07/20 Burgen, Norway

I wandered through the station lingering on familiarities.  It’s amazing how routines destroyed time and sped things up.  There were so many unexpected avenues, detours, new faces and outright pleasures that it seemed as if it had been months since I left here, not days.  I got talking up with a couple on the train that had been reading the same travel guide and discovered out we were going in the same directions.  …

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.   …

07/21 Vigeland Garden, Oslo Norway

I situated myself behind a cup of coffee in the middle of Oslo’s train station.  It was early and I was in clear view of all the entrances and exits, so there would be no chance of Jim missing me.  I had already gathered up the necessary supplies to prepare that night’s dinner for Solsberg.  After about eight-hours of waiting, I was getting fidgety, actually angry, but assumed Jim probably had a bad connection and was on his way, so I held tight and caught up on my journal.  …

09/18 Paris, France

Sometimes when I take photographs I place more value on where I am standing than what I am looking at.  In Rouen I stood where Monet stood.  I preferred the light and shade of a subject, the dark spaces that define its character and capture the surroundings of the moment, revealing its alternations.  That evening’s twilight was a symphony colored in grey and rose that I watched as I waited for the sun to set. …

11/24 Selesck, Turkey

As the storm cleared we helped put things back into place and decided to hang around another day.  About midday we took a walk into town and bought two bus tickets north toward Ephesus.  Our bus was scheduled to leave early the next morning.  All in all this was good company and I had enjoyed the time off the road.  I didn’t know what to expect heading into Turkey’s interior.  I was never taught in school much about Turkey.  …

06/22 Cherbourg, France

Like a bunch of cattle we were herded from the boat to the train station.  It was in this company we met a group of young ladies from Costa Mesa California on their way to a concert in Paris.  We were scheduled to see U2 in Dublin but that plan kinda got left behind with a bunch of stuffed animals.  …

10/27 Matala, Crete Greece

With the birth of a new day we began to head back to fetch our bags from the hotel.  Beyond all odds we managed to fit all of us and all the baggage into one cab.  Two of us had to lie across laps in the back seat.  Our taxi driver slid in an eight-track and we were off to the airport.  I found it odd that the stewardess confiscated only the US passports and then forced us to sit in specific seats, “the American” section.  I guess in case of hijacking that would better protect the locals.  I believed my eyes closed for just a second but when they opened we were landing in Crete. …

08/01 Gloriette, Vienna Austria

One thing was for certain, I needed a shower.  Sleeping out with element guarantees one thing, we were up early, so we took advantage and started searching for a room.  Luckily we found a room in the area that accommodated our needs, but we couldn’t check in until later that afternoon, so we reserved a room.  They were kind enough to watch our bags, allow us to scamper off and tour the city.  …

09/29 Strasborg, Germany

I stopped in Karlsuhe for something to eat and decided to head through Offerberg and then into Strasborg for a day or two.  I had had four consecutive days of good weather and today was no different.  The water just smiled back with the reflection of the autumn leaves.  I loved the way the city was broken into pieces by the water.   …

05/27 Avebury, England

One night at Mik’s place while passing around the pipe, he weaved stories of sprits possessing the trails between the white horse and the many rock circles heading north.  I could almost visualize these images he was painting and hear the pounding of drums in the wind, as I focused in on the flames dancing with the beat.  …

11/04 Crete, Greece

The sunrise was a picture to behold.  Sitting on that beach was like being the only person on the planet.  Once we were all up and awake we attempted to hide the remains of the burnt telephone pole and headed up to meet the first bus to Nicolas.  We were in need of a shower and food.  We took advantage of the stop over on the way to Nicolas which provided enough time to grab some real food.  We were all so hungry but still skeptical after the last experience.  Once we stepped off the bus in Nicolas a little fat kid’s persistence persuaded us to follow him to an available room.  …

05/19 Los Angeles, California

Imprisoned by my own curiosity. I felt as if I was looking up through trees that encircled my view, staring at the many branches and the fruits suspended beyond my grasp.  I knew I could no longer be satisfied simply to lie here on my back, closing my eyes and dreaming of things out of my reach.

…

10/10 Rome, Italy

Early morning trekked across town and I followed the cats to the Coliseum.  I was disappointed it was a ruin.  I would really have enjoyed if it had been rebuilt and had the opportunity to see mock gladiatorial games or mythological dramas within its walls.  When I was young my exposure to that type of history was either through reading books or viewing movies but to actually stand in such a historical site awakened the senses of my imagination.  I could almost make out the roar of the lions and the cheer from the crowd. …

11/17 Haifa, Israel

We discovered that the prior day’s information was incorrect.  There were no boats leaving today.  We got our Sabbath’s mixed up again.  We had already packed everything up and trekked the long walk down to the docks.  At first I had doubt that anybody was talking straight.  I always had to ask a few to get some comfort in confirmation.  We managed to gather numerous alike answers and concluded that we were stuck there another day, fuck.   …