German Holiday and Liudmila Kondakova

I'm finally back to normal! Or at least, back to me.

I’ve been going back and forth on my vacation to Germany. I haven’t been since 2019 because of COVID and then crashing and burning after early retirement. I mean, there’s no point in spending a fortune for a great trip and then ruining it with a bunch of anxiety attacks!

So I waited. I’m glad I did - I’m feeling SO much better. I’m currently on the last part of the program, a heavy metal detox, and then it’s off to the labs again to see what worked. Whew, a lot of money for a retiree, but in the long run worth it. I hope.

ANYWAY, back to Germany. Our favorite spot, the place we’ve rented for years for our annual jaunt, was completely booked. This might be a good think since - get ready for the shocker - my husband REFUSES to go with me!

Apparently, the last four years of our annual trips, he has suffered through sitting in small airplane seats with osteoarthritis in his hips and knees. And he’s also waited for me in the car with a book while I toured museums because standing for a long period of time on concrete and marble floors does bad things to his joints. He drove me around in our rental car, carried our luggage up and down stairs, and found his joys from the vacation via good German food, beer and the view from our balcony.

But he’s cut me off. Yeah, he was willing to make my holiday perfect when I was miserable at work, grinding through the year buoyed afloat by the approaching carrot of my dream vacation. But now, I’m fancy free. Even stress free, for the most part. And he does not want to be my chauffeur and busboy; the long flight is not worth his pain.

Yowza, that came out of left field. I was already feeling a little jittery after checking the website for our old holiday apartment. It’s been completely redone since our last trip there. Now it looks like a snazzy, brand new ski chalet with a trendy stone sink and shower, lots of pine and recessed lighting.

Change is good - and they’re making a lot more money on it, they really jacked up the price. But I don’t like change. I liked the pine Alpine furniture, the cross with Jesus and a flower at the top of the wall in the kitchen, and the basic Bavarian furniture. Such is life.

SO. It’s just me. And the anxious, panicky part of my brain keeps trying to talk me out of it. Oh, geez, you won’t remember how to pump gas and pay! You know you never sleep on the flight. That’s all well and good if your husband drives while you sleep, but you can’t drive on the Autobahn with jet lag! And what about parking garages? You’re terrible at those things.

I am proud to say that the REAL part of my brain is getting stronger. The part that decided to leave the District Attorney’s office at 30 and join the JAG Corp and move to Germany - with a stick shift car that I decided to buy because I’d always wanted one and had to learn to drive on the way to JAG school. I still remember that sweaty moment when I finally had to get off the nice straight highway and go UP the off ramp to find a bathroom. I was terrified that I’d roll into the car behind me when the light turned green. But I DID it.

For gosh sake, I lived in BERLIN. I navigated airports and train stations, hotels and hostels. I can DO this. And who knows, I might be even better! Because now I’m over 60 with white hair so I don’t have to worry quite as much about drunken men hitting on me at train stations, hotels and hostels. (Yeah, not the best silver lining, but STILL. It’s something.)

I’ve booked some sweet accommodation. Three bedrooms. A balcony. And two baths. I’m inviting relatives and friends I still have in Germany to see if I have any takers. If not, I’LL BE FINE. I’m taking my Nordic walking sticks because it’s in the Alps next to a river. And I have a full kitchen so I can cook all of my own food - predicting that I’ll still be a little anxious about food additives and toxins after working for a year to clear my body of the damn things. But I WILL eat the bread. And drink German wine. And love every minute of it.

Roll on, October.

Now to our artist, the fabulous Liudmila Kondakova. I love the storybook quality of her paintings, the sheer, fun perfection of the little European vignettes. I’m picturing my vacation as a series of her paintings. What could be better?

“To me, these streets, with their worn cobblestones and aged buildings, evoke a sense of nostalgia and romance with a touch of melancholy. It is the ideal kind of space in which I would like to live.” -Liudmila Kondakova

Oh, yes, Liudmila, we are soul sisters.

Born in Russia in 1956, Liudmila Kondakova immigrated to the United States in 1991. A graduate of the Grabar Center in Moscow, she also attended Russia’s School of Sacred Arts, the Moscow Pedagogical Institute and the Moscow Art Institute.

Since her childhood in Russia, Liudmila Kondakova has been fascinated by traditional art, by a sense of spirituality that transcends common existence.

Her painting technique is employed by medieval egg-tempera painters. Her palette—influenced by the icon painters of Byzantium and later, Russia—is both vibrant and beautiful, with colors that blend in a subtle, poetic balance.

Kondakova connects her highly trained background to her artistic expression this way: “In my art, the essence and beauty has always rested in the details.”

The works of art by Liudmila Kondakova are so rich with clarity and light they reflect in their extraordinary draftsmanship a sense of artistic and spiritual well-being.

Her meticulous attention to detail allows us to become intimately involved in the life of her paintings.

Her technique was commonly employed by medieval egg-tempera painters.

Her palette—influenced by the icon painters of Byzantium and later, Russia—is both vibrant and beautiful, with colors that blend in a subtle, poetic balance.

"In my art, the essence and beauty has always rested in the details". - Liudmila Kondakova.

She makes me so homesick for Europe. I can’t wait to get back to my old stomping grounds. Prost!