European Journey

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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 on the archaic ruins which delight me.....Over the years we have been in places that felt like 'power spots' where the inherent 'energies' could be felt...Malinalco in Mexico;Tiger's Nest in Bhutan; Lama Foundation in New Mexico; Varanasi in India, and last year in Kham:Ya Ching...This has the feeling of healing power and the union between situation and intention...sky, deep blue Agean, mountain air and healing...

to back up a bit
On two sucessive nights in Vienna we went to the Staatsopera first to see 'Der Rosenkavalier' and then the Diagaleff Ballet. The latter presented De Falla's 'three cornered hat' with set design and costumes by Picasso..so bright, clear, colorful....'The Specter of the Rose', moving and lastly my all time favorite..'Petrouchka' staged with scrims and surreal costuming unlike the versions I had seen based on Chagall imagery....poor Petrouchka, romantic, inept and the always hopeful fool....what a contrast with the earthy, realistic and truthtelling Marshallein (sp?) of the Rosenkavalier... what would their marriage be like?...Hmmmm?

A big bonus of the trip has been two books we have been reading....Eva Hoffman's reflections on being a second generation child of holocaust survivors ( in English) and the correspondence between Lou Andrea Salome and Anna Freud ( in German) which has us talking about and thinking about the days in Vienna ,the early 30's when analysis was being formulated....just one aspect is the acceptance that Sigmund would be Anna's analyst without any evident question about the complexities.I had no idea that Salome was a serious , gifted and hardworking clinician with talent..she has many references to cases in which she saw multiple family members..something certainly not endorsed by the first and second generation analysts who taught us..

Tomorrow on to Munich...

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