Recent Posts

When you visit a country, particularly a former Eastern Bloc country like Hungary you have to be prepared to discover that not all of its beauty and history has a nice story behind it. Such is the case of the Gypsies of Hungary.   When the Eastern Bloc crumbled there were many people who benefited […]

After several great days in Budapest it was time to go out in the countryside. We were on our way to the Tokaj (pronounced Tokai) region where world famous sweet white wine grape are grown. Having grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area I had spent quite a bit of time in the California […]

(Who Was The Tourist Attraction?) One of the things that was arranged for us was a tour of the city in a Trabant. This East German made car was also known as “the small smelly” and “the paper jaguar” In actuality the Trabant was made with a steel frame and the rest of it made […]

On the day before we left Berlin for Hungary we were tuned into CNN and learned that the Danube, the river running through Budapest, would hit its highest level in decades. We did not know if we could get in the city or what would be in store for us, but we knew it would […]

Our great host, Katherine, who also happens to be a great photographer, was kind enough to give us some suggestions of things to do. One of which was on Sunday to go have these great waffles and then go to Mauerpark for the flea market. She also told us to go see the Karaoke. When […]

Not Ich Bin Ein Berliner (I am a Berliner) a phrase made famous by John F. Kennedy when he stood in front of the Berlin Wall, but Ich War In Berliner (I was in Berlin). Recently my wife Diane and I traveled to Berlin and Budapest for a holiday. Berlin is a vibrant city but […]

One of the first questions I get asked when people are planning a trip with me is – Is it safe? I tell them yes it is very safe. And I tell them why including the fact that not only are the people so warm and friendly but tourism is very important to the economy […]

A good friend of mine, John Goddard died last month. I have been trying to find the right words to write about a legend, but more importantly a great man. Factually it is easy. John was a world-renowned adventurer, explorer, author, lecturer and as the LA Times described him: “The real-life Indiana Jones.” At age […]