Normandy

Visiting Normandy was extremely important to me while I was planning my trip. I actually rearranged my time in Paris and London so that I could make the jump to Normandy and be a part of this tour company's American Highlights tour. World War II has always fascinated me, and the June 6, 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy was not only the largest amphibious invasion in the history of the world, but it marked a distinct turning point in the flow of World War II, and it may have been the most vicious and brutal battle the Americans saw in the Atlantic Theater. The stories, both at the macro and micro levels, are unreal. The drama, from privates first class all the way up to Eisenhower, FDR, and Churchill, is palpable. Making the decision to go was a major gamble. If the invasion failed, as the Canadian invasion of Dieppe had failed in 1942, the blow to the British, American, and Canadian armies would have been extreme, and the blow to our morale may have been devastating. The propaganda message would have bolstered German spirits for months. The Russians, knowing that a western front would not be opened soon, would have felt down-trodden and exhausted as they had been throwing their men at the eastern front by the tens of thousands for years, using the sheer size of their population as their greatest means of resistance.

Thankfully, and I really mean that, the invasion was an incredible success. Despite heavy losses, we shattered Normandy's stretch of Hitler's "Fortress Europe." The Allies gained a strategically invaluable foothold on the Continent to complement their superiority in the air, and from there we surged forward and spent the next ten months liberating western Europe as we pushed through Nazi forces until we met the Soviets in Berlin, where the eastern and western fronts finally converged.

The historical significance of D-Day cannot be overstated. For instance, there were two Swedish men on my tour. When I asked them what interested them in the D-Day tour, it essentially came down to the fact that but for D-Day, they would likely be living in a Nazi- or Soviet-controlled country, as one of those forces likely would have controlled the whole of Europe eventually.

But for me, D-Day is not just about its historical significance. The invasion of Normandy says something about the very fabric of America. This trip has made me extremely grateful to be an American, to be able to live and work in the United States, and to have the opportunities I have in my home country, but no experience over here has made me more grateful for my nation than today's time on the Normandy coast. These men, most of whom were 18-25, jumped out of planes into the darkness of night, lit only by the moon and German tracer bullets and anti-aircraft shells. They stormed beaches where Nazi guns were shooting large-caliber bullets to the tune of 32,000 rounds per minute--at Omaha Beech, over 500 bullets per second were roaring down from the fortified guns and toward our landing craft. With sheer bravery and determination, they pushed the Nazis back and had taken over many important towns and beaches within 15 hours, after Hitler had spent four years fortifying this section of the French coast. At the US Cemetery in Normandy, there is a sculpture that represents the spirit of American youth rising from the water, and that really captures what we did on June 6, 1944. We started with a few thousand that were out-gunned and in poor fighting positions, and within days, we had opened a viable western front that was so critical to defeating Germany (only having an eastern front with Russia was not guaranteed to be taxing enough to make Nazi Germany fall--only two full-fledged fronts guaranteed US-Soviet success). Within weeks, the Allies used those beaches to bring thousands of tons of equipment and almost two million soldiers onto the Continent. Hitler had had his way with western Europe for long enough. Now, the fight for Europe was on, and on our terms. The rest, as they say, is history.

So, the story. Originally the invasion was planned for the spring of 1944, and then for earlier in June. Eisenhower finally made the call to go for June 6 because of the combination of an advantageous break in the weather and a full moon. For months, the Allies had been placing a huge volume of false chatter and intelligence into the stream to make Hitler believe that Patton would lead the invasion into Calais, a spot in northern France that was a straight shot from England. To aid that illusion, ports were filled with any old boat the Brits could find, and citizens were told to wear what looked like military uniforms. Then, vast fields were filled with wooden and blow-up dummies of planes, tanks, trucks, etc. Thus, when the Nazis flew over to take intelligence photos, it looked as if there was a giant mass of activity to confirm the theory of the impending Patton-led invasion. The Nazis feared and respected Patton after his North African success, and they thought he was coming for them in the north. They were wrong. In fact, it was not until deep into July, a full month after the Allied invasion of Normandy, that the Germans realized that D-Day was the real invasion and that there was no great invasion coming in the north.

When the clock struck midnight on June 6, over 800 allied planes were on their way from Britain to the coast of Normandy. These planes each held a "stick" of 18 paratroopers--elite, well-trained forces that would skydive in at night (each with 150 lbs of gear while the sky was lit up by anti-aircraft fire) and pave the way for the tens of thousands that would hit the beaches at dawn. Despite the fact that many of these men were dropped miles from their objectives, every single strategic objective was completed, from seizing key bridges to taking out important Nazi gun positions. The first town in France to be liberated was Sainte-Mère-Église, where an American flag was raised over the town square at 4:30 am.

At about 6:30 am, 255 Army Rangers reached the shore by boat and, despite gunfire, grenades, and cut ropes, managed to climb the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc, within artillery range of Utah Beach, and take out strategic guns that would have punished our soldiers landing at Utah. To this day, the inside of one of the bunkers at Pointe du Hoc is entirely black, charred by clearing it of the enemy using a barrage of flamethrowers. But these Rangers paid for this success with many lives--without enforcements, and holding off Nazi reinforcements for two and a half days, fewer than 100 of these heroic men were able to fight on after this offensive and the ensuing defense of the point.

Utah Beach itself was a great success, and fewer than 200 Americans died on Utah Beach. Omaha, however, was a very different story. The fortifications at Utah were not fully operational on June 6, 1944, but Omaha was fully functional. If you have ever watched the beginning of Saving Private Ryan, that opening scene is a depiction of Omaha. And the Germans were not just shooting straight out at our landing craft--they were smart--they shot the high-caliber guns across the beach such that their lines of fire from different ends of the beach would meet at a point out over the water, creating a virtual wall of bullets (over 500 per second) that Allied soldiers had to cross. Our soldiers saw their landing craft gates drop only to be greeted by a wall of high-caliber fire, mowing them down from front to back. Sometimes, only the last two men in a landing craft of 30 lived to exit the boat, and then they had to get into the water with 100 pounds of gear, make their way to the beach, and then brave the sand, which meant a half-mile run from the water to the rocks. One veteran that told his story to our guide was only one of two that made it out of his landing craft. He said the beach was not littered with bodies, but rather pieces of bodies. He was shot twice while running across the beach. When he made it to the rocks, he was receiving orders from a commanding officer while that officer was killed right in front of him. Sparing some more gruesome details, that man had nightmares about Omaha Beach for 60 years. It was a vicious, brutal, blood-soaked hell. 3,881 Americans died taking Omaha. It took over 8 hours under unrelenting Nazi fire to silence the guns on the hilltops above the shore, but by 3 pm on June 6, the Americans controlled the beach.

(Please view my Normandy album, which highlights some other amazing stories from the invasion of Normandy.)

From the five beaches and several towns taken by the Allies on D-Day, the Allies were able to push forward and liberate western Europe. The French in Normandy have never forgotten what their allies did for them on that day. To that end, Normandy is probably the only place in the world where stained-glass windows in the churches feature Mary with American paratroopers falling from the sky.

Today, the American Cemetery in Normandy sits on a hilltop overlooking Omaha Beach. The French government gave the land to the United States, so when you enter the cemetery, you are on United States soil (i.e., for memorial services, the US president gives the French president permission to land his helicopter, not vice versa). Thousands of US soldiers are buried there, and many of those soldiers died on June 6, 1944. If you are an American and you go to France to visit Paris or see other sites, I implore you to take a day or two to visit Normandy to see these places and visit the American Cemetery. Viewing the thousands of gravestones is life-changing, and when I began to walk them from the sides with the inscriptions, and I could see each of their names, their divisions, their home states, and the dates on which each of them gave their lives, I was overcome with emotion. It's not just a field of crosses and stars of David--it's a field of individual stories, stories that ended here in Normandy, on these beaches and in these fields--and sometimes even in the skies overhead. It is an incredibly moving experience, and one that speaks to the core of what we want America to be--a beacon of light to the world, upholding what is good and promotes freedom, even at the highest cost (as Churchill said of his own people, they value freedom far above their lives). It also reinforces our view of America's Greatest Generation, one that is slowly leaving this side of eternity, but one that Americans should always look to for inspiration and direction in pursuing our ideals. The bravery and sacrifices of the Allied thousands who jumped out of planes and into a firestorm in the middle of the night or stormed the beaches of Normandy at dawn on June 6, 1944 paved the way for the liberation of millions and shaped the free world that many of us know today, and for that, we should all be grateful.

- R

Paris

[I recently discovered that coming home makes it easy to become extremely busy again . . . right away. Sorry it has taken me so long to post these last four entries!]

I have to say, Paris took me by surprise. I was excited to see it, because then I would have seen all three of Europe's three great cities--Paris, Rome, and London. However, I was not sure how I would feel about it. For example, I thought Rome was amazing from a historical perspective, but I found it to lack a distinctive charm that would make me want to return for a more leisurely vacation. Paris, by contrast, was extremely charming. I had a great time walking the streets. Today, on my fourth day there, I had no real agenda, so I woke up, had a cappuccino, took the Metro to a park I wanted to see, and spent the day wandering from there. It was really fun to walk a street, look down 3, 4, or 5 ways from each progressive intersection, and then just walk the way that interested me the most.

Paris really is a city of distinct districts and neighborhoods, and each of the 18 "arrondisements" has a different feel. I stayed in the Montmartre neighborhood near the Sacre Couer, and I found this area, formerly inhabited by many famous 19th- and 20th-century artists, to be very charming.

I was pleased with how I planned Paris--I had roughly four days, so I did not need to rush anything. On the first day, I didn't get far, but that was no big deal, I had plenty of time. I had dinner at a little French bistro in my neighborhood, and having resigned myself to trying the signature regional dishes throughout the trip, I dutifully ordered the escargot with a small glass of rouge, for charity's sake. Soon, a steaming plate of garlic, butter, and parsley-laden snails was before me, and I went to work. To eat escargot, you need to hold the shell in a special gripping tool with one hand while you use the other to extract the flesh with a small fork. Anyway, as I'd heard, snails are not bad at all. They don't have much flavor beyond what they are cooked in, and the texture is totally inoffensive--when cooked, it's quite similar to that of most meats. The main thing is not to overthink it. Don't picture your sidewalk after the rainstorm, just eat it and smile.

After dinner, I walked a couple blocks to shoot the Sacre Couer at night. This is a brilliant white marble cathedral on a hilltop in northern Paris, and it can be seen from all over the city. The cathedral is quite new in relative terms (completed in the early 20th century) and it is stunning on the inside (no photos by request). I was very fortunate to peek in during a late-night Friday mass, and there was a beautiful female voice singing in French while many hundreds of votive candles (the most I had seen in any church in Europe) were illuminating the church's interior. Sometimes you are blessed to stumble upon these things while you're traveling, and even though I couldn't take photos, I will have that image for a long time.

Day 2 was very productive. I woke up and had the most incredible pain au chocolat imaginable. It was so perfect. Pain au chocolat is the flaky pastry dough used to make crescents, but it's folded like a rectangle with little chocolate blocks inside. Browned the French way and totally airy and flaky with delicious chunks of chocolate, this was obscenely delicious and texturally astounding. Ok, France, you do win at some things, just not militarily, I suppose.

After breakfast, I took a train out to Versailles, the elaborate palace built by Louis XIV. The palace is absolutely massive, and the gardens are almost incomprehensibly large. They just go on and on for thousands of feet. You actually have to walk over a mile through the gardens to get to Marie Antionette's smaller estate, which is also part of the property. My high school history teacher, Mrs. Patterson, discussed Versailles quite a bit and peaked my interest in it, so it was fun to finally see the Sun King's grand palace.

Fortunately, Versailles did not take as long as I had planned, so I had time to take advantage of more Parisian offerings during that Saturday afternoon (most museums in Paris are closed on Monday, so if I could fit extra ones in on Saturday and Sunday, I was going to). I rushed back to the city and went to the Musee d'Orsay, a 20-year-old museum housed in a former train station. The d'Orsay is very impressive--I (*gasp*) actually enjoyed myself here more than at the Louvre. For one, having been converted from a large major train station, the structure itself is art. The interior is beautifully done. Beyond that, the art is more relevant to my interests than the Louvre's collections, which tended to be older. While I was there, the d'Orsay had a phenomenal Van Gogh exhibition that pretty much schooled the Van Gogh Museum's collection (note--only the last 3-5 years of Van Gogh's work is actually very interesting). The Van Gogh exhibition was totally captivating, and I found myself staring at many of the pieces for long periods of time. Van Gogh's work really speaks to me for some reason--perhaps because it captures a mood more than reality, and perhaps because he found so much beauty and wonder in nature, as do I. Also, I'm a bit colorblind, and I find the bold, whimsical strokes of bright colors to be very enticing--his paintings seem to dance as you stare at them. Also, I learned that one of my favorites, the Mulberry Tree, is actually in Pasadena, CA, and ironically, one of the d'Orsay's premiere pieces, Starry Night on the Siene, is actually on display at the De Young Museum in SF right now (I'll have to go see that at home). Also, there is a really cool piece by Eugène Burnand showing Peter and John's faces when they first see the tomb on the morning of the Resurrection. The painting is pretty awesome, both in the mood it captures and in its photo-realism. If you visit Paris, do not miss the d'Orsay.

Next, I still had a little time, so I went to the Rodin Museum, which features Auguste Rodin's sculptural works, including his famous "Thinker."

After a day of palaces and art museums, I was ready to clear my head a bit, so I did a large part of the sites walk through Paris. I walked from the Rodin, under the Eiffel Tower, to the Arc d'Triomphe, and then down Champs-Élysées, all the way to Concorde. When I got to the Arc d'Triomphe, there was a large French military ceremony going on--probably to commemorate some important surrender or something.

Finally, I went back to my neighborhood and sat down to dinner. On my second evening, I was going to try a French dish that is a bit more my style: steak au poivre, which is steak with a black pepper sauce made by deglazing the searing pan with whiskey. Most fancy American chophouses offer this as an option, but the meat in those restaurants is typically so good that you don't want to taint it with anything. However, a bistro in Paris presented the perfect opportunity to try this French dish, and I really enjoyed it. With salad, frites (French fries), and a glass of Côtes du Rhône, this was a great meal.

On Day 3, I woke up and had a really amazing cappuccino made for me--the milk and coffee were layered, unmixed, in a glass mug. Nice trick, Ms. Barrista. Also, I had another solid pain au chocolat (how I will miss thee, P.A.C.). Then, it was on to the Louvre.

So, you always hear about how the Louvre is huge. People, the Louvre is *beyond* huge. It's a massive palace that Louis XIV left when he moved to Versailles, and he decided that at that point, it should be used to store the royal art collection. Then the French people went all revolutionary, seized all the royal property, banished the monarchy, and decided that the Louvre would be used as a state art museum. So basically, it's a *massive* palace with four floors of art spread over three wings. It took me over three hours to walk all of the hallways (without stopping much), and in that time I saw Liberty Leading the People, the Mona Lisa, etc. etc. etc. Basically, by the time I left, I feared my head was going to explode.

After the Louvre, I could not handle another museum that day. I needed some time to walk around a bit, so I did some more site-seeing and walked to Notre Dame. ND is pretty cool, but to be honest, some of the Cathedrals in Spain and Italy are far more striking, both inside and out. I guess they just don't have Disney animated features going for them . . . .

Later that afternoon, I went to a wine shop to find a hostess gift to take to Lily in London, and this shop in Montmarte, La Caves de Abbesses, has an awesome little wine bar in back where you can sample many of the wines on the sales floor while munching on mixed plates of French meats, cheeses, and nuts. I tried a great Crozes-Hermitage that I picked up for Lily and had a delicious plate with walnuts, generous portions of two French cheeses, and some French cured ham. Add on a basket of amazing French bread, and this became a nice light dinner.

On my last day in Paris, I checked out of my hotel and took the Metro to Jardin du Luxembourg, an idyllic park south of the River Siene. (Side note--I stayed right off of the Metro's Line 12 and thought that was a really great line for getting around the city. You may want to consider that in choosing accommodations since Paris is quite large and many of the points of interest are spread out.) After that, I grabbed a sandwich and took it to Place des Vosges, the oldest planned square in Paris, which more than anything took me back to Washington Square Park in New York. Then I walked the streets, sipped a couple espressos on the sidewalk, and caught my train to Normandy.

I really enjoyed Paris, and I could definitely see myself returning here with Jen to relax and, when I'm a bit further in my career, experience some of the city's many Michelin-star restaurants. Until then, "Vive le France!"

- R

Brussels

0-for-2. Brussels was a 5-hour stop I had built in on my way to Paris from Amsterdam, and after less than two hours (including an errand to grab a host gift for Keenan in London), I found myself in the train station's ticket office trying to change to an earlier train. No dice.

I ate a good waffle, though. So I guess there's that.

Amsterdam

Meh.

Interlaken

Interlaken is an amazing place. If you like the outdoors and enjoy regions like the Sierra Nevadas or the Colorado Rockies, add this to your list. There is incredible hiking and lots of other conventional mountain activities, but the area is also the extreme sports capital of Europe. At any given moment during daylight, you can look up and spot at least three parachutes falling above you. At one point while I was walking through Lauterbrunnen Valley, I heard a chute open, and someone had base jumped from a point right above me (probably the "Nose"). Interlaken is home base for the local rafting, canyoning, paragliding, hang-gliding, and skydiving companies, and they do a great job of offering some alternative ways to take on their Swiss Alps.

After I arrived from Zurich, I took a local train to Lauterbrunnen and then did a 4-5 mile hike up the valley rim to Murren, a town on the cliffs far above the valley floor. This was two hours of continuous climbing, and returning took just as long because of the trail's steepness, but it offered some beautiful views of the region's snowcaps and glaciers.

On day two, I finally decided (an hour before the group departed) to go canyoning. Canyoning is an activity in which guides direct you down a canyon featuring a white-water river of snow melt and glacier melt. Through jumping, hiking, rappelling, and riding natural waterslides, you make your way down the canyon. Long story short, it's a blast. Now water has a specific heat capacity of 4.187kJ/kg-K, meaning it takes a lot of energy to heat water, so between melting up in the high-elevation fields of snow and ice and meeting us in the canyon, the water maintains about the same temperature--it's just above freezing. ("That'll wake you up in the morning, boys!") They give you wetsuits, but the first time your head goes under, there is a good chance you'll get an ice cream headache. That means when you jump into a pool from a rock 30 feet above, you get quite a shocking splash, but it's a really exhilarating experience. If you go to Interlaken and you're in the 18-35 demographic, do not miss out on canyoning!

On my last day in Interlaken, I wanted to take it easy and rest up a bit to beat a cold I'd been fighting, so I just went back to Lauterbrunnen and walked the valley floor a bit. Down there, I went to see the Trümelbach falls, an amazing set of waterfalls that are fed by glacier melt and snow melt and fall through the inside of the mountain. The pictures don't really do this place justice, but it was really cool to see ice cold water roaring through caves at 20,000L/second (nerds--I'd guess turbulent flow but don't have the Reynolds number).

After leaving Interlaken (photos here), we went to Basel, Switzerland to catch our overnight train to Amsterdam, Nathan's last stop before heading home.

- R

Zurich

From Munich, we took a Sunday morning train to Zurich (Zürich) and dropped our bags and Dan and Leslie's apartment (Dan is working in Google's Zurich office for a few months before Leslie starts her job). I did a couple loads of laundry and then spent a couple hours walking around the city.

Zurich struck me as much smaller than its fame would indicate. That was nice, however, as it allowed me to see a great deal of the city in a short amount of time. It was a perfect Sunday afternoon, and the locals were taking full advantage and relaxing along the shore of Lake Zürich.

I liked Zurich--it has a very nice, clean, classy vibe going on. And the Swiss are a bit quirky relative to other Europeans--for example, they will not break the law, even if following it is entirely impractical. If you have a red "Walk" sign with no cars in sight in any other country in Europe, that is generally an effective sign to cross the street, even if a cop is standing right there (I have observed this directly). In Zurich, however, they will wait for the green signal, and if you cross without it, locals will look at you funny. They also value time above pretty much everything. Punctuality is key, trains must not be late, you get to meetings early, etc. Dan remarked that he always wears his watch because when he wasn't wearing it at work, people would look at him during conversations like he was giving them the finger. In NYC, when people are stopped at a crosswalk, they look at their iPhones. When the Swiss have a pause like that, they all swing their elbows and look at their watches. But hey, no wonder they make such great watches.

I should note, however, that Zurich is probably the most expensive city I have ever been to. The city was founded by the Romans as a point of tax collection on a major trade route, and it's still bearing the torch of extracting money from passers-by today. I ordered a simple dinner entree that probably would have been $12-18 in the US, and it was about $32 USD in Zurich. A simple coffee is at Starbucks in Zurich will run you about $5-7 USD, and Nathan's lunch of chicken nuggets and a milkshake was over $13 USD. So if you decide to go for an extended stay in Zurich, bring wads o' cash.

Overall, we had a nice, relaxing day walking through the town and hanging out at Dan and Leslie's place. We had a nice dinner with some of Dan's coworkers from Google, one of whom was Swedish and created an atmosphere that could only be compared to sitting with Wikipedia . . . in every language. Intricate points of Russian history, German films, Swedish trivia, etc.--this guy was a sponge. I bet he even codes pretty well, too.

The next morning, I left for Interlaken on a 9 am train so that I could take advantage of a full day there. You can view my Zurich photos here. Thanks for reading!

- R

Munich

We arrived in Munich (München) around 1 pm after a six-hour train from Berlin. After checking in to our hotel, we went to the city center to meet up with our friend Dan at Munich's Google office. Dan's wife Leslie, one of our Berkeley Law classmates, also joined us there, and after getting a tour and verifying that it was another colorful, cool, quirky Google office, we set off to see some of the city center, take pictures with the Champions League trophy, and grab a late lunch.

Munich is not huge, and the city is pretty relaxed and charming. It really feels like a place with no pretense--just relax, enjoy the city, and have fun. It is pretty easy to see why so many people have a special affection for the city.

One of the sites I wanted to see in Munich was Hofbrauhaus, a nearly 400-year-old brewery and restaurant located in the city center. It is on almost every list of "must-do" things in Munich. Hofbrauhaus might be the most famous beer hall in the world. [Beer Hall Putsch?] The place is really cool--it holds 2,000 people, a Bavarian folk band is playing, a crowd of locals and not-so-locals is yelling and clinking their massive steins, beer is served by the liter, and the dishes are hearty Bavarian plates of sausage and roasted pork. It makes for a pretty fun experience. I had read about one of their signature dishes, roast suckling pig, and that was absolutely delicious.

After that, we walked over by the English Gardens, which is Munich's great city park, covering more area than NYC's vast Central Park. We spent a few minutes watching local surfers ride the river's standing wave. If you go to Munich, try to find the wave. It's really fun to watch this landlocked surf community jump in and shred it up.

I'm not a fan of going to clubs, but I did let Leslie and Dan drag me to one for about an hour, and in the case the club itself does merit some discussion. The club, P1 ("P-ein") is actually one of Germany's most elite, and it sits in a large museum. The museum was built under Hitler's orders to be a site for Nazi propaganda, and because of that history, the site is taboo to all museum committees and conventional businesses--only club managers will touch it. The place still didn't sell me on the club experience, but I found the story to be interesting.

The next day, it was September 18, i.e. Day 1 of the 200th anniversary of the first Oktoberfest. This year's festival is not actually Oktoberfest 200 because about two dozen have been canceled due to war or famine, but it was still touted as the 200th anniversary. We arrived at about 10:30am, which is cutting it close if you want to sit down and don't have a reservation. Luckily, a table of German kids that were generally a couple years our juniors had just enough space for the four of us and let us sit down with them in the Spaten tent. Then, everyone sat and waited for the next 90 minutes. The festival officially begins at noon when the mayor enters the Schottenhamel tent and taps the first barrel--until then, none of the special "Oktoberfest:" beer can be served.

Soon enough, the traditional Bavarian band came marching in, the mayor tapped the first barrel, and then the servers started coming out with arms full of as many steins as they could carry. After that, everyone was singing with the band, standing on their benches, and clinking steins with every table in their general vicinity. It was pretty cool to be in a tent of 6,000 people where everyone is relaxed and having fun, and I think the atmosphere that creates is what makes Munich's Oktoberfest so special to those who attend.

After leaving the festival, I met up with Harry, a Berkeley Law classmate that served with me on my year's Executive Committee for the California Law Review and will also be joining me at Orrick as an associate (I'll be in Silicon Valley, he will be in SF). Harry will be living in Munich for the next year, and I had the pleasure of meeting his girlfriend, Mirjam, and their beautiful new daughter, Oriana. It was great to see Harry in what will be his hometown for the next year, and I look forward to working with him at Orrick down the road.

My time in Munich was short, and I would definitely like to return. It is a very nice, relaxed, fun city, and it has a distinct charm. I can see why world travelers and Oktoberfest patrons often become repeat visitors when it comes to this great Bavarian city. You can view my photos here. Thanks for reading! Cheers!

- R

Berlin

We only had one day to explore Berlin, but I had planned out a walking route that would allow us to see much of the city, and I think that actually covered things pretty well.

Berlin surprised me quite a bit. First, I expected the city to be more cold (socially speaking, like NYC vs. Chicago), but did not really find it that way. Second, I was very surprised by the openness with which modern Germany faces its 20th-century past. It's actually quite impressive that they face it as head-on as they do. The Holocaust Memorial (specifically, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe) and the Topography of Terror are extremely engaging, and they neither shy away from any detail nor water down any fact. In fact, I found the message and warning from these two sites so impressive that I have compiled a second Berlin photo album in addition to my more traditional album. I know the material is heavy, but I would encourage all of you to take a few minutes and look through it on full screen, because I think it is important that we remind ourselves not only of what happened, but also how and why. Over less than a decade, what started as general animus snowballed into open hate and oppression, and a "civilized" society found itself carrying out barbarian acts in a cold, methodical, systematic fashion. "It happened, therefore it can happen again." I organized this album in such a way that it tells the story by itself. Please take a few minutes to look through it--I'd prefer you look at that over my traditional Berlin album.

Our walk started at the Reichstag, the home of Germany's legislature. The Reichstag was not used much during the Nazi era--mostly because of the 1933 Reichstag fire and the fact that parliament held little political power under the Third Reich, but returning the legislature of the newly united Germany to the Reichstag following the collapse of the Soviet Union was a very controversial decision given Berlin's history under imperialist and then Nazi Germany. Today, the parliamentary chamber is covered by a glass dome that lets in natural sunlight, symbolizing transparency to the people.

Next, we moved on to the Brandenburg Gate, one of Europe's most famous landmarks, and one you may recognize from photos of Nazi rallies in Berlin during the 1930s.

From the Brandenburg Gate, we walked to Berlin's Holocaust Memorial, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Photos from this are in my other Berlin album. The memorial itself is stunning and strikes a very appropriate tone. It is meant to be disorienting and confusing when you enter it, and this effect was intentional, as the evil of the act itself should instill similar feelings. Underneath the monument is an absolutely incredible exhibition with historical information, letters from Holocaust victims, and more. In this case, I really mean it--no trip to Berlin would be complete without at least an hour to wander, educate yourself, and reflect here. I also found it appropriate that this memorial sits within view of the Reichstag itself--a subtle reminder that government actors and beaurocrats can effect great evil from legislative chambers and agency offices, even if they never personally participate in the acts themselves. Nathan and I did not really say anything to each other for quite a while after leaving this site--the sheer weight of the evil it recounts is far more disorienting than the grid itself. It's hard to write about more than a week after visiting.

(I should also say that reflecting on the cities I have seen that were heavily affected by the Holocaust has made it more real to me. I did not have many Jewish friends before law school, but now I have a large number of dear friends that are ethnically Jewish. As clear as the evil of the Holocaust was before, it is beyond heartbreaking to imagine a society in which these friends would be threatened simply on the basis of their ethnic and religious identity. And in a way, this shows how education and travel make the lessons of history all the more real.)

Next, we followed the path of the Berlin Wall (still marked in the city's streets and sidewalks) and walked to the Topography of Terror, which occupies the site that used to hold the headquarters of the Gestapo and the SS. This also took far longer than expected, as the information and presentation are extremely gripping. I couldn't leave until I'd read every display over the roughly 100-yard walk.

We then followed the Berlin Wall's path a bit further to the site of Checkpoint Charlie, a powerful symbol of the Cold War--where East met West, and Communism met freedom. Thankfully, today, traffic flows freely from both sides, and papers are not necessary. Also marking the site are souvenir stores, a small museum, and a McDonald's.

We continued our walk by the museum island, the cathedral, and Alexanderplatz, and then made our way back to our hostel. Our hostel was in a very nice residential neighborhood, and that area of Berlin really took me back to Lincoln Park, Chicago. North of Alexanderplatz there are many nice, charming neighborhoods.

I couldn't handle another plate of rich meat paired with (1) something pickled and (2) some ultra dense bread or potato dumpling, and southeast Asian food is pretty trendy in Berlin right now, so we ate dinner at a great Vietnamese restaurant on a quiet street north of Alexanderplatz. Then, with two packed days in Munich awaiting us, it was time for bed.

- R

Prague

I know, it's really cliche. It's really cool to visit Prague right now, and it's really cool to think Prague is really cool. Well, Prague is really cool. I really enjoyed our two days there.

First of all, getting to Prague was not our finest travel experience. When you're in California planning a trip, you most likely think, "Oh, Prague, Budapest--those are those two eastern European cities people go to now. They are probably just over the hill from one another." Wrong. . . . False. The train from Budapest to Prague is seven long hours. Also, even though RailEurope.com lets you book a rail pass reservation from Budapest to Prague, part of the journey is not covered by your rail pass. So when you enter Slovakia, the Slovakian conductor will dutifully inform you that your rail pass is worthless here, and you'd better pay up if you want to stay on the train and cross his country. Awesome! Thanks so much for the head's up, RailEurope.com.

Now once we actually entered the Czech Republic, it was pretty neat. One of my mentors at Orrick, Spencer Jackson, spent the better part of a 3-hour dinner telling me an awesome story from the mid-1980s about when he and his friends, all newly minted Berkeley graduates on a Eurotrip, decided it would be cool to drive a BMW into Soviet Czechoslovakia. Let's just say it involved Soviet soldiers, threats, suspicion they were CIA operatives, desperate poverty, $0.05 beer, and fleeing back across the Iron Curtain quickly in lieu of being detained over a minor car accident. Well, things have definitely changed in the Czech Republic today. It was cool to see the CR after hearing Spencer's story and seeing modern Hungary, because everything about the country today seemed to embody stepping forward with pride and confidence. Everything seems nice, well-maintained, and forward-looking. (But there were one or two cool reminders of the Soviet era, such as the Soviet military graveyard our train passed in the CR which held junked Migs and Cold War-era tanks.)

Upon arriving in Prague, we met up with Jen Raab, a Berkeley Law alum who finished a year before us, and her German boyfriend, who she met on her now ridiculously long post-bar trip. We sat down for some traditional Czech food, and I ordered the "Village Mayor's Feast," which consisted of duck, ham, roasted pork, sausage, heavy bread dumplings, and everyone's favorite regional delight--pickled cabbage. Lunch was great, and after saying goodbye to Jen, Nathan and I went on to our hostel, St. Christopher's Mosaic House, which has to be one of the nicest hostels in Europe. I've stayed at many hotels that don't hold a candle to the place.

In the evening, we walked around a bit to see Prague at night, which is simply stunning, and we ate dinner on the main square.

The next day, I ate breakfast at the hostel, and then I rushed over the river and up to the castle to see the Czech changing of the guard at noon. This was a really cool changing of the guard ceremony, and if you like that sort of thing, be sure to check it out when you're in Prague. The ceremony took place in a light rain, which added to it a bit for me. The royal grounds are open to the public, and they are fun to explore. The hilltop also contains a large cathedral, gardens, and various craftsmen such as glass etchers. In addition, there are beautiful views of the city below.

On our way down the hill, it was definitely time for some lunch (5 pm!!), so I stopped into a restaurant and ordered one of their featured menus (common in Europe)--vegetable soup and a Czech sausage. Nathan did not order because he had already eaten something, and our hostess berated him for this because "this is not what we do in the Czech Republic." So if you sit with a friend at a meal in the CR, you'd best order something.

Between the Jewish Quarter and the main square, I bought a trdelník, which is a Czech pastry that is wrapped around a wheel and then baked by spinning the wheel next to a heat source (like gyro meat). When it's ready, they take the wheel and slide the pastry off the end. This was one of the best pastries I've had in Europe--definitely seek one out if you visit Prague.

On our second night, we decided to stay in and eat at our hostel. We hung out with a really fun Aussie couple and sampled some of the world-famous Czech beer. And since our waiter forgot about us and our order entirely and our food took two hours to come (I didn't really notice because we were having fun with the Aussies), we were only charged about half of what our total should have been. Score!

In sum, Prague is a great city to visit. I know it's so trendy, but in this case I think its popularity is well-founded. I would have loved to visit with Jen, as it is a very beautiful city, and I really liked the eastern European flair to the architecture. It was very fun to shoot and explore. Also, the food is quite good and the local brews are amazing (and very cheap--generally about €1-2). Check out my album to see some of Prague's beauty, and if you're in the 18-30 demographic, stay at Mosaic House, even if you're not a fan of the "hostel" label. It's essentially a nice hotel catering to a young demographic. I'd love to return to this charming city with Jen down the road, and it would also be fun to visit some other Czech towns, such as Český Krumlov.

- R

Budapest

Our train ride from Vienna to Budapest was five hours and generally followed the Danube River, which touches both cities, but the five-hour ride fit right in with this marathon stretch of our trip--overnight train, five-hour train, seven-hour train, five-hour train, six-hour train, four-and-a-half hour train . . . all in about a week. Until this week, we had taken our time (by my definition) and built in a lot of Mediterranean beach towns, but this stretch was a bit too ambitious. It left me pretty exhausted and nursing a rough cold.

What struck me the most about Budapest was that to this day, it still seems to show some of its Soviet-era past--much more so than our next destination, Prague. I do not mean this in terms of Soviet stars and hammer-and-sickle emblems everywhere. Rather, this showed in the "concrete block" architecture of many of the buildings and in the economic status of many residents that, while not desperately poor, did not seem quite as well off as many of their European counterparts. The entire day was characterized by a dull gray sky, but something about that felt appropriate for the place.

Also, the currency, the Hungarian forint, made things a little more fun here. We felt like kings because we dropped thousands of forints all over the place. To know the price of something in euro, just divide by 280. So my 4200-forint dinner was about €15. I changed €10 with our apartment's owner so that I could get 2500 forints to pay our cab driver the next morning. We made it rain.

Another big difference was getting further away from familiar languages on the linguistic continuum of Europe. In Spain, I could understand a lot and read almost anything. In Portugal, southern France, and Italy, I could read quite a bit and pick up the gist of things. In Austria, I knew some important German words. But when it comes to Hungarian or Czech, the languages of these two stops, neither of us could read or understand a word, which can make thing a bit interesting at times.

We stayed in an apartment north of the Chain Bridge, so we started out by working our way south down the river. First, we passed Parliament, an impressive structure that is the largest parliamentary building in continental Europe. It was built in anticipation of accommodating the representatives from the (as envisioned) vast Hungarian Empire. At the time, Hungary consisted of three times the area it occupies today. The whole Hungarian Empire thing didn't work out so well (so much of the space lies unused today), but hey, the building's nice.

Next, it was on to the Chain Bridge and Buda Castle. Originally, Budapest was two cities, Buda on the west bank, Pest on the east. But over time, their identities merged into Budapest. This area was neat, and I really wanted to return to shoot the bridge and castle at night, but I found myself too exhausted to make the trip.

From Buda Castle, we stayed on top of the hill on the west bank and walked over to the cathedral and the rest of the Castle District. Then we crossed to the Pest side to visit Budapest's synagogue, which is one of the largest in Europe and contains a very well done memorial garden dedicated to Hungary's Holocaust victims. During WWII, the Hungarian government resisted Nazi pressure to turn on its sizable Jewish population, but after Hungary fell, that protection was gone. The garden features a silver weeping willow tree, the leaves of which are engraved with the names of victims.

We ended our tour with a walk to the cathedral and a quick trip out to the Heroes' Square and Vajdahunyad Castle. Then we had dinner in our neighborhood and tried two Hungarian specialties: goulash (beef soup) and paprika chicken. After that, we called in a night early because we had a 5:30 am, 7-hour train to Prague the next morning.

Budapest was very interesting (album here), and it was neat to see a real Eastern European city, but I do not think I would plan to return because there is another eastern city called Prague, and Prague is awesome. (See next.)

Vienna

Our overnight train from Florence arrived in Vienna at about 9 am on Sunday. We dropped our bags at our hostel and then went to meet up with my friend Becci. Becci grew up in Germany, and we became friends when she spent one year at my high school (we also went to Sadie Hawkins together back in the day). Today, she works for IBM in Vienna, and she was kind enough to plan a great day for us in Vienna and spend her Sunday showing us around the city.

We started the day with a delicious breakfast at Schiffstation, a new restaurant situated right across the canal from Becci's IBM office. I had some delicious buckwheat pancakes with berries and banana slices. It was a great spot, and we enjoyed watching the locals relaxing over Sunday brunch.

Next, we jumped on a special tram that goes around the city center and describes (in eight languages) the major buildings and monuments along the way. Then we walked through the city center and came upon a food and music festival that was taking place in one of the city parks. There we sampled some Viennese sausages, and one of Becci's coworkers was staffing a gourmet Austrian cheese stand, so she gave us a few samples of the region's cheeses.

After our lunch at the festival, we went to see the Palace of Belvedere, and then Becci drove us out to the edge of the city to walk along the river. Here, we could see some of the vineyards that surround the city--we did not have time to go, but if you visit Vienna, one fun thing to add to your itinerary is a stop at a "wine garden," which is Vienna's answer to Munich's beer gardens. They are essentially outdoor cafes among the vineyards where you can pair regional foods with the area's young white wines.

When we returned to the city, Nathan went to see some more sites, and I joined Becci to see an evening service at her church in Vienna. This was really cool, since it was an international church. Some songs were in English, but about half were in German (though I knew them from American churches), and the sermon was given by the pastor (from NJ, USA) in English, but each sentence was repeated in German before he would continue. It was neat to see a church like this in the middle of a major European city, and I also enjoyed the experience because my friend JP had attended an international church when he studied in Germany, and this gave me a little more understanding of what that may have been like.

After the service, we met up with Nathan again to eat Vienna's signature dish: wienerschnitzel. Essentially, this is a piece of veal that has been pounded thin and then fried with a breadcrumb coating. Tasty, but really filling! I was glad that Becci told us to order 1/2 orders (which they called "kinder"--i.e. children's plate), because that was definitely enough.

Nathan and I had an early train to Budapest, and Becci had work the next morning, so we called it a night after dinner, but we had a really nice day in Vienna. It is a clean, beautiful city full of pleasing architecture and Austrian pride. It was also really nice to see Becci after 8 years and catch up on her life, educational, and professional experiences. You can view the album here. Thanks for reading!

- R