Germany Trip Recap

I made it back home and am in the process of trying to get back in the swing of my "normal" life, doing laundry, checking bills, and all the other nuisances one can forget about during a vacation. I'm probably in denial of jet-lag (I always swear I am immune to it), so please forgive me if parts of this posting are a bit spacey. It looks as if my Microsoft contract will start this Wednesday, which gives me a couple of extra days to pull odds and ends together before getting into what by all accounts sounds like a fire-fighting mode. (I'm not saying that in a pejorative sense---instead, I'm actually looking forward to some excitement and a chance to swing for the fences.)

As for the Germany trip, here are a few summary thoughts----

Food and Drink:
I was surprised that the traditional German foods such as schnitzel and wurst were not more prominent, but then again it's probably true that visitors to the US wonder where all the hot dog, hamburger and apple pie stands are. The most popular items, the foods which really seemed to be everywhere in Germany, were the Döner (see photo) and curry-wurst, neither of which really excited me. Italian restaurants were very popular, and I have to admit they were very good, to the point I had to force myself to avoid them and to look for more typically German food. As I mentioned earlier, breads and baked goods are very big items, and even though I am not a dough-head in my real life, I tried enough to realize these offerings were excellent. And, alas, it turns out I am not a true fan of German beer, as it is too "hoppy" for my taste buds. Of all the German beers, my favorite was Kölsch, which is a very clear beer that should be enjoyed in small glasses (it has no carbonic acid and goes stale quickly, so two 20 cl glasses are preferable to one 40 cl glass).

ICE Trains:
The high-speed inter-city express (ICE) trains were truly spectacular---Not cheap by any means, but clean, fast, efficient, definitely the way to travel in Europe if you can. (Though the sleeper car experience on one of the older regional style trains is something you must try at least once before you die!) One weird thing about the ICE trains still escapes me: You are allowed to reserve seats on them if you like, and I did so on one of my trips, only to discover that I could not get to the wagon which contained my assigned seat. It turns out that quite often they will "join" two different trains by electrically and mechanically linking them together at the engine cars (see picture). I stress that these are two completely different trains which have been joined and travel as one, and I am not 100% sure why this is done, though I suspect it is one way to move trains around, repositioning them without having to pay an engineer to do so. I'll research this a bit to see if I can figure it out, but suffice it to say that if you get on the wrong train, you will not be able to cross from one to the other in transit. (Oh sure, you could try that James Bond thing, but I would rather save that for the sleeper car...)

Language:
One of the highlights of this trip was to try my high school German, which is many more years ago than I care to admit. I was surprised to see how much of it came back so quickly, and in fact at the end of the trip some of the hotel clerks were more than willing to hold the conversation with me in German rather than switching to English as I had lamented in one of my previous posts. I also followed the Olympics and the Georgian controversy in German. While this was slow, my understanding seems to have been pretty accurate now that I compare what I thought I had read and heard in German with what I am now reading and hearing in English. (I would have been really bummed had the Georgian confict actually turned out to have been wildfires in Atlanta!) For that matter, I actually found myself dreaming in German words last night...I'm not sure it was anything meaningful, but there were a lot of "wollens" and "sollens" in my dreams.

I'm in the mood right now to get my hands on some German CD's, DVD's, newspapers, and podcasts to see how far I can go with this. I would love to return to Germany again, only this time be able to use the language exclusively from day one rather than a mixture of German and English.

The Four Cities:
Quite by accident, I seemed to pick an almost perfect set of cities to visit. Recall that initially, when I thought I only had a week, I was planning to spend my entire time in just Munich, but when the trip slipped from one to two weeks, I was able to see Munich, Hamburg, Berlin and Köln---the four biggest cities in Germany. In addition to being the largest, these four cities also really represent the four sides of the country, with Munich in the south (Bavaria), Hamburg in the north, Berlin in the east, and Köln in the west. Munich, as I have mentioned before, was very nice, albeit almost like a bedroom community. There was nothing to dislike, but rather it was just a bit too quiet for my liking, without the hustle and bustle that I enjoy in a large town. Hamburg was interesting: Very beautiful, very cosmopolitan, and I would love to see it again, although the seedy imagery of the Reeperbahn still lingers in my mind as something I am not in a hurry to revisit. Berlin was interesting, though I spent way too short a time there to be able to assess it properly; suffice it to say that it was far less crowded than I expected it to be, and the Berlin Wall was an emotional highlight I will remember for the rest of my life. Without a doubt, Köln was my favorite part of the trip, with the town perfect in all regards: It had the hustle I like without being too crowded, people seemed a bit more friendly than elsewhere in Germany, the boat trips down the Rhine were every bit as fantastic as were my previous trips on the Thames, and what can I possibly say to describe the Dom Cathedral!! In short, all four cities were incredible, and I am already planning my next trip back.

Miscellaneous:
So here is one thing you will most likely never read in the travel guides, but as I mentioned previously I really missed ice and ice cold drinks! It seems that ice just is not that "hot" an item in Europe, because everyplace I went the story seemed to be the same: If you ask for a lot of ice, you are lucky if you even get a cube or two. One of the first things I did back home this morning was to head off to the local Denny's, and I took a great deal of pleasure and enjoyment from that glass of water, filled with ice; somehow, it felt incredibly comforting and satisfying. Still, warm drinks are a very small price to pay for all of the beauty of Germany.

The hefty price, of course, is the financial one. I don't even want to think about how much I spent on this two week trip, and unfortunately I don't see that gap closing any too soon, even though in theory the dollar is gaining strength against foreign currencies. The euro and dollar should, in theory be at parity (one to one exchange rate) since that was the initial pricing point just a few years ago when the euro was introduced. For most of this trip, however, the rate was about 1.6 to one. Very few good buys could be found, and even the "eating like a local" sandwich and soda will run about $10. That, unfortunately, is very painful if for no other reason than that it makes trips back to Europe far less frequent. So, with that, it's time to start pinching pennies again as I dream of that next trip back....

Back in Munich

It's mid-afternoon on Friday the 15th of August, and I have just arrived back in Munich after a ride on the ICE from Köln. As it turns out, this is actually a German holiday, but nobody could tell me what holiday it is. (Turns out it is Assumption Day for Maria Himmelfahrt, and it really, truly is only celebrated in Bavaria.) Anyway, I am staying in the InterCity Hotel right off the hauptbahnhof...it's not a bad hotel, and it really is literally just outside the train station, so it will make getting to the airport an easy thing tomorrow morning. The flight leaves at about 9:30 AM, so I can't make this too late a night.

There were a few more Köln thoughts I failed to post before leaving the town, so let me make sure to do that before I forget.

For a really great, authentic, locals-type of Biergarten, try Weinhaus Vogel Eigelstein 74 50668 Köln. This is not for the tourists, but they were friendly, and the food was cheap. The beer garden is small but wonderful, and I had a grilled platter (chicken, beef, etc.) which was out of this world. Make sure to wash it all down with the regional beer, Kölsch.

Another locals spot that I really enjoyed was an Italian bistro, Cappu Vino, at Obenmerspforten 14 50667 Köln. There are probably numerous places such as this throughout the city, but something about the service, location, and bright, cheery atmosphere made this one stand out. Just be aware, however that in either of these two spots smokers are welcome. While they did not reek of cigarettes, if you are the type who is absolutely down on smoking and you can't stand being around it, then look elsewhere---but, you will miss out on some real local charm.



As with all vacations, you really dread the end, but as expensive as this one has been, and as many pounds as it has added to my body, it definitely is time to be drawing the trip to a close and heading back home. I'll have one more night in Bavaria, and I think there is a football game on, so I'm going to venture out to try to find it.

Quick Köln Update

It's Thursday, my last full day in Köln before catching a train back to Munich tomorrow and the flight back to Seattle on Saturday. I'm amazed at how comfortable this city feels to me, how I can spend hours walking around it, feeling very much at ease, very much like a local.



I spent yesterday walking around the shopping district (the locals shopping area, not really one for tourists), then spent about three hours on boat cruises down the Rhine. I'm certain this is my favorite German city, it's an absolutely amazing place! It's funny that I only decided to come here as a flip of the coin thing while in the Berlin train station!

Keyboards over here are a bit odd, with things such as the z and y keys exchanged. Even typing a short note takes about twice as long as normal, and you get to use the backspace key a lot. More later, as I want to get out and enjoy this final full day.

Köln Rocks!

Since I am tired I'll keep this posting short and will elaborate more tomorrow, but for now I'll simply say that Köln (aka Cologne, Koeln) really rocks, far beyond what I had imagined! This is turning out to be my favorite part of the trip, with a town that has just the right amount of everything: Historical yet modern and clean, cosmopolitan, moderately priced (at least by German standards) and perhaps even a bit friendlier than other German towns.

I took the overnight train trip from Berlin, getting on the sleeper about 12:30 AM and finding my way to the little compartment. It was just as described in Cats: Little basin to wash your face in, conductor coming along wanting to know if you would have coffee or tea with breakfast, and a crank to shut the window should you sneeze. It was a short trip, but I slept very well, with the gentle rocking and quiet whirring in the background very therapeutic. We arrived in Köln about 6:30 AM, and I was without any hotel reservations, plus it was raining. I was fortunate in that I walked to the nearest hotel which not only had a room available for the evening, but they even let me have it early at no additional charge. So, I was able to have a quick bite to eat then get a bit more sleep before venturing out on the town.

I took another one of the proverbial siteseeing buses, but this one was really great. It was an hour and a half which showed the diversity of the town, starting with the explanation that it is one of the older cities in Europe, a Roman city state complete with city walls (a small bit of which still remains). Most of the town was bombed into rubble during World War II, so even though it is an "old" city much of it has been recently rebuilt. It truly does seem to have the perfect mix: Munich was great, but a little too quiet and predictable, almost like a bedroom town. Hamburg was interesting if you could overlook the decadence of the Reeperbahn, but it was also a very "rich" town, something that is always a turn off for me. Berlin would have been interesting, but I spent very little time there since the wall was the only thing that interested me. Köln, however, seems to have the perfect mix: Fourth largest town in Germany, old sections, new sections, crowded enough to have energy yet easy to walk through. I can't adequately explain it yet, but in terms of favorite cities in the world, this might be my #2, just behind London. I booked the hotel through Friday morning, and I'll see how I feel then.

I found another resort sauna/spa, Claudius Therme, and it is basically the same as Therme Erding but at about 10% of the size and grandeur. It has the same type of layout (clothed saunas and swimming areas combined with a larger "textile-free" sauna and pool area). I won't go into much detail as it really is much as I described Therme Erding earlier, only this spa was (1) smaller and (2) easier to get to since it is in the middle of town rather than an hour out. Germany really does these saunas/spas right!

The one thing Claudius Therme has which Therme Erding did not is an aerial tramway running right overhead. Where else but Germany could you get away with running an aerail tram over what most Americans would label a nudist colony!!


It's very hard to explain the awe and wonder when you walk out of the hauptbanhaus only to look up and see something as magnificent and massive as the Dom Cathedral. I took a quick pass through it this evening and will look at it more tomorrow, but I'll simply say I am amazed that this town could have been as decimated as it was yet something this magnificent was spared. The Allies really, truly, did civilization and humanity a favor by leaving this beauty standing.

Continuing with the Cathedral Dom, I just went out and looked at it at night, and it is both the most beautiful and the most eerie site imaginable. It is so huge that even when you are quite a ways from it, it is overpowering, and the lights give it a glow which make it look quite literally like something out of this world, a veritable UFO. As much as I love London and all it has to offer, St Paul's Cathedral is nothing in terms of awe, beauty, and mystique when compared to Köln's Dom Cathedral.





I also need to talk about the Central Hotel am Dom a bit, and pay attention to the details here as you will not find this one on Travelocity's "Good Buy" list, in large part because this treasure is too good for the travel sites. First off, if you clicked on the URL for the hotel, it is misleading, as many of the pictures are of places in the local area and not of the hotel per se, yet I would argue that is not really a problem. Yes, the pics are of local businesses, but they truly are right in the neighborhood, albeit not under the hotel roof. If you want four or five star, this is not the place for you, but if you want location, clean, friendly, and (I'll say again) location, this is a six star. The room only costs me 59 euro a night (about $100),which is very good by German standards. It is literally about a three minute walk from the Köln Hbf, and there are plenty of bars, restaurants, and take-away places (yes, including a McDonalds and Starbucks) in the immediate area. You don't need to hop on a subway if you get the late night munchies or if you want to go for a walk. The rooms do have in-room baths, something a lot of hotels in this price range do not offer. The floors have just been redone, the staff is friendly, and I am pretty sure the breakfast is indeed included in the room rate...I'll follow-up on that in a day or so. In any case, here are the details:

• Central Hotel am Dom
• An den Dominikanern 3D - 50668 Köln
• ++49(0)221 13 50 88
• info@centralamdom.de

One advantage of staying at this hotel, or any hotel in the neighborhood, is that given the proximity to the Cathedral Dom and the Dom's height above anything else, you really cannot get too lost. If you don't know where the hotel is, you simply look for the spires, and you know your way home.

And, one other old standby, Starbucks, was on today's playlist. I had to try a drip coffee, and it really is more of less the same as you get in the US: Weaker than the typical German coffee. The coffee wasn't much to brag about, but how many coffee shops can boast a front patio setting like this one. (Look closely at the upper left hand edge of the picture, and yes, you will see the Starbucks sign.)

The Wall

I awoke Monday morning and left Hamburg not knowing what the day would hold for me other than that I would be taking a train to Berlin. I had a slight miscue with the journey, in that the train was late arriving in Hamburg, and with that being such an unusual event I actually left the platform before it arrived, thinking I had somehow missed it. In any case, I was rescheduled on the ICE (high-speed) train and arrived in Berlin shortly after noon.

I only had one site in Berlin that I really wanted to see: The remains of the Berlin Wall. I was able to locate it without any real trouble, and I have to admit it was a much more emotional experience than I anticipated. To see something which scarcely 20 years ago physically divided loved ones, a divide which resulted in deaths of the innocents, is amazing. The wall is now completely gone, save for a rather short segment a few hundred feet long which was left up as a monument. The original path of the wall is traced out by a row of bricks embedded in the roadway, and about a quarter of a mile away from the reminaining wall "Checkpoint Charlie" has been rebuilt, with more commercialism than I care to acknowledge. The guard shack has been rebuilt, but the "You are leaving the American sector" sign is apparently the original one. Fake soldiers stand holding flags at the checkpoint while expecting to get a euro for their picture, and another soldier on the side will stamp your passport for a couple of euros.

I was in the US Air Force at the tail end of the Cold War, so I do in some small part feel that I was some small player in the final outcome. I'm by no means delusional, I fully well accept and understand that the wall would have come down and the Soviet Union would have crumbled without me, yet I do take a pride in knowing that I was able to lend a hand to the effort. As for my duties, I was an airborne cryptologic linguist, flying in RC-135's and EC-130's. Much of what I did was (and presumably still is) classified, so suffice it to say that I was trained in Russian at the Defense Language Institute before going on to fly "missions." The official, unclassified job statement was:

"We record, transcribe, translate, analyze and report upon assigned communication frequencies. These duties may be [were] performed while airborne"

It was, without a doubt, the proudest thing I have done in my life. Though I never intended to make the military a career, it is incredible to think that I was able to spend four years of my life doing something which really had such an impact on the world. At times it really did feel like something out of a Tom Clancy book.

I mentioned a story awhile back about a young couple who died while attempting to flee from East Berlin to the West, but I could neither remember nor locate any further details. Much to my surprise, the escape appears to have been mentioned at the site with these words:

• 10 Feb. 1974 US Soldiers fail in their efforts to help two people (24 and 32 years old) who are trying to flee at 9.30 p.m.

I'm going to do some homework and see if this is the same couple I was thinking of...It sounds like them, thought I haven't been able to confirm that yet.

Candidly, with all of this emotion, the young lover story, the cold war, the personal memories brought back to me, I admit that my eyes welled up with tears.

After seeing the wall, I went back to the train station, and on a lark I bought an overnight ticket for Köln (Cologne). It's strange, but for some reason I didn't want to do the "normal" thing of finding a hotel and overnighting in Berlin, but instead the idea of drawing this into a long day and then sleeping on the train overnight sounded exciting. This is going to be unique, in that I have never tried a sleeper before...it sounds very James Bondish. So, it's about 6:00 PM and I have a little over six hours to kill before the train leaves Berlin, with an arrival at about 6:30 in the morning in Köln. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep and feel relaxed when I get off.

I'm starting to have serious fun with this language thing. It really does seem to be coming back, the reading ability is improving daily, my ear is getting better, and my confidence is ever increasing. It's funny, I'm not treating the language as accurately as I would if I were taking a class, but this stumbling around and learning in real time does seem to be working. I've had a few simple conversations now which I think might have even snowed the other party into thinking I live here (again, maybe not a native, but they aren't viewing me as a foreigner 100% of the time). When they do ask me where I am from, the usually expected answer is England, followed by Australia (Aussie land being due to the Akubra hat I wear...I very seldom wear a hat, but this is very water repellent and much preferable to an umbrella.)

I've lamented before that Germans in general seem a bit abrupt, but that is definitely not universal. I had two different men today go out of their way showing me about the Berlin Hbf (which, though new, needs more signage!) One of them, a man well into his 60's, went so far as to walk me from the "wrong" platform to the right one. And no, he did not have his hand out looking for a tip, but rather it was purely a warm and helpful gesture. I think he realized I was an American, as he tried to explain something to me about the train station being the only good thing Hitler did before the Olympics, or something of that nature. Though I couldn't tell what exactly he was saying, it was obvious he had a warm feeling for Americans. In addition to these two gents, the ticket agent who issued me the replacement ticket was the epitome of excellent customer service, friendly to the point of even complementing my attempt at German. And the McCafe guy would make Ronald proud. So yes, I still think it is valid to say that Germans are, in general, very abrupt, but you can nonetheless find many exceptions on a daily basis.
A couple of other miscellaneous thoughts on Berlin: Unlike virtually any other Hbf (Hauptbahnhof or main station), this building is very new, sleek, and architecturally modern. Most of the large stations, whether it be Hamburg, Munich, or even London for that matter, have the old semi-conical roof with a sunken departure area. This one is really beautiful by comparison.

In the train station I also found an "Upper Crust," which is one of my favorite London sandwich stations; it's been a long time since I've had one of their ham and cheese subs, and it is as good as I remember: Simple but mouthwatering.




I finally had to cave in and try McCafe, and in all honesty the frappacino counterpart they had was better than any I have ever had in ths US, in that they actually ground up the ice so that the drink was immediately sippable through a straw. Normally I have to wait ten or more minutes for it to melt before I can suck anything through.

The Pissoir

I'm going to tattle on myself. I saved a buck today, but I almost wish I had not survived the episode. I normally don't buy into the politically correct notion that "men have all the advantages in this world." I truly think this matter is mixed. Women have the upper-hand with sex, men have the upper-hand with earning power, though men tend to die at a far disproportionate rate in wars and the like. Overall, I'm going to say it's probably equity, parity, though there is one case in which my gender has the clear advantage: The need to, well, wee.

Let's face it, elimination is a basic human need, and for anatomical reasons I will not review here, the need to "wee" is more easily accomplished for men than for women. For that reason (as well as the opined notion that men drink more beer than do women!), society has made it significantly easier for men to, well, do so than for women. London, Amsterdam, Hamburg, and probably other cities all share this one trait: We give men a quick way to relieve urinary pressure, while women are forced to use more traditional (and time-consuming) methods. In London, on the West End nonetheless, one can often find temporary male urinals set up along major footpaths such as the Strand. Yes, you as a man are on your way to see the latest and greatest play, and when nature calls you can simply turn your back and take care of the matter in a state-provided urinal to go. In Amsterdam, as disgusting as this sounds, conical shells allow men to urinate directly into the Amsterdam canal below. (Don't complain to me! I think it's gross as well, though for the government of Amsterdam, a metal shell along with a hole drilled in the concrete above the canal seems to this day to be a legitimate "way to go.") In Hamburg today, rather than pay the $1 cost to relieve my bladder, I instead chose to find a free, public pissoir.

Well, today, the women of the world got their revenge on me. This pissoir, undrained, was without a doubt one of the most disgusting things I have ever experienced in my life. The stench, literally, made me gag, and even as I think of it now, nearly twelve hours later, I feel as if I must vomit.

Next time, this American will pay the buck if necessary....

Reeperbahn Part 2 and Miscellaneous Thoughts

It's Sunday evening, 10 August, and I quickly stopped by the Reeperbahn today to see how the activity compared to last night. As you might expect, it was significantly less, both in terms of the number of prostitutes, potential "Johns," and party-goers in general. I literally would say it is about 10% of what it was last night. So, if you ever want to visit the place and experience it in all of its "glory," I would advise a Saturday, or probably a Friday night, preferably in the warmer months. Also, the Grosse Freiheit, which is the sex shows area, was essentially deserted tonight, far less than the 10% for the neighborhood in general.

I'm surprised at my attitude towards the Reeperbahn and its associated activities. I'm virtually always a libertarian in my thought process, but I have to say that the debauchery was so severe last night that I can only defend it in principle, not in my heart. It's probably something like what an ACLU lawyer must feel when defending a person accused of a hate crime: You defend the principle, not the person per se.

It also seems that Europe has its own version of Sunday Night football, in this case what we as Americans call soccer. Munich is playing Erfurt, a town which appears to be more or less midway on a line between Munich and Hamburg. The men in town are definitely glued to the television sets. Unfortunately, soccer and basketball are very much alike to me, in that I can never really tell what the strategy is. With American football or even baseball, I see the thought process and strategy in each and every move, but with soccer, it seems the strategy is just "kick the ball through the goal," while with basketball the strategy is "throw the ball through the hoop." I prefer a game in which I can understand the subtleties and the strategy versus those which seem to focus on nothing more than serendipity.

On the food front, I tried a new dish tonight, something I still do not know if I enjoyed or not: The Döner, a type of shaved meat (I think lamb in this case) which is roasted all day long on a vertical spit then shaved off as ordered and served with a cole slaw-like sauce in a pita pocket bread. It wasn't bad, but the meat felt tough, almost leathery, so it's not high on the reorder list for me.

I also tried another raging item, the Curry-wurst sausage. Nothing truly exciting about it, other than that personally I prefer the more traditional wurst taste over the "throw some spice on top" taste of the curry-wurst.

I did find a very nice Italian restaurant, and I had a fantastic chat with the male proprietor (while his wife worked her butt off!). I wish I had remembered the name, I'm almost tempted to walk back down the street just to get it. Great food, incredibly cheap prices, nice owners. Even if I never remember the name, I will remember the ambience and the people. It's a bit odd and coincidental, but one of my favorite restaurants in London is also a "Little Italy" type of place. These places just know how to bring on the warmth and ambience, in addition to great food at great prices. It wasn't really terribly German, but heartwarming nonetheless.

I did do the Hamburg hop-on/hop-off bus today, and I am glad I did try it. Normally I feel things such as this are too touristy for me, but in this case, with only a day left in Hamburg, it was a great way to see the city quickly. Actually, Hamburg is far more beautiful and cosmopolitan than I thought or than I remembered from my trip here 15 years ago. I think that staying in a hotel in the Reeperbahn district jaded my perception a bit, as the bulk of the town is very beautiful, with a true class to it. Hindsight is always perfect, but I now wish I had cut my time in Munich by a day or so and instead spent more time in Hamburg. In any case, tomorrow morning it is on to Berlin, then who knows what until I need to be back in Munich for my return flight home on Saturday morning.

I might possibly be getting whiny here, but this ice thing is becoming annoying: It is virtually impossible to get more than a few cubes, certainly nowhere near the copious amounts of frozen comfort I can pull from my freezer's icemaker. I don't mind buying a bottle of vodka (or Wodka) from a local store and drinking it on the rocks, but without the rocks it is pretty nasty. I guess in this case I do, indeed, have to say the score is Europe---0, Motel 6---1.

Other tidbits: The song 99 Red Balloons ("99 Luftballons") by Nena back in the 1980's is still a pretty big hit over here. Interesting song, though since I am tyring to focus on my balance in US vs. European propreity, I should point out that we are in the 21st century. Move on folks.

Drinks in Europe, whether alcoholic or otherwise, are actually sold by indicated numerical volume, and glasses in bars have a mark on them indicating the minimum dispensable level. This is great, much more objective than the vague US strategy of selling drinks with arbitrary names, e.g., never a small, but only mediums, megas, and mammoths. Accuracy never hurts.

I knew there was something odd about the hotel I am staying in (Zleep or Zzzleep, depending on how they choose to market it): There are no phones in the rooms! I went to place a wakeup call, and much to my surprise, you can't do that! Actually, as odd as it may seem, this is probably a good omen, the wave of the future, as nobody in his right mind would really be using a hotel phone in this day, but nonetheless it is a bit disquieting, somewhat like buying that first PC without a floppy disk. It went just fine, even though you had your doubts.

Next Steps in Germany

It's Sunday evening, 10 August, and I am still in Hamburg having arrived just yesterday. I will be flying out of Munich on my way back home to Seattle on Saturday 16 August, and as such I have a few days to drift through Germany. Rather than tie myself to a rigid schedule, I've decided to float for the time, with a short three hour train ride to Berlin tomorrow mid-day. I don't have a hotel selected yet, and I am not sure how long I will remain there. I may stay a day or two, yet if I really don't like it I could (in theory) catch a sleeper train out of Berlin tomorrow for some as of yet undecided next stop. I'm excited at the prospect of just playing this by the ear, knowing that my only really firm requirement is to be somewhere in the vicinity of the Munich airport come Friday night.

Having been here exactly one week now, I have to say I am surprised at how my comprehension and speaking have improved. Part of it is mechanical, just remembering and/or learning more and more words, but the bigger part is more psychological, knowing how to carry on a conversation with another when you cannot converse fluently. It's fun and exciting! I believe in my heart a great deal of my love of Europe is simply that everything, even the simplest of daily routines, feels new and unpredictable. It's like being a grown-up child, needing to learn how to do and ask for the most basic needs of life.

Calibration Check and the Reeperbahn

I'm about halfway through the vacation, and in reading what I have posted thus far, I probably sound as if I am bashing anything US-based and praising anything Euro-related. I admit that is definitely the tone, and I am somewhat remiss for this. Europeans have many ideas and concepts which resonate with me, concepts which I feel we in the US could learn and adopt, yet at the same time they certainly have their own foibles as well, and I am seeing those here in Germany. I've spent a great deal of time lauding the European openness and freedom, but I need to hit on more of a balance.

Last night (a Saturday night nonetheless), I strolled around the Reeperbahn from early evening until about 2:00 AM, and what I saw was really shocking. For those of you who are unaware, the Reeperbahn is an infamous redlight district in Hamburg, with prostitutes seated in display windows as well as standing on the street over a multi-block area. In addition to the prevalence of prostitution, the clubs were packed, music was blaring all about, and even when I left at 2:00 AM it was almost impossible to move through all the people. It had a strong feeling of decadence, somewhere between a New Year's Eve party and outright debauchery. I had very mixed feelings about this, and I can easily view it from either perspective.

From the notion of freedom, I certainly support the idea that consenting adults should be allowed to do what they like as long as they do not inflict themselves on unwilling bystanders. To that end, the Reeperbahn is in a very discrete, well-defined part of town, so those who go there do so knowingly. Prostitution is not spread about the town, and the atmosphere is one of raucus behavior, partying, drinking, and promiscuity for those so inclined. If you don't like it, the area is very well-known and easy to avoid, so steer clear of it. Looking at it that way, I see it as a chosen way of life.

When I awoke this morning and walked back through the area at about 9:00 AM, cleaning crews were busy sweeping the litter and broken bottles. Many of the bars were still open, a couple of prostitutes were still in the windows, and a few stragglers were walking along with a bottle of beer in hand. This was the most depressing part of it, the image of lost souls who are unable to find any comfort or solace in the debauchery, still clinging into the early dawn hours to the pain-killing numbness of the night just ended.

My own bias and prejudice will show here, but the way the Reeperbahn is set up seems very depressing, especially for those trapped in it. Certainly, for the person who comes once in a blue moon to look, to gawk, it is not a trap, but for those who live this as a way of life, for those still wandering the street the next morning unsatisfied, it is a very tawdry event.

Comparing this to Therme Erding, I feel the Europeans have it right with the sauna oasis, but I have to admit a certain level of disgust with the Reeperbahn, in spite of my libertarian beliefs. Therme Erding was natural, comfortable, and I'd even go so far as to say respectful of the human body. The Reeperbahn is purely exploitation: Prostitutes exploiting men who have no sexual outlet, and men (essentially pimps) exploiting the prostitutes. It was kind of a dregs of the dregs of society.

I'll be consistent and continue to stress the idea that freedom of choice is paramount, so as such I would support the Reeperbahn in principle, though I have to say in my heart it feels like a soulless exploitation of one person against another. Prostitution, which I firmly feel should be legalized, can be handled with more dignity than what I saw last night in Hamburg.

So no, I don't think Europe always gets it right, though I will support their right to get it wrong.

Freedom of Thought

I was somewhat surprised recently when sitting in the Sammamish Library to see a young teacher, tutoring children in math, who pulled out a textbook entitled "Math Doesn't Suck." I guess if we can use that type of verbiage with our youngsters, then I'm not too out of line as a middle-aged man who claims, bluntly, that 2008 has sucked. I'll spare you the details (at least for now), other than to say that the positive outlook I felt on 31 December 2007 was trashed eleven days later, only to continue to be trashed on different occasions since then. I am hoping that in some small way this European trip may be an inflection point and alter that trajectory. If not, I'm in for the suck of my life.

As I've alluded to before, key to the "suckiness" of this year has been the violation of my trust and even my freedom of thought. These rights have always been fundamental axioms of my life, inalienable rights in practice not just in words. In the last few months, and on this trip in particular, I'm gaining an even deeper respect and understanding for them simply beyond the words and their common connotations.

Freedom of thought is a concept that we as Americans don't understand. We feel it is our right and our duty to "read into" what a person says and believes. We as Americans lack the ability to trust, to believe that other humans are innately benign if not beneficial. Our belief is that we must control others at all times lest we lose control. The ability to read another's mind and react to his unexpressd thoughts is a gift God gave to Americans. Apparently, Europeans lack this gift.

In Europe, freedom of thought is prime. Individuals are judged not by the implication that might, possibly, perhaps, maybe be behind a thought or an utterance, but rather people are judged---and held accountable---by their actions, by what they do, by how they impact others. Break a law and yes, you will be punished, with "spot fouls" on many infractions such as travelling on public transit without a ticket.

For freedom of thought to have meaning, it must be combined with trust and respect for others. Thoughts must be respected and afforded the highest level of trust possible. If actions go beyond what is socially acceptable, then punishment may be in order, but never, ever, should perceived thoughts be punished. Sorry folks, but even in the USA you just ain't mindreaders, and you don't have the right to judge what you perceive another to be thinking.

Germany Odds and ends

There's no unifying theme to this entry, but rather a few short, random thoughts I have had along the way and wanted to jot down before the braincells fall prey to another German beer (which, BTW, I'm still not incredibly fond of!).

First off, along the thoughts of drinking and the like, ice is incredibly hard to find. Ironically, as a child, even when my family stayed in the cheapest motels imaginable in the US, there was always at least one huge ice machine parked near the hotel lobby, an indisputable right of any American traveller. Larger or swankier hotels boasted multiple ice machines, and every room offered an ice bucket, if nothing more than a styrofoam bucket. In Europe, however, on this trip as well as others, I've noticed that ice machines are almost non-existent, and in the few places which actually _do_ have one, they are wimpy, underpowered, usually always broken or completely out of ice. At long last, there is one trump card for US culture. We may be monolingual, we may be embarrassed by nudity, we may not be able to handle things such as prostitution and public drinking, but we do have our ice machines.

I'm spending a small fortune on water on this trip. I don't yet seem to have figured out how to order tap water (maybe it is not offered?), so every time I need a drink it's three euros or nearly $5. I mean it quite literally when I say that I am spending more on water than I am on alcohol on this trip. No ice, no water....hmmm, something is odd here.

Be aware that many places do not take any credit cards, so check ahead of time, especially in restaurants. This is especially important since most US banks have relatively safe (i.e., low) daily withdrawal limits. Combine that with the weak dollar exchange rate, plus the fact that many banks cutoff card access as soon as they see anything out of the ordinary (such as overseas charges!) and you could quickly find yourself in a cash crisis, unable to get cash out of an ATM and unable to use credit cards to cover your daily expenses.

One personal disappointment for me is that in this land of incredible baked goods, I am definitely _not_ a dough-head. Even before the carb-bashing days, I never really cared for breads, pastries, or anything of that nature. Give me meat and I'm happy, donuts on occasion are a rare treat, but that carbohydrate, fruit, and vegetable stuff---no thanks. That really is a bummer, because I freely admit the food in the bakeries looks so appealing.

As much as I malign McDonalds, there are times on trips such as this that a familiar (and cheap) face is welcome, so I have snagged a breakfast and a dinner in Ronald's foreign palace. Granted, I detest the idea of travelling 6000 miles only to eat from an American franchise in a foreign land, but there is something to be said for trying the quintessential standard of fast food in order to compare it to back home. As I mentioned earlier, the MacRoyal (which bombed in the US) is very prevalent here in Germany, just as it was in France when I was last there several years ago. What a novel idea: Sell a hamburger with cheese, lettuce and tomato on it!!! I still don't understand why this product failed in America, since of all the Mac food options, this is one of my favorites. I guess that even here, I truly am more of a European than an American.

I'm amazed at how few FM radio stations there seem to be, and how short their range is. (When I do find one which comes in strongly, it fades in just a few miles.) In listening to German FM radio, 70's rock music still appears to be very big over here, with many memories from my childhood flashing back as I listen to songs which haven't been played in the US for 30 years. It's not that Germans are obsessed with it, but rather these "golden oldies" seem to fit regularly in the radio station playlists. I wonder if perhaps this is not one more reason that Germans (and other Europeans) continually seem to be able to hold their own when conversing in English: Perhaps something as subtle as regularly hearing American words in American music adds to the learning and the retention. BTW, FM 101.3 of Munich is excellent, I'm hoping to find it streaming so that I can listen to it back home.

I've said a few times that the Germans seem a bit abrupt, and I am beginning to understand it. First of all, it truly is not with me as an American; quite the contrary, they seem to treat me no different than they treat each other. Not rude, not abrasive, but they are efficient which often does indeed come across as abrupt. Yesterday morning, I saw a young man scramble down the subway stairs in an effort to catch a train; he arrived at the lead car just as the doors were closing. Although the train operator was looking out the window, directly into the would-be passenger's eyes only ten feet away, he would not override the doors and allow him to embark. It just seems to be a way of life, an expectation, in this country: People are proud, restrained, disciplined. Along with that comes self-determination. Yes, you want to drink a beer in public, you may do so and as long as you do not harm others, so be it. If you screw it up, you pay the consequences. Similarly, you know (or should know) when the subway will leave the station; if you choose to be late, don't expect sympathy. Certainly there are exceptions to this, and more than one Municher has gone out of his or her way to assist me, when I appeared to be a confused traveller, but in general this place is very Darwinian: We'll do you no harm and wish you no ill will, but survival is up to you.

Hamburg Initial Impressions

These blogs may be a bit out of order since I don't have continuous net access and as such am doing them offline, so bear with me if things are a bit disjointed.

I've just arrived in Hamburg, and this is the night and day, yin and yang, diametric of Munich. Munich was clean, orderly, regulated, with more or less of a bedroom community feel to it. Even the most crowded places, such as the Munich Hbf (the downtown train station) was well-mannered.

Hamburg, on the other extreme, is noisier, dirtier, and in the area near the Reeperbahn definitely sleazy. I've already seen three panhandlers, more than I saw in nearly the entire week I was in Munich. Sex shops abound, and the "roped off" area is still there, although pretty quiet at the moment given that it is 2:30 in the afternoon. I'll wait a few hours for things to liven up and take a look after dark.

Case in point: I just sat down in the hotel lobby to write down a few notes, and within five minutes three police officers arrive and start questioning some woman who is in the lobby. They're too far away, and my German is still too rusty to understand exactly what is going on, though I think the cop told the woman something to the effect of "You know you don't have to say anything..." BTW, the lady cop is definitely hot, brown and blond two-tone ponytail. Somehow, that just seems to fit this town: Woman in uniform, with a gun and handcuffs and a very sexy hairstyle. Yep, this definitely is not Munich.

The sex shops are open at this hour, as are the live shows, and I guess part of getting older is feeling more perturbed when the doormen try to hustle you in. If you've read more than a few of these blogs, you know by now that I am not offended by this sort of thing, but rather I'm just annoyed at getting hassled when I walk down a street since I'm not terribly inclined at this point in my life to pay money to go in and watch young women prance around naked on a stage.

In case I forget to mention it later, I'm staying in a place called the "Zleep Hotel," and it definitely is not as nice as the KK Munich Hotel. It's not bad, just spartan, albeit relatively cheap and right by the Grosse Freiheit, which is the party part of town. There's some sort of a weird speaker gizmo underneath the "bench" in my room, and I have absolutely no idea what it is for. Somehow, though, that sort of bizarre thing just fits in here perfectly; this should be an interesting area to stay in for the next couple of days.

Munich to Hamburg

I just realized that I haven't updated the blog with my plans for the extra week in Germany, so I'll give it a shot here and now. It's currently 6:30 AM on Saturday, and I am travelling by ICE (high speed) train from Munich to Hamburg. Munich, the Bavarian capital, is in the southernmost portion of the country, near switzerland and Austria. Hamburg, on the other hand, is a port city in the far northern extreme of Germany. It's slightly less than a six hour trip, and for some quirk that I still don't understand, a first class ticket cost less than second class, so I'm riding in the front for a change. These trains are sleek, modern, quiet, and compared to the airlines the space is incredible! The ticket cost 120 euros or somewhere in the $190 range.

I have a hotel reserved for Saturday and Sunday night in Hamburg, and after that I am not sure what I will do as of yet. I do need to be back in Munich on Saturday morning (16 August) for the flight back to Seattle, but what I choose to do with the days between Monday morning and late Friday evening remains to be seen. Normally I have reasonably solid, well-defined plans, but this time I am going to play it as it comes along.

I had considered spending a few days in London (my favorite city in the world) or possibly even flying to a different country such as Spain or France, but I actually do want to immerse myself in Germany during this trip. I am, as I mentioned earlier, feeling much more confident with the language, the people, and the country in general, so rather than dilute that experience with some other distraction, I'll focus on Deutschland alone this time.

I could stay in Hamburg for a few days, if I feel like doing so after spending the weekend there. I am concerned, though, about the few things I remember from last seeing the town 15 years ago...it felt very much like a port city anyplace else in the world: Dirty, somewhat rough, not exactly a vacation paradise. In any case, I'll give the Reeperbahn a quick look....

I might take trains back from Hamburg to Munich, assuming I can find slower ones, and stop at a few places along the way. A route which traverses along the eastern side of the country, such as from Berlin to Dresden to Nurnberg to Munich, would be slow and leisurely while also giving me the best feel for the culture.

Therme Erding Part 2

I went back to Therme Erding in order to see the parts I had not seen in my previous trip, and I understand the layout of the facility a bit better now.

It turns out there really are three different areas:

• Child-focused Waterworld
• All ages clothed pools, spas, saunas
• Adults only unclothed pools, spas, saunas

I did not spend any time in the Waterworld area, as it really was more of a children's and family play area. It did have the typical huge slides, etc., and was an impressive enough facility in and of itself

The clothed spa area is also a family area, with everything from toddlers up through retirees. It houses multiple bars, restaurants, pools, soaking tubs, mineral springs, and the like. The entire area is covered with a roof, so even in inclement weather it would be a very pleasant visit. This area was very crowded and had a family feel to it: Children running about, noisy, cramped, more on the hectic side of the continuum rather than peaceful.

The unclothed sauna area I mentioned a few entries ago is the largest of the three, and it includes an area with a retractable roof as well as a fixed roof and outdoor areas. Of the three sections, this is by far the most luxurious, with a very classy, regal, peaceful feel to it. Though there were a number of people there, it was not nearly as crowded as last Monday, nor was it as crowded as the clothed area with children running about. (BTW, I did finally see the sign detailing the admission policy for the unclothed areas: 16 years and up.)

A unique point for the entire facility is that upon checkin each guest is issued a wristband with an embedded RFID chip. This is used to charge food and beverage purchases while in the park, as well as to control passage between the clothed and unclothed areass.

My belief from the other day remains unchanged: The unclothed area really had a casual, comfortable feel to it, not at all anything sexual or seedy. Ironically, from a sexual titallation angle, the clothed family area actually felt more "erotic" as there was some mystery, some mystique, to "what's underneath." In many cases, as I alternated between the two sections, I would see a woman in both the clothed and unclothed state, and the bikini-clad case was inevitably the more erotic of the two; simply put, once you take the swimsuit off and the mystery is gone, so is the titallation. Let's face it, we all tend to want what is just out of reach, so if a man sees a woman in a short skirt or a low-cut blouse, he's instinctively going to try to sneak a peek, hoping to see a bit more than he thinks he is supposed to see. Take her completely out of that skirt or blouse, however, and all the mystery is gone. The man quickly realizes there's nothing really new to be seen.

I seldom am at a total loss for words, but there really is no way to adequately explain Therme Erding. The waterworld area, yes, it can be likened to many of the summer water parks we have in the US. The clothed area is a bit more difficult to equate to anything in the US: Yes, we do have facilities with all of the same basic amenities, but the size, the scope and design of the facility cannot be expressed in words. Finally, the sheer size, comfort and understated elegance of the adults-only section is literaly unlike anything I have ever seen or felt in the US.

Cheap Tricks and Subway Insights

I'm trying to get caught up on some of the posts, and in doing so I'm probably cutting corners with grammar, spelling, etc. I'll try to clean this up later, but if not, forgive me, I'll blame it on jet lag and other related travel issues!! Also, this entry is a bit out of order since I wrote it four or five days ago, when in Munich, but I'll go ahead and publish it anyway.

It goes without saying that thanks to the current weakness of the dollar, almost any destination in the world is expensive for Americans, and Germany certainly falls into that category. With that in mind, here are a few thoughts on where to save a euro or two.

Food is one of the few discretionary items in your travel budget, and you can save a great deal here if you savor the expensive meals but try to eat as a local the rest of the time. Hotel restaurants are notorious for gouging, and even more duplicitous is the "breakfast buffet" so many of them tout. Many guests assume that the buffet is included in the basic room charge, but that is not always the case, and many hotels will be glad to let you believe the breakfast is free, until you check out and find that it cost you $25 or so each morning. As much as I liked my Munich hotel (K+K Munich), they are guilty of this practice, and I heard a family of five check out yesterday, lamenting the $400 they did not believe they owed for what they felt was an included meal. Be careful, if in doubt ask, and ask specifically what is free: The Strand Palace, a hotel I love in London (more later) does offer and even tell you about the free continental breakfast buffet they offer each morning. What they don't tell you, however, is that the continental breakfast does not include any of the hot items they intermingle with the buffet, so if you snag a piece of bacon or some scrambled eggs, you've broached the freebie line and opted in to the price of the full English breakfast. The English breakfast is not free, but rather your room charge will be about $25, even if you just took a breakfast sausage or two. Again, ask if breakfast is free, and if the answer is "yes" make sure they tell you what is and is not complimentary in that breakfast room.

When you do want to eat like a local, one of the best places to do so is in the sandwich kiosks that are in virtually all of the city subway stations. The food is cheap, good, and fresh since everything is cleared out each night.

Another "gimick" which seems to be catching on is selling mobile phones you cannot or do not want to use. Many tourists are wise to the idea of buying a cheap, prepaid mobile phone and using it overseas rather than paying the obscene rates that most hotels charge you to place even a local call. If (and this is a big if) you do your homework, buying a cell phone can be a real convenience and cost-saver. When I went to Italy about three years back, I researched the subject, bought a phone and prepaid service for about $100 before I left the US, and it worked perfectly: I could call back to America for next to nothing, and people who called me cost me absolutely nothing (literally...free incoming calls). Yesterday, even though I didn't really need it, I went into a T-Mobile store and picked up a basic phone for less than $50, figuring I would have the same success that I did with the Italian phone. Unfortunately, since I did this on the fly, I didn't research it, and I found out that calling back to the US was about $3 per minute!! Fortunately, since it was a prepaid phone, I only "lost" the money on the card, but had it been backed up by a credit card I would have spent a few hundred before I even knew what happened. Beyond that, there is the question of locked versus unlocked phones, an important topic if you want to use the phone anyplace other than in the country in which you bought it. I'm not going to go into details, as you can find much better info elsewhere on the web, so let me just say that buying a prepaid cell phone can be a real bargain, but you need to do your homework first and not just pick one up on the fly.

As for the subtleties of the subway, I finally caught on to Munich's system. As I mentioned previously, the subway system itself is fantastic: Clean, efficient, easy to navigate. The hard part, however, is figuring out the fare system. Again, since this trip was a spur of the moment thing for me, I was not able to research the way I normally do, so the system is probably not much more complicated than most, but it just seems that way to me. As for the tickets, there are four general types of passes you can buy to navigate the 16 zones in the Munich system:

1. Inner four zones 1-4
2. Expanded eight zones 1-8
3. Outer zones 5-16
4. The whole enchilada, zones 1-16

The key here is to figure out how far you will travel then buy for those zones. Though there are multi-day passes, I don't recommend you buy anything other than the single day pass, since you may not know from day-to-day how far you will travel. You can also buy companion passes which are good for groups such as families.

The S-Bahn, U-Bahn, bus and tram systems all use the same ticket, so it really is an incredible bargain. Don't do as I did and spend 30 minutes looking for a ticketing machine for one of the "other" systems; it's one big, happy family, and the only time you need to buy someplace else is when you choose to hop on one of the cross-country trains such as "Die Bahn," i.e., DB.

Once you buy the ticket, you need to validate it before boarding the train; if you don't do so and you are "caught" with an unvalidated ticket, it is in essence the same as not having a ticket at all and you pay a 40 euro fine on the spot. You validate using small breadbox-sized machines which will stamp the time and date on the ticket, in essence starting the clock for it so that you (and the transportation people) know when your ticket expires. Many other countries (e.g., Italy) use almost exactly the same type of system, so learning it in one place will help you in others.

Locals Day

Yesterday, Tuesday, was tourist day, which saw yours truly visiting the "must see" places in Munich: The hop-on/hop-off tourist bus, Hard Rock Munich, the Hofbräuhaus, Deutsches Museum, things of that nature. Today, I did just the opposite. I gave up the subays, rode the buses, ate in the local sandwich shops, listened to German radio while walking downtown, and all in all tried to live as if I truly lived here. A few interesting things started to happen: After three full days here, I can say that my German truly is getting a bit better. Part of it is that the old high school braincells seem to be coming back to life, but even more important I think that my confidence is increasing---I'm more insistent that we try to speak German rather than falling into English, and I am not worried about pronouncing every syllable. (Let's face it, nobody ever annunciates everything; we speak rapidly, slurring words together, yet we understand each other perfectly well as we get the bulk of a conversation's meaning from context.)

I honestly feel that if I were to remain here for a month, I would blend in pretty well, and given three months I could probably pass off as a Munich inhabitant (maybe not a native, but definitely not a tourist).

People are mixed, just as anyplace else in the world: Some are abrupt and not terribly helpful, others are warm and memorable. There's no real pattern of predictability: Age, gender, none of it really will tell me if the person I am about to speak with will be pleasant or otherwise. It is really the same as in the US.

I have found another interesting tidbit when trying to speak the language: Even if you know you are bombing what you are attempting to say, smile rather than scorn. It's amazing, but just by changing the facial expression, the other person is more relaxed and willing to work through the conversation than if you seem nervous about slaughtering the language.

All in all, this was a very great day, a chance to have a short glimpse into what it would be like to live in a foreign country, not simply visit it.

Long day, and I'm tired, so this will be a short entry....

Terrorist Newsflash from Munich

Yesterday as I was strolling through the English Garden (Munich's equivalent of New York's Central Park), I was shocked to stumble across a twenty-something-year-old woman sunbathing in the 80 degree weather completely topless. Yes, in public, in full view of not only myself but all the German citizens, even a child or two, this young lady was wearing bikini bottoms but nothing else. The police did not arrive before I fled from the scene, and I'm pleased to say I was not injured, and neither for that matter were any of the other park visitors. How we escaped serious harm is still a mystery to me, and as you might suspect, the German media is covering up the scandal. I'll need to check the web to find out the US response.

(I should thank the first six months of the year 2008 for honing my sarcasm to a level I never thought I would have had before.)

In seriousness, this blog is a continuation of my previous entry on Therme Erding (the huge spa and sauna complex), but I'll warn you up front it's a little more opinionated and liberal. If you like safe and vanilla, this may be another good entry to skip.

As I mentioned previously, when I visited Therma Erding this last Monday and enjoyed the spas, saunas and all the other incredible offerings, it quickly became obvious that this was not simply a clothing optional area, but for all intents and purposes it was a clothing banned area. Of the hundreds of adults who were walking around there that day, I believe I only saw two women, briefly, in bikinis, and even they quickly took their swimsuits off. For Americans, this is unheard of, or at a minimum scandalous and uncomfortable, yet for the Europeans this was as normal as can be. Nobody was acting like an exhibitionist, nobody gawked, nobody fondled, nobody really even seemed to notice or care that everybody else in the area was in the buff. (BTW, there were no children in this portion of the spa, as they were all in the "waterworld-like" area next door. I never saw a minimum age sign, so I'm not sure if it was an explicit policy or a self-policing one.) Men and women of all ages, from early twenties well into the sixties, and of all body types, were strolling about, enjoying the saunas, not the least bit embarassed. These were not swingers or fringe elements; they were housewifes and husbands, young married couples, old married couples, even single men and single women. And, it honestly, truly, was no big deal for anybody. After awhile, strolling about in the nude felt so normal you started to wonder why we were not born that way.

A night or so later, I briefly turned on the TV to a late night German show, and while it was hard to describe, the program was some combination of American Gladiator and strip poker, with two beautiful women competing against each other, the loser of each round required to remove an article of clothing. (Given that they started in only shorts and tank tops, it didn't take too long for them to get totally naked.) The cameras did not cut away, there were not digitalized squares covering body parts, and the two young women simply wound up nude on TV, with some advertisement underneath asking viewers to call in.

The next morning, I picked up a copy of Das Bild and on the front page there was a color picture of a model named Aimee, topless, wearing nothing but bikini bottoms. This, BTW, was in a paper rack on a public street, not tucked away in some adult section of a book store.

I think virtually all Americans are aware that Europeans are much more comfortable with nudity than are we, yet we as Americans don't really appreciate their attitude until it is experienced firsthand. Nudity truly, honestly, is no big deal for them: A naked body is nothing salacious, nothing tawdry, and the attitude that these people have---soccer moms, businessmen, waitresses and anybody else---is one of acceptance, relaxation, enjoyment. It's difficult to prove this, but in my heart it felt that there was less tension in the nude Therma Erding sauna than what we Americans feel at a clothed beach.

I have no problem with friends who are conservative and modest. Many individuals I know would never feel comfortable being nude in public, and I accept their feelings without hesitation. There's no need to explain themselves, as conservatism is their individual choice in this matter. What does frighten me, however, is that we as an American society, in the aggregate, just cannot handle something that the Europeans take for granted and never give a second thought. In the US, we tend to view anybody who might profess to visiting a nude beach as an oddball at a minimum, though most likely we really think the person is a pervert and is in need of mental help.

Europeans can handle things such as nudity. Drinking in public is tolerated---it's not uncommon to see a Municher riding the subway with an open beer in his hand. Smoking, while prevalent, is self-policed, and in the time I have been here I have never suffered cigarette smoke in my face.

These people are not the fringe element, they are not swingers, they are not pornstars. These are ordinary people, moms, dads, coworkers, who have no problem at all walking around in the buff or allowing another person to drink a beer in public.

We as Americans mouth the word "freedom" as if we invented it, but frankly it feels more free in Europe. With the freedom, Europeans also bring along responsibility, without laws dictating what they may do or what they may think.

In many regards, what bothers me most is that we as Americans limit ourselves and our lives to the lowest common denominator rather than allowing true freedom. Since somebody, someplace, in the US may not be able to control himself, we do it for him, and in the process we bring the entire society down to that level. Our laws are set to prevent somebody from doing things which are not only harmful, but which might make others feel uncomfortable. In this way, not only are actions regulated, but so are our thoughts.

In psychology, there is something known as the Pygmalion Effect, which for all intents and purposes is the notion of the self-fulfilling prophecy. Teachers who are told, for example, that students who are gifted will actually view those children as brighter than the average student, and in the process those pupils actually do better in school. I have to wonder if we, as Americans, don't do just the opposite: We tell ourselves our society is limited, and as such we limit ourselves.

Another unexpected week in Europe

I just heard that Microsoft won't be able to start me for another week (18 August), so even though the credit cards are screaming "NO," I figured I might as well extend my vacation over here for another week. I'm not yet sure where I'll go, but I'll figure that out and post it in a short bit.

This really is perfect, because as I commented a few days ago, a one week trip to Europe is silly; it is way too short given the flight time and jet lag. I arrived late Sunday evening, felt pretty good and visited Therme Erding on Monday, then the jet lag REALLY hit me yesterday as I did the quintessential tourist things (the hop-on/hop-off tourist bus, Hard Rock Munich, the Hofbräuhaus, etc.). Today (Wednesday) I think I am acclimated to the place, so fortunately I'll have another ten days or so left rather than just three.

BTW, in addition to the sites I mentioned above, I also spent a few hours at the Deutsches Museum and only saw a portion of it---you could probably spend three or four days looking at all it has to offer. Unlike the name would suggest, it really is more of a science and technology showpiece, with huge exhibits covering aeronautics and flight, astronomics, computing, communications and virtually any other tech or science field you can imagine. This was a technologist's heaven, with nary an oil painting to be found!

As for those credit cards: Hey, quiet down! The reality of a job and paycheck will be here shortly enough, so chill and enjoy if for now!!!

Why do most non-US Hotels ask you to post your key?

This one has baffled me for years: Why do European and Asian hotels typically ask you to post your room key(i.e., temporarily turn it in to the front desk) when you leave the premises?

I thought maybe it had something to do with preventing loss of the key, or maybe letting the maids know when the room was available for cleaning, but I finally asked the question at Reception, and there is an even more important reason.

Think about it, I'll post the answer in a blog or two.

Therme Erding

Spent the entire first day at a "spa," which is an understatement I cannot even begin to describe. For those of us who are used to thinking of a sauna and spa as the puny little things you get at 24 Hour Fitness or Bally, forget it. This was spa on steroid, the Disneyland of spas. I cannot tell you how many acres (yes, literally acres) this complex occupies. For starters, I only visited the spas, saunas, pools and sand beaches; I deliberately bypassed the "water world" type of complex for the youngsters, and I completely missed the sulphur springs and oxygen garden. (I literally didn't even see them, and I was there all day walking around, that's how big this place is!!!) This place, literally, had countless saunas of different temperatures and humidities, not to mention fragrances. Multiple pools. Whirlpools, restaurant, bars, even a refrigerated room if you chose to go the other way. I've never had as much salt rubbed on my body as I did in this one day, and I can literally feel the oils being pulled out of the body. (Granted, this might be a gross image, but it was quite real!) I'm going back before I leave.

It will be interesting to see how I feel in the morning, in other words if the cleansing and relaxing effects are truly more than transitory.

This was considered a "clothing optional" park, though "clothing prohibited" is probably a more appropriate euphemism. That's going to be the topic of another blog in a few days.

First Day in Munich

I just arrived in Munich, and I am very happy to say that I have a large number of things going through my mind; this is what a vacation should be, exciting and invigorating. I'm going to jot down my initial thoughts below, more or less unedited, so that I don't lose track of them, then hopefully come back over time and expand on them as appropriate. I'm sorry for the choppy style, but I am actually posting these as working notes for myself and don't want to risk losing the train of thought or the feeling.





The hotel (K+K am Harras, Munich) is great, and I highly recommend it: Clean, well-priced, modern, large enough but small enough (i.e., it has a small bar, breakfast room, room service, 24 hour front desk, yet at the same time it does not have the big chain feel). It also provides a truly necessary service, free Internet, both wired in the room and wireless in the public areas. The only major drawback I can cite is that it is in a rather quiet section of town, requiring you to hop on the subway for almost anything (other than the #$@$#$ McDonalds next door). BTW, the chain has hotels in many other European cities, so you might check them out if you are going to Paris, Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest, Prague or Bucharest. (If you are going to London, I recommend the Strand Palace, just based on price and location alone---more on this in a future blog).

There are lots of bikes, but they are the "old style," like a kid's bike, not the sleek racing machine you'll see in Seattle or Davis.

Haven't seen this in years: Cigarette machines. Plenty of them, even on the streets.



Surprisingly, I had a very difficult time finding anyplace to eat in the local vicinity, though there were plenty of places to drink and tons of McDonalds. (They still have the MacRib and MacRoyal! Banished from the US and shipped overseas!).

Even more shocking, I am confirming something I suspected, even feared, for years: I'm not a true fan of German beer!! For some reason, they seem too hoppy for me, and there are other nationalities I prefer. Before I definitively state this, I do want to spend the week researching it a bit more, just to be certain prior to committing to such a major statement.

The language is no problem, as most people here speak English rather well. I'd like to practice my German, but they actually will not let me. Everytime I try to say something in German, as soon as they get the drift of what I am asking, they come back hurriedly in English to finish the conversation. I'd say they seem impatient, which in all honesty I should understand: Especially in the service industry, they don't have time for you to play like an eight-year-old when they know your language perfectly well. They are a bit abrupt, but at least in this sense I can see why.

Ironically, while the spoken language is no problem, very few public signs or instructions are written in English. Getting around the public transportation is rough, far worse than in Japan, Italy or other non-English speaking countries which tend to have instructions posted prominently in English.

The train system, like virtually all of Europe, is awesome, with a U-Bahn (for underground or slower, short-distance trains) and an S-Bahn (for speedier trains). It's well planned, you can easily get virtually anywhere, and it's clean, quick, and on-time. The only problem is that the fare system is almost impossible to figure out, far more confusing than the Tube, or Rome, or Paris. Oh well, it's the honor system, so if you can't figure out how to buy the ticket, then fake it---worst case if you get caught it is a 40 euro fine.


BTW, a lot of things over here seem to work on the honor system, such as newsracks on the street corners. There's a subtle note reminding the patrons to please pay, and evidently it works.





Very few people have tattoos, and the few you do see for the most part are small, almost discrete. (And believe me, as you'll see in the next blog, I had ample opportunity to see body parts I definitely do NOT see walking around in public in the US). Actually, this was a nice change, as compared to the US attitude which far too often is "I have nothing to say, so look at my tat." (More on this in a future blog.)

Just like in Italy, coffee stands not only have snacks but also beer, wine and hard liquor.

Strong coffee, I had far less in volume than my typical one or two ventis per day, yet it was kicking me. I had to grab a couple of sandwiches to get over the caffeine buzz.

Breakfast this morning was incredible, and while it sounds to simple it is one of the things that is making this trip so spectacular for me: I took the hotel buffet out on the patio, I ate slowly, then I had coffee, I read a German newspaper, even able to translate the challenging German phrase, "Solschenizyn tot." It was really incredible and beautiful: Sipping coffee rather than guzzling it, birds singing, reading the paper, smiling uncontrollably. They offered free champagne, but I did not partake, as the booze would have distracted from the moment. (For those who know me, seldom do I say that.)

One final quick bullet for the moment: I'm a European at heart, much more than an American: The european acceptance of nudity and sexuality, their relaxed attitude towards alcohol and even cigarettes, plus the true belief in allowing "freedom" rather than just mouthing the word all resonate deeply with me. Freedom is at the heart of it. More on this later, but just realize that much of what I write in the next few days will be biased by this perspective.