We passed though Slovakia for our 2nd time. We were here last October briefly, visiting Bratislava for 1 day only. Thankfully we had more time and better weather this visit. Here are some of the things I found interesting… Slovakia is a narrow, landlocked country in Central Europe. It is…
Europe
Vignette Regret
Today, you get a $60 blog posting. Others may give you a $20 posting, or perhaps even a $30 posting, but I give you a full $60 posting. I’m willing to suffer for my art. How can I be sure what it’s worth? Read on. We were camped at the…
Down to our Last Złoty
Many countries in Europe are part of the Eurozone, a monetary union of 17 European Union (EU) member states (a subset of the total number of 27) that have adopted the Euro as their sole legal currency. Some members of the EU are not members of the Eurozone, including several…
Auschwitz III
This is the last of 3 related postings regarding Auschwitz. The first post is available here and the second here. The last selection took place on October 30, 1944. In September Heinrich Himmler, Reichsführer of the SS, ordered the crematoria destroyed before the advancing Soviet Army reached the camp. The gas…
Auschwitz II–Birkenau
This is the 2nd of 3 related postings regarding Auschwitz. The first post is available here. As many as 1 million Jews had already been murdered by the Nazis when they made the decision, in January 1942, to systematically kill all the Jews of Europe. This was described by Hitler as the…
Auschwitz
This is the first of 3 related postings about Auschwitz. The second post focuses on Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and the last post on my experience visiting the memorial. Auschwitz was established as a concentration camp, a place where criminals, political prisoners, academics, dissidents, prisoners of war, Jews, Roma (gypsies), homosexuals, and…
Impressions of Poland
After crossing Germany, we spent time in the south of Poland, visiting a variety of places and driving almost the full width of the country. Here are some of the things about Poland that I think are interesting: The Republic of Poland is the largest of the previously communist countries…
Burn the Witch — Hexenbrennen
In Saxony, a province in eastern Germany, near the city of Bautzen lies the small village of Schwarznaußlitz. It is the home of some family members of our friends Werner and Henny, whom we visited with them last September. We enjoyed that time tremendously, and since we were passing by…
England
We arrived in London and were met at the airport by our generous friends Sue and Martin (S&M). We spent a few days with them in Hampton, the town closest to Henry’s VIII’s Hampton Court Palace, where their canal boat Robin is moored. It was great to see S&M’s friends…
Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow
Departing for a long journey is bittersweet. Amidst the excitement of the last minute preparations and the anticipation of the journey to come, there is a hint of sadness. Leaving is tough. What will we miss while we’re gone? How will our absence affect our cherished relationships with others? The…