ReJoyce Tour Highlights - One of Henry's dreams came true this year when we departed in early June for a one month tour during which three weeks were devoted to a Pilgimage of James Joyce to coincide with the celebration of Bloomsday Centenary. (Bloomsday is 16 June 1904 - the extraordinary day during which the epic journey of "Ulysses" takes place in Dublin.) James Joyce is Henry's most connected author, and "Ulysses" is his all time favourite. He had been looking forward to Bloomsday Centenary for several years!
Our first stop was Trieste / Northern Italy where Joyce began writing "Ulysses". We were able to find many Joyce related places like restaurants and bars; the Berlitz school where he had taught; apartments he had stayed and a brothel he used to visit frequently. It's not a brothel anymore but the building is still there. For Trieste used to belong to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austrian heritage can be seen everywhere. Since Henry is from Austria, he immediately felt an affinity with this lovely seaport town of which is also the hometown of illy Coffee. I did not want to leave when we had to depart for central Italy to visit a wonderful couple from San Francisco who has emigrated to Spoleto / Umbria.
Spoleto is a small, lovely, very attractive hill town where "The Festival of Two Worlds" (Festival dei Due Mondi) is held every year between June - July. We fell in love with Spoleto immediately. The ambience was very medieval and historical. It felt as if all the people were not wearing the right costume.
From Spoleto, our friends drove us to Toscana / Tuscany where we had to meet another friend whose in-laws own a huge beautiful farm. Both Spoleto and Toscana were so beautiful and lovely that it was heaven on earth for us everyday. We felt like angels ourselves.
To catch our flight for Zurich - we spent one and a half day at the tourist infested Rome. We wanted to be in Zurich at Joyce's grave on Bloomsday - 16 June. We arrived Zurich on the 13th. The next day we immediately went to look for the cemetary Friedhof Fluntern.
Bloomsday - Dramatically appropriate for the occasion, it was a rainy day. To Joyce's grave - we brought Joyce's favourite Proseco wine from Trieste - one transparent green glass and three pebbles that we picked up in Trieste, Miramare. We arrived Friedhof Fluntern (cemetary) at around 11:30 am. You can imagine how sacred and intimate a ritual it was for Henry. To our surprise, we were the only people there until around 12:45pm when we were about to leave, a young man finally appeared to pay his homage. We then went to the Kronenhalle Restaurant for lunch where Joyce used to dine. In the evening, we attended a mini concert organized by the Zurich James Joyce Foundation. They invited an Irish singer Mary Ryan from Dublin to perform some of the songs from "Ulysses". After the mini concert, there was a viewing of the latest movie adaptaion of "Ulysses". After the movie, we strolled along the Limmat River to return to the hotel feeling a bit lonely that Our Bloomsday was about to become history.
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