Dear Subscriber,
As requested by many of you, here is a sampling of photos from an interesting journey to Europe. Several aspects to our experience. Beautiful old cities. History. Architecture. Religion. Destruction. Redemption. Unparalleled art. Rebuilding. Needless tragedy. Human experience. Human achievements. Human horrors. The failure of subsequent and current Rulers to learn from lessons of the past and avoid current and future horror. I have made some comments at the bottom of most of the photos. Please enjoy. And, if you like my journalism and page, please share.
It is unimaginable to me the effort people put into building cathedrals and palaces. First, each city had to outdo the other, so they went higher and higher, but how without machines, modern methods of stone cutting. etc? And despite the teaching of Jesus that the Kingdom of God is inside the heart, they must have thought they were building the home of God with spires reaching to the sky, gold, gold and more gold, and open spaces in the nave larger than a football field. Today, rather than build such opulent palaces and churches, we tax and spend for wars.
In those days, each ruler had to build a bigger and grander palace than his neighbor, just to show off. That is why you see such art, decoration and GOLD. There were many lessons to be learned from this. The Virgin Mary, pictured with the baby Jesus, often was portrayed with crown of gold on her head. Hmm, too poor for an inn, so she gave birth in a manger, but wealthy enough for a crown of gold.
These days the state is largely paying the cost of upkeep of these wonders with taxes and in many cases, entry fees. The churches are not greatly attended these days, though the population is much greater now than in yesteryear.
Today is D day. Terri and I visited the beaches at Normandy last fall. Another very moving site, but moving to America, the Brits and Canadian heroes who died or risked their lives in our last “just” war. My dad was in the war, though not at Normandy. It is hard to hold back the tears at the American cemetery in Normandy where you see the stones of our heroes with both crosses and Stars of David all buried together in honor. I wonder what these heroes and martyrs would think of what the country they saved has become.
I need a few more days to see if I can corner some discount on the bioflavonoid I am discussing in the premium section. Thank you for your patience. I will have really good information on its medical value in the next post.
As always, please share your thoughts.
Robert Jay Rowen, MD
PS I got a message from a reader today directing me to a propaganda video “documentary” claiming that the death of 6 million Jews (as well as many more millions of others) was/is a Jewish lie. I feel sorry for him. Then Eisenhower lied to us and the image below is a lie as well, though permanently etched in the foundations of Budapest.
This was the most moving and painful site of all. Where hundreds of Jews, men, women and many children, were marched in the dead of winter to the edge of the Budapest Danube, by Hungarian Nazis (not German) ordered to strip, face the river, and shot in the back, bleeding bodies to plunge into the icy waters. These are brass shoes permanently affixed to the river wall.
Another sad site. This is a memorial metal tree that sits on the premises of the Budapest synagogue which did survive only because it was used to concentrate the Jews of the city into a ghetto on the premises and provided a site to bury the dead between its building structures, which prevented disease. Each “leaf” on the tree carries a name of a murdered Jew. The tragedy happened in mid-winter 1944-45 when the Germans were clearly losing and Hungarian Nazis, in a blood lust, killed tens of thousands in a matter of a few weeks. The dead included Jews and non-Jews. While Jewish law prohibits any burials within the grounds of a house of worship, the rabbi and the time permitted such burial of not only Jews but non-Jews in consideration of the fact that if a dead person could not be identified as a Jew, the rabbi considered. Him a Jew to provide a proper burial for the victim. However. There was nothing but mass graves in the very limited area.
New York Café in Budapest, constructed in the very late 1800s. People line around the corner to get a seat for its mediocre food, just to see the incredible art and beauty.
Stained glass everywhere. Nazi authorities had the stained glass removed from their occupied areas early in the war and stored in a bomb proof underground vault where they hid their other looted art. We saw the hiding place. They started preparing for this in 1933 as soon as they took power, knowing what they were going to do. The glass was replaced after the war.
I just cannot do justice to capturing the height of the nave.
Architecture certainly different than our own.
Sample Church nave. Many of the churches and palaces had marvelous mosaic wood floors.
These are two photos of the exterior of the Hungarian parliament building. .Budapest is the most beautiful city Terri and I have ever seen. Very clean, efficient transportation system with underground and on street electric trolleys. Los Angeles had a very efficient trolley system a few generations ago it tore up for diesel GM buses on proprietary tires.
Inside Hungarian Parliament chamber, building built in 1880s. Highly gilded. They were bicameral then. Now unicameral, and this is the meeting chamber.
Inside Hungarian Parliament building.
Opera House – gilded.
One simply cannot capture the vertical or even horizontal dimensions of these cathedrals in a photo. All the exterior walls lateral to the columns had magnificent stained glass.
Monstrously large hand-painted murals on celling. How did they do it?
More ceiling art under the dome.
More samples of stained glass.
Room inside a 140-room palace a local German ruler built for himself (no family) not happy with a smaller palace about half that size. Napoleon bragged about Versailles until he visited this palace and shut up. These local rulers had both church and state powers (called “prince bishop”). They held positions of both the local archbishop and governor, something that would be anathema here in the states.
Another view of this room, perhaps the most opulent room in any palace or museum I’ve ever seen.
Simple example of church nave. This one without high ceiling, but nevertheless highly decorated ceilings.
Cologne Cathedral which took at least 500 years to complete, and miraculously urvived the destruction of the city. Its spires are over 515 feet and the roof of the nave is 143 feet high. It is the most visited site in Germany. Gothic architecture.
This is a photo of the complete devastation of Cologne in just one night of bombing. 90% of the city was decimated. Our guide, who actually guided one of the pilots 40 years after the war, He told her the allied bombers had personally agreed among themselves to try to avoid the Cathedral. It survived despite 14 bombs hitting it. Things like this (collateral damage) need to be considered in any all-out war, which is why humans should ban war instead of ozone and natural therapies. The Allies did not generally go out of their way to avoid devastation to the perpetrators of the war. The fanatic Nazis felt it OK to sacrifice their people and cities in their madness. Bombs were dropped everywhere, not specifically on military or industrial targets. In the current middle east war, we see destruction like this as well, but what would one expect when the terrorists are conducting their operations in schools, refugee camps and hospitals, which is a war crime, as it makes the civilians absolute targets, justly. And. mindless people accept the propaganda of the terrorists not disclosing their operations in schools which led to tragedy.
A passageway in the Hungarian parliament building.
This was one of the more amazing places – a remote monastery. Yet its chapel was gilded or solid gold and walls and columns natural marble. The crown was gold and seemed to be hanging in midair, no evidence of fixation to wall or ceiling visible to the looker.
Inside a church.
Brass stumble stones honoring Jewish residents who lived in the house so marked and hauled out to the death camps where they were murdered. Four souls at this place. These brass “stones” have been placed in several countries as remembrance.
Another church interior.
Photo of famed vet Margo Roman, Terri and me at dinner honoring speakers during Italian ozone society meeting with Rome architecture in background.
Terri and me with Italian Ozone Society President Franzini (critical condition COVID survivor) at dinner honoring speakers.
At Vatican Museum. Penis chopped off and what was left covered with plaster fig leaf. “Gender dysphoria” in the clergy of the time shamed by their own body created in the image of God. Many priceless sculptures were so “mutilated”. Trans people today are doing this to their own bodies. History repeating itself?
Michelangelo’s absolute masterpiece of Mary holding the dead Jesus at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. It is behind bullet proof glass as a madman attacked it years ago and damaged it.
Great pictures and Great observations…God help us.
Great pix and stories with them! I'm looking forward to your next post with info on the bioflavinoids. I have interest in such for joint health., as well as hyaluronic acid.