Merry Cxmas

Me with the 3 Kings in Madrid*

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe and healthy holiday season filled with happiness and joy!!! May this time of the year also be a special time spent with family and friends.

Feliz Navidad

Merry Christmas

Froliche Weihnachten

Joyeux Noel

* I came to Madrid for a week to visit my friend Eliana G and my uncle Jorge who live here. I will spend Christmas here and will return to Paris on Dec 27th weher I plan to spend New Year's.

Ile St-Louis, Pere Lachaise, et al

Ile St-Louis

This weekend the afternoon rains finally ceased and I was able to visit some outdoor places I had wanted to go for a while now. The days were actually gorgeous sunny days with clear blue skies. The only “but” is that they were way too cold and windy. This week we are in the 30–35 degrees with you actually feeling between 25 and 30 degrees due to the wind factor. I had wanted to go to the island of St. Louis (a small island on the Seine River right next to Notre Dame) for some time now because they had recommended it to me as a very nice area to walk; but every time I got there it started to rain. So Saturday I was able to finally stroll down its little streets filled with shops, art galleries, restaurants, cafés and tourists. According to my teacher and other sources the best spot to eat ice cream in Paris is located in the island of St. Louis. The ice cream shop is called Berthillon and usually a long line forms right outside of it with lots of people wanting to try it. But as much as I love ice cream I had to pass on it this time around. I did not have any desire to eat ice cream with an outside temperature of about 33 degrees. The only thing I was craving for at that time and that temperature was a hot cup of chocolate or café con leche...with churros. It is horrible, but the cold weather increases your appetite for all this kinds of foods that are extremely high on calories. Ile St. Louis is located right behind Notre Dame, which also gave me a chance to make more pictures of the church but this time from the back.
I also went to Buttes Chaumont, a park located on the northeast side of the city, which was built by Napoleon III. The park is supposed to be filled with Parisians in the summer who go there to sun bathe, have a picnic and just enjoy the warm weather. So around this time of the year you do not find that many people. However it provides a good view of the city from a different angle and it also gives you the chance of disconnecting from the big city without being overwhelmed by a humongous and boundary-less park. I ended the day with yet another visit to my favorite spot in the city: Montmartre.

Notre Dame (side view) -- Notre Dame (back view) and Ile St-Louis (on the right)

Buttes Chaumont

Cemetery of Pere Lachaise

On Sunday afternoon I had an encounter with death…or should I say with the dead…But don’t worry, it was all done for “touristy” and “getting to know the place” reasons. I went to the cemetery of Pere Lachaise. Not that going to a cemetery is how I would envision spending my afternoons now, but having so many people told me how nice this place was and then having read again and again in all of the Paris city guides and books that this is the most visited cemetery in the world I decided to go. The first thing that stroked me happened even before leaving the house: the cemetery’s official web site. Yes, in this day and age of technology where there is a website for every one (just look at me) and every thing, the cemetery has its own site. A French and an English version are available as well as a virtual tour, a map with the locations of the different graves and a search engine to locate the famous dead person of your interest. Of course, knowing me and knowing that I’m a planner at heart I took a couple of minutes to study the names of the famous people who were buried at the Pere Lachaise and more or less plan my visit. The cemetery is on the opposite side of the city from where I live so I believe me it took me a good 30 minutes on the metro to get there: perfect timing to catch up on my reading. When I arrived the setting was perfect for the place I was about to enter: the sun was setting and giving way to the first glimpses of gray of a late afternoon and it was very very cold. I saw a lot of people walking around who just like me were impressed with the place. I have to admit I was a little skeptic before going there but the place is so peaceful, tranquil and also beautiful that all of my skepticism went away quickly and easily. Lots of famous people are buried here: Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Honore Balzac, Frederic Chopin, Isadora Duncan and Oscar Wilde just to name a few of them. Lots of graves are a work of art themselves, with many having impressive sculptures or a bust of the deceased. Lots of people also come to pay their respects to the different personalities buried here and to bring them flowers. One example is the grave from Frederic Chopin, the polish pianist and piano composer, who died here in Paris in 1849. Besides the graves the cemetery is also home to various war memorials dedicated to the French soldiers who have died in the different wars France has participated in.

Cemetery Pere Lachaise - Frederic Chopin 's tomb

After being out on this cold and windy Sunday afternoon for a couple of hours I was not only tired but in need of looking for refuge in a warm place: and what could be a warmer place than home? I did not really know this but I’ve discovered that the cold weather makes me very tired. I’m not sure if it is the carrying of all those extra pounds on your body from the 3-4 layers of clothing between t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, sweater, coat, and then the scarf, the hat and the gloves; or if it is the battling against the wind when you walk with the 3-4 layers of clothing on top of you; or if it is from all that mental effort I make trying to convince myself that “No, it is not cold” “No, I’m not freezing”, “No me voy a congelar!, no me voy a congelar!, no me voy a congelar”. So I decided to go straight home and make it a blockbuster night. I watched “The Perfume: story of a murderer”, the 2006 movie based on the novel by the German writer Patrick Süskind, and called it a night.

Centre Pompidou

Centre Pompidou

Last Saturday was the perfect day to go to a museum: it was cold and it rained all day. Besides visiting its “Museum Shop” and its café on the sixth floor (where I only went once before to profit from its view and not to pay its astronomical prices for a piece of cake and a cup of coffee – 11-15 Euros) I had never really been inside the Centre Pompidou; although I had always wanted. The Pompidou Center is a 6-floor complex which hosts the National Museum of Modern Art, a large public library and other halls and rooms where different temporary exhibitions are presented throughout the year. Since I do enjoy modern art I was really looking forward to spending some good quality time at the museum and be able to enjoy it entirely without rushing. And that is exactly what I did: I got to the museum somewhere around 2 o’clock in the afternoon and did not leave until 9 PM. The center was opened in 1977 and it was named after President George Pompidou who died in 1974 while still in office. President Pompidou commissioned the building of the center to the dislike of many Parisians who did not like nor appreciate the looks of this modern structure in the middle of one of their refined, chic and elegant “quartiers” (districts). Nevertheless, they all have gotten used to it and have grown to love it as this center has become one of Paris’s most visited museums together with the “Louvre”.

Pablo Picasso - La Muse // Jackson Pollock -Painting (Silver over black, white, yellow and red)

In the permanent collection of the National Museum of Modern Arts you get to see a little bit of everything from paintings, sculptures and other objects. I have to admit that even though I enjoy modern art there were some things that were too modern for my taste…or for my knowledge. I’m sorry, and I know I may sound too ignorant or too closed minded to be criticizing some of the “art” I saw, but there were things that I couldn’t stop and wonder what they were doing there. For example, there is the “Structures Pneumatiques” hall where different types of chairs, tables and other objects made out of that kind of plastic you inflate are displayed (the same plastic material used in lifesavers you inflate for little kids to use when swimming). Or there is the “Dark Black Panel” by Kelly (another one of those ?!?!? moments for me). On the paintings side I saw works by artists such as Picasso, Matise, Pollock, Rothko and Kandinsky and sculptures from Miró just to name a few; all of which I enjoyed a lot.

Henri Matisse -Grand interieur rouge// Joan Miro

Artist from the 9th Concept Studio//Dark black panel by Kelly

The center is also currently hosting an exhibition on the life and works (paintings and sculptures) of Alberto Giacometti, an exhibition on some of the completed, under construction and proposed projects of Richard Rogers and Architects (the same architects who designed the Pompidou center), and a presentation of the cinematography of 2 directors, a Spanish and an Iranian, who have lived parallel lives and have done parallel work without knowing each other. And last but not least one of my favorite temporary exhibitions: “Peinture fraîche face à face avec le 9e concept” (Fresh painting: face to face with the 9th Concept). This exhibition is actually an event where you can observe local artist, who belong to the 9th concept studio, work on their paintings inside a room in the center. While watching them you also have the opportunity to interact with them and ask them questions. All in all it was a very interesting day. I left feeling more cultured, for all that is worth, but I also felt feeling very tired from standing up all day long. During my 7 hour journey I only stopped for about 20 minutes to have coffee.

Richard Rogers and Architects

Centre Pompidou - Barajas Airport Terminal 4

I've moved

My room...with a view (view from my bed)

Between Wednesday and Thursday I moved to a new apartment in the city center and I couldn’t be happier. I’m 10 minutes by foot from the Eiffel tower, 10 minutes by foot from Les Invalides, 2 minutes by foot from 3 different metro stations and metro lines, and to top it all I have a spectacular view of the Eiffel tower from my bed. So how did I get to move and live in such a great place??? It is sort of a funny story…or maybe not that funny but it was definitely one of those opportunities that life (God) just presents to you without you really looking. Friday before last, I received a phone call at night from a friend. To make a long story short, an be able to finally post the pictures from the apartment, he told me his roommate was going to be out of the country for the remaining time I was going to be in Paris. He asked if I would be interested in taking the room and I answered: Absolutely!!! 2 weeks prior to that phone call I had been at his apartment for dinner and I already knew how well located it was, what an amazing view it had and how comfortable it was. This was Friday night and I had already paid until Thursday at the place where I was living. So I just talked to some people to make sure it was OK for me to leave before (I had told them I was going to stay there until January) and once they told me there was no problem I started packing. And since I don’t have class on Wednesdays, I moved basically all of my stuff on that day by making several trips on the metro. Talk about perfect timing. The way I see it, this is just another one of Gods gifts to me throughout this experience. I wasn’t even looking for something like this or asking for something like this…not even in my wildest dreams. That is why I feel so lucky, so blessed and so privileged to be living in Paris in a way that cannot get even more “Parisian”. Believe me I’m not taking for granted the fact that I’m getting to live in one of the most amazing cities in the world and in this way.

View of "Les Invalides"--The Eiffel tower in the late afternoon

The Eiffel Tower at night

Dining Room & Living Room - Kitchen

My roommate also went to the German school in Medellin (yes… I know…we are everywhere) but he was 2 years ahead of me. We never kept in touch and we just happened to connect again thanks to a friend of a friend who lives in Paris as well. One afternoon, in talking to Carolina (my friend’s friend who is now also my friend…are you keeping up with all the characters??) told me: I just remember I once met someone here who went to the same school you did and you may know him. I recognized his name, she called him and he invited us for dinner at his place. That is how I ended up living in such a great place. I’m about 15 minutes away from school by metro (changing lines one time) and in case there is another strike I could get to school by walking about 25 minutes. The area is very lively with many restaurants and cafés. I already started doing my one hour jogging in the mornings and the views are unbelievable. I cannot believe I get to see so many beautiful and historical places in that one hour. I walk out of the building for about 5 minutes to warm up and then I start jogging, 2 minutes later I’m at the “Ecole Militaire” and I then cross the street to the “Champs de Mars” – the long and green park that leads up to the “Eiffel Tower”. 5 minutes later I’m jogging right underneath the arches of the Eiffel tower past the hundreds of tourists who are making pictures or are standing in line to buy their tickets to go up the tower. Once I pass the tower I take a glance at “Trocadero” before making right and continue jogging along side the Seine River. The same river where the bodies of hundreds of French nobles and aristocrats where thrown after being guillotined almost 300 years ago during the French Revolution. See what I’m telling you?? Lots and lots of history. I try not to think about what went on there and I just continued on my merry way past “Le pont de l’alme” all the way down to “Pont Alexander” where the “Musee d’Orsay” is located on one side and “Les Invalides” is located on the other. I then make a U-turn and return back home.

I'll leave you with the light show I see every night before going to sleep... I guess they don't call Paris the city of Lights for nothing!!!

Late afternoon-early night show

At night the Eiffel tower is lighted in a yellowish color. Every hour on the hour it is illuminated with flashing white lights for about 5-10 minutes (I still have to time it). The last show is at 1 o'clock in the morning when the yellow lights are turned off and only the white lights flash. After that the lights are turned off and you only see some red lights all the way at the top and some regular lights at the base. Everything else gets lots in the darkness of the night.

1 o'clock in the morning show

Lazy November

Champs Elysee with Christmas Lightning and

Arc de Triomphe in the back

I have to admit it: I was extremely lazy in November as far as posting on the blog goes. I think there were a couple of external factors that contributed to my laziness such as the infamous strike (when I couldn’t do much and had to become a couch potato). The fact that I’ve had a cold for over a week now hasn’t helped either. I’m in the coughing stage and I really hope it goes away soon. Ok, but I’m going to stop with the excuses and get started with updating everyone on what I have been up to.
I continue to go to school, and will do so until December 20th. I changed to a different course but I continue to go to the same school. Now I’m going 3 times a week as opposed to 5 times a week (I’m off on Wednesdays and Fridays). Taking this less intensive course allows me to save some money and at the same time gives me 2 extra days to do more sightseeing and other extra-curricular activities. The school will be closed 2 weeks at the end of December because of the holidays and they will re-open the second week of January. Since my plan is to stay in Paris until the third or fourth week in January I have decided not to go to school in that month so I can visit some places near Paris and other places in France before I leave this country. I continue to be very happy with the school because as I said before it has a very good teaching methodology and I do feel that I’m making progress. I took a 3-hour oral and written comprehension test on Thursday for which I will get the results next month. I guess I better wait to see those results before I can claim victory.

The school experience in Paris has definitely been very different from the one in Munich. Here it has been more of a true educational experience and less of a social one. What happens is that most of the people who attend the French Alliance, at least in the morning sections, are here to stay: some because of work, some because they are going to attend a graduate program and then the majority because they have a French boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife. So the vast majority of my classmates come to class, they stay from time to time to have lunch or have a coffee as a group and then they go on with their already established Parisian lives. In Munich on the contrary, people were there for only a couple of weeks at a time to improve their German skills before going back to their countries. Therefore, everyone was by themselves and they had nothing else to do after class. They were all eager to go out and see as much of the city as possible before going back home. In addition, the school in Munich was always planning a bunch of after school activities whereas the school here is not really into that. So most of the people that I’ve met here and that I hang out with are people who are not students; and that is why the French experience feels so different. And I think it is great!! I can truly separate one from the other…and not only because of the obvious differences (language, culture, food, and the French people) but because of my environment (the people I’ve met and made friends with and my daily and weekend activities). In the afternoons and on the weekends I’ve been doing a lot of sightseeing on my own: museums, churches and cathedrals, and just plain walking thru different neighborhoods in Paris. I’ve also spent some time doing window shopping as this city is filled with very cute and quaint little stores. But only window shopping; my student budget does not allow me to buy things that I do not really need right now; especially when I consider the astronomical prices of everything here in Paris and make the conversion into dollars. I also don’t have a lot of space in my bags so what I have I’m saving it all for books, movies and music.

A parisian building -- Jardin du Luxembourg

The weather has been good. The temperature in the last couple of days has been somewhere between the mid 40’s and the low 50’s. In the afternoons it does get overcastted and it rains a little bit. But with a good umbrella and raincoat you can still go out for a walk. The only problem is when it gets too windy because then it does feel colder and you also have to struggle with your umbrella: making sure it does not get blown away from your hands or that you do not fly away with it.

OK…I have some more things to talk about but it is past midnight, I’m tired and I have to wake up at 730AM to go to class. I will leave you with a couple of pictures and with the promise of more stories and more pictures throughout the week.

Notre Dame Cathedral at night (with Christmas tree)

It's finally over

At least for now the strike is over. The different unions and the government are currently in negotiations and will be for the next month; when there is a chance the strikes will resume in case they do not come to an agreement. But for now I’m extremely happy and relieved they are over. This means I will be able to go places, tour the city, visit other cities and most importantly I will be able to travel by metro to school without feeling like a sardine. Believe me that the experience of being in a jammed packed wagon at the metro in Paris is one that I don’t really look forward to repeating. Since the strike I haven’t been able to do much sightseeing fearing I would be stuck somewhere in the city and not be able to return home. Besides going to class, I only ventured to go out a couple of times during the strike. Last weekend I walked to Montmartre. It took me 1 hour to get there at a regular pace and about 40-45 minutes to get back at a faster pace. It got so cold as the sun started to set that all I wanted to do was to get home as soon as possible. I also went to visit a friend after school during the week and we then went together to have dinner at another friend’s house. We had to take a taxi to get to his place. What would usually take about 10 minutes to travel by taxi took about 30 minutes due to the traffic jams in the city. And this was at 10 o’clock at night. So you can picture how the traffic conditions where here during this week. I had to sleep over at my friend’s house because there was no way I could get home using public transportation. So this afternoon I’m all ready and set to travel to Saint-Germain en-Laye (by train) to visit Pilar (Libia’s sister) a friend who lives in this small town right outside Paris with her husband and kids and where tonight we will be enjoying a delicious Raclette with some of their friends.

Pictures to come soon!

La Grêve Part II

I have developed this bad habit of going to sleep very late at night. That’s why when the alarm went off at 5AM this morning I really had difficult waking up. But I was determined to make it to school no matter what; so after snoozing for about 15 minutes I finally got out of bed. Last night I had made my master plan for this morning: wake up really early and try to catch a metro sometime between 6AM and 7AM. 7 o’clock was more or less my cut-off time if I needed to walk to school. I made it to the metro station at around 615AM, when the temperature was around 1 degree Celsius (31-33 degrees Fahrenheit), thinking it was going to be quite full. See, on a regular basis the wagons on this line are always full; no matter the time of the day. This was my main concern, not being able to get inside the metro if in fact one showed up. I get there and it was like a ghost town. No attendants and no ticket control. I saw 2 women getting out and asked them what was going on but they replied that there were no trains running. I looked at the monitor at the entrance of the station which had what was supposed to be the latest information on the operation of the different metro lines and it stated that for this specific line 1 out of 6 trains would operate. Based on what I know on the frequency of this particular train on a regular basis I quickly calculated more or less how often they would be running today: I’m sorry, I’m an engineer. These things are part of my nature. So as the women exited the station I decided to ignore them and find out for myself whether or there was a metro I could take. I went down stairs to the platform and found some people waiting. Not too many…but there were still people waiting. I said to myself: if they are waiting maybe is because they also waited here yesterday and they were able to get on a metro. I decided to wait. About every 2 or 3 minutes a message was being repeated over the loud speakers. It said something to the fact that due to the strike the metro line was heavily “perturbé”. Since no one moved after the announcements I continued waiting. 15 minutes later I see a metro approaching on the other direction. I saw that as a sign of hope. I continued waiting. Another 10 or 15 minutes later another metro: on the other direction. Finally, a train shows up at around 7AM on the direction I needed to take. The train stopped but it was impossible to get on. It was totally full. I attempted to look for a place from the outside but forget it. So this lady who was standing next to me told me not to worry because another train was coming in 2 minutes. And she was right. Thank God another train showed up 2 minutes later and on this one there was plenty of space. Once I got on I knew I was saved and at least if I had to walk today it was going to be only one way. The 30-35 ride took an hour and 10 minutes this time around. The train was going very slow, it would stop for a longer period of time at each station to allow passengers to get out, get in, and accommodate. 2 or 3 stops after mine the train was already packed. Talk about total violation of your personal space. As some of you know I tend to be somewhat claustrophobic so this ride seemed like an eternity to me. I had to close my eyes and visualize that I was somewhere else: just forget about the place where I was standing. At some stations there were employees from the metro system standing around the platforms and whose job was just to help manually close the doors from the outside by pushing and squeezing the people inside the wagon if they had to. You know how when you have too many things in your suitcase and it does not close you squeeze the suitcase with one hand and then pull the zipper with the other to try to close it? This is exactly what was going on.
On any given day I change trains along the way in order to end up at a station which is about 1 to 2 minutes away from the school. This time around I did not want to risk my luck so I took this one metro all the way to a station that is about 15 minutes by foot from the school. Not bad at all. I made it to school about 30 minutes before the class which gave me then time to have a coffee and a croissant.
After class I went straight to the metro station instead of my usual walk to somewhere interesting in Paris. I was not sure once again how often the trains would be operating and thought it was better to catch the train right after 1PM and not later in the afternoon when everyone was trying to get home after work. Once again I lucked out. I waited about 10 minutes until a train showed up; and it was one which still had sufficient space. As I was getting home they started making announcement that my line was going to start operating 1 train every 45 minutes. So yes…I was very happy with my decision to attempt to get back home right after school. Tomorrow I’m going to go through the same drill and hopefully I will be able to once again catch the metro to and from school. According to the news things are improving. Both regional/suburban trains as well as the metro system increased the number of trains which operated and 40% of the buses operated as opposed to 10% yesterday. They are also saying “la gréve” will only last until the weekend. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

La Grêve

This is unbelievable. Today I was not able to go to school thanks to the striking employees of France’s National Railway System. And with the threat of several protests going on in the city I stayed home thinking it was more prudent to monitor the news on the TV than to witness them in person. I’m not sure how much coverage this story is being given overseas but basically what is going on is that the different unions that represent the train drivers in all of France, as well as the metro and bus drivers in Paris, have decided to strike as of last night. This time around they are striking against the president’s (Nicolas Sarkozy) plan to reform their retirement/pension plan. A couple of years back, France raised the number of years an employee has to contribute to their pension plan in order to obtain full pension benefits for the private sector from 37.5 years to 40. This reform was also applied to some employees of the public sector; however, it did not affect the union employees of the transportation sector. Now his plan is to apply the same reform to these union employees thus making the retirement age for France’s entire workforce the same. This is one of the main reasons for the strike. But they are not the only ones who are striking. The utilities employees, such as electricity and gas, have decided to join them. And as the saying - “The more the merrier” - goes, students from universities all over France have also joined in the strikes/protests due to the government’s plan to make the universities autonomous. The students had called today not only for protests, but also for blocking the entrance to the main train stations…something that fortunately did not end up taking place. Knowing how revolutionary the French can sometimes be (the French Revolution and the riots 2 years ago are just some of the things that come to my mind) I’m pretty sure you understand why I decided it was better to stay home and keep an eye on how things would develop throughout the day.
So what is the result of all of this? Today, only 20% of the metro and buses in Paris operated. Some of the suburban trains did not operate at all and some did, but only at about 10% of their normal capacity. There is a total chaos in Paris. People are either walking to school/work or going in bikes or scooters. The people who live in the suburbs had to drive their cars into the city causing horrendous traffic jams: worse than the ones formed when it rains in Miami or when there is an accident on the Turnpike. And then there are others who are simply staying with friends who live near the city center or who just have decided to stay at a hotel to be closer to their jobs. Thank God the effects of the electricity and gas employees strikes have not manifested themselves yet; but just in case I have a candle and some matches right on my night table…ja ja ja!!!! And as if this was not enough, as I’m writing this post I hear on the news that the postal workers, teachers and some judges are planning to join in the strikes.
Even though negotiations have begun between all of the parties involved, the government is standing very firm on their plans to continue with the reform and they are saying they won’t back down. And guess what??? The unions are saying the same: they are not backing down!!! The last time the government tried to make some sort of reform to the pension plan for these employees was back in 1,995. Back then the strike went on for 3 and half weeks until the government had to finally back down due to the citizen’s pressure to stop the unbearable and chaotic situation. This time around it seems to be different. The citizens in general are being more supportive of the government than of the union workers. On a poll conducted today, 84% of the people believe the government won’t back down and 71% of the people don’t want the government to back down. So we’ll see how everything develops.

As for me…tomorrow I’ll wake up very early to try to catch one of the 20% subways/buses which would get me closer to the school (maybe it is wishful thinking in my part, or me just being too optimistic but I guess it is worth giving it a try). If not I will have no other choice but to put on some very comfortable shoes, make sure my i-pod is charged and walk the almost 5 miles between where I’m staying and the school. So once again I have to ask if someone could please remind me that it is the 21st century and I’m living in a developed country in the first world; one that is a members of the G8: the group of the 8 major industrialized countries in the world. I swear that sometimes I feel I never left the early 80’s of my Colombian-third-world-country when the strikes in Itagui (a municipality right next to Medellin) would prevent us from getting to school and we would avoid certain areas of the city because of the students and teachers strikes at “La Universidad Nacional”.

Whereabouts - Paris

Since I haven’t written in a while I thought I first bring you up to date with what I have been up to in the last week and a half: apartment hunting, apartment hunting, and apartment hunting. After a couple of stressful days thinking I was not going to find a place where to live in Paris and making plans of going to live under a bridge next to the Seine River (just kidding) I finally moved to a studio on Thursday afternoon. I ended up taking one of the studios at an apparthotel which has a working partnership with the school I’m going to. The place is really nice. The building itself together with the studios were remodeled recently so they all have new and modern furniture and equipment. Just like in Munich the place is a little matchbox but it has everything that I need and even more: I have finally access to the Internet. They are located about 2 minutes by foot from a metro station on the north part of the city but they are also located on the outskirts of the city (about 2 miles north of Montmatre for those who know Paris). However with the metro it is only a 15-20 ride to the city center. I would’ve rather stayed closer to the center (who wouldn’t, right?) but the thing is that it is very hard to find a place in the city center with the characteristics I was looking for: furnished, for only 3 months and at a decent price. To live in the city center is very expensive, especially when you need something short term.

This past week I also started school (on Monday) and surprisingly enough I was “promoted” to the next level. After not taking French for about a year and after spending the past 6 months concentrated in learning German I did not feel very comfortable with my French skills. However, I got to my class on Monday morning (the one they assigned me after taking the placement text) and after introducing myself to the class and answering a couple of questions from my teacher she tells me that I speak French very well for that level (I almost flipped or made PLOP like Condorito) and she recommended me to go to the next level. I decided to follow her advice and on Tuesday I started attending the other class; where I do feel very comfortable and feel that I’m learning a lot. I think I was also very lucky because in this new class I have an excellent teacher. Even though I have only been going to her class for 4 days I do feel that I’m learning and that my French is improving….and I couldn’t be happier about that (I know…I’m such a nerd!!!). Although I have to confess that I miss a lot, and in a way it saddens me not to have it anymore at this moment, all that contact I had with the German language for the past 6 months. But now that I’m here I have to concentrate on the French. I have to take it one language at a time or otherwise I’ll go crazy.

View of Paris from Montmartre - Basilica of Sacre Coeur

And as the days go by I continue to fall more and more in love with this city. I actually haven’t gotten tired of repeating the same thing: Paris is a wonderful city. I do feel so blessed, fortunate and extremely lucky to have the chance to live here. I can’t explain why or pinpoint the reasons why, but for me, being here, living here, and knowing I will be here for the next couple of months is all an overwhelming feeling of happiness. Living in Paris is a whole different experience from coming here on vacation for a couple of days. It changes your whole perspective of the city. I’m thrilled for example with the fact that I can go places and just enjoy them for however long I want to without feeling I have to rush out. On Saturday for example I spend the whole day at Montmartre (the mountain of the martyrs) which is probably my favorite spot in Paris. Montmartre is a small mountain located on the northern part of the city where the monumental Basilica of Sacre Coeur (sacred heart) is located. On a clear day the mountain and the Basilica can be seen from almost anywhere in Paris and on the same token you can see all of Paris form its summit. This neighborhood has always been known for being filled with painters and artists of the like who still gather at the main square with their paintings and drawing tools trying to sell their art to the thousands and thousands of tourists who visit it. So I spent the whole afternoon just walking down its narrow streets, visiting the little shops and also making a self-guided tour of the basilica. Afterwards I sat down on the steps that lead to the top of the mountain and the basilica to enjoy one of my favorite activities: listen to a couple of street performers who where playing the guitar and singing on the most part pop hits (in English) from the 80’s, 90’s and today (just like 97.3). However, all of them had also the ability to sing songs in other languages (French, German, Spanish and Italian) which they played as they interacted with the people. One of them was actually very funny because when a group of people told him they were from Latin America he started playing a song in Spanish. I did not recognize the song at first but I knew I had heard it before. It took me some time to realize what he was singing because it was a popular Regaetton song which he had adapted to another rhythm I guess to be able to play it on the guitar…and no, it wasn’t “La Gasolina”. I couldn’t believe it; but like I said on a previous post, I guess I cannot get away from Regaetton no matter how far I am from Miami. There were actually 3 different performers and each one of them sang for about 1 hour. One of the performers was an Italian guy who I had seen singing around the Latin Quarter when I was here last year with my family. As a matter of fact we liked him so much when we first saw him back then that we decided to go back the following day to listen to him one more time. So I’m very happy with my discovery of where this guy is now playing. I really like him. More than how good or not he can play the guitar or sing he is really charismatic and draws a lot of people to his performance as you will see. I’m officially one of his groupies. And as you can see, the place was full of people who just like me where delighted listening to the music, singing a long and enjoying the gorgeous background: Paris.

My favorite Street Performer in Paris...(so far)

First Impressions

Some of my first thoughts and impressions after arriving Paris.

I’ve been in Paris for 4 and a half days now and I continue to be in love with this city. Paris is such an amazing city: I love it, I love it, I love it, I love it. It is such a lively, vibrant and in some instances chaotic place that landing here after being in Munich for almost 6 months is somewhat of a cultural shock; but one which I’m enjoying. Munich is a very quiet, calmed and tranquil city where people are on the most part very proper, they talk very low, everyone follows all the rules, and everything works the way it should. In Munich the streets are impeccable, the metro stations are clean and you can hear a needle drop after 10 o’clock at night on any given day (unless you are in the area around Mariendplatz or Kulfabrik which is where all the clubs are located). In Paris on the other hand there is always something going on. Cars and motorcycles make a lot of noise as do the masses of people walking up and down the streets…no matter the time of day. The metro stations, and in some instances the wagons themselves, always have some sort of street performers playing all kinds of instruments or just singing to a tune played on their portable audio/CD player…with the intent of “making every ones trip on the train more enjoyable”-according to them- and of course to collect some money at the end.

On Monday I get out of my hostel/hotel and walk towards the closest suburban train(RER) station to head to the city. I’m currently staying in the suburbs about 25 minutes from the city center by train. I get to the train station and I thought I was walking past the Haunted House in Disneyworld. “How appropriate” I said to myself, thinking that Halloween was only 2 days away. The place is somewhat run down and creepy….but I’m making this judgment based only in looks: the place does not feel unsafe at all…it’s just that it would appreciate some pressure cleaning and some paint. I guess I had gotten used to the train stations in Bavaria which all look like a house taken out from the tale of Hansel and Grethel. So I purchased my weekly ticket and insert it into the reading machine that gives you access to the train’s platform and I put it away in my wallet. I get off on the “Invalides” station to connect with the subway. To get out of the RER section of the station I have to once again get my ticket out of the wallet and insert it in a machine so that it lets me get out and I put it away. I walked, and walked and walked through all the underground hallways which connect the RER line with the subway line until finally reaching the entrance to the subway…and guess what….I had to once again get out my ticket and insert it in a machine to gain access to the subway. At that moment I remembered this is the modus operandi of the train system in Paris and I was going to continue going thru the same exercise of getting out my ticket and then putting it back into my wallet. It was then that I realized how much I was going to miss the honor system in Munich. See…in Munich you do not have to insert your ticket into any machine in order to gain access to the trains. You just get on the train without any type of control because you are honest enough to purchase a ticket before getting on and not riding without one. Of course there are random controls done by employees of the Munich Transportation System who dressed in civilian clothes get on a wagon and start asking for tickets. If you do not have a valid ticket you are fined 40 Euros on the spot, no excuses accepted.

So what have I been up to this week other than trying not to loose my wallet or my train ticket from all this taking out and putting it back in? I chose the language school I will be attending and took the placement test. I will be starting school on Monday morning and at least for the next 3 weeks I will be doing an intensive course from 9AM to 1PM Monday-Friday. The teacher then recommended that once I finish the 3 weeks to take a combination of a less intensive course with some writing, grammar and pronunciation workshops depending on how I progress. So we’ll see. I’m really happy and excited about the school. It has a great atmosphere and everyone seemed very nice. I spent most of the afternoon there on Tuesday (taking advantage of their free wi-fi) and I already met a couple of people with whom I’ll have lunch on Monday. I’ve also been looking at places to live but I still haven’t found one. The ones I’ve seen are extremely expensive for what they are. I know this city is very expensive but I think if I give it a couple more days I should be able to find a better place. In the meantime I’ll continue to stay at the hostel/hotel.

And then I’ve also managed to do a little bit of sightseeing: I went to the Eiffel tour and walked to the Arc de Triomphe, the Pantheon, spent some time at the Champs Elysee yesterday (it was a holiday here but all the stores along this street were opened) identifying the stores I will shop in once I win the lotto, the Opera house, and taking advantage of the good weather by walking through some typical Parisian neighborhoods.
The weather thus far has been great, definitely a big improvement from Munich were the temperature was between o and 4 degrees Celsius on my last 9 days and where I did not see the sun during those same 9 days. Here it has been a mixture of sunny and cloudy days. However during the day I can survive with no problems by just wearing a sweater and then only wearing my coat at night.

Je suis arrivé a Paris

I have arrived to Paris!!!!!
No, they were not 3. They were 4. I know, I couldn’t believe it either but that is how many bags I ended up having for my relocation extravaganza to Paris. That plus a backpack. It is incredible how much stuff you (or me in this case) can accumulate in only a couple of months. But luckily I managed to “manage" and survive the loading, unloading, and carrying of all those suitcases thru Europe. My dear friend Eliana S. came to my Munich apartment at noon to help me transport the suitcases to the main train station. It was definitely a good idea to travel on Sunday. The underground train was pretty empty so it was not that difficult to get on and off. We made it to the train station about 50 minutes before the train’s scheduled departure so it gave us plenty of time to accommodate all of the bags: a small one on the overhead compartment, a medium one and another small bag on the space between 2 seats located back to back and another medium one on the area right next to the entrance door of the wagon; and the best thing is that the train was not too crowded. I couldn’t help to feel a bit guilty for taking up so much storage space by myself. My main concern in all of this operation was the connection in Stuttgart: I had only 4 minutes to get off the train with my 4 bags. That is how long the train stopped in Stuttgart for passengers to get off and new passengers to get on. So about 10 minutes before the train’s arrival into Stuttgart I position myself and brought the 2 medium bags right next to the door and put the 2 small ones on my seat (I was seating right next to the train’s entrance/exit). So the train stops in Stuttgart, on platform 9, and I get off with the 2 bigger bags. While I put them aside and got ready to get on the train again to pick the rest of my luggage everyone getting on in Stuttgart started to board the train. I tried to cut in front of the line and grab my 2 other bags, back pack and coat to get the heck out of there before the train departed again. The cutting in front of the line was relatively easy, especially compared to trying to exit the train for a second time. The problem was that I was going in the wrong direction: everyone was trying to get in while I was trying to get out. Just imagine that you are the only person trying to exit a plane with 2 bags while everybody else is going in and accommodating their bags. Through the window I could see my 2 bags sitting outside and I was just praying that the train wouldn’t close its doors and take off. So I started saying to everyone standing on my way: Ich komme raus, Ich komme raus (I’m going out) so they would let me go first and allow me to get the bags off the train...and so they did. God was definitely with me (as he always is) and having arrived on platform 9 he made number 10 the departure platform for the train to Paris. It’s incredible; I could’ve just stood in the same spot where I unloaded my belongings and I would’ve walked at the most 40 feet to be in my next wagon: EXCELLENT!!! However, I did have to walk a little bit more because I looked for a place to sit down and have a sandwich to eat, one which I had brought from Munich. The connection time in Stuttgart was about one hour so the train was not there yet. The good thing is that the starting point of the journey for this train was Stuttgart so I did not have to deal wit the hassle of the train stopping there only for a couple of minutes. The train was ready for boarding about 40 minutes before its departure; therefore, I was the first person to board my wagon and I had all the time in the world and plenty of place to put my bags. I managed to accommodate all of the bags once again in the different luggage compartments. The other good thing, yes I know…the day was full of good things, is that the train ended its journey in Paris. So once again I had all the time in the world to unload the bags in Paris. I waited for everyone to get off the train in Paris and then I began once again with my unloading operation; taking one suitcase at a time off the train and putting it aside. I then proceeded to make 2 sets of what I call a “luggage tower”: I put a small bag on top of a medium bag and tied them with one of the belts from the bags; I put on my coat, got my back pack on and took one luggage tower in each hand while all the SNCF employees who were getting ready to get on the train to clean it were looking at me as if I had just arrived from a different planet. They really did look at me as if I was crazy… or maybe that is just the French way of looking at someone with pity. Oh well, I just continued on my merry way until I made it to the taxi line. Once I was seating on the taxi I knew that the worst part of the day was over. The taxi to the hostel took about 20 minutes and even though I did not get to see much of the city, because it was dark, I did get to start feeling it: I exchanged a couple of words in French with the taxi driver, jazz was being played on the radio, and the streets were filled with people even though it was 9PM on a Sunday night. I loved the fact that the temperature was about 13 degrees which is a wonderful improvement from the last 10 days in Munich where the temperature was between 0 and 4 degrees.

So nine hours after leaving my Munich apartment, with about 4 less fingernails (they all broke during the process of loading, unloading and moving the bags), and with 2 sore arms from carrying and lifting all that weight I’m very happy and thrilled to say that Je suis arrive a Paris : I have arrived to Paris. I have arrived to the city of lights and the city of love; the city of the arts, fashion, and of the fine cuisine. I’ve only been here for a couple of hours but I’m already in love with this city. I’m ecstatic to be here and feel I will have a great time and will enjoy the time I’ll get to live in this city!! I love Paris…but then again…who doesn’t????

Goodbye Munich

Goodbye in Bavarian

Goodbye in German

I still can’t believe it: that the time has come for me to leave Munich. It feels as if I just got here the other day….and that was more than 5 months ago. Every time I said good bye to the people I met and who were here only for a couple of weeks I saw the date of my own departure from Munich too far out in the future. And here I am, with half of my stuff already packed and ready to begin the second part of this adventure: living in Paris for about 3 months. Thank God I haven’t had any problems so far and I can only pray that it continues to be that way. The experience thus far has been fantastic. Probably one of the (if not THE) best things I could’ve done in my life. I’m very grateful for all the things that I have learned, the things I have done, the many places I’ve had the chance to visit and the lots of great people I have met during my time here. I can truly say I feel I have gotten out of my stay in Germany what I wanted to get. I have that sense of accomplishment and feel that it is time for me now to move on the next stage of this adventure and begin living a whole new set of experiences. There are some things I did not get to do but the best news is that Germany and Munich are not going anywhere. I can always come back here on vacation and do them. This just gives me a reason to come back here….as if I needed one..... ja ja ja!!!
So how do I feel about leaving Munich? Just as it happens most of the time when you leave a place I have mixed feelings. In a way I´m sad to leave a place where I´ve felt so good and comfortable since the beginning, to leave a city which I really like. But I leave happy, content and with that sense of accomplishment because of everything I’ve gotten to learn and experience. I’m also excited and looking forward to relocating to a new city, picking-up a new language, start discovering new, interesting and exciting places not only in Paris but in France; start identifying my new favorite coffee shops, eateries, bakeries, and stores; meeting new people and finding out what are the reason why they are in France, and the list just goes on and on. But then I stop to think about it again (the fact that I’m leaving) and I realize how much I will miss Munich: the people who I leave behind and all those things I have gotten to love and enjoy doing in this city, my Munich "routine", and the character of the city itself. But Munich is not perfect and Germany is not the perfect world. There are definitely other things which I won’t miss. For that reason I have decided to compile a list of those things I will miss about Munich…and those I won’t...

What I’ll Miss about Munich

• Jogging at the Nymphemburg Park with its cool air, the peaceful "silence" of its forest, the sound of its water falls and its views.
• The German language: I’m in love with this language and now I won’t have that many opportunities to listen to it, speak it, and learn something new everyday.
• The beer culture: the beer itself (over here beer really has very good taste), the beer gardens.
• The bakeries with all of their variations of breads and pastries and with that smell of fresh baked bread which calls you and tells you to go inside and treat yourself to a carbohydrate overdose.
• The cereal yoghurt from Danon (I hope to find it in Paris)
• The sense of being in a safe place anywhere in the city at any time of the day or night.
  

What I Won’t Miss about Munich

• Writing text messages in German on the cell phone. Some words can be extremely long and I feel like giving up halfway thru the message. Confirming a meeting time and place with someone can easily turn into a 2 page message.
• The fear of being run over… by a bicycle.
• People on the sidewalks who continue walking and do not deviate from their path even if that means they literally bump into you; without apologizing: a very common practice here.
  

Being a Munich tour guide

Touching the nose of the lions near Odeon´s Platz for good luck

Having returned from our tour of Germany’s neighboring countries I continued my task as a tour guide of Munich and it surroundings.

Catholic memorial at the Dachau Concentration Camp

On Wednesday we went to the nearby town of Dachau: the place where the first concentration camp built by the National Socialism Party (the Nazis) was erected in 1933 and which served as model for the other concentration camps built around Europe. The Dachau camp was allegedly only a working camp and not a death camp; however, many prisoners died here due to the poor and inhumane living conditions they were exposed to. The tour of the concentration camp is a very sad one but one that I truly believe is all the worth while. I’m totally with all those people who agree that sites like this one should be kept open to the public to remind us all today and also the future generations of what happened there so that we don’t let such things happen again. The camp has preserved only a couple of the bunkers where prisoners were kept and which have now been converted into an exhibition hall of pictures and texts documenting the history of the site as well as the history of the second world war. The camp site also has a lot of monuments that have been erected in honor and remembrance of the victims who died there and the victims of the holocaust worldwide. It also has a couple of small churches or shrines from different religions which pay tribute to the holocaust victims (Jews and victims of those specific religions who were also executed during that time). There is for example a Russian-Orthodox church, the Church of the Reconciliation (Evangelical) a Jewish memorial and a Catholic memorial. The camp was freed on April 26, 1945 .

After visiting the camp it was off to the city center and then home for dinner. Later that night we went to the Hofbrauhaus to get our daily dose of beer and witness some traditional Bavarian culture at its best.

Having some fun at the Hofbrauhaus

Thursday it was off to the Olympia Park and the BMW museum. The museum was situated at a temporary location since a newer and bigger one, which opened last week, was being built. The new museum is called BMW Welt (BMW World) and it is a shame they did not get a chance to visit it. I still haven’t been there but it does look very cool and modern. It supposed to have a bigger exhibition of cars including more of the current models. However, the visit to the temporary museum was nice and it had a good combination of old car models as well as motorcycles and vehicles used in different races. After doing some more sightseeing around the city we went home. We had already made plans for Carlos to come home so he could say hello to my family and also because my mom was going to make buñuelos: another Colombian treat that she brought with her. Another friend also joined us on this smaller version of what I call the official Buñuelada of 2007. The buñuelo turned out to be really good even though they were made with a white cheese that I found here which is somewhat similar but not the same as the cheese that is used to make the original ones. We all had very good time that night just chatting, eating, and drinking some wine.

BMW building in the back and BMW Welt (museum) in the front

Inside the BMW Museum

On Friday morning we went to have a typical Bavarian breakfast: Weiβwurst (white sausage) with sweet mustard (which I love) and Pretzels. The rest of the day we spent it visiting some sights we had not seen such as the Maximilianum, the Freedom Angel, and the Isar River; and also doing some last minute shopping. On Friday the strike of the train drivers was going on and the suburban trains, like the ones that go to the airport, were driving sporadically. Not knowing if the strike was going to continue on Saturday we developed a contingency plan. Since they had to be at the airport at 730AM our goal was to be at the main train station at 6:20AM, find out whether or not the strike was going on and at what time the next S8/S1 to the airport was departing, and then catch the 40 minute suburban train. In case the strike was still going on we would then walk outside of the train station for my family to catch the next available Lufthansa bus, an express bus service from Munich to the airport, but in that case I wouldn’t accompany them. Luckily they had stopped striking and we were all able to travel to the airport with the train; which was my preferred way of going.

Olympia Park -- National Theater

Saying good-bye at the airport was to a certain extend sad but not as traumatic as I expected, especially for my mom. I came back from the airport and met up with a couple of friends with whom I spend the rest of the day: we had a coffee near Marienplatz, we went home and cooked something for lunch similar to picadillo and white rice (actually they cooked and I supervised), and spent the rest of the day just chatting and walking around the city. I was very tired and sleepy by the time I got home since I had waken up so early that morning but I managed to stay awake until almost midnight when my family called me to let me know they had arrived safely in Miami. Their flight got delayed 2 hours so that explains why they called so late. All in all I had a wonderful time during the 2 weeks they were here. It was great to spend time with the family again; too bad that the time went by soooooo fast. I really enjoyed their visit, showing them around Munich and the places I frequent, and also having had the chance to take a family vacation.

Neuschwanstein & Zurich

Neuschwanstein

We left Prague early on Sunday morning (this time around we went to the right train station from the get-go) and arrived in Munich around 3:30 in the afternoon. It was a long train ride. But being it the last day of Oktoberfest we decided to go back there that night to be able and enjoy for the last time the beer brewed especially for the occasion. And contrary to what we were expecting the place was not that crowded. We were able to easily find a place to sit ourselves and order a beer while we listened one more time to the songs that get played over and over and over and over again the whole day, every day.

The trip to Zurich was always in the back of our mind but we did not really make any plans for it. We finally made the decision to go on Sunday afternoon. On Monday morning we packed lightly and headed to the main train station to try to rent a car. The first 3 car rental companies did not have a car available, the 4th one had one available starting at 4PM and then the 5th one we went to -Enterprise- had one available immediately. After filling all of the paperwork we were driving ourselves out of Munich around 1PM: my brother as the co-pilot and me as the pilot. The strategy was for me to drive since I could understand what the signs said and for my brother to be in charge of the GPS he brought me: one of those GPS systems that you connect to the laptop. The plan was to drive by the town of Füssen in Bavaria and stop at the Neuschwanstein Castle on our way to Zurich. And so we did. After stopping to have something for lunch on the road we arrived to Neuschwanstein sometime between 4 and 5 in the afternoon. Visits to the inside of the castle were not possible anylonger because of the time. However, our intention was always to see the castle just from the outside. I really do believe that the castle is more beautiful on the outside (the building itself, the setting, its location, its surroundings) than on the inside. Since King Ludwig II died before the castle was finished he never got to live in it and therefore it never got to be decorated and furnished as he intended it to be. Ok, so it was sometime around 5 o’clock and the castle’s inside was closed. This also meant that the buses that take you to the top of the hill where the castle is located were no longer running. This in turn meant we had to walk ourselves to it. After walking for about 25 minutes (uphill) we made it to the always beautiful, stunning and breathtaking Neuschwanstein.

Trail to the Neuschwanstein Castle

We get to the top and my family realizes they needed a restroom. I wasn’t really counting on that. We see a guard; I approach him and ask him about the closest restroom. He explains to me where it is located and we head back to the location he pointed out to us but find it to be already closed once again because of the time. So we head back to the location of the guard and I asked him if there were any other restrooms nearby. He tells me that unfortunately the only other restrooms are inside the castle but that he cannot let us in because the castle was closed. He then asked me where we came from since he had overheard me talk in Spanish to my family. He also told me that even though he did not speak Spanish he could recognize this is was the language we were talking. And he just continued to talk and talk and talk: in German. He told me how he had to wait until everyone had left the castle, tourists and employees, and then go back and make a last round to make sure there was no one inside, how when he works the night shift he has to make 3 rounds inside the castle, how in the summer he comes to work in bicycle, how much he likes his job because he gets to meet people from all over the world and talk to them as long as they can talk some German etc etc. Since the whole conversation was taking place in German my family had no idea what we were talking about. I could only see my family’s eyes opening wider and wider and their faces becoming more and more concerned and worried. My brother later confessed to me that a couple of minutes into my conversation with the guard he turned to my mother and told her “Mami, I think getting to the restroom is going to be somewhat complicated”. But I wasn’t that mean to them: after a couple of minutes I started translating to them everything that the guard was telling me so they could realize he was just giving me a lot of information about himself and about the castle and not giving me directions to get to the restroom. The conversation was actually very interesting. He told us a lot about the history of the castle, its construction, about the King etc. We also had the chance to ask him a lot of questions for which he always had a very thorough and detailed answer. My mother, who loves all these stories, was thrilled asking lots of questions. That is how we found out for example that from the 2 castles located in this area (the Nueschwanstein and the Hohenschwangau) one of them belongs to the state and the other one still belongs to the family, how on August 25th (the birthday of King Ludwig II) there is a firework show which includes a display of the letter L for Ludwig II, how Ludwig II body is buried in a church here in Munich (until that day I had no idea) but his heart is buried in another town in Bavaria. After saying good bye to the guard we walked to the Marien brücke (bridge) for the most amazing view of the castle. After taking lots of pictures we walked back down and made it to the car…and to a restroom.

Marien Brucke -- View of Neuschwanstein from the bridge

We arrived in Zurich somewhere around 10 o’clock at night after driving thru Austria and crossing the almost non-existent border with Switzerland. Oh, but I must first make a stop and tell you what happened as we were driving on the last segment in Germany. From Füssen we took –as directed by the GPS- a state road that took us through a couple of small towns before taking us to the freeway. So I’m driving through one of the towns and we are all very much into our conversation when all of a sudden FLASH! A bright light dazzled us. We were all like “What was that?!?!” My brother then starts to laugh and tells me he thinks I was photographed because I was going too fast (according to him I was going over the speed limit). Of course my first reaction was to deny it and complain why the driver in front of me did not get flashed since he was going as fast as I was. We later realized that since we were driving through the middle of a town the speed limit was somewhat between 30 and 40 km/hour but I honestly don’t know how fast I was going at the time. As of today I still don’t know if I got a ticket or not. Carlos tells me that the flash means a picture was taken and someone should be getting a ticket; however, he tells me that sometimes the camera is full and even though it flashes the pictures does not get saved or that sometimes the car that is photographed is the one in front of you but you still do see the flash. So I’m really hoping this is the case. Maybe it is just wishful thinking on my part but like the saying we have in Spanish goes “la esperanza es lo último que se pierde” (hope is the last thing you loose). What bothers me is that I have never ever gotten a ticket in my life. I’ve been continuously driving for about 15 years now and I am very proud to say I have never even been pulled over by a police (well, except the one time I was driving the FPL-EV (Electronic vehicle) to go field check a job site, with an expired tag, and got pulled over; however, I did not get a ticket. That is the only one time). So as I was saying, what bothers me is that I have never gotten a ticket in Miami, where I for example have driven over the speed limit, to now come and get a ticket for speeding in the country that is famous for its roads or freeways not having a speed limit. It’s quiet a paradox; actually to a certain extend it is an embarrassment. Oh well, what am I to do now??? It is what it is. The damage is done so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I’ll keep you posted. By the way, the no speed limit thing works only on certain sections or segments of the expressways and it is wonderful. I love it. People here do something that is so hard to believe (when you come from a place like Miami): they use the left lane of the expressway only to pass a car and then they get out of it (I’m being somewhat sarcastic of course) and this is the time, where on the most part, they use the no speed limit option. Once they pass the car they don’t stay there holding back the other cars that want to pass other cars.

Zurich Opera House ---- City Center

Lake Zurich

So we arrived in Zurich somewhere around 10 o’clock at night with no hotel reservation. Luckily we had the GPS which had a list with the names and addresses of several hotels around the area we arrived into. After about an hour of asking from one hotel to the next for an available room we were able to finally get one thanks to the help of one of the employees at the Novotel Hotel who called a couple of places for me to try get us a room. Zurich, even though is the most populated city in Switzerland with about 351,000 inhabitants, is a rather small city. And in a recent study conducted by a consulting firm it was found that it offers the highest quality of living among 250 cities in the world from the 5 continents. We woke up early on Tuesday morning and headed out to Lake Zurich. It was then off to the city center, Bahnhofstrasse with all of its designer shops (only to window shop) and the pedestrian zone. I found Zurich (and I guess Switzerland as a whole is like that) to be extremely expensive. We were all in shock!!. The exchange rate that day was 1.09 Swiss francs per 1 US Dollar. The starting price to have a simple sit-down lunch at a restaurant at the city center was around 20 francs. We even walked into a McDonalds thinking that eating there would not be as expensive only to find out that a combo was 11.50 Swiss francs. So instead we went to the supermarket purchased a baguette, ham, salami, cheese, a potato salad, a pasta salad, chips, cookies, something drink and had ourselves a really good picnic right before heading back to Munich.

Picnic--somewhere in Zurich