Friday, April 25, 2008
Berlin, Germany, 11-15 Oct 2006: Pergamon Museum
Processional Way & Ishtar Gate
  New Year Feast Day, 200 BC. Ancient Babylonians parade on the Processional Way towards the Ishtar Gate. Fortress walls surround the city, towering on the left and right: a sea of cobalt glazed tiles punctuated every few feet with menacing growling lions. Both were built during Nebuchadnezzar II's reign, c. 600 BC. In the 1930s, German archaeologists at Berlin's Pergamon Museum completed a reconstruction of these structures using tons of fragments excavated in Iraq. |
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Labels: antiquity, architecture, art, Berlin, Germany
Monday, March 10, 2008
Beijing, China, 2 Mar 2008: The Great Wall DIY
To Badaling By Public Bus
I was determined to visit the Great Wall on this, my third business trip to Beijing. Discouraged by horror tales of tours with time-wasting (and expensive) shopping stops, Joey and I decided (or rather I decided and Joey, suffering an impending flu attack and bravely battling the cold weather, reluctantly followed) to take the public bus to Badaling. It is possible, and in fact rather easy, to do-it-yourself. Here's how: 1. Take the subway to the Line 2 stop, Jishuitan (2RMB). Get out via exit B. 2. Either walk about 10 minutes to Deshengmen (you should be able to see this large fortified ancient gate structure, much like the Qianmen, in the distance) or take a short 3-minute 10RMB taxi ride (inform the driver you are going to Badaling). Ignore the modern bus terminus building along the way. 3. Join the queue for the large green and white long-distance 919 public bus. Check with the driver or conductor that the bus goes to Badaling (if necessary, print out the Chinese script 八达岭). Some 919 buses go only to Yanqing - a town just short of Badaling (why the bus company does not use another number is unfathomable). To add to the confusion, there are other city 919 buses that do not go to Badaling - these start from the afore-mentioned bus terminus. Ignore these. 4. There are express and regular 919 buses to Badaling. The former does not stop along the way, takes less than an hour for the journey, and are all scheduled to depart Deshengmen station before 1130h. The latter takes about 1.5 hours, making several stops along the way, but runs throughout the day. The fare should cost 12RMB on either bus. 5. The buses may depart from the bus bay behind Deshengmen, or from one across the road. Go up the bus to ask the driver or conductor. Do not worry if you miss the bus. There should be 2 or 3 departures every hour. 6. DO NOT BELIEVE ANYONE who tells you there are no more buses to Badaling. They are private bus or taxi touts who want to part you with your RMB. These cheats quote exorbitant fares (e.g. 80 RMB return on a bus). Sometimes, instead of Badaling, you may be brought to Juyongguan, a small Disney castle-like section of the Great Wall between Yanqing and Badaling, without the grand sweeping vista of the latter). Worse, the driver may demand more fare midway through the journey. DO NOT BELIEVE the officials at the information counter also (I suspect they are in on the conspiracy with the touts). BELIEVE ONLY the bus driver and/or conductor on the bus. 7. Be prepared for very crowded buses. It should not be a problem getting seats from Deshengmen, but the bus will be VERY packed on the return trip (at least until Yanqing) as the bus will have picked up passengers from stops farther than Badaling. 8. The last bus leaves Badaling station for Beijing at 1730h. Allow 2 to 3 hours for the Great Wall, and try to avoid rushing for the last bus. (I left Deshengmen at 1300h and returned by 1900h.) Again, DO NOT BELIEVE ANYONE who tells you there are no more buses back. The entrance fee for the Badaling Great Wall is 40RMB. It takes 2 to 3 hours to scale and descend from Haohancheng, the peak of the North Wall (880m above sea level, the 8th of 12 tower stations along this stretch). The South Wall is shorter but steeper in parts, and therefore less popular. While the Badaling Great Wall has been extensively reconstructed (unlike the raw wilderness at sections of the Great Wall at Simatai and Mutianyu), the grand expanse of the wall snaking up and down the surrounding rolling hills is nevertheless breathtaking. The ascent (and descent) requires considerable stamina. If fitness is an issue or time is limited, consider taking the cable car ride (40RMB singe or 60RMB return, last ride at 1600h) to the peak at the 8th station of the North Wall. The cable car entrance is different from the Great Wall entrance (about 1000m apart) - just follow the signs. There are more subway lines being built. By the Summer Olympic Games 2008, there should be a subway stop at the Badaling Express Bus Station (as well as another stop at the Summer Palace). Hopefully, the journey to Badaling will be less traumatic - if only they can clamp down on the scams. |
Labels: antiquity, architecture, Beijing, China, nature, transport, trekking
Sunday, November 11, 2007
London, United Kingdom, 16-20 Nov 2006: Bassae Frieze
Amazonomachy & Centauromachy
The Temple of Apollo Epikourios the Helper/Saviour) was built as a thanksgiving to Apollo for deliverance from a plague in c 430 BC. Ictinus, architect of the  Parthenon, probably worked on this temple before the Parthenon. Sited in the small state of Phigaleia (Arcadia, Peloponnese) in the remote Arcadian hills, at 3710ft on a narrow terrace of Mt Kotilion, and surrounded by ravines (bassai), its inaccessibility helped preserve much of the temple (lost until 1765 AD) from marauders.The temple is renowned for its single remarkable Corinthian column, the earliest known specimen in ancient Greece, as well as the Bassae Frieze. The Frieze, now in the British Museum in London, originally lined the inner walls of the temple, perched high on columns 7 metres above ground near to the ceiling. Despite the high relief, the sculptures could not have been well seen. When found, the 23 slabs of  marble were lying in confusion amid rubble. The actual sequence of the placement of the individual segments of the Frieze is uncertain.The Frieze depicts 2 battles: the Amazonomachy and the Centauromachy. The Amazons were a mighty race of valiant women warriors. They fought fearlessly against the Greeks (led by Herakles?). The Centaurs were invited guests of the Lapiths at a wedding feast. Feted by wine, their wild nature surfaced. After one Centaur attempted to ravage the bride, fighting broke out between the Centaurs and their Lapith hosts. The overarching theme in both sequences is the struggle between Civilization (the Greeks and the Lapiths) and barbarous Nature (the Amazons and Centaurs). |
Labels: antiquity, London, museum, sculpture, United Kingdom
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Berlin, Germany, 11-15 Oct 2006: Pergamon Altar
Gigantomachy & Telephos Frieze
Pergamonmuseum was built to house the amazing marbles excavated from the site of the Zeus Altar in present-day Bergama, Turkey. The Pergamon Altar consists of an enormous outer frieze and an inner smaller frieze that surrounds the altar proper. The outer frieze depicts the  Gigantomachy: the epic war between the Giants (many of whom have animal attributes) and the Gods on Mount Olympus. The inner frieze relates the story of Telephos, legendary founder of Pergamon, and son of demigod Herakles and Auge.Gigantomachy. At nearly 120m long, this huge frieze surrounds the four sides of the base of the altar. The East Frieze features the major Gods, culminating in the battles between lightning bolt-wielding Zeus and Porphyrion, and powerful Athena and Alkyoneous, leader of the Giants.  Alkyoneous is unceremoniously plucked from the grasp of his mother, Gaea, from whom the Giant draws strength and sustenance. The West Frieze opens up to a broad staircase that leads to the Altar.Telephos Frieze. The frieze is the earliest known extant specimen of narrative sculpture. King Aleus, fearing the prophecy that his future grandson shall overthrow him, commits his daughter Auge to virginal priestesshood. She attracts Herakles and bears him a son, Telephos. Her father casts her out to sea in a boat, and abandons her son to the elements. She is  rescued by King Teuthras in Mysia, while her son is discovered and protected by Herakles. Telephos grows up, finds his way to Mysia, where he distinguishes himself in battle and is rewarded by King Teuthras. He eventually succeeds the king. As ruler of Mysia, he fights against the Greeks, who are sailing to Troy to wrest Helen back from Paris. Inflicted with a non-healing wound by Achilles, he seeks help from the sibyl Clytemnestera. She advises him to kidnap her only son Orestes, in order to pressure Agamemnon, the boy's father, into persuading Achilles to heal his wound, thus fulfilling the prophecy, "He that wounded shall also heal." Achilles is however no Asklepios. Odysseus correctly guesses that it is Achilles' sword, not his person, that will do the healing. His wound cured, Telephos went on to guide the Greek contingent to Troy. |
 Gigantomachy:Alkyoneous-Athena-Gaea-Nike group, East Frieze |
Labels: antiquity, Berlin, Germany, history, museum, sculpture
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Vienna, Austria, 4 Sep 2007: Kunsthistorisches Museum
Gemaldegalerie, Egyptian, Greek & Roman Collections
Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum boasts continental Europe's largest collection of art and antiquity, the fruit of the Habsburg rulers' predilection for amassing choice pieces throughout the expansive Austrian-Hungarian empire during their long 800-year domination.  Antiquity from ancient Egyptian, Greek, Hellenistic and Roman civilizations are exhibited on the ground floor of the heavy neoclassical museum building. The painting collection, Gemäldegalerie, is on the first floor.Canova's oeuvre Theseus Battling the Minotaur, marble made flesh, sits on a landing midway up the central staircase to the art gallery. Stand in awe of the life-like muscular tension between the hero and the struggling Minotaur. Flinch at the monster's agonized grimace moments before the fatal blow. The Gemäldegalerie comprises paintings by Northern (Nederlandisch, Flanders) and Southern (Italian, Spanish) European artists displayed in the north and south wings, respectively. The collection features the world's biggest cache of works by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (including the fascinating Hunters in the Snow), rooms full of Rubens, Rembrandt, Titian, as well as rare Giorgione (filled with poetry and mystery), Velázquez (well traveled  court painter-cum-art procurer to the Spanish Habsburg King Philip IV) and one sublime Vermeer.The antiquities collection of Egyptian, Near East, Greek and Roman ancient artefacts resides in the south wing on the ground floor. Highlights include the largest assembly of papyri in the world, several noteworthy statues and carvings - e.g., fragments from the famous Parthenon Frieze, the Amazonian Sacrophagus with its dramatic battle scene relief - and an unmatched prized treasure trove of Roman cameos and jewellery. The museum's remaining section, the Kunstkammer, features sculpture and the decorative arts. An unbridled orgy of rococo excess, the collection acquired some notoriety from the bizarre circumstances surrounding the theft and subsequent recovery of its celebrated centrepiece, Cellini's Saliera. |
Labels: antiquity, art, Austria, history, museum, sculpture, Vienna
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These are the 30 countries that I have ever set foot on. Airport stopovers don't count!
