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Patrick W. O'Bryon
Writer. Traveler. Europhile, especially Italy and France. Real Estate Broker. Former academic in the field of Germanic Studies, Princeton Ph.D., interpreter and community liaison with the US Army in Germany. 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)
Tag Archives: European travel
MY ODDEST EUROPEAN CHRISTMAS
During the Cold War era I spent a few years in Germany, first as a twenty-one-year-old graduate student and then with the military. I spent my first Christmas holiday season putting a Eurailpass to good use, randomly hopping on or off … Continue reading
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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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
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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
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
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HOW I LEARNED TO HATE FLORENCE…
Before all you lovers of Italian culture build your own big bonfire and set me alight as a modern-day Savonarola, let me explain. No doubt Florence deserves its reputation as a must-see destination, particularly for travelers discovering the beauties of Italy for the first … Continue reading
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
PLANNING YOUR EUROPE TRIP…AND A SAMPLE TASTE OF ROME AND SURROUNDINGS
Unless you’re a frequent traveler to Europe, deciding where to go and how long to stay can seem overwhelming. Since now is the time to make plans for this travel season, let me share a few tips on what works … Continue reading
Posted in European Travel
Tagged Amalfi, Amalfi coast, Assisi, Europe, European car rental, European travel, Fiumincino, Italian B&Bs, Italian hotel recommendations, Italian hotels, Italian restaurant recommendations., Italian restaurants, Italy, Leonardo Da Vinci airport, Orivieto, Perugia, Pompeii, Positano, Rome, Sorrento, Todi, Trastevere
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