Of writer's block, European thoughts, and nightmares (real and imagined)

Hello, folks. I gotta get more readers here.


Anyways... still trying to finalize the book about the Paris-to-Istanbul trip. But I feel I should put more in about what went on. But, for some reason, I can't. I don't have enough pictures to back what I say up; the Paris section is sorely lacking (in my humble opinion). Also, there were sections when I shot lots of pictures, then there were some where I have next to no pictures at all.


But I didn't go to Europe to look thru a lens (or thru an iPhone) for three weeks: I went to see Europe first hand, with real experiences with the everyday folks. I did get plenty of that; some good, some bad, most at least a little interesting. But some things were quite obvious to me:


Most Europeans were healthier than two of the three Americans who did this trip. The nephew-in-law, only 24 years old, was far and away the healthiest of us all. Even though I was warned by a number of people that I needed to walk more, I was ill prepared for how much walking was involved in just the day-to-day of living and getting around. I got more than a few crazy looks in a few cities when I asked for assistance.


Food is not a problem in Western Europe, and gets kind of dicey in Eastern Europe. In the former Yugoslavia, even the basic (bottled water) is a hit-and-miss proposition; readily available in some locations, and nearly impossible to obtain in others. As the world shrinks, and transport options allow for ordinary people to travel to places one would never dream of 20-30 years ago, the basics of life need to be addressed. People need to eat, sleep, and travel from place to place comfortably and easily.


But trying to obtain those items in certain locales?  Good luck with that. You could be a commuter in Belgrade, Serbia, for years and never find a bottle of water to enjoy on the trip home. 


More thoughts as I get them sorted out. But it will be a while for that, as you can imagine...