Europe, I've been there.

Many countries in Europe have inter-related languages and cultures, along with memories from all that history (that I realize includes my ancestry). The fall of the Soviet Union and the Berlin wall have occurred since my visits. The map and new country borders is still changing. The world now awaits the changes of a European Union.

Click to view a high detail map of the Europe. This one doesn't list a few countries including: Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Romania, San Marino, Serbia/Montenegro/Kosovo (Yugoslavia), Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Ukraine.

In 1985 I crossed an ocean for the first time and went to London for a week. I stayed at the Tower Hotel by the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, repository of the Crown Jewels. Next door was St. Katherine's Docks and an interesting bar.  I flew to Amsterdam for only a brief night.

In 1992 I flew to Geneva Switzerland with a Eurorail pass and a full month to wander. A French friend of the family moved there from Paris in the 70's because it was becoming too American. She took me to Vercoran, in the German speaking northern Swiss Alps, and then later to Simiane in France.

Switzerland is a beautiful country.

Switzerland ~ Suisse ~ Schweiz ~ Svizzeraa

For one small place, you can experience a lot of Europe in Switzerland. It is bordered by France on the west, Germany to the north, and Italy to the south. Each Swiss section speaks these as their predominant language and you get the experience of those countries. Many street signs (and all legal documents) are in all three languages plus English, and most everyone speaks all four. There is even a fifth, Rhaeto-Romantic language spoken in the Southeast.

By going to Switzerland before I ever visited the bordering countries, I got to have a taste. It is amazing to me that many Europeans speak a few languages, but I guess if my old Virginia home were 200 miles south of Quebec, and 200 miles north of Mexico, I would speak fluent Spanish and Canadian.

In central Switzerland, we visited Interlaken, near the alps. The next day we drove to see Schilthorn. We parked in a parking lot in a valley of green, and walked to a steel structure to gain admittance. I had no idea what was in store. We paid the tariff, and got into a waiting cable car.

Click to take next car

It swiftly lifted us up, with the mountain walls beside us, and the shrinking cars below. When we stopped, we exited to a town in the hills (a Swiss Hilltribe?). People were going about their business. There was a road, but only a few vehicles. The hill walls were steep, and mountain goats were the only thing living I could see higher up. But another cable car continued higher, and again the world below us grew smaller and smaller.

The next level was not too populated. It was colder. But another cable car was waiting, and the exciting ride continued. This last car brought us to a mountain-top park that included a revolving restaurant where we had lunch. In the hour we sat, the fantastic view out the windows changed 360 degrees.

West to France

Lavender, growing in Simiane, France (Provence).

On the side of
the road there were vats where the flowers were boiled and reduced.
The perfumed air smelled for 50 miles (or was that km?).

I took a bus south to Marseille, a port with an important part in history, but a somewhat sleazy place. From here on I traveled east by train, a system that works well in Europe. Going along the Mediterranean to Nice was a treat. I stayed there a few days, taking a day trip to Monaco and Monte Carlo before going on to Italy. The first train stop in Italy was Ventimiglia, a coastal town on the Mediterranean. I figured, When in Rome... and ordered a pizza... the worst one I've ever had! But in Firenza (Florence), I found excellent pizza (more expensive than home). While there I visited my musician friend Franco, and also a wine maker, Andreas Fossi of Fossi Wines. He owned a recent vintage Fiat just like my first two cars as a youth.

After a week in Italy I felt it was time to go north to Denmark, but I didn't want to go through Germany.

(Remember the scene in Thelma and Louise where they are running from the law, at the Oklahoma border, and they agree to make a run for Mexico. Thelma says, "OK. As long as we don't have to go through Texas!").

North to Copenhagen Denmark

Denmark was one of the best places I've ever been. It was well worth the long train ride. Some locals I met stated "In Denmark we happily pay higher taxes than anywhere in the world. We seem to be satisfied. Most of us feel we get our money's worth (what a concept), and that the government is doing a good job".

A man I visited was a motorcycle courier.  A year before he had been in an accident. He spent close to a month in the hospital, and missed work for six months.   He received medical care, and unemployment payments.  He filled out a minimum of forms and he never got a bill... Maybe the treatment available was equal to the best available in the US, maybe not. He thought it was. I knew that along with the best services and insurance coverage, one would have a full time job back here in the US, just keeping up with the paperwork of bills and insurance forms.

I photographed a great mural while I strolled thru a section called Christiania.

After a week in Copenhagen, I zig-zagged to Amsterdam and then to the Czech border. Although my rail pass was not good in Czechoslovakia , it was only a few dollars for the ticket to Prague on a real slow Russian train that was from hunger (not Hungary). Most folk did not speak English there.

Prague was exciting. The country has since split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. I briefly touched Austria on the train back to Geneva. When I told a Swiss man I met how wonderful his country was, and he said, "Switzerland is the kind of country where your neighbor will call the police because you watered your lawn on the wrong day"!

And then there is that holocaust survivor money.

I am of Russian Descent, and my mother visited the land of her parents as a teenager when she went on a scholarship to the Music Conservatory in Moscow. Most of my life I have not been too interested in going there. She was last there during the last days of the Soviet Union. Now I am excited by the opportunities and experiences that a visit could bring.

But in some ways, the worst of Capitalism has taken over. Those in control have made quick money at the expense of the masses. Owning a business, is difficult. No one is in control! Except the new Thugs. I've heard it called a Kleptocrocy.

It is exciting. I would love to return, but most of Europe is as expensive as the US. For me that has to be compared to the value of Asia, where a lot of Europeans go on their vacations.