Barry's Adventures Following Retirement
This blog is about my experiences after retirement and other travels
A beautiful stairway leads to the third floor of my apartment. The apartment has interesting uniqueness such as the beautiful 19th century parquet flooring which makes wonderful creaking sounds as you walk on it.
Just as the snowfall in Brno reminded me of home, hearing the creaking also reminds me of growing up in Somerset, my hometown in the USA.
Continue reading “Creaky Floors in Vienna Remind Me of Home”
In my travels throughout the world I have found several mysteries. Many times they become part of the fabric of the society as they are handed down between generations. Often there is some foundation in truth in the mysteries (even if very small). But many times the mysteries are not explainable except in the imagination someone conjures up.
From times without written history, through Homer’s writing about Odysseus and Cyclops, to more recent recorded times of ancient Romans, each culture in Malta has left mysteries.
This blog story is about a few of the mysteries I have discovered in Malta. Each has, in my opinion, more than a sliver upon which they have fermented. You can judge for yourself as I recall island mysteries from my adventures in Malta.
Continue reading “Ħaġar Qim and Discovering Mysteries in Malta”
You have likely heard it said that travel provides one of the best educations one can get. I believe it! I have been exploring Europe for the past two and a half years and I am appreciating the education so much but even more so in Malta where I am on information overload for the history, culture, and beauty that are flooding my senses!
The Mediterranean Sea frames life in the Maltese archipelago. From the sea to the land one finds the historic importance of this tiny place, the ways that the culture has been impacted, and the utter beauty that is attracting so many to want to live here.
This story is my second one about my adventures in Malta. In this story I provide neither a chronological report nor every detail of my adventure. As you may know, I only blog for myself… my audience of one. However, what I write may entice you in many ways or whet your appetite to learn more as I reveal snippets through words and photos of the education I am experiencing.
There are numerous stories about shipwrecks around the Maltese Islands. The islands are just a speck in the Mediterranean Sea off the southern coast of Sicily but storms along the rocky coast can be very violent. Numerous ships have been claimed by the Mediterranean here.
Two of the shipwrecks and their stories are fascinating parts of the Maltese archipelago’s history. The wreck of Odysseus is woven into the island folklore and the wreck of the Apostle Paul is part of the bedrock for Christianity in Malta. This blog entry is about Odysseus and Paul and the stories about their importance to the European nation of Malta, my April “home.”
I began my nomadic adventure exploring Europe in October 2014. I recently realized that breakfast is my favorite meal when I visit local cafes. Not only is it my favorite meal but it also has become almost an obsession in what I eat. While in different cafes I have met some very interesting personalities who have helped me understand and appreciate their respective cultures. This story is about my breakfast obsession and the friends I have made as I have crossed Europe and found several mouth-watering breakfast delights.
Last week my nomadic exploits took me to London and Brussels. I really didn’t plan the trip like I usually do… I just went! After all, I reasoned, how much difficulty could I really encounter in London where I share a common language… sort of?
I often read others’ blogs about the exotic places they visit and I suppose that the most exotic I have read about the U.K. are stories written about the wilds of Scotland or Wales. I have been to London several times. Therefore, this story is less about “exotic” and more-so about bits and pieces of my experiences on this nomadic journey.
Continue reading “My “Nomad Without a Plan” London and Brussels Expedition”
The Netflix series “Marco Polo” has rekindled my memories about my own adventures in China. We have been taught that the Polo family was from Venice. So when I lived in Croatia and found their claim to Polo’s home in Korcula, I became interested in his travels and the parallel to my own.
Much of the perspective we “Westerners” have about historic 13th century China (and the expanse of that portion of the known world at that time) is through Polo’s eyes as documented in “Travels of Marco Polo.” Through my eyes, I have observed many interesting places and things in today’s China near the Silk Road and the Yangtze River. This story is about my adventures there.
I have traveled to several “old towns” in many cities around the world. But few can compare to La Boca barrio in Buenos Aires (“BA”), Argentina. The neighborhood is at the mouth (“boca” in Spanish) of the Matanza-Riachuelo River.
La Boca is the original part of the city and projects its roughness through its thrown together, unplanned architecture and tough people who live there. It is a colorful, lively, noisy center for socialist political thinking. It smells like a sea-side town. Yet, overall, it is a very enjoyable location and essential place to visit.
Cobblestone streets are reminiscent of a by-gone time and the buildings are often fabricated from various discarded materials. Corrugated metal is often the construction material of choice as seen in the colorful photo.
Dateline May 6, 1945, Plzen, Czechoslovakia. Over the past five and a half years Plzen (Pilsen) in the Bohemia region of Czechoslovakia has been oppressed under the boot of NAZI German rule. Today, General Patton’s United States’ Third Army liberated Plzen. Czechs, young and old, greeted American soldiers by waving the stars and stripes as American tanks thundered into the city.
Occupying forces of the Third Reich, Czech conspirators, and NAZI sympathizers are being rounded up. Remnants of NAZI German snipers are being cleared out and life is returning to normal.
The first real snowfall of the season occurred this week in Brno, Czech Republic. Granted, the snowfall was just a dusting of maybe four inches. As it fell, the view of Špilberk Castle disappeared from my apartment’s picture glass window. Snow covered the branches of the trees and I reminisced about this time of year when winter snowfall would come to Somerset, my hometown in Western Pennsylvania in the United States
I have always thought of January differently than other months. It is a bleak time of year. Yes, the daylight hours are increasing but January also has penetrating cold and blustery winds. It is time when one’s exhaled breath drifts away in a cloud of steam. It follows the celebrations of Christmas and New Years and it seems to me to be a time for resting and recovery from them. By a burning fireplace seems to be the place of comfort.
Barry's Adventures Following Retirement 