Day 348: Boating on the Wannsee
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day
348 — Boating on the Wannsee
15-Jul-1972
(Sat.)
TRANSCRIPT
Berlin avenues
BERLIN
In the morning, had breakfast. The hausfrau is so
nice I can’t believe it. Because I’m a student
without much money, she gives me breakfast without
charging me. Fantastic breakfast (eggs, coffee,
marmalade, homemade buns). So I had to pay her
something. We finally agreed to 1 DM (for a 3.50 DM
breakfast).
Met a girl at breakfast. From Frankfurt. So-so.
Friendly and alone. So, I said let’s do something
tonight. And so now, we’re going to take a night
boat-ride (it’s going to be expensive, lucky she’s
paying for herself). Friendly, but I seem to be on a
different wavelength. Perhaps too proper.
Computer lecture. Not bad. Herr Brünn (from Illinois)
really knows his stuff. His music, I seem to like
also.
Boat ride at night, with dancing on the Wannsee.
Almost missed the boat. Perhaps I should have. All
right, but wasn’t the greatest. Prices high. Band
(old music) wasn’t good, plays rock like polkas. Too
many old people. But the ride was nice. Danced and
still had a good time. Still wrong wavelength but we
are still doing all right. Perhaps it’s attitude.
All I know is that it wasn’t like the boat ride with
Anjali. Mainly because Anjali wasn’t there. Also the
band was better.
REFLECTIONS
Pension.
Once again
my hausfrau at the pension is being very kind. I try
to come back with a little money. There is a new
pensioner at the house, a girl. I ask her out.
Lost
notes. Although I
was very lucky to keep and find my 1971 journal,
photos, and a few assorted items, all of which are
allowing me to create this blog, I was unlucky to
lose (or discard) my many other notes, concert
programs, and paper materials that would have nicely
supplemented this journal. I did save all of my
programs from this year—from the sightseeing info,
operas, concerts, and this week’s avant-garde
concerts. I’m certain I wrote notes in the margins. I
remember even taking one of those large “concert”
posters that were wrapped around telephone poles
showing all the programs and venues for the summer.
Unfortunately over the years, all of these items were
lost.
IF I had imagined my blogging about this year in
1971–1972, I would still have those items. Oh, well.
Why am I mentioning this? Because, I never wrote down
the name of the pension in my journal. I certainly
had some printed information with their name on it.
That’s why I can’t write about this wonderful
experience in the pension.
Computer
music lecture. As part of
my ticket purchase, I am attending lectures almost
every day. The University of Illinois was also big in
electronic and computer music at the time. Remember,
that at the time, computer music was something only a
few university composers were using and pioneering. I
took one computer music course at Ohio State many
years later, using a program to tell the computer
exactly what to play (the math for the sine tones)
and it was
hard. Very
hard. I think I got the dumb mainframe to play a few
collections of notes—but it wasn’t music. I don’t
know composer Brünn. I remember John Chowning and
Milton Babbitt in the computer music arena.
Apparently, I didn’t attend any concerts today.
Romance
on the Wansee? You wonder
how an enclosed city like West Berlin would manage to
have a boat ride, but they did. It was on Lake
Wannsee. Attempting to recreate my love affair with
Anjali, I ask my pension-mate out for a ride.
Nothing. You know how they say, “you can tell when
someone is right,” well, it’s true. I can remember
feeling excited by Anjali but I don’t remember what
this girl looks like. Oh,
well—my
favorite, that’s
life expression.
Jonathan’s
travel blog. Looking
for info on Lake Wannsee, I run into a new travel
blog (from 2005) that describes a trip through
Europe. I am starting to read it and I like it.
This
travel blog by Jonathan
Baker is more
helpful for tourist information, giving more
detail on the sights than my blog, which is mostly
about me complaining (kidding). For some reason,
this is the first travel blog I’ve seen. I like
it. Check it out—he has some
amazing photo albums
from
his travels of the world. Nice.
Here are some more Berlin photos:
Beautiful Berlin
Park
grounds near Schloss
Charlottenburg
John
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