I have sat on the deck of a ferry and sailed between the Greek islands of the Cyclades.  I have watched the sun set over the caldera on Santorini, eaten fresh calamari and swordfish at seaside tavernas, tasted local retsina wine and eaten home made baklava. I have explored the labyrinth markets on Ios, ridden through the olive groves and up into the mountains of Naxos, wandered tiny villages draped in bougainvillea and geraniums, squinted against the brightness of whitewashed buildings, sipped ouzo and rich black coffee while listening to the traditional bouzouki at a late night cafe, ridden a motorbike along beachside roads with no shirt on and the warm wind in my hair on Paros to swim in the clear Aegean sea at Santa Maria beach.  I have eaten the local nougat and sketched the view from the balcony on Syros, run for a ferry on Tinos and watched boys diving off the cliffs on Andros near the town of Batsi.

I have caught a coach from Frankfurt to Heidelberg and watched the Porsches on the Autobahn speed by.  I have walked the Philosopher's Walk above Heidelberg, taken a boat trip on the Neckarsteinach River through locks and past long barges, climbed the worn steps of ancient castles and listened to the choir of the church.  I have been in the middle of a sentence praising German efficiency when the train broke down heading to Frankfurt.

I have stayed in a Woodsman's Cottage in Highgate Wood just outside London and sat among the giant oaks watching the squirrels.  I have walked along Oxford Street, seen Piccadilly Circus, ridden on a double-decker bus and in a London Taxi, seen Buckingham Palace, the Thames and the Millennium Wheel from the top of St Paul's Cathedral and listened to the Beefeaters at the Tower of London.  I have seen the crown jewels, looked up at Big Ben, caught the tube and supped a pint.  I have sat on a bus and looked across towards Victoria Station and seen a sea of dark suits and miserable faces on their way to work while I held my partners hand and headed off to Paris.

I have caught the ferry from the white cliffs of Dover to Calais in France, drunk red wine from the bottle on the steps of the Sacre Couer, been to the top of the Eiffel Tower, watched the crazy traffic around the Arc De Triumphe, walked the Champs Elysses, eaten baguettes and fresh baked croissants, walked an entire day through the Louvre and gazed at the Mona Lisa and the Venus De Milo.  I have stared in wonder at the stained glass of the Notre Dame, watched a white faced mime play the accordian and trodden steps at the Chateau Chombard where Louis XVI and Napoleon stayed.  I have eaten from an indecipherable menu in Tours, unwrapped a delicious chocolate éclair in Lyon and watched the fireworks of Bastille Day burst over the rooftops of Bordeaux.

I have walked along the canals of Brugge in Belgium and explored the underground Casemates in Luxembourg.  I have wandered the red light district of Amsterdam, been beckoned by the girls in the windows, visited two sex museums, watched the people stumble from the hash cafes and paid $50 to sleep on the floor of a crowded Hostel.

I have seen endless rows of wind generators on the plains of Spain and fields of unlucky bulls waiting for the toreadors blade.  I have walked the crescent of beach in San Sebastian, eaten Tapas from the bar and wandered the narrow cobbled laneways.  I have walked the streets of Pamplona where the bulls run and touched the Madonna stone in Zaragoza.  I have walked along La Rambla in Barcelona, seen Gaudi's improbable cathedral and looked down on the Olympic stadium from a cable car.

I have travelled along the French Riviera and gazed down at the luxury yachts in Monaco.  Walked the winding streets of Florence, had my caricature drawn, seen Michelangelo's David and walked across the Ponte Vecchio.  I have eaten lunch in the hills of Tuscany, had home made gelati under the towers of San Gimingano and seen the lean of the Tower of Pisa.  I have been delightfully lost in the tiny winding streets of Venice, boated down the Grand Canal, fed the pigeons in St Marco's Square and a asked a beautiful girl to marry me.  I have walked for hours through the streets of Rome, wandered the Vatican, seen the Sistine chapel and stared in open mouthed amazement at the immensity of St Peter's Basilica.  I have walked the tiers of the Colosseum, thrown a coin in the Trevi Fountain, sat on the Spanish Steps and explored the ruins of the Roman Forum.  I have been through 187 tunnels in one afternoon heading back into France on the way to Switzerland.

In Switzerland I saw blue alpine lakes, lush green meadows and listened to the soulful clanging of cowbells.  I have stayed in a wooden lodge in the Lauterbrunnen Valley and been lulled to sleep to the sound of waterfalls.  I have taken the highest railway in the world to the Jungfrau and looked out over the Swiss Alps.  I have crunched through the snow, slid on a toboggan, laid on my back and made an angel and watched huskies run.  I have hiked down the mountains to the valleys, been sunburned by the reflecting snow, walked through pine trees and drunk from icy mountain streams.  I have watched paragliders circle on thermals, hot air balloons float silently overhead and seen the afternoon sun reflect from snow capped peaks.

In Austria I climbed the hill to the castle above Salzburg, slid down the wooden slides in a salt mine, visited the house where Mozart lived, had my silhouette cut out by an artist, gazed up at Hitlers "Eagles Nest" and wandered the Mirabell Gardens where the Sound of Music was filmed.  I have walked the streets of Vienna and listened to opera, Mozart and Strauss in a baroque palace.

I have eaten roast rabbit in the Czech Republic and sipped on dark rich beer.  I have walked the streets of Prague, seen the marks on the marble where the soviet tanks once rolled and listened to a woman talk of growing up under Communist rule.  I have walked over the Charles Bridge, watched blacksmiths hammer iron in the marketplace and performed an intricate charade to a non-english speaking chemist when my partner had a urinary tract infection.  I have caught a train to Kutna Hora and visited the little church decorated with the bones of 30,000 people  I have toured a torture museum and walked among the gothic towers late at night.

I have drunk from one litre steins in a beer hall in Munich and stood in the crowds to watch the Glockenspiel.  I have caught the train to Dachau and walked in sombre silence through the grounds of the WWII concentration camp.  I have seen the horrific footage and inhumane conditions, walked through the eerily quiet gas chambers and marvelled at the depths that humans are capable of.
I have driven the "Stairway To Dresden", a highway still bumpy from the shelling of World War II and enjoyed the sights of the town that is still being re-built.  I have done a walking tour of Berlin, seen Hitler's bunker, the remaining sections of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate and been amazed at the Checkpoint Charlie museum.

I have walked Fifth Avenue in New York City, seen a Broadway show and spilled out with the crowds into Times Square at midnight.  I have seen the view from the Empire State Building and watched the sea of Yellow Cabs from the top of the World Trade Centre.  I have spent a weekend in an apartment in Greenwich Village and eaten Chinese from those white cardboard containers you see in the movies.  I have caught the Staten Island ferry past the Statue of Liberty and wandered SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown.  I have been to Tiffanys, had coffee at the Trump Tower and walked along 42nd Street.
I have driven down to Sparrow Bush in New York State and along the Delaware River.  I've been through New Jersey, seen Amish in Pennsylvania, and down through Maryland, Virginia and Washington.  I've spent the day in Colonial Williamsburg and eaten 'gator, blackened catfish and grits in Florida.  I have been to Universal studios and spent four awesome days at Disney World.
I have walked Bourbon Street in New Orleans, been to the French Markets and seen a paddleboat on the Mississippi River.
I have flown over Las Vegas at night and walked the casinos on the Strip.  I've played the slots, eaten at the biggest buffet in the world and seen Elvis at a drive-thru wedding chapel.  I have been across the Hoover dam and passed from Nevada into Arizona.  I have been out through the Joshua Tree National Park in a military Hummer, listened to stories from a Hualapai Indian and sat on the southern rim of the Grand Canyon with a one mile drop under my feet.

Ashman