Turning Japanese

I’m turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese, I really think so.

Well, not really, but it is an amazing place in lots of ways. With 14 1/4 million people, Tokyo is the busiest and most crowded place I have ever seen and Osaka runs a close second.

Tokyo Tower

From the top of the 1,092 ft Tokyo Tower the metropolis stretches out to the horizon in every direction.

It’s all a mad jumble of ultramodern neon-lit skyscrapers, some remaining small traditional buildings amid countless historic temples and small shrines.

It is all so tightly packed that getting a handle on it photographically feels next to impossible, but that’s of no matter, it’s really the culture and people that’s so interesting. People are polite to a fault. Gratefulness and courtesy are evident in ever transaction. People, with the exception of some half wit adolescents, are pretty quiet everywhere.

Small shops are crammed in everywhere amongst the sky scrapers.

All school children have a backpack called a Randoseru. They are typically given to youngsters by their grandparents when entering elementary school. They are expected to use the same bag for the first six years of education.

Subways

On the packed subways, like the world over, everyone is hypnotized by their phones, but no one here talks on them. It’s all about courtesy. Subway riders are even instructed to wear their backpacks in front to avoid bumping into people around them.

The Shinkansen

Everyone asks about the bullet trains. Yes, they are as good as they say. Fast, clean and incredibly punctual. We went on 10 different trains and experienced only one four minute delay. No, you don’t feel any G forces, just comfort.

Expo 2025

As crowded as is humanly possible. Let’s leave it at that.

Shrines

Being of Irish descent I’ve always been attuned to Murphy’s Law, if something can go wrong it probably will, but not in Japan. For them good fortune and blessings are out there for the taking if you have the devotion and dedication to ask for it. Large temples and small shines are literally in every neighborhood. You are never more then a block away from a blessing or a quick prayer if you need one, and who doesn’t? It is simple enough, wash your hands in the prescribed manner, toss a 5 yen coin in the slot, face the Buddha or ring the bell, bow your head reverently and ask for a blessing, either for yourself or a loved one. Anything at all, as the deities are in charge of everything.

At 1500 years old Ishiura Shrine is the oldest shrine in Kanazawa. Known for love and devotion, many visitors come here to wish for a soul mate.

As you walk the Torii Path and go through the Torii Gates you pass from the human world to the sacred space where the deities reside.

The vermillion red symbolizes vitality and protects against evil spirits.

If you really want to hedge your bets just donate a few more yen for a small slip of paper called an omikuji which can be a great blessing. Fold it into a long strip and tie it to one of the hanging strings to seal your fate. The polka-dots symbolize happiness.

Kinkaku-Ji Temple

The Kinkaku-Ji Zen Temple, or Golden Pavilion was built in 1397 by Yoshimitsu, third Shogun of the Ashikaga Shogunate and is the most visited temple in Japan. The gold was intended to purify any pollution and mitigate any negative thoughts and feelings towards one’s death. Fate is to be accepted, not feared.

Matsubara Fudo

It might seem that this small unassuming neighborhood temple is of little import but in 792 when the capital was built, Emperor Kanmu gave sutra scrolls to four “iwakura” or “Dwellings of the Gods” located on the north, south, east and west sides of the city to protect it from evil. This temple is the South Iwakura.

When Toyotami Hideyoshi was building his new palace in the late 1500s he removed the, already 800 year old, moss covered stone statue of the Buddha and brought it to the castle. Every night it would give off a strange glow. Hideyoshi saw this as a miracle and quickly rebuilt the temple and returned the statue to its original location.

Misaki Shine – Kyoto

Kitsune, the fox, is a messenger and guard for the Shinto deity Inari Okami.

Guardian Gods

The Buddha, through enlightenment has been freed of all earthy concerns and desires and is a quiet gentle creature. The kind and benevolent Buddha is somewhat helpless when faced with the trials and cruelty of the world and as such requires fierce protection.

These two threatening 12’ statues are Guardian Gods that flanked the doors of the Rendaiji Temple near Kyoto for centuries. They were there to protect the Buddha from the evils of the world and the corrosive effect of nonbelievers. During the typhoon of 1934 the statues were completely destroyed. The devout locals gathered and carefully stored all the fragments and prayed for the Guardians safe return. In 2020 a group of restorers and master artisans began the painstaking task of bringing them back to life. Today they look as proud and threatening as when they stood watch outside the temple.

Castles

Osaka Castle

The castle is one of Japan’s most famous landmarks and played a major role in the unification of Japan during the sixteenth century.

In 1583 Toyotomi Hideyoshi began the 14 year construction of Osaka Castle only to die one year later. In 1614 the Tokugawa Clan attacked the castle starting the Siege of Osaka. On June 4th the following summer Tokugawa’s 200,000 man army breached the outer walls. As Osaka Castle fell and the Toyotomi clan perished forever, Toyotomi Hideyori and his mother Yodo-dono both committed seppuku while the castle burned to the ground around them.

Instrumental in the unification of Japan in the 16th century, powerful Samurai warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi stands guard outside the Hokoku Shrine at Osaka Castle.

Himeji Castle

Japans most visited castle, the White Heron Castle, was built in 1601. Never having been bombed or besieged, the castle is one of the oldest surviving keeps. Including the basements, the keep is seven stories high and one of the tallest wooden structures ever built in Japan.

Chipped hand mill stones were used as filler in the upper part of the wall. They are called Ubagaishi or Old Widow’s Stone. Legend has it that when Hashiba Hideyoshi built the castle he feared he would not have enough stone to complete the reinforcements. When the news reached a poor old woman who sold rice cakes, she donated her hand mill stone. The story of the woman’s selfless act spread and stones were donated from throughout the province.

Kanazawa Castle

Fire has plagued this fortress throughout its history. Construction of the castle was begun In 1580 by Oda Nobunaga. The original six story keep burnt down in 1602 and was never rebuilt. The whole castle burnt down in 1603, was rebuilt and burnt down again in the Great Kanazawa Fire of 1759. Most of the surviving structures were destroyed once more in the fire of 1881. Reconstruction continues today and most of the current buildings look as they would have in the 1850s.

The Hashizume-mon Tsuzuki Yagura watchtower

Nijo-jo Castle – Kyoto

Nijo-jo Castle was complete in 1603 on the orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu, first Shogun of the mighty Tokugawa Shogunate. He unified Japan and ushered in 260 years of peace and prosperity, one of the longest periods of stability in Japanese history.

Shopping

No one but tourists eat on the street. There are almost no public trash cans. You are instructed to take your rubbish with you or return the packaging to the store where you bought it and yet there is almost no litter. Paper products are at a bare minimum. Everyone carries a small hand towel as paper towels are just about nonexistent. And napkins in restaurants are so small they make our cocktail napkins look like a beach blanket. There are no hooligans or bike riders with boom boxes blaring their favorite rap tune, no car horns honking, just crowded quiet efficiency as the countless throngs move through the endless streets. So what are all these people doing? They are shopping, constantly. Tokyo and Osaka must have more high rise department stores than anywhere in the world and they are packed. There are over crowded narrow shopping arcades that radiate out in all directions everywhere we go.

Navigating the Terrain

Getting around in cities this tightly packed and where very few people speak english can be challenging. Fortunately the streets are full of helpful signs and messages so that you always know which way to go and never feel lost.

Good Luck

Luck plays a huge role here. It’s amazing how linked religion and basic luck are in the minds and behavior of everyday people. The Japanese pray for good fortune and protection from evil for themselves, their loved ones and even ancestors. They pray, ask for blessings and hang all manner of talismans to attract positive forces and ward off evil spirits and to keep them from invading their lives and homes.

The Shinto celebration turtle, Iwai Kane, is made from rice straw and is a symbol of longevity, protection and good fortune.

Attached to Japanese straw rope called shimenawa is a wooden talisman called a Somin Shorai. It is hung in the doorway to ward off misfortune.

A Chimaki is sold during the Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto. The festival was to pray for the end of a plague. The charm is said to ward off disease and misfortune.

Known as morisho, piled salt at the doorway wards off evil spirits and bad luck, purifies the space, invites in good fortune, customers, and success.

Gotcha

With the common belief in the ability to call forth good gods and block demons it’s not surprising that games of chance are part of everyone’s life. It’s no wonder kids start gambling early and make no mistake about it, this little toy vending machines are gambling. Each Gotcha machine has 3 to 5 versions of a specific toy. The object is to collect all the different versions. You put in 400 or 500 yen, turn the crank and receive one in a closed capsule. The trick is that you could buy 10 or more before you might get the whole group. Oh yeah, that’s gambling!

No Smoking

In post war Japan smoking became hugely popular. Celebrities endorsed brands and everyone smoked. Little kiosks like this one were in every department store.

A good friend would come to Japan on business trips years ago. He was a nonsmoker and found meetings very uncomfortable. Conference rooms had an ashtray in front of every seat and someone during the meetings would repeatedly empty them. The smoke hung about two feet below the ceiling and created its own cloud layer. Now, mercifully, the entire country has quit. 7/11 still sells cigarettes, but you can’t smoke anywhere in public except in very few designated “smoking rooms”. People don’t group together outside offices or in front of apartment buildings to get their nicotine fix. Yesterday we saw a man huddled at the end of a small alcove between buildings with his back to the street puffing away. He looked isolated and abandoned, alone with his addiction.

Crime

Is there crime in Japan? Well of course there is, the Yakuza are infamous the world over. As for street crime, we haven’t seen any evidence of it, but we have noticed this exact same poster taped outside every police station we’ve passed by. Apparently these eleven scoundrels constitute the entire crime wave. Not to worry, the Japanese McGruff is on the job.

Freddy’s Place

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Frederiksborg is an amazing castle. What we see today is in fact the third incarnation of the palace. In 1550 Frederick II acquired the estate in an exchange agreement, renamed it Frederiksborg and began constructing buildings. His first son Christian spent much of his youth here and came to love it. When he became King Christian IV in 1558 he immediately ordered the existing building torn down and rebuilt in a Renaissance style. The project took just ten years, an enormous accomplishment at the time. It is still the largest Renaissance palace in the world.

On the night of December 16, 1859, King Frederick VII retired to a room on the third floor. Being a cold night, the King asked for a fire to be lit. The chimney was not secure and soon a fire broke out. The frozen lake could provide no water so the blaze spread quickly. Within a few hours it had engulfed most of the building. Almost all of the intricate internal decorations were destroyed. Fortunately, over 300 paintings were saved.

Reconstruction efforts were initially funded by public subscription, with substantial contributions from the king and state. Prominent philanthropist, Jacob Christian Jacobsen, the founder of Carlsberg Brewery, recognized the national significance of Frederiksborg and knew that the country alone could never afford to restore it. He embraced the project and using original plans and paintings from the period organized and funded the rebuilding of the entire structure. He also agreed to maintain and staff of the castle in perpetuity. The docents that greet and inform the millions of visitors all work for the Carlsberg Company.

Christian IV

In Frederiksborg there are at least 160 portraits of Christian IV. In this painting the crown sits on the right. It was considered too egocentric for a monarch, even one anointed by God, to be wearing the crown in a royal portrait. The visor of helmet is raised indicating that the country was at peace when the painting was made. Christian IV was not just interested in fine buildings, he loved wine, wars and women. He married twice and had 24 legitimate children. It is also thought that he had an additional 30 children with five different women, of which he acknowledged 26 who he provided for and dubbed his “Golden Lions”. When he died in 1648 he left the treasury completely depleted.

Throwing Down The Gauntlet

Karl Hansen Reistrup made this historic painting in 1909. It is titled “Niels Ebbesen avoids Count Gert” but I imagine what is really depicted is “Ebbesen Confronting Gert “. I was drawn to the picture because it is the first image I have seen that depicts the actual act of throwing down the gauntlet. Up until now I had imagined that the expression was a metaphor that simply referred to a challenge and not an actual act, but in the age of chivalry it was indeed a real thing and a grave insult so egregious that it could only be answered with personal combat.

In the painting we see that Ebbesen has enraged the entire group. Men are yelling, some are coming out of their saddles, everyone is tense and worried. Even the horses are pissed off. Not only has Ebbesen thrown down his gauntlet but has raised his hand in the classic three finger “up yours” gesture. He is definitely itching for a fight. I doubt that this encounter actually took place and that the painting simply expresses the conflict between the two men.

What really happened was that Gerhard III, a German Count from the house of Holsten, had levied exorbitant taxes on this part of Denmark. Ebbesen refused to pay. With an army of 11,000 men Gerhard advanced on Denmark to collect his debt by force. Gerhard set up his headquarters in the small town of Randers. On April 1, 1340 under the cover of darkness Ebbesen and just 47 knights advanced on the town. He took two of his most trusted men, snuck through the town and into the inn where Gerhard was staying. They made their way to his bedchamber, killed his guards, dragged Gerhard across the bed, lined his neck up with the bedstead and chopped off his head. The men then made their escape with the loss of only one man. This act solidified Ebbesen’s place in Danish folklore and made him Denmark’s first national hero. He will forever be a symbol of Danish resistance and rebellion against their German overlords.

His reputation was so powerful that in 1942, during the occupation, the author Kaj Munk wrote a play celebrating Ebbesen. Hilter so feared rebellion that the play and any writings about Ebbesen were outlawed.

Live Larsdotter

This portrait of Live Larsdotter was painted by P. van den Hulst in 1691. She was the famous astronomer Tycho Brahe’s housekeeper. This is the first time I’ve seen a royal portrait of a housekeeper. Her claim to fame was her longevity. She died in 1698 at the age of 123.

Dr. Johan Frederick Struensee

The German doctor Johan Frederick Struensee was King Christian VII’s personal physician. It seems that Christian VII was mad as a hatter. Historians suggest that he was schizophrenic and heard voices from an early age. The nobles were completely distraught until Dr. Struensee arrived at court and said he could cure the king. He couldn’t really cure Christian VII but he could keep him sedated and quiet which is really all the nobles wanted.

The good doctor came to realize that he could rule the country by keeping the king behind the scenes. Struensee got a little ahead of himself and staged a coup d’etat 1772, which got him executed. It’s truly unfortunate, apparently he was a pretty good ruler and most of his progressive ideas are part of Danish culture today.

Come On Up To The Square

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The Stortorget, Malmo’s largest square, is adorned with a collection of the most playful and imaginative bronze statues we have come across.

*Charles XI –* *Stortorget, Malmö, Sweden*

*Emigranterna “The Emigrants” – Stortorget, Malmö, Sweden*

Arcades & Passageways

Arcades and passageways are an absolute necessity in all the older cities we’ve visited. With long blocks of four and five story buildings packed cheek to jowl they make passing from one block to the next much less burdensome and saves miles of circumnavigating city streets to get from one block to the next. They also create access to closed off courtyards and gardens.

Nyboder

Nyboder means new small houses. This historic row house district was the former Naval barracks. Construction of the district was begun in 1631 by Christian IV to house Navy personnel and their families. Nyboder is very much associated with their yellow color named “Nyboder yellow” to refer to the exact hue of yellow. Interestedly the original color of the development was red and white.

The neighborhood has had a bit of a grim past. On December 16, 1658 a gunpowder storage building just north of Nyboder exploded, damaging or demolishing many houses and causing numerous casualties.

In 1668 the city’s gallows were moved to the district. In 1677 another bleak neighbor moved in when the Copenhagen Stocks House or military prison was built just a little to the south. it was opened to civilian prisoners in 1741 and held people sentenced to “slavery”, meaning prisoners sentenced to penal labor in irons. Prisoners were classified as “honest” and “dishonest”. The latter were beaten at the whipping post, a punishment that connoted a severe loss of honor. In 1783 an even larger facility was opened when the Greater Stocks House was built next to the old building and held 600 “slaves”. The use of “severe examination” or torture was finally abolished in 1837.

From early on, the area also included a guardhouse which had an external bell used to gather people in the event of a military attack or fire. The building also contained a jail, where trouble-making residents were deposited.

Tjolöholm Castle – A Private Utopia

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Now I’m really confused. They refer to Tjolöholm as a castle, but it seems to me to be the very definition of a palace or a mansion or even a country estate, but not a castle. It was designed in the Arts and Craft style to be the quintessential British country house by architect Lars Israel Wahlman, a man who never set foot in the British Isles. The project began in 1892 shortly after power couple James Fredrik and Blanche Dickson purchased this amazing piece of property. Planning the Elizabethan mansion took six years and then another six years to finish construction.

The Dicksons, of Scottish ancestry, were the third generation to make Gothenburg their home where James Fredrik ran the trading company Dickson & Co. founded by his grandfather in 1816. They were enormously successful and used their fortune to construct their idea of a utopian estate. The mansion itself offers everything the gentry could wish for, stables full of thoroughbred racehorses and scores of the most exquisite carriages of the day. Amazing views over the water of Kungsbacka Fjord to the small islands beyond. A lovely beach for swimming complete with a bath and boathouse. The house itself has all the modern conveniences of the day, including indoor plumbing, electric lights, central heating and even a vacuum cleaning system. Everything in the house and on the grounds is of the highest quality and the most pristine design.

The scrollwork above the stove reads: As Time Can Be Redeemed At No Cost – Bestow It Well – Let No Hour Be Lost

Blanche was convinced that a happy estate required happy workers and that called for quality housing in an idyllic setting. She designed and built a lovely little village where each family has a nice cottage with room for the children to play and a yard where each family could have a small vegetable patch. She even had a church built to insure the families got the necessary religious training.

At the end of the day this is sadly a bit of a cautionary tale. Shortly before construction began James Fredrik was celebrating at the Grand Hotel in Gothenburg. He cut himself opening a bottle of wine and wrapped the foil around his finger to stanch the bleeding. He died of blood poisoning a week later. A heartbroken Blanche toughened up, took control of the construction and finished the project. Not two years later she sailed to Ceylon to visit her brothers tea farm, ate some bad fruit on the ship and died of dysentery on the return trip to Europe. She was buried at sea in the Indian Ocean.

Once again the old wisdom rings true, don’t save your dreams for another day, do it now while fate allows.

A Castle Or A Palace?

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Just what is the difference between a castle and a palace? A docent recently told me that castles were built as fortifications where as palaces are essentially big fancy houses. I think there’s a little more to it. Castles are almost designed to be incredibly uncomfortable. They are cold, drafty and intensionally hard to get in to with narrow, steep and winding stairways. Palaces are plush, amazingly adorned and some are pretty cushy. Their commonality lies in the fact that they are both designed to impress. Castles, as well as providing protection from the disgusting rabble just outside the gates, were built to impress your enemies with your size and might. The sheer bulk of the structure could strike fear in the hearts of your foe as his cannon balls bounced off the 12’ thick walls. Just approaching them could be dangerous. Arrows could rain out of the little slit windows at a moments notice. Hot oil could pour down on your head from the 100’ ramparts. It both looked and felt impregnable. Now a palace was built to impress in a whole different way. Your wealth is your fortification, your cannons are loaded with political and social connections. To gain entrance to a castle you might have to scale a wall, cross a moat, walk under a murder hole and hack your way through a battalion of blood-thirsty mercenaries. Where as getting into the palace may only involve passing through an army of groundskeepers and a phalanx of maids and butlers but could be just as daunting a task. At some point wealth and status becomes as powerful a weapon as the sword and the cannon.

Örebro Castle

Kärnan

Gripsholm Slott

Gripsholm is an amazing property. Although never attacked it most definitely began its life as a fortress when Bo Jonsson Grips built the first structure on the little island in 1370. It became a monastery in the 1400s until King Gustav I took over. In 1526 he both reinforced the fortifications and turned it into one of the royal residences. The Slott was renovated in 1773 and again between 1889 and 1894, getting a little more palace-like each time. Most of the monarchs from the 16th through the 18th century spent considerable time in Gripsholm.

In summer all the royal residences have a garden that depicts the Crown.

The House of Vasa

In the words of the great Mel Brooks in The History of the World Part 2, “It’s good to be the King!”, unless, of course, you get exiled or imprisoned or poisoned by your power hungry brother or unscrupulous children. It would appear that Kings don’t really have any friends. Even their closest advisors will turn on a dime.

Gustav was elected King by the Swedish Parliament but quickly decided that harmony could only be achieved if his heirs replaced him. After his death his first son Erik became King but Erik didn’t trust his brother Johan. He charged him with high treason and imprisoned him with his wife in a small two room apartment for four years. When Johan was finally released he immediately imprisoned Erik in the same apartment and began to slowly poison him. Johan took over but died in 1592. Johan’s son Sigismund was supposed to became king but his Uncle Charles IX had a different plan. He quickly imprisoned his nephew and eventually exiled and deposed him. So much for family harmony.

In all the portraits of the House of Vasa the men wear tights or, more accurately, silk stockings. No there were no pilate classes and they weren’t dancers. In the 16th century what made a man beautiful were his legs and particularly shapely calves. This was so important that when Erik XIV tried to arrange a marriage with Elizabeth I of England he created this portrait with the hope that she would be so smitten with his appearance that it would seal the deal. In order to hedge his bets he decided that one of the stable boys had the nicest legs in the castle and had the painter replace his legs with the boy’s. Queen Elizabeth didn’t take the bait but she did keep the portrait.

Charles IX has a comb-over that would put Trump to shame. He braided the side bits and then fashioned them into a cross to express his Catholic devotion.

This Rune Stone was erected in the 11th century to honor Ingvar the Far-Travelled. At least twenty-six Ingvar Runestones refer to Swedish warriors who went out with Ingvar on his expedition to Russia, down the Volgar River and on to the Middle East to war against the Saracens.

The inscription reads;

They fared like men far after gold and in the east gave the eagle food. They died southward in Serkland.

To give the eagle food is to kill your enemy.

How To Change The World

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Sanatorium Zonnestraal is considered one of modern architecture’s most important buildings. The project was designed by architect Jan Duiker, a major representative of Het Nieuwe Bouwen, “The New Building”, the Dutch exponent of the international modern movement in architecture. The architects of the Nieuwe Bouwen movement focused on the world of modern technology and new building materials that would enable efficient, functional and hygienic schools, homes and factories. This building didn’t just transform how society thought about building materials but also how they thought about healthcare. Most of the patients here lived and worked in dirty, dark and crowded conditions where tuberculosis spread unabated. In a real departure for tuberculosis treatment at the time, the steel and concrete buildings were designed so all the rooms were flooded with light and had balconies that allowed the patients to spend their days in the fresh air. The principles established in Zonnestraal were repeated throughout the world.

How Did It Happen

In the early 1900’s Amsterdam was the largest producer of diamonds in the world. Most of the diamond workers were Portuguese Jews living in incredibly cramped conditions. A family of ten living in one small room was common. Factories were also crowded with poor lighting and terrible ventilation, and were rife with tuberculosis.

In 1926 Jan van Zutphen, “Uncle Jan”, the Diamond Workers beloved Union leader saw the resale potential of the residual products of diamond processing. He began collecting the copper stalks used to hold the diamonds in place during cutting and polishing. He also discovered a method of removing the impurities from diamond dust. He then sold the copper and diamond dust back to the industry. The money poured in and the union commissioned the Zonnestraal Sanatorium to provide care for stricken workers.

So what’s needed to change the world? It would seem to require a kind generous heart and a clever mind.

10 Days In Croatia

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Dubrovnik – Unesco World Heritage site

In 1979 Dubrovnik was named a Unesco World Heritage site in recognition of its medieval architecture and fortified old town. The fact that the city still exists is amazing in itself. The entire city was almost destroyed in 1667 by a huge earthquake. In 1991 the Yugoslav People’s Army shelled the city for seven months during the Croatian War of Independence. Over the centuries, because of its strategic location on the Adriatic Sea, it has changed hands more often than an old dollar bill. It has been overrun by emperors, sultans, Ottomans, Byzantines, Italians, Greeks, Romans, Serbians, Venetians, Hungarians, Germans, Croatians, Macedonians, and Crusaders.

Thanks to the Game of Thrones, mega-cruise ships and social media, it becomes difficult to talk about this beautiful city without obsessing on over-tourism. In 2019, before the pandemic, 1.5 million people roamed the narrow streets. To put it in perspective, that’s 36 tourist for every citizen. Things of cultural and historic significance are easy to overlook under the crush of overpriced tours, Game of Thrones t-shirts and Chinese made souvenirs. On a more positive note, the city is lovely and the gelato is fabulous.

The House of Marin Držić

Considered to be one of the finest Renaissance playwrights and prose writers of Croatian literature. Marin has even been called Croatia’s Shakespeare. His comedies, in particular, are lauded.

If it’s life that makes the writer then Marin can speak from experience. After a time in Sienna, Marin returned to Dubrovnik in 1543 and quickly became an acquaintance of the Austrian adventurer Christoph Rogendorf and began a series of vagabond exploits. He was connected with a group of Dubrovnik outlaws, and journeyed to Vienna, Constantinople and Venice, working as an interpreter, scrivener and church musician.

At one point he became convinced that Dubrovnik was being governed by a small group of elite aristocrats bent on tyranny. He wrote five letters desperately trying to convince the Medici family of Florence to help him overthrow the government in his home town. They never responded.

Split

Croatia’s Second Largest City

Split is a pretty interesting place. Much bigger than Dubrovnik, approximately four times bigger, it still has a much smaller and more relaxed feel. Now that may just be because we have confined our visit to the interior of Roman Emperor Diocletian’s large walled palace that sits at the harbor and haven’t ventured into the large bustling city that hovers just east of here.

Founded as a Greek trading colony in the 3rd century BC, Split really took off when the fortified Palace of Diocletian was built in 305 CE. It became a prominent settlement around 650 CE when Roman refugees fled here after Salona, the ancient capital of Dalmatia, was sacked by Slavs.

Although caught in the middle of the struggle between Venice and Croatia, Split managed to remain a free state for centuries until Venice finally won control of the Adriatic Sea and it became a heavily fortified Venetian city. That lasted until Napoleon beat the living daylights out of everyone in the late 18th century and the territory became part of the Habsburg monarchy. Then, in turn, became part of Italy, France, Austria, Yugoslavia, Germany and finally, after the fall of Yugoslavia, an independent Croatia.

Bishop Gregory of Nin

Bishop Gregory was always at odds with the power in Rome. He was the head of the rival Bishopric of Nin and attempted to institute the Slavic language into religious services. The Pope was having none of it and decreed that “no one should presume to celebrate the divine mysteries in the Slavonic language, but only in Latin and Greek, and that no one of that tongue should be advanced to the holy orders”. Bishop Greg’s pleas were rejected and his entire Nin bishopric was abolished in 928, but the Slavs still love him. Rubbing his toe has brought people good luck since 1929 when the statue was erected.

Marko Marulić

Marko is considered the father of Croatian literature and a major figure in the European renaissance. A lawyer, judge, author, poet and illustrator Marulić was the first to use the term psychology in his work “ Psychology concerning the nature of the human soul” published in 1524. His second most important work was Evangelistarium, an essay on ethical principles. A copy in the British Library belonged to Henry VIII and the margin notes indicate that the King was particularly interested in the authors religious views on choosing a spouse.

Apparently the great writer shared a mistress with his good friend Papalić. According to local stories they were very aware of their common affection, but like most threesomes, the whole affair ended in tragedy. The men would take turns climbing through the bedroom window of the young lady, the city commander’s daughter no less. Although it wasn’t his turn, Papalić asked Marulić to let him visit the girl’s bedroom. The local nobleman was caught and killed. The girl’s father, unable to live with the disgrace, buried his daughter alive behind a wall in the family home. It wasn’t until years later that her body was discovered. The whole debacle caused Marulić to move to a monastery on the island of Šolta.

Zagreb – The Capital

Zagreb Is the capital and largest city in Croatia. With 1,250,000 people, greater Zagreb has about a third of Croatia’s population. The earliest settlements in the region date from between the 1st and 5th centuries AD. The history of Zagreb itself dates from 1094 A.D. when Hungarian King Ladislaus founded a diocese and began the restoration of public safety. He was a severe legislator and punished thieves with death or mutilation.

The Legend King Saint Ladislaus

Legend has it that King Lad made his bones at The Battle of Kerlés when a Cuman warrior tried to flee the battlefield with a kidnaped Christian maiden. The severely wounded Ladislaus took chase. He shouted to the girl to catch hold of the pagan’s belt and jump to the ground. As the King and the pagan began wrestling the girl cut the pagan’s Achilles tendon allowing Ladislaus to subdue and behead the villain.

Ban Jelačić Square

The name “Zagreb” dates from 1094, but the city actually had two different city centers, Gradec and Kaptol. The city was finally united in 1851 by Ban Josip Jela Jelačića for whom the central square of the city was named in 1848. Austrian authorities had the large statue of Josip on horseback erected in the square in 1866. It caused much unease amongst Hungarians who viewed Jelačić as a traitor. Apparently he would set out on his military campaigns ill prepared and would take provisions from the towns and villages he passed through leaving the peasants destitute. It was removed under Communist rule in 1947, but then reinstalled in 1990 after the fall of Communism.

The 2020 earthquake that rattled Zagreb damaged the Zagreb Catheral’s 13th century Gothic spires. Since then the world’s most impressive scaffolding has shouded the church’s two towers.

Podravka is an international food processing company particularly renowned for their line of soups. The company chose red believing that the warm tone has a positive influence on peoples lives. Heart is at the core of their company philosophy. Besides being in the company’s logo, heart has been in all their slogans “From heart to heart” and “Company with the heart” and “When you cook with the heart, you cook Podravka soup”.

Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla is a national hero in Croatia. Born in the ethnic Serb village of Smiljan, about half way between Split and Zagreb, Tesla is considered by many the inventor of the electricity we use in our homes everyday, Tesla became famous during his lifetime. Noted for his showmanship at public lectures, he also demonstrated his achievements to celebrities and wealthy patrons at his lab. He made considerable money from early patents he had licensed to Westinghouse.

In 1893, he announced the possibility of wireless communications for practical use and plowed all his money into the Wardenclyffe Tower project, an intercontinental wireless communication and power transmitter, but the money ran out. He never completed it and he never completely recovered from it.

A bit of an eccentric, Tesla claimed never to sleep more than two hours per night, he curled his toes one hundred times for each foot every night, saying that it stimulated his brain cells, he had a photographic memory and said he used his ability to visualize in three dimensions to control the vividly terrifying nightmares he experienced as a child.

At his annual birthday parties he would announce his new inventions. In 1933 there was a motor that could run on cosmic rays and a way to photograph the retina to record thoughts. Tesla told reporters in 1934 that he had designed the “teleforce” death ray, a super weapon that would end all wars. On questions concerning the death ray, in 1937, Tesla said, “But it is not an experiment … I have built, demonstrated and used it. Only a little time will pass before I can give it to the world.”

By the 40s he had spent most of his money and moved from one New York hotel to the next, leaving behind unpaid bills. He died alone in Room 3327 of the New Yorker Hotel on January 7, 1943, at the age of 86. The body went undiscovered for two days until the maid finally ignored the “do not disturb” sign.

Tin Ujević

Augustin Josip “Tin” Ujević is considered by many to be the greatest poet in 20th century Croatian literature and is compared to Thomas Hardy and early Yeats.

The Sisters Baković

Rajka and Zdenka Baković were Croatian students and a members of the anti-fascist resistance movement in the Nazi controlled puppet state of the Independent State of Croatia. The sisters used their family newsstand at Nikolićeva Street No. 7 to pass messages to other members of the resistance at the beginning of World War II.

The Croatian Fascist and ultranationalistic Ustasha Surveillance Service arrested Rajka and Zdenka in December 1941. Both sisters were subjected to five days of severe torture but refused to betray their fellow resistance fighters. When Rajka could no longer stand she was taken to the hospital where she soon died. Zdenka became so distraught by her sister’s death that she broke free from her captors and threw herself out of a fourth story window. The Sisters Baković have been honored as People’s Heroes of Yugoslavia.

See you next time. Stay curious.

What A Deal

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Sometimes we’ll happen upon a quiet little burg that doesn’t seem to have a whole lot going on only to discover that it has a rich and varied history that stretches back a millennium. Deal is indeed one of those places.

Deal lies just 8 miles northeast of Dover where the North Sea meets the English Channel. between the Strait of Dover and the Thames Estuary. Now a resort town, in 1278 it was the busiest port in England. Historic accounts suggest that four or five hundred ships would be visible from the beach while they waited for a slight change in wind direction that would allow them to proceed into the North Sea or down the Channel towards London, which was then the largest port in the world for sailing vessels. Countless invading forces and pretenders to the throne have landed here only to be beaten back by locals on this very beach. World changing battles have played out in the waters just off shore. The Spanish Armada was twice defeated in full view of the town, first in 1588 by the English and then again in 1639 by the Dutch.

Deal was a town of many firsts. This is the possible location of Julius Caesar’s arrival in England. It was first mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1078 and was also the first English soil that James Cook set foot on when returning from his first voyage to Australia in 1771. In literature, more protagonists, heroes and nefarious villains have sprung from this little town than you could imagine. Over the years Deal has played an important role in countless novels by some of the world’s most famous authors including Jane Austen, Daniel Defoe, Charles Dickens, Ian Fleming, Patrick O’Brian, H. G. Wells and, most recently, Anthony Horowitz.

The Deal Pier

This is the third pier in the town’s history. The first was a wooden structure built in 1838 and then destroyed by gale force winds in 1857. It was replaced by an iron pier in 1864 that survived until being struck by a Dutch ship in 1940. The present pier was opened in 1957 by the Duke of Edinburgh and is the last remaining fully intact leisure pier in Kent.

Boatsmen

The Deal boatmen were internationally famous for their skilled seamanship and bravery in operating their locally-built craft. Only the severest weather prevents the larger working boats from being able to launch.

The Time Ball Tower

This device was used by ships at sea and in the harbor to set their marine chronometers to ensure proper navigation. Ships navigators and captains would watch the tower through their telescopes. At exactly 1pm each day a signal was sent from Greenwich to the tower and the ball would quickly drop.

When I first saw the Time Ball Tower I thought, what a clever idea and so unusual. I could not have been more wrong. As a mechanism these date back to before Alexander the Great when the Greeks used them in their city squares. Although now they just historical oddities and have been completely replaced by electronic time pieces, there are still at least six in Australia, one in Canada, three in New Zealand, one in Poland, one in South Africa, two in Spain, eight in England and four in America including the most famous one of all, the one that drops in Time Square every New Year’s Eve.

“oh yeah, hurry on down
Come on now, meet me on South Street, the hippest street in town”
The Orlons – 1963

A Nation of Shopkeepers

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This is a much quoted and often misunderstood remark. Supposedly Napoleon, in 1794, described England as “a nation of shopkeepers”, referring to Adam Smith’s remarks in “The Wealth of Nations” from 1776. At the time Britain was the envy of the world and the phrase would have been a positive one. Britain being a nation filled with hard-working, local, small-scale productive enterprises providing jobs and serving the community.

Some have considered it a damning remark and that Napoleon was alluding to a nation of little ambition that was far too concerned with commerce to be a match for his army. However, the English newspaper, the Morning Post, in 1832 referred to the comment as complimentary as it applied to a nation which has derived its principal prosperity from its commercial greatness.

I am only sure of two things, the English did not like Napoleon at all and there are indeed a lot of small shops.

The White Cliffs of Dover

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These magnificent chalk cliffs hovering over the Port of Dover are much more than a geological oddity or a world renowned international tourist attraction. Like the State of Liberty is to Americans, these white ledges are an enduring symbol of British identity and pride. They represent home and hearth, warm and safety, shelter and tranquillity, all the best emotions that returning home from time away can fill you with. The sight of them rising from the mist has filled seamen, airmen and world travelers with confidence, hope and relief for ages. During World War II their significance was elevated even further. Like the iron gate of a castle, they came to represent strength, courage and an undying sense of perseverance and steadfastness.

Vera Lynn – The Forces Sweetheart

“There’ll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover
Tomorrow just you wait and see
There’ll be love and laughter and peace ever after
Tomorrow when the world is free”

Perhaps no one did more to solidify the White Cliffs of Dover’s reputation as a symbol of hope during WW II than Vera Lynn. Known as the “Forces Sweetheart”, she sang hits like “We’ll Meet Again” and “(There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover” to troops from air fields and munitions plants in England, across the Middle East to India and Burma.

Vera Lynn 1943

Pink Floyd Remembers

In 1978, Roger Waters thoughts turned to Vera Lynn when he wrote “Vera”, for the Wall album. Pink, a disillusioned rock star, watches the WW II film ” The Battle of Britain” and sings, “Remember how she said that/We would meet again/Some sunny day?/Vera, Vera/What has become of you?” Well, apparently quite a few people did remember Vera. She had a career that spanned over 65 years. In 2000 she was named the Briton who best exemplified the spirit of the 20th century. She lived to be 103.

BruceWPeterson Photography

Explore The World

Turning Japanese

Freddy’s Place

Christian IV

Throwing Down The Gauntlet

Live Larsdotter

Dr. Johan Frederick Struensee

Come On Up To The Square

Arcades & Passageways

Nyboder

Tjolöholm Castle – A Private Utopia

A Castle Or A Palace?

Örebro Castle

Kärnan

The House of Vasa

How To Change The World

How Did It Happen

10 Days In Croatia

Dubrovnik – Unesco World Heritage site

The House of Marin Držić

Split

Croatia’s Second Largest City

Zagreb – The Capital

What A Deal

The Deal Pier

Boatsmen

The Time Ball Tower

A Nation of Shopkeepers

The White Cliffs of Dover

Vera Lynn – The Forces Sweetheart