1995

I was invited by Hewlett-Packard to give some talks in Asia. It ended up being just two talks in South Korea, and I took the airfare funds and bought a round-the-world ticket instead of just to Seoul and back. This was my first round-the-world trip and probably the best ever airfare because in those days you didn't need to specify your route. You just booked the first stop and could then choose your next flights.

After the talks in Seoul, I flew to the Philippines, Thailand, and Kathmandu. I spent a few extra days in Kathmandu. At the right is a picture of a friend I made (Pema Dolma). She's a Tibetan refugee and worked at my hotel.

After Kathmandu, I flew to Frankfurt via Pakistan. I had a few days to kill before Mary and Liz were due in Amsterdam, and my ticket allowed one backtrack in Europe. So I asked them to put me on the next flight (Lufthansa), which was to Milan, where I spent a couple of pleasant days.

Before meeting Mary and Liz, I drove around the area of the Rhine, which is beautiful. I've been back several times, and eaten at the St. Goar Imbiss, a bratwurst and beer stand by the river. It was still there in 2023 when Joanne and I stopped off and camped just up the river.

The photo on the left is from Google Maps.

In the Netherlands, we rented a canal boat and went slowly on a circuit to Amsterdam, Utrecht, and farther south. This was fun, but much more difficult than the canal boating in England because there are huge ocean-going ships sharing some of the canals.

In the Fall of the year, I went with Steve Molnar to the Graphics Hardware Workshop, which was held in Maastricht, The Netherlands. We took a side trip to Belgium to see some WWII ruins. Maybe it was to Liege. I don't recall.

I had a talk to give in Frankfurt about a week after the workshop. So I killed a little time by driving to the Alps, to Austria and Switzerland. I stopped in to see Neuschwanstein Castle. Then I drove back through the Black Forest and visited Rothenburg, a walled city.

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