Author Archives

• Living Without a Car

  By Julie Callahan on July 3, 2013 • ( 0 )

  The easiest way to break an addiction is to go cold turkey. We sold our cars when we moved from the United States to Bratislava two years ago, extinguishing our decades old car dependency overnight. Having the right permissions and… Read More ›

• The Kindness of Strangers

  By Julie Callahan on June 19, 2013 • ( 2 )

  

  Blanche Dubois summarized my expat life best, “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.” And so it is.  That random guardian angel who swoops in when I am most lost, confused, disconsolate.  With a nearly unnoticeable gesture they… Read More ›

• “We could kill a pig” and other team building ideas…

  By Julie Callahan on June 12, 2013 • ( 0 )

  

  As the weather turns sunny and warm, we lunch outside.  Last week there was a group of us,  mostly Hungarians, a handful of Romanians, a French guy, and one other American, gathered around the picnic table.  Everyone was relaxed, the mood fostered by… Read More ›

• Marathons…

  By Julie Callahan on June 6, 2013 • ( 13 )

  In my dreams, I run marathons.  The closest I’ve come in real life is reading Runner’s World from cover to cover.  Then I glance through the marathon schedule in the index: Paris, London, Athens, Venice – in my dreams, I… Read More ›

• Vac, Hungary: The lesser known Danube Bend town

  By Julie Callahan on June 2, 2013 • ( 1 )

  

  The Danube Bend is the area north of Budapest where the Danube River jogs abruptly left making a 90 degree turn as it heads west to Bratislava and Vienna.  Most tourists stay on the hilly Buda side of the river… Read More ›