Bangalore

We were not in Bangalore very long, (they just changed Bangalore’s name by the way) but anyway the contrast from Kanchipuram was amazing. The Hotel we stayed at was quite fancy, although the view was not so nice because there was construction going on down the street. Anyway fancy hotel, the first night I don’t think we did anything, but got together to discuss what we had seen already. I suppose some of us watched Indian television which is a fairly unique experience, the music channels were especially popular. Artists would alternate styles within the videos from a sort of conservative suave pop singer singing love songs, to a pop diva who would fit right in in western markets, to flashy dance bollywood type songs with large heavily choreographed numbers…
We also watched a soap opera that we couldn’t understand at all, but it seemed to be based of American soaps, or British soaps but ended up more like a spoof of Spanish soap operas (which Americans tend to find hilarious) we couldn’t understand the language but they would occasionally drop a word in English. There was no sex or nudity, but there was some sexual tension implied… I think at one point they even went in to so fantasy dance numbers….

The next day we went to Symphony, a multinational IT and marketing firm and talked to the President of the company and also the Director of Human Services. The building was like a high tech office building and had some beautiful artwork, and Christmas decorations up (this is shortly after new years). In the meeting room we had remarkably nice seating around a half circle of wood desk… Aquafina and cookies were prepared… some of us were terrified that we had stepped into the wrong place.
They reassured us we were ok, but I have no idea why they agreed to see us.
The President talked about the booming Indian economy and the IT sector, also about his business and education. (American educated –lived and worked in the US for 10-20 years, was part and led the “reverse brain-drain” bringing talented Indians back to India to create business and opportunities.)
One of the interesting things they mentioned was that with IT and multiple locations the 24 hour work day was possible. The company had offices on three continents and each office could transfer their work at the end of the day to a new location where it would be picked up and worked on for the next shift.
He also talked about the booming telecommunications industry and how India was primed for it- noting that in the 10 miles from his house to the office he could work for an hour in his car using the wireless systems throughout the city, but the roads were still so bad it took an hour to go 10 miles.
The company seemed up to western standards as far as ethical business standards… It was really interesting to hear how the President of the company gave so much credit to the US, even saying that although things are down now, America would return to lead… I was not convinced.

After Symphony, we went to a local mall.
This mall was an indoor, very western style mall… but although there were many look-alike stores that sold western products, there weren’t actually a lot of actual brand name store… exceptions being Nike and Reebok, KFC, McDonalds… the mall looked and operated like most malls…

We read a story in the newspaper at the hotel about a family that had been burned alive in their house because the husband hadn’t paid what he owed to some mafia back businesses or something… the police stood by and watched apparently (unsure whether it was too late)…. The newspaper reported widespread corruption in the city.

We were asked to keep track of how many name brands we could recognize… I think most groups got around 100-150…. Bangalore is in many ways an entirely modern (as in recently built) city, at least the parts we were in. Large corporate offices, factories, building after building…

agra

While in Agra we went to the Taj Mahal, pizza hut, stayed at a fancy hotel and went to a fancy store full of decorated marble and stone.
Before getting there we stopped at a sort of red palace/fort, I forget what it was called maybe Agra fort, but it had large courtyards, and beautiful architecture. There were not that many tourists there, but a group of Indian boys gathered at a pool near by that seemed to have a dive of about 30-40 feet into dirty water (with no visible exit). After about 10 minutes of trying to get money for us on a dare to jump in several of the boys did. They seemed to have a good time. We didn’t realize how deep the water was, but after we left they continued to swim and dive.

Many of the hotels we stayed in India seemed incredibly expensive. They were all 4 stars at least, and were far better than most of us expected. I was sort of frustrated with them, but when kids started getting sick (and I did) I realized how nice it was to sooth the traveler’s frustrations to have the extra luxury. I also checked the price at one of the hotels and found out that a single cost about $65 so considering the hotels in Morris cost the same, it didn’t seem unreasonable (from the leadership point of view) to have us living in such comfort.
The hotel in Agra had a small shopping mall in it, 2 restaurants on the 2nd floor and a view down in to the lobby that made me feel a little light headed.. (we were on like the 8th floor). The mall had 3-4 clothes shops, a music store, and some statue stores. The prices were much higher than what we had seen elsewhere.
Many of us Pizza hut for dinner.
The interior of the pizza hut seemed western enough. They were out of most of the western style toppings. (pepperoni, sausage) they also did not have breadsticks, or chicken wings or potato wedges all of which were on the menu. A few kids got the Indian chicken, most of us got cheese. They did sell mountain dew (a rarity outside of the US).

The day we went to the Taj Mahal was a Muslim holy day and due to the enormous crowd and threats of terrorism, security was high. We were dropped off at a park a few blocks from one of the main entrances. A sidewalk through the park lead us to the security checkpoint at the gate. Along the way we were hassled by boys trying to sell us postcards, pictures and statues. At the gate you had to throw away anything that wasn’t essential… meaning no garbage, no candy, no food. When we entered it became clear that people were in a rush to get to the Mosque next to the Mausoleum. The crowd was all men and boys, we were told that they split the times so as to make it more orderly. The neighborhoods nearby are predominantly Muslim areas and the Taj Mahal itself though a symbol of India is identified as Muslims structures…. Still Pakistan, and Pakistani rebels in India have been threatening to blow it up for quite a while.
Anyway… the first court yard leads in to the second, which is where you get the traditional view with the pools and gardens.
To the left is a giant red Mosque, and to the right is another red Mosque looking structure that was under construction.
Thousands were headed toward the Mosque to pray, I took videos of the crowd leaving…
You have to take off your shoes before going up-similar to at a mosque. The Taj Mahal Mausoleum is smaller on the inside than you would think. The crowd is sort of pushed through, you do a ring around the main tomb structure and then walk out. The outside is very beautiful, with calligraphy and colored stone art chiseled in. Behind the Taj Mahal is a river and river basin, we saw a camel caravan being lead along the river.

After the hype wore off, we were taken to a store that specialized in high price pieces of art with similar designs and craftsmanship as the Taj Mahal. They sat us down, offered us drinks and gave us a demonstration of the product –basically chiseled marble in-laced with other stones. Really beautiful stuff but well beyond most of our budgets.

The salesmanship style was similar to the carpet shows in India, Turkey and Morocco.

We spent a lot of time looking at the different products, but the store was really expensive. I’m sure our guide got a cut for of anything we purchased for bringing us there. The salesman style makes westerners feel really uncomfortable because we feel bad when someone shows us such hospitality… we think we should really pay them back by buying their products, and they know this… so the more tea or pop or cookies or whatever they offer. The more they make you feel at home, the more they show you how good their product is…. Ooh Americans buy it up.

Delhi

In Delhi we stayed with Pareena’s parents apartment.
The apartment was located in what seemed to be a 20-30 minute drive from the center of the city, the area they lived in had row after row of apartment complexes, each neighborhood seemed to have identical buildings –sort of what “Communist Russia” style residential housing. The neighborhoods or whatever you would call them were often gated communities, including the one they lived in.
The apartment was very luxurious in a sense, it had something like 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, dining room etc. but with so many of us (20+) it was fairly cramped. The decorations were mainly Indian many of the common Hindu God statues and colorful pictures. The furniture was very much the same you would find in the U.S. couches, tables, TVs, big king size beds. The bathrooms and showers and everything looked the same.


The first night in Delhi we went to a fancy restaurant, it had sort of a buffet thing going on. I’m not sure what I ate. (I sort of hate Indian food –which was part of the reason I wanted to go to India –to test myself) Despite the rest of the people at the restaurant having a more buffet style thing going on, we sat at tables and seemed to be waited on. The waiters brought us types of food which we would pick and choose from and then from our response would know whether to bring more or not.
The majority of the dinner me and some of the students I had been hanging out with most, goofed around. We were sort of through with acting responsible and mature. (it was the end of the trip- and we were savoring the moment) I think most of the group was this way, so we were unusually loud. We arrived later than most of the other people at the restaurant so it didn’t seem to bother anyone.

The next day we went last minute shopping to get everything we were going to have (it was the last day). They took us to a market area. Near by were parks and open spaces, along with regular buildings.
The first part of the market were regular open faced stores, and people who had set up tables full of goods. In the space between people would walk around with handfuls of things, jewelry, toys etc and try to sell them.
On the tables was a lot of jewelry and cheap goods, (things you would find at a dollar store) combs, tooth brushes, cheap jewelry, small items.
The stores behind (open faced because they didn’t have doors, often if they did have doors that would close, they were more like gates that could open out and clothes or goods were hung off them.) The majority of the stores sold clothes and cloth goods. Towels, scarves, shirts, saris, blankets, etc. These stall/stores were set up usually with shared walls and one long roof, but if you went around the block it would open up in to more alley ways with more stores. We got lost walking around. There would also be stores with electronic goods, high price jewelry, stores of bangles (Indian bracelets) –stores that sold bangles usually had row after row of colors and sizes and were entirely dedicated to the one product.
Eventually we went around one corner and found some more normal looking stores, we went in one that sold higher fashion. It had white walls and techno pop playing. The store employees were wearing tight jeans and tops (not very Indian) at the store they sold a lot of the cheap girl accessories, pink watches, purses and scarves. But also expensive jeans and jackets.
Across the street from this store I noticed they were selling shirts I had seen (a friend bought one) at Target. The shirts were exactly the same only about a 5th of the price 3-5$.
We had become fairly crafty at buying things so we knew what kinds of deals we could get…
Anyway I think in total this market area might have been something like 3-5 square blocks of stores and stalls. The goods were similar to products seen elsewhere in India. The Target shirt made me realize that a lot of these goods were probably the same as elsewhere in the world (I’m not very good with name brand fashion).

That night I one of the students got bit by a rabid dog, which the security guard kicked.
She went to the hospital.
The rest of us ate Chinese/Indian food. Mostly a lo mein style dish and a fried rice. This is like Americanized Chinese only with Indian influence. So it is spicy, but with Indian spices not Chinese spices… I assume it has some similarities to food in southeast Asia or Indonesia, but since I am not a fan of “exotic” food I’m not really sure. Actually the rice tasted similar to a rice dish I had in Tanzania once, only with different ingredients.. but the east coast of Africa has had a lot of Indian influence through trade… so it is possible that rice and spice dishes crossed over.

We left later that night.

Flying to Bangalore and then to London where I got off.

In the Indian airports they screen men and women separately. Men are patted down and wand-ed in the open after going through metal detectors. Women are taken behind a curtain (same procedure, by a woman) after going through the metal detector.
The airports themselves are run very similar to European or American airlines, except that in certain cases the luggage is taped shut at the airport in front of you (a sign that it has been through security).

Some of the female Indian flight attendants wear saris slightly adjusted to make them tighter so that they don’t get caught on things while they are working.

I guess the areas of Delhi that we got to see weren’t all that fascinating. The city looked fairly modern in comparison to some of the other cities, more like Bangalore than Kanchipuram.

Rohtak

Rohtak, on the way we visited an AIDS orphanage (I think in Delhi). We went to a Chinese restaurant. Stayed at a University, went to a bird sanctuary. Were entertained by university students dancing for us and went to a local government meeting (sort of, for show).


Ok so at the AIDS orphanage, we found out how people with HIV/AIDS were treated in India, what the government was doing about it (very little) and what this particular establishment had done to help. Basically the children’s parents had contracted HIV/AIDS and had died, and all of these children had contracted it through pregnancy. For the most part throughout the country these children would be left to die, but at this orphanage they were taken care of and medically treated. It was not a pretty picture of the country, and sort of showed how despite India having a large government that is generally attentive to people’s needs, in some cases (especially when there isn’t cultural or religious precedent) people are ignored or left to deal with it on their own. The woman we talked to was also an advocate for non sexual education and equal rights for people of other sexual orientations. She said some of the biggest problems as far as HIV transmission that they are dealing with were the trucking industry and men who have multiple female partners while married. As far as the gay community, she noted that they were rarely tolerated; a silent minority –who often times lived heterosexual lifestyles to keep up appearances (loved their mates and families, but were not sexually attracted to their partners). One of the problems seemed to be the cultural and religious precedent, both of taboos on homosexuality and also that culturally people in India get married very young (arranged marriages) so the people often have no choice in who their partner is.
A third problem that faced the community is that there is a precedent and to some extent toleration of eunuchs –a concept that to most westerners seems very outdated. But apparently in India there are still many thousands of people who choose to (or are forced into) become eunuchs. This culturally accepted (to an extent) role is a very mixed topic. Sort of glorified in stereotypes and neglected in a lot of cases.
Prostitution, though not specifically talked about is also a huge problem for many people in the country.
While at the orphanage we also heard about the changing roles of a traditional caste of entertainers. These people would traditionally be the musicians, dancers, actors etc. They have however been replaced by Bollywood and Western entertainment which either steals their traditional music and acts, or requires them to live up to new expectations including things that are traditionally considered quite degrading in India culture like stripping or prostitution.
It was interesting to hear about the changing roles of Castes in this sense, although the Government has officially outlawed discrimination based on castes, the traditions still thrive, but the importance of the role of each caste seems to change dramatically as globalization occurs. (sort of like American laborers having to enter the service industry).

The Chinese restaurant was notable for a few reasons, first that it was Indian-ized Chinese food, second that they served things like toast, cheese sandwiches, (just sort of odd items) and that it made most of our group feel ill.
There was a book store about 50 yards from the restaurant that sold text books to the university students. It was quite interesting, more like a stand with books packed into shelves and stacks all over the place. The books all looked quite warn, but it seemed like people could buy and sell text books sort of like our book store.

The next day we went to a bird sanctuary. Its kind of interesting that India has set aside so much land for nature. (yea!) but the birds weren’t there when we went so not much to look at. All along the way on the bus throughout the trip we noticed different agriculture. In some areas it was bright yellow mustard (plains), other areas rice (swamp like areas) in the north we saw brick makers with smoke stacks and mud bricks stacked for hundreds of yards. We were told that the government was trying to get farmers to switch from traditional crops (subsistence farming) to cash crops like spices, herbs and such to bring about more foreign trade. We did not see much evidence of the switch.
-Anyway at the bird sanctuary we were followed by a group of boys and young men who owned about 3 bikes between them (they traded off).
The boys were curious about us, but didn’t speak to us, just watched and joked amongst themselves. I have gotten similar treatment in Africa. It sort of freaked out a lot of the American girls.

The university wasn’t very notable. It was a very cold gray looking building. We ate sandwiches (Jelly or cucumber) and drank coffee to warm ourselves up.
The dorms we stayed in were freezing but quite comfortable otherwise, they each had a bathroom and shower. (I think we were told they were used for special guests rather than students).

The government meeting was interesting, we had very little understanding of what was going on –but later it was open for questions, and then they played a movie for us that was meant to represent the struggle of women trying to get into the local governments and their struggle to get many basic needs.
There is a quota system in place in India for women and low castes to be included in local governments. The system works well in some areas but in most the women are the wives of politicians and play a sort of puppet role. We heard from several of the women at the meeting that they had male counterparts who told them what to do. At another point one woman sort of gasped and covered her face after seeing a man from her town in the doorway. She explained that it wasn’t good for the people to see her –or something… sort of confusing.
The movie was about a town that struggled to get a well dug and operational. Basically the women (who were in charge of house necessities) ended up getting little support from local leaders and ended up having to go around them to get help from the government for money for the well.
-I think it’s interesting that the gender roles were so distinctly different that men in the town didn’t realize the necessity of water. But apparently it is a problem in many areas.


Lastly we had a nice dinner and a performance by some student dancers. The ceremony was more to honor cultural connections between countries (local leaders, Pareena) but it included several performances which we all loved… but it was interesting to see how many of the gender roles were noticeable in the dances. We didn’t understand the lyrics but you could tell that the woman played a submissive role to the man, but was also in charge of protecting her honor. So a pursuing man could be quite un front about his intentions and the woman had to back him off and make sure he was promising her a future together. Also just a lot of cool dance moves.


I guess there is probably too much information here to come up with a sort of end all for the experiance... as far as globalization i think this section, talks about changing roles more than anything, changing gender roles, changing subsistance patterns, changing culture, changing careers. Changes in institutions....

(im sorry im tired and sick and cant think...)

montpellier and nimes

My friend Rachel was attending the university in Montpellier during 2005-6 so she offered to let us stay at her place.
I had only briefly been to Montpellier (a matter of hours spent strolling vacant streets during a holiday) so the city was only vaguely familiar. It was only our third city on that trip and we were already ready to settle down for a week. Krystin was still attempting to do multiple online classes so it provided her a place to read and send homework back. But basically we stayed with Rachel for about 6 days (I think).

During this time, we visited the local sites, went to the university at least once to eat, took a day trip to Nimes, and explored the stores and French living, along with our host.

I think Montpellier is really where Krystin’s love of Kebabs took off. Rachel frequented a few places. Actually one interesting thing about southern French kebabs is that they do it in a different style, the meat and salad is wrapped up in a tortilla similar to a burrito. (Rachel calls them North African burritos or something like that)
Anyway. There are a number of kebab places run by various groups of north Africans that compete for local business, they all have names like “Star Kebabs” “King Kebabs” which is interesting because other than the university which has a small international student population, there really isn’t as much tourism to Montpellier as other southern French cities. This is not because the city isn’t wealthy, its more just a matter of location, Avignon, Nimes, Aix en Provence, Marseille, Cannes and Nice are much more popular for various reasons (history, wealth, movies, beaches, fashion). Anyway, Montpellier’s main attraction is the central square la Comedie, and perhaps the local aqueduct and arch de triumph . La Comedie is not too different from other European central squares; it has some significant buildings making up the sides as well as cafes, restaurants and stores. Often times street performers will gather in the center to make money, there is a fountain and a theater which the square is named after.
Montpellier also has an old quarter directly behind La Comedie, the winding streets often lead to old churches and what look like castle walls, but have mainly been transformed in to a small commercial district, where there are some interesting bohemian elements, tattoo shops, skateboard stores, hip hop stores, West African art stores, as well as some new age candle and craft stores, and small music alternative stores.
Also in this area are some fairly expensive name brand type stores, many of French and Italian design rather than American. A light rail system runs around the old city to the university where we had lunch one day in a cafeteria style set up. The cafeteria served multiple items, greek and Mediterranean salads, free bead (I took several) fries and sandwiches, as well as items to order.
The university looked much like an American university; it was geographically separated to make a campus feel. The classrooms and computer labs seemed very similar to Morris.
On the way back we stopped at a French patisserie which served traditional French pastries, tarts, croissants, strange fruit cookie things…
Krystin and Rachel about died and went to heaven.
We walked the tram line back, on one side was residential housing that looked like suburban style housing, a bit more colorful, but with green lawns and what not. On the other side was the wall and buildings signifying the old town.

I guess I was surprised by the West African influence in some of the shops. They sold the same things they sell in African countries, wooden goods, cloth, crafts… I don’t know why French is heavily associated with West Africa but West African influence is rarely associated with France (where as I think North Africa, does play a pretty significant cultural role in France).
We went to a grocery store that was similar to other European grocery stores –meaning it had multiple levels including items seen more in department stores.
We also went to stores like the virgin mega store, and things like that, very trendy European commercial electronics.

Rachel introduced us to some of her friends, one of whom was a Swedish/Bulgarian who had spent time in America, he was very excitable and outspoken and watching the Olympics with him was a treat, as he ridiculed every nation but the 4 he had called home, while the rest of us couldn’t have cared less.

I also went to a party at some of her friends house, but the party was hardly any different than an American party except that I didn’t speak the language of most of the people there.

We took a trip to Nimes, where denim comes from, with a friend of rachel’s specifically for the purpose of shopping at a local mall that had an H&M a very popular trendy European clothes store. While the girls shopped I walked around the mall.
3 of the 4 food places in the mall served the same style food. The 4th was a multi-style cafeteria place. We ate there. The other places served coffee and sandwiches.
The mall had a grocery store/that really reminded me of a mix between and office max and a grocery store… but probably was similar to a Super Wal-Mart.
While in Nimes, we also went to a creperie (spelling?) and Krystin got to try her first crepe I think she had a nutella one. Nutella being the European’s counter to peanut butter only in a chocolate nut form.
We also visited a church that was closed and a coliseum style arena that was Roman and also closed.

I guess in many ways Montpellier and Nimes are what I would call typically southern French cities. They have great historical pasts, lively centers, a mix of tradition and modernity. The culture is French, but with hints of north African, European and American influence. (my favorite being hip hop graffiti “American” and kebabs “Mediterranean?” )

Marseille

this is probably an exaggeration...

I was not in Marseille long, during this trip, I have been before during the Christmas season in 2002 when American sailors were in port for a week.
Still I wanted to include a few brief thoughts because of how interesting the city is.
(One of my best friend’s family is from Marseille so I visited her while she was staying with her family.) Most of the description here is of the main inner city area (from the train station to the main street and the harbor –approximately 1-2 square miles at most), the suburbs of Marseille seem to have a much different –more traditional southern French look.

Basically from the moment you get off the train or bus in Marseille you can tell the city is not “typical” France. The Muslim influence, Arab and North African is tremendous. Not so much in the actual look of the buildings which are all very western european looking. But in almost every other way. The parks are full of men talking and trading. Several of the main streets have people selling items on blankets and card board boxes. The language is written and spoken in Arabic, most of the people have darker skin, and dress like North Africans. The smell of the food and the people is different; the stores cater to Muslim diets.
There is a McDonalds, there are expensive restaurants and bars along the harbor, but the main areas of this part of the city are very non “French.” I think I described it to a friend as being a French city colonized by or given to North Africans.
It’s a really interesting and dynamic city. But there is a feeling of tension in the air sometimes… I stayed at a hotel on my first trip owned by Algerians, the hotel mainly served Muslim men who stayed for long periods of time. The day before the American soldiers were to leave, the hotel owner in excitement (not realizing or perhaps forgetting that I was American) said something like “Yes the Americans are leaving” then turned to me and “said your people, they leave tomorrow, we are excited” I asked him why they said they didn’t like the sailors ruining their town… I understood at the time, because that morning (Dec 26th) I had seen a drunken sailor stumble out of a public fountain where he seemed to have spent the previous evening… (the water doesn’t run in the winter).

Anyway Marseille is sort of interesting… it does also have a street of really high class western stores, trendy American type stores like Claire’s accessories, and the gap, but also high French and Italian fashion. This street is mainly frequented by white French women, tourists and teens of both sexes of all ethnicities.

madrid

a poem I had forgotten from madrid...
this is about a hostel kitchen, the people were simly making dinner, actually not a whole lot of conversation going on...but i recorded what people cooked and whatnot and it seemed interesting

Communal Kitchen 20:45 Madrid Espana

The representatives gather
Displaying common
Instinctual
Individual…. Desires
Each assigned their place, their nation, their role
They stand… and dance
Cooking
Communally displaying their talents
A different language
Alien ingredients
A pinch of tengo
A dab of salsa
A teaspoon of polka

And we whirl around
The gestures impromptu
The colors
And smells
Of estrangement

What is my dance, my flag, my cuisine?
The French eat Italian -and become the EU
Americans eat tortillas and the Americas unite
Japanese eat European food and Eurasia is reborn

Continents come together in the kitchen
Communal dancing
Community of life.

paris

too much stuff in paris, but heres some...

In Paris Krystin and I stayed at a hotel near one of the main train stations. The Hotel advertised much more than it offered, and Krystin was quite peeved, but I didn’t mind too much.
Paris is a massive city, and me and Krystin were fairly sick of each other so we spent much of our time apart.
We did go to the Eiffel tower and several other tourist attractions together (she went up the Eiffel) I watched the tourists and soldiers who were guarding it. There were many Asian tourist groups, but the weather was rather cold so there were not too many people out. The soldiers were in full camouflage minus the makeup, and with berets, they carried some fairly heavy seeming weaponry, assault rifles… one of the guys looked like he had some sort of rocket launcher or something.. it was odd. Later at the Louvre I saw some more soldiers. I guess in the US we are more used to seeing police than soldiers.
Krystin and I split up in the Louvre, I had already been but it is also just impossible to stick with a person in a building so big. She said she really only wanted to see the Mona Lisa, I think she took a picture even though you aren’t technically allowed to… everyone does.
Outside of the Pompidou I saw a group of Tuvon musicians, using traditional instruments and wearing traditional costumes. Tuvon musicians are known for their throat singing, and the crowd seemed impressed.
One of the main things about Paris that is noticeable is how many people of color there are. Many of the younger people especially didn’t seem to be French born, most were North African -Algerian, Tunisian and Moroccan. Of course in a huge city like Paris, you expect some diversity but the changing demographics really seemed much more apparent in Paris than any other place. At one point I got lost (I do this intentionally while traveling) and ended up walking down a street that had 3 or 4 ethnic hair care places, it was interesting to see how the advertisements were marketed towards certain non white ethnicities, (similar to the US) but in no other place in Europe had I seen so many stores like that. One man asked if I wanted to get my hair locked or braided.
Near the Pompidou is a building that seems to have been taken over by artists or activists (both) they have decorated the outside of the building with colorful banners and flags. They have also made the outside of the building look like a mask of some sort.
The neighborhood we lived in seemed to have a high Arab population, local restaurants and grocery stores catered to Arab dietary rules. One of the restaurants we frequented (they gave us good deals) was run by what appeared to be a family, Im not sure where they were from maybe Jordan or Syria… anyway, at one point I was eating dinner and noticed that the two men who usually ran the place had gone to have a meeting at a table full of men. They seemed to be discussing business and family matters (in a celebratory fashion) but the woman (the wife or sister of one of the men?) was left behind to do the dishes… she was not a cook, and did not handle money, for other customers but when she saw me and Krystin she seemed to step outside of her normal role, and give us extra food or ask if we were ok.
The French, Dutch (and Belgians –I found out later) have a strong interest and attachment to comic books and cartoons. Near the Latin quarter I stumbled upon a block that had roughly 4 comic book stores. These stores had similar items that American stores would have, but the age range of people in the stores seemed sort of odd. Its mostly older men, from 30-60. The cartoons and comic books have many different themes, politics, comedy, satire, action, mystery, sex, etc they also tend to sell action figures and what not.
In Paris the McDonalds have what are called McCafes attached (at least to their major restaurants –especially near tourist areas) these McCafes sell richer style espresso drinks and food items associated with cafes rather than the American style fast food.
The McDonalds breakfast was different too. Pancakes don’t seem to be a French thing, even though they love crepes….
Krystin and I did not go in the Moulin Rouge but we saw the trashy neon lights outside… after checking out Sacre Coeur. Wasn’t much to comment on, except that a guy got mad at me around Montmartre and threatened to hit me because I wouldn’t buy drugs from him. Later when Krystin left I spent a night at a hostel in the area. And a similar thing happened again, only with the aggressors asking me to sell them drugs (which I did not have)… I wrote a poem called Little Town on a Hill about Montmartre and the strip clubs around it and what not. (will follow)
The Montmartre area of the city is still semi bohemian, they sell art and have street performers during the day, at night it is full of small cafes and bars where people play music.
I had some Finnish roommates at the second hostel who listened to really loud rock music, including American rock, and they drank a lot. Im not sure what else I remember about them. The hostel was full of Australians and Canadians and English people, that night I talked to a man about being a podiatrist in Australia, and about areas of Vancouver where you can buy drugs legally. The Canadians were in Europe to party.

My third hostel in Paris was on the outskirts of town, in what seemed to be a more suburban style neighborhood (only still apartment buildings and nice cafes… it was cleaner and newer looking) There were several Chinese, Japanese and Indian restaurants in the area, but the people seemed to be traditional middle class white French.
In this hotel/hostel we (my girlfriend came out to visit) got to meet a couple of Americans who were strongly suited for the Obnoxious American stereotype. When we left the cleaning ladies, said they were sad, because they wished the other couple had left instead.
Lastly… Krystin ate at a French Chinese restaurant… me and Krystin like Chinese food, but I was intimidated by the fact that the food looked like it had been sitting in the window all day (and it had been)… I guess the style is to pay for the weight you want… then microwave and serve.
She said it was good.
Stories about more micro waved food later.
Oh little town on a hill,
we have over run your barricades
of shady dealers, sketchy, meager monstrosities, fantastic glow façade with closed curtains
bombarded you again with the sweetness we call freedom
Oh little town on a hill
why does thou allow our unsavory ways?
Oh little town on a hill
sacred and cherished, delightfully lighted
why are your alleys full of hash and coke dealing baddies?
Oh little town on a hill
So distinct with magnificent fury
Wrap yourself in the paint strokes
The piano notes, the mystic made fashionable so long ago
Oh little town on a hill
Have you grown old, accustomed to our banging and brashness?
Have you slept through the days, spent all of your nights ecstatic?
Oh little town on a hill
Your moat seems to fill quick with men
sneaking behind those dark velvet curtains
Oh little town on a hill
I swear it almost got me, but claiming artist I snuck by
And wonder if it’s a lie
Oh little town on a hill
Passion has been your disastrous decadence
Is it still, and is it our will?
Oh little town on a hill
Capped and domed to surmount your mount
We catch glimpses from far off distances and
Dreamt of sacrosanct asylum in your presence
Oh little town on a hill
Forgive a pleasant dreamer,
Smile serenely but don’t hold my squeamish hand
Oh little town on a hill
Your cobbled roads are rag tag riches,
Don’t pay them for the face lift
Oh little town on a hill
Pull bread from your pockets
These bondsmen have our
Precious passes
and we have spent our loot
on your fine wine and grasses
Oh little town on a hill
Is your love as strong and
Would you wrap us in it for we have been walking all day in the rain
and need your calming bisou greetings
Oh little town on a hill
Proclaim once and for all that you are no madam,
neither the whore
And let us in to fool around some more
Oh little town on a hill
In grace, your star burned bright boheme
spill life on to us and our hearts may weep with joy again

Split and Hvar

In Split I stayed at a woman’s house who rented it out to travelers. On the way in to town on the train I talked to a man who had lived during the war period and had his own questions about America and about Christianity.
We talked for a little while about the war, and he mainly stated that it was about nationalism, and that healing was an important thing. His view on the whole thing was that people were aware that these ethnic and religious lines were not worth fighting over, but some of the leaders were power hungry. –thus everyone should be better now. At the same time he talked about the Serbs as being vicious because to him they were responsible for the deaths of women and children which was unforgivable… the comment through me off –after hearing that he thought they should all live in peace. Unfortunately he was not able to clarify.
He asked what sport we like and told me a little bit about how soccer and basketball were popular in Croatia. He also asked about the role of women in the bible and in Christianity… he was worried that his new faith (born again?) did not give women the respect they deserved (part of his view that all people should be accepted and supported). I pointed out a few verse for him, and he thanked me.
The woman who I stayed with did not speak English very well, and I didn’t ever meet her other renters. Her house seemed like a sort of summer villa. Open to the air, and not much space inside. The streets in the neighborhoods of Split sort of wind and snake around each other, and it is easy to get lost. The two big spots in Split are Diocletian’s Palace and the Croatian Opera house.
The rest of the town seems fairly low key, though the main streets are very attractive and seem to speak of wealth. (the sidewalks looked like marble-probably weren’t, but had a look of money and time spent making things look nice)
The main strip of stores also had this sort of look. I think these few streets and the port were made to look good for the tourists, if you stray off the path a little, things start looking less wealthy.
Diocletian’s Palace is an old Roman building, now destroyed, but its remains have been built in to, and are used for churches, stores and the tourist office (I think).
The Palace has one large bell tower that you can climb (many stairs) and offers amazing views.
The Croatian Opera house where I bought tickets to the cheap balcony seats-tattered covers, no one else around –had a opera about the Turks invasion of Bulgaria. I couldn’t figure much out but the costumes were cute and the music was nice. On the bathroom door at the opera some one had put a “Just Do it” sticker.
There were also a couple movie theaters in the town I think, but none of them were showing English movies (probably because it was not the tourist season).
I guess one interesting thing, is that along the harbor they had a number of large stands where the vendors would sell sports team items and tourist stuff, and wallets and whatever, but they also had Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles… many of them, and it seemed odd because I wasn’t aware that the cartoon, comic book or movie had been so international.
I also saw a store that was selling t shirt in English, with similar –stupid slogans -a popular trend in the US now… like the “I’m with stupid” kind of shirt. But at this store many of the shirts were really sexual, or used a lot more profanity than we would in the US, and this was a high end (teen-young adult) store. Some of the shirts also mocked popular brands –or would say the brand name and include in captions (not fake).
Not sure what it means –just clearly they are aware of marketing trends, English phrases, and interestingly mocking high class (western European) brand names.
There was a boat show in Split while I was there. Speed boats. I couldn’t enter without paying a fee.
I often refer to Croatia as the place where Italians go to vacation, and I think that’s fairly true, one often hears Italian spoken, the styles and food are similar and the cultures of the two countries have obviously shared many connections.
That being said, I might be wrong, but I came to believe that many of the upper class, owners and buyers on the coast of Croatia have Italian connections or background.
Cant really back up that claim.

Hvar Island

On Hvar (a neighboring island) I spent a day (starving because the prices were high) and bored because most of the stuff was closed. I walked near a monastery, a castle, some random streets and what not… but didn’t find much till I was ready to leave.
On the way out, I stopped at store near the port to use the bathroom and inside found it to be another department store, but lower class like a K-mart –it also had an adjoining restaurant but I couldn’t identify where the kitchen was...

Then on the way back I met an interesting woman on the boat. We sat with a Japanese couple, and she made negative comments to me about them (secretly) while talking to them. She was Croatian and actually asked me to come back and live with her and grow lavender. It was from her I got the quote about people being stupid and wanting to think things were better just because they could call themselves Croat now rather than Yugoslavian. She was very cynical about most people, her neighbors, tourists, Japanese and all Asian people. But she was also extremely friendly. Near the end of our boat journey she asked me for money, which I wasn’t down for, but she then explained she was joking… sort of. Two houses and her own business and asks strangers for money… odd. She was definitely nostalgic for the Tito era, and was disappointed with the current situation. Felt the war was ridiculous and silly, but didn’t seem to care too much.

Anyway that was Hvar…

zagreb

One is aware of the beauty of Zagreb the moment you step outside the train station. I didn’t find much to do there however and spent the majority of my time sitting in the central square watching people and writing silly poems.
I did however meet a girl named Mateja who told me a bit about the country and the people but she was something like 14, so I’m guessing that skews the picture a little. One of the interesting things was how easily we related, it was like 14 yr olds in Croatia go through the same things 14 yr olds go through in the US - The same angst, the same rebelliousness. It was sort of fun hearing her talk about her friends who are followers and how she has dreams of doing something bigger, but was stuck there for now.
I did a lot of walking, the city seemed to have some very modern features as well as a more 1950s (rebuilding Europe look) I was in the center of the city, and I assume that the further out you go the differences become more apparent (I would assume both poor/old and new/wealthy neighborhoods. Croatia and Slovenia seem at pace with most of Western Europe.
I did not eat there, but one of the funniest restaurant names I have seen was in Zagreb, a place called Pizza Duck Cut or Pizza Cut Duck (one couldn’t tell by the sign) me and another American I had met were dumbfounded as to what that could mean. But it seemed like a western style pizzeria (pizza hut, dominoes). The McDonalds in Zagreb (like McDonalds in all warm countries of Europe) had café outdoor seating.
There were many nuns and priests walking around, which I had gotten used to because of Poland but was still semi out of the ordinary for an American to see.
There was a giant T mobile billboard in the main square, the sign was translated, but recognizable by the product and logo.
While in Zagreb I went to some cd stores where they had the cds in large cases that you would swing from left to right (similar to how they sell posters at stores in the US) . I bought 4 Roma cds –considered to be popular musicians, but relegated to a second class category of music because it comes from their traditions. Many of the store owners had none, or were surprised that I would want any. People spoke fairly good english. I did not have a hard time communicating with anyone.
At a local kebab stand, the owner sang to the customers… didn’t say much about globalization but it was cute. Coke and Fanta seem to dominate eastern Europe with the exception of Pizza Huts and KFC (which have deals with Pepsi) but you have to look for Pepsi, Coke is easy to find.
The hostel I stayed at was owned and operated by Japanese people, who said they had visited several years before and loved the location, but also were capitalizing on the fact that the market for hostels in the former Yugoslavia was just beginning to open up. The Hostel had a great deal of Spanish speakers, I wasn’t sure where they were from, they did not talk a lot to anyone but themselves.
In general I guess the impression from Zagreb was that it was a central European state, with a strong influence of the past, but looking forward to the future with the doors newly opened.



Silly poems from Zagreb
Poem 1
When the flock flees a feared and scatters
The child stands trumpeting triumphant
The parent stands idle not realizing it matters
To correct young sadists before their screaming announcement
2
If you are in Europe in any town
There is a statue of a man on a horse
This is the man who nobly led
And who was victorious in war
Around the statue will be some birds
Who happen to be the source
And upon his noble majestic head
Will be what these birds know the statue is for.
3
When you see the lonely Babushka selling flowers
With her “help me?” sales pitch
Don’t be deceived by her cunning powers
For in reality she is quite rich
With basements full of hydroponics
Her flower fields bloom in the coldest of winters
And the Babushka Mafia pushes out competitors
While their corporate alliance never splinters

Geneva

Geneva was quite a hassle for me and Krystin, the exchange rate was not kind, and neither was the weather –leaving us with little to do and not much desire to explore.
Our first adventure lead to the waterfront to check out the enormous fountain in the lake that shoots water something like 50-100 feet high. It seems to have no purpose except to say “hey look what we can do!” but might serve some sort of symbolic purpose.
Our walk towards the hostel led us past many stores, the usually assortment of department stores, but prices (I always check prices where ever I go) looked obscene, even the McDonalds we past by was something like 10-12$ after the exchange. Some of the other kids at the hostel did actually buy McDonalds and were quite disappointed with the normal size for such a high price.
The 2nd adventure led us to the middle of the city, where we passed by a clock on a lawn, some churches and cannons… Geneva looks like a small French city, nothing very exciting, actually I think we were rather disappointed with what was saw.
On the way back we passed by a grocery store, which we later relied on for food.
Later (maybe the 2nd day) we went to where the UN building is, and took pictures with the flags, across the street was a protest for peace of some kind, but I couldn’t communicate with the crowd of mostly men (they looked more like laborers in winter coats than what I commonly associate with activists) they had signs in a variety of languages, I think it was a demonstration for a less known situation because I could not recognize the language on the signs…it might have been something like the Kashmir region… ?
We did not go in the UN, I think we weren’t sure how to take a tour, or they weren’t open that day…
So we progressed down the road (I made her walk every where) to the red cross and red crescent museum. Outside the museum did not look very interesting, just a sign or two… but then when you get near the doors they have these statues representing people (prisoners of war?) who are blindfolded and handcuffed. It seemed a fairly inspiring symbolic representation of suffering.
I wasn’t aware necessarily of how or why the red cross was started, so we took a tour of the museum reading all the little information they provided us.
Some sections that were really interesting included, the red cross’s work with letters during war time, the use of the red crescent and the peace agreements that sanctioned the red cross as being an international group respected by all countries despite being a private group. Near the end they had a number of videos displaying current prisoner of war situations, and I watched a number of the interviews which was really hard. In the museum they highlight a number of things, international law regarding humane treatment, the history of the NGO, battlefield medicine, and many other things. I was surprised how little they covered the other accomplishments and pursuits of the group.
They also had a video (I think at the museum) about refugees and people in poverty living in Switzerland, they seemed to present it as if these people were often struggling in other European countries and moved to Switzerland where they found a better life. It is hard to imagine someone in poverty moving to Switzerland considering the prices. If one were to mention a prominent bias in the museum it would be the fact that they paint an image of Switzerland as being a peaceful and wonderful country that is trying to solve all the world’s problems… They do not mention negative things about the country during war time, and praise neutrality.
They had a temporary exhibit on a famous prison in Ireland called the maze or the h blocks, used to torment and demoralize active IRA people (and other criminals or those who were accidentally picked up) it was sort of a strange exhibit because the purpose was to show how confusing and monotonous the prison was.. It gave the prisoners a strange sense of never knowing where they were, because the grounds all looked exactly the same. It was kind of interesting though that the exhibit only displayed pictures and some quotes from prisoners but was basically just photos documenting the existence of the place.


On my own, I walked around certain sections of town. I found another department store that looked very similar to American style, or closer to the El Corte Ingles style in Spain. (later I found similar buildings in many many of the European countries.)

The grocery store was also surprisingly expensive (I guess that’s what you get in a country that is landlocked and rich) I ended up buying pretzels to save money. Even things like milk, water, cheese and bread were expensive. Chocolate (everyone wants Swiss chocolate) was about 2-3 dollars a bar. Swiss knives were something like 18-26$ I think. More than you spend here.

As far as the make up of the city, I saw a lot of different types of people, a lot of different languages. I even though about asking an American businessman to take me out to eat… (decided against it). I guess because the city is so full of international people, diplomats, advisors, NGO representatives, Businesses etc… it makes for a fairly strong mix of people, but it was hard to imagine anyone who did not have a well paying job living in the city.

Barcelona

Barcelona is one of my favorite cities in the world. It has a remarkable amount to show off. A beautiful mix of new, old and older and art is interwoven in the various cracks and crevices, on the streets, the walls, in the museums, parks and sometimes it is the buildings themselves.
We got lost right away, but after that I took Krystin to Las Ramblas, the main celebratory (and tourist) strip. On one side of the street the roads lead to the gothic quarter, on the other side within blocks to the large hill that overlooks Barcelona (and is home to the Olympic stadium) the road its self leads to the harbor on one end with a pillar topped by a statue of Christopher Columbus pointing west and at the other end to the main square of Barcelona. As if that weren’t grand enough they have added in to the harbor a strip of man made land that houses an IMAX theater, a mall, an aquarium, and several dance clubs. Along the street of Las Ramblas are bird cages, street performers, flower sellers, artists, and more. Lining the street are hostels, restaurants, clubs, and tourist stores.

Me and Krystin got in a fight (a reoccurring theme) so we didn’t spend much time together in Barcelona… but I went to two bars, talked to an Englishman and an Australian about life and comedy, went to Park Guell where I saw central or south American dancers perform in bright colored costumes, La Sagrada Familia Cathedral where two bronze painted street performers acted like biblical character statues and gave out crosses to those who gave them money, watched skate boarders wearing hip hop skater gear and grunge skater gear (clothing styles looked like early 90s and late 90s “skate wear”), Saw a statue of little red riding hood and a wolf, saw an anarchist/activist house with the words in English “resist” painted on, another street performer dressed like bill the kid (American cowboys), African art for sale, an animals rights protest, a stencil of MR T painted on several walls, other stencils of Bush and bombs painted on the walls as well as graffiti that said “fuck cops” in English…

The Imax showed American films, but for far more money than an American theater, the mall had a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream store in it, the night clubs (from pervious experience) had 4 different types of music, 1 rock, 1 american country, 1 salsa and latin, 1 techno.
English is very commonly spoke in the tourist section of Barcelona, at one point I ran in to a group of college ages guys (all American) singing their school song (all drunk).
Prostitutes and drug dealers proposition people in English first. Many of the street performers are not Spanish but live there (seen them multiple times on various visits).
Most of the restaurants are catered to Americans and other foreign tastes. I think there was even a new sushi restaurant in a mall on Las Ramblas.

I tend to like getting lost in Barcelona, so I did that a few times on my way to other places, and some interesting things I found was the economic level seems to drop the further you get away from the main area… (if still in the city) when you exit the main city and go to parts of the suburbs –it seems very similar to the US, where you wont see a car dealership in the middle of downtown, but you will in the suburbs.
The stores seem a little bit more run down in certain areas, and it is clear that tourists don’t do there often…
I went to several 1 Euro stores, all run by Chinese people in Barcelona, and it reminded me of what Pietro had said about cheap goods being brought in by the Chinese. (I tend to buy socks and art supplies).
Another interesting thing, noticed both on this trip and others, is that in Spain one of the national foods is Paella, and they seem to have a standard picture regardless of what else the restaurant sells. (the marketing company did a really good job of getting to many different businesses.)
Tapas is a Spanish tradition, but in central Barcelona seems to be mainly enjoyed by wealthy people out on the town for the night. Many of the bars seemed especially fancy, the people would wear nice clothes etc.
We ended up at a pub called Manchester I think, and the Englishman I was with, did not seem to think it was very English-like…

Barcelona is very much an international city, loved by Europeans and others alike. It has a very welcoming attitude regardless of what you are looking for. It provides comfortable settings that Americans can relate to, and seems to even use those American themes to welcome others (country bar, little red riding hood, cowboys, English language) topped off by a statue connecting Spain to America through an Italian on top of a column.

Madrid

In Madrid me and Krystin went to a couple of art museums, checked out a number of parks, town squares, statues, restaurants, department stores and churches.

El Corte Ingles is Spain’s response to the department store. It is interesting that the name translates to the English Court, when it is such a dominant Spanish department store. The stores are usually found in different buildings (taking up an entire building) but similar to department stores in malls that might have a “mens and home” building and another building for “women” or something.. Often each store contains a variety of sections including: clothes, house hold goods, groceries, electronics, cds and movies, make up and perfume, etc etc. As is usually the case in many Spanish cities (speaking from previous experience) the Madrid El Corte Ingles are located near the central square, Plaza Del Sol, and the buildings are on various corners near the center.
I decided I needed a towel. So we checked out the various buildings, we also checked out their entertainment cd and movies sections and spent a lot of time listening to various cds. These stores are set up similar to many cd stores that have headphones you can listen to certain cds on. The sections were divided in to popular categories, but had a distinct Spanish section and then a various international section, however the American artists were often in both, or in various categories around the store… seeming to cross over at will.
The store itself looks like a replica of many American department stores, and besides the language it would be hard to tell apart.

We ate at a number of restaurants, Krystin had developed a taste for Kebabs (gyros) and we frequented a place near our hostel called Istanbul. This restaurant was set up similar to a Mcdonalds, only their primary food was kebab meat rather than hamburgers, other than that, you could get coke, fries, etc. The seating was plastic booths. The pictures on the wall were of various places in Istanbul –but they were prints, and even had some of the same ones repeated throughout the store. Later we saw another Istanbul restaurant, and found out it was a chain of fast food kebab places.
Another night Kyrstin really wanted to find a fun bar, but we couldn’t find any (odd) and ended up at a TGI Fridays. One interesting thing was that they had different food on the menu, didn’t know how to special order, did not have any one who spoke good English, and didn’t seem to serve many American customers… they did however have American film memorabilia and American quotes and slogans all over the walls in English. The waiter was a black man and wore a funny cowboy hat. They served Krystin nachos (a tex-mex food) and electric lemonade. I had coke… this was a bizarre taste of American life in Madrid.
Spanish bars, usually consist of men standing at a bar in a small room. Sometimes they have tapas. We did not try any authentic Spanish food I don’t think.
The museums were obviously amazing (my second time to both) my brother had visited me during my first time in Madrid, and went to one of them twice in that 2-3 days we were there… on that trip my brother and I ate at a “Japanese” fast food restaurant, where you point to the food you want and they microwave it or something… we also ate at a Spanish buffet that served a mix of American Chinese and Spanish food. Paella, fried rice and white rice… it was interesting.
Outside of one of the museums, I saw a man doing street paintings. Oil paint on tile.
One of the interesting parks in Madrid, has an Egyptian temple in it. This temple was stolen (I believe) from Egypt and recreated in the park in Madrid.
Another interesting thing I saw was a Church of Scientology. I really wanted to go inside, but wasn’t sure if they would speak English.

All in all, me and Krystin did a number of the tourist things, but found some of the random non Spanish things were more interesting. A mix of American culture transformed in to Spanish style.

I included a conversation on the blog.

Vienna Austria

It was my second time in Vienna, I went with Krystin and we happened upon a fellow traveler that we had previously met in Geneva. We stayed at a well known hostel called Wombats in Vienna, the hostel was started by Australian backpackers, a sort of tribute to the earlier backpackers who made their way through Europe without fancy hostels and what not… and yet Wombats is just that, a fancy hostel with a bar, security cookie cutter rooms with bunks and lockers.
The place had a friendly staff who were helpful to travelers who wanted to see things about town that might not be in the tourist books, music clubs, dance clubs, bars, cafes, and what not.
This trip to Vienna was the first time I used the Vienna Metro system which has three to four lines. Krystin was assuming that she would be coming back with her parents a few weeks later, so she was reluctant to do anything expensive, I was too cuz I’m cheap. A city with so much to see, and I have barely been to a few of the sites.
The majority of our time was spent walking down one of the main streets Mariahilfer Strasse, the street leads (2 miles or so) through a heavily commercialized area, past a few churches but basically is store after store until you get to the center of Vienna (where all the museums, palaces, opera house, etc are)
It was freezing cold out while we were there, and snowed heavily the second day.
Along with Matt our follow traveler we spent some time getting kebabs (a conversation is included on feb 27 http://mhaggartrips.blogspot.com/)
We also checked out many stores, including a 1 euro store, an English book store, and a McDonalds to warm up.
The English Book store seemed to orient itself to more intellectual topics and was for British rather than American audiences –indicated by spelling of words, phrases, and topics in the store.
The 1 euro store, now a norm for us, contained many of the same old cheap items, foreign made, I think I bought a key chain, but they also sold some higher price items like gloves and hats and the weather was letting us we needed them.
The McDonalds was one of the more interesting restaurants I had see, they seemed to have stylized decorations including some rather beautiful and very colorful paintings on the walls.
In the Museumquartier we went to a modern art museum, that had many Schiele hand drawings and a movie in German about Gustav Klimt, though I couldn’t understand the language I watched the movie for about 45 minutes and it was really fascinating to see his struggles with the University of Austria, his controversial paintings and influence on the Viennese intellectuals.
Krystin, Matt and I compared notes on what we liked at the museum before heading back.
Due to the weather Krystin and I spent a lot of time in doors, doing homework and watching the Austrian version of MTV, I was fascinated by the differences in the music videos, many incorporated special effects that Americans think of as “cheesy” (80s style).
The channel seemed to switch in and out of English, as many of the artists spoke a variety of languages, and it seemed that often times the language the host and the band would have to use to communicate was English.
Also in the hostel was a list of funny misquotes that had been collected from around the world of foreigners trying to use English and ending up saying something rather different. For instance one said, “Is forbidden to steal hotel towels please. If you are not a person to do such a thing is please not to read notis.” Many seemed to use direct translation which screws up the context.
Also while in Vienna me and Krystin found several shops where tourist items were sold, but the shops themselves were not the sort of overwhelming flashy tourist gear that we found elsewhere, but rather seemingly very proud nationalistic shops, where the history and culture of the city and country were presented, music, food, art, etc. These weren’t placed to goof around they were to be respected. –it just seemed interesting how proud and respectful the people were of their cultural tradition, that even when selling commercial souvenirs they had a sense of respectful responsibility to the items…
We also came upon a holocaust memorial consisting of statues that seemed to be trying to show the horror and chaos of the war, and the treatment of the people. The statues were not in a very grand location they popped up out of nowhere sort of one more statue in an area of statues but unlike the majestic mythological figures depicted in the others, these showed anguish and terror. Sort of moving but more creepy, than sorrowful.
I spent 8 euros to get wireless internet in a Starbucks coffee shop on the last day so that I could turn in my homework.
I think in general Vienna has a really nice mixture of new and old, but it is sort of jumbled together. The center of town, is surrounded by parks and modern commercial stores. The back alleys have more traditional stores, wine shops, cheese shops, wooden trinkets and things. The Modern stores are also an interesting mix of American and non American. The Mcdonalds, Pizza Hut, StarBucks mixed in with Viennese versions of similar places, the fast food fish restaurant (german/Austrian) Nordsee, the British book store, the kebab shops, the street vendors with their normal winter assortment of roasted chestnuts, pretzels, cider, hotdogs and small sandwiches.
The people look like city dwellers, the churches stand out in-between stores but don’t look very active.

Florence

A good deal of the education we got in Florence was from Krystin’s family friend Pietro, both of us wrote about the conversations we had with him, so this will be limited to what we did in Florence.

Mainly we were in the heart of the city, where the tourists hang out.
I have been to Florence but never paid for much of the tourist sites. The Statue of David for instance is a fairly expensive ticket, especially considering there are 2 exact replicas in other parts of the city for free… (of course this will never be the same thing, but eh…)
Florence is usually swamped with tourists. It was sort of cold when we were there but we were very open to buying gelato (Italian ice cream) which is much better than American ice cream. We walked around the city for two days basically. Looking at the sites, shopping a little. Krystin spent a while looking at a pair of boots one night. We also had to pick up our tickets for the bus company that we were going to use.

Italy, especially the north is very fashion conscious, so I spent a lot of time looking at the people, young and old with their tight pants jackets and matching sun glasses. A number of school groups were visiting one of the tourist sites, probably the cathedral and I watched them talk on their cell phones, eat ice cream etc. It was interesting to note the way they had different styles as far as fashion- the “alternative” kids had piercings and oddly cut hair, often with different lengths or different colors. There were also groups with more high class fashion…like what we would associate with name brand Gap or Abercrombie etc. but these styles did not keep the kids from socially interacting with each other, the types of style expressions seemed acknowledged but not to the point of shunning anyone. (somewhat different than in the United States). I think when it comes down to it, many western Europeans get caught up in fashion but I didn’t see it being something that separates the people, or perhaps its more like as long as you are expressing a style with enough emphasis then its ok, but you have to put effort in to a style…

As far as American fashions, I really am not up to date or observant enough to know what would be fashionable. I often recognized American stores, but the merchandise often seemed catered to European trends. In Northern Italy and parts of France where fashion is especially highlighted, the most expensive stores are always Italian or French designers, where as American stores tend to sell more basic plain clothes.
The one recent trend in European clothing store that is an exception to the high price market would be “hip hop clothes”. I had never seen a hip hop clothes store in Europe before this trip, but I saw several throughout many different countries this time. These stores take mostly name brand jackets, sweaters and pants, all incredibly oversized and some quite flashy, and sell them for exorbitant prices. I saw some jackets later in Brussels that were probably 200-300 Euros for a regular jacket. The clothes tend to be modeled after American hip hop stars, or athletes. But rarely did you actually see someone wearing this type of style.

Pietro’s family were quite well off. His house was probably a few hundred years old, but had been remodeled on the inside with modern furniture, paintings, etc. The kitchen was especially new looking, but was sort of oddly shaped because of the original design.
We slept in a loft, a room that looked no different than any American room.

Pietro took us to a gas station while out driving one night and the gas station served alcohol. The owner was well known in the area for being a hard working man who had made tons of money. Pietro told us about how the man was very humble and lived modestly but every few years would buy the newest most expensive car, or an old rare muscle car….
We were shocked that they served alcohol to drivers.
We also went to a bar one night that was supposed to be like an Irish pub, and though the man spoke English at the bar, it didn’t seem very Irish, or English.
While at the bar, we heard a lot about how they perceived Americans, and their trips to the former Yugoslavia complete with alcohol and tobacco smuggling.

Pisa and Florence

Pisa

We flew in to Pisa
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on Ryan Air, a small European airline that specializes in extremely cheap low budget flights. We had spent the previous evening in the Glasgow airport.

Clearly not my picture

I had been to Pisa before and assured Krystin that we could see all the sights in a day. We took a bus to the Cathedral Square where the Tower, Baptistery and Cathedral reside.


Took the normal pictures, and then walked around looking at the tourist booths where they sell little trinkets, flags, watches and lots of other little things. The men who sold the goods were not Italian but spoke it and many other languages. They seemed to have friends and rivals amongst the other sellers. I don’t remember where the men said they were from, I know we asked. I think they might have been Pakistani. I also do not know where the goods were from.

Krystin bought sunglasses I think and maybe a flag (she was determined to get a flag from each country).
We weren’t quite sure which of the buildings we wanted to check out. They are quite expensive and Krystin was on a tight budget. We took pictures along the outside of the buildings and checked out the Cathedral which was free I think and then decided to move on. Krystin bought pizza on the street.

On the way back we saw graffiti all over the place, a lot of it was written in English or directed at tourists, I took pictures of one that said “Bush was a murderer” "Bush Shit"  and another that said “stop war” I remember one said “touristas go home” which I think might be Spanish and not Italian, but I’m not sure.

Near the train/bus station we waited for a bus to Florence, which is just a short trip.
I’m guessing I ate McDonalds (I eat there constantly, I know its wrong). The menu items were more expensive than I thought they would be. Krystin ate inside the station which also has a little mall area. She had pasta or something, which also cost a fortune.
We sat in the middle of the mall area for a long time. I think I even fell asleep. Eventually we got on a bus for Florence. I left some of my British change in the mall for the kids to play with.

Stirling Scotland

I went to Stirling with Krystin to see our friend Melissa a friend from Morris.
While in the city we went to a Tesco, a 1£ store, a shopping mall, a Scottish University, the William Wallace Pub, the William Wallace Monument, a chip shop, a local independently owned record store, a cemetery and walked through the castle section of town.

Tesco is very similar to a Super Wal-Mart or a Super Target. The store sells both groceries and household goods. It probably does many similar “cost saving” actions to its American counterparts, I assume this because of the price of goods, many of which seemed to be made overseas. I bought groceries, candy, a cheap calculator and a cheap flashlight.

1£ store. This store was something I hadn’t actually seen before in Britain, but later saw quite frequently. The store was set up and contained similar items as you might see in a 1 $ store here. Many of the items were rather poor quality and once again were probably made over seas. I bought Guinness socks (probably a cheap knock off) and batteries.

The shopping mall was almost exactly what you would see in a suburban shopping mall in the United States, however stores that we would normally identify were replaced by British stores that sold similar products and even seemed to use similar marketing and designs to highlight their stores, for example the British media store Virgin Records, is similar to a Suncoast, or Sam Goody. They sold CDs, movies, books, t shirts and posters.
Price wise the CDs and movies were relatively comparable but the currency conversion makes the goods cost more for Americans.

Melissa went to the University in Stirling for 1 year. While there she studied psychology. The University was designed in a similar style to what we would think of as an American University, including a student union area, computer labs, auditoriums and classrooms, interesting items within the student union were, a bar and a movie theater.


 The William Wallace pub, was a darkly lit, older looking building. It was quite crowded at all times. On some of the wooden beams quotes had been carved saying things like “give him strong drink, until he wink.” In the back they had a pool table (not billiards) which was surprising.

The most interesting thing about the William Wallace memorial was not the large tower with the view of the area, nor the shop that sold tourist goods like Scottish flags and books, but the statue of Mel Gibson near the base of the tower. Mel stood in full Braveheart attire, an interesting wink to the Hollywood version of history.

The chip shop had some interesting items on the menu, things like hamburgers, pizza and chips, but the interesting part was the variation on food items, like hamburgers came with or without a bun, side items might include baked beans or green beans rather than chips or crisps. The girls ordered chips with melted cheese on them and used vinegar (yuck).

The independent record store, was a local favorite for university students. The man seemed to know many of the people shopping, he ran a music trivia night at one of the local bars. The store was cramped, records tapes and cds (in a punk rock sort of set up).
Buttons, stickers and patches, t shirts posters, used music new music, all cramped in a space of maybe the size of a bedroom. The hole in the wall feel of the store was quite British in a sense but had a similar feel and look to independent punk and underground stores in the states.


The cemetery is located in the middle of town, very old. The gravestones were marked with multiple names, meaning they buried the people on top of each other to save space. A number of the gravestones were falling over or falling apart. It did not seem like restoration was a high priority but the cemetery was still being used (we saw evidence of a recent burial).





The old section of town was on a hill and lead up to the Castle. The streets became somewhat more narrow, and some of the buildings were clearly built upon older structures where as others seemed to be a few hundred years old and had been kept up to date, repainted with added light fixtures. The old section had signs along the way that spoke of historic events and places, sometimes the former use of the building.
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Much of Stirling seemed to share many elements with the United States. The housing, university, shopping locations, etc, all had that distinct western commercialism to them, which speaks to the growing globalizing factors that capitalism seems to bring about. Still there were more traditional sections, like the cemetery, the castle and churches, which seem to grasp on to the traditional heritage. The William Wallace memorial with reminder of Braveheart speaks both to the historical significance of the man and his legend, reawakened by Hollywood to show the world what Stirling offers. Stirling seems to be a good example of the mixing of new and old, of global and local.

Not really the highlands of Scotland.