“Extraordinary ideas may spring from entertaining bizarre perceptions.
I came close to visiting Berlin 15 years ago while traveling in Belgium, but after driving a couple hours in fog I turned around. On this visit I was blessed with several days of temperate sunshine. The good weather coincided with a weekend, so I got to see how Berliners enjoy leisure time in the city.
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Krakow, Poland, 7/29-31/2012
I came here specifically to visit Wieliczka Salt Mine. I had no expectations about the city itself. I was charmed. The size of the old quarter is manageable on foot and the old buildings and monuments are well maintained, beautiful to see. There is a nice feeling about the place. It seems as if the original layout has not changed much.
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Graz, Austria, 7/24-25/2012
After my stop in Switzerland, I slowly made my way toward Scotland, spending a few nights at cities along the way I was curious to see. I liked so much of what I saw of Austria earlier in the summer, I was anxious to see more of that country. I decided to check out Graz, a small city, capital of the southern region of Styria. Might it be a hidden gem?
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I met my Mom and her sister at Dover, England. We drove from there across the southern lobe of England to Port Isaac, then back to Bath, up through the Cotswolds and ended in London. We enjoyed stopovers in Weymouth, Port Isaac, Bath, Winchcombe and Hammersmith.
by I used the Via Alpina website to research and plan a ten day hike over twelve stages of the “purple trail” that runs through the Berchtesgaden area. Since these are some of the lowest elevation mountains, I expected they would be the earliest opening. But the day I headed out to my start point, I got a late response from one of the mountain huts saying they wouldn’t be open in time to accept my reservation. Hmmm.
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You were sitting on the seawall watching the sunset,
While wavelets slapped at jumbled boulders below.
What ruins are these? Does anyone living remember?
You wondered at their luminous shapes wavering in the water.
Earlier you could see all the way to Bregenz – half the picture was alpine peaks!
But then these clouds moved in and no one would believe all that could be seen from here.
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I had a memorable stay in Paris. I attended an intimate concert inside Ste. Chapelle, rode a bike all over town, walked along the Seine, explored many parks, took in a few new museums and ate at a few notable restaurants.
by After I dropped off my mother at the Airport in Amsterdam, I had a week before I needed to return the car in Basel. I very nearly stayed in Amsterdam. But they had just rounded up Queens Day Celebration, the streets were full of garbage and it smelled of barf. So I elected to make better use of my wheels, exploring roads too small for the map on the borders of Switzerland, Italy and Austria. Did I pile on the miles! And I got into a lot of places that would have taken weeks by bus and train. I was so satisfied by the places I stayed, as I look back, I can’t believe I had all those inspiring experiences in the space of only a week.
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