Old cemetery in Prague's Jewish Quarter[/caption]Its my junior year of college, and while my peers are headed to party in Amsterdam, or find their soul-mates in some handsome young Italian, I find myself bound for Prague. Curiosity got the best of me, so there I was off to explore in the land of Kafka, Dvorak, and Pilsner beer. Designed to give students a broad cultural, political and historical view of Czechoslovakia, the gem in this course … [Read more...]
Ruby Canyon: An Isolated Jewel of the West
The one and only time I passed through Ruby Canyon was on my way west aboard Amtrak's California Zephyr. It was on my trip to start a new life in California in May 2013. Located on the Colorado River on the Colorado-Utah border, the only access to the canyon, other than the passing through on the Union Pacific Railroad lines that Amtrak uses for the Zephyr, is the river(i.e.rafting). It is a marvelous site to behold. The canyon is roughly … [Read more...]
Wonders of Nature in France
Have you watched Mary Poppins? As a child, during the holidays, I would watch this movie numerous times until the video tape broke. The best part of the musical was when the birds sang when one perched on Mary’s finger. I thought that was amazing and hoped that one day, I too would sing with a bird, or at least get a bird to come close to me enough to perch on my hand. Travelling is always a joy and full of unexpected surprises. On a sunny … [Read more...]
A Quick Stopover in Kiev, Ukraine
These days, with WiFi commonly available while on the go, Independent travel has certainly become "easier". After arriving at the massive central train station in Kiev, I simply typed the words "hotel" and "hostel" in Google maps and immediately a number of properties popped up within walking distance. This can take a bit of "adventure" out of raw Independent travel - simply removing all human contact. I didn't need to try and talk to anyone for … [Read more...]
The Fabled Montropolis is Found: Jackson Hole
In the evolution of a place there is sometimes a waymark between free-spirited childhood and the discreet somberness of maturity. But what if the in-between actually signifies the third point of a classic Hegelian dialectical triangle? A rough and rowdy cowboy town at one point, an overly-wrought sophisticated metropolis at the other, and the third being some subtly unstated “third way” that draws on the contradictory nature of the first two … [Read more...]
Dining on Vancouver Island
John M. Edwards, the only smoker ever allowed onto the premises of snooty “Sooke Harbour House,” visits Vancouver Island in the Pacific Northwest on his own terms. As a paying contributor to “The United Negroe College Fund,” for sage reasons of philanthropy as well as tax evasion, I was a little surprised to find in the maritime city of Vancouver, British Columbia, absolutely no black people—only Commonwealthy Europeans and Asians, plus a few … [Read more...]
‘Someday’ – When Europe called
It was sometime in early 2011. I was having a chat with a couple of friends centered on a quote from the Tom Cruise starrer ‘Knight and Day’. Not exactly the kind of movie to throw up quotes worthy of discussion or much thought. But surprisingly, it did have one particularly special quote– moving, thought-provoking, enigmatic and slightly frightening if I may say so. “Someday. That's a dangerous word. It's really just a code for 'never'. … [Read more...]
Dispatch: Kentucky Fried Moa
Bumbling into a Big Bird better than Popeye’s in a primary rainforest on a remote New Zealand isle, John M. Edwards raves, “Don’t mess with dinner!” Part I In Auckland, New Zealand, I was roosting in the common room of this crap budget flophouse, perusing my guidebook and gearing up to fly to Fiji soon despite a recent military coup, when the heated roundtable discussion of the relative cleanliness and cheapness of Kiwi backpacker hostels … [Read more...]
How I Hung out with a Rock Icon by Going it Alone
For years I planned trips never taken. But since I had an American Express card and was registered with my favorite airline’s frequent flyer program, I found myself receiving enticing email travel bargains. Before the days of internet, I would scour the Los Angeles Times for ideas but it was the advent of email along with photos of destinations that really changed my life. One day, while extremely low on funds but desperate to get away, I eyed an … [Read more...]
Unique Martinique: A Napoleonic Retreat
John M. Edwards, a future inductee into The Napoleon Society, storms Martinique in search of his own Josephine. A huge fan of Napoleon Bonaparte, the hero of post-Revolutionary France, I left the U.K. Crown Colony of Montserrat in the days before their volcano blew up for the fatal shores of Martinique via a scary Island Air prop plane. Landing with a jarring whump, my galpal and I, along with the burdensome baggage of my Sistah Sah, then … [Read more...]
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