I
wanted to visit Madison since I came here, more so than Chicago. A part of the
lure lay in the fact that it created an image of this little college town,
flanked by old bookstores on both sides. So, this weekend I finally went there
with Kathy and her mom Wendy. And I’m writing down this account so that I can
come and revisit the memories again.
We
started early afternoon, and it was a bright, summer day. It was a little over
an hour long drive from Milwaukee, and we reached Madison around 1:30 pm
heading towards Wisconsin State Capitol building. The dome resting on the
columns looked simple but elegant, an imposing piece of architecture almost
demanding respect by virtue of its nature and history. Sam had shown me images
of the earlier protests held here against Gov. Scott Walker so I had this
romantic notion of what this building had stood for and the role it had played,
so all of it was coming back to me. There was also this gold figurine at the
top of the dome which caught my attention, I had googled afterwards to find that
it was referred to as “Golden Lady” carved on the lines of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and there are connecting
thought threads in my head with this statue and the city being home to
University of Wisconsin – Madison.
There
was no check post or security, we just walked into the East Wing, no tickets
and the inner rooms boasted of an equally magnificent design. The walls and
ceilings were decorated with paintings and murals which evoked another surge of
awe and reverence as we walked through taking it all in, walking though winding
stairs and checking it out from different levels. There was a wedding group in
the city hall, and I was thinking that maybe the surrounding and the event
itself complimented each other, like a celebration of something grand and
ceremonial in that place was justified.
Next
we took the road to Monona Terrace which was nearby, the view of Lake Monona from
the top was beautiful and the weather with the wind blowing through on the
sunny day was almost perfect. Kathy had made a list of things to check out so after
grabbing lunch we went to State Street and parked there. We started walking,
checking out local shops which were on both sides. I loved those little shops
and I liked the fact that I had Kathy with me who I knew wouldn’t mind at all
checking out these small cards and journal and odds and ends stores. So, we
went to 2-3 similar stores and I enjoyed them, I’m going to make an exception
to my aversion to window shopping. So, bookstores (new and old), card shops and
these places in Madison are heretofore exempted from that list.
We
continued our walk along State Street, treated Wendy with Cheese Curds which is
a Wisconsin thing. Then stopped at Collectivo Coffee House for a while before
resuming our walk on the street lanes. It was in essence a quintessential
college town, Kathy kept saying how it reminded her partly of Sacramento and
partly of Berkeley. We passed through fraternity houses, lot of college
students settling in for the fall semester, and there was this twinge of regret
inside me for the things I cannot acquire. And this city was bringing out all
those repressed dreams. We drove towards Memorial Union Terrace next and this
was the best part of the trip for me.
We
stopped and parked for some 10 minutes near the Dept. of Limnology where we
were not supposed to, but it was beautiful. I walked around the lake with
Kathy, we dipped our feet in the water, walked on the ramp for boats, and we
saw all those ducks and gulls, and the array of sail boats all out there in
Lake Mendota. It was pleasing to the eyes and to all other senses too. We heard
music on the terrace, so we went to find a proper parking spot so we can come
back and spend more time here. We came back, this was where Wendy’s father had
attended college and I was thinking what she was feeling back there. By the
time we reached the terrace, it was filled with people of all ages, families
had come to drop off their kids. There was this strange sort of vibe in the
air, of things beginning. We went inside a sort of Hall which had German
epithets all over, and ordered more Cheese Curds and beer for us. For some
strange reason the hall reminded me of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts, it was the ambience
inside with colors and those strange signs and young college students, old professors
and such types replete with a fire place under one roof.
We
came outside with our beers and found a place to sit, the entire terrace was
now crowded and the stage was taken up by this Irish group with their jingles
and tap dance. There’s something about Irish music, you can’t help not feeling
happy and you can’t stop tapping your feet or being taken away by the music and
the beat. I don’t know if I have a tourist’s view point, which might be as well
since I am one, but it wasn’t too much, as if the whole thing was in harmony.
The lake and the boats and the music and the drinking, it was all bubbling with
life and it’s clichéd but I don’t know how else to describe it. We stayed there
for an hour or so before we walked back satisfied with the day and started the
drive back home.
I
don’t know if I’ll go back to visit Madison and if I’ll love it so much the
next time around, it’s also a matter of who we go with, and I was glad that I
went with Kathy and Wendy. I walked along the streets of Madison with this
knowledge that all these were transitory like so many other aspects of my stay
here in the United States. And as I’m soaking in the views and the culture and
nature (both human and otherwise) and a part of me is grateful that I’m
witnessing these.
