I was listening to Pink Floyd then the Berlin Wall was torn down and so did our dreams too.I remember the times that we needed a passport to travel through the European countries.Our roles were so defined without a single doubt.Everybody crossing the borderline was a tourist.Their issues left behind to their own countries.
Life was so easier.People were so much easier.Everything had a simple definition under a certain flag and with a certain culture.No blames for the culture each one carried along with their back bags,it was a heritage they didn;t wish to get rid of ,everybody was leaving eventually and everything was back to normal.
Anybody was able to visit any European country with no tags on their t-shirts.Totally free of their domestic burden anybody could show their passport to the customs and enjoy a couple of days in another country.. maybe get to know the locals.. exchange a couple of broken words in the local language.. sight seeing
Pre- EU Europe was glorious.Easy going and lovely.Most of all,the balancing factor of global peace.The intermediate stop to the railway of nuclear threat .Ronald Reagan and Boris Yeltsin.Figures not to be forgotten comparing to the present ones.
Proud countries,proud citizens and nothing to separate.
Sunny Spain,Las Valearidas,Barcelona and Madrid,flourishing,indepedent secure.The Prado and El Greco´s Toledo.The Alhambra castle for everyone to visit.Flamenco grief,Joaquin Cortez and mediterranean sun.Joaquin Cortez
U2,The Cranberries,Massive Attack,Seal huge head phones in the 90′s listening to the ancient huge red Walkmans.1984 the first Sony ones I happened to stumble upon in Florence..Italy..Den Harrow,Memories of Mad Desire and Italo disco.
I remember crossing former Yugoslavia on a tourist bus with no air conditioning,no lemons to carry with no sugar or coffee.. monopoly.. a stop outside Beograd,God just to visit the ladies’ room costed 20 drachmas!Making a stop in a village outside Ljubljana past midnight,a tiny village with hay roofs Jesus that was before 1990,bumps of the heads on the bus roof thanks to the country road .. it was around 1985.Italy exchange: from the Greek Drachma to the Italian Liretta ( spell check: double T or not)..Looking desperately for an exchange kiosk.Buying useless stuff at the mercado or at the Arno Bridge stores..Losing our way in the twisting narrow streets trying to find the meeting point with no GPS.
I remember the famous Autostrada in Trieste,wow I’d never seen such a straight wide highway.
Don’t forget I was born in a small town in the north of Argentina.
The malls in Trieste selling the Toblerone white chocolates.. Ain’t Nobody,Chaka Khan
The Venice depression,the Lido di Jesolo sunlight and the Cathedral of Florence,San Marino looking downwards to the valley,Rimini,the hotel was next to the railway station..
Then back to Greece.Same road same bumps of the heads.. but with precious acquirement: Bananas! Tons of Bananas!
Greece’s Monopoly!
Take the tour to the past..
Doesn’t it sound so so funny now that we all live in Europe of Hatred?
I really miss those years.I miss THAT Europe.
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