Yesterday, I found myself using an expression I don’t think I’ve ever used before. I was talking to somebody very young and I used the expression ‘long long ago’. As I was saying this, I noticed that I elongated the words ‘long’ and felt something echoing back from centuries past.[…]
I had a very vivid dream last night. I was on an old boat. It was once a minesweeper but now reconditioned as a deep-sea vessel. We were on a very choppy sea in deep coastal waters on the very edge of a continental shelf. The waves were very clear[…]
09:44:54Days 25 to 29 (Note: sorry but internet really slow so cannot add photos.Will try to update as soon as I get good connection) Omsk to Severobaykalsk is my longest train ride to date but not the longest during my whole trip. That will be Vladivostok to Irkutsk, a 70hr[…]
Days 20 to 23, 20-23 Sept 2017, Yekaterinburg, 5383 km travelled from Dublin I’ve been on the train for 17hrs now and we have travelled a long way from the sophisticated western world of Moscow. We left bang on time at 16:38 and it seemed like, in no time at[…]
Day 24, 24 Sept, Omsk, 6332km from Dublin Just checked into my hotel in Omsk and taking some time to relax and reflect on my travels over the past few days. It takes a while for memories and impressions to clear and coalesce. I generally write about previous journey during[…]
Day 31, 1st Oct 2017, train from Tynda to Komsomolsk, about 12,000km from Dublin This is not about anything I’ve done or anywhere I’ve been. I’ve been on the road for exactly a month now and thought I’d reflect on the journey to date. First impression is how far aware[…]
Days 14 to 20, 14-20 Sept 2017, Moscow, 3592 km from Dublin. Want to hear the gods laugh? Well, tell them your plans. My plan was to spend a day or so in Moscow, then to St Petersburg to see the architecture but mainly to spend 2 days in the Hermitage.[…]
Days 12 & 13, 12th to 13th Sept 2017 – Minsk, Belarus I left Warsaw for Minsk at 2am in the morning from an outlying station, not in the centre of the city. It was a pretty grim utilitarian place with no shops open at that time of night. The[…]
Days 7 to 11, 7th to 11th Sept 2017 – Warsaw. I’m writing this on my last day in Warsaw and I’ll be catching the train to Minsk in Belarus later on this evening. I find I can recollect better when memory has consolidated eve0nts of the day and my hippocampus has[…]
Days 4, 5 & 6 – Berlin The journey from Cologne to Berlin was my first longish trip, 6 hrs in all. The first hour or so was a bit boring and I got restless thinking about the hours ahead but the creaking sound of the train moving, and also[…]
Day 1 – 1 Sept 2017 I locked my hall door at 6:45am this morning and started walking down Gardiner Street to get the 53 bus to Dublin Ferryport. I reached the intersection of Summerhill, when, to my left, a sudden surprising burst of colour grabbed my attention. It was[…]
Well, it’s almost time. In less than a week, at 7am on Friday 1st September, I’ll close my hall door for the last time until mid December and head off by bus for the Dublin Ferryport with my backpack, under 10kg, on my back. I’ll be taking the first step[…]
