SAMPLING BRUNSWICK’S DELIGHTS
Indian Lunch
The Chief Penguin and I made the trek down to Brunswick earlier this week for lunch with my cousins. We met at our now favorite Indian restaurant, Shere Punjab, for some spicy curries. You can pick your level of heat from 1-10; two of us stuck with level 4 (plenty hot for my chicken curry) while the other two went for 5 or 6. Add in an order of garlic naan, a papadum, fluffy basmati rice, and you have a very satisfying meal.
Exploring Downtown Brunswick
On previous trips to Brunswick, we have mainly spent time on the Bowdoin College campus visiting the latest exhibit in the college’s small, but well curated, art museum. This time, the Chief Penguin was off getting a haircut so I was on my own to explore. I never walked as far as Bowdoin; instead I checked out a few shops, a gallery of works by local artists for sale, and the appropriately cluttered (in the best way) Gulf of Maine Books. This store is obviously a labor of love with a wide selection of titles. Of course, I bought some note cards. Then on to the wonderful Curtis Memorial Library, Brunswick’s public library.
Located on the very pleasant and aptly named Pleasant Street, the library consists of a historic 1904 brick building plus a light, bright, spacious addition from around 2000. Workmen were blocking the original front door, but I was pleased to see the blue banner hanging to their left.
The actual library entrance is on the side of the building in the new part and is inviting with outdoor tables and chairs and a portico. The lobby inside is cheery and welcoming with a small lounge to the immediate left, a display of paintings on the right wall, and “Welcome” signs in several languages on the service desk.
Library Spaces and Collections
The Curtis Library was recently featured in a New York Times article for their Library of Things, one of several in existence in Maine. After seeing the garden tools downstairs from the Things library, I traipsed upstairs past the 1904 brick wall and was both amazed and impressed with the range of items to borrow, from educational kits to kitchen equipment to power tools to musical instruments and so on.
All are neatly cataloged and arranged by type in plastic envelopes or hanging with tags. Brunswick’s Library of Things is so successful that public libraries in South Portland, Cumberland, and Windham created their own versions.
I’m a lover of libraries so I roamed around the stacks and reading areas in the new part, chatted with several staff members, and then went upstairs again to check out the more formal reading and study spaces in the 1904 building. As one might expect, these rooms are darker with wood trim and deeper colors on the walls. There’s a reading room with a fireplace, another one with oversize deep brown club chairs, and a quiet room for working on your computer.
Thus, the library brings together the old and the new, quiet nooks and livelier areas. The addition has a children’s alcove, a teen zone, and a new books room. I also liked the front facing displays of selected titles scattered throughout the stacks. Here is one example in the fiction section; several others feature biographies and memoirs. This library was definitely worth seeing!
WATCHING: PRAGUE UNDER THE NAZIS
The Golden Swan (PBS Walter Presents)
This Czech series, The Golden Swan (Zlatá labuť), is set in a luxury department store of the same name. The Golden Swan opens its doors in Prague, in 1939, just before the Nazis take over the country, and life is disrupted. It is owned by the wealthy Kucera family, patriarch Rudolf and his wife and their two sons (one disabled) and one daughter. Daughter Irena is the de facto CEO for both their power plants and the store. Son Petr oversees the store. Bara, a young woman fleeing the clutches of her wily and abusive boyfriend Marek, is involved in stealing for him. Through a series of interesting circumstances, she gets hired as a sales girl at the store.
Soon, Jewish employees are threatened or let go, Irena’s husband Lukas causes problems, and Irena must deal with the slyly attractive Colonel Gruber. Bara and Petra spar with each other while the family pushes him to cement his engagement to Marketa, daughter of a another prominent family.
There are eleven episodes in Season 1, and overall, there are three seasons for a total of 56 episodes. Although it is somewhat soap opera-ish, the Chief Penguin and I are enjoying the series and have now watched almost all of Season 1. Recommended If you like WWII era drama and family intrigue.
Note: All unattributed photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.) Building in the header photo includes Vine and Vessel, a wine and cheese shop in Brunswick.
