Before going to Venice, read Joseph Brodsky’s “Fondamenta degli Incurabili”. It will sharp your senses to the essentials. Otherwise you will see the town just as a large tourist trap. And Venice is not guilty for this. See it with poet’s eyes, a poet hit hard by his fate. Otherwise you’ll miss it. And don’t ask me what “it” is. May 2006.
Taking the advantage of that time newly introduced border crossings for mountain tourists between Slovakia and Poland, we have joined a group from a hiking club on the border, just to leave them to follow our own route further on. A typical Beskid Niski tour, forests and meadows, low hills, empty valleys, wooden churches, the first world war cemeteries. Re-discovering Bardejov and its surroundings. April/May 2006.
Although some professional thieves stole my camera in a tram, I do admit I somehow had nothing against the town itself. Lisboa in the winter light. Always worth visiting. February 2006.
A fine and easy going classical glacier tour up to the Wildhorn top in the Berner Alpen, from Wildhornhütte above Iffegenalp. Very rewarding and above all expectations. September 2005.
A joined family spring trip to the both Fatra ranges in Slovakia, the Small and the Large, with some snow still left on the slopes and in deep forests. The simple joys of a trip to the Carpathians. April/May 2005.
Two trips from Chamanna Tuoi, Engadin. Over Fuorcla Vermunt to Dreiländerspitz. Then over Fuorcla Buin to the top of Piz Buin Grond. Rounded up by a visit to Guarda, a typical Engadin village. Switzerland and Austria, August 2004.
A traverse of three Western Carpathians ranges in Slovakia: Nízke Tatry, Veľka Fatra and finally Malá Fatra. June 2003.
A spring trip in a good company to the Bieszczady Mountains in the southeastern tip of Poland. April/May 2002.
A birthday trip to Berner Alpen. Starting in Iffigenalp we reached Wildstrubelhütte just for climbing Rohrbachstein. Then got to Flueseehütte to climb Wildstrubel next day. October 2001.
Cut out by rising streams for too long in unmanned self-catering Capanna Efra in Val Verzasca in Ticino. Survived on wine and provisions left by past visitors. Next time, believe the weather forecasts. July 2001.
A longer weekend in Ticino is always a good idea, especially if it is the upper Val Verzasca. Went from Sonogno to the Capanna Barone via Val Vegorness and then from Frasco to Alpe dell’Efra. June 2001.
A week with a young and fit hiking group in the border mountains surrounding Bardejov, Čergov and Beskid Niski, between Slovakia and Poland. Tents, campfires, small wooden churches, but also the gothic town of Bardejov. April to May 2001.