The Fjord and the Vineyard: Norway vs Moldova in the Theater of the Absurd By Correspondent-at-Large, Dave’s Locker International Desk If you squint at Europe from a weather satellite suffering from late-stage capitalism, you will see two blips flickering like mismatched LEDs on the same aging motherboard. One is Norway, sleek and smug, reclining on…
The continent that once carved the planet into colonies with the enthusiasm of a chef slicing truffles now finds itself an elegant, slightly anxious dinner guest at the global feast it once catered. Europe, that antique mosaic of kingdoms, republics, and tax shelters, is busy rehearsing humility while the rest of the world scrolls past…
Madrid, 3 a.m. local time—though the hour is largely theoretical in a country where dinner starts when most Scandinavians are already in REM sleep. Spain, that sun-bleached amphitheater of ancient grudges and modern appetites, is once again the place where Europe tests whether optimism can be reverse-engineered from a hangover. While the rest of the…
