Best of my 2009 European Trip: A Retrospective.

Since tonight is the Oscars, where people in the film industry pat themselves on the back (some of the time deservedly), I'm going to pat myself on the back for categorizing parts of my trip around Europe. Because I've been told that going to all these places makes me "Better Than You", I shall include my "Better Than You" pictures, just as a reminder. My apologies in advance for the obnoxiousness of this entry.

Best Place to Not Include On the List:

Prague. I love the city waaaay too much to try to compare it, because my experience with Prague is more of a home base type of place, rather than a place I visit. While I know I live in Pisek, Prague is like Huntington, WV to me. It's a home away from home... away from home. It's beautiful, intriguing, and easy to get lost in. Kafka was right when he said that it had claws. It brings you back.

Best Painful One-Upping of the US:

London's West End puts Broadway to shame. And I'm a huge fan of New York City and Broadway, so you can imagine how difficult it is for me to admit to this. London has a lot of things, but once you get into the West End, you can feel a difference. When a show runs for a long time on Broadway, that means ten years. And you can usually feel the age. Dad and I saw the longest running play of all time (over fifty years), and it was as interesting and energetic as anything I've seen on stage in its opening year.

Best Gothic Church:

Like I'm going to say anything but Notre Dame here. Going in on Christmas during a service made it extra-cool. With all the places I've been, I'm a bit fatigued of all the churches and art museums I've seen, but let's face it: it shouldn't get better than this. As cool as St. Peter's is, I think I still would prefer this place.

Best Birthday Location for My Father:

When Dad and I booked our tour, we were least excited about the Swiss Alps. Nothing against neutrality in high places, but London, Paris, and Amsterdam were on the tour! Luckily, we were proven quite wrong. We went to the Top of Europe (hands at the ready) on his birthday. There's nothing quite like it.
Bonus: I got to see the Alps again, on a plane from Mallorca, Spain to Copenhagen, Denmark, and when I was in Salzburg, they were right there too. But seeing them from the top or from above is incredible. When I was able to view them from the plane, there were no clouds, and the moonlight reflected off the snow. No matter what, I couldn't get a good picture.

The Best Place I'll Never Remember:

Everyone expects this one to be Amsterdam, for some reason, but no. I was really sick when our tour took us to Boppard en Rhein in Germany, so this is about all I saw of it before sleeping through dinner until the morning. Luckily, this allowed me to recover for the rest of the trip.

Most Indulgent:

Uh, duh. This is where Amsterdam fits the list. If you're into art, they've got a lot of that. If you're into parties, they have more than enough of that. Beer? They have that covered. Coffee? Theoretically, I think they have that too. The Red Light District? Yes. Plants that you couldn't grow in the US without a medical excuse in only certain states available in shops? Yeah, I hear they have that too. Oh, and fireworks? To the point where you don't wonder if anyone got hurt, but only how you didn't get hurt on New Year's Night? Yes, most definitely.

But don't even think about jaywalking. They have some serious laws about that in Amsterdam.

Best Random "Better Than You" Picture from London (That I could find):

This one, at the Tower of London.

Best Irish History Tour:

Old Kilmainham Jail in Dublin shows you the dark and darker side of Ireland's struggle for independence. Seeing the site of several executions just reminds you of what kinds of sacrifices have been made in the quest for freedom.

Best Art Museum Disguised as a City:

Barcelona. What a beautiful place, with more than enough culture to cover the rest of Europe. Barcelona has a little bit of everything everywhere. And Gaudi's stuff is easy to find. Just look around. Anywhere.

Best Park:

Parque de Buen Retiro in Madrid was charming. However, there are a few slippery hills that, when it snows, you might fall, and you might not be able to stand up without crawling up the hill. And it's just crowded enough that everybody stares. It was kind of awkward... one might imagine.

Most Unique Place in the World:
Christiania, in Copenhagen, is hard to believe. Unfortunately, they don't allow pictures. You could call it more indulgent than Amsterdam, but it wouldn't promote itself like that. It's a small section of the town that considers itself independent, and is self-governing for the most part. Originally set up for low-cost housing to support the art community, this Bohemian paradise just kind of exists on its own plane of reality. Just a few blocks away and you're back in normal Copenhagen, where the rules of society apply.

Best Place to Barely Scratch the Surface:

I know that I have to go back to Istanbul, because I feel like it would take years to fully understand just how much has gone on and is going on in that city. But the brief time I spent in Turkey was enough to tantalize me into trying to figure out some way to return. The Underground Cistern, the Hagia Sofia, the Grand Bazaar, and the Blue Mosque were unlike anything I've ever seen. I have to see more. Luckily, I know a few people there.

Best Place to Take "I'm Better Than You" Pictures:

Greece. Everything is photogenic in Greece. The weather is perfect. The history is great. The mythology is rich. And that picture was taken in January. Greece is another place where I know I've barely scratched the surface.

Best Random Placement of Ancient Building:

I like random, and Rome has a lot of randomness. Walking around the corner and finding The Pantheon in an area that doesn't feel ancient at all is about as random as it gets. I still love that building, and I can't believe how well kept it is for being 2000 years old.

Best Hostel (Also, Most Random Place to Make Friends):

Florence has a lot of art and history, but by the time I got there, I was arted and historied out. On the other hand, that was easily the best hostel I stayed at (Sorry, Munich. I loved that one a lot too). And that's where I made a good number of friends (I made a lot in Munich too). But for something like 20 euros a night, you get a bed, free internet (unlimited, including wifi), breakfast (made to order, so it's warm), dinner (pasta or pizza, every day except Saturday), and a free walking tour of the city (two different ones, so you can do more than one while you're there). This group of people, pictured above, were such cool folks that we met up again in Venice. I later also ran into another guy from this hostel in another great hostel in Munich.

Most Beautiful Place in the Universe:

Venice. Yes, there's graffiti. But unlike New Jersey, it works here. Yes, it's sinking. So get there fast. Yes, it's expensive. No, there isn't much to do that you can't do anywhere else. But out of the places I went to in Italy, this is where I fell in love with the country. It's one of those cities where you want to get lost. There's not an ugly spot in the city, and it even makes pigeons feel like something new.

Most Musical:

Salzburg, duh. Mozart and the Von Trappes cover it all. And it's so freaking cold, what else are they going to do but make masterpieces? Austria's such a cool place anyways, and I just happened to catch Salzburg at the right time. This was one of the cities that several people recommended to me before I left for Europe. It's pretty classical, don't you think? (I know, that's the worst joke ever. I apologize.)

Best Free Tour:

Munich had a free walking tour advertised at my hostel, and it kind of covered everything. It took me inside the church I wanted to go into. It showed me where the most historical things in Munich happened. It told me several stories about the place I would have never heard otherwise. And it showed me a decent place to have lunch afterwards. I know it's a fairly touristy thing to do, but when you only have a few days in a city, you'll think like a tourist for some reason. It gave me a bit of a historical perspective on the place.

So, Dachau...

So on my last full day in Munich, I took the tour of the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. To say it was shocking would not be proper. We know how cruel humanity can be, but we're all pretty good at ignoring it. Sometimes though, you have to confront the darkness. That's what was so remarkable about Dachau. It was a complete confrontation of evil. If you ever get a chance to go to a place like this, even if as you read this you're saying "I could never do that", go. It can make you a stronger human being.

This was on the entrance. It means "Work Will Set You Free", more or less. I don't think it's on every concentration camp entrance, but I know it's at Dachau and Auschwitz (which I now have decided I have to go to before I leave Europe). It, like many things at a place like this, was a cruel joke.

I suppose I should explain what Dachau was. It was an actual concentration camp (not a death camp), one of the first (if not the first), opened in 1933. It originally housed political prisoners (aka COMMUNISTS) while Hitler was taking power. After the Night of Broken Glass (Kristallnacht), it started to have Jews. It eventually had Slavs, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and other prisoners. People were sent there to work, but if they were deemed unfit to work, they were sent to death camps. Still, at Dachau, between 25,000 to 35,000 people are believed to have died. Over 200,000 were imprisoned there total. It's hard to determine the deaths, because in the last few years of the war, they no longer recorded Jewish or Slavic deaths in camps.

The first part of the tour was more of a museum. This is an example of the propaganda from that era. While a lot of people supported the Nazis, it's hard to remember that they were living in fear and desperation. Think of how many rights people give up when security is considered to be at stake. Things like Kristallnacht and the anti-Communist propaganda were done to terrify people into believing that there were enemies everywhere, and if we don't stop them they'll stop us. I wish I could say things like this don't happen anymore, especially in the western world. Unfortunately, humanity doesn't learn its lessons very quickly.

In the museum, they showed us a few methods of punishment in the camp. The SS were the main guards, and if you stood out in any way as a prisoner, you could be punished. Unfortunately, some of us just stand out. Even after losing their names (assigned a number) and given no identity (uniforms that may or may not fit), they were punished.

One form of punishment involved the prisoners whiping each other here, under monitor, until the prisoner being whipped could count his lashing to 25 in German, even though there were a lot of prisoners who didn't speak German here. It was designed to prevent fraternization.

Another punishment was called a "tree", where the prisoners would hang, chained to a beam on the ceiling. Originally, they would actually hang them from a tree, but when it was discovered that it gave them something to lean on, they moved it inside. After thirty minutes, your shoulders would never be the same. You had no support. After four hours, you'd be dead, but it was agony as all the bones broke. While this sounds like a form of torture, I as an American unfortunately am not comfortable calling it that, as we have been using it as an approved "advanced interrogation technique" in the War on Terror. Hmm, maybe we did learn something from World War II after all.

After that part of the museum, we went into the bunker, which was actually the most horrifying part of the tour to me. I knew what to expect from other parts, but this was where they sent people to endure the worst without killing them. The odd part is that this is also where the "special" prisoners were, the priests and others who were a bit more powerful than the average Communist, Slav, or Jew. In other words, Catholics. Martin Neimoller famously composed this poem:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

He was at Dachau.

The bunker is where they would lock people in complete darkness, feeding them every four days with small pieces of bread. At one point, the SS was not allowed to kill people, so they would try to force suicide, which usually works, except for one escape attempt. They also forced people to stand for any amount of time (also considered an advanced interrogation technique by the Bush administration).

After that lovely place we checked out the living conditions. The camp had three phases, and none of them were very pleasant. However, I must say: the beds are a lot like summer camp. The difference is that the beds here were usually quite overcrowded and spread a lot of disease.

After this, we headed to the scary places. This is a picture of the shooting area where they would kill people by firing squad. Unfortunately, the Nazis couldn't kill people fast enough. This was the first crematorium, which wasn't so much horrifying as it was just weird:

But yes, after that quaint little barn we went to one of the most terrifying symbols of the concentration camp system.

I don't think there are words to describe the emotions you get when you walk through a gas chamber. This was something developed to annihilate an entire race of people, because shooting them was too messy and took too much time. Officially, this building had a death count of 0 people. However, I should reiterate that by the time this thing was built, they had pretty much quit recording Jewish and Slavic deaths.

It had an eerie assembly line fashion to it. First, there was the entrance, where they would lead people in and have them take off their clothes for a "shower."

The doors only had handles on one side. When they went into this room, they were all gassed to death. All the vents were closed, and prisoners had to clean out the room and make it look like a normal shower. This is where I quit feeling horrible the way I had before, because at this point there's no humanity in anything anymore.

Look at the lack of a doorknob for the inside. Do you think anyone could open that thing if they tried?

This is the factory-esque crematorium. It's hard to really imagine it being put to use on any regular basis.

Outside of that death factory, this statue stands. He's not of any race or creed, he's just an anonymous prisoner. The words there translate to something along the lines of "To honor the dead, to warn the living." Places like this are preserved as a reminder of human failure. Whether anyone wants to think about it or not, we all possess the same genetic structure as the kinds of people who did these horrifying things. We also possess the same genetic structure as the kinds of people who suffered these horrid things. But we need to be beyond them both.

This is the Jewish Memorial. It's what made the place feel kind of hopeful. As you go down there, you realize that it's almost complete darkness. However, there's still a bit of light in there. In spite of the fact that the Nazis tried to annihilate an entire ethnicity and religion, they failed. And the Nazis are gone.

I have to give the Germans credit for coming to terms with their horrific past. We all know that it was horrible, but every nation does horrible things. We all know that the US has had several concentration camps. We had "relocation camps" for Japanese Americans during World War II. I know somebody's going to tell me that they weren't as bad as the ones that the Nazis had, but where's the evidence? I'm not saying they were as bad, but isn't taking someone against their will into a forced imprisonment without a trial bad enough? Has anyone ever toured a camp set up by our government? Do you think anyone will tour Guantanomo?

You have to make peace with your darkness before being able to move beyond it. It's painful to think about, but it's something that you have to do.

At Dachau, there's a memorial that says "Never Again" in five different languages. But atrocities are still being committed around the world. Why do we feel that it needs to be that way?

What a long strange trip it's been...

Wow, I can't believe I haven't updated this in the last few weeks, but I've been literally everywhere. On my last day in Athens, I headed over to Cape Sounion to see the Temple of Poseidon. It's about an hour from Athens, but the ride over there is absolutely beautiful. Once you get to the cliff, it's just a ruin of a temple.

It's a very beautiful view of the sea, and legend has it that it's where the Aegean Sea was named. The temple is decently enough preserved, considering how old it is. There are etchings all over it where people have written their names. Lord Byron signed his name here, but it's in a spot that you can't see without going in. Wanting to be respectful of the boundaries (at this point at least), I didn't sneak into it.

After Athens, I took my last flight of the trip to Rome. I hate flying, but I ended up enjoying this flight because I got into a conversation with a few people from California that were all together on a trip to study the beginnings of Christianity. They had been in Turkey and Greece and were finishing things off in Rome before returning to the US. They were incredibly nice. One of them was named Mary Grace.

Once I arrived in Rome, I checked into my hostel and ended up heading to the Colliseum. I met a great couple from San Francisco, and together we wandered around the ancient structure. The fact that it was January 20 was not lost on us. The Colliseum was pretty cool, and we tried to get into the Roman Forum, but could not find the entrance until it was closed. From there, we went to the Fountain of Trevi, which is easily the most beautiful thing in Rome.

Afterwards, I went to the Pantheon, the 2000 year old structure that was converted to a church. It's where the artist Raphael is buried, and it's quite spectacular.

It's hard to believe that I saw the Acropolis two days before seeing all of this stuff, but after so long you get used to being overwhelmed on a daily basis. It's very strange. On my walk back to the hostel, I ended up at the Colliseum again, which looks better at night.

See what I mean?

That night, I made friends with a group from my hostel that had been living in Dublin. They were from everywhere (Spain, Brazil, Lithuania), and we went out with a friend they had from Italy. The next day, we all went to the Vatican together.

I enjoyed the Vatican Museums, especially the Egyptian Museum. I knew they had a huge collection, but it's beyond explaining. They really do have everything. Of course, considering that it's the only institution to actually survive through as much as it has, they would have to have everything.

Apologies for the blurriness.

Oh, and yes, the Sistine Chapel is one that you have to see to believe. But it hurts to look up that much.

Afterwards, I went into St. Peter's Basilica. It's gigantic and spectacular of course, and it's the most beautiful church I've ever seen. Prior to this, I preferred the Tyn Church in Prague and Notre Dame in Paris. It's hard to believe how much effort is put into these things. And the St. Peter's is the center of Catholicism. It's beyond explanation. I'm not very religious at all, but it's remarkable to see this kind of thing. I also went into the museum underneath the Basilica, which has a frustrating audio guide that goes on for forever, but you see some really valuable stuff. Also, it had John Paul II's robes. But yeah, the Vatican was cool.

And to top if off, Michaelangelo's La Pieta is right by the door.

I took a long walk back to Termini from the Vatican, taking a look at the Roman Forum before going back to my room and reading.

The next day I went to Florence, which is called Firenze in Italian. I wish I had known that before the day I went there. I made friends with a guy named Alan from Chile on the train. The first place we went to was Accademia, where the statue of David is. Here's another bad picture that I took against the rules.

The hostel we went to was amazing, providing dinner and breakfast and free walking tours of the city. We did a walking tour, seeing one of the palaces in town and learning about some of the history of Florence.

After that, Alan and I went around with a guy from Turkey named Aykut, and two Chilean girls named Valentina and Carolina. We went to the Piazza of Michaelangelo and found a monastery turned into a church.

We headed down to the Uffizi Museum, where I may have gotten arted out.

Florence was cool because of the people I met there and the hostel I stayed in. The history of the city's quite amazing, but it seemed a bit stuck in the past. However, the Duomo still looks amazing.

The next day, I headed to Venice. I met a Canadian on the train who was incredibly cool. I was on my own again, at least for a little while. I had no idea what to expect from Venice, other than canals. After going to Amsterdam and Copenhagen, I thought I had an idea of what to expect. I was completely wrong.

Venice, to me at least, is the most beautiful city in Europe. The intricate labyrinth of the city is chaotic but perfect. You never know where you're going, and I got lost immediately. The cool thing about Europe is that in a lot of cities, it's okay to get lost. Everywhere, even with a little bit of graffiti, is gorgeous. It's hard to describe.

There's not much to do there that you can't do anywhere else, unfortunately, and things cost a bit more. The hostel didn't provide much, although it really was a guest house. There was a Canadian in my room, and she had a similar sense of humor. We talked about how ugly Venice is.

At 12:00 on Sunday, I met up with Aykut, Carolina, Valentina, and Alan. All of us (except Alan) went on a gondola ride (very expensive, we ended up paying 15 euro each for 30 minutes, but when the hell else am I going to do that?).

I hate the look I have on my face in this picture.

We wandered, ate, and wandered some more. Alan ended up staying in the same room at my hostel, but the others left. That evening, I hung out with Heather (the same Canadian girl) and two other Canadians, who had just come from Munich.

On Monday, I went to Salzburg, which took forever by train. I had to switch near the border, and I couldn't see anything outside by the time we got in Austria. I had a great conversation on my first train with a woman from Italy named Stephanie.

When I arrived in Salzburg, I got online briefly and went to bed. Because there was only one time a day that I could get from Venice to Salzburg, I essentially only had one day there. The hostel seemed nice though. I wondered how much I'd get done.

The first place I went to in the morning (this was Tuesday, January 27) was Mozart's birthplace. I had been planning to go to Salzburg for over a month at this time, and I had picked the date arbitrarily, not realizing that I was there on MOZART'S BIRTHDAY. So I was in the room where the musical genius was born on the day he was born. They've turned it into kind of an art exhibit, which was strange but really kind of poetic at times.

I found lunch afterwards. This is where the return of my beloved sachar torte is.

So delicious.

Afterwards I went to the place where Mozart lived, and saw a lot of his stuff. It was really cool, and they had a temporary exhibit on Haydn and Mozart's relationship. It had to close early, because of the concerts they were having that day. It was the Mozart week festival, which is apparently quite a big deal. They love their native son, even if he wasn't crazy about the place. I liked it.

I then journeyed to the fortress. They had some kind of inclined shuttle thing that you could take up the mountain, but I'm not sure if it was even running. I wanted to walk anyways, so I took the hike uphill. Twasn't easy, and that's when it started to snow. A lot.

The fortress was beautiful, and the museums they had in there were just plain cool (not literally, it was a comfortable refuge from the cold). They had lots of armor, and the place had been there for centuries so they had relics from medieval times.

(cue Lord of the Rings music)

I went to two of the three main museums there. I started to go into the Marionette Museum, but I think I was alone (you can never tell, those things are weird) and then I got scared (no TERRIFIED) of all the freaky puppets and I ran out of there almost as fast as I ran through Kanawha State Forest with Kelsey one time.

The last part of the fortress I went to was sort of a history of the place, which had an escort and an audio guide. It ended with an observation level, which the audio guide informed me had a "magnificent view" of Salzburg.

Yeah, it's terrific.

On the way down, I got a magnificent view of Salzburg. It's a very pretty town.

It does really look good in the snow.

Because the city's insanely obssessed with Mozart, I even ran into this guy:

It's a replica of a statue in Prague outside of the Estates Theatre commemorating Don Giovanni. I guess they felt they needed to replicate it in Salzburg too.

But yeah, after that I talked to my father a bit and when I mentioned that they had a concert that night he told me I absolutely HAD to go. It was Mozart's birthday, in Mozart's town, a festival to honor him, when else would I do that? So I went to the Mozarteum, which is very golden.

I'm sure you're tired of seeing that smile.

The concert was quite beautiful, with a guest clarinet player from Sweden. They played two modern pieces, along with one piece by Mozart and another by Haydn. All of it was good, although the highlight was probably the Haydn ending.

The Mozarteum

After Salzburg, I hopped on the train and went to Munich. My hostel there was cool, and the city was pretty neat itself. I'd go back to Munich in a heartbeat. I got to see Riccardo, another student from last semester who's now working there.

I won't go into too much detail about all that I did in Munich, because that's another entry for this. I did a walking tour, which told me a lot about the history of the place.

I met more people there than I've met in most other places. I hung out with an American (who I actually met in Florence), several Canadians, several Australians, and two Irish guys who do fantastic Michael Caine impressions. The hostel had a fantastic bar and a great staff. I really enjoyed the place.

Of course, the highlight of Munich (for most people) is the fantastic beer. I'll leave you with that. I'm back in the Czech Republic, regrouping before classes start.

When I write my next blog, it will be about a place I went to in Munich called Dachau.