Madison Moments

Thursday, July 11, 2013 – Madison Moments

The Greenfield Summer Institute continued to offer us stimulating lectures on Wednesday and Thursday.  Some of the topics included Spinoza, the 17^th century radical philosopher, and Franz Boas, the influential father of modern anthropology.  Jazz musician Ben Sidran performed for us on Wednesday evening.  On the final morning of the program, Madison mayor Paul Soglin (a UW grad student during my time as an undergraduate) reminisced about student activism in Madison in the 1960s.   

Ben Sidran

Aside from classes, I’ve been making the most of my time in Madison.  I spent four years here as a student and never stepped inside the State Capitol.  Today, I remedied that oversight.  Elliott and I took a tour of the building and admired the decorative marble interior, the large-scale glass mosaics, and the gilded bronze statue atop the granite dome.  Afterwards, I spent more than an hour learning about the history and culture of Wisconsin’s Native American inhabitants at the Wisconsin Historical Museum. 

Realizing that my week in Madison was coming to an end, I stopped at a local supermarket to pick up a bag of cheese curds.  Fresh curds sounded infinitely more palatable than the deep-fried version available in restaurants.  I was surprised to find that curds come in several different flavors.  I was certain, though, that my first experience should be pure Wisconsin cheddar.  I brought a bag of the golden nuggets back to the hotel room to share with Elliott.  As noted in a recent article in The Daily Cardinal, UW’s student newspaper, cheese curds really do squeak when you put them into your mouth.  And as far as the taste – well, it’s no surprise that they taste just like cheese.  I’m not quite sure what the big deal is about, but at least I can now check “eat cheese curds” off my Madison to-do list.  

Squeaky cheese curds

For our final dinner, I was tempted to try the Nepali or the Afghan restaurant, both of which are located on State Street.  However, Elliott wasn’t feeling very hungry this evening, so I came up with an alternative plan that appealed to both of us:  Babcock ice cream on the terrace of the Memorial Union.  We followed that up with a walk along the lakeshore path as the setting sun glinted across the waters of Lake Mendota.  I can’t think of a more fitting conclusion to our week in Madison.