Day 20 (26 June): Beautiful Beaches?

I took a train (about 45 minutes) from Riga today to check out the Latvian coast-line in Jurmala which is where the Soviet leaders used to head when they wanted to go to the beach. They were really interesting looking beaches because the sand was very, very white, but the water in the Baltic is very, very black which provides an interesting contrast. Even more strange for me was that there were pine trees that came right up to the edge. Nonetheless, I do not think that any time soon, I will be buying a flight from Los Angeles to come to Latvian beaches.

Once I got back to Riga, I took a river cruise out to the Baltic. There was some great industrial scenery to look at: piles of coal, oil tanks, lifts to get containers off of ships, train tracks, etc.

Economic observations:
1) People will do anything to go to the beach and enjoy the sun. It was quite chilly, but there were still a good number of people stripped down laying out in the sun despite the cold weather. It was cold enough that I keep on my light windbreaker.
2) People will buy beer sold in plastic bottles. Some Germans staying in the same place as me were very upset that Latvians would buy beer sold in 2L bottles at local convenience stores.
3) People travel and work illegally. I talked to a guy today, originally from Portugal, who had been traveling for 12 years, staying in a city for 3 months at a time and working as a cook in restaurants or doing similar work. I have a hard time imagining what that life would be like: making only cash and overstaying visas everywhere you go. I guess you can get by that way though.

Day 19 (25 June): Latvia

I boarded a 4:30 am train to the airport in Berlin in order to make my flight to Riga, Latvia (the biggest Baltic city in a fomer Soviet state. By the time I got to Riga I needed a nap and since it was stormy in Riga I took one.

Fortunately, by the time I woke up the weather improved and I could take more of a look around. I wandered the huge market there housed in old airline Hangars near the Daugava River. I also took a lift to the top of a church tower to get views of the city. After walking around the scenic old town a little, I head out for food and a night on the town with a couple of Australians and Welsh people sharing the dorm room with me in the hostel.

Economic observations:
1) Latvia is still really cheap. At the market, I bought 4 pairs of good new socks for less than 1 USD. I also bought fruit and breakfast pastries for the next couple of days for less than 1 USD.
2) Cheap flights from England and Germany and cheap alcohol make Riga a popular destination for British 'Stag' and 'Hen' parties (e.g. bachelor and bachelorette parties.) Unfortunately, these seem to be unavoidable, since they´re really loud and not too respectful groups of people. I guess Latvians welcome it because it brings in money if nothing else.
3) Casinos. There seem to be empty casinos all over Riga and in a lot of other Eastern European cities (actually all of the other ones I've been too.) Its strange because no one ever seems to be in them. How do they make money? Are they a front for something else?
4) The Australians and Welsh people I met pointed out to me that Americans seem much more work and goal oriented than people from their countries. They were telling me about how a lot of people back home (and themselves) will just quit their jobs and travel for several months with virtually no consequences when they go back. I might be wrong, but this seems like it would be unacceptable in the US and travelling would not be an acceptable use of time unless you have something lined up before you leave. I wonder why? Is it good or bad?

Photos: Slovenia, Zagreb, Hungary

Here are some more links to photos. Selected ones from Slovenia, Zagreb, Hungary:

• Slovenia Photos
  
• Zagreb Photos
  
• Hungary Photos
  

Day 18 (24 June): The Cold War to Modern Berlin

I spent the morning today, checking out more Cold War sites (Checkpoint Charlie Museum and the Topography of Terror museum) and the farther Eastern parts of the city. In the afternoon I saw a lot of modern Berlin: the large Turkish neighborhoods and markets and redeveloping parts of the East. Along the way I stopped by the Modern Art Museum and took in a lot of the really cool modern architecture the city has.

Economic observations:
1) Turks. Berlin has the third largest population of Turks of any city in the world following Istanbul and Ankara. The Turkish population in Berlin is much like the Latin American population in California (or many parts of the US.): a) it is the fastest growing segment, b) Turkish words are becoming integrated into everyday Berliner German much like Spanish words have in California English, c) the dinner kebob (which apparently was invented in Berlin not in Turkey) is the cheap, fast food alternative, much like the burrito is in California.
2) You can´t export haircuts. (OK, so if you went to UCSD with me, I stole that one from Prof. Hanson, but its true and why pricing parity cannot hold.) I figured I´d be safter getting my haircut in Berlin than other places I´ve been but didn´t speak the language. I actually got a pretty good haircut today on the fringes of East Berlin for only 5 euro (or 6 USD) which was a steal. Even more surprising was how well it turned out given the woman who cut my hair barely spoke English and my German haircut vocabulary was limited to 'shorter', 'yes', and 'no'.
3) Tipping as a measure of service. When Julian and I went to dinner this evening, we got really bad service. Julian said don´t tip them and we didn´t. Tip in Germanormallyramlly only 10% as it is. Apparently, not tipping in Germany for bad service is common. It makes more sense than what we do in the US, since it properly aligns the incentives of waiters.
4) Public transportation again. The subway trains in Berlin have buttons on the doors that you have to press if you want the doors to open. This seems to make a lot of sense and keep trains on schedule, since if no one wants to get off or on, the trains don´t have to wait long.

Day 17 (23 June): The Wall & Biking in Berlin

Today, I mostly toured the Wall and Cold War era sites. I went on a bike tour with a company called Fat Tire Bikes that was actually very good since they filled in a lot of history and anecdotes from places that I couldn't have picked up otherwise. I was even telling Julian things about Berlin he didn´t know that evening. It started in Alexanderplatz which is a big well-paved over inconcretee Communist style square that used to be the center of East Berlin.

That eveningJuliann and some of his friends decided they need to take me out and teach me more about German Beers by taking me through a series of different beer gardens that there is no way I would have found otherwise and then to a classic German Club/Disco that almost seemed to be a mockery of all stereotypes of such places. The night ended with a long bike ride home (more on that below.)

Economic observations:
1) Germans like to keep their beer flowing. If you mistakenly forget to put your coaster on top of your beer covering it once your glass is empty as I did once, you get a refill automatically and you have to pay for it whether you wanted it or not.
2) Fusioncuisinee is popular everywhere. The currywurst is a popular street food in Berlin: take oneGermann sausage, sprinkle curry powder on it to make it Indian, then douse it in ketchup to make it American.
3) Taxes and religion. In Germany, when you fill out your taxes, you have to declare your religion. If you check a religion box, then you owe more money because the government takes it out of your taxes and gives it directly to your church. Now if that´s not a good way to sort out the devout from the Christmas and Easter types, I don´t know what is. Surprisingly, over 50% of people still check a religion box on their tax return.
4) Gays in Berlin. It turns out the Berlin has the 3rd largest gay population of any city in the world. I found this out the hard way as we rode bikes through the Teirgarten late at night (read 4 am) and rode through a section full of naked men getting intimate with each other. I blame Jullian for having to see that.
5) Public transportation. Bikes are part of the public transportation network in Berlin and there are public bikes owned by Deutsche Bahn (the railroad company.) To use these you sign-up for a service that is linked to your mobile phone. When you want to use a public bike that´s sitting there on the street as we did, you literally call it up as each bike has a unique phone number that unlocks it. Your phone bill then gets charged 4 eurocents per minute the bike is used. We need that in the US, its a really clever system that could prove effective for alleviating some traffic problems.
6) BUIs. Apparently, you can also get BUIs (Biking Under the Influence tickets) in Germany whJulianlian was afraid of because it affects your car driving record. It seemed like this might be the downside to having bikes as part of the public transportation network, since I did not see many people riding them during the day, but later at night many people were.

Day 16 (22 June): I am a Jelly Doughnut

I spent today exploring the Western part of Berlin on foot. I started at the Banhof Zoo train station where Gotz dropped me off and walked down Kurfurstendamm which was West Berlin's 5th avenue equivalent and stopped off at the 'Story of Berlin' Museum which had an excellent history of the city. After that I walked over to the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachtniskirche (which is a bombed out church never repaired after WWII so it could serve as a memorial for peace.) Its quite striking to see in a city that's in otherwise good repair, even if a lot of the buildings look they were put up in the '50s and '60s.

I then walked across the Tiergarten which is an enormous park that used to be the hunting ground for the Prussians and stumbled upon more than one nudist sunbathers since it was hotter than usual for Berlin, but still not too bad. From there I saw the Reichtag (parliament) and views from its roof along with the Branderberg gate (which has a quite a history to it and serves as a symbol of the city) and a Soviet monument at the edge of the Tiergarten. The soviet monument is quite odd, since it was in West Berlin and commemorates the war dead of the soviets. Its massive (with a large soldier on top with abnormally large hands) but was put up in only 3 or 4 days before the allies made it to Berlin in 1945.

After all of this I met Julian and his girlfriend in the brand new Potsdammer Platz complex for dinner at a German restaurant affiliated with the famous Hofbrau house in Munich. We also had 1 liter beers.

Economic observations of the day:
1) German Food. Its the most expensive food to get in Germany because Germans don't go out to eat German food, they cook it at home. The low demand by locals is what makes it expensive. Jullian thought it was funny I wanted German food for dinner and had to think for a while before he could find a place.
2) Mobile. German mobile phones seem like they are leaps and bounds ahead of those in the US. Its kindof ridiculous that US mobile phone companies don't fit into the GSM world standard. At some point this is going to be a problem for US mobile phone users. Another interesting feature of German mobile phones is that if you are within 500 meters of your home, then calls to your home number will ring on your mobile phone as well and you pay a home phone rate rather than a mobile phone rate.
3) Real Estate in Berlin. Its really, really cheap for one of the world's major cities. In his apartment, Jullian only pays 225 USD per month for a huge room in a very large 3BR place in a very good location. He thinks that seems expensive. Purchasing homes in Berlin, he says is much more expensive though. At USD 225 a month, I almost should move to Berlin when a similar place in LA would cost about 5 times more.
4) graffiti. Its all over Europe, but in particular in Berlin. Governments don't seem to care to spend the money to fix it up. I wonder what Rudy Guiliani would think about this with his broken window policy.
5) EasyJet (the low cost airline) and other Easy companies. I don't know what the company looks like financially, but its interesting how it is everywhere and seems to fill all sorts of low cost market niches for services. In Berlin they have 'esyInternetCafes'; they also have easyCrusie in the French & Italian Riveras; and I've hear of other Easy companies throughout Europe.