Paris-Versailles

I saved the trip to Paris for last not through some well thought-out process, but just that it simply worked out that way. I am glad Paris was my last cultural-learning travel for two reasons: 1. It is the most expensive place (after London), had I come earlier it would have made me worry about the budget for other travels; and 2. What a great way to end my Euro tour?
The first day I arrived to Paris I settled in my modest hotel in the Gare de l'Est part of the city. I say modest and mean it. I was looking for a room in a hostel somewhere and everything was booked. So I settled for the next best thing, which is the cheapest hotel one can find. It is not that bad I guess, but I've stayed in nicer ones that's for sure.
Right after checking in, I found a map at the reception and headed towards the city center. My goal was to do some sightseeing on the go the first evening in Paris and wait in the long line to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I walked all the way from Gare de l'Est to the Eiffel Tower. If you look at the map of Paris you'll see that it is quite a hike. It was nice to walk by the Louvre, and many other spots on the way. I made mental notes on my way as I was coming back the next day to see other places.
The line to the Eiffel Tower was long as expected. It did move somewhat fast considering how many tourists were roaming the area. I believe it took me 2 hours to get in and out; not the best but it could have been worse. The view from atop is breathtaking; it is cliche to say that but words really cannot describe seing this beautiful city sprawling across and filling the landscape. It was cloudy for most of the time I was up there but for a brief moment a few rays broke through the sky and created a bit of magic. In fact, while looking out of the south end of the tower I noticed this huge shadow spreading across the city. Not sure that this picture can really do it justice but I tried to capture it as best as I could.
After the Eiffel Tower tour I headed back to the hotel. I had to, of course, stop for a nice, freshly made crepe with Nutella. Watching the guy dishing out spoonfuls of Nutella on the crepe and it melting on top of it was almost more exciting than seeing Paris from top of the Eiffel Tower. Those of you who know my love for Nutella know that I am not exaggerating.
The next day started the way the previous one ended. Yes, I did have another crepe with Nutella, for breakfast. Good thing I was in Paris for 3 days. I figured I needed some calories for the action packed day. I started off with the tour of the Louvre. Now, I knew that this museum was big, but not until I got to see the courtyards and the whole compound did I understand why people say that to visit all the exhibits one would need a week or two.
I did more than most people do at Louvre. Yes, I did see Mona Lisa, and she smiled at me. But I also went through the entire painting section and then to Napoleon apartments, which were extraordinary.
From the Louvre, I walked to Champs Elysees and to L'Arc de Triomphe. I also stopped at the Louis Vuiton store on the way. It is unbelievable what people are willing to spend on purses; but nonetheless, the store was like a designer museum and worth a look.
From there, I made my way to the Eiffel Tower again, through the yards adjacent to it to the Ecole Militaire. Down the road I stumbled upon Hotel des Invalides, which is a beautiful looking compound with a gold plated cupola and a well kept garden, probably best known as the place that houses Napoleon's Tomb. Even though my legs were starting to get tired I decided to walk the rest of the way to Notre Dame.
A lot is said about this Church, and it is truly a nice looking Gothic style building. However, after having seen the Köln Dom, Notre Dame doesn't quite live up to its potential. Nothing wrong with Notre Dame, it is just that Cologne's Cathedral is so great and mighty that one cannot help but admire it more.
From Notre Dame I finally made it to the Pantheon, which is also a pleasing sight. I picked out a cafe a block away, sat down and had an espresso while enjoying the view. My legs were telling me that it was time to relax and call it a day. After having walked God only knows how many miles, I opted to take the subway back to the hotel. To reach the closest station, I walked through the Latin Quarters. This is a pedestrian only area filled with cafes and restaurants. Paris certainly grew on me fast; everything about it was great.
On my last day I took a train to Versailles, which is about 30 minute ride from Paris. The main purpose for visiting Versailles is the castle (Chateau du Versailles). This is by far the most popular attraction in and around Paris as the line to get into the castle was humongous. I opted for not going into the building itself due to the long wait and instead went straight into the gardens.
The scenery as you can imagine was very nice. To enhance the visual experience, classical music is played throughout the gardens. The area is composed of interestingly trimmed trees and bushes, fountains, ponds, trees and statues. I walked around the whole campground, which took me about two hours. It was a workout. The end of the long pond (man made lake) seemed to never come to an end and once I reached ¾ length one way I realized that the darn thing expands sideways as well making it into a shape of a cross. People were all over, picnicking and enjoying the scenery. Some rented boats and were rowing away in this huge pond. The entire palace and its yard were very impressive indeed.
After having spent a few hours in Versailles I headed back to Paris. Once I was back in town, I took the subway to Pere Lachaise station and went to the most famous Parisian cemetery. Quite a few famous people are buried here, including Jim Morrison. Interestingly enough, his grave is the most visited of all. It took me a while to find it but when I did I was taken aback at how simple it was. There used to be a small monument on top of his tomb that was vandalized and removed. Having listened to The Doors music and watched Oliver Stone’s movie a few times, it made the experience a bit more fulfilling. Even though Jim Morrison’s life was doomed by drug and alcohol abuse, one cannot help but notice the impact he is still having on our culture, whether is good or bad…
So that was my last trip among many that I have undertaken while studying in Cologne. One more night in Cologne remains to say good-bye to friends. Look for it in the next post.

Au revoir

Ich bin mit den Klausuren fertig!!!

As of July 16th, I am officially on vacation. I had my last two exams that day. Even though I've been working on my MBA for the past couple of years, I had completely forgotten the excitement following the end of finals as a full-time student. I must admit that having been removed from college since 2002, I had underestimated the amount of work and stress that comes with it, having to study for several exams within days of one another.
Now, at Carlson, I have been taking two, maybe three courses at the time, but the American system is much more practical in terms of dividing workload throughout the semester. In Germany, well at least at the University of Cologne, the final exam accounts for 100% of your grade. In fact, it was pretty interesting to see the class size increase by 50% on the day of the final. It is a common occurrence that students sign up for exams but never attend any lectures. Now the obvious questions is then: what do these people do for 3 and a half months then if they don't go to class? I'll let you figure that one on your own(Hint: most don't work and if they do it's max of 20hrs/week).
Over the last month I became friends with a few German students. It is very interesting to hear their opinions about the school system. Those who have studied in the US agree with me that the German system is inefficient and students memorize entire tests to only forget everything 5 minutes after the exams are over with. Others really believe in the system, and apparently the University of Cologne's strategy is to fail a lot of students. It is generally accepted that a high fail rate means that the school is offering a high quality education. Obviously, this is the complete opposite of the US. Our screening is conducted by the admission process, and students who fail are kicked out of school.
Needless to say I am glad majority of my MBA degree comes from taking classes at Carlson; this experience has thought me a lot about the German system and the mentality of German grads. Also, I think we take too many things for granted in the US. Here, the professors are hard to reach (each lecture starts with: "please don't email me directly, but contact the TA"). In the US, the professors are rated on the level of customer service they provide, and most are eager to establish a good rapport with students. But again, we're comparing apples and oranges here: German students pay 500 Euros/semester (about 800 USD), while I pay about $1000/credit.
Anyway, my semester in Cologne is over. Next for me is 3 days in Paris and then 10 days in the sun in Naples. The real life is about to resume.

Eighteen Days Remaining

I am in the midst of my last finals here in Cologne and need a break from studying; a random post on the blog I am hoping will help me recharge.

According to the calendar my days on this European sabbatical are counted; only 18 days separate me from this wonderful experience and real life. I am actually looking forward to coming back, going back to work and enjoying the rest of the summer in Minnesota. Besides the obvious reasons like seeing my girlfriend, family and friends, I am a bit homesick for other parts of my life in Minnesota as well. Here are some:

1) My mistress Jessica - calm down, it's just the name I've given to my Ducati Monster. Since summers in Minnesota are short, riding my bike is definitely something I'd like to take advantage of once I am back.

2) The lakes - Cologne has a river and nice parks, but running or roller-blading around the lakes in Minneapolis is so much more fun.

3) Dinner at Pancho Villa (or El Loro). I am craving good Mexican food, who would have thought about it? I mean I am about to go to Paris for a few days and eat at nice cafes and then go to Italy for 10 days of awesome cuisine; but I do like my fajitas and quesedillas.

4) Sports. Now I know I am a huge soccer fan and when I am in the US I do everything possible to find live broadcasts of the Italian Serie A and the Champions League; but I really cannot wait for the NFL season to begin and the 2nd half of the MLB...hopefully Twinkies will keep up the good play when I get back.

5) $4/gallon gas...I am obviously joking, not really looking forward to that but it could be worse; I think it's about 1.5 Euros/liter here in Germany which would amount to about $9/gallon.

Before I can get back home, two exams separate me from enjoying the rest of my time on the old continent. They are both retailing classes, which have been very interesting especially since now I can finally understand when Tricia says: "our instocks are green this week and there were no major issues at the DCs, plus all the classes are running well against planned..."...it was all Greek to me before :).
I am going to be officially done with school on Wednesday, July 16th at 3:30pm. Then I am off to Paris on Friday till Monday. A quick return to Cologne (one day) and then it's 10 days in sunny (as opposed to garbage filled) Naples with family and childhood friends.

Köln Lichter

Last night I took a well-deserved break from studying and went to one of the biggest summer events in Cologne: Köln Lichter. It is a fireworks show on the Rhein river that draws roughly a million visitors each summer. The fireworks are launched from a barge between Deutzer Brücke (bridge) and another bridge that leads to the central station and the Dom.
Unlike other fireworks shows I've attended in the past, each year Köln Lichter has a theme. This year was the evolution of fireworks, from the early stages in China to further development in Italy. To accompany the theme, several large speakers are placed on each river bank and music enhances the show. Furthermore, music is strategically chosen to fit the firework display and somehow enhance the entire experience.
Besides the barge launching the fireworks, numerous other larger boats are anchored in the background and adorned with all sorts of colorful lights. Then the railroad bridge is used as a prop and it's basically lit up with lights first and falling sparkles later making it look like a golden waterfall. Very spectacular, I must admit.
The item that impressed me the most is the ability to somehow light up the Rhein river and launch smaller fireworks from the water. This made it for a great scene; one that I will certainly remember for years to come.

GUT GEMACTH KÖLN!!!!

Europameisterschaft 2008

I have been so caught up narrating my travel experiences on this blog that I almost forgot to write about probably the biggest event in Europe this summer, which was of course the European Soccer Championships.
The final was played last Sunday and Spain beat Germany to lift the cup; Spaniards won their first major competition event in 40+ years and were definitely the best team of the tournament. Germany, on the other hand, played well sporadically and made it to the final, which made it a really fun experience for me.
Once the group stage of the tournament was over and the quarterfinals started, the action got really interesting. Here in Cologne, for every Germany game there were a couple of options for people to watch the game among thousands other fans. One was at the Kölnarena, which is Cologne's version of the Xcel Energy Center, and the other was the Zülpicher Straße, which is the student part of town.
I followed the games at both places. It was crazy to see so many German fans chanting during the entire game and having fun. After each of their win, people gathered at Zülpicher Straße to celebrate their team's victory. The police closed the street to traffic and the festivities went well into the wee hours of the night/morning. It would have been interesting to see how many people made it into work the following day; my guess would be, not that many.
One particular game of the tournament was unique. Turkey and Germany played each other in the semi-final. Now, I've heard from some friends from Minnesota that the US government had issued a warning to all American citizens living in Germany to be on high alert during and after this game. Everyone in Europe, too, assumed that this was a high risk game because there are 4 million Turks living in Germany. The night of the game I went to the Kölnarena to watch the match with 20,000 people. A lot of people here actually feared violence and stayed at home. I am glad I went because the way both the Turkish and the German fans behaved is something I am sure many governments would like to see emulated. German fans were clad wearing their national colors (black, red, yellow) but many also painted small Turkish flags on their faces to show their respect to their neighbors. Turkish fans that came to the arena waved both Turkish and German flags.
The game was won by Germany, but in reality Turkey deserved to win. It was one of the best games of the tournament with 3 goals scored in the last 20 minutes. After the game the celebration started. Interestingly enough, many Turkish fans showed up to celebrate as well. They were proud they played tremendously well against a more talented German team, but also very proud that their team made it so far into the tournament.
Another compliment goes to the German people after losing the final game. If you had walked through the streets of Cologne that night, you would have thought Germany had won the title. I can only imagine how great of a celebration it would have been had they actually won.

Here is a video I took in the arena as the final whistle blew.

Surfing USA - well no, in Munich

For those of you who have not been to Munich, there is a crazy spot not far from the city center, just inside the English Gardens. The river that runs through here (Isar) creates a nice wake just in front of a bridge. Some people take the opportunity to surf. It is a sight worth seeing. Who would have ever thought surfing would be a popular sport in Munich?

Check it out!

München-Berchtesgaden

This past weekend I traveled to the southernmost German state, Bayern (or Bavaria), for the second time in 2 months. My previous trip there was short and only included a visit to Munich.
The second time around was a bit different from the touring perspective. On Friday, my partner in crime, Nick, and I bought a day pass for Munich's public transport and headed to the Olympia Zentrum. Munich hosted the Summer Olympics in 1972, perhaps best known for the kidnapping and the killing of 11 Israeli team members (among them were athletes, coaches and referees). It was a sad moment in West Germany's history who at the time was trying to cope with the aftermath of WWII and did not need this to happen on its territory. Nevertheless, we visited the grounds and the Olympic stadium.
I must admit that Berlin's Olympic Stadium is more of a sight but Munich's Olympic Center and park as a whole are a nice area of the city, complete with many sporting compounds (arenas, pools, fields, etc.) and a lake in the middle of it.
After the visit we proceeded half a mile down the road to the BMW Museum. I am a big fan of BMW cars and this tour was really exciting for me. The museum and the BMW Welt buildings themselves are architectural beauties.
The interior of the museum is enhanced by a very modern design. Collaboration with Apple is evident as all of technology within the compound is Apple made plus there is this "experience" feel to the whole thing. Furthermore, the colors are very simple, white and black for most of it. The building is then sectioned into different BMW eras, each room containing historical information as well as the best cars, motorcycles and engines of each decade. A cool add-on is headphones above engines that allow you to listen to that particular motor's rumble.
One car in particular caught my interest. It is a 1956 507 model, which is just a nice looking sports car. To be honest, even though one can see many features of this car belonging to the 50s, I see it as a car ahead of its times. In fact, this car was located on the floor next to the 1996 Z3 and 1999 Z8 models, and it didn't not stick out like a sore thumb, but rather it was, in my opinion, more beautiful than the other two.
After the BMW Museum tour it was time for lunch. We hopped on a subway and were supposed to ride it for 4 stops. On the third stop, for some unknown reason, the subway stopped and sat idle for about 20 minutes. It was funny to see people run out of the train we were sitting in and get on another one on the other platform and perform the same process multiple times back and forth. I guess the loudspeaker announcements weren't really helpful explaining people what to do. Anyway, after a long delay, we were finally at our destination: The English Gardens and more specifically the Chinese Tower. Now this place is famous for a gazebo-looking building resembling a typical Chinese architecture but in reality there is nothing Chinese about it. In fact it is a beautiful Biergarten in middle of a huge park. As you can see, I took the opportunity to indulge in a real Bavarian lunch: Bratwurst mit Knödell (dumpling) und Püre (mashed potatoes) and of course a brewski. The rest of the afternoon we spent enjoying München but called it an early night as we had more traveling planned for the following day.

We took a train from Munich to Freilassing, about a 2 hour ordeal, and from there another train to Berchtesgaden. This place is famous for being the location of Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle's Nest), which was built by Hitler. I must admit that the whole ride down to Berchtesgaden was beautiful. The landscape was a series of rolling hills filled with alternating evergreen woods, beautiful pastures, and farmland (animal as well as some corn and hops).
Once at Berchtesgaden, we took a bus to Obersalzburg, which is where the tour to Eagle's Nest starts. Then another bus takes you 6km (about 3.7 miles) up the mountain on a very narrow road with breathtaking sights. On a clear day one can see Salzburg, which is just across the border in Austria, about 20km (or 12 miles) away. Once the bus has reached the final destination, tourists can either opt for a 120 meter elevator ride up to the Kehlsteinhaus or take a walking path. We did both (the elevator on the way up and the path on the way down).
It is a strange feeling to be enjoying gorgeous views from above knowing that such an evil man had this place built for his enjoyment. I guess one can say that at least he didn't lack taste in his "secret layer" selection. The amazing thing about this place is that all of it was built within 13 months, including the road and the elevator.
On the mountains around this place there is some snow that failed to melt even though it was definitely above freezing on the day we were there. To complement the views, a few hang gliders were roaming around making me feel jealous; I can only imagine the view they had.

I am really glad that I was able to see some of the countryside besides the major German cities. Now I am back in Cologne and the next few weeks will be very busy. Finals start in a week and a half; and this week I am in a Logistics Seminar from 9am till 5:30pm every day. It is crazy to think that this experience will soon come to an end, and that I will have to get back into a work routine. However, before that happens two more trips are coming up. I am going to Paris on July 18th for 3 days and then on July 22nd I am off to Naples to spend the remaining 10 days with my family. I cannot wait.

Potsdam

While visiting Berlin, I took the opportunity to take a short train ride to the town of Potsdam, a beautiful quaint town perhaps known mostly as the place where Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin discussed the future of Germany in 1945. However, this is also a place with a number of historic buildings and beautiful palaces.
As I stated above, the train ride is usually 30 minutes long unless you take the city transportation, S-Bahn, which stops at every little station. I of course made that mistake on the way to Potsdam but learned from my mistake fast and took a Regional train straight into Berlin on my way back.
The town is surrounded by a water system featuring a river and a number of lakes. Some of the sights are located in parks around the lake. I decided to walk the entire town instead of relying on the public transportation. In one hand it was great to see everything on foot, on the other I regretted not having come to Potsdam on the previous day as it was I believe close to 90 degrees on the day I was there. I seriously contemplated jumping into this one lake and join the numerous Germans who were taking the opportunity to enjoy the nice weather.
I guess the highlight of my short visit was the Schloss Sanssouci (or Palace Sanssouci) and its own Bradenburg Tor (like the one in Berlin). The area around the Sanssouci is breathtaking. Nicely organized and maintained gardens, fountains and sculptures, fill in the surroundings.
The Bradenburg Tor leads into a pedestrian street filled with cafes and restaurants. Walking through town I got the sense that this place is where one comes to relax; a very nice complement to Berlin and I could imagine Berliners flocking down to Potsdam on weekends or holidays to get away from the busy city.
If you do go to Berlin, I would suggest making your way to this nice town as it is worth a visit.

Berlin

On Friday June 20th, early in the morning, I took a Lufthansa flight to Berlin from Cologne. About 45 minute flight as expected went by really fast especially since I was asleep the entire time. After getting off the plane I took the bus and subway to Pegasus Hostel as its website had suggested. I was in Berlin for 3 full days.



Day 1
My first day in the city was pretty exciting. I was still tired from staying up all night after celebrating Germany's Euro 2008 Quarterfinal win over Portugal, but had enough energy to walk all over the city and do a preliminary sightseeing. I first walked to Mühlenstraße, a 10 minute walk from the hostel and near the Ostbahnhof (East Train Station). As you may have guessed, this was the eastern part of the city once under Soviet influence/rule. And Mühlenstraße still features about a mile long stretch of the original Berlin wall. After the reunification, many famous graffiti artists were commissioned to paint the portions of the wall. Now, almost 20 years after the fall, the government is looking for ways to preserve this portion of the wall and the featured paintings; this is obviously very ironic as the West Germany's government 20 years ago was doing all in its power for the wall to be destroyed.
Standing in front of this structure I kept reliving images from the movies such as "Other People's Lives" and "Good-Bye Lenin", both of which featured a story of East Berliners trapped on the wrong side of the wall.
After a quick tour and a few pictures I wandered towards the biggest building I could see in the distance, or the TV tower, for no other reason than I knew it was located at the Alexanderplatz or the Mitte (German for middle) part of the city. There I walked past several interesting buildings. In the pictures one can see the interesting composition of buildings, from new to old to destroyed. I was crossing between East and West parts of the city during the walk and the Communist era buildings in the East certainly make one remember the recent past, but then other buildings such as the Berliner Dom reflect more remote history of the city.
During my stroll I noticed that around most bridges there are street musicians playing either classical or folklore music. And the styles were mixing between what I believe were German interpretors to Rom ones. And they were reminding me of the movie "Dom za Vjesanje" (Time of the Gypsies is the English title), as the music sounded similar and it could have been a rendition of Bregovic's "Ederlezi" soundtrack. This all made it for a quite nice experience.
Next I walked past the Brandenburg Tor (Gate), which is the gate to the city that ended up behind the Wall by a few feet. Right across the street in fact there is a memorial to the victims who were shot while attempting to escape to the West. In front of the Gate one can take a picture with stand-ups dressed in Soviet and American army uniforms, one holding a Soviet flag and the other an American one. A great tourist trap but nonetheless a reflection of a place that was once divided.
A few feet down the road is the Reichstag, or German Parliament Building. "Dem Deutsche Volk" sign is inscribed on the front facade, which is German for "To the German People". The building is a mix of historic architecture and modern engineering. Inside, in fact, features a big what seems to look like an upside-down mirror pyramid enclosed by a glass cupola. Very neat sight, but more than just aesthetics this "sculpture" is an intricate solar-panel system that captures daylight through the cupola and turns it into energy that provides electricity to the whole building. Talking about self-sustainability...
From the Reichstag one can venture straight to the Tiergarten, a huge park in the middle of the city. Alongside the park, runs Strasse des 17. Juni, which leads to Große Sterne Monument. The name of this street derives from people's uprising in East Berlin that took place on June 17th, 1953. Interestingly, along this street one can find also a Soviet War memorial that commemorates those Red Army soldiers fallen in WWII.
After the long walk, I headed towards Postdamer Platz, which was completely destroyed in WWII as it housed Hitler's bunker (or it was near it). On the way to it, there is a huge memorial dedicated to Jewish Holocaust victims. It is a very powerful sight; it is composed of hundreds (maybe even thousands) cement blocks creating an interesting maze one can walk through. The passages then go up- and downhill creating interesting optical illusion while walking through. And one is really overwhelmed by the magnitude of the evil that prompted for this memorial.

Day 2
Day 2 had a bit of a late start due to having gone out with some Irish guys I met at the Hostel on the previous night. I needed sleep after making it back to the Hostel at 5:30am. The adventure with the Irish necessitates a blog post on its own, so I'll try to post it later.
On this day I visited Checkpoint Charlie, which used to be a security/border checkpoint through which most diplomats went through between East and West. Also a spot where US and Soviet tanks faced each other in a power stand up. Today a replica checkpoint exists as a monument and of course two stand-ups wearing US and Soviet Uniforms complete the scene. All around this place there is quite a bit of construction going on as I believe Germans are trying to undo the damage that the Communist era did to this part of the city. Besides that there are also quite a few informational signs discussing the history of the Berlin Wall. To commemorate its divisive existence, a two-row cobblestone line has been placed throughout Berlin's roads where the Wall once used to stand. This line at times cuts through a large city street diagonally and it's an eyesore, but it drives home a point, the Wall was so senseless.
My next stop was the Olympic Stadium. This place hosted the controversial (because of Mr. Adolf Hitler) 1936 Olympic Games. It has since been remodeled; its history and remodeled architecture create one great sight. I spent about an hour walking around, getting close to the soccer field. For me it was more than the 1936 Olympics; this was where Italy beat France to win the World Cup two summers ago. I cannot wait to show pictures to my Italian friends as I don't believe any of them have made it there yet.
After touring the stadium I went to see the Schloss Charlottenburg, which is the biggest Palace in Berlin. It is surrounded by a nice and quite gardens and a big park. I ventured into it, found a bench and enjoyed the scenery for a while. I needed to re-charge after a long walk especially since later that evening I was meeting some friends who were also visiting Berlin. I knew another long night awaited me.

So this is as much as I will write about touring Berlin. Day 3 I spent entirely visiting Potsdam, a town about 30 min away from Berlin, known for the Potsdam Conference, and you can read all about it in my next post.

Number 44

I meant to post this last Friday, June 20th but didn't get around to editing it.

This is a random post; it doesn't involve yet another trip account but rather it focuses on our, American, Presidential Election.

So, tonight I was out with a few German friends plus Nick from the U of M watching the Euro 2008 Championship Quarterfinals between Germany and Portugal. We went to the Kölnarena, which is the equivalent of the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul Minnesota. It is an arena that hosts professional hockey and basketball games as well as numerous concerts year round. Tonight though, they had the "public viewing" of the Euro 2008 Quarterfinals. It was a great experience. Some 20,000 fans packed the arena, chanted and celebrated as Germany beat Portugal 3-2. It was really fun to watch the Germans celebrate their team's victory.

One thing, though, caught me by surprise. After the game, we decided to go to Zülpicher Strasse, which is an area close to the University, known for parties as well as the place to go to celebrate National team's victories. As we got off the tram, a few people were standing by handing fliers. To my and Nick's surprise, the fliers we were handed were about the American Presidential Election (see picture for the flier).

Now, we all know that the election is a few months away and that it certainly doesn't allow anyone else but American citizens to participate in it. So why am I getting "Obama" fliers in the middle of summer in Cologne, Germany? To be honest, I have found out that Europeans really follow American politics, some probably more than your average Yankee; and over the couple of months I've been here, I've noticed that most Europeans would choose Obama for the next US President if it were up to them. So after seeing this I start wondering if Europeans (or for that matter anyone else besides the US citizens) have any influence on who we (Americans) elect for our president. From the flier I can deduce that they are not sponsored by Obama's campaign but they are rather independent. (also, why in the world would Obama spend his funding dollars in Europe where people cannot vote for him; and even if they could the exchange rate is so bad that he'd be better off not wasting money here). In reality no one but the US citizens have the privilege (or duty) to cast the vote; but it would be inconsiderate to say that the rest of the world doesn't have its input. The matter of the fact is that Europeans cannot wait till the person they recognize as the US President is not George W. Bush. Most will tell you that, even though it's a common belief, they don't "hate" Americans but they hate Bush. And now to prove their point, I, an American citizen, am getting solicited by Germans, who don't have the right to vote in the American election, to vote for Obama.
One of my favorite economics/current events authors, Thomas Friedman, wrote a column for New York Times a week or so ago focusing on the similar issue I am describing. He wrote about his experiences in Egypt. In his estimation, most Egyptians would vote for Obama as well. He goes one step further to say that Egyptians would vote for Obama because of his Muslim roots. Now, Obama has done everything in his power to distance himself from Islam but the fact remains his father's background is Muslim; he has never been a practicing Muslim, in fact he has been brought up as a Christian, however, his father's roots are Muslim even though his father was never a religious man. For more information on what Thomas Friedman wrote click HERE. Muslim or not, he is one American leader that apparently stands a chance in the Middle East.
One might ask why are not Europeans talking about John McCain at all? Do they even know he is running? Do they know who he is or that he was a POW in Vietnam? My guess is that fewer people in Europe know who McCain is than those who know about Obama. Additionally, my intuition drives me to conclude that a minority candidate in a traditionally white-male dominated election is making huge news in Europe. For what is worth I believe our partners are ready for us Americans to enter another chapter in the history and defy common beliefs. I am not endorsing Obama (yet anyways, I need to start learning about both candidates' agendas), but one cannot ignore what he's already done for America: People from around the world are watching and see this man as the changing of the guards in the American society. Many European nations have elected women to political posts such as the Prime Minister, but none have elected a minority PM or president. In one way, one may think that the US is behind as we've only had white males as leaders; however, regardless of the election outcome, Americans are the only ones that are considering a member of a minority group to be their next president. This is huge and obviously others are noticing it. And even though I hate politics, I cannot wait for the 2008 Election. Whether it is Obama or McCain, we as Americans need a change of direction in order to undo the damage the current administration has done.

Enough about politics; I am an hour away from going to Berlin. Yes, I am pulling an all-nighter as the really good deal I got on the plane ticket involves a 6:45am departure from Cologne.....ouch.
I am ready though for another experience. Berlin is still the symbol of the Cold War and I cannot wait to see it and write a post about it.

Till then....

From your Naturalized American abroad

Amsterdam

Amsterdam – June 5th – June 8th



A good friend of mine from Minnesota, Tony, was coming to Amsterdam for work and told me to join him and stay with him for a couple of days. Decision to travel to Amsterdam was one of the easiest ones to make given that: a) the lodging was free; b) Cologne is only 3 hours away by train; and c) this was the weekend of my 29th birthday.
I arrived to Amsterdam Centraal around 11:30am on Thursday, June 5th. Tony was already in town and in meetings but he managed to leave a key for me at the reception desk of the Amsterdam Apollolaan Golden Tulip hotel. I took the tram to the hotel, which is situated a bit on the outskirts of downtown giving you a nice and quiet Amsterdam experience; yet close enough to the action thanks to the public transportation.

After having left my stuff in the room, I decided to head downtown and walk around a bit. I walked a while through various neighborhoods, going through several street markets filled with people from all over the world. I assume some people were local immigrants, while others were tourists. It was pretty entertaining, many different languages were being spoken, and in a sense it was a similar ambience one experiences while walking through the streets of Manhattan. I only saw a few areas when I decided to go back to the hotel and meet up with Tony.

We decided to go out and begin celebrating my birthday right when it turned midnight. The tram we took dropped us off at Dam, which is the main square in the city center. From there we proceeded to walk through the adjacent streets. We settled for a nice looking pub where we had a few drinks. The bar was filled with young Dutch professionals, who we presume were still there after a happy hour that might have started 5 hours earlier. After a few drinks, we decided to go the Rembrandtplein, a square in the center of the city named after Rembrandt. This part of the city is famous for the number of disco clubs. I really didn’t know what to expect on a Thursday night, but we went to a place called Escape. This club is one of the nicest dance venues I’ve been to. It is quite large and to my surprise it was packed even though it was a Thursday night. The music was loud and typical of Holland as most famous House/Trance music DJs come from here. We stayed till 4am and took a cab home. Poor Tony had lots of work to do the next day; I on the other hand could sleep in and then venture into touring the city sights.

I slept in of course. When Tony came back from work around 1pm, we decided to go to the city center for lunch. After walking around the many areas, we finally found an Italian restaurant on a side street. The food was good, but not great. The main attraction was the one coffee shop across the street. Now, as many of you have heard, the sale of Marijuana is legal in Amsterdam in these coffee shops. The government here apparently believes that by legalizing it, it will make it safer as prohibition will not stop people from smoking pot. At the entrance they have a counter with a menu. The menu lists the different types of cannabis and prices. The clerk is there to tell you what type of aroma, strength and occasion each type fits in, sort of like a wine rep selling you different type of wines. Pretty funny.

After lunch, I went to explore the rest of the city. I stumbled upon the Nemo Museum, which I believe is a science museum. The cool thing about it is the shape of the building which reminds one of a big ship. From there I walked through the various canal streets and enjoyed the scenery. Some people travel by little boats through the canals. This option is suitable for those who don’t have time constraints as it is illegal to create a wake with your boat and therefore navigation speed is very slow. The other preferred method of transportation is bicycle. Now there are bike paths on every street and people really respect cyclists as part of the traffic flow. For us foreigners (even though I should be used to it having lived in Cologne for 2 months now) it might seem strange and also dangerous. The danger comes from not being aware of the bikers and walking on the bike paths without paying attention. So one must really be careful crossing the street as one must look for trams, buses, cars, and yes, bikes.

One of the attractions in this city is Anne Frank’s house. It is located in the city center. It is nowadays a museum one can visit, which I did. It is a very interesting experience going through each floor of this house and learning about the secret Annex where Frank family took refuge from the Nazis. It is amazing to think that you’re standing in the room where Anne wrote her famous diary. A few old notebooks are on display showing Anne’s dad’s business records as well as Anne’s writings. It is a very sad story as the family’s hiding place was discovered by the Nazis and the entire family was deported to Auschwitz. Only Anne’s dad made it out alive, after which he found the diary (well it was saved by the family that gave the Franks the hiding place in their own home). He was very proud of his daughter and was really pleasantly surprised after reading Anne’s diary as her thought process was extremely mature for her young age.

After the Anne Frank house, I ventured back to Rembrandtplein and visit the statue built to commemorate Rembrandt. The monument is composed by a dozen sculptures. The biggest of all is Rembrandt and then in front of him is a mix of soldiers and musicians/artists.

Friday night Tony and I decided to walk through the Red Light District. Legalized cannabis and prostitution are the things that make Amsterdam, well, Amsterdam. I am not going to discuss the ethics here, but again, the government here decided way back, in the 18th or 19th century that prostitution was going to happen regardless of their involvement as many sailors were coming in and out of the city. So, they made the oldest profession a legal affair. It felt awkward to walk through the streets and see all these women promoting themselves in the windows. Along the streets there were many bachelor parties roaming around. Now, what kind of bride to be would be ok with her future hubby going to Amsterdam for his bachelor party is beyond me?

On Saturday, I decided to visit the Van Gogh museum. In Amsterdam there is a whole part of the city dedicated to various museums, and it is called Museumplein. This sight is best known by the “I am Amsterdam” sign displayed in the middle of the park. Van Gogh museum features several hundred artifacts this artist composed. The interesting story about him is that he had no formal training and began painting after he was fired from his job at the age of 26. He quickly became one of the leaders of the Impressionist movement, however he only had about 10 years worth of life to dedicate to art as he suffered from some sort of mental illness, which made him cut a piece of his earlobe off first and then in the end cost him his life (he shot himself). The paintings that he left behind are awesome.

So this is my Amsterdam experience. I am glad I went and saw it, but I am not sure it is my favorite place as the things that make Amsterdam famous are a bit too outrageous for my liking.

In other news, Euro 2008 has started and I am so happy to be here in Europe to watch the games. I am back in Cologne now and tonight Germany plays its first game, against Poland. There will be a huge public viewing in the center of the city and it should be a good experience. Tomorrow my Italian ragazzi take the field against the Netherlands. Forza Italia!!!

So that’s all for this post.

Aufwiedersehen

Exam

This will probably be the most boring of all the posts I've written to date. It doesn't involve me going to yet another fun trip but it's about my first final exam in Germany.
One of my classes here was only a 2 month ordeal (faster pace, we met for 3 hours/week vs. 1.5 hours) and yesterday was the exam day. I feel like I did pretty well; the only issue with the test was the time allotment that was only 1 hour and one had to really fly through the questions and answer them as quickly as possible.
To celebrate the end of the class, a group of us got together last night. It was really cool as there were people from Germany, Spain, Greece, UK, Romania, Hungary, Norway, etc. We cooked dinner and had a great time playing games and chatting. Interestingly, everyone speaks a few languages, so our conversations were going from being in English to German, Spanish, back to English, etc. Really fun.
After taking this weekend off to study, I am ready for my next trip, which is Amsterdam. I leave on Thursday and will be there through Sunday. I will celebrate my 29th birthday in Amsterdam; it should be a lot of fun.
Well that's all for now. I have to go back to studying.

Tchuß

Praha

Here is an update on my recent trip to Prague, Czech Republic. Pictures and text.




Nick and I (the usual suspects) left Cologne on Friday, May 23rd and took a short (1 hour and 10 minutes) flight to Prague. There we first took some money out at an ATM right at the airport in order to be able to pay for transportation to the city. The only problem was, the ATM spit out 1000 Czech Koruna bills, which is equivalent to $65, and we knew there was no way anyone would make change for that. So Nick astutely asked the Exchange Office lady to break down a 1000 into smaller bills. Problem solved, right? Well no. The transportation to the city center involves taking a bus to the metro and then once in the city you can either walk or take the tram. We paid for our bus tickets on the bus and that was ok. However, once we got to the metro stop, there was an automated ticket teller that only takes coins. Nick had only enough for one ticket, so I had to visit a store at the station and buy something in order to receive some “useful” change. The only problem, the lady (God bless her soul) didn’t speak a lick of English. So what did I do? Well I spoke to her in my native Serbo-Croat (omitting case declination on purpose), pronouncing every word really slowly while accompanying each one by international hand signals….I said: “jedna voda, velika i ovaj sendvič” (One water, big, and this sandwich). She understood me and off we were to Prague.
By the way, the first leg of the transport from the airport to the metro stop, Prague resembled newer parts of Sarajevo in many ways. There were these old school trams running around and these newer, Communist-era apartment buildings filling the landscape. I thought that was pretty interesting but I also knew that once I entered the city things would change dramatically. And they sure did.
Nick and I made it to our Hostel in no time. We checked in and headed out for some food. We opted for a pizza place recommended by the guy at the front desk as we wanted something quick and easy and decided to save our Czech cuisine experience for later that night. Pizza was ok. Staropramen was excellent.
After quick, late, lunch, we walked to the city center. We walked past many of the main city attractions, such as: The National Museum, Powder Gate, Old Town Square, and Tyn Church. All of these sites were beautiful, very unique. We wanted to do a first round, quicker tour of the city on the first afternoon there and then come back the next day to see it again. We went to Charles Bridge, Karluv Most, next. This is probably Prague’s most famous landmark. I must admit the place is awesome. It features both religious and historical figures as statues. I haven’t done my research on this but my guess is that this was one of the first bridges built to connect the banks of the Vltava River. My only complaint about this beautiful object is the amount of tourists it attracts. One literally needs half an hour to cross it and it’s hardly two football field lengths long. I guess, even though I am traveling around as a tourist, I resent my own kind (tourists) as we somehow unintentionally (hopefully) ruin the experience for others. Or at least, my motto is to act the least touristy as I possibly can; otherwise you don’t get to experience the true culture.
After this long walk, we decided to leave visiting the Castle, Petrin Tower, Jewish Quarters, and Gehry’s Ginger Dancing Building for Saturday. With nothing else on the agenda, we went to a Bier Garten on a small hill on the north side of the city. This is an awesome spot as one has the view of the entire city in front of him.
That night we went to an original Czech cuisine restaurant and had some really good food. I don’t necessarily remember the names in Czech, but it involved all sorts of meats, cabbage, potato dumplings and gravy….yummy. And the portions were enormous.
After dinner we went to a couple of night clubs recommended to us by two Slovakian girls studying in Prague that we met in Cologne. We were the only foreigners at the first place, which was pretty cool. It was really interesting to observe young Czechs having fun and dancing to some old school American music. The second club was fun as well. Interestingly enough, the music played at the first place was also played here. This of course wouldn’t be strange if we were talking about the current Top 40 Hit List, but this was your old(er) 80s and 90s music mixed in with the occasional more recent dance hits. Around 3am we decided to call it quits and headed back to the Hostel.

On Saturday we took the tram directly from the Hostel to the Prague Castel. This site is located on a hill overlooking the entire city. It is an amazing place. It is actually an old fortress, a small city that now functions as a tourist attraction. The amazing thing about this place is the church that resembles Kölner Dom; it is built in the similar style, although on a smaller scale, but it is still comes forward as this great Gothic temple. Because of my best friends, the hordes of tourists, we decided not to wait in line to get into any of these buildings; but we did walk all around the complex and proceeded taking the road towards the Petrin Tower, which is a series of parks. This was probably my favorite part of the city. We were practically 5 minutes away from the center, yet the nature was well preserved and the surroundings were really quiet. So basically even if one were to live in Prague, he/she could escape the city life by going on a short walk to the wooded areas located on the adjacent hills.
From the Petrin Tower one can really see the entire city (even better than from the Bier Garten described earlier) as the tower goes up in the air a good 50 meters I believe.

After our ascent up the hill, followed by climbing to the top of the tower, I was a bit winded. In fact, on our way down my legs started cramping up and I had to stretch. Pretty funny as I usually don’t get cramps even when I play sports and it’s not that I am out of shape; it is just that my muscles aren’t used to going up and down hills. We made it downhill going through an older part of town that features many embassies including the US. At the bottom of the park there is a monument dedicated to victims of Communism. The sign stated that it is meant to remember all those who suffered, whether they were persecuted or had to endure rule of fear during those years. Interestingly, the monument comprises of human figures that are incomplete (check it out on my pictures). This creates an interesting optical illusion, especially when seen at night as the statues are lit.
After the long walk we visited a street vendor and had some good Kielbasa with senf (mustard) on a bun. It was delicious. I took a picture of the street vendor. It is quite an intricate little shop in the middle of the street, I almost feel guilty calling it a street vendor.

On Sunday, we visited other remaining spots. The Jewish quarters, Josefov, is believed to be the oldest Jewish settlement on the old continent. Besides the old Synagogue, there is an old cemetery dating back to 10th or 11th century (don’t quote me on that one). Another historically significant fact in this area of town is that it was here that Franz Kafka was born. Kafka is considered by many to be the best classical German language writer. I was looking around the area to see if I can figure out where he got the inspiration for his Metamorphosis masterpiece; if he had lived in Amsterdam, I think I know where to look, but not here. Jokes aside, I always feel in presence of something great knowing that an artist who influenced (and still influences) many people, was born in the exact area I am visiting.
Another interesting fact is that Prague, as well most of the current Czech Republic, was populated mainly by German speaking people; even as recently as WWII but were forced out in a combination of Hitler – Stalin occupations. Most German speaking folks were Jews and therefore targets of both these dictators.
Next on the agenda was Gehry’s dancing building. This is one of the most (if not really the only one) modern buildings in Prague. I saw works by this architect already in Düsseldorf and was extremely impressed. But this building is something else. I think I took about 4 or 5 pictures. The variety of shapes create an illusion of movement, hence the dancing in the name of it, but one really must take a look at it closely to see how well it is done and yet is very functional.

The last part of this post I want to dedicate to talking about one of my favorite writers, Milan Kundera. He was born in Brno in the Czech Republic but spent most of his Czech days in Prague. Since the late 60s he has lived in Paris. He wrote several books that deal with human relationships, while in subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) ways criticizing the Czech Communist regime and its servitude to the Soviets. Because of this he was persecuted by the government and forced to flee to France. Anyways, most of his early works, which were written in Czech (now he writes mostly in French) are set in Prague. And during this trip I was re-reading his masterpiece: The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Everywhere I looked; all the middle-aged Czechs I saw on the streets, I tried to imagine them as subjects of his work. Also, I wondered about the places he described; I wanted to know if I was near any of them; I must have been, the city is not that big, I thought. It was an awesome feeling; I could totally imagine these people going through life the way he talks about it; and the reason I focused on the middle-aged group was because those were the ones that lived through the Soviet occupation and the Communist regime. And even if Kundera didn’t specifically write about any of the people I saw, his work certainly spoke for most people in that era.

Well, it is getting late. In a few days I have my first exam. I cannot believe it’s already been two months since I’ve gotten here. Time certainly flies by when one travels. So, on the agenda for me next are:
- Channel Management exam on May 31st
- Amsterdam trip June 5th – June 8th

Till later

Stasha

Cologne-Barcelona-Stockholm

I am writing this as Tricia is on her way back to the US. She was here from May 12th till today, May 22nd. During her stay we toured Cologne on the first day, went to Barcelona on the 13th for 3 days, then flew to Stockholm for 4 days and finally made it back to Cologne on the 19th.

Köln

Having Tricia here was awesome. On the day she came in we walked all over Cologne. May 12th was some sort of Holiday in Germany so pretty much everything was closed, except for restaurants and bars. I showed Tricia the main city attractions, like the Dom, so I will not delve into describing these sites again and running the risk of being associated with the expression of “sounding like a broken record”.
It was a beautiful day out. Most of Germany was enjoying great weather for a week. In fact it was so warm that it was big news around here how Cologne had better weather than southern parts of Europe. So, Tricia and I took the opportunity to enjoy the sun and relax, while being able to see the city. A few weeks ago I noticed this cool club on Rhine’s east bank. It is nothing more than a summer patio style bar except that they filled the area with white sand, added surf boards to décor and of course the beach chairs and beds. Once inside, one can relax feeling like being on a beach, have a view of the river and more importantly of the city’s west side skyline, which includes the Dom (of course) and its old city. It is quite picturesque, and you can judge it from the pictures I posted along with this blog although they don’t do great justice, but you’ll get the sense of it.
After hanging out at the beach club for a couple of hours, we headed back to the city center and walked through the old town. Tricia’s first impression of Cologne was that it was extremely quiet but this was a holiday and Germans (like anyone else) like to sleep in on Holidays. By the time we made it back to the city in the early afternoon, the atmosphere was definitely more vibrant. Although, the areas we walked through were touristy, Kölners like to come to the Rhine and enjoy the beautiful weather as well.
We had dinner in middle of the Belgian district, a few blocks away from where I live. Cologne, if I have not mentioned this before, is a very diverse city, and as a consequence food choices are infinite. We settled for Thai food, which was good but I have come to realize that German Asian restaurants make their food even more bland than their Minnesotan counterparts. Fortunately they give you a variety of spices to season your meal to your own preferences.
We made it an early night as the next day we were flying to Barcelona.

Cologne Pictures:


Barcelona

We booked our tickets well in advance, while I was still in Minnesota. The good of this decision is that we probably got a great deal on airfare, the bad is that I didn’t know that in Ryanair lingo, Düsseldorf (a city ½ hour away from Cologne) is actually Weeze (a city 2.5 hours away from Cologne). Lesson learned I guess; not only did it take long to get to the airport, but the bus fare was 20 EUR. So money saved on airfare is money spent on something else, plus the time it took to get there. I am starting to sound like an economist but just be aware of using low cost airlines in Europe; they’ll say they fly out of Paris but what they really mean is some small village 2.5 hours away.
The trip, besides my ranting in the previous paragraph, was not bad. We made it to Barcelona fine; found our lodging and settled in. We stayed at an apartment a couple of blocks away from La Rambla (main walking street and attraction in Barcelona). We had a full kitchen and shared the living spaces with others (although the place was pretty much empty), while having our own bedroom.
Right after settling in, we proceeded to discover Barcelona. Since it was already around 6pm, we decided to just go for a walk on the beach. Barceloneta is a part of the city close to the water and it features an extensive beachfront. Within 20 minutes we were there. Barcelona in many respects felt like Naples but with fewer people. Crazy traffic, the ocean smell, the architecture and a language (Catalan which is a mix of Spanish, French and Italian) that is different than the rest of Spain.
On our walk back we ventured into tiny streets of Barri Gòtic, and this part of the city is very similar to Naples’ “Centro Storico”, however the Gothic architecture dominates with its impressive statues sticking out of the buildings at a ninety degree angle giving the impression that they’re constantly staring at the passerby’s. We found a couple of cool restaurants and decided to return to this area later for dinner.
In Spain it is normal to have dinner very late; but apparently not as late as Tricia and I decided to do. We got sidetracked by enjoying some good Rioja wine back at the apartment that we didn’t make it out of there till well after 11pm. By the time we made it back to the Gothic Quarters, it was almost midnight. Thankfully, we found a couple of open places on a Tuesday night, and settled for some Seafood Paella. The restaurant owner spoke only Catalan, so even though both Tricia and I (well mostly Tricia, I only pretend) speak Spanish, we had a hard time understanding the guy. But we did get our food, which was good. After dinner, since it was already so late, we decided to go back to our apartment and sleep.
On our first full day in Barcelona we went sightseeing. And when I say sightseeing I mean we went all over the place. We started with Barri Gòtic again and visited the Cathedral (well the outside of it since in Barcelona even to see a Church you need to pay a fee), the side streets and nice little squares. From there we proceeded to the Picasso Museum, which is in the same general area. The museum features the progression of Picasso’s work throughout his life. Each gallery has a wall dedicated to the description of the time period and Picasso’s influences. I was particularly impressed with some of his early work, which was far from what people know about Picasso as it was more Classical than Impressionist. In particular there is a painting he composed as a 15 year-old, which was so well done that it is almost scary. The rest of the museum also focused on Picasso’s willingness to explore and experiment with various media and techniques. It was definitely a worthwhile visit and money well spent.
Right outside of Picasso’s museum Tricia noticed this little Tapas bar/restaurant and suggested we go in. We did and it was great. This was a family-owned restaurant that had character. The inside was decorated with antiques that accumulated throughout the years as I believe this place has been around for a while. There were black and white pictures, old wine barrels, wine skins hanging from the walls, etc. We had all sorts of tapas, including Serrano ham and salted cod, which are typical of this area.
After the late lunch, we took the metro to the main city attraction, La Sagrada Familia. This is a Catholic Church that has been under construction since 1882. Antoni Gaudi, a famous architect whose works are all over Barcelona, pretty much dedicated most of his life to this building. The sight is awesome from outside designed very intricate style with a lot of décor that one gets lost in trying to decipher its meaning; definitely a sight worth seeing. However, to go inside one must pay 8 or 10 Euros, and once inside there is nothing but scaffolding and people working on the Church. I was pretty disappointed to say the least and wish I had just seen the place from the outside and had this great image of it.
After visiting Sagrada Familia, we proceeded to go see other works/buildings by Gaudi, mainly Casa Milà and Casa Batlò. These buildings feature small mosaics made out of colored clay tiles and interesting architectural shapes. Casa Batlò for example features balconies in the shape of a skull. These sights were awesome and very representative of this entire city. Unfortunately, some other buildings were being renovated and we weren’t able to see.
At the end of the day we went to a hill overlooking Barcelona by taking the bus to Tibidabo. There is a restaurant called Mirablau, which is located on this hill with a great view of the entire city. We decided to have Cuba Libres on the terrace and enjoy the view. Unfortunately, the weather at this point was not cooperating as it was overcast and hazy; we still were able to see most of the city but I am certain the view gets even more spectacular on a clear day.
On our third day in Barcelona, we went to Park Güell, which is another work of Antoni Gaudì. It is located on another hill and hence it has a great view of the city. As his other works, this park has a few interesting buildings with a lot of colored tile mosaics. After seeing all of his works, in my mind Barcelona is Gaudì.
Since the weather was nicer we decided to spend the afternoon on the beach. It was nice just to lie on the beach and relax. To help the level of relaxation one can get a back massage for 5 Euros by trained masseuses walking on the beach offering their services. I decided to get one and nearly fell asleep on the beach; it was great.
For our last night in Barça we decided to have a nice seafood dinner on the beach. We went to a place called Aqua in Barceloneta. It was great; we didn’t have reservations but the host ushered us to the restaurant bar inside and offered us a couple of cocktails on the house. Shortly thereafter he came back and showed us our table on the patio with a view of the beach. We had some great food and good wine. It was really a great way to end our stay in this city. Stockholm was next.

Barcelona Pictures:


Stockholm

On Friday, May 16th, we arrived at Stockholm’s Skavsta airport. Our friends Martin and Matilda (and their three month old daughter Liv) came to meet us. This was our first time seeing their baby and we were really excited. This was also Tricia’s first time in Sweden.
The first part of our stay we spent at my friend’s Tom’s cabin. His family owns two tiny islands southeast of Stockholm and it is literally one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. It is so quiet and pristine. And even though it was quite colder than Barcelona, it was still a nice place. We met Tom and his girlfriend Zandra just outside the islands. The only way to access them is by private boat, which is another intrigue about this place.
Zandra and Tom cooked us dinner and we enjoyed the company. Martin, Tom and I know each other from our Gustavus days. I’ve known Matilda almost for as long; so it was really nice to catch up and also for both Tom and I to introduce Zandra and Tricia to each other.
On the following day we decided to take a little fishing trip around the other islands in the area. I had no great expectations but I just knew that cruising around in a boat would give us a chance to see more of this beautiful place. We tried a couple of spots without much luck. At this point Tom called his brother, who apparently had gone out fishing the week before, and asked where the good spots were. With his instruction we went to a place near the islands. Within minutes Martin, the fisherman of the hour, caught 3 huge Pikes (see in the pictures). It was amazing. He would literally cast the line and reel them in right away without waiting. I guess Tom’s brother was correct on the fishing location.
We headed back to the cabin to clean the fish. Tom then looked up some recipes and fixed lunch with freshly caught fish. We also tasted some Crawfish that Martin had brought up with him as well. It was just a great experience.
I must add that during this whole time Liv, Martin and Matilda’s daughter, was constantly by our side (yes she came fishing with us too). She’s a sweetheart; doesn’t complain much except when she’s hungry and just a joy to have around. Seeing our friends going through the joy of parenthood is simply indescribable.
After the late lunch we packed up as it was time to leave the islands and head to Stockholm. Unfortunately, Martin and Matilda couldn’t join us as they had to head back to Växjo, their home town. So we said good bye to them and Liv.
In Stockholm we stayed at Tom and Zandra’s condo. They have this beautiful place near the city center. I was impressed. Once we got there we had some dinner and a few drinks. Then it was time to go out and show Tricia a bit of Swedish nightlife. We ended up going to a place called “Cliff Barns”. It was super fun. They played old school American (and some Swedish) songs and everyone was dancing and having a great time. Tricia loved it.
On Sunday we walked through Stockholm’s city center. It was extremely cold so our stroll was cut short as it was not that enjoyable. Tricia and I knew we had another day to see the rest of Stockholm with hopefully better weather. Back home we made dinner and watched a movie: The Hunting Party. Interestingly enough, this movie is mostly based on a true story about Bosnia and was filmed there. Both Tricia and I recognized many of the places, especially the ones shot in Sarajevo. I am still not sure how I feel about the movie; I am ok with its message but the way it was shot it is a bit cheesy.
On Monday morning, Tricia and I were lucky to be able to walk through Stockholm on a beautiful sunny day. We went through the old city, saw the Royal Palace as well as guard ceremony. We then walked on the shore and took some great pictures. Stockholm is a beautiful city.
We met Tom and Zandra for lunch. They took us to the top floor of a department store (kind of like the Skyroom at Minneapolis downtown Macy’s except the open terrace seating). We enjoyed the lunch outdoors and chatted with our friends. Tom is turning 30 next week and was making last minute arrangements for his birthday party. I was trying to attend as well but on the same day I have my first exam in Germany and getting on a flight in time was not feasible; too bad as I really wanted to go to his party and hang out with Martin and Erik (another friend of mine from Gustavus). Oh well, can’t really do everything I want to do.

Stockholm (and islands) pictures:


Well, I am glad I was able to spit out this blog post today as tomorrow I am heading to Prague for 4 days. Till next time.

Stasha

Munich and London Trips

Munich May 1st – May 3rd:

Matt, a friend of mine from Minnesota, came to visit me. The first few days he was here we walked around Cologne and attended social events. It was great to chaperon him around as it was his first time in Europe. Some of his reactions were just great because he had obviously had a certain image of Germany, and while most things were correct, others took him by surprise. Most notably the shear number of Americanization that this country (as well as the rest of Europe) is experiencing. The first thing he saw from the train taking us from the airport to the city was this huge sign for KFC. KFC is the worst of the worst in the US and somehow it is doing business in Germany. Later he commented on the saturation level of the various Burger King, McDonalds, and Starbucks outlets (the latter mostly in London). I applaud him for not wanting to go into any of these stores (except for Starbucks on occasion) in order to get a more unique experience. The interesting thing is that German people of our age and younger frequent these chains quite often. So one might wonder whether avoiding these chains one is really experience the current German culture or not?
Well enough with Philosophy, let’s move on. As I stated before, we visited Cologne extensively. One item that Matt said he could get used to is the fact that one can go to a convenience (corner) store, buy a beer, open it at the door and walk through the city. In fact the weather was really nice for a couple of days and most people were out in the parks barbecuing, drinking beer and playing all sorts of games.
To make Matt’s experience more meaningful, we decided to rent a BMW and drive to Munich for a couple of days. We decided to go with a 3 series to save on money, but were lucky that the rental company gave us a 5 series for the same price. So we took the Autobahn by the storm. In most parts of the freeway there is not a specified speed limit. We both wanted to experience that aspect of Germany as well and put the pedal to the metal; we didn’t go over 130mph, the thrill of driving 130mph on a very busy Autobahn was enough for us.
We made it safe and sound to Munich. We were laughing hard because we pulled up to our Hostel and thought how we were probably the only people that drove a nice car to the cheapest lodging available in town. But that as well is part of the experience. The hostel was just the stereotypical young people hang out. We were glad we didn’t have to spend too much time there; some of the kids were really obnoxious.
The first night we walked around the center of the city; scoped out a couple of sites we wanted to come back to and headed to a restaurant. We ended up in a very small place close to the University. It was an interesting place and the portions were huge (I think if you look at the slideshow in my previous post you can attest to that yourself). After dinner we decided to find a bar or a Bier Garten and have a couple of Munich style beers. To our surprise we couldn’t find much; it was May 1st and in Europe this is the equivalent of the Labor Day in the US. The night before, on April 30th, is one of the biggest party nights in Germany, so I figured that people were partied out by May 1st. So we called it an early night and went back to our luxurious hostel.
The next day we went to several touristy sights. I will name a few: Rathaus, Altes Rathaus, Isar Gate, Karlstor Stachus, Frauenkirche (Cathedral), Peterskirche, Marienplatz, Königsplatz, English Gardens, Chinese Garden, Hofbräuhaus, Löwenbräuhaus, etc. In one of my pictures you can see a footprint located in the Frauenkirche; the legend states that the footprint belongs to the Devil that angered by architect’s windows placement decided to leave a mark (to read more about it click here).
Besides visiting different churches and cultural buildings, we also went to see where the Nazi headquarters were. It was really eerie to stand in the middle of the Königsplatz as this is where the burning of the books took place as well as the major SS forces swearing lead by Hitler.
Of course, we found our way to a couple of Bier Gartens; and they are fun although don’t expect to get good service there but who can blame them; they get to deal with drunken tourists every day of the year. It is really part of the experience, especially if you go in the summer months and get to sit outdoors. Most places feature guys dressed in Leder Hosen playing Bavarian music and waitresses wearing traditional Bavarian gowns.

London/Portsmouth – May 3rd – May 6th:
On Saturday morning it was time to say good bye to Munich and fly back to Cologne. We hadn’t planned our journey too well and booked our London trip in advance (flying out of Cologne). In the end it was a blessing as we got back to Cologne around 10am and were able to catch up on some sleep. Our flight to London was at 6pm.
We arrived to Gatwick airport around 6pm local time. It is barely an hour flight. Our friend Matt Glaeser was there waiting for us. This was my first time in the UK besides going through Heathrow airport a couple of times before.
It took the entire way down to Portsmouth (that’s where M. Glaeser lives) to get used to riding on the “wrong” side of the road. I am amazed that he drives so well, especially since he goes back and forth between the UK and the US. One of these days, I told him, he’ll end up going in the wrong direction.
Matt Glaeser works for Deloitte and has recently moved to the UK. The company gave him a rental car and a nice apartment to live in. The drawback of it is that he’s located in Portsmouth, which is located an hour and a half to the south of London. Entering the city it reminds you a bit of Duluth, MN, it is very grayish, industrious looking city. Sorry for of those of you who think Duluth is pretty; every time I drive through there I feel a bit sad for some reason, it might be the coal mines, the old trains, ships, etc; but to me Duluth always looks desolate. I agree that the North Shore is beautiful, but that’s not Duluth.
Anyways, we had our first British dinner in Portsmouth. The food was ok as expected. One tip for first time travelers to the UK: if you want a cold beer do not order Ale but instead opt for a Lager. Ales are served lukewarm and flat. Also, the Pubs that serve food operate differently than in the US. You order your food at the bar and then they bring it to you; same goes for drinks. These are the little differences that sometimes drive you absolutely crazy.
On Sunday we drove to Putney Bridge, which is on the outskirts of London and found free street parking (almost better than winning the lottery here). From here we took the good old London Tube (Subway) into the City. We started by visiting Green Park, then proceeded to Buckingham Palace. London is similar to New York in many respects. It is very diverse, fast pace, expensive and full of tourists. We arrived at Buckingham Palace just as the changing of the guards ceremony was ending. This is repeated twice daily and it is a whole shebang; it takes about an hour.
From Buckingham Palace we went on to see where the Prime Minister lives, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Parliament, London Eye, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Shakespeare’s Theater, St. Paul Cathedral, Piccadilly Circus and SoHo. It was an action packed day.
While walking towards Big Ben, all three of us kept quoting Clark Griswold from European Vacation when he couldn’t make a left turn on a roundabout: “Hey kids, look, Big Ben”. Well as stupid as it sounds, there is a big roundabout right in front of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey through which we couldn’t seem to get across. Sadly, even though this is one of the most touristy places in all of London, there is not an effective way of crossing the street from one side to the next. We nearly got run over by a bus and were stuck on a small traffic island for a few minutes waiting for cars to go by so that we could cross safely.
After seeing Big Ben and the British Parliament Building we crossed the bridge and walked on the other bank of Thames River. It was really cool to see all of the historic buildings on the other side. The one place we actually took time to go in was the Tower of London. This at one time was the Royal Palace, but then converted into a prison/execution camp. We overheard one tour guide describe public executions that took place here for traitors of the Kingdom (I believe the latest coming sometime in the 1700s). The prisoner was executed by beheading using an axe; the guide mentioned that for the sake of the prisoner it hopefully only took one swing to finish him off. After the beheading, the executioner picked up the head by the hair and showed the crowd that in fact the correct person was executed. Then for a week or so the head was displayed on a pole somewhere in London. It was very bothersome to listen to this story (as I am sure you’re finding my narrative as disturbing). Interestingly enough these things still happen in certain parts of the world.
Besides the executions and weaponry displays, the Tower of London houses Royal Jewelry. On display are various jewels, diamonds, crowns, and other ornaments used in various Royal ceremonies. It is amazing to see how much wealth is consumed and that there is no sense of putting a limit to it. Every King or Queen wanted to outdo its predecessor by ordering a nicer crown, more flashy jewelry, etc. Jokingly I told my buddies that the Royal Family was the first one to start the BLING fashion that today Hip Pop artists have adopted. Maybe the Queen rides in horse carriage with spinner wheels and sips Crystal…..or maybe not.
After seeing the historic London, we went to the Piccadilly Circus, which by the way is London’s version of Times Square. Jokes aside, the main square is a tourist trap with big advertisement screens. We ventured into the small streets surrounding this place and found an array of different pubs, restaurants and stores. We enjoyed our dinner and a few drinks with Londoners. Unfortunately we had a long ride back and had to head out early to catch the Tube back to Putney Bridge.
All in all it was a fun trip.

Right now I am back in Cologne. I have class this week but then next week is their spring break as it is Easter Week. Tricia is coming on Monday and we’re heading to Barcelona for 3 days and Stockholm for another 3. So prepare yourself for more travel stories in the near future.

Bis später!