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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.
Blogroll
Corridor of Darkness, A Novel of Nazi Germany (paperback)
Category Archives: Travel Memoir
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
DROWNING OFF BIG SUR: A Tale of Stupidity and Survival
I’m not afraid of the water. But perhaps I should be. Let me explain why… As a teenager I was really quite stupid. Not ignorant—I knew a lot of stuff—just filled with the stupidity that makes teenagers do ridiculous things … Continue reading
Posted in Travel Memoir, Uncategorized
Tagged Big Sur, Carmel, drowning, family vacation, Hearst Castle, Mendocino, nature, outdoors, Pacific Ocean, riptide, road trip, scuba diving, Sierra Nevada, skin diving, teenagers, teens, undertow
7 Comments
HELLUVA WAY TO FIRST SEE EUROPE: The Seagoing Life’s Not for Everyone
I awakened to total silence. I had fallen asleep to the raucous laughter, boozing, amorous groping and other fulfilling activities which mark a last night at sea with a shipload of grad students, all off for a year in Europe. … Continue reading
CAT AND MOUSE SURVIVAL AT THE PORT OF STOCKTON
Imagine being fresh out of high school in the 1960’s and ready for college, inspired by a well-traveled father with a love for the great wide world, and snagging a job at an international port. My duties consisted of spending the day slipping in and out of … Continue reading
OF COURSE IT’S SAFE TO DRINK THE WATER…An Adventure in Old Spain
The whole second half of our Spanish journey hadn’t gone exactly as planned, so why was I surprised to wake up to a smiling physician about to inject me in the butt with a huge hypodermic needle? After all, only … Continue reading
Posted in European Travel, Travel Memoir
Tagged Alcazar, Benidorm, Cadiz, Costa del Sol, European travel, flamenco, Morocco, Seville, Spain, Spanish customs, Spanish travel, trichinosis, Water poisoning
1 Comment
HOW TO RISK A STRETCH IN SOVIET PRISON AND STILL HAVE FUN: A Prague Adventure
Have I ever mentioned flirting with years in a Soviet prison for breaking the law with a baker’s dozen university students behind the Iron Curtain? No? Well, the story goes something like this… Late in the ‘70’s I was teaching German studies … Continue reading
ON THE TRAIL OF GERMAN GHOSTS
Now don’t get me started on whether ghosts exist. Frankly, I don’t care who believes what. All I can write about are those specters I’ve personally experienced, and I am convinced German ghosts are the best. So let’s see what you think… 31 October of … Continue reading
Posted in Travel Memoir
Tagged European travel, German Castles, German Ghosts, Ghosts, Halloween, Haunted Castles, Hauntings, Manisfestations, Schwaben, Specters, Swabia, Ulm
7 Comments
GETTING STONED IN TANGIER, A Memoir of 1970
Okay, listen, those were different times, so don’t go all judgmental on me. Just stick around till you’ve heard the whole story, then decide. My grad school buddy Mike and I were completing the standard rite of passage for any … Continue reading
Posted in Travel Memoir
Tagged Belly Dancing, Casbah, Ceuta, German University, Getting Stoned, Medina, Morrocan cuisine, North Africa, Old Market, Souk, Spain, Street Beggars, Tangier
4 Comments
Patrick W. O'Bryon 