Dispatches Archives - Page 16 of 21

December 9, 2009January 20, 2017

To Oslo for Peace…

President Obama isn’t here yet, but the city is breathing anticipation–not all of it positive. For 99 Norwegian Crowns one can buy an Obama t-shirt with “Hope” across the bottom, and for 0 Crowns one can enjoy Greenpeace’s characteristically aggressive campaigning for environmental issues.

So in just a few hours the President will board Air Force One and begin his 26 hours in Oslo, to accept a controversial and arguably confusing peace prize, just days after ordering the deployment of 30-thousand more American troops to Afghanistan. This is an uncomfortable time; an insecure time; and this is the time in which we live.

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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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November 4, 2009July 5, 2017

A House of God

There’s a calm that comes from a river blown breeze. Like a chilled embrace of an unseen watcher, the breeze brings me past the crowds of gawkers and pilgrims, and sets me in the foyer of Cologne’s massive cathedral.

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October 28, 2009March 8, 2019

Restoring Journalism

Though our time in Germany is great for seeing sights, and making personal breakthroughs (like learning to eat bananas and spaghetti: good work baby) there is a more serious reason I am here: Journalism.

I am listening and learning as much as I can about the radio system in Germany, but also on the state of journalism in general. In the States the numbers are grim, but Germany’s problems are different, and may be tougher to solve.

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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