Category: Personal

Ljubljana

I just spent three days in Ljubljana, which is one of the most delightful cities in Europe. It’s a small city (population about 300,000), but a beautiful one, with a mixture of Austrian and Mediterranean influences. The weather was gorgeous, and everyone was hanging out in the cafes that run along the river. And Ljubljana is also quite alive and exciting culturally–with innovative artists of various generations, as well as the philosophers of the Zizek school. I wish I could spend a week here every year….

I just spent three days in Ljubljana, which is one of the most delightful cities in Europe. It’s a small city (population about 300,000), but a beautiful one, with a mixture of Austrian and Mediterranean influences. The weather was gorgeous, and everyone was hanging out in the cafes that run along the river. And Ljubljana is also quite alive and exciting culturally–with innovative artists of various generations, as well as the philosophers of the Zizek school. I wish I could spend a week here every year….

Graz, Austria

So here I am in Graz, Austria, on the main square. It’s a pretty little town; the core has the big squares and winding small streets that one finds in many of the older cities and towns of Europe. It is not exactly a cosmopolitan place, but the people here seem friendly, at least to me. That’s about all I can say, really.

So here I am in Graz, Austria, on the main square. It’s a pretty little town; the core has the big squares and winding small streets that one finds in many of the older cities and towns of Europe. It is not exactly a cosmopolitan place, but the people here seem friendly, at least to me. That’s about all I can say, really.

Amsterdam

Here I am in Amsterdam… I’m having a good time here, though the city seems to me to be much more quaint and bourgeois than its transgressive reputation in the United States would suggest. Both the prostitutes on display in the Red Light district, and the marijuana cafes, seem pretty sad to me–ridiculous tourist displays for frat boys on spring break or holiday–rather than anything that has much to do with the everyday life of the city.

Here I am in Amsterdam… I’m having a good time here, though the city seems to me to be much more quaint and bourgeois than its transgressive reputation in the United States would suggest. Both the prostitutes on display in the Red Light district, and the marijuana cafes, seem pretty sad to me–ridiculous tourist displays for frat boys on spring break or holiday–rather than anything that has much to do with the everyday life of the city.