Our return to Podgorica and our train trip to Belgrade were the worst days of our trip and, though we enjoyed Belgrade despite everything being closed, we were still kind of beaten down when we got up on Tuesday morning. So, given that we had an afternoon flight, and our rather swanky hotel tolerated fairly …
Category: Personal
Riley Goes to Belgrade Monday October 9, 2017
Buffet breakfast was included at our hotel, so we headed down and found that it was the most elaborate of the buffet breakfasts we would have all trip.
Riley Goes to Belgrade Sunday October 8, 2017
We got up early in order to make our 8:10 train. We had breakfast at the hotel and then walked over to the train station.
Riley Goes to Podgorica Saturday October 7, 2017
We finished off our watermelon first thing, and then got in the car and I drove as quickly as I could through the narrow street to get down to the downtown. There we picked up breakfast for the road. It was raining rather hard, the first time it had rained hard on the trip when …
Riley Goes to Ulcinj Friday October 6, 2017
After we woke up and admired our view once again, we realized that the only map we had was in Montenegrin and not very good. It was one of those highly stylized maps sponsored by a local business. The maps we had used in Zagreb, Dubrovnik and Kotor had all been exceptional, given their detail …
Riley Goes to Ulcinj, Montenegro Thursday October 5, 2017
We had breakfast at the hotel again, as it was included, but it was in a different room, which was interesting. We never really found out why. The good news is that it was on the first floor, where we a much better view than from the basement, with no windows.
Riley Goes to Zabljak Wednesday October 4, 2017
We ate breakfast in our hotel, as it was included. It was a big buffet that was pretty good, though apparently the coffee from the machine was shit. But the weather was absolutely miserable when we woke up, raining pretty heavily. So we hung out in the room for a while.
Riley Goes to Montenegro Tuesday October 3, 2017
We woke to the bells of the old church next to us, and the sound of children going to school. The only bad thing about our place was its proximity to the church, but there’s not much to be done about that when you want to stay within the old city and then old city …
Riley Goes to Kotor Monday October 2, 2017
The night before, I saw what appeared to be an excellent deal for breakfast. So we went to a hotel for a cheap buffet and that turned out to be a mistake. (Well, we were maybe too late.) The hot food was cold. Everything was not really as good as we had at other hotel …
Riley Goes to Kotor, Montenegro Sunday October 1, 2017
We woke up early because we had not purchased a bus ticket to take us to Kotor, Montenegro and we were a little confused as to how often it ran. We figured the best thing to do would be to get over there as early as reasonable and buy the ticket for the next bus. …
Riley Goes to Dubrovnik Saturday September 30, 2017
I have wanted to go to Dubrovnik since I first saw a picture of it, maybe 20 years ago. It has always seemed like a place so utterly unlike the world I grew up in. I wanted to see a walled city (though I have since been to Louisburg and Cartagena), especially one situated along …
Riley Goes to Zagreb Friday September 29, 2017
Our plan was not actually to spend nearly three days in Zagreb, it just worked out that way. We needed to get down to the coast and the fastest way was to fly. There were flights really early in the morning, in the middle of the day and late at night, but the flights in …
Riley Goes to Zagreb Thursday September 28, 2017
I was super happy this morning, because I slept in! And not such a ridiculous amount that it would affect my future nights, but seemingly enough that I adjusted to European time in one night. I felt rested and ready to go after barely being able to stay awake during dinner the night before. Off …
Riley Goes to Zagreb Croatia, Wednesday September 27, 2017
On the redeye to Croatia, I watched the new King Arthur. The flight was shorter than it was supposed to be, but we didn’t sleep very well. We got to Zagreb around 11AM local time.
Riley Goes to Europe
Somehow I had managed avoiding spending any time in Europe (with the notable exception of the UK and the possible exception of Istanbul)…until the past 3 weeks, that is. For the last 18 days or so, I have been in Europe, essentially for the first time. This was supposed to happen last spring but we …
TIFF 2017: Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2017, Matt Trynauer)
This is a very conventional documentary about a man who claims to have been a pimp and a prostitute in Hollywood for 3-4 decades.
Riley Goes to Saskatchewan Day 9 – Saturday June 10, 2017 Regina
I didn’t have a great morning as I don’t always sleep in when I’ve been up late drinking – more so now than when I was young – and the condo we stayed in was super bright. Then, shortly after 8, the in-laws called to inform us they would be there shortly for breakfast. We …
Riley Goes to Saskatchewan Day 8 – Friday June 9, 2017 Moose Jaw and Regina
On this morning we made a ridiculously heavy biscuits and gravy breakfast that we made once before this year (albeit with a few minor alterations). It’s great stuff, but it’s very, very heavy.
Riley Goes to Saskatchewan Day 7 – Thursday June 8, 2017 Manitoba again
This morning we woke up and ate our Riding Mountain National Park cinnamon buns. They were quite good but not as good as the ones from Saskatoon. Today we were supposed to go for a boat ride. So we got in the car and headed back to Manitoba to Lake of the Prairies.
Riley Goes to Saskatchewan Day 6 – Wednesday June 7, 2017 Manitoba
We woke up in Manitoba, to a weird situation: we had been informed the night before that our host couldn’t make us breakfast at our Bed and Breakfast because she had to look after her grand-kids due to an emergency. But she left us some farm eggs to microwave and she left us scones and …
Riley Goes to Saskatchewan Day 5 – Tuesday June 6, 2017 Manitoba
This morning we made pancakes and had a leisurely breakfast. That would prove to be a mistake.
Riley Goes to Saskatchewan Day 4 – Monday June 5, 2017 Yorkton and Melville
This morning we had the Kuchen (Kowach?) that we bought at the Farmer’s Market, which was pretty great. Then we went for a walk down to the end of the road, and then back to the other end of the road. I was not expecting all the trees as my idea of the farming part …
Riley Goes to Saskatchewan Day 3 – Sunday June 4, 2017 Saskatoon to Yorkton
This morning we woke up early again and went to the Park Cafe Diner in the formerly bad part of downtown. It was a solid diner breakfast and I got to try a kind of bacon I’ve never had before: schinkenspeck.
Riley Goes to Saskatchewan Day 2 – Saturday June 3, 2017 Saskatoon
We woke up pretty damn early on account of the time change and headed over to the Saskatoon Farmer’s Market probably not much longer after it opened. We wandered around, looked at the vendors, and had some snacks. We had not very good (too dense) scones and an absolutely amazing croissant. It was so good …
Riley Goes to Saskatchewan Day 1 – June 2, 2017 in Saskatoon
On Friday June 2, I went to Saskatchewan for the third time in my life. Why I went is sort of a long story. The short version of that story is that I was supposed to be in Europe for most of May but had to cancel my trip. Saskatchewan became the alternative because my …
Fascism is Alive and Well in the United States of America
I must admit that I have been somewhat of a “Trump optimist” these last few months. I believed in his obvious, demonstrable incompetence at just about everything he does – except branding and self-promotion, obviously. (He’s been abetted in this incompetence by untold numbers of people if you’re wondering why someone who is generally incompetent …
Am I Still a Leafs Fan?
As I find myself wrapped up in the success of The Blue Jays so far this playoff, and eagerly awaiting the NBA season, I wonder to myself if I still care about the Maple Leafs, this at a time when there is more legitimate optimism around the team than perhaps there ever has been before …
Turning Pro (2012) by Steven Pressfield
At this point, Pressfield has made a second writing career out of inspiring others to write. This is the third book of his I’ve read, and they get less effective each time I read a new one.
The Log
I have been gaining weight recently. Ever since my ex-girlfriend and I broke up a couple of years ago, I have been gaining weight. And ever since I gave up swimming about six months after that, I have been gaining fat instead of muscle. I am now close to the weight I was in university …
TIFF 2016
With the decision not to see the People’s Choice Award today (a musical), I ended up seeing 11 movies this year, a little bit lower than my average. As usual, I saw more good films than bad ones. Somewhat surprising was that there was no clear “great” film – I usually see at least one …