ArticleSpace-Time Continuum

Despite the title, the entry is still devoted to regular wonders, not those of Einsteinian physics. Most such wonders are “spatial” - that is, they are associated with a particular location (and often named after it). Niagara Falls, Ruakuri Caves, Arena di Verona…Each of them is also quite unique in its own way - and very different from any other waterfall, cave or arena. Some wonders are “temporal” - that is, they happen in a specific season (Christmas lights) or even on a particular day (St.Patrick celebrations). Finally, there is a relatively large category combining the best of both worlds - spatio-temporal wonders that occur not only in a given place on a particular day but sometimes even sharp on the hour. Like, for instance, the carillon in the New City Hall tower on Marienplatz (St.Mary's Square) in Munich. 32 dancing/rotating figurines, representing the characters at the 1568 royal wedding between Duke Willhelm V and Renara of Lorraine, are accompanied by 43 tower bells chiming simultaneously - and residents and guests of the capital of Bavaria are treated to that unutterably beautiful mixture of sights and sounds four times a day (11 am, noon, 5 pm and 9 pm) throughout the summer.

Come the fall, and the characters begin to take it easier. They still perform but only twice a day. Maybe they get distracted by the Octoberfest taking place right next to the tower - yet another spatio-temporal event (three weeks of beer-drinking can hardly be called a “wonder” but the activity and the celebrations around it fall well within German cultural tradition). One might argue that, in fact, Octoberfest is very similar to St.Patrick's day: both originated in one country and eventually spread all over the world. The difference is that Irish emigrants actually carried St.Patrick's tradition in their luggage, wherever they went - so, their celebrations in foreign countries look completely authentic. As opposed, the German tradition somehow made it as far and wide as, for instance, Vancouver and Tokyo without Germans! As a result, there is hardly anything German about the “Fest” outside of its country of origin.  

The above-mentioned problem is something multinational festivals known as Heritage Days do not have. Such festivals celebrate cultural and culinary traditions brought by immigrants from their old country to the new one - and quite often, several generations participate in presenting those traditions. While younger people might not necessarily speak their parents' native language, they are usually well versed in types of food they help to cook or sell, and in different arts they perform during the festival. As a result, Heritage Days turn into a true Festival of Nations within just one country, or even city - and they take place all over the New World. Ernest Hemingway must have had one of those in mind when he chose the title for one of his books - A Moveable Feast.