Category: Uncategorized
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Wrocław: it’s pronounced…
Perhaps it was something about Mitteleuropa Wrocław, crossing bridges between its 12 islands to peals of church bells, the golden glow of sunset radiating from those gilded church fronts, a need to describe the autumnal blizzard of oak leaves along the Oder promenade. Or perhaps it was something about where I am right now –…
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Zakopane, Morskie Oko and the High Tatras: mirror to the mountains
“Niedźwiedź?“ the concerned looking lady a few yards ahead of me gasps, brow furrowed, as she turns her head towards her walking partner. I make a mental note to check whether ‘niedźwiedź‘ is Polish for ‘bear’ (it is), as I too had heard what I took for several deep growls projecting from the other side…
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Kraków Parts 1 & 2 and Auschwitz: sanctuary & slaughter
Kraków Part 1 To begin the Kraków installment of Ramblelogue I could rattle through the former Polish capital’s myriad must-sees: its UNESCO World Heritage Site Old Town, Europe’s largest market square, Wawel Castle, the Jewish Quarter, church after church, museum after museum, the gothic-followed-by-the-renaissance-succeeded-by-the-baroque of its architecture. All mightily impressive, all an understandable draw, and all…
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Prague: soprano and spires
“How do you say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ in Czech?” I ask the very young-looking barmaid in the pint-sized watering hole at the end of Blanická Street. The answer is ‘prosím‘ and ‘děkuju‘, but it’s what she tells me next that catches my attention. Mariana tells me that she is Ukranian, not Czech, and has…
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The Elbe and the Vltava: Dresden to Prague on the EC177
Promenades and avenues (Europe Endless) Real life and postcard views (Europe endless) Kraftwerk – Europe Endless With the wide meanders of the Elbe rarely more than a football pitch’s width away, the window seat of the 17.10 ‘EC177’ from Dresden Hauptbanhnhof to Praha Hlavni Nadrazi provided both a cinematographic masterpiece and a documentary glimpse into…
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Dresden: jewel in the Saxon crown
“All time is time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I’ve said before, bugs in amber.” Kurt Vonnegut – Slaughterhouse-Five Dresden was not on my list. Berlin, Krakow, Prague – they…
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Berlin: dual city duality
“I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking.” Christopher Isherwood – Goodbye to Berlin Berlin’s influence through the past two centuries, it’s hardly controversial to note, has rarely been subtle. Similarly, from Berlin emanate the themes which would shadow my travels through that corner of central Europe once hidden behind…
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Tom the Curious
…ambling and rambling. “Travel is useful; it exercises the imagination. All the rest is disappointment and fatigue.” Louis-Ferdinand Céline, ‘Journey to the End of the Night’. Pretentious prittle-prattle from my solo travels; questionable puns all my own work. Including postings from: All photos are my own unless otherwise stated. Please don’t reproduce anything without my…
Tom the Curious: Ramblelogue 