"An all expenses paid trip to Berlin, Germany? Of course I'm interested," I told my major professor, thinking about how to combine the work related travel to pleasure related activities.
And then suddenly (well, two months later), there I was in Berlin. It wasn't all that sudden as it involved a ride to the Des Moines airport by Gilsoo Jang, sitting next to an elderly woman named Alice on the plane ride to Detroit, eating too much frosting at Cinnabonn in the Detroit airport, listening to some Jewish guy complain about not getting Kosher food on the plane to Amsterdam, a long flight to Amsterdam with free beer and a John Cleese movie, a train ride into and a tour of Amsterdam and its red light district, a flight to Berlin, a bus ride to Zoolischer Garten, and a U-bahn ride to Alexanderplatz.Staying in Alexanderplatz in the heart of what had once been called East Berlin, I attended the Power Engineering Society's IEEE conference convienently located clear on the other side of town. I grew very accustomed to using the S-bahn and U-bahn public transportation systems. Of course I attended each and every one of the conference sessions and therefore didn't have copious amounts of time to devote to drinking beer... so that had to be squeezed in whenever possible.
During the week of the conference, I took the opportunity to visit the Parmegon museum which has a big collection of Greek, Roman, and Islamic Architecture and Antiquities. I got to eat dinner in the revolving restaurant at the top of the Fehrenseher tower (the big TV tower). Some friends and I went on a little walking tour of central Berlin. There were many opportunities for experiencing the local versions of international cuisines as well. (Exactly what is German food? Other than your frankfurters and breads.) When the conference was over, I traveled on the ICE (intercity express) to southern German to meet a friend (Klaus Zimmermann) living in Stuttgart, Germany. He had a hankering to see the final leg of the tour de France that would be taking place in Paris the next day, so at 5:00pm Saturday, we decided to drive to Paris. We arrived a little after 11:00 pm. After spending the equivalent of US$30.00 on two beers that night (of course they were really good beers), and beaucoup bucks on the tollways getting to Paris, we decided to spend the night in a hotel called "Klaus' Volkswagen".The showers didn't work, the beds were like a car seat, and the service was lousy, but that hotel had the fastest checkout time that I've ever seen. First item of business on Sunday was to get some Francs. We found an ATM, and then we were ready to experience Paris. We drove to the Arch de Triumph area of town and walked along the Tour d' France route down to the Louvre. The line outside the glass pyramids was long, but moved fairly quickly. We were inside in about 20 minutes or so. Once inside, I was pretty impressed. You can't believe how huge the Louvre is! From the entrance you can head into three wings of the museum (each of which is huge) and the fourth direction takes you to an underground shopping mall.
So, I wandered around in the Louvre for what must have been 5 or 6 hours. With my superfast culture appreciation abilities, I was able to stop and deeply admire every painting, sculpture, and tapestry for a full second or two. I even got to stand behind a mob of people apparently protecting the Mona Bisat. (Or is it Mona Lisa?) The famous painting by Leonardo Da Vinci. On to the Venus d' Milo... the guards didn't appreciate my attempt to fix the statue with stucco and duct tape.
So after the first few hours in the museum we got hungry and decide to get a bite to eat and drink. We sat next to some girls from England. One girl commented to the other, "Hey this is going in my journal. Today is the day I spent five dollars on a coke." I told her about the US$30 we spent on two beers the night before. She was impressed and said something about me being from Iowa, where it turns out that four of her five American friends live. It was rather expensive and so we didn't eat too much.
Trying to get from the Louvre to the Arch d' Triumph where Klaus and I said we'd meet at 6:00 was somewhat of a challenge. The race was circling the Louvre and was tightly fenced in. I wandered about watching the racers as they sped by, and finally I found an entrance to the subway located within the fenced in area. I took the subway to my destination and waited at the Arch for a while until I met Klaus.
That night we found a cheap hotel, recommended to us by some backpackers we had met in the line at the Louvre. The area of town was not the best. When a guy came up to me speaking French and looking like he wasn't from the welcome wagon, I told him that I don't speak French and hopped in the car. He asks in English, "What language do you speak?" and I answer in english, "I speak German." He flips me the bird and starts pounding on the car window asking whether I understand that French! We sped off and hoped we wouldn't be meeting up with him again.
Each morning we'd eat croissants or some other pastries available at any of the many bakeries throughout Europe. By evening we'd usually be hungry to eat a large sit-down type meal with lots of beer. Mmmm. Beer. Well, that night in Paris, was no exception. I had a 24 oz beer containing 12.5% alcohol. It was like drinking a six-pack of coors light in one glass. I'm sure the food was good too. Morning came quickly. The motel was a lot more comfortable than the Volkswagen, but far from the Hilton. We awoke to the sound of other people's wake up calls which seem to ring non-stop for about 25 minutes.
Monday morning we figured we'd see the major tourist attractions which we didn't see the day before, including the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Pantheon Museum, the jardin d' Luxembourg, the Eifel tower (which I climbed for the second time), etc. We were headed out of town for Fountainbleau by 5:00. We took the highway (vs. the equivalent of our interstate) since there were no tolls on the secondary roads. It made for a little slower going, but we got to see more. (More traffic circles that is.) At each new McDonald's (they call them American Embassies), there was always a recently installed traffic circle. I hate to say it, but we stopped at one. We were making good time, and fast food was convienent food. Do you know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in France?
From Fountainbleau we continued south and that night we stopped at Nevers. We woke up around 10:30 on Tuesday and drove to the downtown region. Upon the advice of a tourist agency, we walked across town to the place where the preserved body of the Roman Catholic saint Bernadette de Lourdes is on display. Interesting. From Nevers we drove south on N7 to Mende. Mende is a cool little town up in the hills with narrow streets and little shops. Klaus' driving and the winding cliff-sided roads were doing their best to convince me that I was going to die in France.
But, I didn't die and Tueday night we made it to Nimes (pronounced NEEM). Nimes is an awesome town! It has an old roman colleseum which is used for rodeos and concerts. It has a fortress tower on a big hill that we climbed from which we could see clay-tiled roofs of practically every house in the city. We stayed at a small hotel and ate at some cool little restaurants. They have a Roman monument across from their library (where I inquired, "Avais vous un connexion d'internet?" which evoked a smile from the librarian). I recommend you go to Nimes, not today, but definitely tomorrow.
Wednesday we left Nime and headed east by way of Pont du Gard (part of an old Roman aqueduct system). At Pont du Gard, we got to walk across the river on an old aqueduct/bridge built by the Romans. After Pont du Gard came Avignon, an entire city built in the 800s totally enclosed within walls design to make it an invincible, unescapable tourist trap. Tons of people and a Disneyesque downtown help me to whole-heartedly recommend again that you take whatever time you were planning to spend in Avignon and spend it in Nimes. During a turbulent period of time in the 1400s there were two popes in the Roman Catholic church system. One of them was stationed in Avignon. So, we paid $12 to go see his Frescos (whatever they are). After that, we donated some cash to the local economy while tasting some of their beer.
From Avignon, we headed to Arles where we ate supper, saw another colleseum (My God, there everywhere!) and walked around asking about vacant hotels. It turned out that there were no vacant hotels, so we got into the car and headed to Marseille where we found a large number of women working the streets and a hotel with an empty room. By the time we got there, Klaus and I were pretty tired, and we didn't care too much that it handn't been cleaned in a couple of weeks. The shower felt good.
The next day (Thursday), we toured the city. The European Space agency has a little museum there. They have some yellow post offices there. In addition, they have an old soldier fort which we walked around. But most importantly, they have some very beautiful women. I was impressed. We left France's 2nd largest city while we still had a franc or two. Late that afternoon, we drove to San Tropez arriving around 8:00pm. Went swimming in the mediterranean... Later, went to an Agyptian restaurant and tasted couscous for the first time. Thumbs up, but a bit on the spendy side. After that, the hotel that fit into our price range must have been a chain, like it's sister unit in Paris, it was called "Klaus' Volkswagen".
The wake up service on Friday Morning did not work very well... I woke at 8:00 or so and explored the surrounding terrain while Klaus slept until 10:00 am. I didn't mention it, but we had our share of beer the night before. At 10:30, we were at the beach. We found an empty area of the beach that was fairly open, but within an hour or so, the crowd began to arrive. Families, couples and every type of women were setting up their blankets/towels around us. We were practically boxed in. Oh, did I mention that the beaches in Europe (especially around the Mediterranean) are topless? Aye Carumba!! & Wow! Anyway, I got sunburnt that day, and didn't come off of the beach until late afternoon. I guess swimming in the salt water counted as my shower for that day.
As parking spaces were a premium, we didn't have much privacy when changing clothes out by the road. The girls in the car on the road waited 5 minutes while we got ready to leave. Finally, we were on our way. We decided to begin the long trek back to Germany, rather than stay in the expensive tourist town of San Tropez any longer. We drove north. About 11:00pm, we stopped in McDonalds, I got a strawberry shake and used the facilities. Continuing northeast through France, and Switzerland, we stopped somewhere and slept in the car for about 4 or 5 hours during the darkest hour (comes right before dawn) along the way.
Saturday morning we stopped in Lausanne for a couple of hours, saw the markets, drove by the E'cole polytechnique, attempted to get Swiss francs, or locate a place that would (acceptez vous credit card?) sell us food. Finally found a place where the owners supposedly spoke German. They couldn't understand Klaus, however, so we resorted to English. It's a very hilly town with lots of streetcars traveling through the streets. If you go, take care not to get run over. Shortly after noon, we were back on the road again. We made it to Freiberg around 4:00, where we parted company, and I waited for the 6:15pm train back to Berlin (which is quite some distance away). I spent the time thinking how nice the next shower I took would feel. I still had saltwater residue from the Mediterranean.
Sunday morning, the train pulled into Berlin bright and early. From the zoolischer garten haptbahnhoff, I caught a city bus to the airport. At the airport, I exchanged what few duetsche marks I had for dollars. Per request, I picked up a carton of cigarrettes for my flight instructor back in Ames Iowa at the duty free shop. When the plane finally began boarding, I got the pleasure of having a lady (apparently with the US customs) treat me like scum (I certainly looked it, not having had a shower nor shave in the past 3 days.). "Sir, are you carrying any bombs, or drugs, or drugs with bombs in them?" "No." "How do you know?" "What do you mean how do I know, I know." "How can you be so sure?" "I just am." "Up against the wall, freak!" "This wall here?" "Don't play games with me!!!"
It turns out, I was their one-millionth-customer, and she wanted me to feel extra special (just kidding). I finally came up with the magic phrase, "I packed my belongings myself, and the luggage has not been out of my sight." and she let me on board. The trip back was another 11 hours in the air. Of course, the discomfort is lessened by the fact that there is "free" "beer" on the plane. I took advantage of it, while intermitantly sleeping and watching Jamie Lee Curtis and John Cleese in "Fierce Creatures" on the inflight movie. A half a world away, a shower in Ames IA awaited me. I drifted off to sleep again.