Travels with Molly

Hi there! This page holds photos and journal entries of my summer travels beginning approximately July 30th, 1998. The most recent entries are at the top. Many of the images are details from or thumbnails of a full-size image on a linking page. Click on those which you wish to view in more detail. There are some glitches in my links which I have yet to work out, and I didn't want to miss Europe for the sake of this website, so if you don't link to the image you expect, please scroll up and down the page. Thanks! P.S. Additional text and photos elaborating on the Jungian seminar and on my trip to Normandy and Paris will be posted by October to coincide with the next issue of Ladybug News.

8/7/98 I am packing to leave tomorrow by train to Normandy. In the background, CNN is reporting on the bombings in Nairobi. An email reminds me that this week is the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. Two hours ago I was in the middle of a luncheon feast with seminar participants in Kussnacht, home of the Jung Institut. One week ago I was in a small workshop with Renos Papadopoulos, a Jungian analyst who works worldwide with the victims of trauma, helping, among other things, to set horrible events in a meaningful contex. And now I am uploading more ladybugs and cows in the pursuit of my own quirky work of connectivity. No conclusions, friends, just a series of the images in this moment. I am taking the next few days OFF (the emphasis is a message to me, more than to you) and will not be online again until August 12th, after I arrive in Paris. Take care. Be nice to each other and to someone else. And stay awake. Molly

8/28/98 NOTE: I never did get back online in Paris for a variety of reasons. I am working on a revised travelogue, including my adventures in Normandy and Paris, which I hope to have up by October. It was a fabulous journey and deserves the time it will take to shape up a good web-based account. Thanks to everyone who wrote me while I was traveling and who helped troubleshoot this page. MLG

 

8/5/98  Look, I'm NOT making this up. This cow is covered with ladybugs (I count four in this photo alone) and is sunning herself on a ledge above the entrance to a Zurich newspaper.

Two views of the Limatt River which runs into the Zurich See (aka Lake Zurich). My hotel, the Hotel Opera, is about six blocks from here.

There are fountains everywhere. This one is at the nexus of the downtown tram traffic (as opposed to the downtown traffic jam?) just across from the Stadelhoffen or station.

Also along the Bahnhoff Strasse, a very Zuricher cow. This is essentially the same view of the Limmat as my snapshot above.

Do you love it? A horticultural clock with one of the bossies.

There's a lot of smoking in Europe. This cow lives in front of a tobacco shop and sports two high-livers with cigar and pipe.

A good many byways (and even some thoroughfares) are paved with cobblestones. This gal blends in nicely with her surroundings.

 

Nineteen ladybugs at a floral stand along the Bahnhoff Strasse, reputed to be one of the world's best shopping areas.

Do you believe it? A Suisse-Haida cow along the Bahnhoff Strasse.

8/1/98 Left the Hotel Opera at about 10 am and began to walk around the lake (Zurichsee)--beautiful. Flocks of swans were feeding at lakeside, tourists were strolling in the sunlight, and bells were tolling in the many bell towers. To celebrate the Swiss national holiday there are 700 cows about the city, each painted or otherwise embellished by artists and citizen-artists.

I inadvertently stumbled into a marvelous little parade along the Bahnhofstrasse: three military bands preceded by a civilian band in bright blue and white playing, of all things, Anchors Aweigh! For all I know it is actually a European march that has been appropriated for the US Navy's theme, nonetheless several Europeans in the crowd were as bemused as I by the apparent incongruity.

After the first couple of marching bands, a military brass band took up parade stance opposite us (I really had stumbled into the best possible viewing position, front and center, where only the occasional professional photographer or policeman temporarily obscured my view). They played vigorously and quite well while dozens of Swiss citizens paraded by in all manner of traditional dress.

The parade closed with a group of men and boys holding huge brass cowbells at their groins. These "bells" set up a clacking sounds that was quite frightening. I don't know what the true history and purpose of this display was, but my mind and body immediately got the message: "Big, powerful, scary thing coming. Don't mess with it."

Click on the links in the text above to see more photos.

Wildhaus was the home of Zwingli, the great religious reformer who coined the motto, "Work and pray," or is it "Pray and work"? Well, you get the idea.

7/29/98 Wildhaus (Veeldhows), a mountain village about 55 miles from Zurich. Thus far my photos have not been able to capture the steepness of this beautiful valley, nor the incredible texture of the Swiss grass. We've been joking that, in this country of reserve, regulation and conformity, even the grass has been instructed in how to behave. Imagine the distant-appearing peaks in this snapshot looming overhead. Gorgeous.

This lodging and food establishment seems to be basing its identity on an American breakfast staple. Any idea what Friedegg really means?

I loved this building which sports elaborate half-timbering in a remarkable shade of blue that actually came through fairly well in this photograph. It was on the corner of Multigrasse in St. Gallen. St. Gallen is reputed to have some excellent shopping, and indeed we saw some tempting items. I fell in love with a paprika covered denim shift, but restrained myself.

The other tasks that face me in the short term are replacing my sandals and finding a post office. (Somehow these don't seem to be quite on the order of archetypal challenges, but you take what you can get and work with it. Right?) The Hanover Marriott, although a lovely property, is in the midst of a corporate nowhere land, surrounded by the headquarters of, I'm told, some large pharmaceutical companies, but with only a Howard Johnson's within walking distance. Ho Jo's brings back memories of eating hotdogs with brown mustard with my Grandpoo; I felt so grown up eating that spicy mustard, so sophisticated.

Later: I fixed my old sandals with Duco cement and, with a couple of touch ups along the way, they made it through the whole trip and are still holding strong.

7/23/98 I'm writing from a modest hotel just north of SeaTac Airport. I spent the afternoon at the movies, seeing Something About Mary. (Thanks, Doug, for the recommendation. It was weird, but very funny. Now the world will know that I have a twisted sense of humor.) Miles joins me in a few hours and will take me to the airport in the morning. First stop, Whippany, NJ, where I am the emcee for Passap Evolution's Fashion Show at the Hanover Marriott.