The Suitcase Knows the Way

I ponder a lot. I ponder where a worn dollar bill (or Euro or Zloty now) has been before I receive it from the cashier and where it goes after I spend it. I ponder where the clothes that I give to Goodwill will end up. And some moments I ponder what in the hell we're doing -- but those moments pass quickly.

I bought one of our suitcases at the Goodwill Store before we left Los Angeles, and inside I found the name of the previous owner on the luggage tag (and 40 cents.) I wondered who

Click to read more ...

Video Blog: Welcome To The Krakow Variety Hour (Krakow, Poland)

Not since Venice Beach (pre-kids) or Third Street Promenade (post-kids) have we seen as many good Buskers as we have in the Town Square in Krakow. Wandering the square on our first day we took in accordian duo's, pint-sized girls playing equally pint-sized violins, human statues dressed for the ball, gilded head-to-toe, opera lip syncing artists, and a puppet show featuring an eerily-realistic Michael Jackson and a truly horrifying Celine Dion (Bob thinks that's a redundant statement). We might have just reduced Krakow to the Lawrence Welk Show -- complete with bubbles!

Bob and I decided to sit down and relax, and see

Click to read more ...

Hallelujah (Krakow, Poland)

I went to church this morning. It's a church we stumbled across on our first day here, and it's just down the way from our apartment. My family has no real need to attend church with me, and I knew that I would be going by myself most Sundays, which is absolutely fine with me. The one thing I crave in life consistently for the last several years is

Click to read more ...

First Impressions Of Krakow (Poland)

Three things we each like about Krakow at first blush:

Eleanor:

1. There are vegetarian restaurants almost all around town. 
2. Every hour the trumpet plays one half of a song from

Click to read more ...

Thoughts On Serbia As We Move On

Serbia is a TRIP!!! It's a tough place to travel for a novice family like us. Between busy, abrupt Belgrade, crumbling infrastructure, and trying to decipher the Cyrillic alphabet, had we not had friends there, it would have been a harrowing place to start. As it was -- we met wonderful people, had fascinating conversations, drank good Rakia and truly AWFUL wine, and learned so very much.

We're told only eight percent of the Serbian population has a college education, so we realize that we ran

Click to read more ...