Mostar
I’m going through notebooks from my first trip to Bosnia-Hercegovina so I can use some of it in a novel I’m trying to finish. There’s something very humbling about re-reading my detailed record of … Continue reading
On The (This Isn’t A) Road
Trying to get back to the chapel, I find a sign that points vaguely at two different roads. Perhaps it’s Robert Frost’s eyebrow-raise that points me to the red rocky … Continue reading
Five Reasons To Travel Alone
After several requests for tips or hints about solo travel, I’m breaking a bit from the usual quick tales for a Five List. Feel free to let me know if … Continue reading
The Impatient Italians and the Fighting Irish
In Medjugorje, there’s a crowd of people entering the church, praying at the grotto, climbing steep hills in prayer. It’s a place of retreat, usually quiet, usually peaceful. This morning … Continue reading
Cheers.
At the border crossing from Croatia into Bosnia, my bus pulls to a stop next to a bus parked and pointed in the opposite direction. There’s an elderly couple in … Continue reading
Packs of Blondes
Originally posted on The Nice Thing About Strangers:
Granted, it was a small sample, but from the Turkish TV dramas I’d watched in passive attempts to learn the language, all…
Places I’ve Gone on Account of a Book
I read a book one day and my whole life was changed…Where were the kindred spirits with whom I could talk? Where was the country in which I’d find the … Continue reading
Just Enough
Post-fender-bender, the two men pull into the bus station parking lot to inspect the damage. Those of us waiting for buses watch with delight any activity that may pass the … Continue reading
Richard Gere Was Here
I sought a place to collapse and eat after a day of haplessly wandering Sarajevo map-less and on foot. The choice was made simple when I spotted a man standing … Continue reading
Bosnian Bullfighter
A sheepish lady tourist examines a plaque in Mostar’s Spanish square. It seems a good place to pause, fan herself, gaze around without being noticed. Half a block beyond the … Continue reading
Maple Leaf
The Canadians displayed flags on their belongings like people flaunting their wealth, like North American nationalists swinging through Bosnia and wanting to ensure that they counted, that they were walking … Continue reading
Can we (at least) slow the pace of disappearing?
This moment, he thought, would not be remembered by anybody but him, and one day it would vanish from his memory too. -Aleksandar Hemon. Nowhere Man. (Book finished in Südbahnhof, … Continue reading
The Nice Thing About Strangers 