Has it really been a month and a half since my last post? I've been lazy.
Since the Lycian Way, I've been gradually making my way west through a series of European cities. Beginning in Istanbul, the traditional boundary between East and West, I've stayed in Bucharest, Budapest, Ljubljana, Katowice, Krakow, Warsaw, Berlin, Dresden, Marburg, and Frankfurt. I've spent anywhere from one night to more than a week in each place
Not having very long in any one place, I haven't experienced as much of the culture as in previous places I've written about, so what has stood out has mainly been the kind of obvious things which can be captured on film - architecture, statues, and other forms of public art. That's part of the reason I've been slow to write this post: I haven't felt I've had much to say to add to what's contained in the photo albums.
Something many of these cities have in common is that they were heavily damaged during the second world war. Some, such as Bucharest, Budapest, and Dresden, are full of impressive buildings that look centuries old but in fact are almost all reconstructions built since 1945. Other cities, like Warsaw and Berlin, took the destruction brought by the war as an opportunity to begin anew, and consist mainly of 20th- and 21st-century buildings in a variety of styles. Hearing again and again how each city I go to was a war zone or a smouldering ruin seventy years ago is strange. Seeing for myself how many of an entire continent's population centers were reduced to rubble drives home the appalling scale of the conflict, and seeing how little visible trace of that destruction now exists equally impresses one with humanity's resilience.
That's all I feel I have to add, so go look at the photos if you haven't yet.
Photos of Istanbul:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152383217290879.1073741859.514945878&type=1&l=e7336ae482
Photos of Bucharest and Budapest:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152388823005879.1073741860.514945878&type=1&l=f32102111f
Slovenia:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152423185180879.1073741863.514945878&type=1&l=f60541b31b
Photos of Poland:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152445567745879.1073741864.514945878&type=1&l=c467452a55
Since the Lycian Way, I've been gradually making my way west through a series of European cities. Beginning in Istanbul, the traditional boundary between East and West, I've stayed in Bucharest, Budapest, Ljubljana, Katowice, Krakow, Warsaw, Berlin, Dresden, Marburg, and Frankfurt. I've spent anywhere from one night to more than a week in each place
Not having very long in any one place, I haven't experienced as much of the culture as in previous places I've written about, so what has stood out has mainly been the kind of obvious things which can be captured on film - architecture, statues, and other forms of public art. That's part of the reason I've been slow to write this post: I haven't felt I've had much to say to add to what's contained in the photo albums.
Something many of these cities have in common is that they were heavily damaged during the second world war. Some, such as Bucharest, Budapest, and Dresden, are full of impressive buildings that look centuries old but in fact are almost all reconstructions built since 1945. Other cities, like Warsaw and Berlin, took the destruction brought by the war as an opportunity to begin anew, and consist mainly of 20th- and 21st-century buildings in a variety of styles. Hearing again and again how each city I go to was a war zone or a smouldering ruin seventy years ago is strange. Seeing for myself how many of an entire continent's population centers were reduced to rubble drives home the appalling scale of the conflict, and seeing how little visible trace of that destruction now exists equally impresses one with humanity's resilience.
That's all I feel I have to add, so go look at the photos if you haven't yet.
Photos of Istanbul:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152383217290879.1073741859.514945878&type=1&l=e7336ae482
Photos of Bucharest and Budapest:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152388823005879.1073741860.514945878&type=1&l=f32102111f
Slovenia:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152423185180879.1073741863.514945878&type=1&l=f60541b31b
Photos of Poland:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152445567745879.1073741864.514945878&type=1&l=c467452a55
