I know, I am way behind on stories of the trip to Germany. We'll get to those later, after The Company stops abusing me. But I'll start this story in Germany...
One of my fellow Fellows, a Director from D.C. named Bob Golombic, was telling the group that over the years he had learned that most photogs, during live broadcasts, lose all sense of direction. He often tells photographers to "pan right," and then, as the photog is moving left, calmly says "the other right, please."
Two weeks later, I'm following The Tea Party Express across Nevada as they begin their tour of the U.S. before the midterm elections. This trip started with 4am live shots Monday morning in Reno, then driving Monday afternoon/night to another rally four and a half hours away in Elko. Then 4am live shots Tuesday morning, and a drive to Ely (200 miles, in theory) and La Vegas (another 440 miles) and rallies in both cities.
Leaving Elko yesterday, I consulted Google maps on my blackberry--drive 42 miles on I-80 to Wells and exit toward Ely.
So I turned onto the freeway, and about 50 miles later realized I had not seen the exit for Ely.
I turned around, thinking I had just missed it.
No Ely exit.
So I pull over and double-check my directions. And I can't figure out how I am this lost. Then I realize that I was supposed to turn RIGHT to get on the freeway.
I have gone the other right. I am 50 miles in the wrong direction. I need to do my best Kevin Harvick impersonation to meet the three Tea Party busses in Ely. Three and a half hours into a drive that was supposed to take two and a half hours I drive up on the tiny town of Ely, and I see a 25 mph speed limit sign and a Nevada Highway Patrol car. But I stopped speeding an hour ago, so I'm not worried. But before I even get by him, he hits his lights, then drives behind me. I pull over, he comes to my window and asked why I'm going so fast. "I didn't think I was going too fast. I saw the 25 mph sign and was slowing down."
"There is a 35 miles per hour sign before that. You were doing 45."
Time to play stupid (pretty easy for me at this point). "Well, I'm more than a little lost, and I didn't see that sign. But I did know I was coming up on a town and needed to slow down, and was slowing down."
Mr. Trooper wanted to know why I was in Ely--I'm guessing he could see the gear in the back of the car, even if he didn't know which company I work for. "Actually, I'm hoping you can help me with that. I'm supposed to meet the Tea Party busses, and I don't know where the rally is. Do you know?"
He laughed. "It's a small town. Drive four blocks and you'll see the park. And you've got plenty of time. The busses are stuck behind some road construction traffic. I'll just give you a warning about the speed. Drive safely."
By the way, North Central Nevada is awesome. A beautiful drive. Not many places to stop, but the scenery is outstanding. But I didn't have any time for pictures. You'll just have to take my word for it. Trust me, just like the Nevada Highway Patrolman did.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
A new day; a new country
At last, a hotel with more than one computer!
Yesterday morning, our host and guide Rainer (that's RAY-ner... not ray-NEAR) reminded us that our trip was paid for by the RIAS Berlin Kommission (google it) by holding up his sign and saying RAIS is leaving Berlin.
"And we are all sad to be doing so!" I yelled from the back of the bus.
And two things are true: 1) Even though all thirteen of us are missing home, and were looking forward to Dresden and Prague and are still looking forward to Brussels tomorrow, we enjoyed Berlin so much.
And 2) Even at this age, the troublemakes still sit in the back of the bus.
Yes, a bus. And not a short bus, either. Europe's buses are so much nicer. Made by Mercedes Benz! We pulled out of Berlin at about 9:30 and headed south for Dresden... about 2 hours by fancy bus. Very green, is Germany. A few rolling hills, a few groups of old houses, farms growing... corn? (I've flown 10 hours to be in Iowa?) and big windmills. Okay, I know my Bakersfield friends are thinking "So what? we have windmills in Tehachapi." Which is what I thought. Until I saw one behind a house. Like, MILES behind a house. And it still dwarfed the house! Germans know how to build windmills!
(Oh, and German's know how to build solar, too. In a country that is gray and cloudy most of the year, in the next few years they will have installed enough solar panals to equal the energy output of three nuke plants.)
We got to Dresden, checked into a lovely, posh hotel that sits amid centuries-old buildings, then left to tour a Volkswagen plant.
The Dresden plant--in what was communist East German--is state of the art. Four floors, it is built with glass wallss You can see the whole hi-tech process from the street. They build custom-ordered Volkswagen Phaetons by hand, in a factory with wooden floors and indirect lighting, using special overhead units to move the cars from the holding area to the assmebly line, and the line moves each car on a special platform on the wooden floor in a circle like a giant rotating sushi bar, built buy Germany's best in white overalls. My "normal" traveling companions were impressed. Gearhead that I am, I was geeked.
Then a walking tour of a giant church, and the exteriors of some of tha many giant German palaces in Dresden. Here's the odd thing. All of these old buildings are mostly brown, except for some odd parts that are just jet black! At first, you think "Jeez, would it hurt them to clean ALL of the building, and not must leave some random stones dirty?" But all of these buildings were destroyed by incindiary bombs at the end of WWII, and most sat as ruins during the communist era of the DDR. When they were rebuilt, the remaining sandstone pieces were numbered Most of the "centuries old" buildings in Dresden are only about 20 years old, on the average. The ramaining stones were numbered, and the salvageable parts were used in the reconstruction. Stained by fire, the black stones stand out against the new sandstone. To see the old, baroque palaces and churches, made with 85% new stone tells alot about how far the former East Germany has come, and a constent reminder of the cost of war.
Then, this morning, back on the "bus" (this ain't no Grayhound) to Prague. The few hills turned to rolling hills. Castles and churches dotted the mountain tops. And as we entered Prague, centuries old buildings appeared. But the bus could not make it into the city center; we had to drag our luggage the last 1/2 mile. And what an old hotel: a new hotel in an old building (kind of like the Padre, you Bakersfield peeps) but with an attitude... pictures later.
We went to Radio Free Europe, then on to dinner and walking through the small, narrow streets of Prague, including seeing the Astrological Clock, and popping into an Absinth bar... oh, so much more to tell you, but there is a guy waiting for this computer and he's starting to look really mad.
Don't want to create an internation incident....
Yesterday morning, our host and guide Rainer (that's RAY-ner... not ray-NEAR) reminded us that our trip was paid for by the RIAS Berlin Kommission (google it) by holding up his sign and saying RAIS is leaving Berlin.
"And we are all sad to be doing so!" I yelled from the back of the bus.
And two things are true: 1) Even though all thirteen of us are missing home, and were looking forward to Dresden and Prague and are still looking forward to Brussels tomorrow, we enjoyed Berlin so much.
And 2) Even at this age, the troublemakes still sit in the back of the bus.
Yes, a bus. And not a short bus, either. Europe's buses are so much nicer. Made by Mercedes Benz! We pulled out of Berlin at about 9:30 and headed south for Dresden... about 2 hours by fancy bus. Very green, is Germany. A few rolling hills, a few groups of old houses, farms growing... corn? (I've flown 10 hours to be in Iowa?) and big windmills. Okay, I know my Bakersfield friends are thinking "So what? we have windmills in Tehachapi." Which is what I thought. Until I saw one behind a house. Like, MILES behind a house. And it still dwarfed the house! Germans know how to build windmills!
(Oh, and German's know how to build solar, too. In a country that is gray and cloudy most of the year, in the next few years they will have installed enough solar panals to equal the energy output of three nuke plants.)
We got to Dresden, checked into a lovely, posh hotel that sits amid centuries-old buildings, then left to tour a Volkswagen plant.
The Dresden plant--in what was communist East German--is state of the art. Four floors, it is built with glass wallss You can see the whole hi-tech process from the street. They build custom-ordered Volkswagen Phaetons by hand, in a factory with wooden floors and indirect lighting, using special overhead units to move the cars from the holding area to the assmebly line, and the line moves each car on a special platform on the wooden floor in a circle like a giant rotating sushi bar, built buy Germany's best in white overalls. My "normal" traveling companions were impressed. Gearhead that I am, I was geeked.
Then a walking tour of a giant church, and the exteriors of some of tha many giant German palaces in Dresden. Here's the odd thing. All of these old buildings are mostly brown, except for some odd parts that are just jet black! At first, you think "Jeez, would it hurt them to clean ALL of the building, and not must leave some random stones dirty?" But all of these buildings were destroyed by incindiary bombs at the end of WWII, and most sat as ruins during the communist era of the DDR. When they were rebuilt, the remaining sandstone pieces were numbered Most of the "centuries old" buildings in Dresden are only about 20 years old, on the average. The ramaining stones were numbered, and the salvageable parts were used in the reconstruction. Stained by fire, the black stones stand out against the new sandstone. To see the old, baroque palaces and churches, made with 85% new stone tells alot about how far the former East Germany has come, and a constent reminder of the cost of war.
Then, this morning, back on the "bus" (this ain't no Grayhound) to Prague. The few hills turned to rolling hills. Castles and churches dotted the mountain tops. And as we entered Prague, centuries old buildings appeared. But the bus could not make it into the city center; we had to drag our luggage the last 1/2 mile. And what an old hotel: a new hotel in an old building (kind of like the Padre, you Bakersfield peeps) but with an attitude... pictures later.
We went to Radio Free Europe, then on to dinner and walking through the small, narrow streets of Prague, including seeing the Astrological Clock, and popping into an Absinth bar... oh, so much more to tell you, but there is a guy waiting for this computer and he's starting to look really mad.
Don't want to create an internation incident....
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Auf Wiedersehen, Berlin
So much has happened since the last time I have posted. Sorry, but there are so few hours and only one computer in the lobby of the Relexa hotel, and that computer is in demand.
I will post stories from the last four days later. But I must tell you about tonight.
We were all invited to The Reichstag (Germany's parlement building) for a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Germany's unification. I thought we were just going to be on the large grassy area in front of the building -- like being on the mall outside the U.S. capitol.
Wrong. When our short bus (go ahead, make your jokes) stopped, we showed our tickets and were led to our... seats? That was unexpected. And so were he ropes holding the "regular" Berliners back. Then Philip Murphy sat in front of us. I didn't know this at the time, but I quickly learned the Mr. Murphy is the U.S. Ambassador to Germany. When he found out who we were, he quickly greated each of us, and posed for a picture (that will be posted when I get home).
Alright... this night is pretty cool... Sitting with the big wigs... in front of the Reichstag.
Then the real VIP's came in: former Chancellor Helmut Kohl (Chancelor during the fall of the wall and German unification) and current Chancellor Angela Merkel. Both with seats no better than ours.
Although I did not recieve a standing ovation, nor flowers like Herr Kohl. But when Kohl's eyes teared, so did ours (more on that later)
Then there was music from the German Justin Bieber and a large orchestera, a choir, a speach in German that ended with a quote from the German national anthem that, when spoken, let directly into the anthem (I know this because our guide translated for me)
And after the national anthem, the European Union anthem, better know as Beethoven's "Ode to Joy", with fireworks.
I thought we were done, but no! We walked into the Reichstag, to the third floor, for a small reception with dignitaries... a much smaller crowd than outside... free food and drink (making us newsies so happy), and we even chatted with the Embassador from Bangledesh. Oh, and we were about 10 feet from Chancellors Kohl and Merkel. Go ahead, try to be that close to Presidents Obama or Bush or Bush II and see how fast the Secret Service jumps on you.
The whole night I expected someone to point to me and say "Aye! zat iz unt redneck from Oildale! He doesn't belong here! Get him!"
But I was there... and here, in Berlin for a week, on both sides of the line of cobble stones that mark what was once the Berlin wall. I have stood on the East side of that line, in a place that I years ago, during my adult life, I would have been killed for standing in. I have seen the long scar that marked the difference between freedom and oppression. And I have met a whole lot of people who are so happy to be free Berliners.
The people... Eight days, and I've yet to meet a single rude, cross Berliner. Actually, when a Berliner hears you speak English, it seems to be an invitation for a longer conversation. "Do you have the time?" becomes a 15 minute conversation when you answer in English"I'm sorry, I don't speak German."
People like RIAS Berlin Kommishin Board member Hildegard Bousein, who sat next
to me during tonight's event at The Reichstag. Just as Chancellor Kohl was being honored, as we all sat just a few paces from what was once the wall that surrounded the Western half of Berlin, Hildergard told me a story. In 1981, she went to work at the Reichstag, then just offices as the West German capitol was in Bonn. Her office was in the back of the building, about five feet from the wall, so she had an view of that wall every hour of every daz. But every day, she and some of her co-workers would take their lunch and walk about 100 yards to the wall in front of the Brandenburg gate, a famous symbol of Germany that stood on the wrong side of the wall, to eat "and think of what could be."
I can't type that without getting a lump in my throat, as it was clear that in 1981, "what could be" was not even imaginable.
And yet there we sat, among the free Germans, in front of a building with the large inscription "Dem Deutschn Volke" -- for the people. Not imaginable, but real.
It was a heck of a way to end our week in Berlin. And even though we still have stops in Dresden, Prague, Brussels and Brugges before we leave for home, I hate to leave this city. I have made so many friends, and have so many more stories that I will tell you later.
But for now, Auf Weidersehen, Berlin. I hope to see you again.
I will post stories from the last four days later. But I must tell you about tonight.
We were all invited to The Reichstag (Germany's parlement building) for a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Germany's unification. I thought we were just going to be on the large grassy area in front of the building -- like being on the mall outside the U.S. capitol.
Wrong. When our short bus (go ahead, make your jokes) stopped, we showed our tickets and were led to our... seats? That was unexpected. And so were he ropes holding the "regular" Berliners back. Then Philip Murphy sat in front of us. I didn't know this at the time, but I quickly learned the Mr. Murphy is the U.S. Ambassador to Germany. When he found out who we were, he quickly greated each of us, and posed for a picture (that will be posted when I get home).
Alright... this night is pretty cool... Sitting with the big wigs... in front of the Reichstag.
Then the real VIP's came in: former Chancellor Helmut Kohl (Chancelor during the fall of the wall and German unification) and current Chancellor Angela Merkel. Both with seats no better than ours.
Although I did not recieve a standing ovation, nor flowers like Herr Kohl. But when Kohl's eyes teared, so did ours (more on that later)
Then there was music from the German Justin Bieber and a large orchestera, a choir, a speach in German that ended with a quote from the German national anthem that, when spoken, let directly into the anthem (I know this because our guide translated for me)
And after the national anthem, the European Union anthem, better know as Beethoven's "Ode to Joy", with fireworks.
I thought we were done, but no! We walked into the Reichstag, to the third floor, for a small reception with dignitaries... a much smaller crowd than outside... free food and drink (making us newsies so happy), and we even chatted with the Embassador from Bangledesh. Oh, and we were about 10 feet from Chancellors Kohl and Merkel. Go ahead, try to be that close to Presidents Obama or Bush or Bush II and see how fast the Secret Service jumps on you.
The whole night I expected someone to point to me and say "Aye! zat iz unt redneck from Oildale! He doesn't belong here! Get him!"
But I was there... and here, in Berlin for a week, on both sides of the line of cobble stones that mark what was once the Berlin wall. I have stood on the East side of that line, in a place that I years ago, during my adult life, I would have been killed for standing in. I have seen the long scar that marked the difference between freedom and oppression. And I have met a whole lot of people who are so happy to be free Berliners.
The people... Eight days, and I've yet to meet a single rude, cross Berliner. Actually, when a Berliner hears you speak English, it seems to be an invitation for a longer conversation. "Do you have the time?" becomes a 15 minute conversation when you answer in English"I'm sorry, I don't speak German."
People like RIAS Berlin Kommishin Board member Hildegard Bousein, who sat next
to me during tonight's event at The Reichstag. Just as Chancellor Kohl was being honored, as we all sat just a few paces from what was once the wall that surrounded the Western half of Berlin, Hildergard told me a story. In 1981, she went to work at the Reichstag, then just offices as the West German capitol was in Bonn. Her office was in the back of the building, about five feet from the wall, so she had an view of that wall every hour of every daz. But every day, she and some of her co-workers would take their lunch and walk about 100 yards to the wall in front of the Brandenburg gate, a famous symbol of Germany that stood on the wrong side of the wall, to eat "and think of what could be."
I can't type that without getting a lump in my throat, as it was clear that in 1981, "what could be" was not even imaginable.
And yet there we sat, among the free Germans, in front of a building with the large inscription "Dem Deutschn Volke" -- for the people. Not imaginable, but real.
It was a heck of a way to end our week in Berlin. And even though we still have stops in Dresden, Prague, Brussels and Brugges before we leave for home, I hate to leave this city. I have made so many friends, and have so many more stories that I will tell you later.
But for now, Auf Weidersehen, Berlin. I hope to see you again.
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