Category: Social

From Baku with Plov

I was blown away by Baku, figuratively and literally, and it sometimes wasn’t good, and I don’t plan to ever return. Azerbaijan is ranked as the most corrupt country in Europe, and after being compelled to pay my first-ever bribe to a police officer, I would believe it. But at the same time, I’m glad […]

Gdansk Solidarity

My second, and final, Polish home base on this trip was Gdansk, formerly known as Danzig in German. Gdansk is a port city in northern Poland on the Baltic Sea. Like Warsaw, its core was destroyed in World War II, but this time by the Soviets because its former inhabitants were mostly German. Like many […]

Fado Nation

Portugal is home to fado music, so I took in a show one evening in Porto. There was a guitarist, with a Portuguese guitarra player, along with one male singer and an older female singer, though the singers always sang solo and for separate songs. It was enjoyable overall, though it eventually felt repetitive to […]

Bots & Pots

Zagreb is a city that just keeps giving. A 20-minute cable car ride to a mountain peak and ski slope opened up since Colleen and I were here earlier this year. And a robot restaurant has opened as well. Of course I sampled both, and then I also took my first Airbnb “Experiences” experience – […]

Ruin Pubs

“Ruin pubs” are a staple of the old Jewish quarter in Budapest, where I’m staying. This area of town, while quite central, remained largely deserted and dilapidated after the Communist takeover. Much of it is still dilapidated, but certainly no longer deserted! This is the prime party area of town (to my surprise), and this […]

Devín Race

On Sunday I ran in what I believe may be the most popular race in Slovakia: a 11.5-kilometer run between Devín Castle and Bratislava. Here’s the official race description in English (which reads rather humorously): “The National Run Devín – Bratislava is specific in that it is regularly attended by excellent runners, who are concepts […]

Slovakian Swedish

On Thursday after lunch I wandered around the old town, familiarizing myself with it better, and I climbed up to the imposing castle above the city. I like Bratislava better now, and the locals speak much better English and are friendlier and more open than in Poland. We’re right on the Austrian and Hungarian borders […]

Ten O’Glock

On Sunday I joined a group of several people for a trip to a local shooting range to shoot three types of guns I’d never used before: a Glock (10 shots), an Uzi (10 shots), and an AK-47 (5 shots) (not a Kalashnikov – I hadn’t realized that there are different kinds). My group included […]

City Life

The contrast between my normal life in Asheville and the Eastern Europe life I’ve also enjoyed over much of the past year is quite large. But I really appreciate both lives, each with its own associated tradeoffs. It’s fun to transition between the two, frankly, and I hope to continue to be able to do […]

Czech-up

We’ve arrived in Prague! Wow, folks are traveling again — quite a contrast from a year ago here. The vast majority of the passengers on our flight from Munich to Prague seemed to be Americans – we’re back! We flew Lufthansa from Charlotte to Munich, which is a double-edged sword. There is another direct flight […]