The Charles Bridge (Karlov Most)

While in Prague, I took a couple of walks across the Charles Bridge (Karlov Most):

The bridge dates to the 14th century, and during the day is occupied with tourists who cross it as a link between Prague Castle and the Old Town, with great views of the city and the Vltava River. Vendors selling paintings and jewelry, statues, and oddities permeated all parts of the bridge, making it not so much a pleasant stroll but one filled with lots to see. One of the more interesting monuments on the Charles Bridge is this one, which many tourists were reaching out to touch:

The base is clearly rubbed often, given its shininess, and I wondered why. Consulting my guidebook, I found that rubbing the base will bring you back to Prague. Another search, through google, found this statue and others that would variously either guarantee a return to Prague or bring good luck or some other fortune.

In any case, this got me thinking a lot about the nature of ritual. How do people know to touch this statue, in this spot? How do they know what will happen when the do it? Is it because of a guide book, or because they see others doing it?

How much of what we know is based on our observations, our traditions, our "ways of doing things" that are influenced and shaped by what others have done before us? How much are our actions not so much about the result as the process of the ritual itself?

And how is any of this that different from rituals that took place in antiquity?

gelato heaven

I have a slight obsession with gelato, and there are many places in Freiburg that have it, glistening at the front of the store in a myriad of colors. I found one place on the tram line to the Institute that has single scoops for just 1 euro, and have decided that a cone a day will get me through almost all of the flavors in my time here. So, without further ado, my list:

21/5: Schokolade (a deep, rich chocolate)
22/5: Hönigmelon (actually cantaloupe, my very favorite in Italy)
23/5: Joghurt Erdbeere (strawberry yogurt)
24/5: Kokos (coconut)
25/5: Bacio (from Incontra, another gelato place)
26/5: Vanille (back at Portofino's)
27/5: Karamel
28/5: Hönigmelon (again!) AND later, Walnuss (walnut)
29/5: Schokolade, Cappucino, and Kokonuss (coconut)
30/5: Kirsche (cherry, from a new place on the third tram stop)
(forgot some days, oops)
3/6: Vanilla and Coconut (in Paris)
5/6: Pear, and Blood Orange/Peach (in Paris)
7/6: Hönigmelon/Wassermelon (Watermelon); Zuppa Inglese
8/6: Nero (a dark, dark chocolate)
9/6: Black Forest Cherry (or something to that effect, in Titisee)

So what will tomorrow be?

Hands

I really loved this fragment from a statue of Nefertiti and Akhenaten in the Neues Museum (AM 20494):

Neues Museum, Berlin

Jetlag knocked me out last night and this morning, and the day on the whole has been pretty rough. I did, however, manage to get myself over to Museuminsel by mid-day, and got my 3-day ticket for the museums on the island. My first (and only) stop of the day was the Neues Museum, which is just to the north of (you guessed it) the Altes Museum. And it was truly "new" to me, having just re-opened in 2009 after decades of decay after being ruined during WWII. Literally, it sat there for years on end before an attempt at restoration was made in the 80s, abandoned, and picked up again in 1997 under the direction of architect David Chipperfield.

I'd seen parts of the Egyptian collection before - Nefertiti's bust, the Berlin Green Head - elsewhere, such as a display in the Altes Museum in 2006. What truly impressed me on this trip was the sense of preservation in the 19th century building, and how much of the original damaged structure has been preserved, rather than covered up or made new. In this sense, the museum's damage becomes an integral part of its own history, brilliantly displayed alongside the newer, more secure structure. Fascinating!

Intro

I intend for this blog to be a anthology of my impressions as a Regular Member of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens during 2010-11. I will be in Greece from September 2010 to June 2011. In the meantime, I will post a little about my Great German Adventure of May-June 2010, during which time I will be a visiting student at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. Before this, I am journeying through Berlin, Prague, and Munich for a week.