While on a cruise to Greece, I wrote the following:
“Here I am in Greece. Amazing, but that usual phenomenon of ‘Here I am!’ And then: ‘Big deal.’”
What I’m referring to is the state of mind that seems to always happen to me when I travel internationally. I get very excited by the prospect of seeing historical locations—Shakespeare’s birthplace at Stratford-Upon-Avon, or the ruins of Pompeii—and then when I get there, by the very fact of my arrival, it’s not as exciting anymore. I guess if I can be there, if I can find my way there, it’s not as wonderful as I had anticipated.
And that does take a lot of the enjoyment out of travel. Imagine standing on the site of an historic Scottish castle and thinking, “Okay, is this it?”
Now perhaps it would have been different if I had found myself standing on the stage of the theater at Epidauros. I could have rattled off a few lines of ancient Greek plays that I remember, and felt connected with the 2500 year old playwrights about whom I spoke for decades.
Then again, I had wanted to do the “To be or not to be” soliloquy at Stratford and was not moved to do so. Maybe if I go back to Greece and plan a visit to Epidauros it will be different. I don’t know.
Mount Vesuvius in the distance.
MUSOFYR 