One year ago I was about to fly to Bali, as it turned out in the last window of easy international travel before wide COVID travel restrictions. It was a wonderful, relaxing, luxurious and rejuvenating trip. Part of the regrowth came from the direct experience of the cultural traditions that India disseminated over South EastContinueContinue reading “The persistence of the Mahabharata”
Tag Archives: travel
The persistence of the Mahabharata
My trip to Bali – now over, since I am returned from the tropical paradise to the dry urban refuge of my home in Melbourne – reminded me not only of Clifford Geertz, but also of the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. As we drove through Denpasar, we saw massive modern statues depicting scenes fromContinueContinue reading “The persistence of the Mahabharata”
Notes on a Balinese cockfight
I am in Bali, staying for a short stay luxury escape at Padma Resort, Ubud, which is actually at a small village, Payangan, about 45 minutes drive north of Ubud. It is a marketing sleight of hand by the resort, but no matter. For the cost of minor distance from the well-known Ubud, connected byContinueContinue reading “Notes on a Balinese cockfight”
My descriptions of the Northern Peoples – travel in Stockholm and Uppsala
I am returning today to my notes on my travels, and piecing together the literary and cultural associations prompted by my travels through Stockholm and Uppsala in June. I began to say that I knew little Swedish or Scandinavian writing or culture as I entered the country, but that was not really true. As weContinueContinue reading “My descriptions of the Northern Peoples – travel in Stockholm and Uppsala”
Poem: The State Historical Museum, Moscow
On my trip to Moscow I visited the State Historical Museum in Moscow, housed in the Nikolaevsky Gate at the northern entrance to Red Square. Its collection and interpretation are still very much informed by the approach to the historical sciences of 20th century Russian Marxism. An audio-guide turns the mysteries of Russian history andContinueContinue reading “Poem: The State Historical Museum, Moscow”
The victorious hermit in Copenhagen
I was only in Copenhagen for a day in which time I strolled down Stroget, ate some excellent pickled herring in Nyhaven, enjoyed the excellent cinnamon and cardamon buns of Danish bakeries, relaxed on a cruise boat around the harbour during which the guide was openly contemptuous of the tourist obsession with the little mermaidContinueContinue reading “The victorious hermit in Copenhagen”
Berlin, Vergangenheitsbewältigung and finding freedom in the past
After Prague we travelled by train to Berlin. There were no preeminent icons of literature – at least fiction and poetry – who I intended to discover or rediscover on this trip to the German capital. It is not because figures from German literature have not been participants in my infinite conversation over the years.ContinueContinue reading “Berlin, Vergangenheitsbewältigung and finding freedom in the past”
Reconnecting with Franz Kafka in Prague
A highlight of my recent trip to Europe was the three days I spent in Prague, renowned for its beauty, and home, at least in some ways, to three writers important to me: Vaclav Havel, Rainer Maria Rilke and Franz Kafka. I learned a little about each of these three, very different authors in myContinueContinue reading “Reconnecting with Franz Kafka in Prague”
Poem: Travel Song
I have returned from my travels, and found, despite my earlier intention to write blog posts along the way, that posting by phone from hotel rooms was not something I could easily do. I have gathered some material which I will turn into posts over coming weeks, but for now I have composed this poemContinueContinue reading “Poem: Travel Song”
Encountering Fernando Pessoa in Lisbon
Travel – I am finding – is for me an exploration of the cultural, the imaginary, the infinite conversation as much as it is sightseeing the material world. So my travel to Lisbon has been an encounter with a new writer, who I may add to my collection of the fragmentary, unsuccessful and unpublished: FernandoContinueContinue reading “Encountering Fernando Pessoa in Lisbon”
Poem: Spring in Lisbon
Spring in Lisbon The pale indigo fireworks of spring Stand like guardians Of my origins. In this great square Where the people have fled The iron and stone pillars Their rulers dictated they know I walk this city for one day: Through the broken urns Of Phoenicians, and the Ruined palace stairs Of the moors,ContinueContinue reading “Poem: Spring in Lisbon”
The poetry of travel
“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.” Anais Nin In less than two weeks I will go on a trip to Europe with my partner, the first time we have travelled overseas (as we say in the great island of Australia) alone after nearly thirty years together. AContinueContinue reading “The poetry of travel”