Ireland...soon...

I spent all of last week in Ireland--Dublin, Galway and the Dingle Peninsula, to be exact. My brother, Jim, and sister-in-law, Ginny, had been in London for a few days, and the three of us packed up and went to Ireland. Neither Jim nor I had been but have wanted to visit for quite some time, so Ireland it was!

Long story short, I fell madly in love with Ireland. Unfortunately, while I did bring my camera, I left it in the house on a few choice occasions. That, plus the fact that Jim's took way better pictures which will be in my hands tomorrow in the form of a picture CD, has given me reason to procrastinate and not put up the true Ireland entry until sometime this weekend. So, stay tuned. Here's a sneak peek...

We stayed in that house. And yes, I do think it was the mysterious chorus of angelic voices that woke me up every morning.

The US Election Abroad

Last night (and up until 5:30am, London time) I had the unique circumstance of watching the most important U.S. presidential election in recent history far away from American shores. None of us exchange students have a TV here, so we caught wind of an "American Expatriates in London Election Party" being hosted at a concert hall up the road and decided to go.

As an Obama supporter, it was a fun evening. The crowd was about 50% British and 50% American. The British 50% were Obama fans by default; I think opinion polls in the UK had something like 91% of all Britons preferring Barack. Because the event was organized online, the American crowd was young and skewed way to the left. Natalie, Abby, Kate and I ended up staying all night with about 800 others, counting down each set of poll closings while watching British coverage of the event.

The surprise of the night, though, was that I got interviewed by BBC Radio! Natalie, a couple other people and I were all asked a handful of questions. Our answers are apparently floating around in cyberspace and along the British radio airwaves somewhere. If I miraculously happen to find it, I'll post it. I also was snatched aside while walking back from the restroom by another set of journalists early in the evening, this time from (I think) University College London for their student newspaper and TV station. Truthfully, the British were just as excited about the election as any American, and it was cool to be singled out on such a huge night.

Interestingly, about 95% of the coverage that wasn't spent covering the results was dedicated to the sole issue of Obama's race. I won't ramble on about politics and such, but I hope that those of you reading this agree with me when I say that, while race is of course an issue, the U.S. must be given a little more credit for progress in this department. I was a bit irked when a few reports here suggested that the main impetus for a white person voting for a black candidate was to "repay an ancient debt and that blacks are grateful for them doing so;" I quote that directly from thelondonpaper, too. In the end, regardless of how you all voted, I do sincerely hope you did not vote simply on the basis of race. I optimistically give America (the majority, at least) a bit more credit than that.

Nonetheless, it was an exciting night and London was abuzz the next morning with excitement that their own preferred choice had won. I don't even think their own elections make nearly as much noise or get them nearly as riled up. The one thing I'll take away from the whole experience is that if you're American, you should feel honored that you get to vote in a U.S. election...there are millions of other people that wish they had the chance, too.

Here are two London newspaper covers from today...

Left: The Times, London's top paper. Right: thelondonpaper, one of London's free papers.

By the way, I went to Switzerland and Germany two weeks ago

I figured I'd redeem myself from the not-so-thoroughly captivating last post about exchange rates by actually writing about my recent trip to Switzerland and Germany. Hopefully this one won't be dripping in geek. Also, if you're like me, you often like pictures more than words, so I'm putting in photos more than usual.

Day 1/Zürich: Utopia isn't cheap-
Stephanie, Anthony and I left London via easyJet at some disgustingly early hour and ended up in Zürich, Switzerland. By the way, please keep in mind for the duration of this entry that the three of us have a combined German vocabulary of about nine words--three of them vulgarities, of course. Thankfully, our hotel was located across the river from the central train station, and we avoided any need to grunt, point or say "scheisse!" upon arrival. After a nap, we walked the nearby streets in search of a café, had some lunch, and upon receiving our bill, learned how expensive Switzerland is (actually, right there I was guilty of saying "scheisse!"). I'll sidestep the currency lecture and just tell you that even though the Swiss franc is worth less than our dollar, the Swiss somehow manage to get away with charging the equivalent of $18 for a fried egg, butter roll and orange juice. In a moment of weakness, we later ate at what turned out to be the planet's nicest McDonalds and had to pay something like $9 for what would've been about $3.50 in Milwaukee.

We decided to accept the fact that we had left one of the world's most expensive cities (London) to hang out in an even more expensive one (Zürich), though. Perhaps we should've known it would be so pricey, considering we had read that Zürich had been rated the top city in the entire world in terms of quality of life for the past three years. Incidentally, Geneva, also a Swiss city, was #2. Sheesh...nice job, Switzerland. But seriously, the place was like a little utopia. Everything was mindboggingly well-kept: the air was crisp with mountains rising all around; nice shiny cars drove along pristine Lake Zürich with bleach-white sailboats dotting the clear blue water; well-dressed citizens peeked out of the windows of electric mass-transit trains that hummed quietly along the streets. Now, if only the freeze-dried and cellophane-wrapped deli sandwich I bought for lunch the next day hadn't cost $11.50. That afternoon and evening, we walked along the river and explored the city, stopping in churches, chocolate shops, hidden plazas and a really nice lakeside park. Here's a summary of Zürich in six photos...

Left: Modest national pride? Check. Right: Beautiful buildings? Pollution-free river? Check. Check.

Left: Calming outdoor recreation? Check. Right: Romance? Check.

Left: Great mass transit? Check. Right: Politically well-versed graffiti? Check.

Day 2/Mount Schilthorn: The view from 10,000 feet-
We wanted to get from Zürich to Mount Schilthorn, in the Interlaken district of south-central Switzerland. The whole journey would involve three different trains, a bus, some walking, and multiple gondolas to get to the 10,000 foot summit of Schilthorn, one of the country's most famous peaks.

After buying a phrasebook that covers most Western European languages, I was a lot more confident we could communicate if we ran into problems while traveling. We wouldn't need it, though, because the whole place ran like clockwork (plus, it seemed as though everybody spoke at least three languages). Despite all the different modes of transportation, the stops, the handful of tickets we needed and our complete unfamiliarity with the place, the whole 250km trip was less painful and more smoothly executed than a typical London Tube ride. Every single time we left one train, the next one was waiting at the adjacent platform. We’d hop on, and it would leave within five minutes. Same thing with the bus. Same thing with the gondolas. One British person told me that the Swiss are so orderly and such perfectionists that “they must all be born wearing a wristwatch and holding a ruler.” Others would say “anal-retentive,” but really, everything was as smooth as butter.

The long train ride from Zürich to a stop in Bern was nothing too special, but the train ride from Bern to Interlaken was spectacular, only to be beaten by the subsequent trip from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen and then topped again by each successive gondola ride. Oddly enough, the thing that struck me the most was the impressive state of Interlaken’s rivers and lakes. Never in my life have I seen such crystal-clear water; honestly, I could’ve dipped a straw in the river and literally slurped up Evian. The forests were ablaze in fall colors, the snow-capped mountains enveloped picturesque Swiss villages and—California Dairy Board, eat your heart out—the happiest-looking cows were grazing on sloping pastures. Once we had taken all the trains and a bus, we got to the gondolas, which lifted us up in zigzagging routes. The trip looked something like this…

(A) Zürich to (B) Bern to (C) Interlaken to (D) Lauterbrunnen to (E) Stechelberg, where the gondolas began

Whatever fear of heights I had before taking this trip quickly vanished. The views from the gondolas and from the summit of Schilthorn were far too breathtaking for me to care about acrophobia. From the top, we could see some of Switzerland’s most famous peaks: Jungfrau, Mönch, Eiger, Großehorn. We ate at the revolving restaurant perched atop the peak, walked for a while along the ridge that extended from the summit, and I even got to paste Anthony with a massive snowball. Score! The whole trip is pretty difficult to put into words that do justice to the experience, but the Interlaken District/Bernese Oberland is definitely in my Top 5 for most beautiful places I have ever seen. As always, Wikipedia comes through and has a decent page on Schilthorn. Also, Google Image Search has some good photos. Here are a few of mine...

Left: The cable car/gondola we took. Right: That cord snaps and we're falling for over a mile.


Left: Anthony and I inching along the side of the summit. Right: We ended up standing out along the summit ridge. Pretty cool experience.

I'd have looked even more nervous if there hadn't been a nice, steel guardrail behind me.

We took the same route back to Zürich, a bit reluctant to leave Interlaken. Zürich, if I haven't made this clear already, would make for a very nice place to live. That being said, it was still a good idea that we'd be leaving the next day for Munich, because there weren't too many sights left to be seen.

Day 3/Zürich to Munich: Kirche then Kraut(!)-

Early Sunday morning, the three of us decided to go to mass at the big Liebfrauenkirche ("Church of the Virgin Mary"). It was interesting, especially because it was in German and lasted about an hour and a half. After church, we hopped on the train to Munich.

Upon arriving in Munich, we checked into our hostel, which ended up being nice (by hostel standards). If you're ever in the area and need a decent hostel, check out 4 U München.

It was already late in the afternoon, so we walked to Munich's main square, Marienplatz, and I immediately began to fall in love with the city. And yes, I am officially coming out of the closet and admitting that I am in fact part-German. Bavarian, to boot. We skipped past the overly-touristy Hofbräuhaus (only to visit it later on a tour) and instead ate at a smaller, “genuine” German restaurant and beer hall. Every meal we had thenceforth in Munich was authentic German…and it was all delicious. After the wurst, weisse, kraut and apfelstrudel, we walked back along the main square and city center—which is almost entirely off-limits to cars—and were entertained by some particularly talented street musicians…

Left: Okay, you can have some of my change. Right: Jazz riff on the Barber of Seville.

Day 4/Munich: I want a BMW-

Since the three of us are fairly big car fans, we decided to visit BMW's campus, which contains the headquarters of BMW, as well as a museum (BMW Welt, or "World") and factory. The buildings were impressive and so was the tour of the factory, where we saw some slick Beemers being assembled. After being escorted around the plant by easily the most intelligent tour guide I have ever met, I began to appreciate the hefty price tag of a typical BMW. It was cleaner than a hospital in the factory, and we all really enjoyed seeing roomfuls of robots gyrating about. It was well worth the €2 ticket. BMW Welt is right next to the Olympiapark, where the infamous 1972 Munich Olympic Games were held, so we took a walk through the grounds after our tour...

Left: Inside BMW Welt. Right: Outside BMW Welt.

The iconic Olympiapark

We then unsuccessfully tried to reserve a spot on a hot air balloon ride (they were booked) just outside of Munich and so had to settle for a generic bus tour of the city instead. It was a bit of a disappointment, considering Munich is sopping wet with history, but the guide hardly went into detail. I did learn a few cool tidbits, though: Freddie Mercury (hahaha, but not this guy...I had to share this) apparently lived in Munich for a stint and Oktoberfest was established to commemorate the 1810 wedding of Prince Ludwig and not—contrary to popular thought—to celebrate the fall harvest. After the tour, we climbed to the top of the steeple of Der Alter Peter ("Church of St. Peter") adjacent to Marienplatz. Since I’m all about the view, I really enjoyed this stop…

My (lame) attempt at a panorama from Der Alter Peter. You get the idea.

Great place to watch the sunset, too.

We ended the day with a phenomenal dinner of sauerbraten and potato dumplings. Even Stephanie, who previously thought she hated German food, was happily converted and is now a huge sauerbraten fan…

*Drool*

Day 5/Munich’s Darkest and Brightest Days-

A lot of people I know aren’t too proud of their German heritage. Being from Munich is especially difficult for some people, because it is, if you weren’t already aware, the birthplace of Nazi Germany. The local government is “aware of its obligation to keep alive the memory of Nazi Germany and its crimes and to inform citizens and visitors about it,” according to a statement by the mayor. As many of you know, my own hometown has a significant population of both Germans and Jews, so the history of Nazism and the Holocaust are taught rather in-depth throughout high school. Therefore, because we wouldn’t be making it to the Dachau concentration camp museum, I suggested taking a tour that discussed Hitler’s rise to power in Munich.

All in all, the “History of the Third Reich in Munich Tour” was very interesting, pointing out the buildings that the crazed Führer commissioned for what he called the “Cradle of the Third Reich” and “The Arts Capital of Nazi Germany.” The tour guide, half-American and half-German himself, did an excellent job of explaining how Germans, especially Munich’s citizens, deal with their dark past. He also spent a lot of time detailing how over 85% of Munich had been completely wiped out in bombing raids by the Allies, but the combined American and German post-war governments built the city back up to almost exactly how it appeared pre-WWII. Thankfully they did it; the Nazis were a cancer to the area, but the city itself was and still is quite beautiful.

Our last stop was a visit to the Frauenkirche (“Cathedral of Our Blessed Lady”), where Pope Benedict XVI sat as Archbishop of Munich and Freising for five years, from 1977 to 1982. The building is considered the foremost architectural symbol of the city of Munich, and, as Catholics, it was an especially neat place to visit for the three of us. It, too, was damaged in WWII bombings, much of the inside to this day remains sparse after so many relics, statues, paintings and features were destroyed. Nevertheless, it managed to just barely survive, and many view its rebirth as an icon of hope for a city with a troubling and dark past…

Left: One of many things in the church noting Benedict's ties. Right: The reconstructed nave.

Frauenkirche rising over the city.

Needing to get to the airport in a bit of a rush that night, we decided to take a cab. Bad idea. Taxis in Munich are Mercedes-Benzes, and Fast Car + Cabbie + Autobahn = Reckless Endangerment. Allow me to be brief: German engineering makes for surprisingly comfortable lane changes at 215 km/hour. Needless to say, we didn't miss our flight!