Freiburg and Beyond: A Stag in Germany

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This trip began at 6:15 in the morning on Friday. I had had about 5 hours of sleep, a ham sandwich for breakfast, and was on a bus. Needless to say I was a tad grouchy, but really I was excited. Not every day does one get to go to Eastern/Central Europe. It was a long bus ride. I am completely unable to sleep in buses unless I am semi-comatose due to sickness, so it was about 2.5 hours in a bus just kinda chillin. Lots of fun. When we got to the airport in Stuttgart we had about 2 hours till our plane was about to take-off so we split up into groups and got lunch/breakfast. I had a nice sandwich, for 6 Euro. My group then sat around talking South Park and making jokes until about 30 minutes before boarding and we headed to the gate. In security my belt set off the alarm, so I was groped by the security guard (seriously this was way more invasive than anything I have gotten in the past) told to take off my shoes (at which point the wand was passed over my feet), and generally felt up all over. To top it off, once we got to the gate and were sitting there for a while it became apparent that our flight was not going to load on time. Turns out there were technical difficulties and we had to switch planes and wait another hour. You know I am a pretty cheerful guy, but my patience was dwindling steadily by this point. Finally we got on the plane, and flew to a small city about an hour from Krakow (apparently pronounced Krakov).

Poland looked exactly like I imagined when we landed. It was dreary, grey, and kinda looked like the Midwest as far as landscape goes. All the while to Krakow, Ewa, a polish girl in our program, was explaining to us some Polish language, customs, and legends. It is always fun to listen to a person from a particular culture explain it to you, because they take such joy in sharing it.

Krakow is a beautiful city, and I must say that Poland really agrees with me. They are really into meat, it is very traditional looking, and they all speak English. We spent 2 nights and days in Krakow and I really loved it. It is filled with a mix of Soviet buildings, and Slavic/Catholic architecture. I loved just about everything about it.

After Krakow we took a small detour and traveled to Auschwitz. Though I was fairly prepared for what it was going to be, I still was blown away. To be perfectly honest, the sensations of the place are indescribable in a blog such as this. Suffice it to say that I was very moved by the feeling of the place, and the examples of cruelty. It is very hard to walk around and simply see the size. The operation was so enormous. I really can’t find the words to do justice to the sensations that are arisen in that place.

The bus ride to Prague was long, very long. However when we arrived I found that Prague was almost as cool as Krakow. It was far more impressive, but a lot less approachable. The sheer size was overwhelming. The first night in Prague we went to a local restaurant, got some fantastic food and then went to TGIF to watch the Basketball game. It was a very interesting experience. The next day we had to sit through two different lectures. The main problem that I had with the lectures was that they were very similar to the ones in Poland. All of the Eastern European countries have very similar views on Foreign Policy, get close to the US, get more involved in the EU, and balance as much as possible against Russia. That day we went and walked around the Prague castle and just enjoyed the city. That night I joined a group of people and went to the famous 5 story club in Prague. It was pretty obnoxious, but still quite entertaining. I must say I led the dancing effort, doing everything from dancing on top of a wall to leaping into a pounding Techno pit and having a dance battle with some random Italian chick. Very fun. The next day we did a City Walk in a blizzard, which was rather miserable. Afterwards I had a delicious meal of Duck and dumplings, followed by strudel. Eastern Europe kicks some major butt with food. Lots of meat, potatoes, and sweet sauerkraut. I love it.

The next day we took an extremely long bus ride to Bratislava and then to Budapest. Bratislava is actually a pretty cool little city. It is very small, rather plain, but has its own charm. I very much enjoyed walking around and looking at everything. It was pretty cool also that I saw the Archbishop of Bratislava while I was there. Something that not everyone can say. Beyond that the Bratislava stop was kind of annoying. We just got two speeches and then pretty much left for Budapest.

Budapest is an absolutely amazing city with incredible architecture and a sense of grandeur that is extremely ironic when put in context of their current economic woes. Budapest is actually two separate cities that were combined into one in the 19^th century. Buda is hilly and contains the castle hill and other beautiful monuments, while Pest is almost perfectly flat. They are divided by the Danube river. It is really a beautiful city. The first night in Budapest I was exhausted so I basically watched TV and slept. The next day we went to a lecture at the Central European University, which was actually quite good. It got me thinking about the possibility of studying there especially since they give you a huge stipend when you are trying to get your masters or PhD. After that we went to the Parliament. The Parliament building was beyond cool. That building is one of the most amazing buildings that I have seen. The inside is coated in gold leaf, while the outside consists of spires which remind one of a palace or cathedral. The lecture did not match the brilliance of the building sadly, but it was informational. After that we walked around the city visiting the castle Buda, and Fisherman’s Bastion. Next we went on a night tour of the Danube, which was mostly fun because we were on a boat in Hungary at night. It was not a particularly good tour but it was fun nevertheless. The next day we went back to the University and then to the House of Terror, a museum on the horrors of the soviet regime. Though it was very good in its set up, it was really hard for me to connect to the display after witnessing Auschwitz. To be honest I really was not that affected by that museum. After that we went to this place called Wasabi which had all you can eat asian food. It was awesome. I came out stuffed. Unfortunately later we had our farewell dinner so I was unable to enjoy that as much as I could have. It was nowhere near the one in Paris, but still tasty. I just think that my expectations were too high.

The next day we said goodbye to Eastern Europe and began our trip home. Overall I really enjoyed this trip. It was informative, but not to the extreme, and I was able to fully experience all of these cities. Add that to the tastiness of the food and the likeability of the people, and this trip was easily my favorite one so far this semester. Plus I got to be in a country when the government fell, that was exciting.

To see pictures follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=100626&id=757669487&l=bc04dca6f1

Well it has been a long time since I have written anything on this blog, but I do have a good reason for this. I have been on a week long trip through Western Europe, visiting all the lovely institutions of the European Union. And trust me when I say, there are oh so many institutions. The only thing that Europeans love more than techno, their respective alcohols, and glow-sticks is institutions. Their governmental structure is hard enough with the Council, the Commission, the Parliament, the Council of Ministers, and the European Court of Justice, on top of every nation’s individual government structures. Yeah… it is alot. But then you add in NATO, SHAPE, the UN, and the European Security and Defense Policy structure, and just make it oh so great for everyone involved.

This trip was pretty awesome, since it was basically a massive European road trip. Only with limited excitement, repeated lectures, and an extremely cramped bus. But really, besides that it was awesome. We started out in Luxembourg, and began very strongly with a tour of the American Forces Cemetery in Luxembourg. It is a beautiful tribute to those who fought for freedom in World War II, and a touching memorial of the price that occasionally must be paid to maintain our way of life. This is the biggest cemetery of American forces on foreign ground, and truly a fantastic experience. After this we went to Luxembourg city, a tiny little city with way more money then it knows what to do with. Luxembourg is known mostly for its shady money deals, and very little else. Plus it houses the ECJ which we visited. I believe our stop in Luxembourg was a waste of time. I am glad I visited Luxembourg but besides that I could have cared less. After that we went to Brussels.

Brussels is an awesome city, with both a big and small city feel. There are some amazing architectural monuments there along with most of the institutions in the European Union. Thus, it is called the capital of Europe. While there I had some incredible meals, consisting of (not at the same time) oysters, mussels, escargot, rabbit, and, of course, waffles. Delicious. We visited every major EU institution there and received additional talks by a representative of the German Marshall Fund and the NATO speech writer. Very interesting, but extremely long. I also almost got into a fight with some drunk Belgians, I’m pretty sure we would have been fine, seeing as I was with an MMA fighter, but it broke up by police presence before anything really got started. It was a very cool experience, as those things often are.

After Brussels, we visited SHAPE outside of Brussels, which was extremely interesting especially since we received a speech from a representative of the ESDP that was very anti-US involvement. After that we moved on to the City of Love. That first night was spent wandering the Champs de Elysee, seeing the Arc de Triumph and going all the way to the top of the Eiffel tower. I had done everything before, except the latter, but not at night, and that made it a completely different experience. The next day we went to the French Foreign Ministry and the ISS (the think tank for security policy in Europe). Also interesting, but truth be told I was extremely happy to leave. We then had the whole rest of the time to ourselves. Which I filled with Notre Dame and the Louvre that night. And then the Mussee de les Invalides/Tomb of Napoleon, Rodin museum, Luxembourg Gardens, Parthenon, and Sacre Cour the next day. That day was really fun since I had not been to most of those places, and it was cool to see something new. At night, IES provided us all with a fancy meal with 3 courses and wine. I got Foie Gras, Duck, and Flaming Alaskan. All absolutely phenomenal. Makes me want to have lots of money so I can eat like that every day. Finally we made our 7 hour bus trip back to Freiburg, and I arrived exhausted, tired of people, and ready to sleep. Fortunately I had class the next day at 9 and an application due. Well, everything is done for now, and this week is going really fast.