DLGOTS,

Recent Mozambique expedition qualified success. Stop.
Revisit may be required. Stop.
Thus, raportage delayed. Stop.
In the meanwhile, do enjoy some morally upright and civilized musical entertainment:

DL&GotS,

Having recently finished a Society Heritage Survey, and having been repeatedly chided by certain unnamed officials of the society to release an abstract of the eventual report, we dutifully present to you:

Annual Heritage Survey #37, Occident, Balkan subsection, synopsis of travel notes

- Note to self: do not confuse Geneva and Genova. The Consequences are irksome and require workarounds.

- Frankfurt-am-Main is much livelier a city than travelers credit it for, even if the locals seem to have an odd penchant for glaring lighting. The river parklands are most excellent for a lazy sunday stroll (which we must skip in our hurry), and cultural currents seem to have blessed the polis with a healthy trade in worldly delights.

- Tirana, Albania. Recent troubles and strifes, politickal and economickal, are evident in the nature of the bustle and the numerous archytechtural skellingtons; renovations now proceed, most visible around the main square. Overloaded conveyances, mounds of rubble or trash, indefinitely paused projects, and people making their living as they best can remind us of the Far East. The people are polite and gently curious without intruding; traders ply with courtesy; countryfolk help the waylost wanderers without hidden designs. A learned gentleman treats the delegacy to meal and entertainment, refusing to hear about compensation. (He has, naturally, been invited to speek at the next Introdus of Auspicious Acquaintances.)

It pleases us to note that the Pelumbas caves have been conserved; certain scratchings on the walls are evident, but hopefully attention to the resource will erase such acts. Testudo marginata is observed in its natural habitat, quite self-sufficient and eager to get on with its personal matters.

Prices in Tirana and southern Albania are to be among the least irritating to the esteemed Treasurer of all locales of this survey. In particular, we must mention the bothersomely big lamb&offal platter, with all accruements, for a mere 6 coins.

- Shkoder, Albania. The bordertown phenomenon is evident in the Illyrian capital: the gentle manners of the southern countryman have been tweaked toward brusque and demanding by rich northern visitors, and their stolid nature makes the drivers of rented cabs fearsome hagglers. The only solution to exorbitant fees (and, indeed, continued travel) is to blend in
with some locals renting a whole cab; the prices magically reset toward the reasonable (but rarely occurring) bus ride.

The Rozafa castle is quite phenomenal; huge tracts of land lay atop a high hill, a strong position overlooking river and fertile valley. The Illyrians a couple of millennia ago, the Romans subsequently, and the Venetians lately must have appreciated the views. One is curiously reminded of the Viaborg battlements.

- Kotor, Montenegro. Nestled at the end of a veritable fjord at the foot of steep mountains, watched by a overhanging fortress, this jewel of a town approaches perfection in all criteria. Note to treasurer: if the prices of real estate drop, secure the area as base of operations forthwith!

While encroached upon from the sides, the old walled town remains cozy and labyrinthine. Disneyesque influences do take root, as the occasional cruise ship docks, but have remained palatable. Back gates take one upon steep paths to the fortress, providing a worthwhile brisk morning's exercise to observe the views - and the hidden valley, the ruins of an old mountainside town, and the old inland road. Signs warning of precarious paths must be considered in all seriousness; yours truly successfully circumvented the hordes of basking snakes, but was forced to turn back as the path tilted vertical.

- Dubrovnik, Kroatia, has not been able to resist the disneysque, and is thus demoted despite the quite impressive old town. Pushy fishmongers, in particular, earn a negative note. That said, the small cafes on the rocks outside the fortress walls offer unique ambiance. Perhaps, were cruise ships to be blockaded, this site would earn its heritage marks again.

- Mostar, Bosnia. One can but wonder at the sniper perches atop the bouldered hills, the ammunition induced fissured in skeletal buildings, and the picturesque riverscape, diligently restored since the recent troubles. A certain eastern block mentality is evident in transport - let the traveler beware of overbooked omnibuses - and the heritage status is well exploited by artesans and purveyors at the most visited spots, but this gilding does not manage to distract from the sincere foundation.

Our accommodations in an Ottoman mansion leave us more satisfied than any other domicile during these travels. A note to other society ambassadors - avoid the suspicious tavern keeper near the station. He charges opportunistically.

- Split, Kroatia. While once again more tourist-infested than some of the other sites, and similar in size and frequentation to Dubrovnik, this town seems somehow more down-to-earth with its foreign influences; instead of pushy fishmongers baiting ambling cruise passengers, the old town is filled with regular and quite presenceworthy people enjoying dinner, cocquetailes, live music, and company. Various eras of construction have interleaved, leaving the architectural atmosphere disjointed in a pleasantly disjointed, puzzle-like way.


The Survey Team wishes to particularly thank the nameless conveyor of paper products for rides along the countryside, the Professor for meals and merriment, the people of Albania for being jolly good chaps, the towns of Kotor and Mostar for being jolly good burghs, and of course the incredibly efficacious Lady X, without whose organizatory skills such surveys would be but fevered dreams.

---

P.S. Found it necessary to acquire below kindjar, alleged by artesan to be damasqued with heritage ore carrying traces of Hasan-i Sabbah's blood. Submitted to Society Archivist. Apologies to Treasurer.

Muscles in Bruxles

A quay-side scene in Olde Amsterdam. The weather was very
nice, and I had some very good curry-soup (not phó) in an Asian
restaurant right around this canal. But not all of 'Dam is quaint
and old like this; I visited an up-and-coming island community
close to the Station, where modern Dutch architects have done
their best to create some state-of-the-art contemporary urbanism.
I enjoyed the 8-story library building with a belle-view cafe on top.

On to Brussels, the heart of the E.U. My accommodation was quite
good, to the south-side of the city centre. After a hearty brekky I headed
out, the Mannequin Piss being my first goal along the route. I must say
I was a tad surprised to find out how small the wee lad was in real life!
His reputation is larger than life, yet the statue's real stature leaves one
a bit underwhelmed!

On to the main square, which is charming indeed! This is very much
the epitome of Middle-age Mittel-Europe, a quintessentially wealthy
bourgeois European town-scape! I spent more than an hour sinking
and inking this in, and then headed to a pub nearby, recommended
by a friend. The pub holds the Guinness World Record for Most Beers
Available Under One Roof. I found some that were pleasing even to
me, even though I have never been one to appreciate beer that much.

The next day I put on my Wellingtons and headed outside the City,
to enjoy some bucolic simplicity. Imagine my surprise and horror to
encounter this Trip-- Hexapod-- or whatever, I do not even... With Mr. Wells'
cautionary tales in mind, I approached very cautiously. Fortunately
the giant (over 100 metres!!) contraption proved out to be a mere
follow-up to Britain's magnificent Crystal Palace, i.e. a monument of
a Great Exhibition. A fun and informative exhibition it was, too!

Typical Brusselian (Bruxelloise?) street-scape.

A more contemporary street-scape, along the somewhat stuffy &
pompous axis of E.U. Power Corridor.

Over all I very much enjoyed Brussels. It is a city that brings to mind
Paris, New York, Budapest, Barcelona, a little bit of 'Dam and Roma.
Definitely better than her reputation; I heartily recommend a visit!

Your's truly etc,
Paddlewick, Society Trappist/Kriek Research Coordinator

Weinacht im Basel

... Basel am Rhein, our Christmuckah Destination this time. Wensworth invited your truly and Mother Wensworth-Paddlewick to spend the "Weinacht" in the Juras.

Basel am Rhein, from the Wettsteinbrücke, with the Münster in the middle,
and a cable ferry at the bottom

However, our first stop was Wien. As the weather in Mittel-Europe was rather bad, and plenty of Christmas travelers abound, it so happened that we missed our connection to Basel. Fortunately the good people of our transportation company put us up in a nice hotel accross the street, inclusive with delicious supper and a hearty breakfast. Also due to the trasnportation schedules, we gained a half-day in Wien, thus giving me enough time to stroll about a bit. I headed to the museum devotet to Globes, which was nice. The city itself seemed prim & proper, with plenty of horses and carriages.

Later Mother joined me in the Centre, and together we visited the Stephansdom cathedral.

Here is a sketch of it's big organs

We also called on the nearby residence of dear old Herr Mozart, but he was not home. The house was nice, though, and the café downstairs offered some interesting local variant of glühwine that they called Punch. After that, it was time to catch our, hopefully on-time, transport to Basel!

Elizabeth church

Basel is a very charming town, an interesting international mix of ye olde Mittel-Europana and cutting-edge research & architecture. It is a clean city, easy to navigate, with good public transportation and nice scale of proportion. Some (Wensworth et al) might say that it is horrendously expensive, but looking at it from Northern Europe, it wasn't that shocking. But cheap it is not, I'll admit that.

Wensworth & Ms. N.N. have a very nice flat in the very bad part of town. Really - the bad part of town! We indeed had to carry our brollies in the ready to beat down any unruly urchins, ruffians and drug fiends! Other than that, the Swiss were pleasant and polite.

Due to W&N offering us various feasts night after night, we did not get to experience the wonderful flavours of local cusine, which I understand to be mainly all melted cheese and/or chocolate? Nor did we drop in on any local bars, although they told me they have a couple of charming italian pubs in the neighborhood. But perhaps next time!

Gehry's centerpiece for Novartis Campus

The one and only Münster

New and old; the old-town narrow twisting alleys are juxtaposed with gleaming glass and metal of today's biggest Starchitects. This is, after all, the home-town of Messiers Herzog & de Meuron.
And big mesenates such as Novartis and Vitra are not averse to hire big-name architects for their campuses:

H & dM and Gehry at Vitra, on the German side of the border

All said & told, the excursion went well. The towns and the mountains were nice, the weather was (somewhat) permitting (when not foggy & dull). Glühwine was hot & good, the Slaloming glorious the first day, wet & gray the second. Mother Wenswort-Paddlewick enjoyed the city on her own on a couple of occasions. Yours truly did not get to put the metal to the pedal, and so must wait 'till another time for some Mountain-pushbike action.

Meanwhile, keep on keeping on, as they say in the Colonies!!

Tally Ho,
Paddlewick, Society Architecture Correspondent / Push-bike coordinator