We drove south from Bulgaria into Greece on our own personal bailout mission for the Greek economy. Exiting the lush mountains of Bulgaria, we immediately noticed a difference. Although greener than we had expected (at least in the North), Greece had smaller mountains, larger valleys, and less vegetation. Here are Continue Reading
Observations
Impressions of Bulgaria
Bulgaria is the last of the formerly communist countries that we plan to visit this trip. We continue to head south to warmer and hopefully drier weather. We enjoyed our relatively short visit to Bulgaria. Here are some things about Bulgaria that I think are interesting: Bulgaria is a former Continue Reading
Impressions of Romania
• Romania appears less developed than the other countries we’ve been to in the European Union, including other former Communist countries Poland and Slovakia. • It is common to see people driving horse drawn wagons in the countryside and smaller towns. For many, this appears to be their primary form of transport. Continue Reading
Impressions of Hungary
The Hungarian language is very different from those of its neighbouring countries which speak Slavic languages. Hungarian is more closely related to Estonian and Finnish which share a common history from when the Huns invaded the region in around 500 CE. The Kingdom of Hungary existed for 950 years before Continue Reading
Impressions of Slovakia
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 Continue Reading
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 Continue Reading
Impressions of Luxembourg
We recently visited Luxembourg after leaving France. It’s a small place, so it didn’t take long. We visited the only major city, creatively called Luxembourg City, in this tiny country of just over 2500 square kilometers. Here are some of our impressions. Luxembourg is a landlocked country surrounded by France, Continue Reading
Impressions of Germany
Germany has a lot of similarities to Austria. After about a week in Germany, here are some of the things we’ve noticed. Germany is a financial powerhouse of Europe, despite spending a fortune to re-integrate East Germany since 1989. There are still considerable economic differences between the former East and West. Germany Continue Reading
Observations about Vietnam
The government here is communist (or heavily socialist), but the economic system is capitalist. Vietnam has been repelling invaders for the last two thousand years — the Khmers, Chinese, French, and most recently the Americans. They are fiercely proud of this fact. Vietnam is one of the largest rice exporters Continue Reading
Observations about Cambodia
Here are some things that we’ve noticed about Camdodia: Cambodia is officially a democracy, but the Cambodian People’s Party seems to control the place. They have signs up in every village and then win every election. Much of the country is flat. It is covered with rice patties as far Continue Reading