Category: Europe
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ENOIKIAZETAI
ENOIKIAZETAI In the spring of 2013 I happened to stay for a day or two in Livadia, a medium-sized town in Greece, in the vicinity of Mount Parnassos. I had time to explore the city and it struck me that the cafes and terraces were teeming with people, young and old. “They don’t let themselves…
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The time trail
The time trail At the start of this millennium, the Swiss city of Neuchâtel created a trail through time in the nearby woods – Le Sentier du Temps. The starting point was intended to mark the formation of our planet Earth, and the end point our present day. Each one-metre step represented one million years,…
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Statues of horses
Statues of horses Statues of national heroes on horseback – I’m not much of a fan. Not of the statues, and not of the heroes either. They usually make me yawn with boredom, or at best, prompt me to mock them. So when I saw this equestrian statue in Vienna, I felt the urge to…
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Kind-hearted nationalism
Kind-hearted nationalism Swiss alpenhorns are relics of the past. Just like the smoke signals of Red Indians, they once were used to communicate swiftly with inhabitants of nearby valleys and mountain slopes, long before the invention of the telephone. But their main purpose seems to have been for herdsmen to call their free-grazing cattle back…
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Ah … Holidays!
Ah … Holidays! Sometimes you receive a picture postcard – although less and less in this digital age – that arouses deep inside you an instant longing to be there; to see the scenery with your own eyes; to take it in with all your senses. That is of course the whole purpose of a…
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Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari Popular belief or the folklore of faith is, in general, what religion means to the common man. It is its most widespread manifestation, not only in Catholicism, but in other religions as well. There’s a lot of suffering in the world and people are often subjected to great stress, either…
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Treasure trove Venice
Treasure trove Venice One of the delightful aspects of the Italian pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennale was the sense of continuity you experienced when you left the exhibition space and stepped into the various nooks and crannies of this ever-enchanting city. Both inside and out, you felt surrounded by the same blend of folkloric…
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The art is not our thing
The art is not our thing Art critic and politician Vittorio Sgarbi was appointed curator of the Italian pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale (2011). Given that he is known for his opposition to modern art – and certainly to the ‘mafia’ that organises the art world – his appointment was rather controversial. He decided…
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Art is my thing
Art is my thing The experience of art in all its manifestations (literature, music, visual arts) is occupying a privileged place in my mental and intellectual life. I could say: in my spiritual life, but I always hesitate using that word since it has these strong religious connotations I’d like to avoid. With acknowledgement and…
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Taking a break
Taking a break We are here in the Swiss Alps at an altitude of 2000 meters on a trek around the Muverans and I am standing at the exact spot from where I took last week’s picture of landscape with horseman. While that photo clearly was a landscape, I wouldn’t call this one a landscape…
