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The Last of the Best

The Last of the Best

August 17, 2021 · by Linda Strange · in Uncategorized, USA

The text came when we were in St. Croix. My 97-year-old aunt, my father’s sister, had been admitted to Lawrence…

Letter from St. Croix

Letter from St. Croix

May 30, 2021 · by Linda Strange · in Caribbean

On the north shore of the Caribbean island of St. Croix, two miles before you reach Cane Bay, there lie…

The Wall I Knew

The Wall I Knew

January 30, 2019 · by Linda Strange · in Germany, USA

On a cold Sunday afternoon in January of 2019, a day after the end of the longest government shutdown in…

Wallis, This One's for You

Wallis, This One’s for You

December 2, 2017 · by Linda Strange · in England, USA

Finally, some good news for a change. Amidst the debacle of “tax reform” and what appears to be rampant sexual…

Where We Come From

Where We Come From

June 25, 2017 · by Linda Strange · in Czechoslovakia, England, Germany, Hungary, Moravia, Norway, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, USA

A family history is a collection of stories, stories told and retold and made old not so much by the…

Spread the Word

Spread the Word

April 22, 2017 · by Linda Strange · in Italy

Venice is a city of illusions: illusions of water and light, of time and space, of stillness and movement. Looking…

Persistence

Persistence

February 24, 2017 · by Linda Strange · in Germany, Russia, USA

In our elementary school, we start teaching children about character traits in the third grade. We teach them to recognize…

To The Barricade

To The Barricade

January 22, 2017 · by Linda Strange · in USA

I never marched in a demonstration before yesterday. I don’t like crowds much, or noise, or commotion. I’m a stay-at-home-with-a-book…

2017: Brace For Impact

2017: Brace For Impact

January 1, 2017 · by Linda Strange · in England, Finland, France, Germany, USA

At the beginning of the Second World War in Europe, there was a period of time, eight months and one…

Where You Can Put Your Putin

Where You Can Put Your Putin

September 18, 2016 · by Linda Strange · in Russia, USA

No one could love Russia more than I do. You have to love a country where the cabbie taking you home…

A Little History

A Little History

July 31, 2016 · by Linda Strange · in England, Germany, USA

They say if you don’t know your history, you’re doomed to repeat it and this certainly seems to be what’s…

Venice

Venice

May 1, 2016 · by Linda Strange · in Italy

Imagine a city where the taxi journey from the airport so satisfies your desire for adventure, your longing for beauty,…

Lists

Lists

December 31, 2015 · by Linda Strange · in France, Germany, Syria, USA

As another year draws to its close and the next one edges near, there seems to be in both the…

The Bitter Pill

The Bitter Pill

April 8, 2014 · by Linda Strange · in Russia

When I was a university student of Russian History in the mid 1980’s, the Iron Curtain was still drawn tightly…

Sevastapol

Sevastapol

March 9, 2014 · by Linda Strange · in Russia

I’ve always found that when I want to understand something that’s happening in Russia, it helps to hit the books….

The Sochi Saga

The Sochi Saga

January 30, 2014 · by Linda Strange · in Russia

You have to feel sorry for the Russian people. Or you don’t have to, not if you don’t want to,…

The Devil is in the Details

The Devil is in the Details

November 4, 2013 · by Linda Strange · in Germany, USA

Well, there’s so much good news to choose from, I hardly know where to start. The Obamacare web site debacle?…

Road trips

Road trips

October 17, 2013 · by Linda Strange · in Russia

Crumbling provincial towns, the Gypsy wedding of a fourteen year old, the dismal condition of the M10 which connects Petersburg…

What's in a Name?

What’s in a Name?

April 28, 2013 · by Linda Strange · in Chechnya, USA

When Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, the mother of the alleged Boston bombers, said this last week that she was sorry the family…

Gimme Shelter

Gimme Shelter

April 15, 2013 · by Linda Strange · in South Korea

The sign is still there on the side of the school. It has a piece missing from the bottom left…

Remember Gorbachev?

Remember Gorbachev?

March 11, 2013 · by Linda Strange · in Russia

I was reading an article about Gorbachev the other day. Gorbachev, remember him? I’m embarrassed to say that until I…

Island Of the Clouds

Island Of the Clouds

December 31, 2012 · by Linda Strange · in Uncategorized

Let me just get it over with and explain where it is we are. On an island called Bequia which…

Shorefront Anyone?

Shorefront Anyone?

November 6, 2012 · by Linda Strange · in Uncategorized

When I was an undergraduate at the University of East Anglia, in Norwich, England, there was a lecturer there by…

It's Not a Riot Any More

It’s Not a Riot Any More

October 28, 2012 · by Linda Strange · in Uncategorized

The trial was over. The appeal had failed. The world’s press had gone home when last weekend, Maria Alyokina, age…

Spanish Flames

Spanish Flames

September 5, 2012 · by Linda Strange · in Spain

As if they needed anything else to go wrong, the country of Spain has this last week been battling yet…

Washington in Botswana

Washington in Botswana

August 29, 2012 · by Linda Strange · in Finland

What do you think would happen if someone produced a film about George Washington filmed in Botswana with a local…

The Russian Orthodox Church – It’s a Riot!

The Russian Orthodox Church – It’s a Riot!

August 22, 2012 · by Linda Strange · in Russia

Let me be very clear, I agree with Madonna, Paul McCartney and Stephen Fry that the three members of the…

Carcassonne: Land of the Cathars

Carcassonne: Land of the Cathars

August 1, 2012 · by Linda Strange · in France

One summer when I was about ten years old, my mother went to the library to get some novels for…

Aragonese Pyrenees: What Spanish Crisis?

Aragonese Pyrenees: What Spanish Crisis?

July 25, 2012 · by Linda Strange · in Spain

There are fires to the east of us in Catalonia after one of the driest winters on record in the…

Independence Days

Independence Days

July 4, 2012 · by Linda Strange · in Finland, Russia, Sweden, USA

Countries really don’t leave each other alone, do they? They are always bothering each other, invading, claiming sovereignty, imposing annoying…

Russian Reformers Old and New

Russian Reformers Old and New

June 20, 2012 · by Linda Strange · in Russia

The demands of the Russian reformers seemed reasonable enough to me. They wanted the Russian government to stop being so…

Juneteenth

Juneteenth

June 6, 2012 · by Linda Strange · in Germany, USA

Juneteenth is an African-American holiday officially celebrated in 41 states of the United States. It commemorates the final abolition of…

Don't Go to Gibraltar!

Don’t Go to Gibraltar!

May 23, 2012 · by Linda Strange · in Uncategorized

“Whatever you do, don’t go to Gibraltar.” This was what our friends and neighbors down on the Costa del Sol…

Blame the Germans

Blame the Germans

May 7, 2012 · by Linda Strange · in Germany

They’ve been muttering about them in Greece, and in Spain, in Portugal and in Italy. All the countries of Europe…

Putin Party Politics

Putin Party Politics

April 29, 2012 · by Linda Strange · in Russia

Why did Putin win the Russian elections? He won due to election fraud. Well, yes, there was election fraud, buses…

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All countries are strange, none stranger than your own.

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