I remember in the early 60's traveling by train from Sweden to Warsaw, the very menacing to my eyes anyway, border guards in East Germany. They came aboard the train in the middle of the night and made us all feel like criminals. We were a group of medical students and nurses going with our professor to visit hospitals in Warsaw. A few years later I was in Berlin and walked across Checkpoint Charlie, the contrast between East and West was staggering. Then later, I was married to a Hungarian born man and several years later we drove into Yugoslavia and were detained for what seemed like hours at the border, his fear was palpable, we never found out why they kept us. I am so glad that those borders are down in Europe, that we can travel freely and get to know our neighbors as friends, rather than foes.

I do miss the collection of stamps that used to fill my passports, but not enough to want to go back to the old days

I had a young Mexican neighbor who lived in Tijuana but went to school in San Diego, is that no longer possible?

Paolo, I am very much looking forward to experiencing first hand Trieste, it is a city that I have dreamt of visiting for many years, and then to explore Slovenia for a while.

Fanny New York City