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HOW TO TRAVEL LIKE A GYM RAT

September 28, 2019 by

A gym rat is an expert on gym fashion. Some are better at it than others, but gym fashion is big. Traveling like a gym rat means combining gym fashion with daily wear. Look around any street or mall or library and you’ll see it in action. And no, yoga pants aren’t part of the […]

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LIFELONG MEMORIES IN PARIS AND LONDON: ROLE MODELS FOR PORTLAND OREGON

September 27, 2019 by

Time spent in Paris and London brings comparisons and competition for lifelong memories. People who live in both cities, who have apartments and houses in each, are the best judges. Oddly enough I met just such people on a visit to Bruges, Belgium. What are the chances of meeting people in one country and seeing […]

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COCKFOSTERS SOUNDS RIGHT IN LONDON AND PORTLAND

September 26, 2019 by

Young and old alike can look at a Northwest Portland neighborhood map and figure out the street naming theme. Ankeny, Burnside, Couch, Davis, Everett, Flanders, Glison, Hoyt, Irving, Johnson, and the rest of the alphabet. City planners must have taken the idea from the London Underground?

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EUROPEAN HISTORY NOTES FROM OREGON HISTORIAN

September 24, 2019 by

European history notes from an Oregon historian? Is this a guest blog post from someone new? Good one. No. I’m a history major with a focus on Oregon history along with two decades of history with the Oregon Historical Society. Ask me about material identification. It’s wood, metal, or stone. Or plastic. Ask me about […]

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CROWDED EUROPE? LOOK HARDER AT BRUGES

September 23, 2019 by

I’ll admit that I looked for moments to record without people. Or with fewer people.

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SPEAKERS CORNER SPEECH TO THE MASSES

September 22, 2019 by

My Speakers Corner speech to the masses didn’t go quite according to plan, which is always part of my plan. Actually, I was prompted to take to the ladder. One prompt and I had my speech ready. But Hyde Park is a long haul from one end to the other. How long? Longer than I […]

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FAST TRAIN OUT OF TOWN

September 22, 2019 by

The best part of the Eurostar line connecting to London from Belgium is the walk from the local line to the fast train express. It felt funny taking the oldest form of transportation, feet, out of one station and a good long hike around a shopping center to the fastest train on rails. Adding to […]

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MOVING DAY ON A EURO TRAIN

September 21, 2019 by

It’s feels odd to have a moving day so soon on a travel trip, but here I am killing it on a London bound train from Bruges to Lille with a change in Kortrijk. To keep things exciting the taxi came late to The Pand. He blamed dispatch. I would have blamed dispatch too. During […]

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EUROPEAN TRAVEL: AIR, SEA, LAND

September 19, 2019 by

One theme of European travel is just getting there. Once there more themes kick in. Why? Why not. So far it’s been riding bikes, cruising rivers and canals, the clocking miles and miles on my shoes and sandals. I’ve been practicing bike riding in the gym, not for leg conditioning but seat conditioning. The plan […]

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FRENCH PRESS IN THE MORNING AND RICK STEVES HISTORY

September 19, 2019 by

I noticed the French press in the sidewalk restaurants one Paris local said cost $100K in fees for table rights. Tight stadium seating from one place to the next looked formidable, but not to Rick Steves fans. Stadium seating? All eyes forward in most cases, but what’s to see? Traffic, on foot and in cars, […]

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