Author: Manny Kagan

A married couple lived happily together for many years, until one day they got into a car accident, and died immediately.  When they arrived in heaven, the wife turned to her husband with joy in her voice and exclaimed, “Look, how beautiful and peaceful it is here, honey!  The blooming flowers, butterflies, and trees!”  “Well,” the husband responded, “If not for your vegetarian diet, we could have been here a long time ago”.

On January 13^th I reached the remarkable age of 69.  It will take another twenty seven years for those two numbers to repeat themselves again at age 96.  Oh well, I have no choice but to wait.  As one progresses in life, time feels like it runs faster.  The famous saying, “So little time, and so much to do” is attributed to Winston Churchill, but in different variations many famous people have been known to express this sentiment.  Last year my wife Elfa suggested, “Why don’t you semi-retire?”  I agreed with her suggestion (after over forty-eight years of marriage, a man knows that he has to always agree with his wife).  I cut my daily working hours from ten to eight, and now I have more time to work on my photography and writing, which resulted in my photography book series, “42 Encounters”.  I have just finished working on my first book “42 Encounters in San Francisco”.

People ask me how I can do so much.  Where do I have energy and ability to function non-stop for long hours every day?  My answer is “a good diet”.  Any high performing vehicle needs the best fuel to function at its best.  With my wife’s influence, we decided to stop eating meat over forty years ago.  Shortly after coming to the United States in 1980, per the advice of a nutritionist we met with, we added fish to our diet.  Then, about ten years ago, influenced by another teacher, I stopped drinking any alcohol.  Gradually, I weeded out coffee, as well.  Instead, I developed an affinity for drinking good hot chocolate.  This did not last for too long.  Recently, after making the decision to eliminate excess carbs and sugar from my diet, and to cut down on bread and desserts, hot chocolate was also cut off.  Reading this, you may wonder, “Why deprive oneself from food and drink that so many people find enjoyable?”  And the second question you might ask is, “What do I eat and is it enough?”  The human body has its own intelligence.  Some studies suggest that many modern foods are difficult for the body to process, and might be a contributor to the growing number of obesity and ailments in today’s western society.  Many people stop smoking, drinking alcohol and set up other restrictions, only after doctors tell them to do so.  In our case, our daughter Alona helped me to move to the next level.  When we became vegetarians, she and my mother-in-law, who lived with us, chose to continue to eat meat.  While she still does, she has become conscious about her diet in general.  After experiencing and improving her own well being, she suggested that Elfa and I do the same.  On her recent visit to San Francisco (she currently resides in Paris), we decided to follow her advice and went through a seven days cleansing process.  Luckily, Elfa is a very good cook and knowledgeable about food preparation.  We had tasty smoothies for breakfast, creative salads and delicious soups for dinner.  In between, I snacked on apples, or a handful of nuts and dates for dessert.  I feel great, my weight went down and energy went up.  But there was a cost, of course – I had to buy new pants and take a few old ones to the tailor.  Oh well.

Enjoy and share.

P.S. I considered sending you the image of my slim torso, but decided that young people I met on the beach in Playa del Carmen, Mexico looked more attractive.

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It took us about an hour from Knokke, Belgium where we vacationed for about a week (I wrote about this experience last week) to drive to Antwerp.  From there, we took a train and two hours later arrived in Paris.  It seems that you can cross Europe in about two hours in any direction.  Stepping out of the train into the busy Parisian street, was like entering into a different world.  In Belgium, the weather was cold.  Paris greeted us with the warmth of the setting sun.  Though we’ve been to Paris many times, every experience is new.  The environment looks familiar, but each time, we need to get reacquainted.

There is a story told about a man who kept saying that he “wants to go to Paris again”.  A friend asked him when last time he had been there.  “Never”, the man answered, “but I’ve wanted to go there many times.”  Our daughter Alona has lived there for 10 years.  She has a beautiful apartment in the center of Paris.  She travels the world for her art advisory business, but recently she decided she wants to come back to the Bay Area, where she grew up.

Whenever we travel, I continue my daily routine; an hour walk in the morning.  One day at 7.30am, I stepped out for my walk.  The tourists were still in bed.  The air was cold, about 40°F, but I walked briskly, encountering only those Parisians, who were rushing to work.  I knew the direction well, and in about half an hour I was in front of the famous Parisian landmark – the Eifel Tower.  It is named after Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.  It served as the entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair.  The tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most visited paid monument in the World.  There are other known symbols in Paris, like the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Elysees, the Louvre museum, the Notre Dame de Paris.  But aside from these famous monuments, what makes Paris really unique is its outdoor Cafés which all serve their famous baguette.  They are copied all over the world, but nothing comes close to the original, since it is a part of the Parisian lifestyle.  Some years ago, I had my first photo exhibit called “French Baguette” with images of people with baguettes.  I am planning to publish “42 Encounters in Paris with Couples” in a few years.  Meanwhile, soon you will be able to enjoy “42 Encounters in San Francisco”.

P.S. French Cafés are not only places to have a drink or a meal, or meet a friend.  They are also an excellent place to photograph people.

Enjoy and Share.

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One of the advantages of having a daughter, who is an art consultant, is that I am compelled to learn more about art. Alona currently lives in Paris and travels extensively to different art shows around the world, such as London, New York, Venice and many other destinations. It sounds glamorous, but for her it is very hard work. She looks for paintings or sculptures from specific artists, to satisfy the requests of her clients. Her work involves negotiations on both ends, and logistics with money and delivery. But someone has to do it, and it seems that she is very good at it. She studied art history at UC Berkeley, and received her MBA from Columbia University. After several years managing her own successful gallery in New York, she moved to Paris.

Some years ago she visited San Francisco and we attended a local art show in Fort Mason. This year, The San Francisco Art Show opened yesterday, at the same location. One of the exhibits there was a plexiglass box, containing a used can of paint and injection syringes. After learning that this piece of art cost $100,000, I expressed my surprise rather loudly. On hearing me, Alona was aggravated by my ignorance. Apparently, it was the work of a well-known artist, represented by an important art gallery (Today this artwork probably costs 10 times the price, or more). Her advice was very simple — before you open your mouth – go and study. Through the years, I became more tolerant and even learned how to appreciate modern art, which is defined from the works of Impressionists from around 1880 up to until the 1970s. The works of art created after 1970 are called contemporary art. You can learn a lot about art by reading books written by Calvin Tomkins, including, “Lives of the Artists” where he writes about contemporary artists. Just as a reminder, when the Impressionists developed their technique, they were ridiculed, lived the lives of starving artists, and today their works sell for millions of dollars.

One of the side benefits of our vacation in Knokke-Heist, which I wrote about in the last two weeks, was our proximity to Maastricht, a city located in the Netherlands. There was an annual European Fine Art Foundation’s (TEFAF) Art Show that luckily coincided with the dates of our visit. After Alona joined us from Paris, we drove there, and in a few hours we tried to visit 600, primarily European art dealers, who showed various kinds of art from different time periods and different varieties, including paintings, sculptures, porcelain, and decorative art. To give you perspective, San Francisco Show has about 70 exhibitors. I found most of it to be overwhelmingly beautiful, and then I noticed the guy who was delivering champagne in his cart. I felt that my head was already spinning without any alcohol. Enjoy and Share.

Enjoy and Share.

P.S. One of my questions while visiting any art exhibition in a gallery or museum is, whether it is permitted to photograph. At the show in Maastricht, there was a sign that prohibited photography, but most people ignored it and most used their smartphones/cameras. I do not care to copy the works of art; but rather, I like to create my own interpretations with the help of the visitors, who just happen to be in my field of vision.

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When my wife Elfa planned our vacation in Berlin to celebrate her brother’s 80^th birthday, she checked if it was possible to add another week somewhere in Europe through the RCI timeshare exchange.  When Knokke-Heist in Belgium showed up as an option, she had no idea where it was and why to go there.  But after some research, she discovered it was not far from Bruges, which she has wanted to visit for a while, we decided to go there.  It is a town of about 35,000 people, located along the North Sea.  Although the water is cold, it has beautiful beaches, which draw a lot of visitors and the people nearby with second home condominiums.  I cannot imagine how crowded it can be in the summer, but on a Sunday on our visit, with the outside temperature in the low 40s, the streets were packed with people visiting high end stores, strolling on the promenade along the water and crowding the restaurants, including their outdoor patios.  The restaurants offered tasty food, priced comparatively to good restaurants in San Francisco.  The only reason why we were able to get a timeshare exchange for a two bedroom spacious apartment, was because it was not in their high season, and quite cold.  Because of the humidity, when the temperature dropped below the 40s in the evening, it was not enjoyable to be outside and we were just wishing to be back in San Francisco, where our warm sweaters and coats can go back in the closet.

Driving from Knokke to Bruges took less than 30 minutes, and parking our rental car in the underground parking (a note for your travel plans), it felt like we came out into the 16^th century.  The recorded history of Bruges goes back to 840 A.D.  The earliest known artwork – The Last Judgment is a triptych by Hieronymus Bosch, created after 1482.  Bruges is a very good example of how through the history fortunes of the geographic locations change, but the beauty preserves its true values.  The name means “bridge” because it had many canals.  In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it was center for wool trade and became an important trading destination and one of the leading ports in Europe.  It was well known for weaving and its population grew to 200,000 people, around 1400 A.D.  And then the decline started.  By 1900, the population dropped to 50,000.  After 1965, the original medieval city experienced a renaissance.  You can see images of the results on the web.  International tourism has boomed, and new efforts here resulted in Bruges being a designated European Capital of Culture.  It attracts two million tourists annually.

Besides the beautiful buildings, it has another attraction – every second store sells chocolates.  Some offer to taste before you buy, others offer it in a liquid form.  I said, “Yes” to both options.  If the store did not sell chocolate or clothing, then it offered the highest number of beers I’ve ever seen.  In spite of the low temperatures, there were a lot of tourists and we had a very good time.

The next day we drove to Gent, which has even more old buildings, canals and bridges.  It is a student town.  It does not have same charm as Bruges, but it’s worth including in the list of places to visit in your lifetime.  In Gent, we encountered a movie set for some medieval production.  It looked very real, if not for the sound person in the middle of the crowd.

Enjoy and Share.

P.S. I usually photograph others, it is the first time you can see the image of me with my wife Elfa and our daughter Alona enjoying delicious hot chocolate.  The tools and the horseshoe are made from chocolate.  I did not taste them.  Maybe I will, next time.

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After spending a week in Berlin (which I wrote about last week), our next destination was Antwerp, Belgium. We boarded the plane, and an hour later, were in a different country and a different world. We stayed at Hotel Rubens, on a small street in the center of the Old Town, literally a few steps from the famous Cathedral of Our Lady, which was built in 1521, surrounded by old buildings, boutiques, and specialty stores. Since this area caters to tourists, there were also a few familiar places, including McDonalds, Starbucks and Häagen-Daz (in spite of the European sounding name, it is an American ice cream company). At the Waffle Factory, they offer Belgian waffles, which were very light in taste, but had the same number of calories as their American cousins. Next door, was a place that sold Belgian fries, which were advertised along with Coca -Cola. The connection between the Old and the New World became less obvious when we ventured away from the center; though, everyone we talked to, spoke excellent English (Flemish is their native dialect).

I liked Antwerp from the first encounter. It was 100% opposite of our experience in Berlin. When we stepped out from our hotel, I noticed a man in a red hat drinking beer. He saw me, lifted his glass to greet me, then hopped on his bike and rode away. Belgium is known for its beer, as well as its chocolate. One store boasted that they have truffles in 25 different flavors. At home, I do not eat bread or sweets, but in Belgium, I have to admit, I had Belgian waffles covered with Belgian dark chocolate. After all, “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”.

It seemed that the main form of transportation in the city center was by bicycle. There are no designated lanes. Bicyclists ride everywhere, in the middle of narrow roads or on sidewalks. They don’t usually wear helmets, and it seems that no one complains, and somehow everyone manages to work together (I have seen similar circumstances in Berlin as well).

The name Antwerp in Dutch means “hand thrown”, which comes from the legend I found on Eupedia.com. We came here for only two days, on the way to our next destination (which you will read about next week).

The following morning, before moving on, we visited the Rubens House. On the way there, we walked through the area with a lot of chains of famous American stores. The weather was chilly but a lot of people on the streets seemed to be having a good time. Our last lunch was in a small square in front of a church built in the 1600s. The trip was enjoyable and I strongly recommend adding Antwerp or Antwerpen, as the locals call it, to your list of places to visit.

From Antwerp we took a train to Paris. What surprised us is that there was absolutely no security control. We took our suitcases onto the train and stored them next to other passengers. The train stopped in Brussels. Passengers got out and in, carrying their luggage. After we returned to San Francisco, we learned about what happened in Brussels.

It seems that Paris and Brussels, and Europe in general is far from us. But the terrorist acts that happened there, affect all of us. Can we be protected? Should we not travel to other countries? President Ronald Reagan adopted and often repeated the Russian proverb – “Trust, But Verify.”

Enjoy and Share.

P.S. Pictures cannot tell the whole story, but can serve as a good memory.
Enjoy and Share.

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