another photo from our trip to prague

here we are at the border between germany and the czech republic: no passport request, no guards, just a marker. ain't the EU grand!?

a week in ireland: the buddha and a leprechaun walk into a bar

there's gotta be a joke that starts off this way...
we saw many more leprechauns than buddhas in ireland. many gardens have cute little leprechaun statues, just as many german gardens have cute gnomes.
we were quite lucky in terms of weather: how often do tourists return from ireland with a suntan?
music everywhere, and literary references, too. our favourite event was a literary pub crawl in dublin, hosted by two actors who did short scenes from plays, and recited poems etc.
and i found several beers with much more character than guiness.
yes, guinness tastes better in ireland than it does when exported; but there are some craft micro-brews which have more hops and therefore more flavour. smooth is good, but REAL beer should be gnarly.

oscar wilde and a pal of his invited me for a chat. you can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose....

bike ride! leipzig to prague

my good buddy randall had never taken his two boyz on a long-distance bike tour. we decided it was time to get them started, so we planned a trip here in germany and the czech republic.
they rode like champs!
we averaged around seventy kilometers per day on a five-day ride. we spent the first two days getting over to the Elbe river, and then followed it upstream to prague.
our first night's hostel was in a castle atop a hill. colditz is famous as the site of a WW2 prison camp for british officers.
some of our roads were rough, some perfectly smooth. very little interaction with cars: huzzah!