After driving out of Reykjavik towards the mountains - I spotted a road that climbed the slopes. Soon I was in the snow line; then I almost ran into a helicopter. Out of nowhere this chopper came racing low across the slopes towards the parking lot I was just about to pull into. After it landed safely I got out of the car and quickly realized how nice it is to have a cocoon of warmth (the car) to drive around in when the air temperature is around … [Read more...]
Crossing the Pond, Start of Bordeaux Viking Cruise
Usually when I have a bulkhead seat I end up with families seated nearby; I have always referred to these seats as 'bulkhead babies' as a number of flights I've been seated here next to crying babies. Fortunately there were no crying babies seated next to me. The only eventful happening was about half through the flight in the darkened cabin - I jumped up in my seat startled by a loud noise. It turns out a woman had fainted and crashed to the … [Read more...]
Exploring the World’s Two Largest Wine Caves & Wine Collections, Moldova
I first read about Moldova's ancient winery history several years ago in an inflight magazine while jetting over the skies of Finland somewhere. The thousands of years of wine making history certainly appealed to me as well as the fact Moldova is home to the largest underground wineries in the world. While stumbling through the streets of Chisinau after being dropped off by the bus from the airport I spotted a little tourist office called Simgal … [Read more...]
A Few Musings on First Night in Moldova
Sometimes you meet inspiring travelers while on the road - such was the case this evening in Chisinau, Moldova. I met a young woman traveler from Japan who took bought a 50CC motorbike in Irkutsk Russia and rode it some 14,000 kilometers solo from Russia to the Romanian Moldova border. She had stories of her time on the road as a trip of this length will invariably create. She camped much of the time but when it was raining or otherwise bad … [Read more...]
Trip to Budapest for VinCE Wine Show
With upcoming excitement about a pending trip to Budapest, it seemed like George Ezra's song of the same name was always playing on the radio. The movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel was showing on a recent flight so I watched it yet again. In reality, both the song and the movie seem to have little to do with Budapest but both seem like appropriate entertainment considering my trip to this historical city. In any case it is nice to be back - … [Read more...]
Exploring Vienna the Best Way, by Bicycle!
Arriving in Vienna was a shock after the calm and small town feel of Bratislava we have enjoyed the past few days. We were deposited right in the Museum District - which is a busy section of the city filled with massive and imposing historical buildings in all directions. Vienna has so much to see that we quickly decided trying to see some of its impressive architectural offerings on foot was not a good idea. We have been here several times on … [Read more...]
Long Weekend in Bratislava, Slovakia
I had arranged to meet my brother for a long weekend in Bratislava. He was on his way from Verona Italy where he lives and I was on my way from Kyrgyzstan where I had been trekking the past few weeks. We arrived at our floating Botel on the Danube River within 1 minute of each other. Talk about great timing! Ready to imbibe in some alcohol after a several week dry spell we immediately headed to the Grand Cru tasting bar, and ordered several … [Read more...]
Dreaming of Iceland
Iceland has long been on my list of countries to visit. I fly over this rugged looking country several times a year on my way to Europe - I glance down about mid flight depending on the time of year and gaze down upon its snow covered landscape. At other times I see rugged geography, a landscape devoid of people and large portions covered by glaciers. A friend who has family living there visits every once in a while and returns with stories of … [Read more...]
A Quick Stopover in Kiev, Ukraine
These days, with WiFi commonly available while on the go, Independent travel has certainly become "easier". After arriving at the massive central train station in Kiev, I simply typed the words "hotel" and "hostel" in Google maps and immediately a number of properties popped up within walking distance. This can take a bit of "adventure" out of raw Independent travel - simply removing all human contact. I didn't need to try and talk to anyone for … [Read more...]
Looking for Sunshine in Lithuania
With my brother and my friend looking to escape the miserable weather we've had all week (they are flying down to Greece in a few days) we opted for a trip together to the countryside before we parted ways. Today we visited Trakai, a prominent and historical Lithuanian Castle located on an island. Spotting an empty boat sitting near the drawbridge to the castle on the water's edge we walked on board. There were no guests but rather three crew … [Read more...]
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