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Continue reading →: I already miss those autobahns, but it’s time to go home
How does such an orderly and compliant society as Germany come to be the last one to allow its citzens to use their intelligence to decide how fast to drive? It was an extraordinary feeling to be free, just for a while and in one small respect, from the State…
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Continue reading →: Where was I?
I left my hotel in Prague on Sunday morning and after a few confused circuits of the city centre escaped north to get some value from my Czech motorway "vignette". I drove to Usti nad Labem (Usti on the Elbe) to have tea and buns with blogger, journalist and businessman…
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Continue reading →: Onwards to Berlin
My photo course is over and the farewells said. We had a celebration dinner this evening in a restaurant by the river with a wonderful view of Prague Castle. A slide show of the participant's best efforts has been prepared by the organisers and I hope to post it here…
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Continue reading →: Shooting Prague
Prague is much-photographed. I had many shots of it in already. We brought the Misses Paine here from our then home in Warsaw when they were young. I visited many times on business. On one memorable occasion, I led an entire Czech beer hall in singing the Welsh national anthem…
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Continue reading →: To Prague via Telc
My fellow-students took a bus from Vienna to Prague yesterday. Having bought yet another "vignette" to drive on the Czech "motorways", I met them at the lunch (and photo shoot) stop in the UNESCO world heritage city of Telc. Speranza performed patiently at the slower pace of motorised Czech life,…
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Continue reading →: Vienna Photoshoot, Day 1
No travel today. Speranza is resting peacefully in my hotel's basement. I, however, have been shooting photos as part of my class here. You may see more of them, if you wish, here.
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Continue reading →: Onward to Austria
Grüß Gott! I had a splendid run through Germany to the Austrian border this morning. I left Nuremberg at 0700 so had a quiet hour or so before traffic built up and was able to improve on yesterday's speed. Bear in mind that's still short of Speranza's maximum by some…
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Continue reading →: A brilliant day in Germany
The sun shone. I drove on unrestricted autobahns with the roof down at some speed. My Dunhill flat cap puzzled German motorists by not flying off. It's a matter of aerodynamics. My football team won at home, which means "the great escape" from relegation is still on. And I made…
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Continue reading →: London to Verviers
Speranza, entrained The problem with the French language is that everything – for example the word for a tax expert (fiscaliste) – sounds glamorous, whereas – even in le monde francophone – everything isn't. The name of my overnight stop for this evening – Verviers, in the French-speaking part of…
THE LAST DITCH
Your blogger
Tom is a retired international lawyer. He was a partner in a City of London law firm and spent almost twenty years abroad serving clients from all over the world.
Returning to London on retirement in 2011, he was dismayed to discover how much liberty had been lost in the UK while he was away.
He’s a classical liberal (libertarian, if you must) who, like his illustrious namesake, considers that
“…government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”
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First post (in case you want to read it from the beginning)
The Last Ditch by Tom Paine 
There are many reasons they’re not passed down, Tom. The Triune code, laid out in scripture in all reputable versions…