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December 5, 2009January 20, 2017

A Trip-Trip to Baden-Baden

From Köln it takes about 2.5 hours to make it to Baden-Baden, with a short stop-over in Karlsruhe. The French influence is still present here, as this was French-controlled territory after WWII, and France itself is only 10 Kilometers away. Baden-Baden would probably be a different experience, I told my wife, if one were rich. I window-shopped and saw a wristwatch on sale for €27,000. There was a cheaper one for a respectable €5000. Rumor has it Egyptian president Muhammad Mubarak comes once a year to stay in a €300/night 5-Star hotel…

…so with my lunch money of €10 and my radio kit in tow, I ventured through the crowds of Swiss, Italian and French tourists to meet a colleague from Southwest German Radio.

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November 17, 2009January 20, 2017

Live from Studio “K”…itchen

I’ve been asked a few times over the course of reporting from abroad: How do you do it? The question is not rooted in finding out how I actually report, but more in how I get clean audio from my apartment, hotel room, or random building from all corners of Europe.

The answer is simple….improvisation!

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November 12, 2009January 20, 2017

Karneval’s Toll

The official start to Karneval is 11:11, on the morning of 11Nov, but the drinking began much earlier than that. Celebrants in costumes ranging from interesting (a giraffe) to ridiculous (smurfs, and fire hydrants) piled out of the subways and marched across the Roncalli Platz to find a brew–a morning elixir to make their dreams come true.

But this tangible inebriation came not without a price, and the Altmarkt (Old market) stood as a beer-soaked ruin.

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October 17, 2009January 20, 2017

Underway, the Kölner Way

When many Americans talk about seeing Europe, the bulk of these people can be divided into two groups: the tour bus or backpacking crowds. Some folks spend their hard-earned dough on a blitz-offensive of Europe like the kind seen in “National Lampoon’s European Vacation,” rushing city to city in an attempt to “experience” Europe in an insanely tight time frame. Rome, Berlin, Paris, London, fly back home. Others try to backpack through Europe, and spend a lot of time in hostels. This is a fine option for younger folks, but not everyone.

But our troupe doesn’t fit into those categories. We are European veterans, having taken our time to see the on- and off-the-beaten-trail sites. And with a baby, and no car, the list of “Crazy things we have done in life” has just gotten longer.

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September 14, 2009January 20, 2017

Bavaria, Baroque and Religion

Religion is one topic many journalists won’t touch with a ten-thousand foot pole. Religion is complicated, people are passionate, and when one is working on deadline, a complicated and polarizing issue like religion doesn’t do good things for the blood pressure.

I’ve been cutting back on the coffee, though, so my blood pressure can take a subtle dose of religious analysis after a long few days in Munich.
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September 9, 2009January 20, 2017

A Taste of German Law and Order

If you’d ask someone what Karlsruhe was known for, the person would probably think you were joking–Karlsruhe doesn’t have the kind of tourist-money-attracting sights as its neighbors. The city is an hour or so from Stuttgart and decidedly separated from other major cities in Southern Germany. And this fact was a perfect reason to place one gem in Karlsruhe, the constitutional court, or Verfassungsgericht.

There’s nothing in Karlsruhe…but good old fashioned law and order.

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September 3, 2009January 20, 2017

A Day at the Wannsee

It’s not a short trip to Wannsee, especially with the city’s commuter rail system still lagging. From Schmargendorf, one must head north to Theodor-Heuss-Platz to catch the 218 bus toward Pfaueninsel, Peacock Island. It takes more or less an hour, along curved, wooded roads, before the lake comes into view. It’s serene, and beautiful–two descriptors which make Wannsee’s historical identity all the more troubling.

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