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George A. Gelish

George Gelish


Last Updated: 11/20/2009

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Gender: Male
Status: Married
Age: 53
Sign: Aries

City: Melville (Huntington Twp.)
State: NEW YORK
Country: US
Signup Date: 2/8/2005

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INTENTIONAL.. (2)
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 

Category: Travel and Places
Today is a remarkable day in my life, as Terri and I have begin our second quarter century of marriage today. That's right, it's our Silver Anniversary! It's a pretty remarkable milestone, esecially these days when nobody stays married anymore.

We've been celebrating by traveling in Europe and here's the story so far:

BERLIN


Berlin was wonderful as you might imagine, a very cosmopolitan city on a par with
New York. However, what jumped out at me personally were the similarities to NYC
more than the differences. Saw all the essential landmarks - the Reichstag, the Berlin Dome, 
Checkpoint Charlie and of course the Wall.
 
The other thing that strikes me is how the shadow of the Third Reich is still very much over
 this city even though it was destroyed sixty years ago. The jaunts into the Eastern Zone were 
illuminating. Berlin has only been reunified since 1990 and the East will need some time 
before they catch up. Everywhere there are still constuction sites, razing the old Soviet - style 
buildings for something newer and better. So, Berlin is still very much a city in flux and portends 
to be for a long time to come. But then, from what I've learned of their history they've always been 
right in the middle of things!
 
The beer, the schnitzel and the kraut have been everything I expected. Especially the beer, for which 
they are justly renowned. One disappointment was the dearth of live music. Terri and I COULD NOT 
find any here on a Saturday night. I'm told this is because it's the summertime. That's pretty weak, although 
last night I heard some of the best live BeBop I've heard in years, played by a bunch of twentysomething 
German guys.
BERLIN TO VIENNA BY TRAIN

When last we left you Terri and I were making the ten hour train run from Berlin to Vienna, which was a real adventure in itself.  Our ride took us through what used to be the Eastern Zone and the Czech Republic from border to border, north to south.  I saw hundreds of abandoned industial properties along the tracks; businesses that no doubt perished with the Communist Regime in the early Nineties. There was a lot of post industrial decay and it occurred to me that each deserted business represented dozens or even hundreds of jobs that just went away, never to return.  I thought of a friend of mine who travelled these lands in a van with his punk band back in the Eighties, when the Iron Curtain was still very much in place.  He was either very brave or crazy!



East Germany seemed very agrarian and undeveloped, with new industries existing side by side with the ruins of the old, abandoned "Planned Economy" industries of the Communists.  The Czech Republic alternated between gorgeous pastoral vistas and depressed, abandoned industrial areas that gave new meaning to the phrase "God forsaken."   Some of the houses had no windows, but still looked  lived in.  Many of the old Soviet style apartment complexes stood abandoned and disintegrating.  No reason for anyone to live there anymore, I suppose.  It made me feel very lucky to be able to witness the Twenty First Century from a relatively privileged perspective, as I do.

VIENNA

If Berlin is a modern, cosmopolitan city more like NY than expected, Vienna is more what most Americans have in mind when talking about a "European Vacation."  It has Old World Charm and romance to spare.  Like Rome, this city was once the Center of the World under the rule of the Hapsburgs, who ruled their vast empires from here.  But all empires crumble eventually and another nation steps to the fore. 



One thing that jumps at me is how clean this city is.  The "Zoological Garden" transit hub in Berlin could have been the Port Authority and graffiti abounded. It had a real "New York ca. 1985" feel to it in a lot of ways. Maybe Giuliani can get a job over there, I hear he wants to run for Mayor again. (Good luck with THAT!)  No piles of trash here in Vienna.  The subways are spotless.  They must have homeless here but you don't see too many, as you do in Berlin. Nary a piece of garbage on the streets, unlike back home where I have to pick beer cans, empty cigarette packs and McDonald's bags off my front lawn every day. The other thing that jumps out at me is how close everything is here.  Going from Berlin to Vienna is almost as easy as taking a train from Boston to DC.

This is also the city of Mozart and Strauss and we celebrated both accordingly.  We visited Mozart House, where he lived during his three most prosperous years. There were exhibits about his life and times but few actual artifacts, alas.  In some historical houses you can still feel the vibes of the former inhabitants when you visit but in this case there really weren't any.  On a happier note, we went to the ornate musical palace built by the Strauss brothers to perform their music and where people could dance the waltz.  There we had the wonderful experience of hearing a program of Strauss and Mozart, played by moonlighting musicians and singers from the Vienna Opera. It was a kind of "touristy" thing to do but the music spoke for itself.  They even had dancers waltzing onstage. To hear the orchestra play the "Blue Danube Waltz" in Strauss' own house was special indeed.  ...And I tried REAL HARD not to think of "2001 A Space Odyessey!"

To my surprise I knew almost every song on the programme!  I was starting to think I was actually cultured until Terri told me that they used Classical themes a lot in the old cartoons to burst my bubble, as she likes to do.  All kidding aside, it was a real highlight of the trip and an unforgettable experience.

Today's our last night in Vienna and tonight we're on the train to Brussels in a sleeper car.  More to come...

2:26 PM
 
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INTENTIONAL VIOLENCE

 
a very cool update George, Man I hope to see this stuff one day........
see you next week!
 
Posted by INTENTIONAL VIOLENCE on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - 6:25 PM
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