Paris....endless views, history, art...talk and more talk... Exhibit; Renoir and Renoir....The side by side display of the paintings of the the father and the films of the son. What a contrast. A continuous loop of the movie Moulon Rouge next to an oil painting of the same scene: the movie boring after two replays; the painting something you could look at for a lifetime without the slightest fatigue...so much vitality in what the paint reveals:: At night. After a brief visit with Jeff at qn opening of two landscqpe painters we went to the Mabou Mimes version of The Doll's House castwith dwarves in the male roles. This framed and made the comment that the male power is invested in the very puffed up egos of very small personages. The scene was already part of what ... read more

Today: the Franz Marc exhibit at the Kunstbau Lenbachhaus Museum. Large retrospective with his fine fine drawings in a little sketchbook during WW1 that are as powerful as any of the paintings....at the same time re reading 'Steppenwolf' by Herman Hesse...Eva read it in German early on during the trip and here in Munich I found an English translation..occasioning these thoughts: The Marc exhibit is one of those megashows that delight museum directors. The paper says the turnout exceeds expectations, and certainly , on this drippy wet Tuesday the crowds have come out, moving slowly from painting to painting, lingering to read the extensive biographical notes. We are with Gerda who knew Marc ( her mother was a painter) and so we get the unwritten gossip that his traditionalistic father wanted both Marc brothers to go ... read more

Kos..has somehow solved the problem of being a huge tourist destination...miles of beaches with selfcontained resorts...including a Club Med..with retaining its cozy nature and abundant archeological sites....the ruins o f the healing center devoted to Askalepius at which Hippocrates practiced is on a series of terraces just above the city of Kos. In a wooded area with views to Asia and nearby islands, the whole sky laid out above and beyond, the patient ascended a series of steps, increasing from 30 to 60 to reach the highest point on which stood monumental stautes of Hygea and Askelepius..along the way, springs of fresh water, rooms for priests and patients, temples to Apollo and other deities, well restored, some dating to the 4th Century BC. While there are many early Christian churches, 4-6 Cent AD, the emphasis is ... read more

'Eiskaffee' at Demel's in Vienna--after watching marching bands, we attended the 'Erntedankfest' (harvest festival) where sugar beet farmers erected large signs protesting the globalization that caused them to lose their livelihood to the Brazilians due to their lack of child labor laws. Displays of fruits and vegetables mounded and wreathed:cabbages, red and white, eggplant, carrots, onions and peppers; apples, plums, strawberries, blackberries and all sorts of berries we don't have, all in front of booths serving small meals, beer and coffee at long tables on the meadows behind the Hofburg, the imperial palace. Back in the smaller courtyard, the castle was just expelling the guests of a big society wedding. Remarkable, large brimmed hats in every color of the rainbow, Paris coutoure, men in morning coats kissing the hands of ladies shaded by the wide brims ... read more

Yesterday was very long:the conference had endings and goodbyes. Then we visited Auschwitz-Birkinau with a group from the conference. One and a half hours travel from Krakow, in rolling green farmland..suddenly we are there. We were in tears even when considering going: being there was deeply moving, exhausting, overwhelming.... I can only give a few impressions.... It is Birkinau that crushes the spirit. I had not understood that Auschwitz was a smaller and older camp..terrible in its treatment of prisioners. It has the infamous gate that says :Arbeit macht Frie' 'Work makes for freedom". There are orderly brick buildings, trees. You can take it in visually and make a kind of sense of its layout and purpose. However, in the barracks are photos of children before their death, huge piles of women's hair, glasses, haircombs, suitcases, ... read more