Author Archives: freelander

Happenstances to change lives

One hundred and seventy years after Nietzsche was born, Rosaura and me arrive to Naumburg (in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt), hometown to the student who would later become the most important philosopher of 19th century. In those times, Naumburg … Continue reading

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A meeting with magic

Three days in Bialystok bring me new acquaintances (like Maka, the young Georgian volunteer, or Grzegorz, the bat researcher) and an unexpected meeting with homeopathy. It’s a farm in the countryside, ten minutes by motorbike from Tykocin, where Beata, a … Continue reading

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Upon the trodden track

Here and there, through the layer of clouds, a few sun beams shine on the land, cheering up the countryside. Behind me, noise of passing cars and lorries. I’ve pulled to the shoulder for a moment, right after leaving behind … Continue reading

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Christmas Eve among bums

It’s Christmas Eve. A big full moon, very round and white, shines on the pure black of a Polish night. I drag my Christmas loneliness, on an empty stomach, along the cold and deserted streets of Bialystok. What am I … Continue reading

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Inari, tale of a trip and a return (message in a bottle)

Definitely everyone wakes up earlier than me! I get out of bed and see that many campers are already gone, those still here being finishing preparatinons for departure. None of the tents I saw yesterday on the lawn is left, … Continue reading

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Ristijärvi and Artemiev’s boreal epopee

It is no accident that for the past two days an unforgettable music by Artemiev rings at all hours within my head: it’s the soundtrack of Siberiade, one of those  Russian must-see that  –being European movie markets sold to the … Continue reading

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The bikers’ brotherhood

Competition among the lines on the ferry route Helsinki-Tallin is big, schedules are flexible and sufficient, fares affordable. From my hotel in downtown Tallinn I headed the wharfs in time to catch an Eckerö ferry at noon, whose price is unbeatable: … Continue reading

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Across the rainbow.

After talking in the previous chapter about the new social gods –wild capitalism and crazy consumption– I reach, coincidentally, the city of Toruń, which used to be dearly but not so much nowadays, as a paradigm of those giving up … Continue reading

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