Category Archives: Travel

Film Review: “Cast Away”

As I am currently stranded on a far-away island myself, people have been making references to “Cast Away”, Chuck Noland and Wilson. The references seemed to increase as my Robinsonade persisted and my beard grew. Finally, I felt like I … Continue reading

Posted in Cinema, Travel | Tagged , | 7 Comments

In the Clouds

It was a beautiful day on the island, made all the more beautiful by white fluffy things floating through the ink-blue sky. “Are these air-sheep?”, I asked the farmer in the field, for who would know more about animals, land- … Continue reading

Posted in Azores, Photography, Portugal, Travel, Video Blog | Tagged , | 13 Comments

In the Foreign Legion

Diesen spannenden Insider-Bericht gibt es auch auf Deutsch. A few years ago, the desire for education reared its nosy head again, remembered the high school from which I had graduated decades before, and was in deep and mournful regret that … Continue reading

Posted in France, Language, Military, Sports, Travel | Tagged , | 19 Comments

German Law: What happens to Children when the Parents die?

Recently, parents seem to be thinking about their possible early demise, because I have been getting this question more frequently: “What will happen to our children if we, mother and father, were to die?” I don’t know why people are … Continue reading

Posted in Family Law, German Law, Germany, Law, Travel | Tagged , | 14 Comments

A Chinese in Vienna

During some meeting of some committee of some sub-organization at the United Nations in Vienna, I got to know a young lady from China. Qian was doing an internship as a simultaneous interpreter for Mandarin and English. Simultaneous interpreters are … Continue reading

Posted in Austria, China, Language, Travel | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Strangers in the Park

Hier geht es zur deutschen Fassung dieser Geschichte. I had two days left in Boston before returning to Germany, and I didn’t know anybody in the city. The year was 2009 and, as far as I knew, the internet hadn’t … Continue reading

Posted in Austria, Bolivia, Life, Love, Photography, Romania, Serbia, Travel, USA | Tagged , , , , , | 22 Comments

Not quite a Thousand Kilometers, but a Good Start

Den deutschsprachigen Lesern empfehle ich die deutsche Originalfassung. I have hitched rides a few times already, but merely short distances. Usually on the way back from hiking in the mountains when I didn’t feel like stumbling through the night any … Continue reading

Posted in Belgium, Germany, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Conversion in Jerusalem

Um diesen Artikel auf Deutsch zu lesen, klickt einfach hier. Just as I leave the courtyard in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, walking through a small gate, there are two Muslim men waiting. One of … Continue reading

Posted in Islam, Israel, Photography, Religion, Travel | Tagged , | 14 Comments

Flowery Warnings on the Flower Islands

Diesen Artikel gibt es natürlich auch auf Deutsch. Einfach hier klicken. The Azores are also known as the Flower Islands, probably because belladonna lilies, bougainvillea, hydrangea, crane flowers, agapanthus, goldenrods and hibiscus are everywhere. But the language is at least as … Continue reading

Posted in Azores, Language, Portugal, Travel | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Pico without Pico, but with Corona

Diesen Artikel gibt es natürlich auch auf Deutsch. Einfach hier klicken. Everyone coming to the island of Pico wants to climb Mount Pico. Of course. It’s the highest mountain on the island. The highest peak of the Azores, even. Oh, … Continue reading

Posted in Azores, Photography, Portugal, Religion, Travel | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments