Sunday, October 14, 2018

My travels in Europe


My first trip to Europe was in 1987 when I attended a scientific conference in Cambridge, England. I always remember my father telling me about his visit to Cambridge when he lived in England during WWII. My visit there in 1987 lit a travel spark in me that is still alive over thirty years later. I’ve been thinking about how many European countries/places I’ve had the privilege of traveling to since then, many of them thanks to the scientific conferences that we've attended over the years:

  • Austria: Innsbruck
  • Belgium: Brussels, Leuven
  • The Czech Republic: Prague, Karlstejn
  • Denmark: Copenhagen, Aarhus, Roskilde
  • England: London, Cambridge, Oxford, Keswick, Salisbury, Bath, Wiltshire (Stonehenge)
  • Finland: Helsinki
  • France: Paris, Versailles, Caen/Normandy, Montpellier, Saint Raphael, Frejus, St. Tropez, Cannes, Marseilles, Besancon
  • Germany: Berlin, Leipzig
  • Holland: Amsterdam, Delft, Lisse (Keukenhof tulip park)
  • Hungary: Budapest
  • Ireland: Dublin, Banagher, Adare, Galway, Sligo, Drumcliff, Monaghan (Castle Leslie)
  • Italy: Milan, Rome, Caserta, Naples, Venice, Perugia, Assisi, Barano & Casamicciola (Ischia)
  • Norway: Bergen, Trondheim, Risør, Arendal, Kristiansand, Sandefjord, Ålesund, Stavanger, Molde, Fredrikstad, Elverum
  • Scotland: Edinburgh, Glasgow
  • Sweden: Stockholm, Visby (Gotland), Strømstad, the Koster islands
  • Switzerland: Zurich, Lausanne
  • Wales: Holyhead (ferry to Dublin)


There are still so many countries/places I want to see—Spain, Portugal, Greece, Poland, and more of Italy and Germany. Hopefully I'll get to some of these places when my husband and I retire and have more time to explore, and/or together with good friends, God willing. One thing I do know--don't leave all your travel dreams to some unknown future time. If you have the chance to travel at present, take it. 





The surreal world we live in

Holy Week for Christians starts on Palm Sunday (one week before Easter Sunday) and ends on Holy Saturday; it includes Holy Thursday and Good...