Paris, Paris

A panoramic shot I took from the top of the Arc de Triomphe

I've been thinking about the posts I've been doing, and realized that for these "I went ___" posts, anyone who reads this probably just wants one thing: pictures! So I'll try to keep this post mostly about what I saw and did in my weekend in Paris! I joined Morgen and her family on Friday evening and stayed until Sunday evening. It was a short trip but I saw a lot:

Paris definitely has a theme to it's architecture. The city looks very uniform, but with enough slight variation to be beautiful. The stone buildings and wrought-iron balconies are typical of the entire city.

This piano player kicked a lot of ass.

The metro system in Paris is great, and very similar to London's. It is one of (if not the?) densest subway systems in Europe. Given how ridiculously dangerous it looks to drive in Paris, it's a good thing they have the subway. Morgen's dad (Mark) actually said he was afraid while driving around, something he said he has never felt before while driving. Paris also includes the most dangerous area to drive in Europe, the roundabout around the Arc de Triomphe.

This was maybe the coolest thing I saw. There were several cars like this. They weren't common, but I loved how casual it was that there were just cars parked on the street, chargin' up!

Luxury.

YELLOW BATMOBILE

There is a pretty cool tradition in Paris that our tour guide told us about. I don't remember exactly, but the gist is this: You come here with a padlock (not a combination lock), and your lover. You write your names on the lock and lock it to the bridge. Then, as a symbol of the everlastingness of your love, you throw both of your keys into the river below! We found this out AFTER we wrote all of Morgen's families name on a lock with "Greetings From the USA!" on it. We kinda missed the whole point.

It seems cool, and it is..But we later found out that all of these locks are clipped off the bridge about once a week. Kind of ironic considering the theme of everlasting love -_-

Now, I don't have a lot to say about them, but just as proof that I went, here are the big landmarks!

Notre Dame

Arc de Triomphe (it is worth every penny to go on top of this. It is the best view in the whole city)

MY GIRL MONA

Some giant metal thing we found, I forget the name.

To the Louvre!

I didn't have my camera with me, but on Saturday we saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Stadte de France. It was a great show, they played all of the classics, and only the best songs from their new album. The one funny thing I noticed was that, even though the French loved RHCP, France isn't well known for being English-friendly. So Morgen and I were basically the only ones singing the entire time, until the chorus of a really popular song came on, and all of a sudden the crowd goes wild! It's strange because I don't have a good feel for what it would be like for the biggest bands in the world to sing in a different language.



So, I had a great time in Paris and it is definitely on the must-go-to list of European cities. I'll close with my favorite picture from the whole trip: A few of the Grand Palace in the distance as a river boat goes down the beautiful Seine River:

I love the way the French flag sticks out against the dusk!

London's Calling

So, a few weeks ago, on a Wednesday, I got the surprise news that I would have the following Monday and Tuesday off from work. There was going to be an audit on my lab and they didn't want any interns screwing anything up. Slightly insulting, but I'll take it! I immediately jumped on Kayak.com and looked for a cheap flight to somewhere far away. The problem is that this is my only chance at a 4 day weekend for my whole trip, so I wanted to hit somewhere big...

And thank God, there were round trip tickets to London for less than $190 from Saturday morning to Tuesday evening...London here I come!

The first thing I did was meet up with Danielle, a good friend from the States, at the 360 Theater in Kensington Park for a stage version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe! The 360 Theater was rather unique... Actors could enter from any direction down the stairs that the audience came in on. In addition, the outer ring of the stage actually rotates! It let them do some cool things like run in place and give the impression of travelling.

After the show we walked around London for the rest of the day. Before I get to the landmarks, here are some stereotypically British things!

Guards!

Awesome Cabs!

Telephone Booths!

Ridiculous Pub Names!

Fish and Chips!

Now on to some of the nicer sights we saw while walking around:

Buckingham Palace! I'll be completely honest, this had to be the most disappointing sight we saw. I really hadn't ever looked at a picture of the Palace, so when we got there I didn't even know what it was. For some reason I pictured something a bit more... extravagant. Nonetheless it beats the hell out of my 14 sq.m. room back in Freising, so I'm glad I saw it!

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Now this is a sight! Looking out over the beautiful Thames at this beautiful architecture was amazing. This was really beautiful. These structures are really impressive; standing where we were, I think I could have hung around all day.

Just a little guy in the shadow of the big guy

The London Eye. This impressive giant Ferris wheel provides one of the better views of the city that you can get. Mind you, I seem to remember each seat costing about 30 pounds (~$47). Not worth it in my opinion, but to each his own.

And finally, Westminster Abbey! Once again a really impressive structure to behold, but we didn't get a chance to go inside or spend too much time around the area.

Saturday and Sunday were almost completely dedicated to walking around and seeing some sights. Monday I spent almost the whole day getting out to the Harry Potter Studio Tour (which deserves it's own post), and after that my camera died :(  Since I can't provide many more pictures of London, instead I'll provide a few tips:

Getting There
      Look for flights using EasyJet. It's a discount airline company but flies out of major airports, unlike RyanAir. They also aren't strict about their carry-on policy at all. I'm not sure but I believe EasyJet is hubbed in England. There are 3 airports in London providing many opportunities to fly in, but the two cheaper ones are Sanstead and Gatwick. I flew into Gatwick, but both of them will require you to take a train into London proper. I used the 'Gatwick Express', it cost 19 pounds but I was into Victoria Station in 30 minutes.
      Every day while there I bought a daily Underground pass for something like 7.70 pounds, it let me get around the whole city all day, and it was really cost effective considering the amount I used the trains.

Lodging
      There are plenty of hostels around London. but be mindful that it is a really big city. They also run a lot more expensive than hostels in other European cities that I've been to, but just chalk that up to London being London, and look for a nice place to enjoy your stay.
       The first place I stayed was "Palmers Lodge - Hillspring at Willesden Green." I would highly recommend it, they have their own bar, it's in a nice part of town, computer access, and the security is great (need a card to get into a front gate, to get into the front door, to get into the door on your floor, to get into your room, and then a card to open your large personal valuables locker). For the 3rd night, I stayed in Camden Town, much closer to the city, but not as nice; more expensive, more people per room, and situated above a (dead) bar that I couldn't even get into because of a "comedy night", and no computer access.


Museums
      My last day in London I saw something like 4 or 5 different Museums. The greatest part is that they are all free and most are close to each other. Personally I visited the British Museum, the Science Museum (this is really geared more towards children), the Victoria and Albert Museum, and, my favorite, the Natural History Museum. You can easily spend just an hour or two at all of these places without spending a cent! Here is list of some more of the popular museums. This is a great way to spend a day in London!

Pubs
      Maybe this is a bit telling of my interests, but the pubs were one of the things I was looking forward to most. I like their style of chilled out drinking, and of course the Ales that you can't get elsewhere in Europe. As much as I like German beer, I really missed that bitter ale taste. The difference between the Pub drinking style and the rest of Europe is that clubs/discos are the most popular mode of drinking for most other countries (for young people, at least). I'm not a big club guy, and I think pubs are a much better place to talk, enjoy your drink, and meet people. I met someone new every pub I went to, and even made a Danish friend at one who I keep in contact with a little bit. The only trouble with pubs is that, because they are open during the day, they have to close at 11 or 12 at night due to some odd English alcohol selling laws, so if you want to have a whole night of drinking, you will eventually have to move to a club. Either way, I recommend going to the famous SoHo neighborhood for both kinds of drinking establishments.

I had a great time in London and I think it is a top 3 must-visit city in Europe. One of the best parts for us Americans...they all speak English (or something like it), and so it's really tourist friendly for us.


Well, that's it for London. I'm really glad I got lucky and had 2 extra days off of work. Next post will be about the amazing Harry Potter Studio Tour that I did while there!

Life is a Bit Different Here

So I've compiled a list of things that are very apparently different than what we are used to in the U.S. These aren't the small things like "the toilet flusher is different" (which is true)-- these are the ones that jump out at you and tempt you to say "Well back in the States..." This isn't a complete list but it's a decent list for someone who might be planning to come to Germany for the first time.

So, here we go:

-Everything Closes Early

In the state of Bavaria, many small family owned shops close at 6 PM.  All supermarkets, bakeries, and things like hardware stores close at 8 PM. Nicer restaurants are open later (the ones that have beer gardens especially are open late), but small restaurants, most ice cream cafes (of which there are plenty), and trailer-food are also closed at 8 PM. The only sustenance possible after then, without paying for a nice meal, is to go to the train station and pick up some McDonalds, or sample some of the finer assortments of the local gas station. In addition to this, EVERYTHING except for (some) restaurants is closed on Sunday and every holiday. Whereas we are used to being able to go to a Wal-Mart at any hour if need be, if you are out of food and it is after 8, a Sunday, or a holiday, you are completely SOL. I think it's important to note that this is the one thing I can say I can't stand about Germany--everything else I consider just cross-cultural differences, but I can't give them a pass on not being able to grocery shop on a Sunday. Cmon guys.

-Mahlzeit!

Lunch seems to me to be the biggest meal of the day. I can't say for sure whether this is true because I haven't lived with a German family, but I can at least say that lunch is very important. You don't just have a cold sandwich and an apple for lunch--that's not normal here.

-Bicycles

Everyone has one! It is the preferred mode of transportation if you don't live right downtown in a city where you can just take subways or trams. Here in Freising, it is more common usually to bike to the bank or the market than to drive your car if it is within 10 or 15 minutes by bike. This is one of my favorite things; not for any environmental reason, I just like ridin' my bike!

-Public/Shared Transportation is Ubiquitous

I think this is actually commonly known that europeans utilize public transportation more than we do, but it's even more than most of us think. Even the small towns with 100-200k people have tram and intricate bus sytems. But I think the most interesting mode of "shared transportation" comes from a few websites like www.mitfahrgelegenheit.com ; Say you're planning on driving to Chicago from Cleveland, and you have 3 open spots in your car. Just put your 3 seats "up for sale," and people will call you to reserve a seat for a price (let's say 20 dollars). You may end up paying nothing for gasoline, and the other people get there cheaper than they could on their own, by plane, or  another mode of transportation. It really is a great, green way of travel which I've used several times with great success!

-Racial Diversity

Munich is supposed to be a very "international city," but I can say with extreme confidence that the amount of racial diversity is extremely low compared to the US. You won't find many people of Latin, African, or Asian decent. I'm not saying they aren't around, but not nearly as common as we have it in the US. This isn't implying that they are racist in some way, simply an observation.

-Where the sweat pants at?

Nowhere! NO ONE where's a pair of sweat pants outside of the house here. It's actually quite amazing. If I were going to Kroger's in the States, I would have no problem going in sweat pants and a hoody. This absolutely will not see that happen here. Everyone always looks at least somewhat put-together!


This is just a short list, but definitely some of the ones I've noticed the most. Let me know if there are any you've noticed whilst abroad!

Prague: CZECH ME OUT!

So a few weeks ago I took a trip to Prague, Czech Republic with my friend Morgen. Originally it was supposed to be 4 of us, but unfortunately our friend Josi and another girl had to cancel at the last minute. It was a weekend full of both frustration and fun.

Before I get into the details of Prague, I'm going to give some (hopefully) good advice on travel and lodging.

Travel

Most states ('state' = 'Bundesland') in Germany offer special types of single and group tickets to get around by train within that region. My Bundesland, Bayern (Bavaria), offers several: the Bayern Ticket (up to 5 people, anywhere in Bavaria + Salzburg, Austria, between 22 and 38 Euro depending on the number of people), and the Bayern-Böhmen Ticket (Bavaria-Bohemia), which includes a large area of the Czech Republic. This was only 29.50 for 2 people! While these tickets restrict you to local transportation and Regional trains, it is BY FAR the cheapest way to travel; less than 15 Euro each got us to Pilsen, Czech Republic, and from there it was about 6 Euro to Prague.

We basically did the same thing on the way back; We only spent ~40-45 Euro round trip on travel. That is amazing to me. These regional tickets are available all over Germany and are an excellent way to get around cheaply if you are in a group of people (we actually used one on our trip to Brussels too). If you're within Bavaria you can get to Salzburg, Austria in just a few hours, and with a few friends you could bring the cost down below 10 Euro; I plan to do this soon.

Prague

Day 1
After arriving in Prague, Morgen and I headed straight for our hotel, a 35 minute walk from the train station. It was terrible because my bag is the most uncomfortable thing to carry in the world. And wouldn't you know it, when we arrive I discover that the hotel doesn't have our reservation! Great!! Not only that, but they were not even willing to check a second name. I had booked through an affiliate of Kayak.com, I didn't even realize that Kayak would link to an untrustworthy site. I still have my suspicions about that place, something was fishy...

Anyway, we ended up having to take a tram all the way across to the other side of the city to find a room! But when we did, OH MAN. It was one of the nicest hotel rooms I'd ever been in, and was relatively cheap for the quality.

By the time we got settled into our room and had some dinner, it was time for the first event of the weekend: the Infamous Prague Pub Crawl! For 20 Euro, you get all of the following: 1 hour of UNLIMITED DRINKS at the Pub Crawl's own bar, including shots of Absinthe and some authentic Czech beer; entry to 4 different bars, with a free shot at the entrance to each one, culminating at the end of the night in Central Europe's largest club, Karlovy Lázně; and last but not least, a free T-shirt! I cannot stress enough how awesome the crawl is, especially for Americans. I say this because, as it turns out, all of the guides and organizers were American, and the majority of the 50-60 people who were on the crawl were American, Australian, English, or some other English-speaking nationality. We ended up hanging out with about 6 or 7 other Americans, 2 Swiss guys, and an Australian. 




Day 2
Needless to say, we were a bit..."under the weather" the day after the Pub Crawl. But that wasn't going to stop us! The first and most major objective of the day was a Free Walking Tour of Prague! We just met in old town square and looked for a guy with a yellow umbrella, and we were on our way! There are a lot of free tours, but we would really recommend this one; our tour guide Jirka (picture to the right) is a native Czech guy with a great sense of humor, and an even greater sense of history. The tour lasted a few hours and concluded right back where we started in the old town square. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the tour:

We learned a lot about Prague that day, but unfortunately I forgot most of it in typical fashion. I do remember one good story, however: There was a king living in Prague during the Middle Ages who had a very beautiful wife. One day, he began to become very suspicious that his wife had taken another lover. Knowing that the Queen was a very devout Catholic, the King knew that if she had been adultering, she surely would have told her priest during Confession. So, the King approached the priest and demanded he tell him who the Queen's lover was. The priest, an honorable man of God, refused to say whether she had another lover or not, as Confession was between her, him, and God. But the King did not relent...he tortured the priest for information, but the priest persisted, and would not give up any information. Eventually, fed up, the King ordered that the priest be thrown off of the bridge with stones tied around his ankles. Legend has it that Angels came down and swept the priest up before he hit the water, and carried him up to the sky, where he became a star, as a testament to his faithful service to his God and Queen. The priest is a bit of a historical hero to the people of Prague, and many depictions of the priest with stars around his head are around the city (shown on the right). Now, the best part of this legend, as told by our tour guide, is that historical evidence has shown that the Queen DID have a lover, and he was none other than............... you guessed it, THE PRIEST! Now we know why he was so willing to die to keep it a secret; he surely would have died had he told the truth anyway :)

Later in the day we went on our own to check out the Prague Castle. It is the largest castle grounds by square meter in all of Europe. The castle had many different types of architecture all together; Prague had been home to so many different kings, that each one felt the need to leave his mark on it. Unfortunately the inside of the castle was closed, but we were able to walk around the grounds and snap a few pictures, including a great panorama of the entire city from the high vantage point of the castle.

After the castle, we retired back to our hotel room and hit the hay. The next day we rode back to Munich in much the same was as we arrived, and bid farewell to Prague and the Czech Republic. It was quite a beautiful city and countryside, and I definitely plan on going back before my time in Europe is through.

Far Behind

I'm so far behind on these posts, I have been lazy about it! I will not be doing anything this weekend for the first time in a while, so I will catch up on all of my adventures. To come: Stuttgart, Prague, Brussels, and more Munich including a trip to Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp.  Also coming up will be the 2nd annual Texas Instruments Mini-European championship, a trip to Salzburg (hopefully), and at the end of the month, Paris! I also had the idea of including a post about the different foods I've had here that you just don't get back in the states. I'll think of more interesting things, and I will also try to be more current with my posts.

Bavaria: Deutschland's Texas

Bayern (or Bavaria) is one of 16 states in Germany, and formerly the Kingdom of Bavaria. I've been living here for a little over 2 months now, and after a while it started to bare a striking resemblance to another of my former dwelling places: Texas. The more I think about it, the more similarities I draw between these two countries within countries.

A History of Independence

Flag of the Republic of Texas

Having only lived in Texas for about 6 months last year, I wouldn't say I got the full impression of the state. However, I would say that I stayed long enough to learn one thing: Texans LOVE Texas. And I don't mean they love America (which most also do); they love the idea of Texas as its own separate entity. I actually shared a plane with a man from Dallas to Houston who legitimately was in favor of Texas seceding from the union (fun fact: he wore a cowboy hat, and traded natural gas in Western Texas-- yes, really).

See, Texas has at one point or another lived under 6 separate flags, including the Republic of Texas, an independent nation in the mid-19th century. Many Texans believe that as a part of their joining the US, they retained the right to secede. This isn't actually true, but even if it was, after Texas' secession and following military defeat (along with the rest of the South) in the Civil War, they would have lost this right. My point is this: Texas has a history of being on it's own, and it's people haven't lost that sense of independence. Texans will tell you: They are Texans first, and Americans second.

Flag of the Free State of Bavaria

Ask a Bavarian the same thing about their beloved land. I think the general feeling is similar to that in Texas: Bavarians first, Germans second. Before the formation of Germany as a unified state, Bavaria was a strong and proud Kingdom with it's own separate culture and history from what is now North and East Germany. Just as in Texas, this has fostered a feeling of independence even after becoming part of the larger whole of Germany. While I haven't heard any murmurs of secession,  Bavaria (or "The Free   State of Bavaria") already feels like it's own Kingdom already

Politics and Religion

Another somewhat defining characteristic of Texas is that it is (often jokingly) thought of as a Conservative, Christian state, the prototypical "Red State"; Texans have voted for a Republic presidential candidate 9 out of the last 10 elections, and only 2 Gubernatorial terms have been served by a Democrat since 1979.

Bavaria is also dominated by a single, right-leaning political party: the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU). Since the end of WWII in 1945, a CSU member has held the office of Minister-President (essentially Governor) for all but 4 years, and have been the incumbant party since 1957.

Bavaria is also an extremely religious state. There is actually a law that states no building in a city can be taller than it's Church (this may no longer be true, but as most of the architecture is old, the legacy is still there-- there are no skyscrapers in Bavaria). Freising, the city I live in, actually used to be an extremely important city to the Catholic church, and used to be the home of current Pope Benedict XVI. Texas also has a history of religious (mostly Christian) politicians including current Governor Rick Perry. It also is home to an extremely large Latino population which is historically a strongly Catholic demographic.

Wealth

Well known to most Germans is the fact that Bavaria is one of, if not the, richest area in Germany. Though wealth can't be attributed to just a few companies, the local headquarters of such giants as Siemens, BMW, and Audi certainly don't hur the economy of the state. Due to these domestic corporations, and due to the fact that the state suffered less infrastructural and economical damage in the aftermath of World War II than the North/East, Bavaria remains a very financially strong state. I've heard some people here say that builds a bit of resentment towards Bavaria from the rest of the country, but I can't say for sure.


It almost goes without saying what Texas is known for: Oil. But Big Oil is not the only thing Texas has: it is also a hotspot of technology, hosting the headquarters of AMD, Texas Instruments, and Freescale technologies just to name a few. Texas is an extremely wealthy state.

And a fun one...

Leather pants! Just as the stereotypical Texan Cowboy is depicted wearing leather chaps and boots as he rides through the desert on his mighty steed, so is the prototypical Bavarian depicted wearing Lederhosen, which translates directly to "Leather pants." While not every Texan owns leather chaps for horse riding, lederhosen are still very commonly owned and worn by Bavarians for special occasions like Oktoberfest!







Finally, I would just like to say that having lived in both of these places, they both have a similar "swag" about them; it's like that "Where I live is awesome, and I f**kin' know it" kind of thing. Bavaria has the same warm, welcoming feel as Texas while also sharing its pride. It's very cool to live in places like these, and I really feel like I've gotten to know the areas in each country with some of the most, how to say, personality.

Trip / First Day

Alright, I've been so busy getting settled in that I neglected to make another post. I wanted to talk about my flight over and my first day or two here in Deutschland.

Flight
My flight was in the late afternoon (~4 PM) on a Wednesday, and I had one connection in Chicago. I had never flown international before and I expected it to be a bit different, but honestly it wasn't. The only difference between flights I have had before was that the plane was HUGE. It was a Boeing 777 or something crazy like that. Each seat had a little TV screen in front of it that let us watch a bunch of stuff for free, which was awesome. The flight was about 9 hours so I had a lot of time to kill. I watched several episodes of Big Bang Theory, an episode of How I Met Your Mother, and the entire new Muppets movie, all for free! I was surprised we could do all of it for free. They also served us dinner (General Tso's Chicken) and breakfast (an apple strudel thing) complimentary. I suppose they kind of owe it to you considering the tickets all cost around $500 one way.

I also thought it was kind of awesome that they had both German and English speaking flight attendants. They would say everything once in English, and then this old German lady would get on and repeat it. I would try to listen to what she was saying, but damn they sure speak fast.

Once I landed in Munich, I had to go trade in my US Dollars for Euros! I brought a lot of money with me, and I advise anyone to do the same. My first day there I probably spent close to 200 euro on things I needed, and I feel as if that was low. Maybe you could wait and get money from the ATM, but I didn't want to run the risk of it only being in German. However, though I haven't tried it yet, I believe that if your bank debit card in the US uses Visa or MasterCard, it should work over here too. You'll just be charged some fee for the currency difference.


First Day
I arrived in Munich at about 9:15 AM. On my way out of the airport, I had to go through Customs. Now, I expected this to be some big deal where they ask you what you are doing there and then go through all of your stuff -- nope. It was a young Polizei officer who basically said "Why are you staying in Freising?"   "I am working there, I'm a student."    "Oh OK, here's your stamp, see ya!"  And that was it. Much better than I had anticipated. Next time I'll remember to smuggle in some illegal goods.

I took a taxi to my new home, and waiting for me was the guy who's room I am renting, Metan. Honestly I don't think I would've gotten through the first day without him. He took me to a second hand shop and we bought a bed, took me to the grocery store to get my initial supplies, took me to the electronics store to buy mein Handy, and even gave me his old table and chair so I would have somewhere to sit.

After meeting my new roommates, I was ready to go to bed. I went to sleep at what was 5 PM in Germany, which was 10 AM in the Ohio (Germany hadn't yet had Daylights Savings Time), so I had been up for about 26 hours. I think I slept for 14 hours...jet lag is a pain in the ass.



Well, that's it. I went to Munich that weekend and took a lot of pictures, so I will make another post about that in a few days, and then catch you up on my initial experiences at TI in another post.

Ciao!