Ah, Barcelona, the land of sangria, tapas, and mosaics out the wazoo. I can honestly say it’s the most aesthetically pleasing city I’ve been to so far. I also enjoyed the huge amount of freedom I had to sightsee, since I didn’t have meetings interrupting my day or making me wake up early.
So what did I see?
Well, on Friday evening after we arrived, we visited Font Magica, a wonderful fountain that is synchronized to music and with awesome lighting effects. Then we went at got some bad tapas and wonderful sangria. After a quick disco nap, a €2 shot bar was visited, and then we walked a EXTREMELY long way to the beach, where we frolicked in the Mediterranean at about 2:30 am. Walking some more, we happened upon a series of beach side clubs, which all charge €20 as a cover. So, we took a taxi back to our Alternative Creative Youth Home and went to bed.
Now, here is where I need to mention the party/living environment in Barcelona: Get to the club by 2:00 am at the earliest, party until 5:00 or 6:00, sleep for however long, eat breakfast around noon, lunch around 4:00 or 5:00, dinner at 10:00, repeat. It was exhausting.
Anyway, woke up the next day and saw la Rambla, la Boqueria, Rambla del Mar, an awesome floating bridge, the gothic center downtown, and Gaudi’s most famous buildings in Barcelona. Don’t know who Gaudi is? Neither did I. He pretty much shaped Barcelona’s most influential architecture with modern designs way before his time.
The church he designed, Sagrada de Familia, is still under construction. I thought, though, after being worked on for 127 years, there would be something substantial inside to see. So, I paid €9. TOTALLY SWINDLED BY THE CHURCH. It was still very under construction. I’m still bitter about it.
Anyway, that night we went to Razzmatazz, a very large club that was only €15. It was supposed to be life changing. While I don’t think it was quite that amazing, it was a good time and there ended up being some nice live music by this random electronic band.
The next day was Easter, so peeled myself out of bed for early mass, which didn’t feel like a mass at all, considering that I had no idea what the priest was saying and there were tons of tourists milling about. Anyway, saw Parc Guell, Gaudi’s other masterpiece. It’s this huge, gorgeous park that’s home to the longest park bench in the work. And America’s Next Top Model Season 7 Final Runway Show.
Afterwards, we went to the Picasso museum, and then finally had delicious tapas for dinner. That night visited the Dow Jones Bar, where the prices are supposed to fluctuate based on supply and demand. It was fun, but not the fast paced night I was expecting. The next day, got up super early and back on a plane to good ‘ol Freiburg.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that it rained practically ALL DAY on Sunday. What a super spring break weather. Oh well, life goes on. Until next time!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
NATO, Strasbourg, and Obama
So, let me tell you about my awesome venture to Strasbourg
I saw a lot of bigwigs within the context of my NATO Youth Summit; the highest level person was the Secretary-General of NATO – he’s a pretty important guy, if you didn’t know that.
(That's him.)
There were (surprisingly, for me at least) a lot of students from non-NATO countries, the most controversial of which were Afghanistan (there was a remarkable amount of Afghan-Germans – odd), Ukraine, and Georgia. Needless to say, there were a lot of negative vibes coming from them.
I was at this little summit for all of Thursday where we were served pitiful “buffet” lunches and dinners that had little food, but amazing wine and champagne. On Friday, I had to wake up at 5 am to venture to France for another day of meetings and OBAMA!
We had to walk to the place where the town hall was, and I ruined my shoes in my hustle to get there. It wasn’t because it was far away – on the contrary it was a short 5 minute walk. It’s because I practically had to jog there to try to keep ahead of the pack, as the non-American students were just as excited to see him, so it was a constant race to stay in front. I think this says a lot about our improved image abroad. For me, it’s not a horrible thing to be an American abroad (at least in Western Europe it's still just not horrible. In Eastern Europe it’s AWESOME to be an American – they love us there, but to get back on track…). When we got to the meeting place, the woman who was escorting us through the ridiculous security told us we were the least well-behaved group.
So, I finally got in, sat down, and waited for an extremely long time. Then, Obama came out and gave a very predictable, albeit very nice, speech. Then the town hall portion arrived. I was saving up all my question-asking karma for the past two day, hoping that it would pay off and I could talk to Obama.
WRONG! The first question was from an American, and after that he asked that no more Americans ask questions, as he wanted to hear from French and German students. I was sad, especially when I heard some of the stupid questions that were asked, the pinnacle of which was “Do you regret running for president?” It has to be said that Obama turned it really nicely into a plea for public service, and it was a good ender, but STILL – I was going to ask about NATO’s future and it taking a preventative role in the world and climate change. But whatever. I’m totally not bitter or anything. Not at all. Not the least little bit…
ANYWAY – I was at least on CNN, which has been my life’s goal for a very long time. I wanted to actually be speaking while on CNN and be the primary focus of the camera, but beggars can’t be choosers. I think I’ve already found my new life goal right there.
When we were leaving Strasbourg, our bus had to take a road that went past the Holiday Inn that Obama was apparently staying in (I know – a Holiday Inn?!?). French security actually got on the bus and checked our passports and security badges from the conference to make sure we could just drive on this one road. It was pretty cool to have such a high security clearance, even if it's just to drive past a Holiday Inn.
A small portion of the security.
There were also major protests/riots happening on Saturday. Freiburg had a small protest last Monday against NATO, but, fortunately, it remained peaceful. The ones that went on in Strasbourg on Saturday, though, were crazy. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see any. Or maybe that's a good thing.
Oh, and I also saw Gordon Brown’s and Angela Merkel’s car entourages go by - so at one point in time I was actually only about 100 ft away from either of them. I know, I’m such a geek.
Until next time!
I saw a lot of bigwigs within the context of my NATO Youth Summit; the highest level person was the Secretary-General of NATO – he’s a pretty important guy, if you didn’t know that.
(That's him.)I was at this little summit for all of Thursday where we were served pitiful “buffet” lunches and dinners that had little food, but amazing wine and champagne. On Friday, I had to wake up at 5 am to venture to France for another day of meetings and OBAMA!
We had to walk to the place where the town hall was, and I ruined my shoes in my hustle to get there. It wasn’t because it was far away – on the contrary it was a short 5 minute walk. It’s because I practically had to jog there to try to keep ahead of the pack, as the non-American students were just as excited to see him, so it was a constant race to stay in front. I think this says a lot about our improved image abroad. For me, it’s not a horrible thing to be an American abroad (at least in Western Europe it's still just not horrible. In Eastern Europe it’s AWESOME to be an American – they love us there, but to get back on track…). When we got to the meeting place, the woman who was escorting us through the ridiculous security told us we were the least well-behaved group.
So, I finally got in, sat down, and waited for an extremely long time. Then, Obama came out and gave a very predictable, albeit very nice, speech. Then the town hall portion arrived. I was saving up all my question-asking karma for the past two day, hoping that it would pay off and I could talk to Obama.
WRONG! The first question was from an American, and after that he asked that no more Americans ask questions, as he wanted to hear from French and German students. I was sad, especially when I heard some of the stupid questions that were asked, the pinnacle of which was “Do you regret running for president?” It has to be said that Obama turned it really nicely into a plea for public service, and it was a good ender, but STILL – I was going to ask about NATO’s future and it taking a preventative role in the world and climate change. But whatever. I’m totally not bitter or anything. Not at all. Not the least little bit…
ANYWAY – I was at least on CNN, which has been my life’s goal for a very long time. I wanted to actually be speaking while on CNN and be the primary focus of the camera, but beggars can’t be choosers. I think I’ve already found my new life goal right there.
When we were leaving Strasbourg, our bus had to take a road that went past the Holiday Inn that Obama was apparently staying in (I know – a Holiday Inn?!?). French security actually got on the bus and checked our passports and security badges from the conference to make sure we could just drive on this one road. It was pretty cool to have such a high security clearance, even if it's just to drive past a Holiday Inn.
A small portion of the security.There were also major protests/riots happening on Saturday. Freiburg had a small protest last Monday against NATO, but, fortunately, it remained peaceful. The ones that went on in Strasbourg on Saturday, though, were crazy. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see any. Or maybe that's a good thing.
Oh, and I also saw Gordon Brown’s and Angela Merkel’s car entourages go by - so at one point in time I was actually only about 100 ft away from either of them. I know, I’m such a geek.
Until next time!
Eastern Europe Update
Just wanted to post my Eastern Europe IES post on here. I apologize for it's horrible title. Prepare for my Strasbourg/Obama post very soon.
Oh, and only 39 more days until I'm no longer crippled by the Euro! There was a time oh so long ago when it was improving... I actually had hopes of a 1:1 exchange rate before I left. Those hopes, however, have been crushed.
And here's my favorite picture from Budapest. Cultural differences much?
Tschüss!
Oh, and only 39 more days until I'm no longer crippled by the Euro! There was a time oh so long ago when it was improving... I actually had hopes of a 1:1 exchange rate before I left. Those hopes, however, have been crushed.
And here's my favorite picture from Budapest. Cultural differences much?
Tschüss!
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