Category: Europe

Gibraltar, Pillars of Hercules1 Comment

Gibraltar, 2013

Rich McClear

Dear Friends, In Greek and Roman mythology the Mediterranean was a closed sea.  In a battle with another God Hercules struck the mountains closing off the Med from the Atlantic with his mace, opening a passage to the Atlantic creating the Straits of Gibraltar (although it did not get that name until much later, during the Arab conquest, when “the Rock” was named Tarik’s Mountain, “Jebel Tarik,” shortened to Gibraltar.) The straits are framed on each side by the “Pillars of Hercules.”  Both pillars are geopolitical anomalies, The European pillar, Gibraltar, is physically attached to Spain but is ruled by … Continue reading Gibraltar, 2013

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Belgrade, Krajla Petra (King Peter) St, March 2013

Rich McClear

My office was on this street for three years, but who carries a camera to work?  When I realized I was leaving I took my camera but the light was never right.  On March 30 I had a camera and good light so I took these pictures.   The buildings on the street are a mix of empire style, Austrian Secession, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and modern.  I love the street. Continue reading Belgrade, Krajla Petra (King Peter) St, March 2013

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Warsaw, Poland, March, 2013

Rich McClear

A week ago we woke up on a Saturday morning in Warsaw.  It was 2 degrees Fahrenheit (-16 Celsius) with a minus 15 F wind chill.  It was time to get ready for our Warsaw tour, which included a walking tour of the old town.  It was cold but we went. We arrived on Friday on the Berlin-Warsaw express.  Warsaw Central station does not have well marked exits, so instead of getting out onto the street we ended up exiting into a large and modern shopping mall with an undulating glass roof.  I finally found my way out of the … Continue reading Warsaw, Poland, March, 2013

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Reichstag, Berlin, 2013

Rich McClear

To visit the German Bundestag housed in the Reichstag building you need an invitation.  We applied, sending our passport information and addresses, on line.  I got our PDF invitation letter just before we left for Warsaw.  Our appointment was 9:30 Monday evening.  We got off our train grabbed a cab, dropped our stuff at the hotel and went on to the Reichstag.  The building was burned as Hitler came to power.  Hitler blamed it on the Communists.  Others blame it on Hitler as an excuse to grab more power.  The building was largely unused just on the western side of … Continue reading Reichstag, Berlin, 2013

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Rundfunks Berlin

Rich McClear

March, 21, 2013 This week Suzi and I attended Radio Days Europe and got to tour some different radio stations. A highlight of the sessions was the tour of Haus des Rundfunks, or Radio House.  The Funkhaus was designed in 1929 in the Bauhaus style and went on-air in 1931.  It claims to be the oldest purpose built radio station building in the world.  The Funkhaus is the home of Radio Berlin and Brandenburg (RBB), which operates 6 radio services.  While it was built as a national headquarters, right now it serves Berlin’s local public radio. The building is a … Continue reading Rundfunks Berlin

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Travel from Sitka to Tbilisi.

Rich McClear

March 3, 2013,  Tbilisi, Georgia Historically travel has always been arduous.  But for a brief period, for a certain social class, travel was glamorous.  “Getting there is half the fun” Cunard crowed in mid-century ads.  Flying, jet setting had a certain cache.  Super Graphics from the airports in early 70’s had fashionable young people in shades and Italian designer cloths smiling as they walked to planes.  Today, at SeaTac there is the graphic of a cartoon character, sweating, lugging a suitcase, looking completely harried.  It’s an honest, and funny, presentation of flying today and brought more than a few chuckles.  … Continue reading Travel from Sitka to Tbilisi.

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Telc, Moravia, Czech Republic

Rich McClear

We have been to Telc several times.  It has a nice outlet store for Bohemian crystal, even though it is in Moravia.  Each time it was overshadowed, in the letter, by other places or, in one case, by a traffic accident.  A Lada hit me while I was stopped an intersection, no one hurt.  So the pictures will have to tell the story.  The first time we were there in 1990 it was rundown but you could see the beauty under the dust and in spite of the faded paint.  The last time we visited in 2002 it was gloriously … Continue reading Telc, Moravia, Czech Republic

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Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

Rich McClear

April 27, 2002 Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic Dear Friends, We’re spending the night in Ceske Krumlov on a drive between Bratislava and Zagreb.  Ceske Krumlov is nowhere near the direct route from Bratislava to Zagreb.  Suzi and I have not often taken direct routes and we are the richer for it.  Ceske Krumlov is a fortified city protected by a meander in the Vlatava (Moldau) River.  We were last here in spring 1990 during the election that legitimized the Velvet Revolution.  The city was not yet a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  That came in 1992 along with some restoration funds.  In … Continue reading Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

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Rovinj, Croatia

Rich McClear

October 1, 2011 Belgrade, Serbia Dear Friends, A week ago in Rovinji, Croatia, I went to sleep and woke up to the sounds of waves lapping at the sea wall three floors below our apartment window.  As the morning progressed I could hear gulls calling, flocking around the boats that had been seining all night for sardines, now coming into port, their wakes made the slap against the sea wall more pronounced.  At 7 AM the church bells at St. Eufemia called the city to wake. If you go to the window, just then, you can see the sun rise … Continue reading Rovinj, Croatia

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Vukovar, Croatia

Rich McClear

Note, Vukovar was the first major victim in the Balkan wars of the 1990s.  It is a border town on the Danube, in Croatia but, before the wars, with a slight Serbian majority.  The Serbs finally took the town over but after the Dayton Accords the town was administered by the UN before being turned over to the Croats, 13 days before we arrived.  Our job was to work with the Serbian radio stations in the region to make sure they got licenses from the Croatian government and to help assure that the rights of the Serbian, Roma and Hungarian … Continue reading Vukovar, Croatia

a, Croatia3 Comments

Zagreb, 1997, Operetta at the Presidential Palace

Rich McClear

This is from 1997.  I threw in the picture of the necktie shop in this tranche of photos, just because it seemed to go with the uniforms. May 11, 1997 Zagreb, Croatia Dear Friends, We’re in our eleventh week of wandering Europe after the evacuation.  We had planned to be gone two.   We’ll be in Zagreb another week before traveling to Vienna to get visas and then to Serbia as IREX plans our alternative lives for us. I still enjoy being awakened by church bells at 6:00 AM.  Since it’s summer they seem louder with the windows open. Earlier in … Continue reading Zagreb, 1997, Operetta at the Presidential Palace

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Zagreb, Croatia

Rich McClear

This letter included my first impressions of Zagreb. I took the pictures in this post in 2001 and 2011.  We had been evacuated from Tirana and had been traveling for two months on only the carryon bags we got out with.  We were working TDY jobs for our IREX as needed.  We had just come from Prague. Zagreb, Croatia April 25, 1997 Dear Friends, Sometimes something you learn in the first hours visiting a place can prejudice you against it before you have a chance to really get to appreciate it.  That could have happened to me in Croatia.  According … Continue reading Zagreb, Croatia

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Mali Ston and Ston, Croatia

Rich McClear

May 23, 2004 Mali Ston, Croatia, Dear Friends, Mali Ston is on a cove, not spectacularly beautiful, but restfully pretty.  Mali Ston is not distinctive compared with other historic towns along the coast.  The reason to go to Mali Stone is to eat.  Big busses bring eating tours to Mali Ston.  This weekend a busload of French Tourists came to sample local seafood and wines.  The cove has oysters and mussels and the local wine is from the next valley.  The town makes much of its income from seafood wedding feasts.  I’m allergic to seafood but everyone assured me that … Continue reading Mali Ston and Ston, Croatia

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Croatia

Rich McClear

Some of my Croat friends will take exception with putting Croatia in the Balkans.  Driving to Zagreb from Slovakia I once said to a friend “It is good to be back in the Balkans.”  He scowled and said, Zagreb is not in the Balkans, the Balkans are south of the Sava.  He than thought a minute and said “So Zagreb’s airport is in the Balkans, but Zagreb isn’t.”   Metternich is supposed to have said: “The Balkans begin at the Rennweg.”  More commonly the Viennese aphorism is “The Balkans begin in the third district.”  I will take Metternich’s definition. We have … Continue reading Croatia