I am heading back to Europe next month and I am starting to get really excited about the big move. A few of my friends are also moving/traveling to Europe around the same time and we have been trying to plan which countries to visit. I have been to Europe twice before and spent a total of six months visiting nine different countries. I saw so many beautiful cultures, landscapes, and architecture but these five places were my favorite.

Berlin, Germany

It wasn’t the most beautiful place but it felt like a neat place to live. Loved the history, the layout of the city, the late night parties, and surprisingly very good cheap food! I was also there around Christmas time so I spent a ridiculous amount of time feasting at Christmas markets.

Edinburgh, Scotland

I went to Edinburgh to celebrate New Years two years ago and it was one of the most memorable experiences. Kilts, bag pipes, and whiskey everywhere. The city is so beautiful and I really really loved the people.

Iceland

To me Iceland feels more like a different planet than a country. You step into the country and look outside the airport and you see black lava rocks for miles. It feels like you just landed on Mars. The country is beautiful in the most surrealistic way. We also danced next to Bjork at a club! Yeah, go to Iceland.

Gimmelwald, Switzerland

It is just beautiful there.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

I’m obviously biased since I am moving to Amsterdam but I love the city. I’m not even sure why I love the city so much. Of course I love the bikes, canals, tulips, and amazing art but I guess I love the cozy feeling about the city the most. I am very grateful to have the opportunity to live there again.

Honorable Mention: Lake Bled, Slovenia

I am sure that this list will completely change in the next couple of years since I will be living in Europe for a while. I’ll make sure to make a sequel but based on the knowledge I have now, I highly recommend visiting these places.

Ah Belgium, my sweet love.
A girl’s dreams come true.

Everyone always seems forget about Belgium, maybe because it’s so small, maybe because France and Germany get all the action, who knows! But I remembered Belgium. Land of chocolate, land of beer, land of diamonds. Three excellent reasons to get up off the couch and book your tickets immediately to my favourite Flemish country.

Brussles
I arrived in Brussels by train, via Paris, on a chilly autumn eve, checked into the hostel, and immediately made friends with a cute English boy on his gap year. We had one goal: try as many Belgian beers as possible. We succeeded. Like good little tourists, we found a bar in the Grand Place, and ordered beer after beer:

Kwak, Judas, Palm, Morte Subite (Kreik and Frambois), Floris Ninkenberry, Timmerman’s, Bellvue, Hummel Bier, Kaiser, Delerium Tremens, Juliper, Westmalle, Hoegarden, Leffe (dark and blonde), Chouffe, Molleke… to name a few!

The Grand Place is a large market square surrounded by beautiful old gilded buildings. Some of these building were once guild halls, but now they are all privately owned, or museums, or fancy bars and restaurants and shops. Like every European town square, the marketplace is seeped with history, and political upheavals ending in defenestration. I spent most of my time wandering aimlessly around Brussels, waffle in hand, taking in the stunning architecture, the occasional hilarious tourist stop (Manneken Pis – a fountain shaped as a little boy peeing, that is often dresses up in various hilarious outfits), and hitting up the more notable chocolate shops (Neuhaus, Leonidas, Mary’s and Marcolini). I came home with 2.5kg of Belgian chocolates. I shared none. I am not ashamed. At all.

Bruges
It’s like a fairy tale! A winding canal, cobblestones, beautiful buildings, sprawling cafes, more waffles and beer, boob shaped chocolate. Very romantic.

My favourite part of Bruges was the lovely and peaceful Begijnhof. A Begijnhof was a women’s  religious movement of sorts, physically manifested as a square pretty whitewashed cottages, and a garden filled with poplar trees. They sprung up as mini-villiages, to separate themselves as distinct from the current form of Christianity. They were (and still are) inhabited by nuns, but not of the traditional variety. These nuns would make the vows of obedience and chastity, but not of poverty, and they were allowed to get up and leave, breaking their vows, whenever they pleased. They’re my kind of nuns.

Ghent

It had a castle, and I do love me my castles! I also met a nice Quebec girl. She was an au pair for some family in Germany and on her holidays. She was very nice, but had a weird musty smell to her. It was probably the oversized Himalayan knit sweater she wore. We both befriended two Flemish kids who were in Ghent for the Ghent Film Fest. I didn’t like Ghent much, but mostly cos I was shouted at by some nun for taking photos is a church, which I wasn’t. But she didn’t believe me and said God would punish me for my crimes. And I was all, “Look lady! God’s omniscient right? So God KNOWS it wasn’t me so quit being a jerk!”

Except that last part only happened in my mind. Instead I sheepishly left the church, further incriminating myself, because everyone was looking at me like I was the spawn of Satan.

Antwerp
Oh Antwerp! So much fun. My favourite Belgian city by leaps and bounds! It has a beautiful giant cathedral, the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had, and the most amazing hostel I’ve ever stayed in.

The hostel was called Den Heksenketel which is the Flemish for “The Witch’s Cauldron”. And as we all know, I do love my witch kitsch. The hostel shares the same building as a folk bar with quite the beer selection, and is run by an affable elder man named Raf. Raf is the personification of all the gypsy lore I’ve ever read or imagined. His face is etched with wisdom and stories, he has a magical air about him, he played Leonard Cohen records and was having a saucy love affair with a bicurious, blonde fashionista.

At the hostel I met my four new BFFs, Dylan and Liz from Australia, Wesley from Belgium and Susanne from The Netherlands. Wesley and Susanne had been living at the hostel for several weeks by the time Dylan, Liz and I arrived. We all instantly bonded over several cheap beers and the film 300. The next night the five of us, Raf, his blonde, and a few others sat at the large table enjoying the vast beer selection of the bar. Raf kindly bought Liz and I a few beers. We ended up playing some “traditional Belgian” game of pass-the-mint-using-your-mouth to the person next to you… What?

The next night Susanne’s excessively good looking ex, Florian, stopped by the hostel for Liz and I to ogle, but he refused to take a trip to Antwerp’s rather depressing red light district. Wesley and I were somehow separated from Liz, Susanne and Dylan, so he showed me around town that night. We searched for the infamous bicky burger, but I when we found one, I didn’t quite like the looks of it. It also happened to be the Belgian equivalent of rush week, so we ran into several students covered in pig’s blood and beer. We returned to the hostel quite late. Brimming with drunken PG13 sexual tension, we stumbled up the spiral staircase/death trap to our rooms. I was leaving the next morning for Amsterdam, with Liz and Dylan, so Wesley took this final opportunity to kiss me goodnight, but not before grabbing me round the waist and whispering in my ear: “This is how we say goodnight in Belgium” .

Not gonna lie, definitely one of the better lines I’ve had the pleasure of receiving.

Oh Belgium. Such good times.

Have you been noticing the surge of red trousers or jeans in London and especially on guys? Well I certainly have and here’s a little collection of them

I promise I’ll write more next time but I’ve been feeling a bit worn out lately and need to take it easy, which will come very very soon. So bear with me beautiful boys and girls and I’ll write proper very soon.

Oh, I’m getting a haircut tomorrow, wish me luck!

Pour commencer, un article de Xavier, qui tient un blog depuis la ville d’Eichstätt en Bavière. Il est possible de consulter la version originale sur son blog “Ah ça ira” .

mardi 5 mai 2009

Eichstätt, ou les problèmes du plein emploi dans une Europe en crise

C’est l’histoire d’une petite ville bavaroise qui résiste encore et toujours à la crise économique. Une petite ville qui a le plus faible taux de chômage d’Europe.

Alors que tout va mal partout ailleurs, ici on embauche. Dans la grande ville d’à côté, chez le constructeur de voitures Audi à Ingolstadt, on a même légèrement augmenté les salaires ces deux derniers mois… 14 000 habitants et 1% de chômage ! Oui, vous avez bien lu. Et si vous habitez ici et avez raté l’information, le Maire d’Eichstätt ne manquera pas de vous l’annoncer lors de sa réception de début d’année offerte aux nouveaux habitants.

1%, selon l’analyse économique classique, c’est le plein emploi. Mais quelle est la potion magique derrière tout ça ? Je me suis inspiré et ai traduit en partie une enquête d’une journaliste de “Die Welt” (lien à la fin) que j’ai mise à jour et completée pour vous donner la réponse la plus complète possible. Comme l’économie et l’histoire sont les deux doigts d’une même main, commençons avant toute chose par présenter l’histoire spéciale de la ville.

Aujourd’hui entourée par des petites collines boisées, la vallée d’Eichstätt fut un lac à l’époque paléolithique. La ville est d’ailleurs réputée pour ses découvertes archéologiques régulières de poissons et plantes fossilisés. La première présence humaine date du 5è siècle avant JC lorsque des tribus celtes s’installent à l’endroit actuel de la cathédrale et désignent le lieu sous le nom « Eistedd » (ce qui signifie en celte « lieu d’habitation »– plus logique, tu meures).

Curieusement, le premier stade important de développement économique qui fait passer Eichstätt d’un village à une ville est directement lié à l’histoire de France. A la fin du 1er siècle après JC, Eichstätt est devenu un petit village de l’Empire romain. Il est situé à 5 km de l’endroit où s’étend le Limes, un mur de 3m de haut érigé par les romains pour se protéger des tribus « barbares » germaniques du Nord. Mais les romains abandonnent le Limes sous la pression des Alamands vers 259 et le village doit s’adapter à la présence des nouvelles tribus germaniques victorieuses.

C’est ensuite seulement au 8ème siècle, lors de l’expansion fulgurante du Royaume des Francs, qu’Eichstätt devient une ville. Les rois Francs, devenus chrétiens depuis Clovis en 492, ont étendu dès le 5è siècle leurs royaumes sur l’actuelle Allemagne de l’Ouest et sur le Bénélux. Soucieux de continuer leurs conquêtes dans de bonnes conditions, ils envoient des moines anglo-saxons en missions d’évangélisation dans les régions de Germanie. C’est l’archevêque d’Exeter Winfried Boniface (671-754) qui s’y rend et fonde les monastères de Fulda, Erfurt, Würzburg et Eichstätt (en 740 pour Eichstätt). Plus tard, il sera nommé légat pontifical en Germanie par le Pape Grégoire III.

A la tête d’Eichstätt, Winfried Boniface nomme son cousin anglais le pèlerin Willibald (700-778) qui devient le premier évêque de la ville et demeure aujourd’hui le Saint patron des catholiques eichstättois. C’est en 788, peu après la création du cloître par Winfried Boniface, que Charlemagne défait le duc de Bavière et ajoute la Bavière, la Carinthie et la Saxe à son empire.

Eichstätt fera ainsi partie pendant plus d’un demi-siècle, jusqu’à la mort de Charlemagne, du Royaume des Francs. Et surtout c’est grâce à l’impulsion des rois Francs d’avant Charlemagne qu’Eichstätt a été choisie comme capitale religieuse, un statut qu’elle gardera jusqu’à nos jours et qui lui apportera beaucoup de richesse.

Catholique, donc, jusque sous les pierres de ses cloîtres, plus petite ville universitaire du monde (le collège catholique – qui évoluera pour devenir une université officiellement reconnue en 1980 – existe depuis 1564), construite en style baroque idéalisé, Eichstätt est aujourd’hui un petit chef-lieu de province qui vit à son petit rythme.

Une journée de printemps-été à Eichstätt ressemble à peu près à ça :

Le matin, la statue de Saint Willibald, idéalement placée entre la Mairie, le café Paradeis et la majorité des magasins du centre-ville, surveille les étalages du marché.

Dans l’après-midi, les personnes âgées se frayent un chemin à travers les flux estudiantins pour se retrouver au Café Fuchs et déguster un excellent gâteau de la maison. A 18h, certains étudiants commencent un barbecue sur la pelouse à côté des bâtiments de l’université, tandis que d’autres terminent leur match de foot ou sortent de cours.

Le soir, dans le centre ville, la brasserie « Trompete » (La Trompette) rassemble les étudiants en théologie discutant des dernières décisions du Pape ainsi que les amateurs de matchs de foot sur grand écran. Pour prolonger la soirée, les fêtards ont le choix entre le bar de nuit d’en face, la petite discothèque située sous le château qui domine la vallée ou une soirée étudiante chez des amis. Les couche-tôts quant à eux, repartent vers leur voiture (une Audi, 1 chance sur 2) garée sur la place de l’église ou de la cathédrale.

Dans la nuit, le spot de l’usine Osram, fabriquant des ampoules halogènes dernier cri, éclaire le ciel de la ville qui s’endort paisiblement.

Vu de l’extérieur, Eichstätt n’est donc pas l’endroit le plus excitant du monde. Mais dans ce court tableau descriptif, les lecteurs les plus curieux auront pu déjà noter quelques-uns des éléments qui procurent à la ville une prospérité et une qualité de vie hors-normes.

A l’origine de la success-story d’Eichstätt on trouve le constructeur automobile Audi, dont l’usine située à 25 km (Ingolstadt) a embauché depuis le milieu des années 1990 environ 7000 personnes et en fait travailler aujourd’hui 30 000 sur son site, sans compter les sous-traitants et petits commerçants que tous ces employés font vivre aux environs.

L’entreprise paye bien et attire des ingénieurs qui à leur tour font tourner le commerce local. D’autres jeunes entreprises dynamiques arrivent. Les surfaces de construction sont bon marché, il y a de la place pour l’habitation. Il y a Osram, l’usine d’ampoule précédemment citée, qui emploi 800 salariés dans la zone industrielle. Mais il y aussi l’université catholique, la seule en Allemagne, subventionnée par le Vatican, qui attire 4500 étudiants et de nombreux professeurs.

De nombreux emplois sont disponibles dans l’administration de la ville et à la communauté de communes, au sein de l’évêché, dans les écoles, et au sein de la police, qui, fait important concernant l’emploi, a son siège cantonal et son centre de formation à Eichstätt.

Les hôtels tournent bien et les restaurants créent du travail. La seule crainte à Eichstätt est que le marché de l’automobile s’écroule mondialement. Mais dans la crise qui sévit depuis un an et demi, Audi est bien équipé pour surfer. Surtout avec la tournée européenne d’hommes d’affaires chinois qui ont signé il y a quelques mois un chèque de 800 millions d’euros de contrat avec le secteur automobile allemand : Audi fait partie du plan. Ouf.

Le plein emploi pose problème à Eichstätt. Le marché est vide de gens très qualifiés, même aux alentours. Il faut aller les chercher à Munich ou Dresde, c’est à dire entre 1h30 et 3h de route.

Mais il ne faut pas croire que cela empêche la création d’entreprises spécialisées. L’Eichstättois n’a pas froid aux yeux, et va même jusqu’à conférer d’énormes moyens aux ressources humaines pour dénicher les personnes qualifiées qui feront tourner la boutique, comme c’est le cas par exemple dans l’entreprise très récente de services BFFT.

Le développement du bureau d’ingénieurs Incos, qui a son siège à TitTing, un petit village au Nord d’Eichstätt, connait une forte croissance : il embauche depuis 3 ans à peu près 30 personnes par an mais son développement est freiné par le manque de candidats qualifiés intéressés par les offres. Les personnes les plus agées de l’entreprise voient leur contrat se prolonger chaque année : En 2006 encore, leur employé le plus âgé fêtait ses 70 ans : “le contact avec les jeunes le garde en forme”, précise le directeur de l’entreprise, “et il nous apporte toute son expérience”.

Eichstätt, précise la journaliste qui a réalisé l’enquête, c’est comme une ambassade, un petit espace réduit qui donne du travail ou bien au minimum une chance à tout le monde car tout le monde se connaît. Il y en a pour tous les goûts à Eichstätt : travail physique dans l’importante carrière d’extraction de pierre ou à l’usine, travail spirituel au sein du clergé bavarois, travail pédagogique au château ou dans le cadre de l’université, et travail de services dans les magasins et à la municipalité.

Le 1er janvier 2008, il y avait 721 chômeurs dans toute la circonscription d’Eichstätt inscrits sur les listes de l’agence pour l’emploi, dont 250 chômeurs de longue durée. Et les gens de l’agence les connaissent sur le bout des doigts. Chaque personne est responsable de 120 chercheurs d’emploi. Ces derniers sont reçus pour un entretien personnalisé toutes les 3 semaines.

Le responsable de l’ANPE locale a beaucoup de choses à raconter que l’on n’entendrait dans aucune autre agence de la République allemande. Une entreprise de logistique de transport a par exemple mis une annonce pour recruter un mécanicien et n’a reçu que deux candidatures en plusieurs mois, et aucune confirmation derrière. Ou encore, un fraiseur-tourneur en recherche d’emploi reçoit environ 40 annonces en 2 mois. Dernier exemple, le secteur gastronomique d’Eichstätt a mis en ligne dès la mi-janvier 2008 environ 10 offres d’emploi pour la saison d’été 2008.

Certains entrepreneurs de la région précisent régulièrement qu’ils préfèreraient un chômage un peu plus élevé car tout ça leur tape bien sur les nerfs. Ainsi, ils auraient plus de choix. Heureusement que les 4500 étudiants sont là pendant l’année, sinon les commerçants peineraient à trouver des aides pour faire tourner leur boutique. En 2007, l’auto-école d’Eichstätt a cherché pendant plus de 6 mois un collègue de travail. Le directeur de l’agence pour l’emploi précise : “Des fois, les autres personnes au chômage d’Eichstätt n’arrivent pas à comprendre. Le chômage ici est comme prescrit. Mais eux restent quand même au chômage.”

Il ne faudrait pas également croire qu’il n’y a pas de pauvreté et de misère à Eichstätt. Ici, elle est cachée mais se découvre dans les longues files d’attente des organisations sociales donnant des vêtements ou dans les magasins à petits prix. “Pour beaucoup de salariés, mais aussi de retraités, les revenus mensuels ne suffisent pas à vivre”, explique le directeur de l’agence pour l’emploi. Mais notre problème ici, c’est que ces personnes considèrent qu’avec la situation économique favorable c’est une honte de ne pas avoir assez pour vivre et refusent de revendiquer quoi que ce soit auprès des services de la Mairie ou dans la sphère publique.

Le plein emploi pose donc lui aussi, ses problèmes !

—-

Sources

Article d’Andrea Schumacher d’Avril 2008 : “Warum Eichstätt die wenigsten Arbeitslosen hat” : En ligne sur le site DieWelt.de
Le Guide économique d’Eichstätt, réalisé par la Mairie.
Sylvain Soleil (professeur de Droit à Rennes), Introduction historique aux institutions
Sites internet historiques

Open Letter to the Obama Administration from Central and Eastern Europe

by Emil Constantinescu , Valdas Adamkus, Martin Butora, Pavol Demes, Lubos Dobrovsky, Matyas Eorsi, Istvan Gyarmati, Vaclav Havel, Rastislav Kacer, Sandra Kalniete, Karel Schwarzenberg, Michal Kovac, Ivan Krastev, Alexander Kwasniewski, Mart Laar, Kadri Liik, Janos Martonyi. Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Adam Rotfeld, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Alexandr Vondra, Lech Walesa.

We have written this letter because, as Central and Eastern European (CEE) intellectuals and former policymakers, we care deeply about the future of the transatlantic relationship as well as the future quality of relations between the United States and the countries of our region. We write in our personal capacity as individuals who are friends and allies of the United States as well as committed Europeans.

Our nations are deeply indebted to the United States. Many of us know firsthand how important your support for our freedom and independence was during the dark Cold War years. U.S. engagement and support was essential for the success of our democratic transitions after the Iron Curtain fell twenty years ago. Without Washington’s vision and leadership, it is doubtful that we would be in NATO and even the EU today.

We have worked to reciprocate and make this relationship a two-way street. We are Atlantic voices within NATO and the EU. Our nations have been engaged alongside the United States in the Balkans, Iraq, and today in Afghanistan. While our contribution may at times seem modest compared to your own, it is significant when measured as a percentage of our population and GDP. Having benefited from your support for liberal democracy and liberal values in the past, we have been among your strongest supporters when it comes to promoting democracy and human rights around the world.

Twenty years after the end of the Cold War, however, we see that Central and Eastern European countries are no longer at the heart of American foreign policy. As the new Obama Administration sets its foreign-policy priorities, our region is one part of the world that Americans have largely stopped worrying about. Indeed, at times we have the impression that U.S. policy was so successful that many American officials have now concluded that our region is fixed once and for all and that they could “check the box” and move on to other more pressing strategic issues. Relations have been so close that many on both sides assume that the region’s transatlantic orientation, as well as its stability and prosperity, would last forever.

That view is premature. All is not well either in our region or in the transatlantic relationship. Central and Eastern Europe is at a political crossroads and today there is a growing sense of nervousness in the region. The global economic crisis is impacting on our region and, as elsewhere, runs the risk that our societies will look inward and be less engaged with the outside world. At the same time, storm clouds are starting to gather on the foreign policy horizon. Like you, we await the results of the EU Commission’s investigation on the origins of the Russo-Georgian war. But the political impact of that war on the region has already been felt. Many countries were deeply disturbed to see the Atlantic alliance stand by as Russia violated the core principles of the Helsinki Final Act, the Charter of Paris, and the territorial integrity of a country that was a member of NATO’s Partnership for Peace and the Euroatlantic Partnership Council -all in the name of defending a sphere of influence on its borders.

Despite the efforts and significant contribution of the new members, NATO today seems weaker than when we joined. In many of our countries it is perceived as less and less relevant – and we feel it. Although we are full members, people question whether NATO would be willing and able to come to our defense in some future crises. Europe’s dependence on Russian energy also creates concern about the cohesion of the Alliance. President Obama’s remark at the recent NATO summit on the need to provide credible defense plans for all Alliance members was welcome, but not sufficient to allay fears about the Alliance´s defense readiness. Our ability to continue to sustain public support at home for our contributions to Alliance missions abroad also depends on us being able to show that our own security concerns are being addressed in NATO and close cooperation with the United States

We must also recognize that America’s popularity and influence have fallen in many of our countries as well. Public opinions polls, including the German Marshall Fund’s own Transatlantic Trends survey, show that our region has not been immune to the wave of criticism and anti-Americanism that has swept Europe in recent years and which led to a collapse in sympathy and support for the United States during the Bush years. Some leaders in the region have paid a political price for their support of the unpopular war in Iraq. In the future they may be more careful in taking political risks to support the United States. We believe that the onset of a new Administration has created a new opening to reverse this trend but it will take time and work on both sides to make up for what we have lost.

In many ways the EU has become the major factor and institution in our lives. To many people it seems more relevant and important today than the link to the United States. To some degree it is a logical outcome of the integration of Central and Eastern Europe into the EU. Our leaders and officials spend much more time in EU meetings than in consultations with Washington, where they often struggle to attract attention or make our voices heard. The region’s deeper integration in the EU is of course welcome and should not necessarily lead to a weakening of the transatlantic relationship. The hope was that integration of Central and Eastern Europe into the EU would actually strengthen the strategic cooperation between Europe and America.

However, there is a danger that instead of being a pro-Atlantic voice in the EU, support for a more global partnership with Washington in the region might wane over time. The region does not have the tradition of assuming a more global role. Some items on the transatlantic agenda, such as climate change, do not resonate in the Central and Eastern European publics to the same extent as they do in Western Europe.

Leadership change is also coming in Central and Eastern Europe. Next to those, there are fewer and fewer leaders who emerged from the revolutions of 1989 who experienced Washington’s key role in securing our democratic transition and anchoring our countries in NATO and EU. A new generation of leaders is emerging who do not have these memories and follow a more “realistic” policy. At the same time, the former Communist elites, whose insistence on political and economic power significantly contributed to the crises in many CEE countries, gradually disappear from the political scene. The current political and economic turmoil and the fallout from the global economic crisis provide additional opportunities for the forces of nationalism, extremism, populism, and anti-Semitism across the continent but also in some our countries.

This means that the United States is likely to lose many of its traditional interlocutors in the region. The new elites replacing them may not share the idealism – or have the same relationship to the United States – as the generation who led the democratic transition. They may be more calculating in their support of the United States as well as more parochial in their world view. And in Washington a similar transition is taking place as many of the leaders and personalities we have worked with and relied on are also leaving politics.

And then there is the issue of how to deal with Russia. Our hopes that relations with Russia would improve and that Moscow would finally fully accept our complete sovereignty and independence after joining NATO and the EU have not been fulfilled. Instead, Russia is back as a revisionist power pursuing a 19th-century agenda with 21st-century tactics and methods. At a global level, Russia has become, on most issues, a status-quo power. But at a regional level and vis-a-vis our nations, it increasingly acts as a revisionist one. It challenges our claims to our own historical experiences. It asserts a privileged position in determining our security choices. It uses overt and covert means of economic warfare, ranging from energy blockades and politically motivated investments to bribery and media manipulation in order to advance its interests and to challenge the transatlantic orientation of Central and Eastern Europe.

We welcome the “reset” of the American-Russian relations. As the countries living closest to Russia, obviously nobody has a greater interest in the development of the democracy in Russia and better relations between Moscow and the West than we do. But there is also nervousness in our capitals. We want to ensure that too narrow an understanding of Western interests does not lead to the wrong concessions to Russia. Today the concern is, for example, that the United States and the major European powers might embrace the Medvedev plan for a “Concert of Powers” to replace the continent’s existing, value-based security structure. The danger is that Russia’s creeping intimidation and influence-peddling in the region could over time lead to a de facto neutralization of the region. There are differing views within the region when it comes to Moscow’s new policies. But there is a shared view that the full engagement of the United States is needed.

Many in the region are looking with hope to the Obama Administration to restore the Atlantic relationship as a moral compass for their domestic as well as foreign policies. A strong commitment to common liberal democratic values is essential to our countries. We know from our own historical experience the difference between when the United States stood up for its liberal democratic values and when it did not. Our region suffered when the United States succumbed to “realism” at Yalta. And it benefited when the United States used its power to fight for principle. That was critical during the Cold War and in opening the doors of NATO. Had a “realist” view prevailed in the early 1990s, we would not be in NATO today and the idea of a Europe whole, free, and at peace would be a distant dream.

We understand the heavy demands on your Administration and on U.S. foreign policy. It is not our intent to add to the list of problems you face. Rather, we want to help by being strong Atlanticist allies in a U.S.-European partnership that is a powerful force for good around the world. But we are not certain where our region will be in five or ten years time given the domestic and foreign policy uncertainties we face. We need to take the right steps now to ensure the strong relationship between the United States and Central and Eastern Europe over the past twenty years will endure.

We believe this is a time both the United States and Europe need to reinvest in the transatlantic relationship. We also believe this is a time when the United States and Central and Eastern Europe must reconnect around a new and forward-looking agenda. While recognizing what has been achieved in the twenty years since the fall of the Iron Curtain, it is time to set a new agenda for close cooperation for the next twenty years across the Atlantic.

Therefore, we propose the following steps:

First, we are convinced that America needs Europe and that Europe needs the United States as much today as in the past. The United States should reaffirm its vocation as a European power and make clear that it plans to stay fully engaged on the continent even while it faces the pressing challenges in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the wider Middle East, and Asia. For our part we must work at home in our own countries and in Europe more generally to convince our leaders and societies to adopt a more global perspective and be prepared to shoulder more responsibility in partnership with the United States.

Second, we need a renaissance of NATO as the most important security link between the United States and Europe. It is the only credible hard power security guarantee we have. NATO must reconfirm its core function of collective defense even while we adapt to the new threats of the 21st century. A key factor in our ability to participate in NATO’s expeditionary missions overseas is the belief that we are secure at home. We must therefore correct some self-inflicted wounds from the past. It was a mistake not to commence with proper Article 5 defense planning for new members after NATO was enlarged. NATO needs to make the Alliance’s commitments credible and provide strategic reassurance to all members. This should include contingency planning, prepositioning of forces, equipment, and supplies for reinforcement in our region in case of crisis as originally envisioned in the NATO-Russia Founding Act.

We should also re-think the working of the NATO-Russia Council and return to the practice where NATO member countries enter into dialogue with Moscow with a coordinated position. When it comes to Russia, our experience has been that a more determined and principled policy toward Moscow will not only strengthen the West’s security but will ultimately lead Moscow to follow a more cooperative policy as well. Furthermore, the more secure we feel inside NATO, the easier it will also be for our countries to reach out to engage Moscow on issues of common interest. That is the dual track approach we need and which should be reflected in the new NATO strategic concept.

Third, the thorniest issue may well be America’s planned missile-defense installations. Here too, there are different views in the region, including among our publics which are divided. Regardless of the military merits of this scheme and what Washington eventually decides to do, the issue has nevertheless also become — at least in some countries — a symbol of America’s credibility and commitment to the region. How it is handled could have a significant impact on their future transatlantic orientation. The small number of missiles involved cannot be a threat to Russia’s strategic capabilities, and the Kremlin knows this. We should decide the future of the program as allies and based on the strategic plusses and minuses of the different technical and political configurations. The Alliance should not allow the issue to be determined by unfounded Russian opposition. Abandoning the program entirely or involving Russia too deeply in it without consulting Poland or the Czech Republic can undermine the credibility of the United States across the whole region.

Fourth, we know that NATO alone is not enough. We also want and need more Europe and a better and more strategic U.S.-EU relationship as well. Increasingly our foreign policies are carried out through the European Union – and we support that. We also want a common European foreign and defense policy that is open to close cooperation with the United States. We are the advocates of such a line in the EU. But we need the United States to rethink its attitude toward the EU and engage it much more seriously as a strategic partner. We need to bring NATO and the EU closer together and make them work in tandem. We need common NATO and EU strategies not only toward Russia but on a range of other new strategic challenges.

Fifth is energy security. The threat to energy supplies can exert an immediate influence on our nations’ political sovereignty also as allies contributing to common decisions in NATO. That is why it must also become a transatlantic priority. Although most of the responsibility for energy security lies within the realm of the EU, the United States also has a role to play. Absent American support, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline would never have been built. Energy security must become an integral part of U.S.-European strategic cooperation. Central and Eastern European countries should lobby harder (and with more unity) inside Europe for diversification of the energy mix, suppliers, and transit routes, as well as for tough legal scrutiny of Russia’s abuse of its monopoly and cartel-like power inside the EU. But American political support on this will play a crucial role. Similarly, the United States can play an important role in solidifying further its support for the Nabucco pipeline, particularly in using its security relationship with the main transit country, Turkey, as well as the North-South interconnector of Central Europe and LNG terminals in our region.

Sixth, we must not neglect the human factor. Our next generations need to get to know each other, too. We have to cherish and protect the multitude of educational, professional, and other networks and friendships that underpin our friendship and alliance. The U.S. visa regime remains an obstacle in this regard. It is absurd that Poland and Romania — arguably the two biggest and most pro-American states in the CEE region, which are making substantial contributions in Iraq and Afghanistan — have not yet been brought into the visa waiver program. It is incomprehensible that a critic like the French anti-globalization activist Jose Bove does not require a visa for the United States but former Solidarity activist and Nobel Peace prizewinner Lech Walesa does. This issue will be resolved only if it is made a political priority by the President of the United States.

The steps we made together since 1989 are not minor in history. The common successes are the proper foundation for the transatlantic renaissance we need today. This is why we believe that we should also consider the creation of a Legacy Fellowship for young leaders. Twenty years have passed since the revolutions of 1989. That is a whole generation. We need a new generation to renew the transatlantic partnership. A new program should be launched to identify those young leaders on both sides of the Atlantic who can carry forward the transatlantic project we have spent the last two decades building in Central and Eastern Europe.

In conclusion, the onset of a new Administration in the United States has raised great hopes in our countries for a transatlantic renewal. It is an opportunity we dare not miss. We, the authors of this letter, know firsthand how important the relationship with the United States has been. In the 1990s, a large part of getting Europe right was about getting Central and Eastern Europe right. The engagement of the United States was critical to locking in peace and stability from the Baltics to the Black Sea. Today the goal must be to keep Central and Eastern Europe right as a stable, activist, and Atlanticist part of our broader community.

That is the key to our success in bringing about the renaissance in the Alliance the Obama Administration has committed itself to work for and which we support. That will require both sides recommitting to and investing in this relationship. But if we do it right, the pay off down the road can be very real. By taking the right steps now, we can put it on new and solid footing for the future.

In the fifteen century, in a small village near Nuremburg, lived a family with 18 children.  Just to keep food on the table, the father, a goldsmith by trade, worked 18 hour days and took on other jobs at every opportunity.  Despite the seemingly hopeless situation, two of Albrecht Durer’s elder sons had a dream.  They both wanted to pursue their passion for art but they realized their family would never be able to send them off to the Academy in Nuremburg.

After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy. Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies, in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy, either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring in the mines. They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg.

Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation. Albrecht’s etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.

When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht’s triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were, “And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will support you.”

All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated over and over, “No … no … no … no.”

Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, “No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me. Look … look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother … for me it is too late.”

More than 450 years have passed. By now, Albrecht Durer’s hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world, but the odds are great that you, like most people, are familiar with only one of Albrecht Durer’s works. More than merely being familiar with it, you very well may have a reproduction hanging in your home or office.

One day, long ago, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother’s abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful drawing simply “Hands,” but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love “The Praying Hands.”

www.bibledonate.org

Earlier this week a Canadian was admitted to one of the most exclusive clubs in the world, when the Queen decided to award the Order of Merit to Jean Chrétien. I have to admit that I’d never heard of the Order before learning yesterday that Chrétien had become a member, but since then I’ve done a bit of homework.

Apart from the Queen herself, the Order of Merit consists of 24 members and a flexible number of “honorary members”. At the moment, the only honorary member is Nelson Mandela. The overwhelmingly British proper members include Prince Charles and Prince Philip, top scientists like Roger Penrose, eminent artistic figures like Sir Tom Stoppard, and two former Prime Ministers – Margaret Thatcher of the UK and, now, Jean Chrétien of Canada. New members are chosen personally by Her Majesty when one of the 24 dies, and I presume that Chrétien replaced the British industralist Sir Denis Rooke following his death last September.

In Britain, Chrétien’s appointment to the Order seems to have gone virtually unnoticed. Canadian reactions range from intemperate disgust to qualified approval. The National Post’s editorialists are somewhere in the middle, sniffing that Chrétien’s legacy is “hotly contested” whereas the Order is “defined by undisputed greatness”. As they see it, Chrétien was appointed to the Order because of his personal friendship with the Queen and his success in preserving the monarchy in Canada, which in the Post’s opinion “may actually be his most outstanding single accomplishment as a politician”.

This seems like an overstatement, considering Chrétien’s other outstanding accomplishments. He kept Quebec in Canada despite the strong separatist currents of the 1990s, and kept Canada out of Iraq when Bush’s “Coalition of the Willing” invaded in 2003. As sectarian bombings increase in frequency following the withdrawal of American troops from city centres, Chretien’s decision to remain Unwilling seems well justified by subsequent events. Whether it was meritorious enough to put Chretien in the same league as Penrose and Stoppard is a matter of opinion, but I find it hard to complain about Her Majesty’s choice.

Speaking of political legacies, I recently came across a column in the Economist suggesting that history will be kind to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown partly because of his achievements in foreign affairs, which have apparently included helping British foreign policy settle into “third-rank humility” and presiding over a G8 summit that “recognised and institutionalised the the dramatic shift in global power toward the emerging Asian economies”. In other words, Brown may be remembered as a great Prime Minister because he set the seal on Britain’s lack of greatness. Could there possibly be a more glaring example of the defeatist malaise that seems to have become a predominant mindset not just in Britain, but across at least the western half of Europe? Strong, confident European nations would make natural partners for Canada, but at the moment our friends across the pond often seem more interested in wallowing in an exaggerated sense of impotence. It’s frustrating.

Corwin

Ali-inspired?

After finishing 8th in the NCAAs, UC Riverside’s half-mile miracle, junior Brenda Martinez, took her act to Europe for a six-meet tour of the continent. However, Pub Wisdom reckons Martinez got a hold of some footage shot on a different continent, of the Ali-Foreman fight in Zaire, for inspiration prior to her first 800 meter event in Belgium.

Fresh off the plane, Martinez employed Ali’s classic rope-a-dope, hanging well back and letting others think they might have a shot, but with perhaps 300 meters left, she straight blew past the field, briefly settled into third, then put on the afterburners for a precisely timed move at the last second that gave her the win and a personal record. The field included the two runners that have claimed the last three NCAA 800 titles. Yep, she’s the real deal.

Watch the race it here. It’s worth the click.

Buongiorno!

Well my friends, I have signed up for Italian conversation class at the local continuing education department at UTA.
HOW EXCITING??!!

I studied one language growing up. French. Oui. And NONS! Not the best idea. Not in Oklahoma & sure not for Texas! But I took it four years total the last two were independent study. I even got to visit France for a month when I was 16. Oui! Oui! Oui!

How that came about was my mom & dad hosted a exchange student from France named Fabienne. She stayed with us a month in the summer. We had a blast! She was great. She was my same age and so very cute & hip. She had an adorable accent. She actually did wear a bathing suit top & shaved her underarms & legs & bathed regularly(ha). I thought she adapted to America very well.

So in turn , I travelled to France over Christmas break. Off to Paris I went. Fresh from the country to a foreign country. I knew my French was going to get lots of practice. This was my Christmas present from my step dad. How awesome is that???

Paris was beautiful. I saw the Arc de Triomphe first. What a sight that was and all along the Champs Elysees. *sidenote* As a Mom now I wonder how in the WORLD did my parents let me go to another country completely alone at 16?????*end sidenote*
Everything was soooo different! They had McDonald’s yes but it was not like OUR McDonald’s & the sodas (or cokes as I call em) no ice.

Nothing tasted the same at all. Everyone drank (but didn’t get drunk mind you) & smoked & did not bathe for two weeks or a month or more(but wore lots of perfume haha). Clothes were washed once a month. Food was waaaay different. Lamb guts & stuff like that. I even saw the Dad eat the brain of a Rabbit! Grossness!  I did like the smoked salmon & the pate which obviously we didn’t have in Oklahoma. (haha)

Right after I got there, we travelled by car to Briancon which is a little ski town in France right on the border of Italy in the Alps. Most of her family lived there. That is where we went to celebrate Christmas & New Years. The accent was different & I couldn’t understand their French there at all. I also could not translate my skiing ability nor my ski or shoe size. Soooo I ended up with super long skis & took many tumbles on the Alps until frustrated & mad bit of my gloves in a huff about to walk off the dang mountain.
Needless to say her Dad took me by ski lift back to the lodge. (ha) *sidenote again* Wish I could have really soaked in & appreciated the beauty of the Alps*end sidenote* But the ski town was great! I actually got to meet & hang out with Luc Alphone the downhill ski champion of France & many years later would see him on TV in the Olympics. Wow!

Good news is by the end of the two weeks in Briancon I *finally* got their accent & could understand their french. Of course at this point we are heading back to Paris via train. Now it’s time for school to start & the plan was for me to go to school with Fabienne. I actually got an exchange student exemption from my classes in the states. But the only thing I was going to understand was English right? Actually their English is an England English, yah, didn’t understand THAT either. HA.

School was not that fun. Fabienne would put me as the look out in the bathroom so her & her friends could smoke. I had to look out for teachers & yell out if I saw one (like THAT wouldn’t get me in trouble). But lunch was way fun! They would get two hours & we’d go to the pub & they’d teach me swear words in French then laugh hysterically when I’d repeat them (still not sure WHAT they were teaching me to say). Fabienne was not happy with me most of the time & made it known often. For one, I bathed every day. For two, I had my clothes washed every day. She kept telling me I was in France & needed to be like the French. Ewww!

I didn’t understand the French & they insisted Americains were selfish. It was always pronounced with distaste and a sneer. I certainly knew when they were talking about the stupide Americain. Speaking French was difficult for me, I was mainly taught to read & write it but not much practice speaking out loud & saying the words right. I could speak it slowly to them & they would speak English back to me. Somehow that cryptic conversation worked just fine. Everyone in school was required to take English although very few could actually speak it legibly. One of the boy students said he LOVED me. Uhhhhh ,,,,no you mean LIKE. (yikes)

Anyhow things came to a boiling point with Fabienne & I ended up going to Orleans (where Joan of Arc was from) and stayed with an American family that was there from my hometown in Oklahoma for a year. The Mom, Dad & three boys. The middle boy was my age & we were good friends. OHMYGOSH, what FUN we had. Just joking around about all things French. Talking about everything in America we missed. Laughing & laughing & laughing. I will never forget that. It was absolutely the best time I had in France. I sent a big BOX of stuff from the US when I got back of all the things we talked about missing the most. (mayo, PB & J, Reeses) *sidenote* I found my friend on facebook two days ago, the joy!*end sidenote*

Things I learned on this trip. The French are very rude & they stink! It’s a lot better to visit France with Americans. The Eiffel Tower is incredible & majestic (wish I would have gone to the top).  I could sit & stare at it forever because it doesn’t seem real. How to smoke & drink.(at age 16!)

As for Italian, I can’t wait to learn it. I am not at all obsessed like Elizabeth Gilbert in Eat, Love & Pray with the Italian words. It’s more of a heritage thing for me. My Papa came from Italy & often spoke Italian to me as a child. He died when I was sixteen. I would have loved to have known him more. Maybe this is a way to do that with the language. I have always said he is my guardian Angel. Besides that, I plan on visiting Europe again & who knows maybe this time it will be Italy! (travel agent discounts! ohhhh yaaaah)

Arrivederci!

I honestly believe that every one of us has a soundtrack to our lives.  When you least expect it, a song would happen to play on your iPod, in a store, on the radio or by some street performer that touch and move you.  The song speaks to our mood, our soul and our heart.  It helps describe how and who we are at that moment in time.  The song is part of our living soundtrack.

During my trip to Europe, a lot of songs played on my iPod, but a few stood out.  These songs best captured my adventure.  And so, I share them with you now.  Listen to them this weekend and let it echo in your heart as it did in mine.  Then Monday I will begin to chronicle my Euro Tour 09 (ET09) for you with each song in mind.  Enjoy!  =)

Euro Tour 2009 Soundtrack

1. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Frank, AB
2. Joshua Radin - Brand New Day
3. Erin McCarley – Pony (It’s OK)
4. Rogue Wave - Harmonium
5. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Edmonton
6. Mika - Love Today
7. Iron and Wine – Resurrection Fern
8. The Decemberists – The Crane Wife, Part 3
9. The Spinto Band - Oh, Mandy
10. Patrick Watson – The Great Escape
11. Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
12. Strada - Sun Song
13. Rogue Wave – Chicago X 12
14. Seabird - Stronger
15. The Kinks – This Time Tomorrow
16. Strada – Loved You All Along

Download them all here.

There was NO time to check out Harrods. Drat! I had to race through Heathrow’s Terminal 5 to get to my gate on time, which meant I had no time to check out all the fabulous shops and restaurants in the new terminal. Fortunately, I’ll be back in a couple of weeks before flying home so there will be plenty of time to check out what’s cool and hopefully do a little shopping!

I was racing to catch a flight to Istanbul. I know – crazy, right? I’ve been here for just over 24 hours and already I’ve seen so much. The city welcomes visitors with open arms and a first impression that’s hard to top. It’s clean, but beyond clean, I was taken by the beauty of the city I saw as I sat back in the taxi that whisked me from the airport to my hotel. Miles and miles of perfectly manicured parks line the Sea of Marmara and these parks were filled with families and couples sitting huddled under trees. I loved the instant feeling of warmth and love that exuded from the intimate vignettes I saw all over the city during that brief drive. It was impossible to miss.

I’m staying at The Ciragan Palace Kempinski Istanbul. Keeping watch over the Bosphorus, the hotel is ideally situated for getting around, whether it’s to see the local historical sites, enjoy great food along the famous river or even take a ferry to Asia. That’s right; Istanbul is the only city in the world that sits on two continents, Europe and Asia. The hotel has 280 guestrooms, 22 hotel suites and 11 palace suites. Oprah was just here, staying in one of the over-the-top luxurious palace suites but I’m pretty happy here in my supersized guestroom, with its sweet balcony and sweeping view of the Bosphorus … and free WiFi, too!

Besides killer views, the hotel has a handful of restaurants that serve some killer food, too. I was tempted to stay in one night and order room service (hey, a transatlantic flight tires a girl out!) but I’m so glad I dined al fresco (the night air was as soft as silk on my skin) and enjoyed the good food and even better view at The Gazebo. Laledan Restaurant offers an incredible breakfast buffet with an endless (and I mean endless!) assortment of breads, pastries, cheeses, fruit, salads, fresh juices and everything else you’d expect to find at a breakfast buffet.

The staff here are friendly, always ready to help or answer a question. I check out of here tomorrow afternoon but this is a place I would come back to stay in a heartbeat! Tomorrow I’ll tell you all about the sites I visited in Istanbul and the places not to miss when you visit. The Ciragan Palace Kempinski Istanbul, Ciragan Caddesi 32 Beşiktaş, 34349 Istanbul, Turkey, Tel: + 90 212 326 46 46.

I took this train on the first time I traveled to Ukraine. I left Warsaw in Poland in the early morning at 7:15 am and arrived Lviv in Ukraine a little before midnight the same day. The price of the ticket was 127.27 ZLOTY = EUR 28.60 = 40.3 USD. I bought the ticket the day before only to have no surprises and not to waste time to buy it in the departure morning.

I took the morning train called “Odessa Express” which connects the capital of Poland Warsaw to the Black Sea coastal city, Odessa in Ukraine. It is a unique bed rail, I mean, no seating, only rooms with double beds, with sheets, blankets, table, rug etc.

Odessa Express sign at the train from Warsaw to Odessa passing Lviv in southwest Ukraine

It is very simple, and taking a train Poland to Ukraine is super easy task to do. This is a direct way to travel from Warsaw and for those who do not want to bother much with transport to Lviv. The border is very easy also, so passport formalities with both Polish and then Ukrainian authorities are quite simple.

The train stops for about 4 hours in the Polish city of Przemysl, so you can go out and enjoy this nice city for a couple of hours. Take your passport with you as police may ask for it. Watch out for crossing the train lines as police will fine you at place. I got away with it speaking Portuguese as they spoke some English and pointed the English warning signs.

Inside view of compartment in bed train from Poland to Ukraine

Odessa EXPRESS Train Schedules

Warszawa Centralna – Lvov – TRAIN 07:15
Departure: Warsaw 07:15 – Arrival: Lviv 23:44
Duration of trip: 15:29
Exchange of trains: it is not necessary to change is always the same.
Trains every day of the week.

Warszawa Centralna – Lvov – TRAIN 09:15
Departure: Warsaw 09:15 – Arrival: Lviv 23:44
Duration of trip: 13:29
Exchange of trains: need change in Krakow.
From Monday to Saturday except on June 12.

Warszawa Centralna – Lvov – TRAIN 11:07
Departure: Warsaw 11:07 – Arrival: Lviv 23:44
Duration of trip: 11:37
Exchange of trains: need change in Krakow and Przemysl.
Only runs from June 8th to July 15th, from Monday to Saturday.

Warszawa Centralna – Lvov – TRAIN 19:12
Departure: Warsaw 19:12 – Arrival: Lviv 09:51
Duration of trip: 06:03
Exchange of trains: we need change in Krakow.
Only runs from June 8th to June 20th, from Monday to Saturday.

Search trains online:
For more information on timetables visit the PKP Polish rail transport company at www.pkp.pl or go directly to the search page in English here: http://rozklad-pkp.pl/?q=en/node/143

Corridor of the epic train Odessa Express, train to Ukrain from Poland

We adore Jan Sochor - He’s one of our favorite photographers out there!… He always tells powerful real life global stories through the images he captures. The following is from one of his latest collection called HARAGA, the story attached is as follows:Every day tens of Moroccan men try to cross the Strait of Gibraltar illegally into Europe. They are called  HARAGA (*meaning immigrant in Arabic). They come to Tanger from all over Morocco, fuelled by dreams of reaching the West, so they too can grow fat, shop in a boring supermarkets, work all hours of the day, use computer games to entertain themselves and endlessly socialize in bars and worry about diet plans!

So they try their good luck by hiding between the wheels of a truck, attempt to board on a ferry in the hope of reaching Spain, and eventually further to Europe. Considering the thorough checks at the port only few of them make it.

Therefore they spend months living on a beach, in huts along the walls of the port, begging for food and waiting…..

for the right night when their dreams can hopefully come true.

My summer holidays have been pretty quite. I’ve been at home for a month now, going to to the beach and to the North Coast with my friends, tan lines are showing on everybody… just the usual. Tommorow night though I get on a plane and leave Egypt for 27 days.

I’ve been making these trips regularly for pretty much my entire life. Going off to Paris and London, sometimes I visit a new European country, sometimes I don’t. The important thing is that these summer trips have been a part of my routine for as long as I could remember. What I don’t remember is being so confused about going. Feeling like I’m going to miss out on a lot while I’m away has never been a part of my general feelings about traveling. This year, things are very different and I am very grateful for the way things are.

Lately, I’ve been very proud of the person I’ve become. Prouder than ever, despite all the things in my life that made me feel like I want to bury my head in the sand, today it is safe to say that I am at my peak. Maybe later in life I will hit another peak but for now, I am truly on top (Elhamdolilah). I have so much to live for; love, family, friendship, school, a career… the whole package. Today, I got news that my friend’s scholarship to Columbia University’s Journalism Graduate program came through. Another friend is now a Journalism graduate working in Qatar for the Gulf Times. Life can turn out okay if you work hard enough and believe in the things that you want. Of course I believe in fate and that life may not always turn out the way you plan, but at least I see real live examples in front of my eyes of people who are making it, people who are my friends and who’ve worked with me, who’ve seen good times and bad. These stories of life make me feel like no matter what happens, things will be okay because nothing goes to waste. They make me appreciate what I’ve got and understand that life is not just about careful planning or about what is around us, but it is about us. Life is what we make of it.

Today on my train ride to Cairo I was thinking about life. I always feel like I want to change the world, like I want to help my country change, to bring about reform. I realized then that even if I don’t, I will not be at fault… if I didn’t want to do it that is. If  I do, then I can try my hardest… if I don’t do whatever it takes, then there’s the fault right there.

There are so many things in the world that are worth it, so many  lives that one can touch, and help, including our own. One’s own life is as important as trying to fix the universe.

Maybe this doesn’t make a lot of sense and maybe it isn’t so coherent, but these are my thoughts for today.

The bus from Przemysl in Poland to Lviv in Ukraine takes about 3 hours, depending on the time spent at the border, so it may take up to a maximum of 4 hours. The price of the ticket is 25 Polish zloty = €5.5 Euros = $7.7 USD.

Przemysl is a city in Poland bordering with Ukraine, located in the region of Subcarpathian Voivodeship and has around 70 thousand inhabitants.

Take the bus to Lviv from the back of the train station in Przemysl (opposite part of the station main entrance), turn left and look for the box office.

Front part of bus to Lviv, notice the signs both written in Polish and Ukraine

The bus from Przemysl to Lviv is old and all broken, in part because the fact that at the border is normal that customs police searches for trafficking and smuggling. The trip from Ukraine to Poland is even worse as there is a strong clandestine transportation of goods (cigarettes and vodka!!!), so there is then the heavier the police searches.

Maybe you stay 1 hour at the border, or maybe 2 hours. But you can go out of the bus while they do it or while you wait for your passport to be stamped and verified. Passport must be held to the border police and they will take it for some time, its normal. You must do passport formalities with the police in 2 countries: first in Poland and then Ukraine.

The bus stops at Lviv bus station called AftoVaksal. A taxi to the city center can cost around 25 to 50 grivnas (2.5 to 5 euros).

As you can see the inside of the bus is pretty old, expect a long but fun ride to Ukraine

via IIS.

The Institute of Ismaili Studies is delighted to welcome Nuha Al-Sha‘ar and Stephen Burge as Research Associates in the Qur’anic Studies Unit.
—
Nuha Al-Sha‘ar is an IIS Alumna, having joined the IIS’ Graduate Programmes in Islamic Studies and Humanities in 2002.

Ms Al-Sha‘ar’s current research interests include the social and intellectual history of Muslim political thought, particularly in the 9th – 10th centuries CE.
—
Stephen Burge is completing his PhD in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Edinburgh.

Stephen Burge specialises in the study of angels in Islam, looking at the angelology of the Holy Qur’an and more widely in the Muslim tradition.
—
The Qur’anic Studies Unit aims to advance the general understanding of the plurality of interpretations that have been produced by Muslims throughout history and of the various contexts, methodologies and intellectual tools that have shaped those interpretations.

http://iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=110437

Heidelberg, Germany is a pretty town. But more than a pretty town, Heidelberg is an old town. The city streets are paved with brick that speaks of generations before you and the architecture reflects times past…just like the rest of Europe. But there is something special about Heidelberg. Something youthful dances in the air and while that could be motivated simply by the large college population in the town, I’d like to think it’s a bit more magical than that.

The Ritter is one of the town’s most famous hotels, if not the most famous. So if you go to Heidelberg, you’ll probably at least see The Ritter. It towers over the other buildings across from the old church with its gothic style towers and its dark stone. Its bottom level houses a restaurant, which I didn’t try out aside from the continental breakfast, but make no mistake…if the quality of the breakfast is any indicator as to how savory the dinner may or may not be, I’d safely make arrangements to spend my money there on any given evening out.

More importantly than the restaurant, however, is the hotel itself. Stairs wind around the levels of the building and the rooms are tucked away in not-so-obvious corners between large plants and history-filled carpet. My room was bright, naturally, thanks to the charming windows and the bed couldn’t have been more comfortable. Internet for a small fee, an unexpectedly moden bathroom (for such an old hotel!), a great desk and lounge area, and top-of-the-notch staff made me feel right at home at The Ritter.

On behalf of the beauty of the hotel and the comfort, (and ok, admittedly, the close location to many of Heidelberg’s fun bars), I would absolutely look into staying at The Ritter again my next time through Heidelberg, which I can only hope will be sooner than later.

By: Elizabeth Seward

Ukraine is in Eastern Europe, between Poland and Russia. The country is vast and borders quite a few number of countries in the region. Ukraine borders with Belarus to the north, north and east with Russia, south to the Azov and Black Sea, and west to Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland.

Ukraine has 603,628 square kilometers of land area (375 077 square miles) and is the 44th largest country in the world. Ukraine is the 2nd largest country in Europe after Russia, while France is the 3rd largest.

The highest point in Ukraine is in the Carpathian Mountains, at the Hora Hoverla peak that rises up to 2,061 meters (6761 feet).

Map of Ukraine

© Lonely Planet

The joys of travel in Europe are many: French pastries, good wine that’s cheaper than water, and acres and acres of beautiful parks.  One of my favorite joys, however, is simply people watching.  I’ll park myself at an outdoor cafe to observe, with spotting fashion trends as the ultimate goal!

After three weeks of traveling through the U.K., Italy and France, I am excited to report back on some of the hottest trends seen out there.  They’re so simple and so perfect for summer.

You have to start with the must-have aviator sunglasses, which every girl and boy in the French Riviera holds close to their heart. Add a pair of Chuck Taylors to the look; my favorite are in gray.  With this foundation, the look can go anywhere, but my favorite for women was the summer romper (see below).  The best additions I saw on a man were bright orange jeans and a basic button up.  The accompanying yacht was an added bonus.

Other looks I observed:

• Rolled up jeans everywhere in the boyfriend and skinnier straight-leg styles.
• Very casual harem pants and shorts with subtle cuts; nothing exaggerated.
• High-ankle gladiator sandals swapped out for a more basic Roman-style sandal, like the one below.
• Jeans cut and folded right above the knee.  Yes, just like Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing! The 13-year old girl in me is really hoping this look catches on.
• A super strange look for men that I can’t determine is a real look or a series of coincidental mistakes.  On three separate occasions I saw fashion-conscious men wearing button-fly jeans with only the top button buttoned.  Is this really a look?

Next week, I’ll post some photos of the great Crossroads finds that I packed my suitcase with.

Ciao!

But I know what it’s like…. It’s like Tiffany’s…. Not that I give a hoot about jewelry.  Diamonds, yes.  But it’s tacky to wear diamonds before you’re forty…

~Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, 1958, spoken by the character Holly Golightly

i think many times women are socialized by movies, books, and even their friends to see diamond jewelery as the pinnacle of perfection. we are all infused by the mythology of tiffany and cartier throughout our lives. but, as with everything else in life, i believe jewelry to be a form of expressive art, and moving off the beaten path sometimes leads to spectacular finds! i am not going to argue that a diamond solitaire or string of pearls are the absoulte in timeless, classic sophistication. but spice up your jewelry box a little bit with some fantastic pieces of wearable art!

i first saw fayrn davis’s resin jewelry at a local neighborhood festival. it was unique, clean, and beautiful. she encapsulated found objects into her necklaces…anything from glass, flower buds, to bird bones and tiny, unhatched eggs. she describes herself as having always been a collector of “small powerful things” and now she passes those things off to her clients to treasure! she also paints tiny pieces of wood with scenes based off pictures she’s taken with a camera and over lays them with resin. i visited her studio/home near my neighborhood to choose a couple necklaces and take a look at her artwork. she was a very friendly person listening to carla bruni sing in fresh as she worked on her tiny treasures. it’s comfortable to wear, and perfect for giving as gifts. i kept the bird flying into the sunset piece, but gave the “still” grass to a friend. whenever i wear it i feel like i have a tiny painting around my neck, a real piece of artwork. and it’s true!

when possible, i love to meet the artists that craft the jewelery that i purchase. it gives me a sense of where the piece came from and what it means. the smaller the production, and the more local, the better!

i absolutely lust for this necklace made out of an authentic athena/owl coin from ancient greece. british tim lambert describes his goal as wanting his jewelry to look like it came from an archaeological dig in ancient rome or greece, and i have to say he’s succeed beautifully. he works in primarily 18 and 24 kt gold, which gives his jewelry an amazing glow and a beautiful color. now tim lives in a little town about an hour away from my city, with his wife, and children. they come to my sunday market to sell their treasures, and also to pass along a little value to their clients. they work out of their home, and do not rent a shop front. they go to a couple markets each week and, because of the quality and beauty of their art, have built up a clientele that return for this classical jewlery. he makes all of his jewelry in the ancient way, without using molds. he uses all recycled gold, and they run a very environmentally sound business. best of all, they will cut you a fantastic deal.

despite having always felt a connection with athena, i doubt the necklace will ever come into a place where it is in my price range! i wonder how much of the cost is associated with the coin itself, but it is a fantastic piece. however, when my wedding set became too big for my ring finger, my husband was able to cut an amazing deal, with the help of tim’s wife, for a small ruby solitaire and eternity band, as an early second year anniversary gift. until we figure out what to do with the fantastic family stone my husband gave me, i wear this set on my ring finger. while not traditional, it is bright, and colorful. i wasn’t a fan of yellow gold until i saw the true color of gold when it’s karatage is close to pure. it is a brilliant bold color, and brings out the color of the stones set into it.

thomas mann, while not a local to my area, creates beautiful techno-punk jewelry. he has named the range techno-romance, and i think it’s fantastic! the toggle heart box is my favorite piece out of the range, but there are many more wonderful pieces. it speaks to the part of me that always enjoyed science fiction and cute robots. and to the teenager in me that loved punky, gothy clothing and comics. it’s heavy, made out of sterling silver. as a child i loved tiny boxes, and tiny things to put in my tiny boxes. i still have an obsession with pencil boxes, and really, any kind of box for stashing little things. this necklace reminds me of the tiny things i would find and stash in my childhood.

another local artist, kristen ford, makes beautiful jewelry with drop-cut semi-precious stones. she makes her jewelery intentionally in meditation with appreciation for her belief in the healing power of all precious and semi-precious stones. she also designs to create beauty, energy, health, love, and peace. she has an amazing range of pieces, in every color of the rainbow. each sparkles as the little drops catch the light, and dance. i love wearing her pieces which feel natural, but also formal and elegant. i have a necklace by her with blue topaz and a number of blue and bluish green stones, set in yellow gold. delicate, yet substantial, it is perfect for formal occasions, yet still natural and colorful.

not to long ago a colorful shop opened up a little ways away from my home. i didn’t have time to go in, but one day saw a coworker wearing an amazing octopus necklace set with green garnets. i asked her where she got it and she pointed me to the very shop in my neighborhood! when i went it i was breathless with the intricate detail of the design in kimberly baker’s jewelry. my favorite piece is her phoenix necklace. up close the detail is astounding. as you move further away from it, it almost seems like it changes shape or form into a more non-descript flame, which, i find, is perfectly appropriate. i had to get the phoenix in gold, because of what it is, but it is also available in silver. kimberly baker’s jewelry may seem more modern, but a lot of it is based on victorian curiosities and inspired by a collection of antique oddities. all of her jewelry is meaningful, and designed within a specific context. it’s feminine, but with a little edge that makes it different, and bold.

michael michaud’s botanical inspired jewelery is breath-takingly similar to the natural botanicals they are based upon. it could be because he uses leaves and sticks he finds in nature to make the molds for his jewelry. while he makes an amazing range of beautiful jewelry from ginkgo leaves to blueberries, my husband presented me with the pussy willow set, because i love pearls and wear a lot of brown. as a little girl, i use to find the fuzzy tops of pussy willows and save them in my little boxes, so this set was particularly appropriate for me. since they are cast from real pussy willows, i always feel a connection to the natural while wearing them. because of the color, the match nearly all of my clothing. and because they are simple, and not overly ornate, i can wear them more frequently some of his other works. michael michaud is not one of our local vendors, but his artwork captures a lot of what is valued in my city, the mix of the beauty of art, and natural beauty, and artwork that is usable and wearable.

this necklace was one of the first gifts my husband ever got me. not long after, he gave me the matching earrings as well. at the time, i was well aware of christy decker’s silver scrolly jewelry and desired it pretty ardently. while i was particularly lusting after an even more curly necklace of hers, my husband presented me with this necklace, which has turned out to be a much better fit for me. and it was a perfect symbolic gift as well. christy decker describes the purpose of her work at her website:

For the past 18 years she’s combined her love of adornment and art by creating beautiful silver jewelry inspired by her vast experience working as a mehandi henna artist. Christy brings the ancient designs of the Middle East into the present day through her jewelry. Delicate yet strong these flowing floral, leafy and swirling designs symbolize the transformations we encounter through life. A tangible talisman to help us stay strong, keep it simple, and open to what gifts life has to offer.

and so, the necklace is not just another pretty thing to wear, it was crafted with meaning, symbolic of the change in life pathways when we met each other all those years ago.

jewelry is like everything else, how and what you choose can say a lot about who you are. but wearing a great piece of hand-crafted jewelery can make even a boring outfit pop. there are definitely days when i choose my outfit based on a new or favorite piece of jewelery i want to wear, and there are certainly times i wear a piece to match my mood, or even the kind of place i am going to. not to say that tiffany, cartier, or even swarovski are not classics in their own right, but there is something very special about wearing a piece of jewelery that reflects the joy and love an artist put into it. knowing that it is hand-made, and therefore, one of a kind, and supporting someone who is pursuing their dream, pursuing a career that brings them great joy, is such a different feeling from buying a mass produced, albeit, quality, piece. because all the thousand details and joys the artist experiences in crafting is meant to be passed on to the client. wearing the physical representation of someone pursuing their dream brings me joy. when i’ve met and spoken with an artist, i can understand, so much better, what the piece represents, and at it means it its creator, and that is a truely special exprience. and, of course, the pleasure that comes from a beautiful collection of unique jewelry!

what is your favorite kind of “usable art”? what is your favorite piece of jewelery?

you can check out the artists who made my favorite pieces of jewelery here:

http://www.fernworks.org

http://italilambertini.com

http://www.thomasmann.com/

http://www.fourseasonsdesigngroup.com/silver-about-us

http://www.kimberlybaker.com/

http://www.kristinford.com/

http://www.deckerjewelry.com

I’ve been to see Andrzej Wajda’s magnificent, harrowing film, Katyn, the first dramatic account of the Katyn massacre of 1940, in which more than fourteen thousand Polish POWs, were murdered by the NKVD, the Soviet secret police. The massacre itself is not seen until the very end of the film.  Before then Wajda has focussed attention on the way that both the Nazis and the Soviets used Katyn as propaganda. First, the Germans dug up the corpses in the forest and condemned the Bolshevik terror; later, when the war turned, the Red Army laid blame for the atrocity on the Nazis.

This the morass from which, after unbearable slaughter and inexplicable madness, Europe has extricated itself.

This extract from the review in the Independent highlights the deep personal meaning of Katyn for Wajda:

Katyn feels like a film that Wajda had to make. Having turned 83 in March, the director (Ashes and Diamonds is his best-known work here) has lived with his own anguish about the event for almost 70 years. He has said that Katyn, the history, is about two things, the crime and the lie: his dilemma was deciding which one the film should address. If the crime, it was about his father, one of the officers murdered in the forest; if the lie, it was about his mother, whom he watched wither and fade once she realised her husband was not coming home. In the end, of course, it is about both. The poignancy of it is the lie, which the Poles had to live with until as late as 1990, when the USSR finally admitted that the massacre was ordered by Stalin and carried out by the NKVD. In this regard Wajda’s film might come to represent for Poland the national poem of loss that The Lives of Others represents for the former GDR.

It’s appropriate to quote a Polish review of the film:

This work, the most important in the director’s career, is saturated with one emotion – pain, a pain that permeates the viewer. After Katyn, one can only be silent. Andrzej Wajda believes that now, after Katyn, other films will be made about this crime. I’ve allowed myself to disagree. Wajda’s film opens up and closes the issue of Katyn in Polish cinematography. Following the shocking last sequence of the film, nothing can be added.

(…) It’s no accident that the characters in the film have no family names, although we assume that the the character of the General is Mieczyslaw Smorawinski. The other characters in Katyn, Cavalry Captain Andrzej, Lieutenant (later Major) Jerzy, Lieutenant Pilot, are archetypes of Polish officers. They are husbands, sons, fathers.

This is Wajda speaking about the film:

Katyn is a special film in my long career as a director. I never thought I would live to see the fall of the USSR, or that free Poland would provide me with the opportunity to portray on the screen the crime and lies of Katyn.

While Stalin’s crime deprived my father of life, my mother was touched by the lies and the hoping in vain for the return of her husband.

The creation of the screenplay about Katyn took several years. The long, arduous process of looking through huge quantities of individual recollections, diaries, and other mementos confirmed my determination to base this first film about Katyn on the facts these materials related. And this is how the film’s opening scene on the bridge, as well as the one featuring Soviet soldiers defacing the Polish flag, came to be.

Most of the incidents depicted on the screen actually happened and were reported by eye-witnesses. While it is true that the details of the Katyn crime are now known, I couldn’t omit, in this first film about the event, the image of death; death that met twenty thousand Polish officers. They were murdered, one at a time, a fact that was recorded in their personal files. This is evidence that the Soviet Union failed to recognize or respect any international standards, not even with regard to prisoners of war.

All the men who died did so as members of the Polish intelligentsia, and this paved the way for Stalin’s subjugation of Poland. A parallel theme to the Katyn crime is the Katyn lie and the official Soviet line that the Germans had committed the deed in 1941 after invading Soviet territory during the war. This lie had its greatest impact on the wives, mothers, and daughters of the murdered officers. For it was these women, in their struggle to discover the truth, who experienced the greatest repression from the new government following 1945.

This is why, for years, Katyn has been an open, festering wound in the history of Poland that begged for a Polish film to address this topic.

Mention must also be made of the powerful score by Krzysztof Penderecki (consisting of excellently chosen phrases from whole works, including his Third Symphony, Second Cello Concerto, Polish Requiem (final credits), and, in the massacre sequence itself, his 1974 masterpiece ‘The Awakening of Jacob’, a cacophony of rasping strings and brass suggesting something tumultuous and terrifying,previously utilized in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.

The film reminded me that last December BBC 2 broadcast an excellent series, World War 2: Behind Closed Doors, which examined the wartime relationship between the ‘Big Three’, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. One episode of the series dealt with the secret history of the Soviet attempt to cover up the mass murders at Katyn.

5 March 1940

This document contains the decision to liquidate the Polish officers and other state officials. Stalin’s signature of authorization is at the top.

This document, addressed to Stalin, was written by Lavrentiy Beria, People’s Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR, and requests authorization to kill 14,700 prisoners-of-war and 11,000 other prisoners.

Signatures of authorization from members of the Politburo appear on the left side of the first page of this document. They include Stalin, Voroshilov, Molotov, and Mikoyan. In the notes on the margin the names appear of C(omrade) Kalinin and C(omrade) Kaganovich.

This is from an article by a researcher for the series,  Sally Chick, on the BBC website:

One of the central themes of the series ‘World War Two: Behind Closed Doors’ is the Katyn Massacre, which not only demonstrates Stalin’s cruelty, but also the balance of power in his relationship with Churchill and Roosevelt.

Soviet guilt for the murder of over 20,000 members of the Polish elite in 1940 was only admitted for the first time by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1990, and it wasn’t until 1992 that the document proving Stalin’s complicity in the crime was made public – over half a century after the crime was committed.

While proof of Soviet guilt for the murders at Katyn has been known for 16 years, we have been able to show how those murders took place through drama reconstruction in a way that has never been done before. Russian prosecutors conducted an investigation in the early 1990s, and we gained access to an interview with a man who helped to arrange the killings personally.

He described the executioner wearing a ‘brown leather apron’ and ‘brown leather gloves with cuffs over the elbows’, and told of how ‘they covered the doors to the shooting cells that led to the corridor so the sounds of the shootings couldn’t be heard’.

Such testimony gives a unique insight into the methods used to carry out the massacre and brings into focus the true cruelty of the crime.

Katyn: trailer

Katyn: opening sequence on the bridge

Katyn makes the point in its very first minutes: it’s 17 September 1939, the scene a bridge somewhere in Poland; two lines of refugees meet in the middle, one fleeing the Nazis who invaded on the first day of the month, the other fleeing the Soviets who are invading from the east.

Katyn: the final massacre sequence

Links

• Katyn: page on the Wajda website includes profiles of the female characters in the film
• Film reopens Poland’s Katyn wound: BBC News
• A Movie That Matters by Anne Applebaum: NY Review of Books

The Ring of the Fisherman is an official part of the Pope’s regalia. The pope, by tradition, is viewed to be the sucessor to St. Peter, who was, by trade before Jesus-ing a fisherman. Each ring is unique. Every time a pope dies, his ring is destroyed in the presence of the highest Cardinal. This is obviously to prevent forgeries or backdating of official documents. Each new pope has his own ring cast out of gold, and it is placed on the third finger of his right hand.

The first we hear of the Ring of the Fisherman is in 1256 when Clement IV mentions it in a letter to his nephew. It was used then to seal all private correspondence, where there was a different stamp that used lead to seal public documents. This continued until the 15th century, when it was then used to seal all documents of the Pope. In 1824, the use of the ring as a seal ended. The ring, even throughout history, was more of a symbol of the Pope than a practical seal. It is still customary to kiss the ring of the Pope when you meet him.

This is Benedict XVI's ring. Kiss it.

London

After 4 stops in and out of London for various flights, we finally settled down for 5 days here before our Barcelona trip. Although we didn’t spend nearly enough time here as first planned, we still did and saw a lot, and it was great catching up with friends and family. I loved everything about this big city, from the plentiful red buses to the catching the tube and the wicked fashion trend (especially on Saturday night). We stayed with Katie for a couple of the stop over nights in London Bridge. It was in the best location! Right on Borough street (very centrally located),  and with the London bridge right behind the apartment block.  After our little Italian escapade we joined Uncle Gerry or GG for several days at his lovely posh home in Camberley, Surrey. This area was an absolutely beautiful part of the UK. Only a 40 min train ride from Waterloo station, we  were living amongst royalty as Prince Edward and his wife Sofie live just down the road from GG’s in a very grand estate. All the homes in this area are very grand and have very lovely expensive European cars parked out the front. The landscape of Surrey is just gorgeous. It’s green, green everywhere, and it has so many tall trees that you almost feel as though you’re in a forest. It feels as though your hours out of London, but you are not.

GG is the wittiest 82 year old going around. He is mentally very charming and he has a twist of a dry and sarcastic sense of humor. I got along with him just fine! J I also learn t that he has a ‘garden’ as opposed to a ‘back yard’ very quickly.

I also celebrated my birthday here, and it was very sweet of GG organising Helen, his good friend and next door neighbour to bake me a scrumptious chocolate cake and for taking us out for a traditional English pub dinner at the Cricketers in Surrey.   It was also ace seeing my good friends Susan and Ben from work who are expats now living in London as well as other friends from previous travels and of course Katie.

Some of the sites that we eventually saw were the Tower of London, London Bridge, The eye, Big Ben, Parliament House, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, Tate Modern, Piccadilly Circus, Harrods, Madam Tassuads just to name several. I also should mention that we have traveled through all of London’s main airports- Heathrow, Luton, Stanstead and Gatwick- a good effort on our behalf I say! Overall, although our stay was short here, we immensely enjoyed our time here. I loved the history of this country, the narrow medieval roads the public transport, (not how much it costs though!), the people we met and the general feel of the city. I look forward to visiting good old London town in the near future once more.