by Papi | Aug 24, 2025 | Des Moines, IA, USA
Greetings Family and Friends, A new state, that would be Iowa, and a new capital city, that would be Des Moines. But on the drive in from Omaha, a stop at the birthplace of the Duke, aka John Wayne, that would be Winterset, Iowa. The town lies southwest of Des Moines...
by Papi | Aug 21, 2025 | Omaha, NE, USA
Greetings Family and Friends, First museum ships on the road trip and the order to abandon ship is given as I am driving up to the site. Its August in Omaha, Nebraska. The temperature is in the low 90s with humidity criminally assaulting anyone who dares to venture...
by Papi | Aug 18, 2025 | North Platte, NE, USA
Greetings Family and Friends, A return to On the Flip Side but with a twist. Rather than dispatches from overseas, posts from stateside on an extended road trip. The region to be wandered is the Great Lakes with a wide margin for error. Given my penchant for all...
by Papi | Sep 13, 2024 | Liverpool, UK
Greetings Family and Friends, Liverpool is indeed a lively city, but upon my arrival at 7:15 am, I was anything but lively. With my allowed time in the Schengen Zone ending, I opted for an evening Eurostar train to London via the Chunnel. However, due to various...
by Papi | Aug 26, 2024 | Belgium, Brussels
Bonjour la Famille et les Amis, On to the second half of this two part post from the capital of Europe. This post will cover an iconic site, three more museums, and another church. Though Brussels features prominently in the EU and NATO, I did not look into nor visit...
by Papi | Aug 24, 2024 | Belgium, Brussels
Bonjour la Famille et les Amis, The land of the Walloons and the Flemish – Belgium. And in particular, the capital of the nation, Brussels, which very much tries to embrace the duality of its French speaking (Walloons) and Dutch speaking (Flemish) citizens. For me, I...
by Papi | Aug 14, 2024 | France, Saint Nazaire
Bonjour la Famille et les Amis, Apparently I might be a flaneur – one who wanders aimlessly. I have been seeing references to the term in various expat publications so maybe the universe is sending me a message. Hence, I found myself being a flaneur as I wandered due...
by Papi | Jul 22, 2024 | France, Nantes
Bonjour la Famille et les Amis, Unlike my stop in Bordeaux, which was primarily due to the necessities of travel, my visit to Nantes was more the case of unfinished business. Like Bordeaux, Nantes had been part of my 2012 tour of the Atlantic coast of France....
by Papi | Jul 18, 2024 | Bordeaux, France
Bonjour la Famille et les Amis, Upon leaving Spain, my first stop – Bordeaux, the capital of the Nouvelle–Aquitaine region in France. I had visited Bordeaux previously, back in 2012 as part of my tour of the Atlantic coast of France. My reason for spending a couple of...
by Papi | Jul 15, 2024 | San Sebastian, Spain
Buenas Tardes Familia y Amigos, Seis Semanas (six weeks) in Donostia (Basque) – San Sebastian (Spanish). I know what you’re thinking – didn’t he just do this (same locale, same length of stay) at the end of 2022? Yes, you are correct. And Donostia – San Sebastian is...
