“…there ain’t no journey what don’t change you some.”
― David Mitchell
This may be a short entry tonight for once again I have spent the day travelling from west to east and I find myself weary. This is another trip visiting relatives with kids and pets and general merriment. Still every journey should have a purpose and this is a voyage of recharging and empowerment for me. I have the intention of doing only that which brings joy and forsaking the rest and bring that sense of fun back with me to Vancouver.
Blessings, G
“Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry.”
― Jack Kerouac
Another trip beckons
A journey of the heart
in which my heart gets left behind
Pain in leaving
but the travel as always is good.
Old friends, old habits
learned a lifetime ago.
The laughter of innocence
amid the heaviness of today.
Still there is awe in the voyage
and my heart will remain
upon my return.
— G A Rosenberg
“I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.”
— Langston Hughes
Unstuck by the wind
like a leaf torn from its branch
I have traveled
Through lands, cultures, and idea streams
I’ve gone far.
Anyplace I’ve wanted
I have voyaged to
I have yet to experience coming home.
Home is a word, a concept, an ideal
a reality that states where we belong
yet this journey moves me forward
ever restless, ever learning
ever yearning for that simple
destination.
Son now I’m building life, setting purpose
courting angels, courting demons
searching for a friendly heart
If I named a place, I’ve gone there
so I know I’ll find this too
winds up, I’m off once more
heading home.
— G A Rosenberg
The only people who ever get anyplace interesting are the people who get lost.”
— Henry David Thoreau
I want to lose myself
in nature’s boroughs
wander for hours
in forest and beach
I want to surrender
to where life takes me
from everyday life
I’ll be out of reach
I’m tired of life
in civilized byways
I’m weary of meetings
and coffee routine.
I find myself
daydreaming of travel
choatically lost
out there in the green
I want to find myself
some place that I’ve never
been in the journey’s
I’ve taken so far.
Perhaps I’ll start
leaving tomorrow
packing my backpack
selling my car.
Who knows where I’ll be
and how far I’ll travel
talking to strangers
maybe finding a friend
Getting myself in
all kinds of trouble
or perhaps find the person
I’ll be in the end.
— G A Rosenberg
“It is necessary … for a man to go away by himself … to sit on a rock … and ask, ‘Who am I, where have I been, and where am I going?”
― Carl Sandburg
It has now been almost a week since I’ve returned. When I left I had a goal in mind of making some decisions. I wanted some clarity on the direction that this next stage of my life would take. I had some vague ideas but no clear cut vision of what I wanted. I hoped that distance from the day to day would give me this.
I saw many impressive things on this trip. I traveled to Venice and Rome, Athens and Barcelona, cities that were somewhat mythical to me, a lifelong reader about places I had yet to see. I saw some of the most impressive works of art of western civilization and met many people. Yet still no answers were forthcoming or at least not immediate ones. Oh I learned a few things about myself and remembered others. I love the water and travelling upon it. Exploring new cities makes my heart sing. I have a knack for languages and love trying to speak to people in their native tongue and I love the stories that people tell. I love in-depth exploration of ideas and people more than I like skimming the surface in any kind of social way. I would much rather be a visitor to a place rather than a tourist. Visitors tend to be more welcome and less interested in seeing the sites and buying trinkets than tourists. I would rather eat in small roadside places with people who live day to day than in fine restaurants with other tourists. I am fascinated by what other artists produce.
How can I use those facts in a constructive way? That I have yet to learn.
Oh a few things have come from it. I love the masques that they sell in Venice and would love to see what I could do in that medium. I have a new idea for a set of tarot cards based on Venetian Masques. I have lots of inspiration for art and more motivation than ever to finish the things I’ve started.
All in all, as I sit on this rock (well chair) and reflect I find these things impressive and encouraging. Yet the journey is always beginning, ending and in progress.
Blessings, G
“Memory’s images, once they are fixed in words, are erased,” Polo said. “Perhaps I am afraid of losing Venice all at once, if I speak of it, or perhaps, speaking of other cities, I have already lost it, little by little.”
― Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities
On this trip I have seen many cities. The sites of all of them will stick with me. Seeing Michelangelo’s David and the Acropolis was awesome in the true sense of the word. People watching in Barcelona was amazing as were the streets of Naples and Kusadasi. Yet no city has captured my heart the way Venice has. I could walk the tunnels and side streets for days and in my dreams I still do. I love the canals and watching the boats and the light on the water. The vendors selling their t-shirts and knick knacks seemingly indifferent. San Marcos Basilica and the Dodge’s Palace are filled with art that take the breath away. The craftsmen in the stores sell their glassware and masques and tell stories as enthralling as those in Kusadasi yet where the former talks about who made them, the artists in Venice talk about how they are made. The work itself is beautiful. It is a city of artists of one kind or another.
There are also contradictions in its streets. Along the outside of the Venetian labyrinth everything is geared towards the tourists. Along the smaller narrower lanes and tunnels closer to the centre there is a lot more poverty and people are less fond of the thousands of streaming tourists passing through. Dogs walk off leash beside their owners freely, the more aggressive ones muzzled. As in every city we saw on this voyage, the city walls are strewn with graffiti. In Venice, it is just one more form of art. The gondoliers and water taxis add to the traffic in the canals with grace as do the commuters in their private boats. The food is amazing, whether in an expensive restaurant or in a cheaper pizza stand. There is music in the heart of Venice. The concertinas play alongside the American rock streaming from radios in the smaller shops.
Venice has its share of history as well. I visited the site of Marco Polo’s house (replaced first by an Opera House which was then replaced by apartments. I also saw one of Vivaldi’s houses (apparently he had many movements within Venice) and the site of one of his concerts. On the waterfront square where we stayed, there were people in costume dressed as Casanova and his lady love and the ubiquitous masques carry reminders of earlier times.
One day I will return to Venice and spend at least a week there. Three days was definitely not long enough. Until then I will revisit it in my memories.
Blessings, G
“If you feel lost, disappointed, hesitant, or weak, return to yourself, to who you are, here and now and when you get there, you will discover yourself, like a lotus flower in full bloom, even in a muddy pond, beautiful and strong.”
― Masaru Emoto
I hoped to do some all out blogging today. I have been working on some new art, and still have posts about Venice and coming home to write about. Jet lag does tend to interfere a bit. So instead will spend some time returning to myself and tomorrow will start anew.
Thank you all for following the journey.
Blessings, G
Click on image to see full sized:L
Approaching the Airport in Venice (Via Water taxi)
“When the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.”
–Edith Hamilton
History like most things goes in cycles. Much the same thing that Edith Hamilton said above could be stated about many countries in the modern world. Whenever we give up responsibility for our own actions whether it is seeing ourselves as a victim, to avoid consequence or just to let someone else do it because it is easier we surrender so much more. Loss of self does not happen all at once but in a series of momentary decisions.
On Thursday we visited Athens. What an amazing sense of history. The Acropolis deserves everything said about it and the Archaeological museum shows the development of art through each step of the way. Looking at temples that were erected over 2000 years ago and museum pieces that predate that by another five or six thousand was inspiring. I can’t wait to make my own art out of some of the pieces I saw.
As we were walking back towards the bus we saw soldiers and riot police descending on a protest that was taking place. I am not sure of the exact circumstances tho it seemed to have something to do with how people were being represented. Perhaps they were taking some notes from old Edith.
Blessings, G
Click on images to see full-sized:
Parthenon
Greek Street Dude
Minotaur Bust – Athens Archaeological Museum
Mask of Agamemnon Bronze Age- Athens Archaeological Museum
“When the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.”
–Edith Hamilton
History like most things goes in cycles. Much the same thing that Edith Hamilton said above could be stated about many countries in the modern world. Whenever we give up responsibility for our own actions whether it is seeing ourselves as a victim, to avoid consequence or just to let someone else do it because it is easier we surrender so much more. Loss of self does not happen all at once but in a series of momentary decisions.
On Thursday we visited Athens. What an amazing sense of history. The Acropolis deserves everything said about it and the Archaeological museum shows the development of art through each step of the way. Looking at temples that were erected over 2000 years ago and museum pieces that predate that by another five or six thousand was inspiring. I can’t wait to make my own art out of some of the pieces I saw.
As we were walking back towards the bus we saw soldiers and riot police descending on a protest that was taking place. I am not sure of the exact circumstances tho it seemed to have something to do with how people were being represented. Perhaps they were taking some notes from old Edith.
Blessings, G
Click on images to see full-sized:
Parthenon
Greek Street Dude
Minotaur Bust – Athens Archaeological Museum
Mask of Agamemnon Bronze Age- Athens Archaeological Museum
If one had but a single glance to give the world, one should gaze on Istanbul.
–Alphonse de Lamartine
Istanbul (Constantinople is only a small part of it) was a bit overwhelming. I’ve been to places that felt like they were the middle of nowhere but spanning both Asia and Europe and bordering the Middle East, Istanbul feels like it can be a portal to everywhere. It has at various times belonged to the Greeks (Byzantium), the Romans and the Ottoman Empire and in its populace, architecture and style it incorporates all of these and more.
We visited the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii) which was moving in its scope and ceremony and then we went to the marketplace. Everywhere are people selling their wares whether they be flutes, guidebooks, yoyo tops or carpets. It can be very difficult to resist the natural charm, persistence and sheer sales ability of these street vendors. I asked one for directions to the nearest bank machine and found myself in possession of three small carpets.
After the bazaar we went on a cruise around the Bosporus Sea and then in the afternoon visited the Topakapi Palace and the Agia Sophia a beautiful building that has housed both Church, Mosque and now a combination of the two during its long history.
Someone told me long ago that the most important phrase you can learn in any language is Thank You. Over the years I have made a point in learning how to say it in as many languages as possible. This trip has brought home to me how a simple expression of appreciation to someone in their native language can open doors and make people smile. If you add to that true curiosity about their culture, faith and lives you can make friends almost anywhere
Blessings, G
Travelling
Shadow of the Mind by G A Rosenberg 
