Monday, October 6

The heart of the matter, old and new

Four buildings. One from around 12oo, the other was build in the mid 17oo's and the adjoining house was build in the late 1980's. Then we have a steaming building from the 1970's with young cows grazing, a nuclear reactor at the Rhine river. It is interesting in many ways, to visit central Europe again, soaked in centuries of history.
I am not a religious person in the sense of established, organized beliefs, represented by churches and other houses of worship. But I must say, I was very much delighted when I heard all the churchbells ringing last Sunday. From near and far, they created a most spectacular random symphony - dynamic, mysterious and serene. I then noticed, that I miss these free "concerts" in the Brave New World. It is when you dip your finger into the tradition of the "old world" again, that you find that it has some good flavors after all. Shure, there are shortcommings. One of them is the overwhelming "americanisation" that flooded Europe. Half of the German language seems to be constructed with inserts of English lingo. This sounds to my ears as if a bunch of idiots can't make up their mind which way their tounge aught to move, left or right. It realy sounds stupid.
On a nicer note, it is always marvelous to see, how people here build an make things to last. From a simple kitchen table, to houses, bridges and roads etc...

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lovely. And it actually looks like where I live in Georgia.

Anonymous said...

it's beautiful there. i love the sense of history in europe. here in the american west, redevelopment generally takes the form of tearing something down and replacing it. something 100 years old is ancient and rare. our sense of history is the 1970's, not the 1670's.
i'm glad you are having a good time, zee.

Zee said...

You live in Georgia Dcup? What a blast. Now, is that Georgia in the US, or the former USSR?

Zee said...

I am having a pensive time dear Sera.

Anonymous said...

i'm sorry you are sad.
almost everyone goes through the 'dark night of the soul' at least once in their lives, anyone who strives towards a higher consciousness.
i hope you find your light soon, lukas.

susan said...

You captured the essence of old world vs new world. Perhaps some day soon there'll be a better world where things are in better balance. We could take some lessons from Europe. Thanks for your insight and lovely pictures.

Zee said...

You're welcome Susan!
I'm back now, arrived in Boston last night. We will have to see how I can make use of "the old" and "the new" now. Watched the Obama - McCain debacle - and - maybe there is "change" after all.

susan said...

Hi Lukas and welcome back to the national nightmare. My husband had surgery yesterday so I spent some time in the crowded hospital cafeteria as well as the waiting room watching the debate with a number of very different people. It seemed to me the general feeling was disgust with McCain and respect for Obama. Let's hope I wasn't reading my own reaction on the faces of others.