Category Archives: Travel

A different view of nature

“The Niagara Falls is simply a vast amount of water going the wrong way over some unnecessary rocks,” wrote Oscar Wilde in 1882.

Posted in Travel, USA | Tagged , | 14 Comments

An envelope in an envelope in an envelope

This morning I had a Russian doll experience. No, not that kind of Russian doll. The matryoshka one. I received a large envelope and opened it (of course). In it was a second envelope, also large and that one even … Continue reading

Posted in Philosophy, Travel | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Italy Reading List

To me, travel would only be half as much fun without taking the time to read books. I am even happy about long train rides or ferry passages because they allow me to read for a few extra hours I … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Italy, Language, Sicily, Travel | 7 Comments

Bari by night

Don’t expect a full report about Bari by night. This is merely the photographic journey along one of my jogging routes, which I preferably run in the evening when both traffic and heat have subsided and then the colors of the illuminated … Continue reading

Posted in Apulia, Italy, Photography, Sports, Travel | Tagged | 1 Comment

Frozen Assets

When you read about “frozen assets” in connection with economic sanctions, you may have been wondering how this process actually works. In February 2013 I could observe it myself in Nida, on the Lithuanian part of the Curonian Spit. There … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Lithuania, Photography, Travel | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Video: Liberation of Italy

I did not catch the actual liberation of Italy from the Nazis and Fascists in World War II on video, admittedly. But yesterday, on 25 April, the 69th anniversary of that event was commemorated. Of course Italy was not liberated in … Continue reading

Posted in Apulia, Cinema, History, Italy, Military, Music, Travel, Video Blog, World War II | Tagged | 7 Comments

What a Sky!

Some may admire the church. Some may derive joy from watching the playing children. I was most taken with the sky. The church is Matrice Nuova in Castelbuono, a beautiful little town in the hills in Sicily. (Hier geht es … Continue reading

Posted in Italy, Photography, Sicily, Travel | Tagged | 4 Comments

How bad is Spain’s Infrastructure?

We keep reading horror stories from the southern European countries about how badly they are affected by the economic crisis. Factories are closing, civil servants are made redundant, the provision of medical services suffers, people emigrate, everything is going downhill. The … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Spain, Travel | Tagged | 6 Comments

Water

You can tell whether an area is good for hiking or not by the availability of water. Either from natural sources (creeks, waterfalls) or from wells. A few handfuls of cold water are enough to continue walking for many miles, even … Continue reading

Posted in Italy, Photography, Sicily, Travel | Tagged | 5 Comments

Riding the Volcano

The island of Vulcano, situated off the north coast of Sicily, has an active crater which you can hike up to. It is possible to circumvent the crater on a narrow rim, walking through the smoke and the fumes at times, … Continue reading

Posted in Italy, Photography, Sicily, Travel | Tagged | 4 Comments