When travel plans take you to the scene of a recent terrorist attack — Paris, August 19, 2017 We knew something terrible had happened in Barcelona before we’d even gotten off the train in Paris. While we still dozed in our bunks on the Moscow-Paris Express, friends and family, knowing we were en route to Barcelona, texted us to warn us of the attack…

From Berlin to Paris on the Moscow-Paris Express — Author note: I wrote most of this in 2020 and 2021, long before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. August 18–19, 2017 An overnight train was Desmond’s (my seven-year-old son) only request, but finding a suitable one was a challenge. Forty-five years ago, overnight trains crisscrossed the continent en masse (there were thirty night trains…

Adventures at a Spanish Fiesta — “Excuse me, sir, can you help me understand why your carry-on would test positive for explosives?” the security agent said. He wasn’t panicking but I certainly was. And I sensed that he thought this was more than just a routine false positive. I’d already taken off my belt, shoes, and…

A knee-jerk reaction that will inevitably hurt the club —

Keeping a child interested in Berlin — August 15th — 17th, 2017 Berlin I’ve visited Germany many times. Most memorable was a trip to Bonn for a weekend in 1998. If contemporary history is your thing, the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (in English: Museum of the Federal Republic of Germany) is the place for you. In fact, it’s one of my…

A couple of days in Cheshire with a seven-year-old. — August 13–15, 2017 The Jodrell Bank Observatory After another sumptuous breakfast at the Talardy Hotel, Des (my seven-year old) and I loaded snacks in the car before heading east on the A55 towards England. We crossed the national boundary where we were greeted by a sign that simply read “England,” without the slightest hint of a “Welcome.”…

A Couple of Days in Wales with my Seven-Year-Old — August 11–13, 2017 St. Asaph — The City That Assumed It Was I wasn’t going to write much about St. Asaph because even though I’d been going there for about fifteen years, I’d completely taken its quaintness and beauty for granted. However, it’s a charming little place with an extraordinary history and deserves more than just a passing mention.

The Journey to Wales — August 10, 2017 “Des is sick.” My heart sank as I hung up the call with his mom. Des, my son, had a fever and spent part of the night huddled around the toilet. I called American Airlines as soon as I knew, but, as you’d expect the only options they gave were…

The day I moved to the United States — The exact moment when I realized I wasn’t dressed to match the moment isn’t clear to me now, but it was somewhere over the Atlantic, probably a couple of hundred miles south of Greenland. My neighboring passenger, Hassan, from Tripoli (the one in Lebanon, not Libya), was a happy, kind…