Over the years, Bratislava’s Hotel Devín had welcomed the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Karel Gott, the Dalai Lama and even ‘Slash’ from the rock group Guns N’ Roses (in 1995). I stayed there myself on the night of November 9-10, 1989, as a guest of the Czechoslovak StB, who were planning to give me a night I’d never forget. Photo credit: www.hoteldevin.sk
I’m an independent journalist, travel writer and author who’s lived in Central Europe for nearly three decades. I love the history, literature, culture and mystery of this often-overlooked corner of Europe, and I make my living writing articles and guidebooks about the region. Much of what I write eventually finds its way into commercial print or digital outlets, but a lot of it does not.
And that’s my aim with this website: to find a space for stories and experiences that fall outside the publishing mainstream.
In 2021, I published “Čas Proměn” (“Time of Changes”), my first book of historical nonfiction. The book, written in Czech, is a collection of stories about Central and Eastern Europe in the 1980s and early ‘90s, including memories of the thrilling anti-communist revolutions of 1989. The idea for the book and many of the tales I tell there were directly inspired by this blog. Czech readers, find a link to purchase the book here. I hope you enjoy.