Given my extensive knowledge of the Spanish language, I assume that adding -ito to the word Camino conveys the nature of my effort to tackle portions of the Camino de Santiago in two short trips. If not, I doubt any of the poor bastards who tried to teach me Spanish will be surprised by my failure. My first stage starts tomorrow, with a train ride (my first, outside...
I really only had one full day here in Bordeaux, with a late plane arrival last night and an early train departure tomorrow, but really enjoyed spending the day wandering the city with no particular agenda in mind nor even a map in hand. It’s a remarkable city, with so many preserved buildings, very old Cathedrals and churches, a pronounced Mediterranean feel...
As I prepare to leave Bergen, I find myself thinking about losing weight. The initial observation is rather prosaic: seeing a city filled with healthy, slender giants walking all over has reminded me of the importance of committing to a healthy lifestyle. It’s not about vanity; it’s not about wanting to be as stylish as these people (seriously!); it’s simply about...
Panoramic Bergen My home here Hanseatic Buildings, Bergen Bryggen Old Fisherman Giant Crab at Bergen Fish Market Bryggen in Bergen Ship at Harbor 1914 Ship in Bergen Mediterranean Woman and Viking Bergen from Above Bergen from Above Bryggen
Icelandic Volcanic Crater Fjord! Edge of the World Dyndjani Dyndjani Outside Isafjordur Isafjordur with Sun Dairy Farm Near Isafjordur Isafjordur Airport Þingeyri Roadway Between Isafjordur and Þingeyri The Road to Dynjandi Near Flatyeri Icelandic Sheep Fear No Cars Road to Isafjordur Yes, that’s a bridge Turf Shed by the Fjord Iceland Roads Mount Doom?
Inspired by some latent memory of Alec Baldwin’s admonition to “always be closing” in Glengarry Glen Ross and the fact that I brought one adapter for European power for three devices on my trip, I had fallen into reminding myself all the time to “Always Be Charging” to make sure that my camera and phone were ready at any moment. To some...
I normally follow the belief that there is no scene in the world improved by my presence in it, so you will never see a photograph of me in front of the Eiffel Tower or some towering Glacier. Beard selfies aside, I generally don’t photograph myself very often, but two evenings ago, standing at what seemed like the edge of the world, it was hard to resist. After...
Given that this is my third trip to Iceland in as many years, people are always interested to know what I love so much about the country, and I’m not sure that I have ever been able to give a complete answer. As I was driving with a new friend from France today, though, I think I started to stumble towards an answer. We were talking about the difficulty of taking...
While my friends back home are battling heat and smoke, here in Isafjordur the climate is a bit different: it has been raining and snowing (a bit) since about 4:00 p.m. yesterday. That’s led to a quiet day of visiting museums, the library, and a bakery and coffee shop that has been open since 1871. In a delightful cultural juxtaposition after seeing fishing...