Six new experiences

2026 brought much change. Through that sinusoidal life curve we forged ahead to ensure we kept visiting parts of the world we know not might exist in the future.

Among them were forests of Costa Rica.

The land of fire and ice eponymously called Iceland (our farthest venture north in latitude terms). Gave me a chance to stand on the only land based tectonic divide. I walked what is called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the North American and Eurasian plates diverge.

A bridge too far?

Then we completed the Nordic adventure by visiting Finland (having missed it during a jaunt into Scandinavia - they are particular about what you call them).

Land of many lakes the capital Helsinki is stunning and rich in history.

The Helsinki Cathedral (most of the country is Lutheran as witnessed by the interior of this edifice)

And from Finland by boat into the Baltic region to do Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. And indeed these mere 35 year young democracies are flourishing post their breakup from USSR.

Progressive, clean and easy to get to by bus (a rail project is in the works to be completed by 2030) we were able to enjoy the historic and scenic views in relative comfort.

A common theme in all these northern countries is the emphasis on curation and dissemination of knowledge through massive libraries available for free to the public.

Latvia National Bibliotek

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Back in DC

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Brown Motion

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