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Postcards from the Transition

Postcards from the Transition.

  • Topics
    • Winds of Change
      • Winds of Change, Africa
      • The Fall of the Wall
      • Velvet Revolution
      • Arab Spring
      • Balkan Turmoil
      • 9/11
      • Soviet Union
    • Christmas Markets
    • Lent and Easter
    • Holy Land
    • Pillars of Hercules
    • Architecture
      • Boardwalk Towns
      • Bridges
      • Castles
      • Religious
    • Transportation
      • Trains
      • Ferries
  • Europe
    • Balkans
      • Albania
      • Bosnia and Herzegovina
      • Bulgaria
      • Croatia
      • Kosovo
      • Macedonia
      • Montenegro
      • Serbia
      • Turkey
    • Central Europe
      • Czech Republic
      • Hungary
      • Poland
      • Slovakia
    • Southern Europe
      • Gibraltar
      • Malta
      • Spain
    • Northern Europe
      • United Kingdom
      • Iceland and Faroes
      • Isle of Man
      • Baltic States
    • Western Europe
      • Belgium
      • Germany
      • Netherlands
  • Africa
    • Kenya
    • South Sudan
    • Tanzania
  • Caucasus
    • Armenia
    • Azerbaijan
    • Georgia
  • MENA
    • Ceuta (Spain)
    • Egypt
    • Israel
    • Jordan
    • Morocco
    • Oman
    • Qatar
    • Palestine
    • United Arab Emirates
  • N. America
    • Canada
    • Contiguous US
    • Cuba
    • Greenland
  • S. America
  • Alaska
    • Sitka
    • South Central Alaska
    • South East Alaska
  • Cruises
    • Iceland, Greenland & Scotland 2017
2025 Pole to Pole, Cruises2 Comments

2025 Pole to Pole, MS Volendam

Cruises2 Comments

Cruise Blogs.

Welcome7 Comments

Welcome! Come in and explore.

Channel Islands, Cruises, Prinsendam Celtic Explorer, United KingdomLeave a comment

Tides in the English Channel.

May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 Rich McClear

The English Channel has some of the widest tidal ranges in the world, ranging to 40 feet.  Sea farers have to have different strategies to deal with these tides. In Jersey some harbors are open to the sea and the … Continue reading Tides in the English Channel.

Channel Islands, Cruises, Prinsendam Celtic Explorer, United KingdomLeave a comment

The Beaufort Scale and Jersey’s Public Art.

May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 Rich McClear

Right now we are sailing in some rough seas.  We were supposed to leave Falmouth at 6:00PM but the Captain ordered all on board at 4:00 so he could get around Land’s End to beat a storm.  But after we … Continue reading The Beaufort Scale and Jersey’s Public Art.

Cruises, Northern Europe, Prinsendam Celtic ExplorerLeave a comment

And We’re Off, Dover

May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 Rich McClear

There’s something we’ve not seen before, waiters and waitresses going table to table trying to upsell us to the “Premium” restaurants at significant discounts.  There are similar sales at the spa and for other “ad on” features.  As an incentive … Continue reading And We’re Off, Dover

Cruises, Prinsendam Celtic Explorer, United KingdomLeave a comment

The Adventure Starts in London…

May 8, 2019May 8, 2019 Rich McClear

…as many of my adventures do. London was my first foreign metropolis.  I went there as a kid with my grandfather and had a great amount of freedom to wander and fall in love with the city.  It was Suzi’s … Continue reading The Adventure Starts in London…

Architecture, United KingdomLeave a comment

St. Pancras Redux

May 7, 2019May 7, 2019 Rich McClear

The St. Pancras is a classic old railway hotel designed by British Architect Gilbert Scott. It ran out of steam in the 30s and sat more or less derelict, used for a sett for the occasional Victorian or horror film, … Continue reading St. Pancras Redux

Trains, United KingdomLeave a comment

19th century stations with 21st Century trains.

May 6, 2019May 7, 2019 Rich McClear

I’m not sure if I love railway stations because I love trains or if there is something about them that I love in and of itself. Paddington is a classical iron and glass station with brick front, but it has … Continue reading 19th century stations with 21st Century trains.

SitkaLeave a comment

Earth Day 2019, The Parade of Species

April 21, 2019April 21, 2019 Rich McClear

Forty-nine years ago, April 22, 1970, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson a Democrat, and California Representative Pete McCloskey, a Republican, sought to harness the energy of the campus anti-war movement to bring attention to environmental issues.  The impetus for the first … Continue reading Earth Day 2019, The Parade of Species

Religious, Holy Land, Israel, PalestineLeave a comment

Crucifixion and Resurrection in Jerusalem.

April 20, 2019April 13, 2025 Rich McClear

“He is Not Here!” This post is originally from May 2010   You need a lot of faith to visit holy sites in the Holy Land.  The “upper room” where the Jerusalem tourist office tells you the Last Supper took place … Continue reading Crucifixion and Resurrection in Jerusalem.

Easter Markets1 Comment

Easter Markets, a New Interpretation of Lent

April 5, 2019May 1, 2022 Rich McClear

The idea of an Easter Market seems counterintuitive.  Lent is the time of penance between Carnival and Easter.  The idea of a market selling food and flowers during Lent seems odd.  But then there is Palm Sunday, a time to … Continue reading Easter Markets, a New Interpretation of Lent

Sitka2 Comments

Spring Eagles

March 17, 2019March 17, 2019 Rich McClear

It was a tough winter for eagles.  The Alaska Raptor Rehabilitation Center had a full house.  The normal number of eagles were injured by electric wires, entangled in fishing gear and suffered from other human encounters.  One immature bird fell … Continue reading Spring Eagles

Ireland, St. Patrick's DayLeave a comment

St. Pat’s in Dublin!

March 16, 2019April 1, 2022 Rich McClear

My Grandfather always told me the place to be on St. Pat’s day was New York, or perhaps Boston or Chicago. He told me that growing up in Ireland at the end of the 19th century there wan’t much to … Continue reading St. Pat’s in Dublin!

CarnivalLeave a comment

50 Years of Longing. (Carnival Cover Page)

March 3, 2019March 11, 2022 Rich McClear

I had never much thought about Carnival or Mardi Gras before 1965, it was something that happened somewhere else.  (OK we did eat pancakes but I had never connected that with anything other than an Anglo-Celtic quirk.) But then I … Continue reading 50 Years of Longing. (Carnival Cover Page)

Sitka2 Comments

This Aurora Brought to You by a Drought in the Rainforest.

March 2, 2019March 2, 2019 Rich McClear

We are right in the middle of an Auroral down cycle.  Sunspot activity peaks every 11 years.  The next peak comes sometime late 2025 or early 2026.  So, if we are in the trough, why is Sitka getting so many … Continue reading This Aurora Brought to You by a Drought in the Rainforest.

SitkaLeave a comment

This is Fun. Now Get Me Outta Here! Polar Dip 2019

February 17, 2019February 17, 2019 Rich McClear

For some deranged souls like me, it’s a tradition to swim, or at least dip, into the Pacific Ocean in the middle of winter.  Saturday was the day.  Many dippers dressed for the occasion.  For instance someone dressed as a … Continue reading This is Fun. Now Get Me Outta Here! Polar Dip 2019

SitkaLeave a comment

Jazz Fest ’19

February 11, 2019February 11, 2019 Rich McClear

The room throbbed with all the energy and exuberance of a high school pep dance, and perhaps that’s what the centerpiece of the 2019 Sitka Jazz Festival was.  The Kyle Athayde Dance Party, an 18 piece big band from New … Continue reading Jazz Fest ’19

SitkaLeave a comment

January Sunset Retrospective.

February 6, 2019February 6, 2019 Rich McClear

“Why does Sitka have so many great sunsets?” “I don’t remember that many beautiful sunsets when I lived in Sitka.” All during January I posted sunset pictures from Sitka on Facebook and I kept getting comments like the ones above.  … Continue reading January Sunset Retrospective.

Sitka1 Comment

Welcome to the first beautiful day of 2019

January 3, 2019 Rich McClear

The weather conspired against us.  Kevin and Shannon arrived on Dec 22, on Dec 23 Brian, Liz and the kids Liam and Fiona came to Sitka.  Just before they got here we had some nice weather.  Once they were here, … Continue reading Welcome to the first beautiful day of 2019

SitkaLeave a comment

Our Sitka Christmas Tradition — A Whale Watch.

December 25, 2018 Rich McClear

Our first family whale watch was more than 35 years ago.  Alice and Chuck Johnstone took us out on the Fairweather.  Carolyn Servid was the deck hand and we went looking for humpback whales.  Some folks considered this an odd … Continue reading Our Sitka Christmas Tradition — A Whale Watch.

2018, Family Christmas LettersLeave a comment

2018 McClear Family Christmas Letter

December 21, 2018December 5, 2020 Rich McClear

Continue reading 2018 McClear Family Christmas Letter

Sitka1 Comment

Here Comes the Sun — Winter Solstice 2018

December 21, 2018 Rich McClear

I love all the holidays around the turning of the year.  But Solstice had particular meaning for me.  It’s the root of Christmas, the reason the early Church Fathers chose this time to celebrate the birth of the Christ.  But … Continue reading Here Comes the Sun — Winter Solstice 2018

SitkaLeave a comment

It Rotates! – Tommy Joseph’s new Sculpture at the Sitka Sound Science Center

December 16, 2018December 16, 2018 Rich McClear

Tommy Joseph is an imaginative Tlingit carver.  With my camera I documented his carving a house pole for the Interior Department two years ago.  Since then he has done a canoe and a library pole for Petersburg with characters from … Continue reading It Rotates! – Tommy Joseph’s new Sculpture at the Sitka Sound Science Center

Sitka2 Comments

Winter Brings Frost and Whales

December 16, 2018 Rich McClear

December 14 was the first real day of winter in Sitka.  There was a light fall of snow and some hear frost on the branches.  We had had stormy November type weather the day before but the 14th dawned with … Continue reading Winter Brings Frost and Whales

SitkaLeave a comment

One Ocean, One World, One Health. Whale Fest 2018

November 10, 2018November 22, 2018 Rich McClear

There were two different worlds, the natural sciences and everyone else.  At least that’s what it seemed like when I was in college more than half a century ago.  The dean organized “Two Worlds” seminars to try to bring us … Continue reading One Ocean, One World, One Health. Whale Fest 2018

SitkaLeave a comment

November’s Caprice

November 5, 2018 Rich McClear

Yesterday I celebrated a gray (or grey) day on the water.  Overnight the weather turned and today it was bright and the light the hour before the 4:06 sunset brought out all of Sitka’s autumnal glory that ended with a … Continue reading November’s Caprice

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