Kafka in Central Europe
An impromptu month abroad.
In Franz Kafka’s novel, The Castle, a young man named K. receives a letter summoning him to a European village. The letter requests he report to the Count who lives in the castle above the village. But upon arriving, things don’t work out as expected.
The inn has no available bedrooms so K. ends up sleeping on a bed of straw in the building’s taproom. He is awakened in the middle of the night by a man who explains that all visitors must have the Count’s permission to stay in the village. The Count’s letter alone is insufficient.
For the next few days, K. attempts to enter the castle to obtain permission to stay in the village but, ironically, the journey proves difficult without permission. K. never makes it to the castle. Even though the castle is right next to the village.
The whole premise is “Kafkaesque” and, to some degree, describes my recent trip to Europe. I had a flight to Athens on September 28th and a flight home from Istanbul on November 2nd. Everything in between took a twist.
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Lefkada
It all started with a yoga retreat in Greece. Lots of sunshine, fresh veggies, and sun salutations. My favorite meal was a prepackaged greek salad I ate at the airport for breakfast at 6am. I was probably just hungry and it hit at the right moment. The way the moon rose over the mountains felt like a scene from another planet. A beautiful and peaceful time.
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Athens
Next, I spent a few days in Athens. When I lived in Charleston there was a law that said no building could be taller than the tallest church steeple. In Athens, nothing can be built taller than the Acropolis in the city center. I liked how there was this unifying force in the center of the city. The Parthenon has a certain gravity to it. You can’t not look. It was actually designed with subtle curves and illusions that trick the human eye into thinking it’s perfectly straight. 2,500 years ago.
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Tel Aviv
This is where things veered off course. It was the evening of Saturday, October 7th and I was about to check into my flight from Athens to Tel Aviv. I was planning to spend two weeks in Israel.
That’s when I saw the tweet.
“What’s happening in Israel?”
Good question! What is happening in Israel?
At the time it was rather unclear. There were no headlines on the front page of CNN or The New York Times. I was hearing about things in real time.
The Middle East is no stranger to conflict, but this situation felt different. I messaged my friend in Tel Aviv but did not hear back, so I decided to go to sleep and reevaluate in the morning.
Things were not better in the morning, so I cancelled the trip. We now know how things escalated from there.
At this point I was starting to feel like K. from The Castle. I had a final destination (Istanbul), but the steps to get there were unknown. My Athens hotel had run out of beds — and while they were very kind to offer me a straw bed in the janitor’s closet — I do prefer a more traditional sleeping arrangement.
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Prague?
Two days later I found myself at a hostel in Prague in a real bed. My grandma was part Czech, so I figured I’d feel at home. The city is like a fairytale, but in a functional way. The streetcars are cute but also efficient. My favorite part was an art festival that took place in churches throughout the city. I even got to attend a mass that was presided over by those robot dogs from Black Mirror. Franz Kafka was from Prague and his presence could be felt all over the city.
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Vienna??
Vienna was just a 4 hour train ride away. A very put-together city with lots of art and history. Great public transportation. Art Nouveau everything. I’m not a big museum person, but The Museum of Applied Arts and The Secession were truly special. Vienna also turned me into a goulash fan. Yum.
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Budapest???
The third leg of my impromptu central euro trifecta. My only goal here was to submerge myself in warm bodies water and I’m proud to report I achieved it. I went to three bathhouses and spent six hours at each. My fingers still look like raisins and when I close my eyes I’m transported back to the smell of Hungarian sulfur. Not a fan of schnitzel.
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Istanbul
After two weeks living on-the-fly, I did eventually make it to the proverbial castle! Istanbul. Where East meets West. I liked this city a lot. Geographically, it reminded me of the Bay Area, but culturally it was something special. Everyone was so kind. There are cats roaming the streets and they’re friendly too. Istanbul manages to feel modern while also preserving it’s rich history and culture. It’s anything but soulless. It has a personality and I like that. Highlights were spending Halloween at a late-night Turkish tea party and getting conned into buying an expensive box of Turkish Delights (please reply if you’d like a sample).
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Back to Franz…
The Castle is notable because it lacks the traditional signatures of a novel. There isn’t a plot. It’s a sequence of fleeting moments. It’s about navigating a weird world and embracing the mysterious parts. Not always knowing what’s next or why things happened the way they did. A lack of clear cause and effect.
I made it to the castle, but K. never does.
And for that I am grateful.