Tag Archives: europe

Abandonment

“I am not so different in my history of abandonment from anyone else after all. We have all been split away from the earth, each other, ourselves.”

Susan Griffin

A once proud Polish military hospital stands empty on the grounds of an old fortress here in Daugavpils

Abandonment. It’s an unmistakeable and striking feature here in Daugavpils, Latvia. The city is dotted with a large number of unoccupied or abandoned buildings. In other places I know, Portland, Maine, or Budapest, Hungary, for example, these properties would occupy the dreams of developers. Not so here, with a continuously shrinking population and lower average incomes than in other parts of Latvia.

This building stands on November 18th Street-an address honoring Latvia’s Independence Day

Since the Russians departed in the early 1990’s, the factories have withered, and the belts, tightened. But hopefully, the once more vibrant and prosperous past here, is, as Shakespeare said in his play, The Tempest, prologue.

Even in their emptiness, even in their solitude, there is a kind of steadfast beauty and quiet promise of hope.

Flowers, perhaps a sign of hope, adorn this window ledge in an otherwise abandoned neighborhood

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Something is Very Rotten in the state of Denmark

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A quiet moment in Tallinn’s Old Town

What’s rotten of course is not something that’s occurring in Denmark, but rather the stench coming from my home, the United States. It’s the smell emanating from the rogue band of outlaws about to ride roughshod across America’s political, social and moral landscape. It’s justifiably setting off all sorts of alarms, creating new cottage industries, including countless articles on how to survive the coming apocalypse with titles like 10-Transformative Tips to Prepare for a Trump Presidency and Coping Tips for a Second Term.

For me, travel is the best elixir for all that ails about American politics. A stocking cap, my backpack and a wrinkled map is just about all I need. And the map, that’s optional. Somewhere I once read that a good cleanse of the soul could be had by just getting on a random tram and taking it to the end of the line. I’ve done that with good results many a time.

Alternatively, I love hopping a ferry to just about anywhere. My thick-treaded shoes can make a visit to a city park a memorable adventure. Sure, walking the 500-mile Camino de Santiago is guaranteed to help you leave Trump and his acolytes so far in the rear view mirror as to make them as small as their actual moral stature. But just to be clear, you don’t have to leave your seat to do some traveling. A gaze out the window tracing the flight of your local swallow works just fine.

Watching seagulls from aboard the ferry crossing Delaware Bay

Oh, and about Denmark…”‘Farewell, farewell,’ said the swallow, with a heavy heart, as he left the warm countries, to fly back into Denmark. There he had a nest over the window of a house in which dwelt the writer of fairy tales. The swallow sang ‘Tweet, tweet,’ and from his song came the whole story.” You don’t need a boat or plane ticket to get to Denmark. Just get a hold of a book from the author of that quote, Hans Christian Andersen, himself an amazing traveloguer.


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