A Retrospective We’ve been in the States for almost two months now and our ‘Year in Vorlarlberg’ adventure seems a distant spot in the rear view mirror. Life moves fast, and the longer you live, it seemingly moves faster. As we were focused on recovery and envisioning our next year’sRead More →
Reversing Directions All good things come to an end, and when planned properly, the end leads to the beginning of new and appealing opportunities. But, before getting to the next ‘good thing,’ we still have to finish the adventure in proper style. Year in Vorarlberg Retrograde! We’re about at theRead More →
Living Well in Vorarlberg It’s been a busy past few weeks and I’ve neglected my blogging – living the good life seems to be preferable to writing about it. But now, I’m pooped. A few minutes of downtown affords the opportunity to catch up with the Blog. The Trifecta ofRead More →
Enjoying Summer’s Heat What do Biking, plumbers, and the World Cup have to do with each other…..not much other than these are the themes of my recent days while Ursula has been cavorting around Europe enjoying the sights with a tour group. She left the cats behind to provide meRead More →
Gone Fishen’ It’s no secret that I enjoy fishing. This is why I enjoyed our afternoon visiting a small lake outside of Feldkirch to learn more about Fishing in Vorarlberg. To my fishing colleagues, equally apparent to my enjoyment of fishing is that I have limited skills and talents whenRead More →
Three countries in three days What do Bergenz, Konstanz, and Lindau have in common? They’re all beautiful historic towns filled with the classic sights and sounds a savory smells of Western Europe. Plus, they’re also very common hopping on/off points to biking around the Bodensee (Lake Constance). The BodenseeRead More →
The allure of enjoyment Thirty biked miles and three Fests later, it’s time to train home! It was a long and fun day. This past weekend, the first weekend of June, blew into Vorarlberg with a flurry of festivities – and we had to experience several of them. (Festing WeekendRead More →
Back in Austria The YIV is back on! Lush green trees, azure skies, billowing white clouds and a splendid display of bright, happy colored flowers greeted me on the landing in Frankfurt. Far behind me now was the remote frozen lakes, grey skies, muddy roads and chill of the AlaskanRead More →
Gloomy Banishment I once went through a job interview where we applicants were required to tread water in the deep end of a pool for 20 minutes, while fully clothed. For most ‘swimmers,’ that wasn’t a big deal. If you weren’t much of a swimmer, but your muscles were inRead More →
Banishment I’ve been delinquent in my duties to keep the “Year in Vorarlberg” blog up to date. Principally, because I’m not in Vorarlberg and other responsibilities have hijacked my focus and attentions elsewhere. I’ve been banished from the Schengen Zone. We saw this coming, we tried to prevent it…and hereRead More →
Homeward Bound This morning, or afternoon, or evening….whatever my body thinks it is, I’m sitting in SeaTac airport drafting up a few more notes. In total, I’ll have spent over 47.5 hours playing the Airport Odyssey between Anchorage and Phenom Penh. Right now I’m up to 38 or so…. TodayRead More →
Back in Phenom Phen Conjure up the most amazing and astounding adjectives you can, and they might be sufficient to describe the Wats and sights in Angkor Park; they were selected as a ‘World Heritage Site’ for a very good reason. The third day in the park (and final entryRead More →
Siem Reap – day 2 Travels throughout Europe are often remembered through the lens of what cathedral or castle you visited. Most are magnificent. But, there comes a time when even the heartiest of tourist are effected by the ABC syndrome; ABC….’Another Bloody Cathedral/Castle’. When the ABC’s hit, it’s timeRead More →
Phenom Phen Today I closed out of Phenom Phen today and rode on a Chinese airline, of Euro Manufacture (Airbus 320), to Seim Reap, the home of famed Angkor Wat. Some from the West might wonder why the Chinese are operating in Cambodia? I’d say, ‘Check the map’; why wouldn’tRead More →
Schengen Zone Banishment Quick update – As noted earlier, my Schengen Zone visa for staying in Europe (26 countries….or is that 27?) has expired. There’s not much that we can do about it so it’s time for me to move along elsewhere until I’m eligible to return to Austria toRead More →
YIV – Phase I My Year in Vorarlberg (Phase I) is rapidly drawing to a conclusion as the 90 day tourist visa expires; time to pack-up and head out of the Schengen Zone! We’ve scoured all sources of information we can find and yet we can find no acceptable alternativeRead More →
Zimmer’s Christmas Letter – December 2017 Dear Friends, It’s been several years since we’ve penned Christmas cards or one of the ever dreaded (but much appreciated) seasonal form letters. While undergoing our transition from the military there never seemed much to say. However, with much time for reflection, we realizeRead More →
Skiing in the Vorarlberg (18 Dec 17) Christmas came early this year as another ‘bucket list’ item entered the chute! I’ve always wanted to be one of those guys that spent all their time away from work chasing speed, style and grace down a ski piste; for a season. IRead More →
Fine Cuisine Experiences (12 Dec 17) There are many places in Europe that are crowded and busy. That’s because Europeans seem to focus more on the refinement of what they have rather spreading out, or up. One of the areas they’ve taken refinement to the far edge of exquisiteness isRead More →
Winter in Voralrberg 3 Feb ’17 – One month has flown by! Seemingly we’ve been standing still the whole time, but in reality, it’s been a fast,engaging and exciting adventure so far with travels, sightseeing, Ursula’s birthday party, concerts, bands, feasts, shopping, shopping and shopping and demons (that would beRead More →