Climbing up to the top of St. Vincent’s Gothic Church from the 14th century, this is what I saw of Carcassonne. A city that everyone told me I would not like. Some info about the church: During the French Revolution, between 1794 and 1795, the church was transformed into a metal foundry to manufacture artillery…
4711. Sounds like a JAMES BOND code, or something that M15 would whisper out when making that all important phone call. “4711, you there?” 4711 exhilarates me! The “duft” grabs me back to the German world of my mother in post-war Berlin, and then to my 1970s childhood. My mother had a bottle throughout her…
Today they tell me the door will be open! Today!! On the Friday dream road we levitate down the Corona of Via Tagliapietre. They tell us today the door will be open. Air molecules dream floatBefore the iris of your sky eyes.As pistachio gelato, we melt before you.Holy one.Such sweetness effluvia exudes from us as…
Like Bologna, the men of Florence smell good and the women who even look unattractive are gorgeous. Men smell of that cool Brilliantine early in the morning wafting that lemony Eau de Cologne, yet again, I can wash in that smell for the rest of my life. The ladies laughing at 9 am with brick…
In 1999, I was working at a french bank in London where I became addicted to a machine that was meant for the traders, but that would shoot out stories from Reuters super quick, like a telex machine. I probably sound like a cave man, but I think it was directly hooked up to Reuters…
Many years ago I found this photo of a boy while doing research. I was extremely haunted by this photo. I kept referring back to it. I am not sure what it is. I saved it on my computer and even used it as a screensaver, as I wanted to look at him. I wanted…
Way back in the late 80s when I began to study the various works of Joseph Beuys and moved into a fine art area from having immersed myself in theatre and acting and literature in the first part of the 80s, I found a treasure trove in THE PRINZHORN COLLECTION. I had come upon ADOLF…
I became an official WOOFER last June. What is Woof? Woof is a beautiful organization that basically helps curious people who want to work on a farm, get experience and learn about working on the land. Basically you try to become a volunteer farm assistant while WOOF is the organization that interfaces between you and…
Since my Berlin time, I have made a point of making my way to the various concentration camps that I have researched over the years. I grew up with a father who was a Polish Prisoner of War in various German POW camps. His first camp was in Neubrandenburg, where one can also find the…
I have a curious place in my heart for Belgium. Fashion designer Ann Demeulemeester is from Belgium. Her fashion up til 2010 when she was the head honcho, one could say is Flaneur Fashion. But I will write about this another time. For now we have Belgium and Ann D! And she is the reason…