Tag Archives: Maps

Birthday Trip 2017: Caucasus

After staying at my father’s house in Germany for two weeks, he reminded me of the tradition to go on a road trip for my birthday, coming up on 6 July. When my plans were too petty – some hiking … Continue reading

Posted in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Travel | Tagged , | 24 Comments

Random Thoughts (13)

Where exactly is the line between the Near East, the Middle East and the Far East?  I am so old-school, when I am in a remote location, I miss newspapers more than the internet. I have never received as many … Continue reading

Posted in Afghanistan, Colombia, Food, Georgia, Germany, India, Macedonia, Politics, Syria, Terrorism, Travel, USA | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Random Thoughts (5)

When Donald Trump praises his pick for Secretary of Defense, General James Mattis, as “the closest thing to General George Patton we have”, does he refer to the mistreatment of soldiers or to Patton’s antisemitism? After my story about the Peruvian girl, … Continue reading

Posted in Bolivia, Brazil, History, Music, Peru, Russia, Syria, Travel, USA, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Next trip: Easter Island

As Peru is turning out to be the noisiest country in the world, I urgently need a time-out. I just want to walk across green meadows, sit by the sea and dig out some ancient artefacts for a week. The perfect place … Continue reading

Posted in Chile, Easter Island, Travel | Tagged | 17 Comments

How far can you get by train?

Zur deutschen Fassung dieses Artikels. One of my readers wrote that he had been wondering how far he could get if he took his local commuter train and continued traveling with no other means of transport than the railway. As a train enthusiast, … Continue reading

Posted in Belarus, China, Europe, Germany, Italy, Montenegro, North Korea, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Sicily, Syria, Technology, Travel, UK | Tagged , , , | 27 Comments

Who gets to travel?

At the hostel La Casona in Potosí, Bolivia, there was this world map in the reception office, indicating where many of the visitors had come from. (Click to enlarge.) It’s obvious that many Bolivians would travel within their own country, … Continue reading

Posted in Bolivia, Philosophy, Travel | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Who refuses to read my Blog? The 15 missing countries.

On the lower right hand side of this blog you see a flag counter which records the number of visitors from each country. As of today, this blog has had visitors from 227 different countries. The US, Germany and the UK are … Continue reading

Posted in Technology, Travel | Tagged , , | 27 Comments

In the Lithuanian Alps

Zur deutschen Fassung dieses Artikels. Boyan Stoyanov is a mountaineer from Bulgaria who is on a mission to climb the highest mountain in each European country. This includes tough nuts like Mont Blanc, Triglav or Elbrus. Luckily, Boyan visited me when I lived in Lithuania. The … Continue reading

Posted in Belarus, Lithuania, Photography, Travel | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Europe, still divided

Twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain, Europe has grown together. Countries which didn’t even exist as independent states back then are now member states of EU and NATO. The European Union reaches all the … Continue reading

Posted in Europe, Family Law, Human Rights, Law, Politics | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Easily Confused (41) Rubik’s Cube

You can spend years playing with differently colored fields without getting one step closer to a solution. When you are just about to solve the puzzle, somebody will come by and destroy years of work within minutes: the Rubik’s Cube. You can spend … Continue reading

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , | 4 Comments