Hi, I'm back: back in the USA, back to blogging, back to work. The archives are back, and commenting is back. Many thanks to Laura who talked me through all the fiddly little fixes. It will take me a while to post the photos from my trip, but here, briefly, are moments:

*Warehouses named Canada [Kanada] by the inmates of Auschwitz, because they were places of plenty.

*Bright red swings. Apple green merry-go-round. A children's playground juxtaposed against a surviving wall of Krakow's Jewish ghetto.

*The basement of former KGB headquarters in Vilnius; padded walls and doors; shredded documents.

*The pine trees of Paneriai; the pits. Devastating. The museum was opened specially for me. I was the only visitor.

*A line of old ladies outside the Vilnius bus station, selling odds and ends. An onion. One beet. Three worn t-shirts. A head of garlic.

*In Tallinn - embraced and nurtured by the spirit of Saint Brigitta at Pirita Klooster.

*The excesses of the czars.

*Red Square - fresh carnations on Stalin's tomb.

More, soon. I promise.