Travel | Daydream Tourist

Aug 22

Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Dedication August 28th

The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial opened to the public today and will be dedicated in Washington, DC next weekend. Information and concert tickets can be found on the official event website: Dedicate the Dream.

26 Aug 2011 UPDATE: The official dedicate date has been moved to an undeclared date in September or October due to the arrival of hurricane Irene in DC this weekend. Friday and Saturday morning events are still planned.

At the time this was proposed, the World War II memorial had just opened and there was some groaning in DC that the Mall was too crowded for anything else. To me, the National Mall is both an expansive green space and a record of our history, culture and heroes. I am glad a nice spot of the Tidal Basin was set aside to honor MLK Jr. specifically and in a broader sense the US civil rights movement. (An African-American History and Culture Museum is slated for the Mall in 2015 which is good because the only Museum remotely dedicated to the same subject matter was in Anacostia before – way, way off the beaten tourist path.)

One main features of the MLK site is a large bolder cut and opened in the middle called the “Mountain of Despair”. The removed piece is set closer to the water and is called the “Stone of Hope”. It is 30 ft tall and features a standing portrait of MLK emerging from the stone with arms crossed. Flanking around the tidal basin, out from the Mountain stones, are slowly tapering stone walls engraved with quotes by Martin Luther King Jr. Given the position of the monument on the Mall and its open lay-out, this seems like a very accessible and engaging space. I see people picnicking and chatting in eye-sight of MLK Jr. along the Tidal Basin.

You get a good sense the site from this fly through video produced by the National Memorial Project Foundation:

As you would imagine, there has been the obligatory criticisms of the statue: it was made in China by a Chinese man, it’s not a good likeness, he looks confrontational, whatever. The critique that I find the oddest is that the statue is too tall. In fact, the MLK figure is just about as big as his nearest neighbors on the Mall: Lincoln with pedestal is ~30.5ft and Jefferson with pedestal is ~25ft. MLK seems so much larger because he is not in a temple like those other two which defines a visual space and makes the figure seem smaller. Likewise, you can go right up to him and so your viewing perspective changes to a more extreme angle. I will concede that the stone block itself is pretty huge when viewed in the round. For scale, here’s how some of my favorites on the Mall compare: (Gandhi is technically in Dupont Circle in front of the Indian Embassy but I thought he belonged here.)

Martin Luther King Jr. statue size relative to some of the notable DC memorial statues and a 6′ tall person which gives a better sense of scale.

To me the most powerful memorials are personally engaging and this often means that the elements exist on the viewer’s level. For example, imagine how awesome it would have been to put a life-size statue of MLK Jr. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial! You could stand next to him and look out over the Mall while reading his “I Have a Dream” speech. At least the newly constructed MLK Jr. Memorial lets you wander through his quotes and stand amid the literally and metaphorically looming mountain stones.

More than anything though, I hope that the MLK Jr. Memorial in person conveys his deep religious convictions and self-sacrifice. As Martin Luther King Jr. said reflecting on how he wanted to be remembered, “Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.”

I’m looking forward to visiting DC soon to see this new Memorial in person and hope you get a chance to check it out too!

Aug 19

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10 Days in Mainland Greece Itinerary

Porch of Caryatids, Erechtheion, Athens (Photo: Amplified-Photography)

I am going to be able to sneak in a trip to Greece this Fall! Tickets and hotels are booked for September and the departure countdown has begun. Obviously there is so much to see in Greece so I had to focus the trip. With only 10 days, we just going to visit mainland Greece and will save exploring the islands for another trip. It’s always better to pace yourself and try not to see too much. That being said it is gong to be a busy trip! Below is my itinerary for 10 days in Athens and mainland Greece.

10 Days in Mainland Greece driving route

Day 1 – Arrive in Athens in late afternoon. Basic wandering and orientation, eat delicious food.

Day 2 – Athens: Parthenon, Acropolis Museum and Roman Agora

Day 3 – Athens: National Archaeological Museum, Kerameikos (Cemetary) and Syntagma square, explore the neighborhoods (maybe see a play or concert that evening?)

Day 4 – Pick up car, drive to Thermopylae (yes, you’ve heard of it), visit Delphi

Day 5 – Monastery of Hosios Loukas, Corinth, arrive in Olympia (this is the longest driving day of two 3hr blocks)

Day 6 – Visit Olympia – high probability I’ll run through the stadium, drive to Kardamyli

Day 7 – Morning exploring Kardamyli, drive to and explore Sparta

Day 8 – Visit medieval ghost-town of Mystras, drive to and explore Naplifon

Day 9 – Visit ruins of Mycenea, Tiryns and Epidaurus, back to Naplifon

Day 10 – Stop at Dafni Monastary on the way to the airport; leave for the US

Whew, what a trip! I’m so excited! This trip also includes 7 more UNESCO World Heritage Sites which is awesome! I generally don’t like spending more than 2 or 3 hours a day in a car so this itinerary is paced with that in mind. I let you know how that goes once I actually see what some of these mountain roads are like. Other then a history and classical art binge, my other goals are to eat octopus, do some people watching, bring home a piece of art (most likely a modern reproduction given export rules) and enjoy Greece!

Of course I haven’t left yet, so trip suggestions are always welcome!

Aug 18

Photo of the Week: Corinth Press Conference

Press conference in Corinth (Photo: EPA/VASSILIS PSOMAS)

GREECE.- Minister of Culture, Pavlos Geroulanos, speaks to the public during a special ceremony at the Klenia Archaeological Museum of Acient Corinthos, Greece, 17 August 2011. Two Kouros-style marble statues, dating back to 6th century BC.The two statues, named the Kouri (plural) of Tenea , are on display in a specially designed exhibition hall at the museum. The statues were unearthed during an illegal excavation in Klenies district of southern Corinth prefecture. Police arrested antiquities smugglers in May 2010 and the statues were sent to the National Archaeological Museum in Athens for restoration. EPA/VASSILIS PSOMAS. Story and Photo from Artdaily.org.

I have Greece on the brain because I will be there in less than a month! More about my trip soon.

Aug 16

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A Traveler’s Second Language

"Bonjour suora, comment allez-vous?" (Photo: Ed Yourdon)

There was a great column by Daisann McLane in National Georgraphic Traveler this month about the value of speaking a second language. No matter where you are, it gives you another option for communication. She argues that when people must communicate in neutral language (in her case, an American and Japanese woman speaking Spanish together), they are more conscientious of their pronounciation and use more standard, less slangy vocabulary. This made me think of my own experience communicating in a third language.

The summer I spent in Florence, I lived in a convent which rented half of its rooms to travelers and students like me. It was gorgeous place with cool stone floors and a peaceful inner garden, all hidden just down the street from the Duomo. My room even had a 19th century fresco of angels on the ceiling! The sisters were very kind and would join the guests for breakfast. The only problem was that I barely spoke Italian so I limited to “Sì, grazie suora”. Unless the sisters wanted to sell me a train ticket, I didn’t really know what to say. But I was in luck; this was a French religious order so they all knew some French! My four years of high school French came in pretty handy.

What a difference a little communication makes. It was so much more fun to chat with the sisters, ask them what they were working on and answer their questions about what I had done each day. As much as I love seeing art and scenery when I travel, it makes for a much richer experience if you can actually talk with locals.

(On a side note, my French is still way better than my Italian.)