Volume 18 - Day 123/242, 2026 - Sunday

Meet Bryon, soon to be the second most famous Bryon in the United States. Not sure exactly where in Italy I met Bryon (and parents and siblings), but I was immediately drawn to the entire family. Although small in size, Bryon is very large in presence, as only a true stand-out personality can be. He is kind of shy, but once you get to know him, he will tell you the whole story. I actually vacuumed my bedroom and the bath today, and did laundry and domestic stuff like that. I had a devil of a time getting the bed spread to spin properly in the washer, but finally I did, and the bed is all made up again, and ready for many nights sleep. It was another beautiful day in central Texas, and the temperature got up to the high 70s, but the humidity is very low. I have the windows open, and the air conditioner has been turned off for the last four or five days. There are a few things on the calendar this week, and I will be going in to Austin three of the five days. Tomorrow, I will be visiting Trader Joe's with Gina, to get some desperately needed supplies. Ice cream. Then, a couple other things through the week, nothing that could cause any stress, I hope.

Volume 18 - Day 122/243, 2026 - Saturday

Today (as I predicted) was a beautiful day in central Texas. Right now, it is sunny and about 71 degrees. When I got up this morning, and did the walk with Richard, Paul and James, it was 48 degrees. When I made it to the blood drive, it was a little bit warmer, and I had on a light jacket. The blood drive was very good, we had 27 donors show up, and we have 25 qualified to donate. That was better than the blood banks' goal (23) and a little bit short of my goal (30). BUT...I think we are on a good track for doing this on a quarterly basis, and I came home with some cookies. Today was our third blood drive, and I think everyone is happy with the results. After the blood drive, I came home and napped for a little while, and just within the last hour, Paulina is home from Poland. She was on the same flight today that I was on a week ago today. She has already started unpacking, and half of her suitcase was stuff I bought. The plan, the whole time, was that her checked bag to be mostly empty on the way over, and very full on the way back. It worked! I don't have a lot on my chore list for the next week, and I will not be complaining about that at all. 

Volume 18 - Day 121/244, 2026 - Friday

I'm feeling pressured to vacuum the Curious House, and it is pretty intense. Silly people tell me I can choose to clean one room at a time, and I assume that is something that people less compulsive than me are capable of doing, although I may give it a 'go' at some time in the near future. I bought a few cleaning supplies last week, but I can't really remember where I put them. Likely in some logical 'cleaning type' of a place. Here is something that I bet you have never experienced. Earlier this week, I bought some scones for breakfast, and I had the last one for breakfast this morning. I put it in the microwave for two rounds of 15 seconds each, and retired to the office to do stuff. As I was almost finished, a house fly crawled out from under the scone. Apparently, I had microwaved the fly along with the scone, and I am surprised that the thirty seconds of microwaving did not cause the fly to expire, but the kleenex crush did the trick. Worst case, I expect house flies are mostly protein, so... It did rain off and on all day long today, so I did nothing at all, and only went outside to take the girls out. Gina called me to see if I was at home, and brought me some homemade chicken noodle soup. I have already eaten about half of it, so I have to other half to look forward to in the next couple days. It's delish! I think the rain is over for the next couple of days at least, and tomorrow is our neighborhood blood drive, so I will hang out there for most of the morning. Everything has really benefitted from the rains, and we at the Curious House have received a little less than two inches in the last couple days. No complaints!

Volume 18 - Day 120/245, 2026 - Thursday

We finally did get some rain, but not until this afternoon. It was a platelets day, and I donated double platelets today, and I left the blood bank at about 2PM. I am not in the least ashamed of the fact that I drive like a little old lady when it is raining outside, and the ride home proved that point. It rained 'cats and dogs (see the earlier post about how that phrase originated)' and I am always surprised to see other drivers acting like it is just another day in central Texas. The generally accepted speed on MoPac this afternoon was close to 40 mph, and rain water was flooding the lower parts of the roads. Carefully, I made it back to the Curious House, and so far, my gauge records about 0.27" of the wet stuff. We are expecting more overnight, and tomorrow is supposed to be really wet. I have nothing on the chore list except a note to give the girls their pills, so I think it might be a good day for being lazy. The temperature did not get out of the 60s today, and that is just a little bit lower than it should be this time of year. I started reading a new book today, Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klume. It is our book club book, and one of the book club members said he was not particularly fond of the book, so I was prepared not to like it...BUT NO! I am about a third of the way in to the book, and I am finding it pretty interesting...if you like books about ghosts.

Volume 18 - Day 119/246, 2026 - Wednesday

We had a 'trace' of rain so far today, but there is more expected overnight and for the next couple of days. The only thing I had on my list to get accomplished today was an appointment this afternoon, and so I spent the morning doing a couple things around the house. It was not a typical day, very cloudy and overcast, not the kind of day that is conducive to feeling perky. I did get the grape vines removed from the front bed, and over the weekend I will work on taking control of the morning glories in the back. Tonight was the neighbors dinner, and it was fun. There were ten of us, and we met at a pizza place in Georgetown. Everyone swears by the meat balls, but I had calamari and pizza. I have enough left over for at least two more meals. I am not counting on a walk in the morning, it may be raining, according to the radar forecast. I do have a couple appointments in Austin tomorrow, so I will do my best to avoid the rain. 

Volume 18 - Day 118/247, 2026 - Tuesday

I'm having a hard time not being tired. I am getting plenty of sleep, I just feel tired. I think it is just from the last couple weeks of traveling, but I don't like it. I did do a few things today; I went to the ROMEO breakfast, went to HEB on the way home (I needed some dog food and ice cream), came home and watered new plants, put some rings around the three new trees to keep the mulch from washing out (I hope), planted some seeds in three pots, repotted the sweet potato vine I was given last year, and went to the Neighbors dinner place to confirm our reservations for tomorrow night. In between things, I took a nap for about an hour. I don't have a lot on the list of things to get done for tomorrow, but I am pretty sure I will find something to do to pass the time. Since I am all stocked up with ice cream now, I am relatively confident that there will be some ice cream for me in the near future. It's a hard life!

Volume 18 - Day 117/248, 2026 - Monday

Contrary to what my watch reports, I think I had a pretty good nights sleep last night. My watch says had a low 'sleep score' of 59, and that I should try to get to bed at the proper time this evening, to increase my score. Whatever. As usual (usual for being at the Curious House), I walked with Richard and Paul, and when I got home, I did more catching up. I am pretty close to being caught up, and as usual, I am putting some stuff off to another day. I had to ask James to help me get my printer going this morning, and it was kind of fascinating to hear him interact with AI about how to get the printer and computer to work together. One thing about the AI person, he talks WAY TOO FAST for me to follow the commands, but James was in his comfort zone, and everything is working as intended now. The landscape folks were here at about 9 o'clock, and they got everything done by about 1 o'clock. I did go to Home Depot while they were here, and I brought back some mulch for the flower beds. I also got some new light bulbs for the kitchen; nothing is easy anymore. There are no more incandescent bulbs, so what I got are LED bulbs, and you can set them between 75 and 110 watts, and you can decide what color light you would like. I set these to 75 watts, and they are all set for 'daylight,' and I am very happy with the result. Now I can see what I am doing in the kitchen. I noticed the first morning glory blossom of the season, so I hope you enjoy it.

Volume 18 - Day 116/249, 2026 - Sunday

I hope I am just a victim of jet-lag, because I really do not feel good. I just got up from a nap to take the girls out, and post this entry. My sinuses are providing me no respect at all, and I am not all that in favor of blowing my nose every twenty minutes. I am actually exaggerating, I am blowing my nose every 15 minutes. I did manage to get quite a few things accomplished today; I cleaned and refilled the hummingbird feeders, filled up the dog water bowl in the front of the house, updated the letter board, wound and set the clocks that I stopped before my trip, bought a mop (that was not easy), and Val and I went to Farmer's Nursery in Leander on a quest for two peach trees. I realize that I am being compulsive abut the peach trees, but I would really like a couple producing peach trees. I found two very healthy looking trees, and the man at the nursery said it would take five or six years for them to be the size of the trees in the photo accompanying this entry. I would have thought it would take much longer than that. I expect I still have five or six years in me, so I got them. Tomorrow, the landscapers are expected to work on the front and back beds, so I will have them plant the two trees, and transplant three other trees I have. I also need to go in to Austin to pick up prescriptions, and check a few other things off my list. AND, I hope I feel better tomorrow.

Volume 18 - Day 115/250, 2026 - Saturday

I am back in Texas after my 17 day trip with and without Paulina. I think we went our separate ways on Tuesday, or maybe Wednesday. Paulina went to Berlin for work, and then to Poland to visit her family. I went to Munich to visit Lisa and Hanna that I met when I went to Antarctica. I had a great time visiting with them and seeing lots of the sites in Munich, and yesterday, I took the train from Munich to Berlin. Today, I flew from Berlin to Amsterdam, and then from Amsterdam to Austin. In the Amsterdam airport, I bought some tulip bulbs, certified safe, and now I need to decide what to do with them. They are legal to bring in to the U.S., and I declared them, and there was no issue. I think it is interesting that security staff will freak out if you have a pocket knife when you are boarding a plane, but the airline will give you a very nice knife (not a pocket knife) with your meal. I just think that is interesting. I am making a list of all the things I need to get accomplished tomorrow, as I think it will be a busy Sunday. Right now, my body thinks it is 3AM, but I am going to stay awake until my usual Georgetown time of 9:15 before I go to bed. We will see.

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. 

Volume 18 - Day 107/258, 2026 - Friday

Today was KIND OF a less hectic day. We got up and went for breakfast croissants and coffee (American for me), and then back to the hotel for a little bit of a rest. We checked out of the hotel at 10AM, and took an Uber to the airport, and our flight left at about 1:15 for Berlin. I tried my very best to sleep during the flight, but that was not to be. Once we got to Berlin, we retrieved Paulina's luggage and met Krisa outside the baggage claim. Krisa and Paulina have been friends for many years, and I met her a few years ago, and have visited with her in Georgetown and Poland, so it is always very nice to hang out with her. We checked in to the Berlin hotel, and after a bit of a rest, we walked to the Brandenburg Gate (also, maybe, referred to as 'Pariser Platz'). Of course, on the way to dinner, there was a souvenir shop, so now I have TWO MORE t-shirts. I had schnitzel for dinner, and there was a lot of it, and then we walked back to the hotel. I think tomorrow will be a jam-packed day, so I am going to sign off for now. Mas manana!

Volume 18 - Day 106/259, 2026 - Thursday

And so, another day is coming to an end, and it has been a fun day for sure. We got up this morning and I had some sort of chocolate croissant and coffee for breakfast. We then headed for the ferry dock, and took the ferry from Naples to Capri. In the movies, I have always heard of it as 'The Isle of Capri,' and I had no preconceived notions at all about the island. I had no idea that people actually lived on the island, I thought it was just a bunch of resort hotels; but that just reinforces that I really never thought of it. As I have found out, it is a very nice island, catering to very nice people, most of whom are some of the luckiest people on the planet. I'm not going to go very far down that rabbit hole, but it was much more than I had expected. The ferry took about an hour each way, and we both took short naps, both ways. We took cabs to various sides of the island, since we only had about three hours before the ferry headed back. When we got back, we had a late lunch (early dinner?), and went back to the hotel for more naps. At 7:30, we headed out because Paulina was on a mission to buy refrigerator magnets, and I was on a mission to just spend some money. That has not been a challenge in the last 8 days, and I expect there will be many more opportunities. Tomorrow, we will have some breakfast, check out of the hotel at 10, and head to the airport. This time tomorrow, we will be in Berlin for a couple days.

Volume 18 - Day 105/260, 2026 - Wednesday

I knocked on Paulina's door this morning at about 7AM (as I recall), and we walked to the tour pickup point, which was close to the train station. We had breakfast there, and the tour guide met us, and we went and made two other stops to pick up participants. I think this bus carried twenty folks, not including the tour guide and the driver, so it was a much more manageable group, and no one was particularly obnioxious. There were people from Paris, Dallas, Canada and some Asian countries, so it was a good group. On the way to Sorrento, we passed Mt. Vesuvius and were close to Pompeii, which is interesting that we were that close to Pompeii but did not stop. I am pretty sure we bought t-shirts at every stop we made today; Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi. I have no idea how many photos I took, but I am sure I could have taken photos until the battery in my phone died, there are just so many beautiful sites to be seen. Somewhere between Positano and Amalfi we stopped for lunch, and then when we got to Amalfi, there was suddenly an option to take a boat ride off the coast. I am 100% sure that, if that boat and that body of water were anywhere in the U.S., we would not have left shore. But, we did, and we all made it back and nobody vomited. We did see Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren's home while we were touring by boat, and lots of interesting 'blue caves.' Overall, a good day. We got back to the hotel, rested for a while, then went for dinner at a seafood restaurant. I cannot tell you how many decades it has been since I had a fish dinner, the WHOLE fish, and I had to work around the fish bones. I have to admit, I did pretty well. Tomorrow, I will knock on Paulina's door at 9, and we will take a Ferry to Capri. So far, and very interesting and fun visit to places I have NEVER been before, and will likely never be again.

Volume 18 - Day 104/261, 2026 - Tuesday

Today was not quite as busy as yesterday, but we still got a lot of things done. We were up and had breakfast, then chilled out in our rooms until the noon checkout time. We took a cab to the train station, and the train was delayed 20 minutes (I didn't think that was supposed to happen in Italy), so we hung out in the First Class Lounge for a little while. We got on the train, and made it to Naples with no problems. Looking out the train windows at little communities and villages, I wondered if the residents worried every day about their own challenges, as I worry regularly about my challenges. Don't get me wrong, I am a very lucky man and I know it, I just have challenges, sometimes. Not nearly as many now as I have had in the past. Whatever! The hotel we are staying at is definitely not a budget hotel, but it is interesting that it costs a dime (10 cents in Euros) to use the elevator before 6PM. I cannot think of a single time that I have had to pay to use an elevator. We got checked in, and shortly after we went into the old part of the city, did some sight seeing, and had pizza. Back now at the hotel, and so we are going to meet tomorrow at 7AM for our next adventure.