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

  • 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 ›

  • Last Nights in Toscana

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    We wound up staying Monday through Sunday morning. Friday night, we went to a restaurant in Orbetello (Il Pischeri) where the specialty is fresh-caught fish; it’s run by fishermen and they serve you the catch of the day, each night…. Read More ›

  • Feniglia

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    Yesterday we went to the other beach, Feniglia (Fe-knee-lee-a), which is 10 km from the villa near Orbetello. It was quite different – more of a public beach, but still Olivier phoned ahead to reserve beach chairs for us and… Read More ›

  • Frigidaire

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    This is the name of the beach we’ve gone to twice now. I’m learning more about how it all works now: for example, this isn’t a public beach (which explains why they have beach chairs for you, each with a… Read More ›

  • First Night in Toscana

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    We got in right at 5 p.m., after roughly seven hours on the road from Como. The drive was nice, but we were all losing our cool toward the end. Tuscany is similar to what I imagined, with the arid… Read More ›

  • Como

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    18 hours in Como, en route from Germany to Tuscany

  • Driving to Italy

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    Tomorrow, we leave for our first roadtrip here in Europe. My friend Miriam really encouraged us to fly, as it would be less time in a confined space with two little kids, but I was insistent to drive. It’s about… Read More ›