Travel
Problem Passport is A Pain in Portugal
I am watching a group of Iroquois lacrosse players trying to reach a tournament in Great Britain with only their tribal passport. The UK will not let them in without a U.S. Passport. I used to take these international documents for granted until the day I was deported from Portugal. It was 2004 and a [...]
Terror Down Below
The recent subway bombings in Moscow reminded me of a 2001 trip to Russia’s capital. While attending a trade show, I was assigned an interpreter/guide and a bodyguard. Security collapsed with the Soviet Union and gangs fought over the ruins. Given my bodyguard was a neck-less broad-shouldered giant, I was surprised we took the subway [...]
How Mark Twain Saved Heidelberg
In 1945 Allied and Russian troops crushed Germany from the west and east. Berlin, Hamburg, and all the major cities were destroyed by bombers and artillery. General George S. Patton’s 3rd Army roared through the Rhine Valley pummeling Frankfurt and Manheim without mercy. The army raced south and lined its tanks and artillery along the [...]
Perils at Copacabana Beach
Imagine waking just before dawn. The tip of the reddish-orange sun is barely breaking the horizon. Across the street lies an absolutely gorgeous beach curving around a bay of emerald hills. People are gathering at water’s edge enamored with the kaleidoscope of colors lapping on the shores. You join them. Back home there is at [...]
Along the Road to Bacchus
The bus rambled through the arid country side. Tanks, artillery and other weapons-filled vehicles – all pointing east – lined each side of the road. Helmeted soldiers clustered in small groups and shared smokes. Syrian flags flapped every half mile. What was the Syrian army doing in Lebanon? Why were their guns pointed at their [...]
