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New-York Historical's 'I'll Have What She's Having' Examines How Jewish Delicatessens Became a Cornerstone of American Food Culture
I'll Have What She's Having': The Jewish Deli exhibit at New-York Historical Society tells a deeply moving story about the American experience of immigration—how immigrants adapted their cuisine to create a new culture that both retained and transcended their own traditions © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
New-York Historical Society's exhibition "I'll Have What She's Having": The Jewish Deli, is a fascinating exploration of the rich history of the Jewish immigrant experience that made the delicatessen so integral to New York and American culture. On view through April 2, 2023, the mouth-watering and culturally significant exhibition, organized by the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles (where it is on view through September 18), examines how Jewish immigrants, mostly from Central and Eastern Europe, imported and adapted traditions to create a cuisine that became a cornerstone of popular culture with worldwide influence.
The exhibition explores the food of immigrants; the heyday of the deli in the interwar period; delis in the New York Theater District; stories of Holocaust survivors and war refugees who found community in delis; the shifting and shrinking landscapes of delis across the country; and delis in popular culture. You get to see iconic neon signs, menus, advertisements, and deli workers' uniforms alongside film clips depicting delis in popular culture and video documentaries.
Laura Mart, co-curator of I'll Have What She's Having": The Jewish Deli, now at the New-York Historical Society, explains the transition from pushcart to delicatessen, along with the fortunes of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Some 2 million Jews came from Eastern and Central Europe to the United States between 1880 and 1924, when nativist anti-immigrant furor shut down immigration (there is a display showing some of the anti-immigrant propaganda). New York was a stopover but also a destination for millions and they brought with them their food culture, which, of necessity, was adapted.
"Why make a museum show out of the Jewish deli – which is a specific and unusual topic? The 'deli' allowed us to explore themes of how people of different backgrounds relate to one another" in such a melting pot as New York, said Laura Mart, one of the curators. "It shows how Jewish-American culture was created and maintained through generations. And it is also about joy, more important than ever. Museums are a place for joyful learning."
"It's a story of tradition and change, adaptation and resilience," said Lara Rabinovitch.
"It's our great pleasure to present an exhibition on a topic so near and dear to the hearts of New Yorkers of all backgrounds," said Dr. Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of New-York Historical, herself waxing nostalgic. I'll Have What She's Having': The Jewish Deli tells a deeply moving story about the American experience of immigration—how immigrants adapted their cuisine to create a new culture that both retained and transcended their own traditions © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
"It's our great pleasure to present an exhibition on a topic so near and dear to the hearts of New Yorkers of all backgrounds," said Dr. Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of New-York Historical. 'I'll Have What She's Having': The Jewish Deli tells a deeply moving story about the American experience of immigration—how immigrants adapted their cuisine to create a new culture that both retained and transcended their own traditions. I hope visitors come away with a newfound appreciation for the Jewish deli, and, with it, the story of the United States."
"Whether you grew up eating matzo ball soup or are learning about lox for the first time, this exhibition demonstrates how Jewish food became a cultural touchstone, familiar to Americans across ethnic backgrounds," said co-curators Cate Thurston and Laura Mart. "This exhibition reveals facets of the lives of Central and Eastern European Jewish immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that echo in contemporary immigrant experiences. It shows how people adapt and transform their own cultural traditions over time, resulting in a living style of cooking, eating, and sharing community that is at once deeply rooted in their own heritage and continuously changing."
I'll Have What She's Having is co-curated by Skirball curators Cate Thurston and Laura Mart along with Lara Rabinovitch, renowned writer, producer, and specialist in immigrant food cultures. It is coordinated at New-York Historical by Cristian Petru Panaite, curator of exhibitions. The exhibition explores topics including deli culture, the proliferation of delis alongside the expansion of New York's Jewish communities, kosher meat manufacturing, shortages during World War II, and advertising campaigns that helped popularize Jewish foods throughout the city.
As is typical of New-York Historical's exhibits, expanded presentation from its own collection and local twist includes additional artwork, artifacts, photographs of local establishments, and objects from deli owners, as well as costumes from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a mouthwatering interactive, and a Bloomberg Connects audio tour.
A soldier fighting in Italy during World War II writes to his fiancée that he "had some tasty Jewish dishes just like home" thanks to the salami his mother had sent, a confirmation of the success of the "Send a Salami to Your Boy in the Army" campaign © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Highlights include a letter in New-York Historical's Patricia D. Klingenstein Library collection from a soldier fighting in Italy during World War II writing to his fiancée that he "had some tasty Jewish dishes just like home" thanks to the salami his mother had sent—confirmation of the success of a famous "Send a Salami to Your Boy in the Army" campaign. (Panaite painstakingly poured over a huge collection of World War II letters, one by one, to find it.)
There are photos of politicians and other notable figures eating and campaigning in delis, including then-US Senate candidate Hillary Clinton at Ben's delicatessen in Greenvale, Long Island. Movie clips and film stills include the iconic scene in Nora Ephron's romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally…, which inspired the exhibition title. This and other movie scenes underscore the prominent role of Jewish delis in American popular culture.
Special to New-York Historical's presentation is a closer look at the expansion of Jewish communities at the turn of the 20th century, not just on the Lower East Side but also in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. In the 1930s, some 3,000 delis operated in the city; today, only about a dozen remain.
I'll Have What She's Having': The Jewish Deli at the New-York Historical Society will evoke nostalgia in native New Yorkers, as well as a craving for a pastrami sandwich on rye © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The exhibition gives special attention to dairy restaurants, which offered a safe meatless eating experience; a portion of the neon sign from the Famous Dairy Restaurant on the Upper West Side is on display. Salvaged artifacts, like the 2nd Avenue Delicatessen storefront sign and vintage meat slicers and scales from other delis, are also on view, along with costumes by Emmy Award-winning costume designer Donna Zakowska from the popular Prime Video series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Visitors are invited to build their own sandwiches named after celebrities, such as Milton Berle, Sophie Tucker, Frank Sinatra, Ethel Merman, and Sammy Davis Jr., in a digital interactive inspired by menu items from Reuben's Deli and Stage Deli (the menus are on display).
On the Bloomberg Connects app, exhibition goers can enjoy popular songs like "Hot Dogs and Knishes" from the 1920s, along with clips of Mayor Fiorello La Guardia discussing kosher meat pricing, 1950s radio ads, and interviews with deli owners forced to close during the pandemic lockdown.
It's a trip down memory lane for so many of us native New Yorkers – with the neon signs from popular delis and suppliers (Hebrew National), menus (there is one from Reubens, the home of the Reubens sandwich, which was a very popular venue for my family).
The roots for Jewish Deli cuisine were the fermentation, the types of foods, the technology of food, that originated in Europe, but the hallmarks of the Jewish Deli culture go beyond the food – to the booths, the waiters, the zeitgeist of the deli. We learn that that ambiance evolved – first from pushcarts on the streets of the Lower East Side (street food), to stools, to counter-style take-away shops, to finally having seating in full-fledged restaurants.
Case in point: Joel Russ founded his appetizing store out of a barrel in 1907 in Manhattan. He moved up to selling herring and other salt-cured and smoked fish out of a pushcart and finally opened a brick-and-mortar store in 1914.His daughters, Hattie, Ida, and Anne, worked in the store from the time they were 11 and 12. In 1935, he renamed the store Russ & Daughters, and are known as the "Sturgeon Queens."
The delis introduced Americans to borscht (Slavic), gefilte fish, kishke (Slavic), vereniki (Ukrainian), kasha varnishkes (Russian), herring and chopped liver ("What am I, chopped liver?"). Also latkes (Ashkenazi), blintzes, knishes, rugelach and babka. Cheesecake is actually an American innovation.
The industrialization of beef production and processing actually made Kosher beef more desirable, hence Hebrew National's slogan, "We answer to a higher authority." © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Interestingly, the rise of industrial food processing and cattle production (which mass produced beef and discouraged pork consumption) actually increased the desirability of Kosher food – certified as meeting religious standards, hence the Hebrew National slogan, "We answer to a higher authority."
Jewish entrepreneurs in Chicago capitalized on the opportunity to produce kosher beef, but ultimately, what became the Jewish Delicatessen was American.
I'll Have What She's Having': The Jewish Deli at the New-York Historical Society traces how Jewish cuisine was assimilated into American culture © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
"Meat was expensive in Europe. Jews couldn't own land and meat was a luxury. But in the United States, meat became central to deli food." At first, there was strict separation between deli restaurants like Katz' and dairy restaurants, like Ratner's – because Koshruth forbids the mixing of meat and milk – but over time, and with assimilation, even delis would offer items like cheesecake as dessert after a corned beef sandwich.
We learn about the Vienna Beef factory, founded in 1893 by Jewish Austro-Hungarian immigrants Emil Reichel and Sam Ladany. They first sold frankfurters at the 1893 World's Columbia Exposition in Chicago, then expanded to include Vienna sausages, pastrami, corned beef and salami.
A photo of Katz' Delicatessen, circa 1900, one of the artifacts on view at I'll Have What She's Having': The Jewish Deli at the New-York Historical Society tracing how Jewish cuisine was assimilated into American culture © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Katz's Delicatessen, likely the oldest continuously operating deli in the US, was founded in 1888 by two brothers named Iceland. The Katz family became business partners and by 1917, bought out the brothers. At a time when most deli food was being sold from carts and barrels on the street, Katz's was a brick-and-mortar delicatessen.
In 1916 on Coney Island, Polish immigrant Nathan Handwerker began building his empire by selling franks for five cents and undercutting his competition, Feltman's.
And then there is this intrigue: fraud and corruption became pervasive in the kosher meat industry. In 1925, an estimated 40 percent of meat sold as "kosher" was non-kosher. In 1933, the NYC Department of Health and US Department of Agriculture raided Jacob Branfman & Son, one of the city's main kosher delicatessen manufacturers, and seized over 1,400 pounds of nonkosher beef briskets. The owner was sentenced to 30 days in the infamous city workhouse.
A sign from Katz Delicatessen from the World War II-era campaign © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
During World War II, Jewish delis promoted a campaign to "Senda Salami to Your Boy in the Army" (the slogan was developed by Sixth Avenue Delicatessen waiter Louis Schwartz) and used by delis including Katz's. The slogan became so popular that comedian Jerry Lewis used it in the film, "At War with the Army" (1950).
Louis G. Schwartz, aka "Louie the Waiter," helped raise more than $9 million in war bonds – that paid for 66 P-47 Thunderbolt fighter planes, each which bore the moniker, "Louie the Waiter." Schwartz developed a rhyme to inspire patrons to buy the bonds, "you'll buy war bonds sooner or later, so get them from Louis the Waiter!"
Al Hirschfeld's caricature of Sixth Avenue Deli's Louis G. Schwartz, aka "Louie the Waiter," helped raise more than $9 million in war bonds and created the slogan, "Senda Salami to Your Boy in the Army".
Most interesting is to learn about some of the people who found refuge in the delis – as owners or workers. Paula Weissman, born in present-day Ukraine, survived Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. She arrived in New York in 1948 with two dollars. After working in a Brooklyn girdle factory, she was hired as a temporary waitress at Fine & Schapiro Kosher Delicatessen on West 72nd Street. The 7-day temp job turned into 30 years."In her black uniform and white shoes, Paula took the orders of Zero Mostel, Molly Picon, Rita Moreno and many other Broadway stars."
Rena Drexler was liberated from Auschwitz in 1945 and moved to Munich, Germany, where she and her husband, Harry, began their new lives working in a deli. The couple moved to Los Angeles in 1951 and opened Drexler's Deli on Burbank Boulevard in 1957, selling kosher meals and products for the Orthodox Jews who settled in the neighborhood.
Paula Weissman, one of the Holocaust survivors who made a new life at Jewish delicatessens © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The original owner of the Second Avenue Deli, Abe Lebewohl, was a Holocaust refugee. Upon arriving in America and not even speaking the language, he took his first job in a Coney Island deli as a soda jerk, graduating to counterman and over the next few years, learning the secrets of superb pastrami and other traditional Jewish delicacies. In 1954, with a few thousand dollars he managed to set aside, Abe took over a tiny 10-seat luncheonette on East Tenth Street—the nucleus of the 2nd Ave Deli. Working around the clock for years—often filling in as cook, counterman, waiter, and even busboy—he put all his time and energy into making a success of his tiny establishment. "He never turned anyone away for lack of funds, he fed striking workers, homeless." In 1996, he was robbed and murdered when making a bank deposit; the case unsolved.
In a nostalgic tribute to departed delis that continue to hold a place in the hearts of many New Yorkers, photographs show restaurants that closed in recent years. Eateries include the Upper West Side's Fine & Schapiro Kosher Delicatessen, Jay & Lloyd's Kosher Delicatessen in Brooklyn, and Loeser's Kosher Deli in the Bronx. An exuberant hot dog-shaped sign from Jay & Lloyds Delicatessen, which closed in May 2020, and folk artist Harry Glaubach's monumental carved and painted signage for Ben's Best Kosher Delicatessen in Queens, also pay tribute to beloved establishments. The exhibition concludes on a hopeful note, highlighting new delis that have opened their doors in the past decade, such as Mile End and Frankel's, both in Brooklyn, and USA Brooklyn Delicatessen, located steps from the site of the former Carnegie and Stage Delis in Manhattan.
Ben's, still a force on Long Island and Manhattan is illustrative of the changes in the Jewish Deli that followed changes in the lives of American Jews. To be blunt, in the mid-20th century, restrictive covenants that barred Jews (and Blacks) from living in certain neighborhoods were lifted, and American Jews were flocking to the suburbs. The delis followed.
What I found fascinating was that the Jewish deli grew up as the American industrialized cattle industry grew – displacing home-grown pork – making beef plentiful and giving rise to the sky-high thick pastrami and corned beef sandwiches that would never have been available to Jews in their European shtetls, where meat would have been a cherished rarity.
Folk artist Harry Glaubach's monumental carved and painted signage for Ben's Best Kosher Delicatessen in Queens is on view at I'll Have What She's Having': The Jewish Deliat the New-York Historical Society © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The exhibit ponders how it was, why it was that Jewish deli became so much a part of American pop culture.
"There is no definitive answer as to why the deli has inspired generations of Jewish filmmakers, comedians, musicians and writers. Perhaps it is because so many Jewish creatives got their start in New York City, where they frequented Jewish delis and later infused these experiences into their work. Or maybe it is because the Jewish deli is one of the most public secular environments in Jewish American life. It is a place where characters can demonstrate or celebrate their Jewish identity outside of private or religious spheres. Whatever the reason, the deli continues to have significant influence on Jewish artists."
The fifth generation "Katz," Jake Dell, alongside a model of his family's delicatessen and a video of the famous scene in "When Harry Met Sally" movie which provides the title for the New-York Historical Society's exhibit, at I'll Have What She's Having': The Jewish Deli. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The better question has to do with how Jewish cuisine has become as integrated into in American culture as bagels (with or without lox). And that's because so many of the creatives – in Broadway theater, film – were Jewish.
But Jewish delis, themselves, are struggling today, particularly after the coronavirus pandemic, but also because of changing economics – the cost of that two-inch high pastrami on rye, the rent. The sandwich that used to cost $1.95 (see the Reubens menu), now costs $25. The fifth generation "Katz," Jake Dell, on hand at the press preview, spoke of the changing economics, he said that they don't even make a profit on a $25 pastrami sandwich. "The profit is in the soup."
Programming: Private group tours can be arranged throughout the run of "I'll Have What She's Having": The Jewish Deli. Family programming includes a food-focused family day celebrating foodways brought to New York City by immigrants from around the world. Living History programs bring to life the stories of proprietors, patrons, and staff of New York City's Jewish delis. Visit nyhistory.org for dates and details.
"Confronting Hate 1937-1952"
"Confronting Hate 1937-1952" exhibit at New-York Historical Society documents the American Jewish Committee's groundbreaking campaign to combat anti-Semitism and ultimately to fight all forms of hate and bigotry © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
After enjoying the joyful "I'll Have What She's Having," go up to the second floor of the historical society for another, more serious, exhibition that is so timely in the here and now: "Confronting Hate 1937-1952" about the American Jewish Committee's groundbreaking campaign to combat anti-Semitism and ultimately to fight all forms of hate and bigotry. To reach as many Americans as possible in the period leading up to the Holocaust, World War II and the aftermath, the agency embraced new mass communication technologies and partnered with talented allies – artists, writers, political leaders, church groups, politicians, magazine and newspaper editors. They produced comic books, ads, articles. Among the celebrities who joined a "Speaking for America" poster campaign in 1946: Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and Danny Kaye, plus President Harry Truman and Admiral Chester Nimitz.
New-York Historical Society, New York's First Museum
At the New-York Historical Society, New York's first museum, you experience 400 years of history through groundbreaking exhibitions, immersive films, and thought-provoking conversations among renowned historians and public figures. A great destination for history since 1804, the Museum and the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library convey the stories of the city and nation's diverse populations, expanding our understanding of who we are as Americans and how we came to be. Ever-rising to the challenge of bringing little or unknown histories to light, New-York Historical will soon inaugurate a new annex housing its Academy for American Democracy as well as the American LGBTQ+ Museum. These latest efforts to help forge the future by documenting the past join New-York Historical's DiMenna Children's History Museum and Center for Women's History.
Digital exhibitions, apps, and For the Ages podcast make it possible for visitors everywhere to dive more deeply into history. Connect at nyhistory.org or at @nyhistory on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Tumblr.
The New-York Historical Society is located at 170 Central Park West at Richard Gilder Way (77th Street), New York, NY 10024, 212-873-3400, nyhistory.org.
Jewish cuisineJewish cultureJewish DeliJewish delicatessensJewish heritageNew-York Historical SocietyNYC exhibitionsNYC museums
Adventure Travel, Cultural travel, Culture, Historic Places, International Travel, Places of History
Visit to Peru's Sacred Valley is Best Way to Prepare for Inca Trail Trek to Machu Picchu
October 29, 2022 krubin723 1 Comment
A weaver at Manos de la Comunidad, a handicraft center where we see the different varieties of llama and alpaca, learn about how the wool is produced, the raw materials that the dyes are made from, and watch villagers at their looms make stunning textiles on Alpaca Expeditions' Sacred Valley tour © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
By Karen Rubin, Eric Leiberman & Sarah Falter
We prepare for our Alpaca Expeditions four-day/three-night Inca Trail hiking/camping trek to Machu Picchu by spending an extra day Cuzco and the Sacred Valley – the absolutely best way to begin to acclimatize to the high altitude before the trek, which goes up to nearly 14,000 feet. This is the best way to avoid debilitating altitude sickness, but also to lay the foundation for appreciating what we will see and experience along the trail.
While it would be best to have arranged two or three days to acclimate before the trek – which would also provide more time to visit the extraordinary sights in Cuzco, Pisac and Ollantaytambo – having come from a week in the Galapagos for this grand finale to Eric and Sarah's six-month odyssey, we only have one full day before starting out on the trek, so Alpaca Expeditions' one-day Sacred Valley tour is ideal.
Our guide, Jaime, picks us up at 8 am our charming boutique hotel, the Amaru Inca (Cuesta San Blas, 541, Cusco City Center, Cusco, 84) which must once have been a hacienda, and we set out in private car into the countryside, where we immediately see neighborhoods, villages and communities.
Cuzco's most famous monument, the statue of Christo Blanco with open arms that overlooks the city © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The road begins its twisting rise into the mountains and Jaime stops just before the Sacsayhuaman fortress at a point where we are level with Cuzco's most famous monument, the statue of Christo Blanco with open arms that overlooks the city. Eight meters high, it was created by Cusco sculptor Francisco Olazo – a gift from Palestine in 1945 – and a mini version of Rio's statue. From here, the Cathedral and churches and Spanish-style buildings are most prominent.
Looking down at Cuzco, you see the Spanish structures built over the Incan structures © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Cuzco was the capital of the Incan Empire, and according to its lore, the "navel" of the world, and at its peak, had 30,000-40,000 inhabitants.
"There is nothing like Cuzco in any other part of South America," Jamie says, "for the concentration of people and sites." There are some 1,250 sacred sites in Cuzco.
The hostels we stay in today were once homes – first of Inca who began to take over Cuzco in 1000 AD, then rich Spaniards who came in the first century after conquest, in 1536.
The Incan heritage pretty much had to be resurrected, because the Spanish did their level best to eradicate the culture, and especially the religion which was based on nature worship – literally building their palaces and churches on top of Incan palaces and temples -you can still see the foundation stones.
'It's as if they were saying, 'We are upon your god. Submit.'"
The Spanish conquerors intentionally eradicated the Incan culture and society © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The center square, would have been the city's market place and where religious ceremonies would have been held, was renamed by the Spanish the Plaza de Armas – the place of arms – where they would have held executions of rebels.
Our guide Jamie explains that the Inca were actually the ruling family – not the people – who basically ruled over some 50 different tribes and city-states, speaking different languages. Some 20,000 to 40,000 Inca nobility ruled over a population of 10 to 20 million that at its peak, spanned as far as Columbia, Ecuador, Chile and Argentina. The Inca expanded its empire from Cuzco by conquest and "diplomacy" between 1000, reaching its peak in the mid 1400s, 125 years before the Spanish conquest in 1536.
What is so remarkable is the Empire the Inca built – the monumental architecture and 3,000-miles of road network reaching all corners of the empire – was accomplished without the benefit of draft animals like the horse, the wheel, without iron or steel tools, a written language or currency.
How was it possible for a few hundred Spanish conquistadors to conquer the Incan Empire with a population of 20 million? The Spanish seemed to arrive during a perfect storm of turmoil and weakness in the Empire. The Inca Emperor Huayna Capac had died in 1529 after contracting smallpox, that likely came from Maya fleeing south along the roads the Inca built; two brothers were embroiled in a civil war to become the new Emperor.
Atahuallpa, the 13th and last emperor of the Inca, was victorious in a devastating civil war with his half brother, only to be captured, held for ransom, and then executed by Francisco Pizarro.
The tribal people were not motivated to battle the Spanish invaders. Many were happy to be rid of the Inca rulers and allied with Spaniards ("The Inca weren't very nice," Jamie says), and for some, the Spaniards seemed to be the incarnation of the priests' prophesy of Armageddon and to have superhuman power. The first group of 90 Spaniards arrived in Cuzco in 1533 in Cuzco and lived together with Cuzco population for three years; a second, larger, more militant group came in 1536, determined to take the Inca's gold and silver and forcibly replace the indigenous religion based on nature worship, with Christianity.
The Spaniards intentionally built their churches and palaces on top of the Incan temples and palaces and did whatever they could to eradicate the pagan religions. (Some continued to observ their religious rituals in secret – even up to modern day and as recently as 15 years ago would practice secretly. Today people openly practice. "The church knows our religion was respecting nature," Jamie says.)
The Incan leader Manco realized the Spaniards weren't leaving, so rose up against them, but the Incan weapons were no match.
After the third battle, the indigenous population abandoned Cuzco and the Spanish took over their properties.
If the Spaniards would have come 50 years later, Jaime says, the Incan Empire may have taken over Mexico and been powerful enough, unified enough to drive the conquerors out, he says.
At the Manos de la Comunidad, a handicraft center, we learn the vital importance of domestication of llama and alpaca to the Incan Empire © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
We stop at the Manos de la Comunidad, a handicraft center where we see the different varieties of llama and alpaca, learn about how the wool is produced, the raw materials that the dyes are made from, and watch villagers at their looms, make stunning textiles (there's also a fantastic gallery, museum and a large store).
A weaver at Manos de la Comunidad, a handicraft center, © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
This visit provides fascinating insights into the culture and heritage – the human ecosystem that shaped and sustained the Incan Empire – the environment that supports agriculture (enough food and calories to fuel the building of these monumental structures and support an army) and domestication of animals, how the natural materials at hand shaped the culture, and the structure of society.
A weaver at Manos de la Comunidad, a handicraft center © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
You realize how critical to the success of the Incan Empire the domestication of llama and alpaca were – they could carry goods, and for producing wool for clothes. Also, the grasses were food for the animals but also used to make the ropes for bridges and hauling the massive stones (I suspect were also used to make the straight lines without the benefit of rulers.)
These finely-woven textiles and the monumental architecture were the main arts of the Incan Empire; instead of written communications they used knotted strings (quipu), which still cannot be deciphered but which (Karen postulates) might have been a kind of Morse code. The colors and patterns of clothes would communicate tribal affiliation, friend or foe.
The source of the natural dyes for the textiles © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The Inca's success at farming had much to do with the fact the Inca calendar was tied to astronomy. Inca astronomers understood equinoxes, solstices and zenith passages and the Venus cycle. Religious leaders –the only others besides the nobles who were educated – used their knowledge as power over the people who were kept ignorant. The priests would use the solstice as if the people's religious devotion would bring back the longer days. They couldn't predict an eclipse, but they well understood how it operated.
Weavers at Manos de la Comunidad, a handicraft center © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The Inca also used mathematics to divide up political governance (a system of 10s), assess taxes, keep the census, and to do the calculations necessary to create such monumental architecture.
A father and child at Manos de la Comunidad, a handicraft center © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
We also see guinea pigs in cages. These were used for food at important festivals, and even today are served for festivals as well as in restaurants.
But the Inca could not have accomplished what they did – labor, military might – without enough food (calories) to support the population, which is why the Machu Picchu Sacred Valley was so vital.
Sarah and Eric pet a baby alpaca at Manos de la Comunidad, a handicraft center © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
We stop at a famous overlook known as El Mirador (Lookout Point) from where we can see the Sacred Valley – an abundance of fertile plains in this high area of the Andes – spread out in front of us.
The view from El Mirador (Lookout Point) of the Sacred Valley © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Manco Capac, around the year 1000, claimed to be the "son of the sun god Inti," sent to earth to become first king of the Inca. He was known for his courage, and taught the people how to grow plants, make weapons, work together, share resources and worship the gods – in other words, set the parameters for the society. Karen suspects Manco was an agricultural genius and that was the source of his power – political and religious – over the people.
Besides military might and a brutal form of "justice," the Inca ruled through religion – and superstition. Essentially, their religion was based on nature and the different tribes had their own local gods and idols – they worshiped the gods and goddesses of rain, lightning, rainbow (connected with fertility), moon, sea and water. The Inca imposed sun worship of Inti over other cults such as Pachamama (Earth Mother). The people drafted to build their palaces and temples did it out of devotion to god, Jaime says, rather than being impressed into service.
The success of the Inca was in cultivating crops – maize and potato –the domestication of llamas and alpacas as a pack animal and source of meat, wool and rope (the only domesticated animals in pre-Hispanic America), the terraces and irrigation technology.
Chancing upon traditional dancers filming a video at El Mirador © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The elevation of the valley provides the perfect climate for growing corn (maize), so Inca named in Sacred Valley (a golden staff also comes into play). The maize was also used to make a fermented liquor that was used in religious ceremonies, adding to the "sacred" nature of the valley.
They modified the river bank with sand bags to control flooding and perfected irrigation techniques to create more arable land; the terraces created micro-climates for producing different crops.
Terracing and irrigation account, plus the ability to find fertile soil and take advantage of micro-climates account for the Inca Empire's success in producing food © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The Inca society was a combination of feudalism and socialism. While they did not have currency and technically did not use slaves, instead, the exchange of goods and services was based on reciprocity between individuals and among individuals, groups, and the Inca rulers. Farm production was divided up with 25 percent going to the Inca rulers and nobility, 25 percent to the priests and religious institutions and half kept by the farmers. The Inca rulers (who theoretically owned all the means of production) reciprocated by granting access to land and goods and providing food and drink in celebratory feasts for their subjects.
When the Spanish came, they introduced a feudal system – where the Spanish owned all the land. That persisted up to as recently as 1969, when a socialist (nationalist) president came to power.
"The government bought the land to give to farmers, brought more freedom, and the right to go to school. For the first 15-20 years, it didn't work well because farmers didn't know business like the landlord, didn't have the export connections, and were used to being bossed. The government had to step in, 'Remember the Inca time' – and get them to act in as a cooperative. Today, every farmer has his own land. Peru's biggest export is avocado; its corn is shipped to Japan, Germany and Canada."
As we drive into the countryside, we see women in traditional dress, pass markets and see buildings painted with election posters © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
As we drive into the countryside, we see women in traditional dress, we pass markets. Many of the houses – still made of adobe – were swept away in a massive flood and are being replaced with brick structures which do not seem completed (to save taxes?). There is an election underway and we note campaign posters painted on whole buildings.
Before the day is done, we will have a chance to explore the archeological sites of Pisac and Ollantaytambo before making our way back to Cuzco for our 6 pm orientation with Alpaca Expeditions for our Incan Trail trek the next morning.
The permits to do the Inca Trail trek are limited to 500 a day for all the trekking companies and get booked up months in advance.
More information: Alpaca Expeditions, USA Phone: (202)-550-8534, [email protected], [email protected], https://www.alpacaexpeditions.com/
Next: Exploring Pisac, Ollantaytambo
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Cruising, Cultural travel, Culture, European travel, Historic Places
CroisiEurope's Elbe Princesse Rivercruise: Berlin, a Cultural Capital Again
The Brandenburg Gate, built in 1791, "survived 300 years, 2 world wars, 2 dictatorships, 1 wall" and restored to its glory © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Berlin is a surprise. The last time I was here, which was just after the fall of the Wall, it seemed dark, grey. Berliners were literally chipping away at the Berlin Wall, selling the graffitied pieces (the first act of Capitalism).
Berlin 1990. The first act of capitalism is selling the pieces of the Berlin Wall after the fall. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Our guide, Sylvia, shows the "then and now" at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Now, I find the city bright, bustling and building. And an interesting amalgam of how Germany's various historical époques, even the Soviet era, have been integrated in the reconstructed city after World War II.
What is most interesting to me, especially as we stop at the Brandenburg Gate, is how Nazism seems to have been ripped out from the roots, like weeds from a garden.
There is still some evidence of Soviet control, especially as we go through what would have been East Berlin (later, at Potsdam, we will learn the backstory of how Berlin was divided).
Reminder of a Berlin divided into sectors by the World War II victors © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Soviet era art on a building in Berlin © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The Elbe Princesse is docked in a lovely neighborhood park in one of the city's 12 districts. We have a bus-tour today, which I am grateful for because the city is really vast and I only have one day here, but it is soon obvious, you need to spend at least two or three days.
Our guide, Sylvia, gives us a bit of history as we travel from district to district, neighborhood to neighborhood.
Apartment buildings built for workers before World War II © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
We drive around the Victory Column – Hitler had it moved in the 1930s as part of his plan to make Berlin the capital of the World, Germania. To cement his dictatorship, the Nazis set fire to the Reichstag, and blamed the opposition as an excuse to exert martial law.
We get out to walk around, stopping first at the new memorial to the Sinti and Roma murdered in the Holocaust. Out of 2.5 million Sinti & Roma, only 5000 survived (the German word for gypsy, Zigeuner, means trash and is forbidden).
The new Holocaust memorial to Sinti and Roma across from the Reischtag in Berlin © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Very close to the Brandenburg Gate is the Reichstag – the Parliament Building. People are lined up to tour the building, and can go up to a modernized glass dome.
The Reischtag in Berlin © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Visitors can ascend to the modern dome of the Reischtag for a great view © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The Brandenburg Gate, which dates from 1791, was part of the original wall around Old Town, and is the only one of 18 historical gates still remaining. "It survived 300 years, 2 world wars, 2 dictatorships, 1 wall."
In 1806, Napoleon arrived in Berlin after defeating Prussians, entering through center of gate. He promptly "expropriated" the sculpture on top of the gate.
For 20 years, the Gate was in a no-man's land between East and West Berlin, and could not be visited. Then, in November 1989, the wall came down.
All the buildings that flank the Gate were built after 1989, Today, the US Embassy and across from the embassy, a Holocaust memorial that opened in May 2005, 60 years after the end of World War II in Europe.
New York architect Peter Eisenman, who won a design competition to establish a central memorial site, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, placed 2,711 concrete slabs of different heights that appear as graves or coffins (the heights, Sylvia said, are supposed to represent the number of Jews killed in a place). The 19,000 sq. meter area is open day and night. The memorial is intentionally set on a slight slope and its wave-like form is different wherever you stand.
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe by Peter Eisenman, is across from the US Embassy in Berlin © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The memorial to the Shoah is supplemented by the underground information center, also designed by Eisenman. In a space covering 800 square meters you can find information on the victims and the locations. Themed rooms such as the Room of Dimensions, the Room of Families, the Room of Names and the Room of Sites deal with the fates of individuals, with photographs, diaries and farewell letters. Short biographies take the victims out of their anonymity. Historical photographs and film footage show the sites of persecution and extermination. (Cora-Berliner-Straße 110117 Berlin, www.stiftung-denkmal.de/en)
In the Museum Island complex we see where there are still holes from bullets and artillery fire in the Roman columns are the city's most important museums (which were in the Soviet zone, so that the Allies had to build comparable museums): the Altes Museum (Old Museum), the Neues Museum (New Museum) the Bode Museum, the Pergamon Museum and the Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery). The collections in these buildings encompass over 6,000 years of art and cultural history.
Museum Island was in the East German sector of Berlin controlled by the Soviet Union, so comparable cultural institutions had to be built in the West German sector © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Sylvia tells us that because all the city's important museums wound up in the Soviet zone, the Allies built comparable institutions in their quarter.
We pass the magnificent Berlin Cathedral, which dates back to the 15th century,.
Berlin's stunning architecture © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
As we pass the Royal Library, Sylvia relates that on May 10 1933, Nazis entered Royal Library, stripped the shelves, and burned the books in the square. "It's important to keep people stupid to impose dictatorship," she remarks. I mutter something about a Tennessee legislator who, when asked what they should do about banned books, said, "They should burn them, I guess," to which one of my traveling companions from Munich recoiled in horror. (Max Planck and Albert Einstein gave lectures here, Sylvia notes.)
The square outside the Royal Library was where Nazis burned books on May 10 1933 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
We go by Alexanderplatz, which was a market in the Middle Ages. (I spot "Stop Wars" as graffiti painted on a nearby building. There are also Ukraine flags on many buildings.)
"Stop Wars". © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
We drive down an avenue that leads toward Frankfurt and the border with Poland. After WWII, Stalin renamed it for himself, but when Stalin died, it was renamed Karl Marx Allee (a German Jew and the ideological founder of Socialism).
Coca-Cola on a building along the boulevard named for Karl Marx © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The mark of East Germany's time as part of the Soviet bloc is very clear when we arrive at a long, long wall – Sylvia said that the "first generation wall" was built in less than 24 hours. "Germans went to sleep on the night of August 12 and woke up on August 13 to find a 43 km wall built in middle of night, to separate east from west."
Graffiti art on the Berlin Wall, 1990 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification of East and West Germany, 118 artists from 21 countries were invited to paint murals along a 1316-meter long stretch of the wall – the longest continuous section of the Berlin Wall still in existence. It officially opened as the open-air East Side Gallery on September 28, 1990, and a year later, was made a protected memorial.
The famous "Kiss" mural on the East Side Gallery, a 1316-meter long stretch of the former Berlin Wall © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Sylvia points us to the mural that is very possibly the most famous: "The Kiss" by Russian painter Dimitri Vrubel in 1990, It depicts Leonid Brezhnev, the General Secretary of the Soviet Union at the time, and Erich Honecker, the General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of the GDR, based on a photograph taken in 1979, on the 30th anniversary of the founding of the GDR. "The photographer got two years in prison."
Possibly the most famous of the East Side Gallery murals is "The Kiss" by Russian painter Dimitri Vrubel, depicting Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet General Secretary and Erich Honecker, the General Secretary of the GDR Socialist Unity Party, based on a 1979 photo © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
118 artists from 21 countries were invited to paint murals along a 1316-meter long stretch of the wall, now enshrined as the East Side Gallery © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Andre Sacharov is memorialized in one of the East Side Gallery murals © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The 1316-meter long stretch of the wall – the longest continuous section of the Berlin Wall still in existence – officially opened as the open-air East Side Gallery on September 28, 1990 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Sylvia also points out Berlin's pride and joy, the Berlin Television Tower, built in the 1960s. At 368m, it is the tallest building in Berlin. (You can go to the top for a 360° panoramic view of the city.)
Berlin's pride and joy, the Berlin Television Tower, built in the 1960s © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Potsdam, UNESCO World Heritage City
We are returned to the Princesse Elbe for lunch and then set out again by bus to Potsdam – famous as the place where the Allies decided Germany's fate, split Europe, Germany and Berlin into sections, and launched the Cold War.
Potsdam, about a 45 minute drive from where we are in Berlin, is one of Germany's most beautiful cities, and a UNESCO Heritage site.
The Glienicke Bridge, known as the "Bridge of Spies," in Potsdam © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
We stop at Glienicke Bridge, known as the "Bridge of Spies". Built in 1907, it was used as an exchange point between the Soviets and the Allies. In 1961, during the Cold War, no civilians were allowed on the bridge, only military, diplomats. To distinguish between the American and German Democratic Republic sides, you can see the dark green versus light green colors. The first exchange came in 1962: Francis Powers, who was taken prisoner in 1960 when his U-2 spy plane was shot down over Ukraine and sentenced to die, was exchanged for Soviet Colonel Rudolf Abel, a senior KGB spy. (The 2015 Tom Hanks thriller, "Bridge of Spies" depicting the events was actually shot here – they closed the bridge for a week).
Different shades of green demarcated the Soviet from the American sides of the Glienicke Bridge © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
We stop at Cecilienhof Palace, where the Potsdam Conference took place in 1945, and are able to walk around the grounds. The palace was built in 1917 by Crown Prince Wilhelm, grandson of Queen Victoria, who would have been next emperor if Germany had won World War I. It hardly looks like a palace – he built it in Tudor style of a country manor to honor his grandmother. Today it is a hotel and museum.
Cecilienhof Palace, where the Potsdam Conference took place in 1945 and the Cold War began © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
What I hadn't known before is that Harry Truman, who had just become president after Franklin D. Roosevelt's death, got a phone call while here, 'The baby is born," code for the atom bomb was ready. He gave the order from here to bomb Hiroshima, seemingly as casually as that.
The Potsdam conference also lacked another major leader, Winston Churchill. In his place, a new Prime Minister. Clement Attlee. Stalin took advantage of them both.
Sylvia relates the back-story of how Stalin snuckered Truman and Atlee: on the last morning, Stalin drew a line in red pen through Germany and basically, said, "That's mine." "Potsdam set up the Cold War, a proxy war," she says.
We next go to Sanssouci, Frederick II (Frederick the Great)'s fabulous palace. (We wander the outside, but do not have time to go into it).
Sanssouci Palace is like a mini-Versailles © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Sanssouci Palace is like a mini-Versailles, with stunning formal gardens. The gardens were Frederick's passion, and he built them even before the palace. It was the first royal park ever to be open to the public, and for free. (Versailles Palace was built first then garden, but was solely for royal use.)
Frederick loved this place – it was his private refuge and he even banned his wife from visiting. He wanted to be buried at Sanssouci and had a crypt built, but his nephew buried him elsewhere; then, 200 years later, Frederick was reburied here, as he wanted, with his 11 dogs. We notice that people leave potatoes at the gravesite. "The Seven Years War was under his administration. Potato, brought from the Indian countries of America, was a fast solution to hunger."
Potsdam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990, became the residence for Prussia' royal family, spawning many fabulous buildings and palaces, making Potsdam one of the most-visited cities in Germany and deserves a full day visit (you can get to Potsdam by train from Berlin).
CroisiEurope's MS Elbe Princesse, docked in Berlin, our last port on the Prague-Berlin rivercruise © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Our tours of Berlin and Potsdam have been a very good introduction, but I would have liked to spend another two days in Berlin and a full day in Potsdam. But I am doing what many American travelers to Europe are doing this year and doubling up on trips from my bucket list. So the next morning, I get myself to the Berlin railway station, heading to Bruges. for my BoatBikeTours bike trip from Bruges to Amsterdam by bike and boat!
Berlin's central train station © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Departing Berlin, enroute to Bruges, Belgium © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
CroisiEurope, 800-768-7232, [email protected], www.CroisiEuropeRiverCruises.com
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Cultural travel, Culture, Historic Places, International Travel
Lobkowicz Palace is Prague's Jewel Box
Lobkowicz Palace, the only privately owned palace within Prague Castle, commands a stunning view of Prague and holds exquisite cultural treasures © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
When I come out from Golden Lane, with its tiny houses that line the Prague Castle walls, I look across to see the Lobkowicz Palace and realize it is included on the Prague Cool Pass, so decide to check it out. This turns out to be the absolute highlight for me in Prague.
The Palace, itself, is fabulous, and the collection it houses, is breathtaking. And the family's story is utterly fascinating.
Built in the mid-16th century, the Lobkowicz Palace is one of the most significant cultural sites in the Czech Republic (no hyperbole), and the only privately owned palace in the Prague Castle complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The family, once one of the richest and most powerful in Bohemia, have been key players in the history of the Czech Republic and the whole of Europe.
I know none of this when I walk in, but quickly am awe-struck.
The audio tour through 21 galleries is narrated by William Lobkowicz (b 1961), the current heir and manager of most of the Lobkowicz lands in the Czech Republic (Lobkowicz Palace, Nelahozeves, Roudnice and Strekov Castle), with some cameo appearances by his wife and mother. He puts faces as well as context to the portraits you see (as fabulous as they are, going back to the first Prince Lobkowicz, Zdenko Adalbert Popel).
The Lobkowicz Palace was built in the mid-16th century by Bohemian nobleman Jaroslav of Pernstein (1528–1569). It came into the Lobkowicz family through the marriage of Polyxena of Pernstein (1566-1642) to Zdenko Adalbert Popel, 1st Prince Lobkowicz (1568–1628), in 1603.
A painting in the Lobkowicz Palace immortalizes a key rolePolyxena and the palace played in one of the most significant events in Prague history: the famous Defenestration of Prague in 1618 © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Polyxena and the palace played a key role in one of the most significant events in Prague history: the famous Defenestration of Prague in 1618, when Protestant rebels threw two Catholic Imperial Ministers and their secretary out the windows of the Royal Palace in Prague Castle. Surviving the fall (they fell on a pile of refuse in the moat), they were given refuge in the adjoining Lobkowicz Palace, where they were protected by Polyxena. (The scene is immortalized in a painting which you can view.)
The Defenestration of Prague signaled the beginning of a Bohemian revolt against the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand II, leading to the Thirty Years' War.
"It is no exaggeration to call the Thirty Years' War the worst war in European history. The combatant nations lost between 25 and 40 percent of their populations to military action, famine and disease," states historyextra.com.
Also in this room, there is a notable painting attributed to Velazquez of the "Infanta Margarita Teresa of Spain," the daughter of Philip IV of Spain, and granddaughter of Emperor Ferdinand III, when she was four. At 15, she was married to her uncle, Emperor Leopold I, in 1666, and bore him four children before dying in childbirth at 22. (Philip would only have Velazquez paint the family). She is featured in one of Velazquez' most famous portraits, "Infanta Margarita Teresa in a Blue Dress" and in "Las Meninas" ("The Ladies-in-Waiting"), a painting that is recognized as one of the most important in Western art history.
Among the family portraits at Lobkowicz Palace, a notable painting attributed to Velazquez of the "Infanta Margarita Teresa of Spain," the daughter of Philip IV of Spain, and granddaughter of Emperor Ferdinand III, when she was four © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
But this is nothing compared to the astonishment you experience when you enter the Music Room. Here you see various historical instruments on display and the important musical personalities within Lobkowicz family in the 18th and early 19th centuries.
Ferdinand Philipp Lobkowicz (1724-1784) is described as "an eccentric melancholic, a passionate collector, scientist, painter and musician. He was the second born son, so expected to be able to devote himself to his passions – science and art. That plan was derailed when his older brother Wenzel died suddenly and Ferdinand was required to take over the ancestral estates. He preferred to reside alone in Eisenberg castle where he experimented with alchemy, created bizarre paintings, played violin and composed. He spent time outside the Hapsburg Empire – in England, Italy, Prussia – and became acquainted with important composers. He composed a Sinfonia with Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and was closely associated with Christoph Willibald Gluck. He married when he was 45 to a woman who shared his passion for music.
Joseph Frantisek Maximilian (1772-1816), 7th Prince Lobkowicz, was Beethoven's greatest private patron. Beethoven dedicated his 3rd (Eroica), 5th and 6th (Pastoral) symphonies to Lobkowicz and original manuscripts are on view at Lobkowicz Palace © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
But the family's paramount musical figure was Joseph Frantisek Maximilian (1772-1816), 7th Prince Lobkowicz, who was Beethoven's greatest private patron. The first performances at both the family's Vienna Palace and North Bohemian castle of Jezeri resulted in Beethoven dedicating numerous works to Lobkowicz, including his 3rd (Eroica), 5th and 6th (Pastoral) symphonies. Joseph was a founding member of the Society of the Friends of Music in Vienna, a member of the Society for the Promotion of Musical Culture in Bohemia and a director of the Court Theatre of Vienna. He was also responsible for commissioning the reconstruction of the palace's exterior, giving it the appearance it has today. Upon his early death, in 1816, his son Ferdinand Joseph, 8th Prince Lobkowicz (1797-1868), continued Beethoven's annuity and maintained the family orchestra, most of instruments of which survive today in the collection, along with autographed manuscripts by Gluck, Mozart and Beethoven.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder's famous "Haymaking," painting – one of only five known today is on view at Lobkowicz Palace © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Walk on and you find yourself in an intimate gallery with Pieter Bruegel the Elder's famous "Haymaking," painting – one of only five known today (one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, three in Kunsthistorisches museum in Vienna and this one), notable because it is among the first landscape paintings depicting everyday life. Just beyond, in another gallery, are two masterpieces by Canaletto: "London: The River Thames on lord Mayor's Day, and 'The River Thames Looking Towards Westminster from Lambeth," "an important and comprehensive visual record of how the city looked in mid-18th century, and among the greatest of the Venetian painter's English period works."
Another highlight of the visit to Lobkowicz Palace is an incomparable view overlooking the city from one of the balconies.
Lobkowicz Palace, the only privately owned palace within Prague Castle, commands a stunning view of Prague © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The tour continues on the first floor of this magnificent palace. In the Princess Ernestine Room you see a remarkable series of portraits painted by Princess Ernestine of Nassau-Siegen (1623-68) including her own self-portrait. Her work is notable as a 17th century woman painter, particularly because she was of noble birth. She was herself painted by Sir Anthony van Dyck in 1634, when she was 11, in one of his largest and greatest family group portraits, which possibly inspired her to paint. The portraits entered the collection through the marriage of the artist's only daughter, Claudia Frantiska (1660-80) to the 3rd Prince Lobkowicz in 1677. (We are informed that they were cleaned and conserved through funding of Friends of Heritage Preservation.)
The Lobkowicz princes, throughout history, played important roles as high-level officials working closely with kings and emperors.
After World War I and following the end of hereditary titles in 1918, Maximilian Lobkowicz (1888–1967), son of Ferdinand Zdenko, 10th Prince Lobkowicz (1858–1938), provided crucial support to the newly formed, democratic Czechoslovakia as a lawyer and diplomat, campaigning abroad for international recognition. He demonstrated his support for the fledgling First Czechoslovak Republic by making several rooms at the Palace available to the government, headed by the new nation's first President, Tomas G. Masaryk.
In the 1930s, Maximilian mustered diplomatic support for opposition to the German annexation of the Sudetenland, and during World War II he served as ambassador to Great Britain for the Czechoslovakian government in exile.
"Max supported the new Czechoslovakia in 1918, even though it abolished inherited titles," William narrates about his grandfather. "He was against the Nazi regime. He had a British wife and was active in the underground." Their property was taken by the Nazis. Most of the possessions were returned in 1945, but confiscated again in 1948 when the Communists came to power. "Max was trapped in Czechoslovakia after it was taken over by the Communists. He got a two-day pass to visit his wife. He left with nothing but his hat and coat."
The property was returned to the family in 2002, and in 2007, they opened the palace and all its collections to the public.
The surprises of this place continue.
At the end of the visit, is a special room dedicated to the "Queens of Ukraine": glamorous photographs of Ukrainian women who work in the Czech Republic. "They have worked hard all their lives as housekeepers in our country, sending money to their families in Ukraine as there was no work. Now their sons are at war and their daughters are running away with little children from a country that's fighting for its freedom."
"Queens of Ukraine," glamorous photographs of Ukrainian women who work in the Czech Republic, is a photo exhibit on view at Lobkowicz Palace to raise awareness and funds for Ukraine's plight after Russia's invasion © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
It is related to an exhibit of "Culture Under Siege" photos documenting the devastating destruction of cultural sites in Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion. They were taken by several Ukrainian photographers in two weeks early in the invasion. Religious buildings, museums, monuments, antiquities, "the silent cultural casualties in Ukraine continue to intensify, exacerbating the country's humanitarian suffering. These photographs remind us that culture is an essential source of identity and community. Where culture is destroyed, humanity's past, present and future is too."
The project was created in collaboration with Ukrainian photographers – each photo uses a backdrop taken by Ukrainian photographers in the first days of the war. "Queens of Ukraine" is aimed at highlighting Ukrainian artists and raising funds to support families suffering from war. The works were sold as NFTs (non fungible tokens), with 50 percent of the sale supporting the Queen herself and the other 50 percent supporting the Ukrainian artist, writes Bet Orten, the photographer/artist.
There are also concerts here, and I can't imagine a more impressive venue.
(Lobkowicz Palace, [email protected], www.lobkowicz.cz).
Walk out the Prague Castle gate and immediately in front and to the left is the Schwarzenberg Palace which houses the National Gallery's Old Masters I collection © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Just outside the gate to the Prague Castle, flanking the enormous square, are two palaces that are now are part of the National Gallery Prague (also included in the Prague Cool Pass):
The Schwarzenberg Palace, which it turns out was built by Johann iV Popel of Lobkowicz in 1567 and from World War II to 2002 was a Military History Museum, before being acquired by the National Gallery Prague) features Old Masters of the Renaissance (Albrecht Durer, El Greco, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hans Holbein the Elder, Brueghel), Baroque (Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck) and Rococco.
The Sternberg Palace, with its gorgeous garden, houses the National Gallery's Old Masters II collection © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The Sternberg Palace, built by Count Vaclav Vojtech of Sternberg, features Old Masters II, continuing a long tradition as the Picture Gallery of the Society of Patriotic Friends of the Arts, the National Gallery's predecessor. It features Archduke Franz Ferdinand's collection of Italian paintings of the 14th and 15th centuries, the largest collection of Italian primitive school outside of Italy. My favorite section, though, is an extraordinary collection of Dutch and Flemish painting of the 15-18th centuries from Antwerp, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Layden (Brueghal, Rubens, van Dyck). There is also a delightful garden area.
More information at www.naprague.cz
Walking around Prague, I was struck by how demonstrably pro-Ukraine the Czechs are – banners unfurled at government buildings, apartment buildings – which is understandable considering the Czech people know full well what it is like to live under the Soviet yoke. I also came upon a climate protest, and after spending a lot of time in the Jewish Quarter (a square is named for the Jewish novelist Franz Kafka, in front of the Library), and even in the National Museum, I was struck by how respectful of its Jewish heritage Prague is.
Prague, which knows something about being under Soviet Russia's rule, shows its support for Ukraine after Russia's invasion © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Also, how culturally liberal. Prague is a place of pleasure, of indulgence – you see it and feel it in the number of chocolate and sweet shops, cannabis shops, beer and wine, casino, Thai massage parlors,and a generally permissive attitude toward sex (you can visit the Sex Machine Museum at the archway to the Old Town Square).
Surprising liberal: Prague' s Sex Museum just outside the arch to Old Town Square © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
And a streetscape that is out of a fairytale. Prague is a place to wander, explore, discover, get lost and be surprised and delighted.
By now, it's time for me to return to the hotel, pick up my luggage, and make my way to Elbe Princess for my CroisiEurope river cruise. I will have one more full day here in Prague – the ship offers guided walks of the Jewish Quarter and the Prague Castle – before the ship begins its eight-day cruise to Berlin.
The Prague Cool Pass is extremely easy to purchase and use – you purchase it online, download an app, and it activates the first time you use it, and is good for the amount of time you purchase, 2 to 4 consecutive days. You just flash the QR code to the ticket counter and they issue you a ticket. (Each attraction can be visited only once. The pass provides free entry to some 70 attractions (including Prague Castle, Jewish Museum, Petrin Tower), free sightseeing bus tour, free river cruises, plus discounts on other attractions, tours in and outside Prague, concerts, entertainment, dining and other activities. The app is really helpful, giving details and visitor information about the attraction, plus maps. (See praguecoolpass.com)
Art and Culture in PragueLobkowicz PalacePraguePrague Cool PassSchwarzenberg PalaceSternberg PalaceTop attractions in PragueVisit Prague
Arts & Entertainment, Cultural travel, Culture, Food & Wine
Wine & Art: The Perfect Pairing in Sonoma, California
April 16, 2021 krubin723 1 Comment
Gundlach Bundschu Winery, Sonoma, California © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
by Karen Rubin with Dave E. Leiberman, Laini Miranda, Eric Leiberman & Sarah Falter
Wine and art are a perfect pairing, we discovered touring Sonoma, California, famous for its vineyards and wine-tasting experiences.
Think about it: wine-making is the absolute synthesis of nature, science and art, the vineyards are themselves these bucolic pastoral settings that inspire art. Indeed, there's a calming aesthetic to the neat, symmetrical rows, the pleasing colors, the sense of renewal.
Art is almost as ubiquitous as wine in Sonoma, art galleries like the Paul Mahder Gallery in Healdsburg, have their own wine-tasting; vineyards have art, like the Donum Estate vineyard with a substantial sculpture garden, as well as special art, music and cultural events, like Gundlach Bundschu Winery which organizes pop-up outdoor art shows (concerts and weddings also when COVID restrictions are lifted), and Imagery which has its own art gallery of commissioned works for its labels.
Artist Laini Nemett at opening of "Between Walls" at the Paul Mahder Gallery in Healdsburg, California © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Sonoma wineries – along with restaurants, art galleries, shops, and the whole visitor ecosystem – have made accommodations to continue to welcome guests to wine tastings while maintaining health protocols. Visits are by advance reservations to limit capacity, served outside (heaters are ubiquitous now); the art galleries and shops are well ventilated, and at this writing require masks inside and social distancing.
Sonoma County has a remarkable range of terroir and microclimates – from the Pacific coastline, the redwood forests, fertile valleys and mountains – that has produced one of the most diverse winegrape-growing regions in the world, and also one of the most picturesque.
We experienced wineries and vineyards almost daily – visiting several for tastings, to be sure, but also as the scenic backdrop to biking. They are not only so exquisitely scenic – bucolic, pastoral landscapes with color and pattern of the rows rippling with the rolling hills – but offer interesting, even dramatic histories. And just as their wines are distinct, so is the tasting experience and ambiance.
On one of my bike excursions, I came upon Buena Vista Winery, which has an entertaining way of presenting history and its own back story with a claim to being California's oldest commercial winery, in fact, the birthplace of the state's modern wine industry:
Buena Vista Winery © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The founder of Buena Vista Winery, Count Agoston Haraszthy, came from Hungary initially in pursuit of gold but in 1857, decided instead to build a stone winery on the property. He introduced cuttings from Europe's best vineyards to California and basically proved that California could produce wine. You can sign up for the "Be the Count Experience," wine blending as the Count might have done it, or taste a flight while touring the Wine Tool Museum. "If you run into the Count himself, don't be surprised; it's all a part of the experience."
Buena Vista Winery, 18000 Old Winery Road, Sonoma, CA 95476, 800-926-1266, [email protected], www.buenavistawinery.com
Imagery Estate Winery boasts "we've been exploring the intersection of art & wine for over 30 years." They are extremely proud of inviting major artists to design their wine labels and even have an art gallery of the original paintings. We thoroughly enjoyed our 45-minute alfresco tasting of five small production wines at Imagery, a winery that prides itself on "crafting rare wines from uncommon varietals and character-rich vineyards, Imagery Estate Winery was forged from a thirst for experimentation." They spotlight interesting, non-traditional varietals like Lagrein and Tempranillo, "creating expressive wines that broaden the palate."
Imagery Estate Winery © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Imagery Estate Winery infuses art throughout the winery, from specially commissioned artwork from notable contemporary artists, to its art gallery where the original artwork is displayed.
Reservations are required, and the tasting room is currently open for outdoor seated tastings and outdoor picnic tables. No outside food is allowed yet, but there is an option to order a Charcuterie box with the reservation. Imagery was planning to reopen its picnic experiences in May. At this writing, the winery was anticipating some lifting of restrictions (so call).
Imagery, 14335 Hwy 12, Glen Ellen, CA 95442, 877-550-4278, 707-935-3000, www.imagerywinery.com, Open for outdoor seated tastings, limited to groups of 6, by appointment only Thursday-Monday
Benziger Family Winery, the sister winery to Imagery, for more than 25 years, has farmed the ranch on Sonoma Mountain using Certified Biodynamics, an organic and sustainable farming method. The result is a portfolio of memorable wines which visitors can explore through a seated tasting or other tours. Set just above the small town of Glen Ellen, the winery occupies one of the most beautiful locales in Sonoma Valley. The ranch is home to numerous species of plants, animals and insects, with gardens and an insectary that play an important part in their Biodynamic farming techniques.
Benziger is currently offering a 1.5-hour Private Tribute Estate Tour & Tasting. providing an in-depth look at the Biodynamically farmed Sonoma Mountain Estate, complemented by wine tastings along the way (limited to private group of up to 6 guests).
Benziger plans to begin opening reservations for indoor tastings later this month, and plans to launch its picnic experiences in May.
Benziger has yet to re-start its two-hour "Biodynamic Tram Tour, one of the most distinctive winery experiences in Sonoma Valley. Introduced in 1994, more than one million guests have taken the tour which highlights sustainable green-farming practices. "The true goal of the tour program was to create an experience for guests that went beyond the tasting room. We wanted to immerse them in the natural environment of the land and help them understand the complexity of the Sonoma Mountain property and how it made our wines exceptional. This remains our number one goal… As our winemaking process evolved into Biodynamics with the release of our Estate grown Biodynamic wine, Tribute, in 2001, our tour evolved as well to what it looks like today.
"With the introduction of our caves, the tour was fine-tuned to give a full educational overview of the grape growing process, winery production facilities including barreling and cellaring to wine tasting. Visitors were now able to follow the full process of a working winery from the vineyard to the bottle. Further, at one of just a handful of Biodynamic vineyards in North America… 'Farming for Flavors,' our Certified Sustainability program, is still one of the most comprehensive sustainability programs in the country." (Learn more about Benziger's green farming practices here.)
Benziger Family Winery, 1883 London Ranch Road, Glen Ellen, CA 95442, 707-935-3000; benziger.com. Open Thursday-Monday by appointment only.
Gundlach Bundschu Winery © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Gundlach Bundschu makes a claim to being the oldest family-owned winery in California: for six generations and more than 160 years, since 1858, the Bundschu family has farmed the Rhinefarm estate vineyard at the crossroads of the Sonoma Valley, Carneros and Napa Valley (www.gunbun.com/history/). Gundlach Bundschu offers a delightful, bucolic setting. The winery has been offering pop up art shows and when restrictions are lifted will return to presenting concerts and weddings. We enjoyed music with a DJ during our wine tasting.
Gundlach offers tours aboard a six-wheeled Pinzgauer – an Austrian-made military vehicle – to get WAY off the beaten path on a Sonoma vineyard tour. Sip five estate selected wines at stops along the way, stop for an impromptu picnic in the vines, learn about modern grape farming techniques and soak up the views of the vinneyard on this off-road adventure. A minimum group size of 6, maximum group of 10 people is required to book. $85 per person + 18% gratuity.
Another option: a walking tour through the vineyards, guided by a wine educator to learn about their Green Business Practices, Fish Friendly Farming and other sustainable vineyard practices. Sample five estate wines sourced from the 320-acre property. (No children under 12 years old or pets on the tour0. This private group experience requires a minimum group size of 6 guests, maximum of 10, and is available seven days a week. $65/person + 18% gratuity.
Open daily 11am-4:30 pm; must book reservation in advance; groups limited to six; dogs actually welcome
Gundlach Bundschu Winery, 2000 Denmark Street, Sonoma, CA 95476707.938.5277, [email protected], www.gunbun.com
Donum Estate: Wine merges with art at Donum Estate, renowned for its open-air sculpture collection featuring over 40 works by world-renowned artists. The Discover ($95) and Explore ($150) experiences are by appointment only and include tours of open-air art sculpture collection.
Donum Estate is renowned for its outdoor sculpture collection © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Donum Estate, 24500 Ramal Road, Sonoma, 707-732-2200, thedonumestate.com.
We didn't have the opportunity to do a wine tasting at Hanzell, which commands one of the most stunning views of the hillsides and mountains, but happened to be there at sunset. We plan to return. Hanzell Vineyards was founded by Ambassador James D. Zellerbach in 1953 with a vision to create wines that could compete on the world stage. Named after his wife Hana, Hanzell sits at the southern toe of the Mayacamas mountain range overlooking the south-western end of Sonoma Valley and San Pablo Bay. After extensive time spent in Burgundy, Zellerbach returned inspired and educated by the region's wines and grapes—Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. He planted these two varieties at a time when there were less than a few hundred acres of each planted in North America.
Hanzell Winery © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Since 1975, Hanzell has been solely owned by the de Brye family, who is dedicated to the preservation of tradition with a progressive and holistic approach to ensure the sustainability for generations to come. The Hanzell Tasting experience takes place overlooking its historic "Ambassador's 1953" vineyard block on one of its new outdoor platforms. During the 60-minute visit ($45/pp), you get to taste three current release wines while learning about the Hanzell story, our progressive integrated farming practices and winemaking philosophies. Tastings by appointment only; limited to six people.
Hanzell, 18596 Lomita Avenue, Sonoma, CA 95476, visit www.cellarpass.com to make your reservation or call 707-996-3860.
People have the idea that wine tasting is an expensive activity, but many of the wineries in Sonoma County offer either free wine tasting or waive the tasting fee with a wine purchase.
Here's the insider's tip: it is often better value (cheaper) to join the wine club and enjoy a free wine tasting, rather than pay for the wine tasting, which provides additional privileges including discounted prices; they typically ship the bottles you choose.
Also, Sonoma County Tourism sells one- and three-day tasting pass (on mobile) that you can redeem at the wineries you choose to visit. For more information about what is open, arrangements to visit and lodging, and purchasing the tasting pass visit Sonoma County Tourism, https://www.sonomacounty.com/destinations/wine-regions
Art Experiences Abound
On the other side of the equation, art galleries pair with wine. Indeed, it was art, not wine, that brought us to Sonoma.
Our trip was timed for a special event: the opening of Laini Nemett's art exhibit, "Between Walls" at the Paul Mahder Gallery in Healdsburg, near Sonoma (paulmahdergallery.com).
Wine-tasting room at the Paul Mahder Gallery amid sculpture (and what is claimed to be the largest moss wall in America) © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Healdsburg is a wonderfully vibrant town, culturally rich with some 25 art galleries and a food-and-wine haven with marvelous restaurants and 30 wine-tasting rooms. Healdsburg has become a haven for foodies, drawn to restaurants leading Sonoma County's farm-to-table movement. Many are along the streets lining the Healdsburg Plaza, including artisan bakeries, local wine bars, and restaurants with locally-sourced ingredients from the surrounding gardens and farms. We loved our lunch at Bargas, and our dinner at the H2Hotel restaurant, with gorgeous outdoor seating areas, set around a lovely village square.
Healdsburg, California, a wine-food-art haven © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Healdsburg, which like Sonoma, depends on tourism, has taken public health precautions very seriously: signs say you will be fined if you don't wear a mask, and there are sanitizing stations at the crosswalks. Restaurants are organized for take-out and outdoor dining (space heaters available), menus are either disposable, online, or can be wiped off to minimize transactions; the retail stores have sanitizing stations, require masks, limit capacity and kept their doors open for added ventilation. The same for the art galleries like Paul Mahder Gallery, which is unusually large, well ventilated, and, as an added treat, has a wine-tasting experience, the wine bottles decorated with Paul's paintings.
Artist Kevin Kearney in his studio/gallery © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
It is a special experience to meet the artist at a gallery opening who gives personal insights into the work and creative process, but visiting an artist in his studio adds another dimension – seeing works-in progress on their easels, an entire career on display, and the opportunity to discuss the nuances and background of the works in such a personal setting.
In fact, Sonoma County has, since 1985, offered an Art Trails self-guided tour that gives visitors opportunities to learn first-hand from the artists what inspires their art, how it is made and where it is made. Juried professional artists invite you to explore Sonoma County, engage with artists in their own studios and collect beautiful art. Art Trails is held in the fall. (https://sonomacountyarttrails.org/)
During our visit to Sonoma, we had that experience with Kevin Kearney, who epitomizes the marriage of art and wine (he used to own a vineyard)
Detail in painting by artist Kevin Kearney © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Kearney is a master of exquisite, mind-blowing fine realistic detail reminiscent of the Dutch masters, but with a quirky sense of surrealism and modern sensibility, often playing on ancient myths and images. He tells us that it took 100 hours just to paint the carpet in one of his works.
"In Kevin Kearney's work, there are everyday chairs from which the viewer sees the world realistically. And there are magical thrones from which the viewer imagines haunting creatures on patterned carpets floating through cerulean skies above cerulean seas. His red walls and surreal ceruleans look tranquil enough, but beware, any minute, a tsunami could erupt," writes Barry Nemett, in the catalog for Kearney's 2019 exhibit, "Red Walls, Surreal Ceruleans, and a Tsunami," at the Ice House Gallery, Petaluma.
Ice House Gallery Presents Red Walls, Surreal Ceruleans, and a Tsunami, Paintings by Kevin Kearney
Hearing the stories behind the symbols and the imagery from the artist directly transports you into the canvas and the artist's mind.
Artist Kevin Kearney studio/gallery © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
You can request to visit the studio/gallery of artist Kevin Kearney who has his own vineyard and wine collection (https://www.kevinkearney.org/, https://www.kevinkearney.org/contact/)
Biking amid Sonoma's vineyards © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
During our visit, we rented bikes to ride on a gorgeous recreational trail that connected to back-country roads flanked by vineyards, riding into neighboring Napa county. When biking, it is fun to happen upon – discover, if you will – historic sites like the Depot Park Museum and General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo's Home, which you come upon along the trail (Wine Country Cyclery, 262 W Napa St, Sonoma, CA 95476, 707-996-6800; Sonoma Valley Bike Tours & Rentals, 254 Broadway, Sonoma, CA 95476, 707-996-2453)
We did wine-tastings at several vineyards and visited art galleries and shops; went hiking on the Kortum Trail along the Pacific Coast (what an amazing contrast to our hiking holiday in Death Valley National Park!), dined outdoors at restaurants (loved Salt & Stone, Kenwood, www.saltstonekenwood.com, 707-833-6326), played tennis on community courts, went to the farmer's market – each and every place, from the hiking trails to the vineyards, to the restaurants, galleries and shops – all followed stringent health protocols.
During the current COVID-19 pandemic, many Sonoma County wine and food experiences are still available but certain activities have been temporarily restricted or were unavailable. Sonoma County Tourism has a See What's Open website, and encourages everyone to follow public health authorities' recommendations and to review the Safe Travels Promise.
"Sonoma County is an ideal destination to reset and recover post-pandemic," said Birgitt Vaughan, Director of Global Media Relations. "A lot of this is attributed to the nature immersion that happens when you're in Sonoma County. Sonoma County Tourism shifted years ago to a Destination Stewardship organization, instituting a Travel Kindly pledge and partnership with Kind Traveler. Part of your lodging cost go toward supporting local charities.
"Sonoma County Tourism just began a partnership with our Regional Parks and Leave No Trace to help ensure visitors who enjoy the region's parks and other natural resource areas do so responsibly and sustainably." Check out how Life Opens Up in Sonoma County (https://www.sonomacounty.com/life-opens-up) and view Sonoma County Tourism's 2021 Spring/Summer Inspiration Guide.
Sonoma County Tourism can help plan your getaway (request a Sonoma County visitors guide and map).
Sonoma County Tourism, 800-576-6662, [email protected], www.sonomacounty.com.
art in Sonoma CountyBenziger WineryBuena Vista WineryGundlach Bundschu WineryHanzell WineryHealdsburgImagery Estate WineryKevin Kearney artLaini Nemett artPaul Mahder GallerySonoma CaliforriaSonoma County TourismSonoma vineyardswine-tasting in Sonoma
Arts, Arts & Entertainment, Attractions, Cultural travel, Culture, Museums and Exhibits, New York City travel
New York City Virtually: Greatest Cultural Institutions, Closed for Coronavirus, Share Exhibits Online
March 15, 2020 krubin723
The Metropolitan Museum of Art may be temporarily closed, but you can explore its collections virtually © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
New York City's major cultural institutions are temporarily closed to help minimize the spread of coronavirus, but many are making their exhibits and programs available virtually, and have websites that really engage, that make the time spent in enforced hibernation that much richer and more productive, and frankly, less maddening.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is celebrating its 150 anniversary year, has temporarily closed all three locations—The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer, and The Met Cloisters—effective March 13. Meanwhile, you can watch videos from exhibition previews to curator talks and performances (https://www.metmuseum.org/metmedia)) and experience the best of human creativity from every corner of the globe at The Met (I love watching the video of the conservation of the Degas tutu, https://www.metmuseum.org/metmedia/video/conservation-and-scientific-research/degas-tutu-conservation) and play audio guides (https://www.metmuseum.org/visit/audio-guide)
When the Met reopens, it will offer a series of special exhibits marking its 150th anniversary: The exhibition Making The Met, 1870–2020 will present more than 250 works of art from the collection while taking visitors on a journey through the Museum's history; The reopening of the galleries for British decorative arts and design will reveal a compelling new curatorial narrative; Transformative new gifts, cross-cultural installations, and major international loan exhibitions will be on view throughout the year; and special programs and outreach will include a birthday commemoration on April 13, a range of public events June 4–6, and a story-collecting initiative.
"Our galleries may be closed, but never fear! Social media never sleeps." Follow @metmuseum on Instagram for Tuesday Trivia, #MetCameos, and daily art content.
Being confined to home is a perfect time to take advantage of the Museum of Modern Art's free massive open online course What Is Contemporary Art?, available now on Coursera. This course offers an in-depth look at over 70 works of art from MoMA's collection—many of which are currently on view in the expanded Museum—from 1980 to the present, with a focus on art produced in the last decade. Learners will hear directly from artists, architects, and designers from around the globe about their creative processes, materials, and inspiration. What Is Contemporary Art? can be found at mo.ma/whatiscontemporaryart.
Dorothea Lange's iconic photograph is featured in MoMA's exhibit "Dorothea Lange: Words & Pictures". Meanwhile, take advantage of the Museum of Modern Art's free massive open online course What Is Contemporary Art?
I can't wait for MoMA to reopen so I can see Dorothea Lange: Words & Pictures, the first major solo exhibition at the Museum of the photographer's incisive work in over 50 years. The exhibition includes approximately 100 photographs drawn entirely from the Museum's collection. Dorothea Lange: Words & Pictures also uses archival materials such as correspondence, historical publications, and oral histories, as well as contemporary voices, to examine the ways in which words inflect our understanding of Lange's pictures. These new perspectives and responses from artists, scholars, critics, and writers, including Julie Ault, Wendy Red Star, and Rebecca Solnit, provide fresh insight into Lange's practice. (Scheduled through May 9, 2020).
T. rex The Ultimate Predator at American Museum of Natural History. While the museum is closed, go online to its "Explore" site for videos, blogs and OLogy, a science website for kids of all ages. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
American Museum of Natural History while closed, the website is a treasure trove of information and engaging photos and ways to explore and interact on your own. At the section of its site labeled "Explore" https://www.amnh.org/explore, there are videos, blogs and OLogy: The Science Website for Kids, where kids of all ages can play games, do activities, watch videos and meet scientists to learn more about fossils, the universe, genetics, and more. (Check out https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/brain)
"Auschwitz: Not long ago. Not far away." Exhibit at Museum of Jewish Heritage, NYC. While the exhibit is closed, there are excellent materials online. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, is in the midst of the landmark exhibit, Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. The most comprehensive Holocaust exhibition about Auschwitz ever presented in North America, the exhibit had already been extended until August 30, 2020. The museum so far is scheduled to reopen March 29; in the meanwhile, there are excellent materials at the website that will inform and prepare you for when the exhibit reopens (https://mjhnyc.org/discover-the-exhibition/about-the-exhibition/). (See Groundbreaking Exhibit at Museum of Jewish Heritage Transports to 'Auschwitz: Not long ago. Not far away')
New-York Historical Society presents "Women March" exhibit marking centennial of Women's Suffrage. Many materials are online, but you can also re-visit some of the N-YHS's imortant past exhibits, like a personal favorite, "Harry Potter: A History of Magic." © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
New-York Historical Society is closed so you will have to wait to experience "Women March," presidential/election exhibits (take a selfie in Reagan's Oval Office) and "Bill Graham" (phenomenal and surprising exhibit with fabulous musical accompaniment about this iconic concert impresario). Meanwhile, the N-YHS website offers sensational online exhibitions featuring some of their important past exhibits, including 'Harry Potter; A History of Magic," and "the Vietnam War: 1945-1975" and Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion (https://www.nyhistory.org/exhibitions/online-exhibitions). You can also delve into its digital collection, with selections from the N-YHS Museum and Library's holdings paintings, drawings, photographs, manuscripts, broadsides, maps, and other materials that reveal the depth and breadth of over two centuries of collecting. (http://digitalcollections.nyhistory.org/). (See: Many Pathways to Mark Centennial of Women's Suffrage)
Meanwhile, some outdoor venues are open, as of this writing (the situation has changed daily):
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden remains open to the public, having implemented stringent cleaning protocols and posted new signage on-site about best practices in personal hygiene. "We hope that the Garden might offer you some comfort and beauty even during a particularly stressful time." (https://www.bbg.org/visit)
Central Park, Prospect Park and Flushing Meadows may well provide needed respite. However, the Wildlife Conservation Society has temporarily closed the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queens Zoo and New York Aquarium, effective Monday, March 16. Check wcs.org for updates.
@MetMuseum#nyhistoryAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryAuschwitz exhibit New York CityMet MuseumMetropolitan Museum of ArtModern Museum of ArtMoMAMuseum of Jewish HeritageNew York CityNew York City cultural institutionsNew York City museumsNew York City VirtuallyNew-York Historical Society
Cultural travel, Culture, Festivals and Events, Heritage Travel, New York City travel, Uncategorized
New Yorkers Show Solidarity with Chinese, Asian Community at Lunar New Year Parade
NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio presents proclamation to Steven Ting, organizer of the 21st Annual Lunar New Year parade and festival, with US Senator Chuck Schumer, China's Consul General Huang Ping, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, State Senator Brian Kavanaugh, among other dignitaries © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Always a show of support, solidarity and respect for the Chinese and Asian community in New York City, this year's Lunar New Year parade in Chinatown in downtown Manhattan, welcoming the Year of the Rat, took on added urgency because of the coronavirus afflicting Wuhan, China, and the recent fire that destroyed a building housing much of the collection of the Museum of Chinese in America.
People held up signs, "Stay Strong Wuhan," but even though there have been no instances of the coronavirus in New York City, visits to Chinatown, normally at peak during the Lunar New Year celebration, have declined and business has been affected.
The parade route went just passed 70 Mulberry Street, where on the night of Thursday, January 16, a fire destroyed most of the 85,000 items stored there for the Museum of Chinese in America, housed nearby in a new building on Centre Street since 2009. The rare and cherished items preserved the rich and challenging story of the Chinese migration to the United States through such personal objects as textiles, restaurant menus, handwritten letters, tickets for ship's passage, traditional wedding dresses (cheongsam).
The building, a former school that educated generations of immigrants, is a community center that housed a senior center, the Chen Dance Center and several community groups, in addition to storing the museum's artifacts that were not on display.
Political and parade officials praised the New York Fire Department, which had a prominent place – bagpipers and all – in the parade.
Meanwhile, fear over the virus has kept people from Chinatown and Chinese restaurants during what should have been the busiest time of year, the Lunar New Year celebration.
Lunar New Year Parade and Celebration, Chinatown, New York City © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Elected officials are urging the public to take normal precautions against illness, but not to let fears concerning coronavirus stop them from participating in the event. "It's really important in this moment where everyone is understandably worried about the coronavirus, we need to be factual, we need to be scientific, and we need to be calm," NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson said.
The annual event has not only paid tribute to the contribution the Asian community has made to the city, state and nation, but immigration as a whole.
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio, reading from a proclamation, said, "As a city built by immigrations, New York is the proud home to residents who hail from every corner of the map and speak a multitude of languages. This unparalleled diversity is the source of our singularity and strength and it is exemplified by our thriving population of Asian Americans that has made invaluable contributions to the cultural, civic and economic life of the five boroughs. On the occasion of the 21st Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade and Festival, hosted by Beter Chinatown U.S.A. I am pleased to recognize the indelible imprint this vital community has made on our great and global city.
"New York is fortunate to have an abundance of organizations devoted to advancing positive change. Established in 2001, Better Chinatown U.S.A. is guided by its mission to improve quality of life in Manhattan's Chinatown and promote it as a destination of choice for our diverse residents and visitors. Its annual Lunar New Year Parade is a much anticipated event attracting thousands of spectators from far and wide for a pageant of traditional lion dances, music ensembles, and dancers in colorful folk costumes, followed by a party in Sara D. Roosevelt Park featuring Chinese food and cultural performances."
Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, one of the Grand Marshals, spoke of the resilience of the Chinese community, and how the community "contributes to the fabric of our city, our nation."
"I'm here to say that Chinatown is open for business and we are behind you and we will remain strong," Velazquez said. "Last night, I was here dining in a restaurant in Chinatown. I welcome everyone to come here and celebrate the culture and beauty of this community."
China's Consul General Huang Ping said "China is doing everything to confront the coronavirus. We have mobilized forces. We have strong leadership, resources, are working with the international community. Be strong China. Be strong Wuhan."
Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul, standing with China's Consul General Huang Ping and messages to "Stay Strong China," at Lunar New Year Parade and Celebration, Chinatown, New York City © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Lt Governor Kathy Hochul, "We stand together at one family. Stay strong China. Stay strong Wuhan."
Other dignitaries participating State Senator Brian Kavanaugh, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams, Assemblyman David Webrin.
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio declared the city stands in solidarity with China and the Asian community, "no matter what is thrown at us." New York has the largest Chinese community outside Asia "and we are proud of that." The city made the Lunar New Year a school holiday and teaches Mandarin as early as pre-K, and is actively promoting participation in the 2020 Census.
"In China, there are so many of loved ones, faced with coronavirus and we stand together as community," De Blasio said. "We celebrate New Year together – we are united, and we celebrate this extraordinary Chinese community the largest of any city outside of Asia."
He also presented a Proclamation to parade organizer Steven Ting day for his continued work on the parade, proclaiming February 9 "Steven Ting Day."
US Senator Charles Schumer used a bull horn as he marched in the parade to cheer for immigration. "New Yorkers are proud people, who come from all over the world. We fight those who oppose us."
And on that score, the parade was also used to promote the importance of being counted in the 2020 Census, with one group of even handing out flyers to recruit census takers ($28/hr, flexible hours).
The census, De Blasio stressed, will make Chinatown better represented if everyone takes part.
Here are highlights from the 21st Annual Lunar New Year Parade:
Knicks players march in the Lunar New Year Parade and Celebration, Chinatown, New York City © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The march of the Lunar New Year Parade stretches almost two miles, Chinatown, New York City © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Participate in the 2020 Census. Lunar New Year Parade and Celebration, Chinatown, New York City © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Apply online to be a Census Taker! Lunar New Year Parade and Celebration, Chinatown, New York City © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Chinatown NYCChinatown NYC ParadeLunar New Year ParadeLunar New Year Parade NYCNYC Lunar New YearNYC Lunar New Year ParadeStay Strong China
Christmas holiday travel, Cultural travel, Culture, Festivals and Events
Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine Welcomes New Year 2020, New Decade with Concert for Peace
New Year's Eve Concert for Peace, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, NYC © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine welcomed in the New Year and a new decade as it has since 1984, with a concert devoted to Peace. The people who fill this enormous space, coming in many cases year after year, come for the solace the concert always brings, the re-commitment to a world of tolerance, acceptance, that comes together in peace and good will to resolve conflicts.
The Cathedral Choirs joined forces under the leadership of Kent Tritle, Director of Cathedral Music and one of America's leading choral conductors. This signature event is one of many comprising the 2019–2020 season of Great Music in a Great Space.
Kent Tritle, one of America's leading choral conductors, at New Year's Eve Concert for Peace, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, NYC © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
When the first concert for peace was offered, in 1973 at its sister cathedral in Washington DC, America was at war, an election had been decided, but Leonard Bernstein inaugurated the New Year's Eve Concert for Peace in 1984, years after the Vietnam War was concluded, because in the world, there has never been a time without conflict.
Even though technically, America is not at war, there is war raging in the land. "Americans are our own enemy, one against another," Reverend Canon Patrick Malloy said. But every culture has the means to bring light out of darkness. "The world is varied and venerable ways, strikes fire, refuses to surrender to the dark."
Kent Tritle conducts The Cathedral Choir and The Cathedral Orchestra at New Year's Eve Concert for Peace, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, NYC © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
This year, the Cathedral Choir and Orchestra performed music ranging from Baroque works of Handel and Bach to contemporary works of artist-in-residence, organist David Briggs and Lee Hoiby's poignant setting of "Last Letter Home." This work is based on a letter sent by Jesse Givens, Private First Class, U.S. Army, who drowned in the Euphrates River on May 1, 2003 in the service of his country. His letter to his wife Melissa was sent with the directions, "Please, only read if I don't come home."
Tony-award winning composer Jason Robert Brown, an artist-in-residence at the Cathedral since 2000, performs a song especially written for the Concert for Peace, "Sanctuary," with his wife and daughters © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Artist-in-Residence Jason Robert Brown , who has won three Tony Awards for scores for musical theater, including Parade, The Bridges of Madison County, and Honeymoon in Vegas, at New Year's Eve Concert for Peace, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, NYC © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Artist-in-residence, jazz-saxaphonist Paul Winter at New Year's Eve Concert for Peace, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, NYC © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The Cathedral Choir's own Jamet Pittman again led the audience in "This Little Light of Mine" as the assembled in the sanctuary lit candles to welcome the new year with hope, joy, and affirmation.
Soprano Jamet Pittman (right) performs with friends at New Year's Eve Concert for Peace, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, NYC © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Conductors Kent Tritle, Raymond Nagem and Bryan Zaros at New Year's Eve Concert for Peace, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, NYC © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The night also featured special guest appearances and performances by Judy Collins, who sang her iconic "Both Sides Now," and "Amazing Grace" her voice ringing through this soaring space; saxophonist and artist-in-residence Paul Winter performed Paul Halley's "Winter's Dream"; artist-in-residence Jason Robert Brown, performed with his wife and daughters, "Sanctuary," a song which Brown wrote especially for this concert; and host Harry Smith, the renowned journalist, who has hosted the Peace concert for some 30 years.
The incomparable Judy Collins fills the Great Space of Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine with her mellifluous voice © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
Reflecting on recent events, Smith said, "two-thirds of millennials don't know what Auschwitz was; four out of 10 adults don't know. So when things happen like what happened last weekend in a suburb of New York, we take pause."
With that in mind, the Cathedral Choir offered an addition to its program, singing "Oseh Shalom".
"The real news is terrible – also known as fake news. Mass shootings…Despair of an economy that works really well for a few. Wars without end, conflicts without resolution. It's why so many of us show up here for New Year's Eve…
"'We are the ones we have been waiting for. We are the change we seek,' said Barack Obama," Smith said to applause.
Metaphorically wipe away the troubles of 2019 as we look ahead to 2020, Harry Smith, hosting the annual New Year's Eve Concert for Peace at Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, quotes Barack Obama, "We are the change we seek." © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com
The atmosphere in the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine (not to mention the acoustics) is spectacular. You think you have been plunked down in Europe in a building 1000 years old – this grand Gothic stone structure with soaring arches 177 feet high. The original design, in the Byzantine Revival and Romanesque Revival styles, was begun in 1892, but after the opening of the crossing in 1909, the overall plan was changed to a Gothic Revival design. Actually, the building was never finished – it is still only two-thirds complete. After a fire damaged part of the cathedral in 2001, it was renovated and rededicated in 2008. Even without being fully built, it is the fifth largest church in the world, based on area (121,000 sq. ft.)
The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine is the Cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. It is chartered as a house of prayer for all people and a unifying center of intellectual light and leadership. People from many faiths and communities worship together in services held more than 30 times a week; the soup kitchen serves roughly 25,000 meals annually; social service outreach has an increasingly varied roster of programs; the distinguished Cathedral School prepares young students to be future leaders; Adults and Children in Trust, the renowned preschool, after-school and summer program, offers diverse educational and nurturing experiences; the outstanding Textile Conservation Lab preserves world treasures; concerts, exhibitions, performances and civic gatherings allow conversation, celebration, reflection and remembrance—such is the joyfully busy life of this beloved and venerated Cathedral.
The Cathedral is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visit stjohndivine.org for more information and a schedule of public programs including concerts, among them the Cathedral Choir and Orchestra performing J.S. Bach's monumental "St. John Passion," on March 31, 2020 at 7:30 pm.
Cathedral Church of Saint John the DivineConcert for PeaceNew Year's Eve Concert for PeaceSaint John the Divine