I'll post a montage of photos of me in Austin after returning from Europe, then in Boston, skip London for now, and a photo of me in Moscow waiting on a flight to Tivat, Montenegro.
Yeah, it's the US. It's Austin, in fact. I lived in Austin for about 12 years, between 1997 and 2010, and then returned in 2017 briefly. The city has changed significantly since then. Still it's "the most livable place in America" by some standards. Not in July or August.
In my old truck.
This seemed funny to me when I returned from Europe.
I loved this backpack. It's the Recon. It was stolen out of a cafe area in a supermarket in my hometown when I returned from Europe in 2019. I think I'll buy the North Face Borealis to replace it though. It's essentially the Recon only very slightly smaller with bungy cords on the front for stuffing sweatshirts, which actually would be helpful.
El ciudad.
My hut from Berlin made it back.
My friend Hadi from Iran, who worked in the high performance computing division at Dell in Austin. We rented rooms in the same house for the six weeks or so that I was there. We got in a lot of trouble together. He was going through a divorce and was doing his best to keep it together when I met him. Out of touch now, I miss him.
I don't know.
This is Genuine Joe coffee house in north Austin, where I worked on the book. Also, it's a street lamp.
This is. Yeah. I lived here for a while and... well she was the landlady.
She was from Casablanca in Morocco. I dunno. Strange to think about now.
Genuine Joes.
When in Chisinau Anya and I talked about opening a coffee shop in Odessa. I read this tome about coffee while in Austin. Ask me something. I might know it.
I dunno.
While I was visiting Austin there was some street demonstration.
Whole Foods started in Austin. This is not the original location, but it's a huge Whole Foods store off of Lamar. I worked in there too.
The city from what used to be Town Lake. They renamed it Lady Bird Lake after first lady Lady Bird Johnson, wife of President Johnson.
Downtown Austin
Logan Airport in Boston. En route to Montenegro.
In Boston with Der Hut and the Recon.
In Moscow, Russia waiting on a flight to Montenegro with this chap from I think Norway. I had flown from Austin to Boston to Heathrow in London. I spent my birthday in Heathrow waiting on a flight to Moscow. In Moscow I had an early morning flight (like 5 am) and so...
My friend from Norway later into the night. This brings us to Montenegro, where I met Anya flying in from Odessa and where we lived for over a month. See you there.