Author Archives

Bill Pearse publishes memoir, travel journals, poetry and prose, and lives in the Pacific Northwest.

  • Street Smarts on the Internet

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    I am having a hard time with technology. One of my goals for this sabbatical was to learn more about it, because there’s never enough time to keep up, and technology moves so fast. Even now, as I am playing… Read More ›

  • Last Warm Day

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    Gilles predicts today will be the last nice day of summer. Clouds and rain are coming in, starting tomorrow. It’s also the first day of school. Kids here only get three weeks off, in August, and then they go back… Read More ›

  • Rock Star Girlfriend

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    We all have ours: mine are Beth Gibbons (Portishead), and Chan Marshall (Cat Power). I’m realizing now what it is about Beth I like. She has a bite, like cayenne powder in a stew. I put on the record she… Read More ›

  • Zunftmarkt, Bad Wimpfen

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    Today we journeyed to the Zunftmarkt, to witness characters in medieval costumes simulating everyday life as craftspeople, circa 14th century. As is often the case with the changing of the seasons, autumn just showed up yesterday – so while it… Read More ›

  • Der Kleiderschränk

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    This is slang for “giant,” or “hulk of a guy.” It also means large clothes cabinet, and that’s what my mom bought from the Hofmeister last week, which they delivered yesterday. They sent one guy to haul this thing up… Read More ›

  • Disconnection Notice

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    It’s Tuesday (and it takes time and some discussion for each of us to confirm we’re right about the day of the week). I calculated we have about 10 weeks left here exactly, which means 12 more weeks for me… Read More ›

  • The Nose Doctor

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    Starting around Innsbruck Tuesday, I developed an ingrown hair in my left nostril which persisted all week. I went online to look for remedies, and saw something that suggested you can squeeze it out with tweezers. I tried this, but… Read More ›

  • Schwangau, Hohenschwangau

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    We bought a vignette for 7 euros, filled the tank, and headed up some windy roads out of Innsbruck toward the famous Neuschanstein castle, near Füssen. It was our last day on the trip that had started with our first… Read More ›

  • The Vignette: Innsbruck

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    I got an email from my mom after we had arrived in Innsbruck, and I had gotten onto the hotel’s Wi-Fi. The email said we needed a “pickel” to drive through Austria, which our German police-friend Eberhard warned us about…. Read More ›

  • Firenze

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    We made it to Florence in about two hours, with hotel reservations for the Hotel Duomo, which is right across the way from the famous Duomo tourist attraction. The last leg of the trip had us travelling by foot since… Read More ›