Wandering the City Trails - Pilgrimage and Rebirth Book II

In Book I, the Viennese walking trails formed the background with reflections about scenes in South Africa, the poet's former temporary home.
In this second volume, Wandering the City Trails - Pilgrimage and Rebirth, reports about impressions of familiar trails along the city of Athens with its sites of antiquity as its background, reflecting about changes since twenty years, while searching for the resting place of his muse and beloved, a city where the idea of democracy had been first probed, where philosophical schools influenced society, and laid the foundation stones for western societies. But foremost, the poet's love for for the arts, as he felt their magical beauty touching him just like the first time he experienced it. The shining highlights of sculptural and architectural achievements of the Classical period featured on the Acropolis of Athens and in the Acropolis Museum nearby, where its top floor, constructed in sync with the Parthenon temple, a masterpiece of fusing art as a 3D model keeping exact dimensions of the original one can view at the same time on the 'Sacred Rock'. This great idea by Bernard Tschumi and Associate Architect Michael Photiadis resulted in a first time of pulling the actual size of the Parthenon Frieze into a museum that confronts the real viewing experience of superb relief sculptures of the great temple on the rock, in full view from the museum's top floor. A place of inspiration and reflection in one of the world's greatest museums.
The poet visited various sites of antiquity that he had visited before, when his muse shared this experience with him.

About the author

Born in eastern Austria, close to the Hungarian border, he witnessed as a young man the horror's of a nation's suppression, erupting in the Hungarian revolution of 1956. He finished his education in art and architecture in Vienna, married, and sailed for the Cape of Africa, an adventure that followed his childhood dreams. He had drawn African animals for his art classes, but the time had come to see them in their natural habitat.
Meeting a varied facet of people and cultures, working as a draughtsman in an engineering office, and as an architect for a cultural centre, he made good use of his language skills travelling throughout Southern Africa.
During a trip to Lesotho, a native artist showed him rock paintings with their stark palimpsest outlines and with typified movements of animals and humans. It made a lasting impression on him and influenced his artistic work.
His vast collection of drawings and slides had been lost during a change of domiciles, but further studies of the San people would reawaken his dormant artistic longing for the expression of his art, filling sketchbooks with drawings and notepads with poetry and prose. While revisiting the capitals of Europe, he sensed that the bond of art being borderless and free, would reach across continents into the world. During a visit to Greece, he was accepted into a circle of artists and poets, who encouraged him to continue his art and a poetess introduced him to the works of famous Greek poets.
In South Africa, he joined the writing and poetry workshops of Writers Write. It was to open the floodgates of his creativity. He decided to travel through Greece and visit its sites of antiquity, read up on Classical mythology, and enjoy first-class translations of Greek poetry and prose.
He settled in 2013/14 in Klosterneuburg-Weidling. Poet Nikolaus Lenau is buried here. Franz Kafka had visited here. Their writings will always be an inspiration.

Product details

• Authors: Z J Galos
• Publisher: BoD - Books on Demand
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 11.02.2025
• EAN: 9783769328899
• ISBN: 978-3-7693-2889-9
• No. of pages: 168
• Dimensions: 120 mm x 190 mm x 11 mm
• Weight: 185 g
• Subject: Fiction > Narrative literature