People first
Reconstruction: "Berlin should be called the city of cranes." Rebecca From the moment we landed in Berlin, we saw very little of it because of all the construction and barriers. And if they weren't fixing something, they were fixing to celebrate something. On the advice of a stranger at Tegel Airport, we took the Express … Continue reading Germany Part Two: Berlin
First stop: Düsseldorf Serendipity: the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. Some places we planned to visit were selected on a hunch. Düsseldorf was one of them. Back in April, I was pouring wine at the Berryessa Gap winery for a young couple I had just met, Dirk … Continue reading Germany, Part One: Düsseldorf
Friday, September 21 When Kevin came in after work Friday, he handed me a letter from Mobile Viking; I got my SIM card! (I wasn't sure it would arrive before we were to leave.) I spent about an hour getting the SIM card installed and getting the account set up. The phone sputtered and chirped … Continue reading Belgium Part 2
On the morning we left Paris, we had breakfast at the street cafe right outside our rented apartment. We finalized our packing and took the subway to the Gare du Nord train station. The station is under renovation and not quite done, but it will be new and shiny when it's done. I noticed a … Continue reading Belgium Part I
September 16-18 Introduction: Dear Readers, Welcome aboard! If you're new to this blog, there are a bunch of posts I have written that have gone up before today: some were practice with WordPress, some were preparations for this trip, and some were the three days traveling across the US before we left from Orlando.. … Continue reading Paris
Sept. 12 Up at 2:00am, leave by 3:00am, airport by 3:45am, on the plane at 5:00am. Rebecca said something about Simon and Garfunkel and their song about Wednesday morning at 3am and that they knew when to leave. Far too early, I thought. Our first leg of the journey was a short one to Denver. … Continue reading We’re off to Florida! Our first stop.
My grandmother and father, just after arriving at Ellis Island, 1914 My father, originally named Dimitru Fritea, arrived in New York in 1914 with his mother. They were escaping Romania and the turbulence of pre-World War I political unrest. They were looking to begin a new life. My father had four older siblings, and … Continue reading The Backstory
September 11 - Our last day before we leave: It's September 11th, that day we have come to remember as a national day of mourning for the terrorist attack. Today, Hurricane Florence is 1000 miles to the East of North Carolina, and predicted to make landfall at Cape Fear in a couple of days. … Continue reading Fearful beginnings
Thanks for joining me! Like, follow, comment and enjoy the ride. Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
We are making our way through Eastern Europe, discovering wonderful people who are enterprising, caring, struggling with today's changing times and yet doing extraordinary things. We invite you to meet some of them and see some of the sites we've encountered. The focus we've adopted, "People first, places second" is a mantra that has really … Continue reading Welcome Readers
Fridaes' Adventures 