E005: Back From Vacation
Kate,
How is it already December? I jet off for ONE WEEK and somehow the world just keeps moving forward.
Spending time in Hungary/Austria/Slovakia was really lovely. During my days in Budapest, I thought a lot about power. Visiting the Hospital in the Rock Museum & the House of Terror, I learned about the Germans and Soviet occupations. On the other hand, visiting the millennium monument - which was established in 1890s - reminded me how power is fleeting. The monument celebrates a kind of continuity of a people and a culture and a nation (maybe? how do we distinguish continuity?). History can be so long.
Vienna reminded me a bit of our first visit to Paris - you can tell in its construction and design that this once was a great city. Not to say that it isn’t anymore (it is still a cultural, political, and economic power, at least within the country), but its role in the world has changed. And yet, the reminders of that rich cultural past are everywhere. I marveled at all the art museums and the works inside, the cathedral ceilings, the walls of the imperial apartments, and thought again of power. How do these institutions last so long? How do we create and marvel at such things? What do we in hanging on to them? How do we move on?
Anyway, go Boston Fleet! Their first win of the season!
- Emily