MAY 2013
Finally back and
beautiful spring weather here. Got in late last night. Had a good
time and still gathering perceptions. I really really enjoyed seeing
Berlin, probably, maybe, more than Virginia did. But I think she had a
good time too. Almost wholly "new" place to us both.
It felt like
"home" in ways France and Spain never quite do. Like England
does. Both countries provided the templates on which our whole
northeastern US was built (even if Lafayette did plan DC). So the sense
of scale, proportion, spaces, etc are much more familiar. In fact Berlin
is on a flat plane I think and so it gets long sweeping avenues and big plaza,
platz, spaces that even with Haussmann's help Paris has in smaller proportions,
after you discount the main axis from Louvre to Arc de Triomphe.
We didn't quite feel
the "youthful" vibe that many talk about but then we didn't go to the
nightclubs. Maybe there is a "vegas" sense going on there.
We did see lots of young people, from all over europe. Young Germans,
under 35, are amazingly tall. Germans in general much bigger than the
French and Spanish and I did enjoy that. At last I didn't feel too big or
even fat, as I do on the streets in Spain where those former Romans are still
so compact and graceful and finely featured. Did I send you a post card
of one of those Roman portrait paintings you like? Meant to if not.
The museums gathered
onto "museum island" are splendid because the 19th archaeologists
stole some great stuff. The Babylonian Gate of Ishtar amazed us--scale
and intactness. And the Pergamon Altar which I had vaguely heard about
and seen photos of without fully knowing what it was. Rivals the Elgin
Marbles in size and quality, from a city 2nd century in Turkey and nearly a whole
temple. The Germans took all the stuff and then built these museums to
house it. The Neue museum houses the bust of Nefertiti and she is
amazing. For one thing you can get rather close to her, unlike the mOna
Lisa which is now hung so high above the mob that it looks more like a video
screen. But the Neue museum was badly damaged in the war and so the
renovation of it was a major cultural question. It has just re-opened and
getting praise from all quarters. British architect David Chipperfield
did the design, deciding which parts of the original building to keep, which to
re-build, which to totally replace etc and the results are stunning meditation
on history and the present and what collecting stuff and looking at it
involves.
Loved hearing the
language on a daily basis and realizing it is just as melifluous as the Latin
tongues. Getting over the stereotypes fostered by pop portayals of nazis
is I guess the main thing here.
Lots of Turkish
people. Conversation on the plane home with a young Italian finance
student and he said without thinking that Turkey is European and will for sure
be part of the longer term european federation. Lots of brown people from
everywhere in Berlin, though not nearly as many Africans as you see in Paris.
Jewish museum has
excellent exhibits. Building by Lebeskind is quite irritating----all
angles and juts, but you can see how his model won the competition (he's
polish, jewish, but raised in Brooklyn, high school there). i.e. American sense
of public drama/relations. He's overseeing the world trade tower in NY.
Murder of European Jews memorial is pretty close to the Brandenburg
gate--and moving enough but will be a long-range problem I think (oblong coffin
shaped black stele, hundreds, over a large area (but not as large as I'd
thought from photos). I think, but am not sure, it covers over what might
have been hitler's bunker and I suspect was done to squelch people trying to
find that spot.
Instead there is a
"site of terrors" visiting spot/attraction that merges nazi torture
stuff with soviet torture/spying. Sections of the Wall
are big tourist spots,
also Checkpoint 'Charley.
On the plane back I
saw the Tarantino movie, "Django Unchained." Fits perfectly
this visit to Berlin in the sense that you can see how history and pop
consciousness eventually rob memory of the pain and outrage and the new
generation emphasizes as it must moving on and building anew. Same sense
with watching Berlin rebuild itself. Lots of stunning new buldings, lots
of construction still going on and some signs of ruins still visible.
Food pretty
ordinary---after Paris how could it not be. A few Italian places we had
good meals. Morroccan and Vietnamese ok but nothing to write home about.
Good visits with old friends in Spain but really
depressing to consider how badly they've dug themselves into their financial
troubles. More on that later. At one level just like the crazy
stupidity that wrecked Ireland and Iceland, but Spanish in its more grandiose
elements.
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Phil's reply
It sounds like a
terrific trip. And I think one reason Berlin struck such a chord is
that Paris and Spain were, for you and Va, same-old, same-old, but Berlin was
something new, something to be watched carefully.
I suspect the feeling
of familiarity that you felt with the layout in Berlin (vs Spain and
Frnace) has something to do with how old the various cities are.
Berlin, I think is mainly a 19th-20th century city. In France and
Spain the cities are usually 18th century or older - hence smaller in
every way. But you're probably right that being on a plain (plane?)
and being built for bigger people also played roles in what is today.
I visited Berlin in
1968 and among the few sharp memories I have, one stands out dramatically: the
bust of Nerfertiti. That was not only an amazingly beautiful woman, but
even the depiction of beauty, which was done about 1200 BC, was far better
than anything I've ever seen produced by the Romans and
Greeks. Venus, even those produced in the Renaissance,
is a 6 or 7 compared to Nerfititi's 10. And the artwork
to reproduce that beauty is astounding for any age, let alone 1200 BC
when everyone else was still grubbing around in the mud.
In 1968, everyone
in Berlin who was older than 45 had been an adult during Hitler's reign,
and males that age or older had probably been in the wehrmacht or
ss. Undoubtedly it gave the place a very different feel from
today's Berlin, where the Hitler generation is in their 90s and, if they
are still alive, tucked away in a nursing home.
So, in 1968, all over
Germany a lot of the people were, as it were, ex-Nazis, and it was
easy to walk around the city and country and feel that there was some
reason to view everyone as "guilty." That, I think, has
changed because anyone our age or younger - ie, most of the city and
country - had nothing to do with Hitler. Just the feel in the air
has to be very different. Also, the end of the cold war has to also have
produced an enormous change in Berlin. Cut off from the rest
of western Germany, Berlin was a city of old people and few
youths, and there was a feeling of a doomed place. Again, that
is a big difference from today where, as you say, there are lots of young
people plus Turks, et al. And looking into East Berlin in those
days was like looking into the end of WWII - dismal, bombed out.
As for me: yesterday I
drove a woman I know up to Gettysburg. She knew that I was
knowledgeable about the battle and wanted me to serve as a
guide. Which I did, and it was quite enjoyable because the
weather was exquisite. And when we were at the point where Picket's
charge died - the famous "copse of trees" - we saw a guy with
a video camera and....Ken Burns!!! So I asked Burns if he
was making a follow up to his Civil War series. He said
no. He apparently lives in Vermont and was bringing a class of high
school kids to Gettysburg. He was making a video of the trip for the
kids.
I thought he
was a tiny little guy, but he's average size and less
boyish lookiing than he appears on TV. I don't care for
any of his work except the Civil War series, but didn't mention that.
Instead I complimented the Civil War program and left it at that. He
smiled and said "thank you."
Did you get around to
reading "As the Great World Spins" by Colum McCann? If
so, I'm interested in yr reaction.
Haven't rec'd any
postcards, but if you sent one of the Roman-Egyptian funerary paintings, I'm
really looking forward to it.
P
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MAY 4
Saturday
Miss keeping this log. Va and Peo's at a meeting, memorial for Nancy Walrath (brain
tumor) later today. Gorgeous
spring day.
So gorgeous cannot be
believed. Sifting the clothes for
next packing.
Double checked trip info and
changed one car from Enterprise to Hertz in hopes that location at ABQ airport
will be better.
Re-entry and getting over
jetlag taking longer than it seems.
Coffee and hairdresser yesterday.
Laundry, re-thinking the
house for Kenna etc.
Hard to believe we are now
going off to Santa Fe. Mini-sabbatical
sort of year, in shorter pieces and pretty marvelous.
SUNDAY MAY 5
1:30 Brunch at Ken and
Carole's a lovely time. Glorious
cool sunshine. Art and Karen just
two days back from Florida. Carole
liked my tale of going from EasyJet to buy a ticket on AirFrance. We're all feeling lucky
comfortable to have enough money to enjoy what we are enjoying. Everyone looks
good. Krista and Karim have moved
to West Palm Beach. Ken showed
photos of the new house there.
Only about 500k but looks like more in that generic HG big suburban
house way.
MONDAY evening Va not feeling well all day. Something in the tummy and/or whole
system. Extra nap and tea and toast
this evening. Packing
proceeds. Unreal/surreal feel to
it but also the usual anxiety and anticipatory anxiousness.
Surprise! very short hello
note from Patrick. Told him we
have to conspire a visit of some sort.
So nice to hear just this beep from him. Place too much on it but there I am.
TUESDAY
Close call. Va discovered her book group with the
Paki women added on meets the evening of June 5th, the day we're getting back
at 11:25 pm. Just changed the
flights to Tues June 4th! whew
Very disappointed though that
my two new pairs of Vivos will not be here. Called the site and sure enough the dumb distributor in NJ
did not make sure the warehouse in CA saw that the order was 2-day and not
ground. Oh well. Serves my vanity right. Won't look so cool and up-to-date or
something in Santa Fe. Decided not
to wear the Skoras. Wore them
today and already my front ankle bend is a little sore. Something about the thick rubber sole
is just not good, at least for walking.
Something about the whole heel of it that suggests the old heel
structure that the zero shoes are supposed to have moved on beyond.
Hard to believe that we are
indeed leaving tomorrow. Still
have to dry pack the bags to see how they will work or whether to flip over to
the other larger bag.
THURSDAY MAY 16 9:30pm Santa Fe
Cousin Roy called a short
time ago. We meet him tomorrow for
lunch at Thomasita's at 3pm. I
took Chuck and Louise Kiger to the airport shuttle pick-up outside the bus
station at 4:30. Now we are
sitting their house for the next three weeks.
May 18 Saturday
Va's birthday. 69. She liked the Nob Hill ear rings. Yeah.
note to Phil
Hi
Getting used
to being here in Santa Fe. Very quiet, but of course we're in a high rent
area, hills north of the plaza. Owner went to Annapolis from Kansas,
probably graduated 1960. Navy pilot career including vietnam but I know
no details but I think he flew supplies and such. Wife is from here,
Pueblo Indian, who joined the navy out of high school. Got a nursing degree.
We met this couple on the trip to Japan. Navy took them all over
the world for their 20 yr careers. They built this house in mid-80s.
Big on top of a hill, great view west over the town and valley. Big
and full of lots of stuff from around the world. Some in good taste, much
not. Three kids grown and gone. They are now traveling in France
and will meet Dave at one of his gigs in Paris in a few weeks.
Penitentes.
Famous old hispanic group of crazies, re-enacting all the stations of the
cross etc for holy week. Don't know if any have died but wouldn't be
surprised, crucifixion and all that. Much secrecy in the past. Hard
to get insider knowledge, etc. Local church at Chimayo shocked us though.
In the 1910s it was "rescued" by a famous architect who led the
move to appreciate adobe indigenous architecture as worthy of art world
respect. Chimayo was one of the star examples of the whole Ansel Adams
era love affair with New Mexico. In the past few years the Spanish priest
in charge of the shrine (which has long had miraculous mud in the floor) has
been a good entrepreneur and led the charge to renew true devotion, build new
buildings all around the shrine, load the place up with holy trinkets for sale
of every sort, have pilgrimmage groups etc etc---the same old/new pilgrims to
Canterbury scene all re-invented by trailer park hispanics. In other
words, the old/new scene of art appreciation has been re-trashed by true faith.
After gentrification a new era of re-primitivization.
You were'nt
too harsh on the french movie. I gave it way too much initial credit just
because I liked seeing the teacher-student dynamic portrayed. The young German
actor definitely creepy, which the director no doubt wanted. Once you
give the movie any thought it falls apart and you can see it is just the same
stuff by the yard that the French turn out just like the British turn out their
bps masterpieces. I especially took umbrage at the old "those who
can't, teach" part of the story. As well as teachers are those
repressed who don't have their own kids.
You tempted
to see Gatsby? I'd suggest you avoid. we saw it in denver (in 3D no
less--what a waste). One critic put it---"when it entertains it is
not Gatsby and when it is Gatsby it bores." But then when I get
voted into the white house, no one will be permitted to make a movie from a
book ever again.
Nice visit
yesterday with Va's cousin Roy, local guy, lawyer, retired last fall, just back
from two month jaunt to Nepal and India.
Bit cool still but sunshine is pretty nice.
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