the two of us, the streets were virtually empty.  We wandered toward the lights advertising vacancies and pounded on doors until one finally opened.  The price the gentlemen in pajamas requested was outrageous. 

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06/08 Northern Scotland

Tracking down each of the antiquities had the feeling of a treasure hunt and we never felt lost because we could always find signs of life behind the pub door.  One of these nights while wandering I discovered the pub door was locked, so I entered an old grave yard across the way seeking the unknown.  It was dark at eye level, even darker after gazing up at the million of stars looking down upon me.

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10/11 Pompeii, Italy

I rose early to get a head start on the tourists and encountered a thief with a taxi.  Once we reached Pompeii he tried to double then rate we agreed on.  I wouldn’t give him a dime more so the argument continued until I was imposing on his next victim.  A few impolite gestures and more than a few choice works as he sped off.  I looked around and noticed I was the only person wandering about the ruins but it was still early in the day, which was kind of a weird feeling.  After about an hour or so I saw another individual and then two young men wandered up to me and inquired if I had any hash to sell.

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06/27 Oslo, Norway

We ended up in Oslo’s train station an hour and a half earlier than we had originally planned.  We had eaten and kind of ran out of touring options and found ourselves debating on which train to depart on.  One train left at eleven and the other at midnight.  Jim was having another one of his bad days, randomly complaining about everything and anything that came into view.  I wasn’t up for spending much time sitting in this vacant station with only Jim’s attitude to entertain me.  When the first of the two trains arrived, Jim walked the length of the train while I watched the gear.  “There’s no first class, so let’s wait for the next one” Jim demanded. 

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