Volume 18 - Day 114/251, 2026 - Friday

This day started out just fine, but kind of took a nose-dive once I got to Berlin. It's really only first world problems, but it has made me a little bit crazy. I got up this morning, packed my carry-on (and I was right, I had room), and then went across the street for coffee and two muffins. I left the hotel at about 10:20 and walked to the train station. About a 20 minute walk. I had walked it yesterday, just so I would know where I was going, so I even took a couple different streets than the directions, and got there just fine. I boarded the train just about 20 minutes before departure, and it was a nice ride (about five hours) from Munich to Berlin. Once I got in the cab to the hotel, it all went south. I asked the cab driver (before I got in) if he accepted credit cards, and he said yes. I showed him where I was going (an airport hotel), and he acted like he knew where he was going, but I don't think he really did. When we got to the hotel, he could not confirm that his credit card machine was working or not, so he asked my name, and said if the charge had not gone through properly, he would come back tomorrow. I told him I would be leaving at 7AM. I was in the room for about 15 minutes, when the phone rang. The front desk said the cab driver was in the lobby and told them my credit card had been declined. UGH! So, we tried using a different credit card, and he still could not get his machine to work, so I paid cash. SO...I expect I will have three credit card charges for the cab ride, AND I paid him in cash, AND the front desk thinks I'm a fraud. First world problems. BUT, now I have had a nice dinner, and I am ready to call it a night. I should be home late afternoon tomorrow, see you all soon.

Volume 18 - Day 113/252, 2026 - Thursday

This morning, I walked to the train station, just so I could get my bearings, and know where I need to go tomorrow. It is about a 20 minute walk, so not a big deal. My train leaves at 12:48, so it will be a leisurely morning. Lisa met me at 11AM, and we walked around the neighborhood for a while, and Hanna joined us at about noon. We covered a lot of territory today, for sure. 19,590 steps! After Hanna met up with us, we walked up the 306 steps of the Alter Peter Tower. Hanna is afraid of heights, but she did it. Personally, I am afraid of steps, but I made it to the top, too. We had pretzels for lunch, and we continued our adventures in Munich. I got back to the hotel at about 3:30 and went down for a nap. We met up again at 6:15 for dinner, long with Pat and Matt, Lisa and Hanna's boyfriends. We had a great dinner, I had Schnitzel with Bratkartoffein, delicious. Then a nice walk back to the hotel, hugs and handshakes all around. This is my last night in Munich, and tomorrow will be (about) a five hour train ride to Berlin, and I will spend the night at an airport hotel, for the start of my journey back to the U.S. I will be back early evening of Saturday, and I have LOTS of photos to show you. Photo: Me, Lisa, Pat, Hanna and Matt.

Volume 18 - Day 112/253, 2026 - Wednesday

Paulina and I were awake at 3:15AM this morning (Ireland time), and headed to the airport at 4:15. I got to meet Paulina's brother (Lucas or maybe Lukas, not sure of the spelling), and Anna, one of the women that works with Paulina. Then we went our separate ways; Paulina headed to Berlin and I headed to Munich. My plane was late taking off, but I made it to Munich and took a cab (Uber was not helpful) to my hotel in Munich. I checked in to my hotel, did a little bit of work, and then Lisa came and we walked around some spots near the city, including the HUGE Nymphenburg Palace and the Palace Park. We didn't go in, but my first impression was that is was as big or bigger than the Louvre. It was plenty big! After that, we went to the Unchner Fruhlingfest (Spring Festival), which is a scaled down version of OktoberFest, only it is April, and that is where we met up with Hanna. We rode 'one of the largest transportable Giant Wheels in Europe, the Willenborg Riesenrad.' It goes to a height approximately 50 meters higher than five Olympic diving towers. It's pretty high. Then it was off to dinner, and then back to the hotel. Public transportation is very good here, and I bought a one-day pass, so we got around just fine. I also got in over 17,000 steps today, so there is that! Overall, it was a great day, so nice to see Lisa and Hanna, who I met on the Expedition to Antarctica. We have just kept in touch and I was too close to Munich not to take a little side trip. Tomorrow, there will be sites to see, and then dinner with Lisa, Hanna and their respective boyfriends. I am really looking forward to another great day! Photo: Me, Lisa and Hanna at the top of the Ferris wheel.

Volume 18 - Day 111/254, 2026 - Tuesday

There are a few things that I cannot comprehend that are going through my little pea brain today. I went on another tour today, eight people on a bus designed for about 65. We headed to Belfast, and made a couple stops along the way. The high point of the tour was the stop at the Titanic Belfast Museum (not sure if it is museum). I think I was told it is the number one tourist destination in Ireland, but not sure, I might have just made that up. Another thing I can't wrap my head around; I apparently did not take a single photo today that I think is interesting enough to include with this post, so you get what you get. You can search names of passengers and crew that were on the Titanic, and there was a William (Thomas) Evans listed as a crewman. I looked him up online, some info shows him as a cabin steward, other information shows him as a 'stoker.' He was about 34 years old when he died, his body was recovered and then buried at sea. The personal effects when he was recovered included an envelope, addressed to his mother in Southampton. My imagination is guiding me, and I will see what other information about him I can find. We have early flights tomrrow, and the alarm is set for 3:45AM, so that means I am done for the day!

Volume 18 - Day 110/255, 2026 - Monday

We got up and out at about 7:15 this morning, as I remember, and had a small breakfast at the hotel. Paulina escorted me to the pick-up point for my ALL DAY tour, and then she headed to her office to get some work done. Here are a few pieces of trivia that I picked up along the way today: Many homes in Ireland have small windows, because when it was overseen by England, they charged a 'daylight tax,' so to overcome that, they made smaller windows or painted the windows so the daylight could not penetrate. Guinness Brewery wanted to purchase the land it is situated on, but the owners would not sell, but they agreed to a 9,000 year lease which is still in effect, at 45 pounds per year. The term 'raining cats and dogs' originated here, because animals (cats, dogs, rats, whatever), would seek warmth and shelter in the thatched roofs, and if it rained hard and long, the thatched roofs would collapse, along with the cats and dogs, so therefore... The tour took us to a few counties, we covered about 700 kilometers, and we did it all in only about 12 hours, not thirteen. Lots of castle ruins, one actual castle, the Cliffs of Moher, small villages, and this and that. Plenty of photos to look back upon in my old age. Paulina and I had dinner, and we are both tired, so it is time to call it a night. Tomorrow is a tour to Northern Ireland, which will include visiting the place (not sure what that means) where the Titanic was built. I smell even more t-shirts.

Volume 18 - Day 109/256, 2026 - Sunday

We were up early this morning, and left Berlin and flew to Dublin. It was not a long flight, a little more than a couple hours. We Ubered downtown and checked in to our hotel at about 3PM, then went for a little walk, bought some t-shirts and a rubber duck, among other things. I am apparently now collecting rubber ducks, although it is not something I was consciously aware of until this moment. We made it back to the hotel, and took a quick nap, and then we went for dinner, meeting with a friend of Paulina's; Angelique. Angelique used to work with Paulina, and she lives about 40 minutes from downtown Dublin. She took public transportation to dinner, which meant that she wore no jewelry. The things you learn to survive in a city. Dinner was in a Pub that looks to have been open longer than anything in the U.S. After dinner, we walked back to the hotel, about five minutes, and now I am done for the day. I am going on a tour tomorrow...13 hours! What in the hell was Paulina thinking when she booked that tour for me. She is blaming the whole thing on Marian in Georgetown, apparently Marian and Ronnie took the same tour at some point. The Cliffs of Moher Tour, returning to the city at approximately 8PM. Holey-Moley!

Volume 18 - Day 108/257, 2026 - Saturday

As a tourist in Berlin, I find it to be a sad and sort of depressing place. I really do understand that is an exaggeration, but as someone who will be here only a few nights, the most seen tourist destinations are about the Berlin Wall, and other spots about the cold war, communism, struggle and strife. Even though we visited many other lovely and interesting places, the unhappy bits are the ones that made the biggest impact on me. Don't get me wrong, there were t-shirts and other souvenirs involved, but I did not want to buy any t-shirts about the wall, I do not want to make a serious time in my life and the lives of others, into something you put on a t-shirt. We will all head to the airport tomorrow morning, Krisa will go back to Poland, and Paulina and I will fly to Dublin, Ireland. I think I will spend about three nights in Dublin, then head to Munich to visit Lisa and Hanna, and then I return the the U.S. on next Saturday.