Prologue

Like many other people my age, I grew up fearing nuclear annihilation, communism, and a host of other perceived existential threats. Of the many theatres in which the Cold War played out, no other Czytaj więcej
Honolulu to Los Angeles

American Airlines AA1480 | HNL/LAX
First Class
N400NA | Airbus A321NEO
ATD/0721 | ATA/1553
Lounge: Sakura Lounge
We stopped by the Sakura lounge for a quick breakfast before heading to the gate.
Los Angeles To London Heathrow

American Airlines AA134 | LAX/LHR
Business Class
N723AN | Boeing 777-300ER
ATD/2110 | ATA/1513+1
Lounge: Admirals Club Flagship Lounge
This flight was delayed and so we misconnected to Berlin. AA was Czytaj więcej
Involuntary Layover at Heathrow

When we arrived at Heathrow, we went to the American Airlines service counter. The agent there checked us in for the next day’s flight and told us that the Ibis Hotel at Bath Rd was “expecting” Czytaj więcej
Harlington

Our involuntary layover was at the Ibis Hotel near Harlington Village immediately north of Heathrow. From the hotel, we walked up the High Street, ate dinner at a pub called The White Hart, and then Czytaj więcej
London Heathrow to Berlin

British Airways BA990 | LHR/BER
Economy Class
G-EUPO | Airbus A319-100
ATD/0742 | ATA/1039
Lounge: Galleries Lounge North
We took the first Hotel Hoppa shuttle to T5, and ate a quick breakfast at the Czytaj więcej
Arrival in Berlin

Our arrival at Berlin was inauspicious. The machine dispensing train tickets wouldn’t accept credit cards and would only accept €5 and €10 bills. Jeff had to get change. We then went to the Czytaj więcej
Checkpoint Charlie

After a quick freshening up, we made our way on foot to nearly Simon James Park, crossed over the Spree River, walked past the museums and Humboldt University, and then over to Checkpoint Charlie. Our Czytaj więcej
Kreuzberger Himmel

Our next stop was lunch. I wanted to patronize one of the restaurants operated by refugees, and I had previously researched Kreuzberger Himmel, a restaurant serving Syrian food that was associated Czytaj więcej
Brandenburg Gate & Jewish Memorial

After lunch, we returned to the subway and headed to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This is a large square with over 2,000 grey concrete blocks of varying sizes and heights. The ground Czytaj więcej
Tiergarten & Victory Column

Looking west from the Brandenburg Gate, we spotted the Victory Column, and we decided to walk through the Tiergarten towards it. Our main connection to the Victory Column is Wim Wenders' Wings of Czytaj więcej
Hackescher Markt

Our late afternoon and evening explorations brought us first to Simon James Park: There were lots of people sat out in the park facing the River Spree. At first, we thought there may be an outdoor Czytaj więcej
Haus Schwarzenberg & Monster Kabinett

After a quick stop at our hotel to freshen up, we headed out again to the nearby Haus Schwarzenber Street Art Alley which is a narrow alley filled with murals. Our main goal, however, was to see if we Czytaj więcej
David Hasselhoff Museum

As we had about 90 minutes before Monster Kabinett, we headed to the Circus Hostel, which houses the quirky David Hasselhoff Museum in its basement. David Hasselhoff is hugely popular in Germany, and Czytaj więcej
Thai Park

We woke up pretty late on Saturday, just in time to make our way to Thai Park via subway for an early lunch. When researching things to do in Berlin, I googled to find out if there is a Chinatown in Czytaj więcej
Kant Kino

My next sightseeing objective was near Thai Park. Simple Minds' Empires and Dance album is my all time favorite album, and I associate this album with the beginning of my wanderlust during a school Czytaj więcej
East Side Gallery

In 1989, while serving in the military, I watched in disbelief as the Berlin Wall came down, and the world order as we knew it changed forever. The East Side Gallery houses remnants of the Berlin Czytaj więcej
Alexanderplatz

After East Side Gallery, we made our way back to the area around our hotel and we walked along the River Spree and enjoyed people watching. We attempted to visit the DDR Museum but the ticket seller Czytaj więcej
Berlin to Rijeka

After a leisurely breakfast at a Vietnamese-run eatery in Alexanderplatz, we made our way by train to BER.
At the security checkpoint, the airport broadcasts entertaining videos telling passengers Czytaj więcej
Arrival in Rijeka

Rijeka is about 18km west of the airport, and our accommodation (and the pool) was another 6km west from the city center. We were planning on taking the local bus, but we lucked out as Rokas had Czytaj więcej
Kantrida

Our apartment was a short walk from the pool.
I came to Croatia expecting to encounter language barriers everywhere, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the majority of people we encountered Czytaj więcej
Rijeka

Our apartment was about 6km from Rijeka itself. We each bought a one week bus pass for HRK 96, which was a good deal since we would only need to take four round trips to break even.
We took several Czytaj więcej
Park Angiolina, Opatija

About 9km west of our accommodation is the town of Opatija. In contrast to working class and somewhat gritty Rijeka, Opatija is pretty, curated, and glitzy. Most holidaymakers stay there because it Czytaj więcej
Salvador Dali Exhibit

While walking around Park Angiolina, we encountered a gem - an exhibit on Salvador Dali focusing on some of his literary- and science-related work, such as drawings based on Dante's Divine Comedy, and Czytaj więcej
Opatija

The rest of our day trip was spent wandering around Opatija. We encountered a sign that said "American Garden" (per Google Translate) and we followed the signs up a hill. We found the small garden; it Czytaj więcej