-
Beggars and Unwanted Services
BeggarsThe cities are full of them: Budapest, Sofia, Bucharest, and especially Paris. It gets heartbreaking, then annoying, then sad to say, amusing to watch all the beggars. It’s hard to determine which ones really need the money and which are actors. This is a life’s profession for many of them, the only job they will ever know. The young child ( Read more... ) -
Depression and looking up
This is the part of the trip where depression sets in: you’re tired of moving every three days, you’re sick of the five sets of clothes you’ve been wearing for the past three months-no matter how much you try to mix and match, money is running short, laundry facilities run scarce -especially dryers, if you’re not staying long enough for clothes to ( Read more... ) -
Liechtenstein is the Shire
Liechtenstein is the Shire
We have stepped back into the dark ages. Well, into the Shire, as Xena says. She is sure we are staying at the Dancing Pony (which is not technically in the Shire, but is in the same region). In the evening, there is even a large group of men who come into the restaurant part of the inn and sit around drinking and ( Read more... ) -
Travel Fatigue
We are at the point in our journey that is like that sleep hill when you’re running and you haven’t yet reached your second wind, or like 10:00 pm to me just before I get that extra burst of energy at 10:30 pm and work for another hour or two. It’s that point when you are so tired of what you’re doing you just want to hang it up, pay the flight ( Read more... ) -
Switzerland is Expensive
Wow. I thought things were expensive in Denmark and Finland, but they have nothing on Switzerland.
A small bag of potato chips from the machine at the hostel was 1,70 CHF (about $1.60), and since it’s New Year’s Day, there are no stores open for potentially cheaper alternatives. I’m eating them veeerrrryy slowly. We went to a Starbucks for coffee ( Read more... ) -
Joyeuses Fêtes
After a week with my penpal Hélène, I have to say that we were working together in her house like my mother’s two sisters do when they are together in New York State. We each took on tasks, I knew my way around, and we worked together to make the fire, close up the house for a road trip, hang laundry or take it down, cook dinner, etc. Xena was ( Read more... ) -
Paris
We are here! and our feet are sore already! We have tickets for the Métro (subway) and bus, but only used two each today: one each to get downtown and one each to get back. We actually walked from Centre Georges Pompidou to Notre Dame, past the Louvre and through its plaza and the Jardin Tuileries to Place de la Concorde, and down the Champs ( Read more... ) -
Roundabouts
Grrr. Yes, we *love* driving in the UK.
It’s a 4-lane, divided freeway where the speed limit is 70 mph. Why is it that every two miles (I swear!) there is another roundabout sending people off to another direction-especially if they miss the correct leaving turn for continuing down the same highway?
Why must 2-lane roads have roundabouts ( Read more... ) -
Hostelling
UK hostel rant ( Read more... ) -
UK & early rising
Xena and I are now in London. We had very nice visits to schools in Northern Germany and The Netherlands; I’m just finishing up my blogs for them (http://dqjourney.edublog.org). The people were very hospitable and welcoming. We are still trying to make connections with the schools in the ( Read more... )