Category Archive: european travel

A Busy Autumn

lesnicacemetery

Most of the following will undoubtedly be in the wrong order. This Autumn has been hectic to say the least and saw a big upheaval in our family when my eldest boy, Brano, went to Uni. I haven’t kept up with my blog because things keep changing daily – as did Autumn itself, transforming from […]

Georgia on a Sports Bike

edwardotoolebmwr1200

Just got back from a very pleasant afternoon spent with my adventurous friend Jan. It was 31 degrees centigrade here today and a Bank Holiday (even though it’s a Saturday), so I took Scarlet my BMW 650GS out for a ride through the bush. Out in Bardejov, Jan was preparing for his solo 8000 km […]

Britain Roadtrip 2018

peninemoorscumbria

We’ve just spent the last couple of weeks covering a honking amount of mileage driving around Britain. The entire trip was a spontaneous idea but turned out pretty damned good. The first leg was from North East Slovakia to Rzeszow airport in Poland, where we flew via Ryan Air to East Midlands in the UK, […]

Croatia Road Trip 2018

croatia waterfall

It’s  a very long way to Peljesac, Croatia, and it’s an even longer way back… This summer holiday we rented a place on the sea in a remote area of the southern Peljesac peninsula (6kms to the nearest basic shop – that’s remote). As usual we drove south through Slovakia, then went from the East […]

Black Woodpecker

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This evening I’m a happy man as I finally managed to photograph the annoyingly elusive black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius). These birds, along with the golden oriole I photographed earlier this year, have been tauting me for decades. Similarly, neither species of bird seems to sit still long enough  to be photographed. They’re crap photos I […]

Hand-Forged Bastard Sword from Fabri Armorum, Prague

hand forged bastard sword fabri armorum

  Yesterday a very special package arrived for my eldest son, Brano. This was the culmination of months and months of research, deliberation and changes of mind. As a graduation present for finishing grammar school with excellent results, and for passing his entrance exams and being accepted into medical school, Brano asked for a sword […]

Monastyr Motorcycle Rally and Blessing 2018

monastyrchurchbikes

Last Saturday, 28th of April, my motorcycle club – Tilters Svidnik – headed out to Andy Warhol’s hometown, Medzilaborce, to join hundreds of other riders for the annual blessing at the start of the riding season. Close to the Ukraine border in the small Slovak village of Krasny Brod, bikers and motorcyclists from all over […]

Ride through the Valley of Death

edwardotoolevalleyofdeath

Yesterday was the first day without rain over the Easter period so I took the opportunity to go out for a ride on Scarlet, my BMW F650GS. I didn’t go too far as I’m still running the engine in after a long cold winter. I went to the Valley of Death, scene of the biggest […]

Road Trip To Motorbike Show in Bratislava

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Yesterday was a very, very, very long day but pretty damned cool. I travelled in a minibus across the entire breadth of Slovakia with several other members of Tilters Motorcycle Club to attend the Motocykel & Boat Show 2018 at Incheba EXPO Bratislava. We left at 0630 on the Saturday morning and got back at […]

Historic transition – medieval to Socialist

socialistwoodenhouse

This photo (my photo of a print of the original..) is currently on display in the town hall of Svidnik, eastern Slovakia (I have my office in this building). It is the same concrete monstrosity as seen in the photo. I am absolutely amazed by this photo and how deep its unspoken imagery goes. It […]

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