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Showing posts from July 3, 2011

100 and Done! (Countries that is...)

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We are back! This last trip brought the total countries visited to 100! It is a crazy milestone. It is difficult, time-consuming and can be (IS) expensive. After I got back from Antarctica in 2007, I started thinking about it. After 2010 I was thinking about it more (as I moved from NY to Georgia) and in 2014 it had become a real goal. Between Angie and I we have been to 109 Countries. We are tied at 100 countries each. We have 9 countries different in our lists. For example, I have been to San Marino. She has not. She has been to Israel. I have not, yet. There has been some fun competition in this area. That's why we had to establish rules. 1.) Must be listed (as a country) with the US State Department 2.) Being in an airport doesn't count. You have to get through immigration somehow and not in a DMZ or a no-mans-land 3.) A passport stamp is not required. I have been to Canada, Paraguay, and Uruguay without getting my passport stamped. There are friendly borders in many places...
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Prague was excellent. It was nicer than I thought it was going to be. No matter what your impression is about Prague, it is the place for "Pils" (the term taught to me by my brother's expatriated Czech friends) and the original Budweiser (Budvar). It is a great place for global convergence. The city is a bit like Venice, a bit like Amsterdam, but mostly it is like Prague. The big joke is when you are in a restaurant and you ask for the... "Czech." Most folks are very capable with English downtown. There are casinos, museums, blue-light, all in downtown and a whole lot of history (including recent important history). I spent time in the National Museum (well worth every second). It also occurred to me that my meeting attendees list sounds a little like the beginning of a interesting joke. You know, "an Englishman, five Finns, a Dutchman, three Germans, a Frenchman, a Scot, two Danes and an token American walk into a Bar..." We had a great meeting. ...
I have a lot to post. I have been in czech, switzerland. Back in the us, flying, bbqs, hiking, camping, airshows. The internet is down in ny. Tommorow. It should be up again. The storms have done a lot of damage.many photos to come.