In 2018, as part of centenary observances of World War 1, a monument unveiled at Fiume Road Graveyard in Budapest. This became the first national memorial erected commemorating the efforts Hungarians undertook during the Great War. Government officials noted the memorial was in line with a fundamental theme of the nation: to restore historical continuity broken during the Nazi and Communist occupations.
Continue readingRAVELNIK AND ČELO – MEMORIES OF THE GREAT WAR IN THE BOVEC BASIN
Ravelnik and Čelo are two open-air museums allowing visitors a chance to visit spaces where soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army defended the Bovec basin from invading Italian troops from the end of May 1915 until the end of October 1917. The two sites restored by locals and the Slovene government are different in what they offer as well as their original purpose with regard to their roles in holding off the Italians.
Continue readingWATERFALLS MAGIC HIDDEN IN THE CENTRAL OREGON COAST RANGE
Lincoln County is home to the Central Oregon Coast. If you can get away from the beach, magnificent Drift Creek Falls awaits deep in the woods. A couple other waterfalls are better visited on the way to the central Oregon Coast or on the way home. By no means a conclusive list of waterfalls, but here are three worth your time.
Continue readingINFANTRY REGIMENT 97 – DIFFERENT HISTORIES IN THE REDEEMED LANDS
Stuck away on the east side of multiple train tracks at the train station in Trieste is a small monument. It stands forlornly nest to a like sized monument dedicated to rail workers who died in World War 2. The monument in question reads: “In riccordo di cittadini del littoral Austriaco partiti da questi binary nell’agosta del 1914 per lontani cmapi di battaglia” – “In memory of citizens of the Austrian Littoral who left from these tracks in August 1914 for battlefields far away.” The sign is fixed on a large stone on which also is placed, a cap design for the Imperial and Royal – Kaiserliche und Königliche (K. und K.) – Infantry Regiment 97. The K. und K. Infantrie Regiment 97 entrained from here to the battlefields of Galicia from which many of the men, locals from Trieste and the surrounding region, would never return.
Continue readingEMPHEMARILTY OF SPENDING – DEFENSE OF THE PANAMA CANAL
Recently, I made my fourth trip to Panama. Each trip, a short visit to the Canal in one form or another, gets included in the itinerary. To understate the importance of the Canal to Panama and the World from an economic point of view is not possible. The Canal gives Panama money to do things many other countries in Latin America – especially in Central America – can only dream about. Large freeways, light rail, subways, and a seemingly burgeoning economy from a casual tourist outlook reflect success in the heat, humidity, and constant drip – or sudden deluge – from the skies here in Panama. One factor hiding from plain sight today are the former huge efforts made in defense of the Canal.
Continue readingFORGOTTEN WATERFALLS IN THE FORESTS OF TILLAMOOK COUNTY
Tillamook County, well-known for beaches, wild headlands, sand dunes,
fishing and dairies. Hidden away in the rugged mountains are several waterfall
gems. There are others, so keep looking.
EMILIO AGUINALDO – HOME AND TOMB OF THE INSURGENT ENIGMA
Emilio Aguinaldo is considered by many to be the “George Washington” of the Philippines. His family home is preserved – much like Washington’s at Mount Vernon – and a museum is dedicated to his life and times. Additionally, to the Aguinaldo home, the leader himself is entombed on the grounds behind the house. The grounds became the official Aguinaldo Shrine in 1964 just after his death.
Continue readingMORMON COLONIES IN THE LAND OF THE TACO BELL DOG
Mormon colonizers were sent out throughout the desert West in the later parts of the 19th century seeking to expand the world of Deseret. First, they developed arable lands in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Arizona, but also a group ventured further south into northern Chihuahua State. Here, some of the valleys and places where enough water existed, they founded a total of ten Mormon colonies over time. Two survive today, though one of those is becoming engulfed by the growth of nearby Nuevas Casas Grandes.
Continue readingDEFEAT ON THE KOLOVRAT CHANGES INTO CATASTROPHE
Standing in the renewed Italian positions of the open-air museum of the Kolovrat, you are rewarded with an all-world view over the Isonzo River valley with the Krn-MonteNero massif rising dramatically on the other side. Of the Bovec-Kobarid open-air museums, the view from here is only matched by what you gain at the former Austrian artillery base on Čelo above Bovec.
Continue readingTHREE DIMENSIONS TO TWO – THE MAGIC OF GOUSHA MAPS
Maps have a magical ability to allow one to travel to places they have and have not been to. They offer an experiential taste. From the late 1920’s until the 1970’s, would-be travelers had options to pick up road maps at no cost from various gasoline stations around the US. My favorites as a child – and even now – fell to those produced by the H. M. Gousha Maps. Vibrant colors accompanied by bright fonts set the maps as a peak for other map companies to reach for in my eyes.
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