On our trip through the Balkans last year, The Velvet Rocket team spent a fair amount of time exploring Bulgaria. Western Bulgaria is quite rural and provided us with an interesting social commentary on communism as I will reveal below. Eastern Bulgaria is more developed due to its proximity to beachfront property that has attracted … Continue reading
Category Archives: “Normal” Places We Go
KL Auschwitz and Auschwitz II (Birkenau)
What can I say that has not already been said? I’ll just tell it like it is. The journey to Auschwitz… It’s just as gloomy as you would expect it to be. When Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany in 1939, the Germans occupied Krakow and the smaller towns around it for the duration of … Continue reading
S/V Legend
1915 – Built in Scheveningen as a sailing trader/fishing vessel 1917 – During World War I she is reported missing in the English Channel 1925 – Found abandoned in the Congo River by a Scheveningen fisherman who brings her back to the Netherlands 1928 – First engine installed 1926-1940 – Operates mostly as a cargo … Continue reading
Visiting Stasi Headquarters, Berlin
One cool thing about having a girlfriend fluent in German and that lived in Berlin for six months is that a large section of Berlin that is either unknown or inaccessible to tourists becomes accessible. Granted this freedom, one such place to visit is the old Stasi headquarters in the former “East German” section of … Continue reading
Montenegro and The Republic of Dubrovnik
Montenegro… We thought it looked more like a Scandinavian country than a Baltic one. I mean, look at the pictures: The Republic of Dubrovnik – a piece of Croatia isolated from the rest of the country in order to give Bosnia-Herzegovina a small section of coastline… I know what you’re thinking… Dubrovnik and Montenegro are … Continue reading
Visiting The United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.)
On my return to California from Afghanistan, I had a layover in Dubai. So, I decided to extend that layover to a week and explore the U.A.E. And I can tell you exactly why. Not long after graduating from high school, I was in a used book store and came across a 1970s novel about … Continue reading
Visiting The Frontiers of Flight Museum
Gems can be uncovered everywhere – even in the most unexpected places (such as Texas). And so, on my final day of the Southern Exposure Tour we visited the Frontiers of Flight Museum which is located next to Dallas Love Field (as I was flying out of Dallas Love Field back to California it made … Continue reading
The Velvet Rocket 