Blog #14: It's Like ManyFaces from He-Man

Blog #14: The Many Facets (and Titles) of My Weekend In Italy

This is the blog of many titles. The Italians deserve it, for better or worse. I have taken the liberty to divide the trip up into cities, then I have given an appropriate title to each of the three days.

Blog #14a: Florence, Italy (6/25/2005 to 6/27/2005)

Day 1: It’s Not a Purse; It’s a European Carry-All!

I arrived in Florence thinking that I would have a nightmarish time getting into the more popular museums and I would pay exorbitant prices for everything. While the latter is true, the former was not. I thought I would need to make reservations for the museums on Saturday to see them on Sunday, but it did not work out that way. The first order of duty was to check into a hostel. The suggested place, Ostello Archi Rossi, did not have a dorm bed open, so I sprang for the extra 6 euros and got a single. While the privacy was nice, I hate not having opportunities to meet people, so I only stayed one night there and one in another hostel.

The first place I visited was the Duomo. This is the dome of some big church there in Florence. It is a quite impressive ceiling and I have posted pictures. The view from the top was great, but, as I have found with most tower views, the pictures do not do it justice. However, this was 6 euros ($7-8) and about 45 minutes of my day spent.

The next stop was the Uffizi. This means office in Italian and was once the offices for some famous rulers. When I thought I was waiting in line to make a reservation for a Sunday viewing, I was actually in line to see the museum. I talked with an American mother and son in line from the Ohio area. It is always nice to run into other travelers who have found out the tricks of the city. I was happy to only wait a little over an hour in line—after hearing horror stories of 2-3 hours. Now the Uffizi is a museum covered with expensive paintings and statues. My main motivation for going there was that Dana had told me there are so many statues there and I have become a real fan of statues in the last few years. I was quite impressed. Yet again, about $10 and two and a half hours spent.

One of the tips these Ohioans gave me was for lunch. Good old Rick Steves suggested a small restaurant just south of Duomo. It was absolutely amazing. I had a great gnocchi with blue cheese and pistachios. It would be hard to find a better combination. Their other tip was to see Accademia in the evening. Uffizi and Accademia are probably the most popular attractions. I arrived about an hour before it closed, waited in line 20 minutes and had more than enough time to see everything. Just about the only thing to see at Accademia is Michelangelo’s David. It is truly impressive. He stands about 25 feet tall, by my guess, then is raised on an 8-10 foot base in a vaulted room built especially to hold David. As everyone says, and I agree, Michelangelo’s attention to detail was incredible. I managed a few pictures (even though I was not supposed to take one) and have posted one—you will probably recognize it. This one hour excursion set me back about $10.

That evening I took Cho’s (one of the other Americans from TU) advice and saw the sunset from Piazzale Michelangelo. This area is now a parking lot on a hill with a great view of the city, its river and the sunset. Also in this area is another of the Davids on display in Florence. All in all, it was a relaxing end to a museum-filled day. I broke my own rule of visiting no more than two museums in a given day, but my average over Saturday and Sunday was only two, so I do not feel so bad.

Day 2: Calcio Storico: As If Italian Men Need An Excuse To Let Testosterone Flair

The day started with a train reservation and me being suckered into the European Carry-All. I did it to myself. I know that was the title of Day 1, but it was too good of a title to pass up. I was simply tired of carrying my water bottle and stuffing my pockets with maps. Do not be deceived: this is most definitely not a fanny pack! This goes over the shoulder. I would rather be accused of carrying a purse than a fanny pack.

Then I wandered around trying to find this ancient history museum, Museo Archeologico. After figuring out how to read a map and road signs, I found this gem. I was enthralled by the ancient Egyptian and Greek relics. I saw part of the Book of the Dead, which I know nothing about, but it is in The Mummy and a couple other bad semi-horror movies, so it must be important. I was particularly impressed with the number of actual Egyptian artifacts they are hiding in this tourist-free museum.

This was the day for not finding what I wanted. I looked for a hostel and found nothing. Apparently the little slip of paper that had been taped on the buzzer had been removed. Has anyone there ever heard of a sign? Then I walked about a mile too far in my attempt to find a restaurant, La Magniatoia, suggested by on of my Romanian friends in Zurich. After sweating like a mad beast and nearly dehydrating because it was just plain hot in Italy, I found this place. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day in Italy and I took advantage of it. I loved my food and went into a food coma promptly afterwards.

I went back to find that the hostel sticky-note had been reattached, so I was able to check in. I asked about Calcio Storico, a sporting event purported to be a precursor to soccer. The guys at the hostel said it is basically soccer for convicts. They were right. This “sport” is played on a sand court only slightly larger than a basketball court. This is 27 on 27. The ball is supposed to be wooden—not a good sign. The travel guide said this would be half soccer, half riot. I beg to differ. When they threw the ball in the air, about 1/3 of the guys started to play, the remaining “players” just started brawling. I saw blood, players being carted off the field on stretchers and seemingly useless referees trying to bring order to this mayhem.

And I repeat: do we really need to give Italian men another excuse to let their testosterone flair? I will let you draw the only humane conclusion that exists. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves.

Once I finally found this fabled hostel, the Firenze Inn, I was glad I did. I met some people and they took us out to dinner (for free!) that night. It was quite nice. I met some nice people… OK, nice girls. Like I said, I was the only guy in sight! My life is so hard. At this pub where we got dinner, there was an interesting poster on the wall. It took a while for it to register, but there was a series of posters from famous Native American chiefs. As I read one, I remembered what I have been thinking since my arrival in Europe. It strikes me that, whatever other people think or whatever Americans may think, America is the place where people can achieve their dreams and live (within some bounds) with freedom and possibilities unsurpassed in history. And yet look at who else has been a proponent of such ideas. While I have always heard about the tragedies inflicted up the Native Americans, it took a smoky, dingy pub in the middle of Italy to really touch me.

Chief Joseph, 1879: “Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to think and talk and act for myself….”

Florence (Firenze), Italy: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2124420182&code=16912609&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

Blog #14b: Venice, Italy (6/27/2005 to 6/28/2005)

Day 3: If You Have Not Been Lost in Venice, You Have Not Been to Venice; or, Italy: Haven of the Euro-Mullet

First of all, there is a God and he likes air conditioning. Second, I think the signature picture for this trip is of the Departures board at the Milan train station. It should read “Ritardo? Is it anything else?” In other words: Late? Absolutely. Instead, the answer to the question was 40 minutes, but quickly became 55. Some other backpackers were telling stories that they were worried because the Italian train employees were on strike sometime last week. On a very normal basis, Italians are late. On the other hand, I was talking with friends last week and we were joking about the Swiss. We came to the conclusion that when they go on strike they are five minutes late. If they ever did it, the entire country would be in turmoil.

Venezia was a nice city. Although I was unable to see inside any of the churches or museums, I was able to see a good amount of the city and squeezed in a boat ride, as well. After taking the Let’s Go travel guide advice, I simply started wandering in the right direction and was not too concerned about making it to the hostel in an efficient manner. After about a half hour of wandering around with my 40 pound pack, I decided it would probably be a good idea to start actually looking for my hostel. A sweaty half hour later, I stumbled up the stairs and was able to drop my pack. Upon receiving directions from a couple of Canadians sitting around, I found my way back to the station in 10 minutes.

As for my hostel, I met some interesting characters. First of all, I do not know where all the guys have been of late, but I have been in hostels that are absolutely chalk full of girls. I am not complaining, per say, but allow me to give you an example of what I have been facing…..

Other than being traumatized by meeting seven different Canadians in one day, one was extremely tortuous. She considers herself an actress. If she means she is a bleeding heart, loud, obnoxious attention whore, she must be the best actress who has ever walked the face of this earth. One of the Texan girls I ran into made a flippant comment about being glad that at least we have the U.S. dollar and it is usually strong enough, but it could suck to be an Australian or Canadian because their dollars are weaker. Reasonable comment. Unreasonable response from the Canadian flake: Tell that to my friend Poombi in Thailand who has no arms. Alex, I will take Overkill for $800, please. Yes, Poombi, we do feel bad for you. If she considers you a friend, having no arms is the least of your worries.

I walked around the city quite a bit in my day there. I must have walked for miles, although that has become the norm, of late. I heard that a great way to see the city from the canals was to just get the public transportation boats. For about $6, a reasonable price for such a touristy place, I was able to take a boat almost all the way around the city. It was a nice change from walking. So I did not do a romantic gondola ride around the canals… but you all know me better than that.

Venice (Venezia), Italy: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2124416339&code=16914513&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

Blog #15: Last Details and a Little Fun

Blog #15: Finals Week in Zurich (6/28/2005 to 7/3/2005)

The last few days have been fun and good. I have actually studied… I think for the first time all semester. I have a few more days of that and then no more for quite a while! I still do not know how I feel about actually finishing school. I have already started a list of things that I may want to take as night classes, namely, I have developed quite a need to know more languages than English in the last few months. German, French, Spanish and Australian are currently on the list. Maybe I will take a cooking class, too. We shall see.

The first final and the first last class were not the best I have ever had. Our presentation could have been better and the final exam… you guessed it: it could have been better. It is, however, over. That is important. I ran down to the Hauptbahnhof, Zurich’s train station, to meet Alex. If you remember from Blog #13, she is the Aussie girl I met in Munich. I had finally suckered someone into visiting me in Zurich! Actually, it was quite nice to repay the backpacking community by hosting someone with a free floor to sleep on since I have crashed at other people’s places for so many nights. In fact, Alex was great. We had a lot of fun and I had the opportunity to see some things in Zurich that I would not have, otherwise.

The first thing to know about Alex is that she is Australian, but Greek by heritage. I actually asked her if her life is like My Big Fat Greek Wedding and she had to admit that, while the movie was a bit extreme, there was a nugget of truth in it. The second thing is that she is serious about food. She worked at a food magazine in Australia for five years. Now while I may have been able to fool some of you out there into thinking that I know what I am doing in the kitchen, I knew that this young lady would see right through my home-grown knowledge. As a matter of fact, my strange tuna pasta leftovers that I had just thrown together did receive accolades, but that does not mean that I was not on my toes in the kitchen around this professional. The other night we made some really good pork with green salad. All in all, I managed to not land flat on my face in the kitchen, so I was happy.

We went out for a walk in the city to see all the popular stuff. We strolled the Bahnhofstrasse, the street where you can buy your Rolex and Armani, down to the Lake of Zurich and up through the residential areas. This is where my excellent tour guide skills failed me. My excuse is that I did not have my compass with me. I think it was a latent desire to prove to Alex that compasses are good companions for travelers. So we were walking, and walking, and walking. Finally, not willing to admit that I was tired of walking, Alex suggested we catch the tram. We found the next tram station, I deciphered the map and judged that we could actually walk uphill faster than we could take the tram back to town, since the tram did not go straight uphill. So this was a failed attempt to reach home, as well. One thing this venture proved to both of us is that you do not have to go very far in Zurich before you are in the wilderness. After thinking we had reached our destination, we had actually reached the end of the line for the tram we had decided to not take because it would take so long. We finally found a grocery store so we could eat that night and made it home, weary from a good day of walking.

On Thursday we experienced the great Lindt Let-Down. Lindt is a very popular Swiss chocolate made here in Zurich. While we were told we could not see the factory, we made it to the headquarters so we could see the one-room museum and hope to taste some of the chocolate. After about an hour of travel time, we arrived at Lindt. The construction was a foreboding clue, but… you guessed it… the museum was closed. It was quite appropriate since it was the only thing Alex actually wanted to do in Zurich, other than visit yours truly. We were given some excellent (chocolate) parting gifts that all but appeased our sense of loss. It was really funny, though, because Alex has an old family friend who works in marketing at Lindt. OK, this is a chocolate factory… his name is John Candy. That is funny. Admit it. He was in a meeting and we were unable to meet him, but we left a note and headed back to Zurich for lunch.

As we waited in the train station for our train to Zurich, we inspected a particularly sketchy (that’s Australian for “questionable”) looking vending machine. Other than selling AA batteries, this machine contained iced tea. This was not just any iced tea. No, no, you couldn’t have that in Switzerland. It was flavored with Swiss cannabis. Yeah. This stuff came in a cardboard “can” and we had to get a picture of Alex posing with the drink and vending machine. Alex claims she could not tell the difference in taste, but she did not grow up near the South where people know how to make iced tea. Imagine iced tea that had been used to wash your dirty socks. I do not suggest this: it does not clean the socks and does not help the tea.

To continue in theme that this was a day for drinks, we found a shop later in the day that actually sold Dr. Pepper! Alex spotted it because we had talked about how I had been unable to find it in Europe and she thinks it tastes like medicine. I do not understand why people say that—it must be psychological because of the name. I paid about $2.50 for a 12-oz can, but it was worth it. It’s Dr. Pepper! I even posed for a picture in front of the store with my prize. Just when I thought Europe was uncivilized, they surprise me yet again.

We met up with Cho in Zurich for lunch. We were in search of Thai food, but we (and by “we” I mean Cho) did not know exactly where this place was located. After searching and asking, then asking again, we found a Thai place that was, by Zurich’s standards, reasonably priced and very tasty. We then wandered around this great walking district and hit a couple second-hand stores. As with most things in Zurich, these stores are amazing, albeit exorbitantly priced.

My second last class was good. It was short. There was one group presentation and our professor wrapped up with a few short lecture notes and closing statements. I really enjoyed this class… I just hope it likes me back!

After spending Saturday packing and wrapping up some loose ends, I went with Cho and Ben, our German friend, so see War of the Worlds. Not a bad movie, but I do not see it winning a Movie of the Year award. Just call it a hunch. There was a narration by Morgan Freeman and a really creepy, short part by Tim Robbins. We wrapped up the evening with more Thai food at the place we had discovered with Alex on Thursday.

Now we come to the end. I am turning in my key to my dorm room today. I have two more weeks to jaunt around Europe before I head home to the good old U.S. of A. I have loved my time here, have met some great people and learned quite a lot, but I will not regret returning home. I have learned the value of being able to buy whatever I want, at anytime of the day, at Walmart. I will probably stand speechless for 5 minutes in front of the first clothes dryer I see. A tear may even form in my eye. I will eat more Mexican food than should be humanly possible. I will buy Dr. Pepper because it is cheaper than water or beer. I will turn the air conditioning on full-blast and freeze my fingers and toes, just because I can. I will go to a restaurant, drink a coffee and talk as loudly as I want because there is no touchy Viennese lady at the next table who can “hear everything I am saying.” And if there is: we are in America and you can move to another table, thank you very much. I will not pay to use a toilet. Period.

In the next couple weeks I will try to make the most of my time in Europe. I leave Zurich today and will fart around in Switzerland for a couple days before I have to be in Geneva for a final I am taking early. Here is my schedule (subject to some change) for the last couple weeks before I return home.

Sunday 7/3 leave Zurich, Lucern
Monday 7/4 To Lugano
Tuesday 7/5 Lausanne
Wednesday 7/6 Geneva (exam at 3:15)
Thursday 7/7 Berlin
Friday 7/8 Berlin
Saturday 7/9 Berlin
Sunday 7/10 Brugge, Belgium
Monday 7/11 Brugge
Tuesday 7/12 Paris
Wednesday 7/13 Paris
Thursday 7/14 Paris
Friday 7/15 Normandy
Saturday 7/16 London
Sunday 7/17 London
Monday 7/18 London
Tuesday 7/19 fly to KC
Wednesday 7/20 Home

Feel free to email me while I am on the road. I have a tentative schedule for my trip to Oklahoma and Texas at the end of July. Here it is…..

Location To Do
Tuesday 7/19 Missouri Arrive late
Wednesday 7/20 Springfield Crash
Thursday 7/21 Springfield
Friday 7/22 Springfield
Saturday 7/23 Springfield
Sunday 7/24 To DFW
Monday 7/25 San Antonio Dr. Ingram
Tuesday 7/26 Houston
Wednesday 7/27 Houston Big get-together at Wen's
Thursday 7/28 Houston
Friday 7/29 Houston
Saturday 7/30 Houston/Conroe
Sunday 7/31 Tulsa Libby
Monday 8/1 Tulsa Around town, Andrew
Tuesday 8/2 Springfield
Wednesday 8/3 Springfield Pack to move
Thursday 8/4 Rolla Dan, Wilsons
Friday 8/5 Chicago
Saturday 8/6 Chicago Find Apartment
Sunday 8/7 Chicago
Monday 8/8 Chicago
Tuesday 8/9 Chicago
Wednesday 8/10 Chicago Work


Pictures from Finals Week in Zurich: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2124410263&code=16919216&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

Blog #13: Everything in Temperance

Blog #13: Munich and Dachau, Germany (6/21/2005 to 6/23/2005)

Just when I thought I was really getting the hang of these night trains, I went to Munich. Maybe I had slept too well the night before and I was just not tired, but I could not get to sleep. I arrived in Salzburg at 4:28 to catch a connection to Munich, so it was a short night, regardless. It may have simply been a nightmare, but I think I woke up at one point to a group of 5-6 guys walking around without their shirts off. Maybe they were drunk and got hot. It is an unpleasant memory.

I arrived to Munich early and had to shoot some time before my bike tour. I took the advice of a friend and decided to do a bike tour of the city so I could get a quick overview and decide what to do from there. To pass the time I went into the trendiest McDonald’s I have ever seen. They even had a Big Eggs & Bacon. Not having actually seen real bacon in Europe before, I partook. I have yet to see real bacon in Europe. There is something they do not understand about smoking the meat. It is a simple concept. Since no one else in his or her right mind would order such a breakfast, I had to wait a while to get it and was repaid with an extra coffee and an OJ. I needed the coffee.

I took a short walk around the city and took a few pictures. I saw the Glockenspiel, but not in motion. Then it was off to Mike’s Bike Tour. At first it was funny because I was playing the same “Lost” game in my head that Dana was at the Pilsner Urquell Brewery in Plzen. I picked out the slightly dysfunctional dating couple. The rather clueless young college girls out “doing” Europe. The bashful guys over in the corner looking like scared rabbits. The cynical, half delirious marathon runner. That was me. I was half delirious from lack of sleep, cynical because of it, and you know I am not a marathoner but I was sweating like one. I have probably said this many times before, but if sweating becomes an Olympic sport, I would be in the running for the bronze. I would say the gold, but I never like to set my sights too high.

One of the funniest things that our humorous tour guides said was in reference to Canadians. As they were giving introductions to the bike tour and the city, Frankie asks if there are any Canadians in the group. When no one replied, he just said, “Oh, good.” I do not know what it is about Canadians… maybe we just like to make fun of them. Then again, Blog #14 (arriving soon) has some Canadian references and I think I understand Frankie a little more. The second funniest thing he asked was, “Who here has seen the Glockenspiel?” A few people hesitantly raised their hands. The reply to which was, “Well, for most of you, that’s good: it is something you can never un-see.” After witnessing a similar clock tower in Prague… I understand. My question was: And people wait around to see this?

The bike tour was fun and informative. We road for a couple hours and saw a good bit of the old town. We stopped for lunch at China Garden, one of the largest beer gardens in Munich, the home of beer gardens. For those of you planning to visit Munich, beer gardens have some of the best local foods at reasonable prices. The beer isn’t so bad, either. After an hour break from riding in the warm weather, we hopped back on our bikes. I have neglected to mention that this beer garden is in the middle of the largest inner city park in the world. Once upon a time it was the royal hunting grounds, but in an effort to win the people over it was donated to the city. Like most things royal, I do not think the gesture worked. Now the park is treated as a nude “beach.” There is even surfing on the river. Check out the pictures. Fortunately for you and me, I did not take pictures of the nudes at the “beach.” Let me reiterate my rule of thumb for Europe: if it is nude, there is an extremely good chance you do not want to see it. This particular park is the favorite gay hangout.

That first night I was rather out of it because of my short night and profuse sweating. I was dehydrated all day long. Despite this, I went out with some friends and got back to the hostel late. Have I mentioned yet that it was hot in Munich? The hostels do not like air conditioning, either.

After sleeping in, I decided to go to Dachau for the day. If you do not remember it off the top of your head, Dachau was one of the infamous work camps in WWII. It was not like Auschwitz, an extermination camp, although it did have a gas chamber and crematorium facilities. While the Nazis claimed that these facilities were unused, many people were still executed or died from starvation. This was quite a sobering experience. As a history buff and eternal student (c’mon people! I’ve been at it for 13 + 8 = 21 years! Half the travelers I meet aren’t this old.), I think it is valuable to have a first-hand account of this particular darker side of humanity. While I normally shy away from such abject atrocities on any level, I think it is important to remind future generations what can happen to us. It was one of those days where I stared at the pictures and soaked it in very quietly because it felt like a place where reverence was prerequisite. It is, quite literally, the death place of thousands of people and witness to some of man’s worst accomplishments.

On a lighter note, back at the hostel I met one of the girls in my dorm room. This Aussie was meeting some other Australian friends for dinner and invited me along. I was glad she did, for meeting people and/or making friends at a hostel can make or break the backpacking experience. Thus far, I have been fortunate to meet friendly people in my travels. While I was the guide for the group because I asked where the best local cuisine restaurant was located, I was the only non-Aussie in this group of 12. Most of the group knew each other because they are traveling on the same route at roughly the same time. They all use this guide company called BusAbout, a hop-on, hop-off bus tour spanning Europe.

My tour guide from Mike’s Bike Tour, Sigi (pronounced Ziggy), works at the hostel where we all stayed. He suggested this restaurant called Lamm’s. It provides excellent Bavarian cuisine at decent prices. Much of the group went for the special: knee of pig. Although I heard it was quite good and I am always up for some good swine, I passed. This waitress, very good for putting up with and having patience for a large group of non-German speaking tourists, actually answered the question(s) I always like to ask: “What is the best? What do you like?” I have been surprised because only two Europeans have actually answered that question. It is quite strange. However, #454 was an absolutely amazing dish. There were three meats (chicken, pork and beef) in a creamy mushroom sauce, with Bavarian-style gnocci. I was in pain from stuffing myself with this wonderful concoction.

The most fortunate result of this evening, other than some amazing food, was that I met Alex. She was serious when she said she is passionate about food. She worked at a food magazine for five years and knows more about food than I do. I rarely run across a person like this. It was also nice to run across someone else who is traveling Europe, for the most part, just to experience the different foods. After Lamm’s, we visited the famous Hofbrauhaus. This was a really funny place. Inside it was quite nice… and then there were all the drunks and the Bavarian band. We had been told by the tour guides that you can pay something like 10 or 20 euros to actually conduct the band. That could be a fun picture, if it weren’t so expensive. They also said that the Asian tourists have a great affinity for this experience. Our experience confirms this: of all 6 people that conducted the German band, all of them were Asian tourists. Now that is just funny. Picture the lederhosen and the hats, the brass instruments… and the Japanese tourist, without a clue, attempting to conduct. Funny.

My last day I spent at the Deutsches Museum. This is Munich’s science and technology museum. While I only spent a little over two hours there and literally flew threw what I saw, I still did not see everything. If you can imagine it, they had it: music, airplanes, ships, submarines, atomic physics, medicine, Einstein, electrical tools, steam engines, mining, oil drilling, math, computers, and the list goes on. It was, by far, the best 3 euros I have spent in Western Europe. It would have been nice to spend more time, but I needed to catch a train and after about two hours at any museum I start going wall-eyed, anyway.

Now comes the part where Chad justifies his assertion that he has yet to miss a train. I returned to the hostel to pick up my pack when I remembered that Wendy (my middle sis, for those who do not know her) told me I had to try “café and kuchen,” or coffee and cake, while in Munich. Well, after the receptionists at the hostel stopped laughing at my reprehensible German, they told me about a great place to find genuine, homemade kuchen. I dash back across town on the subway and am unable to find this place. I actually walked by it about 5 times before I saw the minute sign. On my last attempt, just before I called it quits, I found the place and bought coffee and cake. Now it was time for a mad dash back across town with my pack, sweating in the heat and spilling hot coffee on myself.

As I said, I did not miss the train. There was not a train to miss, but if there had been a train, I probably could have jumped on as it was pulling out of the station. If I only knew how to read a train schedule, I would have known this. Now, with two hours to kill before the next train, I could eat my café and kuchen in peace.

On the train from Munich to Zurich, I was in a compartment with a Swiss guy named Chris. He commutes to Munich every week. We spent nearly two hours talking about the European Union and Switzerland. What I took away from the conversation was that the EU is even more screwed up and has fewer hopes for success than I had formerly believed. In an effort to create a market competitive with the U.S., they have imposed a ridiculous amount of quotas and restrictions on agriculture and industry. Forgive me for playing the fool, but aren’t they trying to catch up to the U.S. because we have encouraged competition and hard work? I don’t understand. Socialism makes no sense to this simple Midwestern boy.

Check out pictures from Munich: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2124754754&code=16786449&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite