Medieval Disneyland

                  Medieval Disneyland- real or imagined ?

         We had completed and much enjoyed a Viking “Grand Tour” of Europe, earlier in June. It was wonderful. The food and service, on the Viking boats, is superior. The various ports, that we visited along the Rhine and Danube Rivers, are both picturesque and historically interesting. The guides that led us along the way were the interpreters of History for us. Some did a better job than others.

        In Regensburg, a knowledgeable young guide, who is an elementary teacher in her regular life, was particularly exceptional. The humor and information she provided were balanced with the gravitas of the WW II era round up of Jews for the camps. She did a good job with the balance. We were particularly taken with her, when a tour member commented on the historic nature of the cobble stone streets. The young guide, without missing a beat or commenting further said, “Yes. They are quite old. They date to the mid 1970’s.” Apparently the town fathers had decided to enhance a concept that I have found elsewhere in Europe, that of a “Medieval Disneyland.” San Gimiano, a walled city in Tuscany, is the prototypical example. Each of these cities seeks to portray in structure and commerce, the aura of a “Medieval Disneyland.” It is good for the tourists, each town thinks.

       We had journeyed five hours on a bus, from Amsterdam, to see and experience the ancient town of Brugge, in Belgium. The natives have tried mightily to recreate an medieval village atmosphere there. They “sorta succeeded” and “sorta didn’t.” The main drag looks ancient enough. But, the eighteen restaurants, each seeking to serve you a twelve course meal, with several bottles of champagne and an orchestra for entertainment, took away some of the medieval luster that we were looking for, a place where a hunk of chicken and a flagon of beer, in front of a large fire on an open hearth,  would have been considered appropriate fare.

      In thinking over the apparent contradictions of real time and fantasy, I decided that we are all too used to Hollywood productions, with their special effects in movies. There, every item is recreated perfectly. In your mind’s eye, you can picture Robin Hood running through Castles, slashing swords with a medieval villain, or watching a whole cast of other medieval figures, jousting, feasting and carrying on in colorful garb. The artificial reality is much more compelling than its real counterpart, something that we viewed in the many of the towns that we had visited. I don’t know what this means, except to say that sometimes the movies are much more attractive than real life. But, I guess that is true about everything.

        The saving grace of all of these towns, is that they are the actual repositories of two thousand years of history, with its very real coterie of villains and heroes. A better grasp of the many years gone by will help visitors to understand and appreciate the entirety of all that transpired in these small villages. Real people had lived here. Real people had struggled and died here. Their story is much more compelling than a Hollywood production, depicting the same.

       Maybe some of the town fathers are over doing it a bit, with the cobble stoned streets additions. But, someone has to pay for everything. And, in this area, Tourism carries a pretty big economic stick.

      As I read my own accounts, of these many interesting towns and villages, I try to see and  imagine, in my mind’s eye, the titanic forces that swept across Europe during the last two millennia. Celts, Romans, barbaric hordes, Napoleon and a dozen other entities had vied for supremacy along these narrow waterways. That is an epic sweep of history that no cinematographer can ever capture. I am glad that we had travelled here and experienced, however briefly, the whole medieval experience.

                                                    -30-

                                              (660 words)

                                            Joseph Xavier Martin