I knew six months ago that a substantial percentage of Trump supporters would hide their true views from the pollsters: this has come true – a 5% Clinton lead has evaporated not so magically. I’m going to bed – I think the race is over and civilization, decency, and honesty have lost. I guess we… Continue reading THE ELECTION OF DONALD TRUMP
The 2016 US Presidential Election
I have lived in a one-party state for 6 years, in a dictatorship for several months, and been caught in two coups-d’etat. However, one of the worst things I lived through was the time, in the UK in 1971-1973, when one extreme in the political spectrum attempted to make the country ungovernable by their democratically-elected… Continue reading The 2016 US Presidential Election
Thoughts on Brexit
I am devastated by Brexit: I’m a UK expat, of mixed Celtic and Anglo-Saxon heritage, my wife is Swedish, one of my children was born in Romania, the other in America. I have lived in seven countries on four continents. I lived through WWII as a child, and the Suez crisis, which made it clear… Continue reading Thoughts on Brexit
Bicycle-Tour-2015-4
John BERRY BICYCLE TRIP 2015 Blog Instalment #4: June 20th, 2015 I’m writing this as I wait for the weather to clear so that I can ride the last few miles to the Russian border. It may be a long wait – rain is forecast for the next week. I arrived in Vilnius on the… Continue reading Bicycle-Tour-2015-4
Bicycle-Tour-2015-2
Quick Update: now in Kuresaarre, Estonia, about to leave for the tiny island of Ruhnu. Ten days left to see the rest of Estonia before entering Russia. The trip so far has gone exceedingly well, and I have now seen all the Baltic capitals, as well as my old friend Juhani Katainen in Helsinki, Finland. … Continue reading Bicycle-Tour-2015-2
Bicycle-Tour-2015-3
John BERRY BICYCLE TRIP 2015 Blog Instalment #3: June 4th, 2015 By the time I had seen Warsaw I was more than a week behind schedule, so I decided to take the train to NE Poland in order to catch up. My destination of choice was Bialystok or somewhere just beyond it. My attempts… Continue reading Bicycle-Tour-2015-3
Bicycle-Tour-2015-1
John BERRY BICYCLE TRIP 2015 Blog Instalment #1: May 16th, 2015 This year my annual tour is overshadowed by tragedy in our family. Our daughter Dana’s fiance, Robby Draper, had four children by a previous marriage. On the 22nd April, Crystal, his ex-wife, was waiting to make a left turn into their subdivision in Liberty… Continue reading Bicycle-Tour-2015-1
Bicycle-Tour-2014-2: Oranienburg-to-Bratislava
Saturday, June 7th, Bratislava, Slovakia. Edited, Monday 4th August 2014 Hot summer weather has finally arrived in Central Europe in the last two days, just about the time that I arrived at the River Danube/Donau/Dune, which is schoen indeed, but not blue by any means. I realize (i.e. many of you have let me know)… Continue reading Bicycle-Tour-2014-2: Oranienburg-to-Bratislava
Bike-Tour-2014-1: Lund to Oranienburg
JOHN BERRY’S 2014 BICYCLE TOUR MAY 28TH 2014 INSTALMENT 1: LUND, SWEDEN TO ORANIENBURG, GERMANY Hello, friends and readers! Right now I am sitting in a Holiday Flat of sorts, Pension Nöske, in the kind of Alice-in-Wonderland situation that I have come to expect in former East Germany. The address is 9 Karl Str., Oranienburg,… Continue reading Bike-Tour-2014-1: Lund to Oranienburg
The fire at the petrol depot
One Sunday soon after we arrived we were awoken from a mid-afternoon nap by the shouts of children outside, and immediately realized from the low rumble, almost pressure waves rather than audible sound, that permeated the air, that something was badly wrong. Leaping up, we could see from the window a huge column of black… Continue reading The fire at the petrol depot