In On the spot, we delve into different locations in Europe that are medically-literarily relevant. The posts are divided into categories and/or location. They appear on a biweekly basis.
In this section we will describe all kinds of interesting medical-literary places in Europe. The section has started on June 21, 2025 and will appear every two weeks, alternately with Scoop. Older…
In Paris, the Foundation for Literature and Medicine is offering two courses. Paris is so rich in medical-literary material that we can not only fill two courses, but also many episodes of this blog…
The Palais-Royal plays an important role in (medical) novels, such as in The wild ass’s skin by Honoré de Balzac, Le malade imaginaire by Molière, and The Bells of Bicêtre by Georges Simenon…
We have just left the last passage and are now on our way to Montmartre. It is still a long walk (and uphill), but if you walk this route separately, i.e. not in connection with the passages, you can…
We start this On the spot at the place where On the spot number 3 ended. We have just walked through the short passage de Beaujolais and are now in the R. de Richelieu. We turn right and then left…
This week no On the spot due too much work. Sorry for that. Next On the spot Paris on March 21 2026…
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Writing about Arles and Vincent van Gogh is actually a bit like closing the barn door after the horse has bolted. There is already a description of the places he stayed there in the form of a walking…
After Vincent van Gogh suffered attacks in Arles that he believed to be epilepsy, he voluntarily admitted himself to Maison de Santé Saint Paul in Saint Rémy de Provence, a psychiatric institution…
After his stay in St Rémy de Provence, Vincent van Gogh left for the north again…
There are many famous doctors in our history. Some doctors have had diseases named after them. Think of Gilles de la Tourette, Cushing, Alzheimer, Parkinson, Dupuytren. Or doctors associated with a…
Close to the square where the most famous Portuguese poet, Luis de Camões, has a statue, Praça Luis Camões, next to the entrance to the metro, is the terrace of Café A Brasileira, a café that opened…
After his death, Pessoa was buried at the Cemitério dos Prazeres alongside his family. It is a beautiful cemetery, but it is located close to the airport, so planes fly low overhead constantly…
There are a few places in Europe with a large square directly on the water. In the past, this was the place where people arrived to be impressed. The square in Venice is world famous, those in Trieste…
We have just stepped out of the metro at Picoas station on the yellow line. The meeting point is the kiosk. This is fitting, as the history of kiosks in Lisbon is partly intertwined with the history…
Warning for the non-Dutch reader: As you know, this is originally a Dutch website, so now and then you will stumble upon some very Dutch, or, in this case, Flemish content. This episode of on the spot…
We are standing near the Tagus River on R. dos Bacalhoeiros, in front of an olive tree. That olive tree is not here by chance. Beneath that tree lies José Saramago, or at least his ashes. Next to the…
One of my favorite walks in Bern is to slowly walk down the covered Kramgasse and then the Gerechtigkeitsgasse. Just before the bridge over the Aare that leads to the famous bear pit, which…
In eight episodes, we have reviewed all kinds of literary and medically relevant places in Lisbon. Although this collection can always be expanded later, in this – for now final – episode about…