Tag Archives: cigars

My Drug Dealer from Cuba

Zur deutschen Fassung. For a short break from the library, I went to the park in Amberg, my hometown in Germany. It doesn’t matter how highly motivated you are studying, sometimes you need a break. And thus, I am sitting … Continue reading

Posted in Cuba, Germany | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Smuggling Cigars into Poland

Zur deutschen Fassung. At the German-Polish border, there is plenty of police right now. What are they looking for, I wonder and ask. Cigarette smugglers, says the female officer, while her two male colleagues are ostentatiously of the opinion that … Continue reading

Posted in Germany, Photography, Poland, Travel | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Facing the Firing Squad in Style

Zur deutschen Fassung. On a friend’s blog, I came across this photo, depicting Captain Carlos Fortino Sámano, facing a firing squad in 1917, during the Mexican Revolution. Please don’t ask me any details about that revolution/civil war, because it’s even … Continue reading

Posted in Andalusia, History, Mexico, Military, Peru, Photography, Spain | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Austrian Border Control

When you’re smuggling Italian cigars while hitchhiking across the Alps, the imposing Austrian customs checkpoint near Nauders will give you a brief scare. But it was Sunday morning and the soldiers were apparently attending church. Or they didn’t want to … Continue reading

Posted in Austria, Italy, Travel | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Marienbad Eulogy

Zur deutschen Fassung dieses Artikels. It seems that the Corona virus will impede long-distance travel for quite a while. In that time of need, maybe we’ll finally discover what has always been so close. Writing for an international audience, it’s … Continue reading

Posted in Czech Republic, History, Music, Photography, Travel | Tagged , , | 17 Comments

Uman: Communism or Cheesy Story?

Zur deutschen Fassung dieses Artikels. There is really no reason to visit Uman. It is a small city like hundreds of others in Ukraine. But because it lies halfway between Kyiv and Odessa, I decided to break the journey and … Continue reading

Posted in History, Photography, Travel, Ukraine | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

Our Prisoner of War

Recently, I stayed with my father in Bavaria, where life is informal and one can put the feet on the table and smoke inside the house. We were both preoccupied with reading, my father with the newspaper and me with … Continue reading

Posted in Germany, History, Military, Russia, Travel, World War II | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Random Thoughts (24)

Good news: the days are getting longer. Unless you live in the Southern hemisphere, then you are doomed to darkness. And unless you live on the equator, in which case you are missing out on something fabulous. My sister asked … Continue reading

Posted in Austria, Books, Brazil, Canada, Economics, Germany, Iran, Language, Politics, Religion, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Travel, UK, USA | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

At the Cigar Shop – 50 Years later

I had gone to Huéscar for market day, thinking I might as well look for my favorite Spanish newspaper, El Pais. It would find it at the tobacco shop, I was told. As I entered the store, just around the … Continue reading

Posted in Andalusia, Cinema, Music, Photography, Spain, Travel, Video Blog | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

My house in Colombia

Bogotá is actually quite green for a large city, but I wanted only nature, without the city. So I rented a little house north of Colombia’s capital, which I reached on smaller and smaller roads, shared with a surprising number … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Colombia, Photography, Travel | Tagged , | 35 Comments