Modern History, Every Day In Europe

After a busy Saturday attending an art show where I had several photos hung along side paintings by members of the Ulster County Art Society and a celebratory dinner with D & D it was great to read all day. I was enthralled with In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century by Geert Mak. The book is filled with facts and feelings of Europe that is rarely covered, modern history. I when traveling in Europe also tend to think of its history of by gone centuries. It was eye opening to delve into things that happened in Europe even during times I have been abroad.

Two trips of my own during modern historic times came to mind, first was my first trip to Northern Ireland when army helicopters buzzed overhead and troops patrolled door to door in Londonderry. On my way there I took a wrong turn in my rental and headed up a dirt road. To my amazement I had camouflaged soldiers pop up from the woods all around my car. They seemed much relived to find I was just a lost American tourist, though one warned me to keep more alert.

The other episode was during a visit to Moscow awhile back. Late one night I was heading back to my hotel after going to Red Square for some celebration. The subways were jammed with huge severely inebriated crowds so I decided to walk only to get very lost. Eventually a Russian guy took pity on me and walked me back to the hotel. While we walked he told me that even though the CIA had sprinkled the clouds around Moscow to cause rain to spoil the day of celebration, I was not to blame. I bought him a beer at the hotel and let him know that the Cold War was over at least for me. Every yesterday is history.