Dresden, Germany

     When Phil Jackson (coach of Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, and coached Michael Jordan at the Bulls) came to Memphis for a game against the Grizzlies a few years back, they asked him what he thought of the city. He responded, "It looked like Dresden after the war." For those of you who are unfamiliar with Dresden, it was heavily bombed during World War II. Rough statement from Mr. Jackson, but as long as it looked like this, I'll accept it as a compliment:

Unfortunately, it hasn't always been this breathtaking. In February of 1945, the city was bombed to near complete destruction. The entire incident remains controversial, but it was believed that the bombings were targeting a large military presence in Dresden.
     Since the bombing, Dresden has rebuilt the city and the landmarks that fell, in hopes of making it look as it did before the war. They rebuilt the churches and town halls to almost identical standards, even using some of the stones that were part of the original building. This may be the most interesting part, because some stones in each building are black (original), while others are white (new).
     All in all, they have made the city into a beautiful place. The city's center is divided by the Elbe River, where they have maintained a meadow running all they way along the river, filled with beer-gardens and relaxing parks. The picture above shows many of the original buildings (rebuilt), which in person look like what we see as Europe in the movies. I still have another day here, but I'm already impressed. The city is a relatively unknown gem within Europe, and I highly recommend it to those who have enough time.
     Nächste Halt (Next Stop): Berlin.

Skiing the Austrian Alps

On Saturday I went skiing in the Austrian Alps. I went with a friend named John, an expat working at Behringer Ingelheim here in Vienna. He lives in my building, and we met him a few weeks earlier. He’s from Connecticut, and is on a six-month consulting assignment here in Vienna. His family is back at home, so he was happy to meet some Americans whom he can connect with. He drove me up, along with my roommate, Andrew, and his sister, Maggie. We left at about 8 AM, and had a pleasant two hour drive to the mountain. The drive started out through some Austrian farms, but halfway through we reached the mountains. Here, we drove up the mountain through winding, hairpin turns, which offered gorgeous views of the Austrian countryside.

                We arrived at the mountain at 10 AM, where we rented our skis. I was a bit nervous about the skiing, as I did not have any ski socks. My best alternative was a pair of gold-toe business socks. My only thoughts were, “We’ll see how smoothly this one goes, Lee.”

                We were on the mountain by 1030 AM, riding the chairlift up to a gorgeous restaurant on a cliff overlooking the Alps. In the picture below, you can see the views from the restaurant.

You can also see there was a man paragliding off the cliff where we sat. I wish I could say it were me. Even though I didn’t know him, it was still quite an interesting sight. The man sat there for a few minutes, untangling the lines and preparing the parachute. Then, out of nowhere, he pulled on the chute, lifting it in the air, and he turned and walked off the cliff. We would see this guy over the next few hours flying in different areas of the mountains.

                The day went pretty smoothly, except for a minor accident from Maggie. We were skiing on some pretty icy snow, and I had determined it was easier for me to simply tuck and go rather than turning. I was flying down the mountain at what some may call an unsafe speed, when I decided to stop and wait for the others. Immediately after I turned around, I see Maggie take a pretty bad fall. She must have been going extremely fast, because, while tucking down the hill, I remember thinking, “If I fell right now…” After tumbling for about 10 feet, she looked up smiling, so I figured everything was alright. I brought her ski to her, and realized she had been cut on her head. She was extremely tough, because she put her ski on and made it down the mountain. She ended up spending the next two hours getting stitched up at the doctor.

                Maggie made it back to the mountain in time for a late afternoon lunch on the top of the mountain. We had an incredible Austrian bratwurst called a Kasekrainer (if anyone goes to Austria, you must try it!). After lunch, brave Maggie decided she wanted to continue skiing. She stayed much more cautious, but she even went down the European equivalent to a Black Diamond. I think I learned how quickly and easily things can go wrong when skiing, but Andrew and I still pushed it at times. Below is a picture of myself doing a jump off a trail on one of the Blue runs.

Later, I would try to jump a mogul, and would eat some snow right in front of John. Tip to those who ski this late in the year: Wear gloves, even if it’s hot, or else you will cut your hands when falling.

                We continued skiing until the lifts closed at 4 PM. From there, we returned our rentals, hopped in the car, and headed home. Maggie started joking about her fall, and John laughed about how many items of hers were scattered around the crash site. He said, “It looked like a yard sale!” We made it back at about 6 PM, relaxed for an hour or so, then decided to continue our adrenaline-filled day by going to the Viennese amusement park, called the Prater.  We rode some of their craziest rides, including one ride that was a giant swing at over 300 feet! Here is a picture I took while riding the swing.

For those who have seen "The Third Man", or visited Vienna, the yellow circle on the left of the picture is the famous large ferris wheel in Vienna, and indicator of how high we were. Don’t worry, I was strapped in securely! Maggie ended up riding as many of the rides as everyone else, as she was running out of time on her visit to Europe and simply could not resist.

                A LONG day in Austria, but well worth it! I cannot describe how sore we all were the next day. All I wanted to do was sleep, but unfortunately I had to board a bus at noon for group visit to a university in Pecs, Hungary.