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Patrick W. O'Bryon
Writer. Traveler. Europhile, especially Italy and France. Hobbies: rescuing animals from abuse, abandonment and mistreatment, and being sous chef around the kitchen to my chef de cuisine wife.
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Corridor of Darkness, A Novel of Nazi Germany (paperback)
Category Archives: European Travel
The stuff of dreams, yet real.
Three a.m., and the rigors of international air travel have put your internal clock at odds with sleep. You arise in the dark and step to the broad, open window. Only a horizontal rod of iron separates you from the … Continue reading
BEACON OF VENGEANCE, A Novel of Nazi Germany, CORRIDOR OF DARKNESS Volume 2, NOW AVAILABLE!
In the summer of 1941 America edges closer to joining battle against Hitler’s victorious armies in Europe…but a dangerous spy game is already underway. Reluctant former operative Ryan Lemmon disappears in Nazi-occupied France, a country riddled with corruption and deceit. Ostensibly assigned to … Continue reading
MY LIFE IN THE MILITARY: Final Episode: Making the World Safe for Democracy, One Autobahn at a Time
So, if you’re interested in the rest of the story, let’s take a look at the demanding job I took on… (For those who have read the previous posts on this topic, you already know that in 1970 I went from expecting to risk life … Continue reading
Posted in European Travel, Memoir, Travel Memoir, Uncategorized
Tagged army life, Army regulations, Autobahns, AWOL, Cold War, Europe, Germany, military training, NATO
2 Comments
AN ALL-TOO-BRIEF VISIT TO CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
Carmel-by-the-Sea. Ridiculously charming. Incredibly costly (a nice 1500- square-foot bungalow might be yours for only $1,200,000, but wouldn’t you prefer a great ocean view at $5M or, hey, why not $10M?). But all so full of character it’s well worth … Continue reading
MY CAREER IN THE MILITARY: PART FOUR: Patience as its Own Reward
(For those of you who haven’t been following stories of my short-term military career in the 70’s, you may want to read the earlier postings to bring you up-to-date before tackling this one.) Now I’m sitting pretty with orders to … Continue reading
Posted in European Travel, Memoir, Travel Memoir
Tagged Army, army life, Army training, Fire Direction Control, Fort Sill, Germany, Iron Curtain, military draft, military training
5 Comments
PRAGUE REDUX: How Things Have Changed
Some of you may recall an earlier travel memoir (How to Risk a Stretch in Soviet Prison under “Travel Memoirs” to the right) detailing the misadventures of leading a group of college students through the ice- and communist-bound Prague of the … Continue reading
Posted in European Travel, Travel Memoir, Uncategorized
Tagged Beer, Charles Bridge, Czech beer, Czech Republic, Europe, European travel, Hotel Leonardo, Prague, U Valsu, Vltava
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AN ITALIAN EVENING: What’s not to love?
A mild, late-September evening in Grottaferrata. From the ramparts of the great medieval abbey your eye is drawn down to the city of Rome, and it’s easy to imagine the ebb and flow of heavy traffic, motorcycles and scooters daring … Continue reading
WHY VENICE STILL CALLS OUT TO ME…
Venice, Italy…7 a.m. Children laughing on their way to school, backpacks flapping as they run across the Accademia bridge. A bakery displaying fresh wares, the narrow street still dark, the shop’s windows warmly lit and calling the passer-by in. Street … Continue reading
Posted in European Travel
Tagged Donna Leon, Espresso, Europe, European travel, Grand Canal, Inspector Brunetti, Italian travel, Italy, Venice
4 Comments