Polzei to the right of us. Polzei to the left of us. And our little rental van in the middle.
Was the hotel robbed?
Was there a terrorist attack?
No, some kind of police meeting leaving the hotel filled with policemen and us, two not so little, not so old ladies. My teddy bear decorated suitcase is almost drowned by the testosterone running through the corriders.
We walk up to the centre of town for dinner. The GastHaus is filled.
"English? You speak English?" The waiter asked.
We nod.
He put us at a table with an American colonel (ret.) and his wife. The colonel left the service immediately after his last tour of Iraq. He has a civilian job for three years, and they consider this beautiful spot a hardship post. Smiling must be against his religion. They can hardly wait to go back to Texas.
When they leave Julia and I say in unison, "Smug Americans." We fantasize what we could have said, how we love what Assange is doing, how we hope our birth country does not attack any more sovereign nations. I suppose there is merit in politeness.
We would not have changed his mind.
The next morning we check out a small Christmas market that has not opened, but a bookstore has this display outside.
Orpheus stands 15 metres outside one of the museums. We fall in love with him.
Overnight there was a storm. In the pristine snow between the hotel and the Tecknik Museum we write words in the snow by walking the letters with our boots.
On the road we cross into what would have been impossible 35 years ago, the former East Germany. We see a few watch towers and hundreds of beautiful wind turbines. Although much time has passed, I was surprised by the appearance of prosperity every where we looked. Some of the houses were built long before the wall came down.
Our enemies have become our friends and our friends have become our enemies. How many are dying to fight our future friends?
Posts
1 comment:
Thank you for your blog, I do check in here from time to time.
I deal with Americans, many from Texas on a near-daily basis. I would use the term "self righteous" and very full of themselves. Wish I could leave this country and its brand of "freedom" through death, torture and smugness behind.
I too fully support Assange. You would probably not believe how things are getting to be in this country.
It is a crime to speak up here or express dissent. The only real semblance of freedom is where you can (semi) anonymously post online and express your dissatisfaction, but you don't dare do this in real life, as it gets you instantly branded, monitored and under future surveillance.
The arrest of dissenters, journalists, authors, bloggers, protesters, marchers and anyone who simply disagrees with the direction of this screwed up country is making a huge increase.
Those ex-military from Texas and their kind are blind to what we have become. One person told me the Nazis simply picked a new continent. I can believe it, I am witness to it with my own eyes.
Post a Comment