Saturday, July 31, 2010

The Journey to the Caucuses (June 11-12)

I decided that there was no better way to celebrate finishing finals than another trip. During the planning for our Spring Break trip in Eastern Turkey, I had flirted with the idea of going to Georgia. We all really wanted to see it, but decided that we didn't really have enough time to make the trip worthwhile. However, with the end of finals and the extension of my plane ticket, I had plenty of time on my hands to see more places in the region.

I was happy to discover that another exchange student, Alex, was staying at Bogazici for summer classes and had some time off before the summer semester began. Alex was also interested in going to Georgia. We also thought we might try to travel to Armenia (time permitting).

Two days after finals (June 11th), we decided sort of spontaneously to head for Georgia. We boarded an afternoon bus that would take us to Trabzon and from there we would change to a bus bound for Tblisi. Originally, we looked for a bus that went directly to Tblisi, but it had already left. The total cost of the trip was only about 140 Lira one way (about 100 dollars). We weren't really sure how long the trip would take or anything and kinda decided to play things by ear or as Alex would like to say, "improvise." Actually that sort of became the theme of this trip (and I think his favorite word for the duration of it).

The trip to Trabzon was a solid 17 hours (we would arrive at around 7am the next morning). While waiting for the bus, I befriended a Turkish guy who was in the military and returning back to his home somewhere in the Black Sea region. He was a nice guy. Apparently, Alex was both pleased and annoyed at my ability to speak Turkish and claims that when he mentioned his annoyance (because he actually wanted to learn more Turkish and never got the opportunity to practice too much with me around) it only stroked my ego. He is probably right about that. :) After a long and relatively uneventful bus ride, we arrived early the next morning in Trabzon. We discovered immediately that a bus to Tblisi would arrive in about 30 minutes, giving us hardly any time to use the bathroom and adjust to being off of the bus.

Part two of our trip began around 8:30 and we were bound for Georgia. Near Rize, we stopped at one of the most disgusting bathrooms I think I have ever had to endure. It cost 75 kurus for the use of the bathroom plus 2 napkins (which is a big problem if number 2 is required). Let's just say...there's a reason you shake someone's right hand and not their left in these parts. I will spare you any more details and merely say that it was an unpleasant experience.

We boarded the bus and continued for a couple more hours before we finally reached the Sarp Border crossing in Georgia. This was the first time I had ever crossed a land border before. All of the other times I had experienced controlled border access was in an airport. The process was sheer insanity. By this time on the trip, we met an Asian American woman on our bus with a Georgian friend. This was actually kind of nice because we had the opportunity to speak English. Apparently, no matter where she travels she always carries around good ole American "Greenbacks," (aka US Dollars) because she believed that they were still taken in more places than the Euro. If she is right, she won't be for much longer.

In order to cross the border from Turkey to Georgia, it was necessary for everyone to stand in a long line outside in the heat to be seen by the border guard. This is what the scene looked like:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_npXKmJnH00s/SkkIgz61nCI/AAAAAAAACOY/C9tgE5i2Q-M/s1600-h/IMG_0039.JPG

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_npXKmJnH00s/SkkIhAj3CkI/AAAAAAAACOg/vqZ1cJe1WnM/s1600-h/IMG_0040.JPG

As you can see, it was not pretty. Alex and I lucked out though. Instead of being forced to stand in the line from hell, the bus attendants motioned for us to get back on the bus. After all of the Georgian and Turkish occupants had left the bus, we were directed to the side of the building where a supervisor stamped our passports and allowed us entry (with the bus staff) into Georgia. We were allowed back on the bus to wait for the other passengers to complete the crossing. I must admit, I felt something like a VIP in a club at that moment. It is sometimes good to be an American.

It took about two hours for our companions to finish their crossing. We then left the area on a road along the Black Sea towards Batumi. As soon we crossed the border, the difference in prosperity between the two countries was noticeable. The roads on the Georgian side were in worse condition than the ones on the Turkish side. I also noticed that the gas station was quite a bit more rustic when we stopped. I had to take a picture of the gas pump because it was hard for me to believe. The gas pump featured a dial (like the older ones before digital tanks) to measure how much gas had been pumped. The arms of the dial rotated around like the hands on a clock. I honestly believed the gas tank resembled something that you would have seen in 1950 rather than 2010, which gives you an idea about just how rustic some parts of Georgia were.

We crossed into the city of Batumi, but did not stop for long. The place is revitalizing itself and has added casinos that are themed like Las Vegas casinos. I think when it comes to gambling that I still prefer Las Vegas.

After Batumi, the road turns inland to traverse through the center of Georgia, into Gori (the birthplace of Stalin), and then south into Tblisi. The journey from Batumi was only about 309 km (which is about 180 miles). The trip, which would only have taken 3 and a half hours on back roads in the United States took approximately 8 hours in Georgia due to bad road conditions and winding roads through the mountains.

The scenery on the way to Georgia was absolutely incredible! As we turned inland, there were flat lands at first, with abundant farmland. As we progressed, the terrain became more hilly and eventually we were in the mountains. By sunset, we were weaving through narrow valleys as we made our southward descent into Tblisi. We met some Swedish guys on the bus when we stopped for dinner at a random restaurant in Georgia. They spoke English, which made the trip on the bus go by a bit faster. Actually, in the restaurant they wanted me to translate for this Turkish guy because they wanted to ask him some questions (the Swedes were much more interested in the fact that I could help them ask Turkish people questions than they were in me). I also thought it was funny, considering how abysmal my Turkish was, that they were asking me to translate. I feel like I did ok, but there were definitely parts of the conversation I could not understand and did not translate. It was certainly a challenge for me, which was pretty cool.

We finally arrived in Tblisi at 10pm Georgia time (which is one hour ahead of Turkish time). After essentially 30 hours straight on the bus, I definitely did not want to see the inside of a bus any time soon. Although we had no way of knowing what time we would arrive when we started, this trip taught me that it is never a good idea to arrive in an unfamiliar city at night. We were originally trying to get all the way to Yerevan that day. However, when we arrived in Tblisi, the bus station was closed and the only people around were cab drivers. The guys in the cab told us that there was no bus to Yerevan and that the only way we would be able to get there is if one of them drove us for 100 USD. Obviously, he was full of shit and I knew better than that.

Alex and I ended up choosing the only cab driver that spoke a little English. We did not have a place to stay and the driver wanted to show us hotels. At first the cab driver tried to charge us $30 for the taxi ride! Luckily, Alex and I knew better than that and reluctantly accepted when he dropped the price to $10. It was still probably too much, but what could we do in our situation in an unfamiliar city by ourselves at night and not speaking the language? Alex was a douchetruck and made me sit up front with the taxi driver, who at that point, I did not trust for the life of me.

He drove around for quite a while before he found an internet cafe. I am not sure he actually knew where one was originally. The one good part about this is that we got to see a bit of the city. The amazing thing was the quality of the roads. Keep in mind that we are in the capital city of a country. One of the roads we went on had gravel and was incredibly bumpy (you couldnt drive more than 20 mph on it). It resembled one of those dirt roads that we have in rural America sometimes (like the ones in Nassau County, FL in some remote areas). We also passed George W. Bush Rd (which even had President Bush's picture on the sign)! I think Georgia is one of the two countries that actually liked Bush because we protected them from Russia in the 2008 war over South Ossetia.

The internet cafe was in a fairly sketchy looking part of town. I felt uncomfortable and it was clear that we were in a seedy area. We got on the internet, searched, and found a hostel called the Green Stairs. Afterwards we got back in the taxi and headed towards it. The driver tried to get us to stop in at other hotels along the way, but we decided that we were going to our economy priced hostel whether he liked it or not. I also think his desire to pawn us off stemmed from the fact that he could not find the place at first and we were costing him more money than he thought we would. He eventually did find the place and we exited. He demanded that we pay him a higher price than we previously agreed upon before we left the internet cafe site. I was not going to budge on this one and told him we would only pay what we agreed on and nothing more. He took the money unhappily. He also gave us his card and informed us that he would be happy to give us a tour around the city to major sites in Tblisi (for a fee I'm sure!). Now, I know Americans can be stupid, but does this dumbshit really think we are so stupid that we would call him after he already tried to screw us twice? (I imagine we were still somewhat screwed and probably gave him above the market rate for a taxi ride like the one we took). Anyways, luckily, I was not that dumb. I did decide to write his number down to make him think we were considering his request (I didn't want him to think otherwise because we were still kind of vulnerable to him at the time.

We left the car and knocked on the door of the Green Stairs. The owner spoke English, thankfully, and we requested a room for the two of us. Unfortunately, we discovered that there was no vacancy at the Green Stairs. It was the cheapest place we could find online and it definitely looked the part. The guy did say that he had two cots that he could pull out and we could sleep in the room at the bottom of the stairs. We wouldn't have any privacy but at least we would have a place to sleep. It was 11pm and we were exhausted from our trip so we decided to accept. Actually, he told us that since we did not have a private room, he wasn't going to charge us for spending the night there. It was incredibly nice of him and we were grateful.

Just as we were getting settled in, Alex made a troubling discovery. His digital camera was missing. He accidentally left it in the back of the taxi. Understandably, Alex really wanted his camera back so he could remember the trip we had taken. If the cab driver was trying to make off with the camera, he did a stupid thing by giving us his phone number. At any rate, we told the owner of the Green Stairs and he promptly called the Georgian police. I waited inside while Alex went outside to speak to the policeman.

After about 20 minutes, the police arrived. Although there had previously been no answer on the taxi cab's phone, when the police called him they were able to get through. The police were able to intimidate the driver into returning with the camera for Alex. Apparently, Alex and the police had an interesting conversation. The Georgian police officer had an American accent. The officer told Alex that after the Russian invasion in 2008, the Americans had offered support and training to Georgian military and police officers. Many of them had apparently trained in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They also talked about Georgia's position of preventing Russia from maintaining an oil monopoly in the area (pipelines go through Georgia and Turkey to give European markets access to Azeri oil in the Caspian Sea). Many believe that one of Russia's objectives in the war was to destroy the oil pipelines in order to maintain its natural resource monopoly. We had learned a lot about this in my EU Relations with Russia and CIS countries class I took the previous semester. The Georgian police officer, Goga, also explained that the reason relations between Armenia and Turkey are still so bad is because they want to remain on good terms with Azerbaijan because they are reaping profits from the pipeline that goes through Turkey to the Mediterranean Sea. The policeman also talked about his love for George Bush and his dislike for Mikhail Saakashvili (current President of Georgia). I learned about all of this second-hand from Alex, but it was interesting to hear the opinions of the average Georgian on many key global and political issues.

The taxi driver eventually did come and demanded 15 Lari ($10) as compensation for returning with the camera. The police officer apparently told the taxi driver that 5 lari would be enough for the trip (I think the policeman understood that the cab driver had been screwing us). Goga gave Alex his number and said that if we needed anything while in Georgia not to hesitate to give him a call. He was a really nice guy. Alex returned and we went to sleep on those uncomfortable cots. It was hot, even with the fan in the room, but we had arrived in the former Soviet Union.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Finals at Boğaziçi

Taking final exams at Boğaziçi was an experience in itself. I knew that because I was in Europe, I would have to get used to a different way of doing things. I also realized that grade inflation in the US is rampant and that the exams in Turkey would probably be more difficult. I just wasn't exactly sure what to expect.

My Turkish exam was a joke. I finished it in about an hour and apparently made a 98 on it. I think she could have made it a lot harder but chose not to do so because many of the students didn't care whether they learned much Turkish or not. Many took the course because it was required.

My international law exam was challenging, but not impossible. The exam was taught by an American professor who teaches at American University Law School. It was also a good taste of what law school exams would be like. Basically the exam featured two hypotheticals where we had to analyze and explain two distinct legal issues in international law. We had to pretend as if we were the legal advisor to the chief of state as to whether or not we should recognize a country and what legal issues surround it.

Things started to go poorly with my next exam, Contemporary Political Economy of Turkey. I wish I remembered more about the exam (I am writing this post a year later). Needless to say, it was hard. The questions were so far out in left field from anything we read or discussed in the class. I basically felt as if I was writing for the sake of writing, hoping that if I wrote down enough stuff I would get credit for something. The exam was only supposed to take two hours. However, I think for short answers, 3 short essays and 2 long essays, 2 hours was a completely unreasonable expectation. I felt especially sorry for the majority of the class who did not speak English as their native language. Even for me, it was one of the hardest exams I ever took. Unfortunately, I didn't do that great either. I think my final exam grade was a 72 or so, which is probably the worst final exam grade I have ever earned. The others did not do much better from what they said. Basically the exam was brutal to the point where I felt it was not a fair exam.

The other exam that did not go well was my Turkish Politics Exam. This exam I can explain to you in more detail than the others due to the sheer ridiculousness of it. To this day, thinking about it still makes me angry (and that's saying something!). So before the exam, the professor told us that we would have 12 short to medium answer questions (6 coming from lecture and 6 coming from the reading). The format seemed reasonable and I wasn't too worried. This was also my last exam, so as you can imagine, I was looking forward to finishing it and putting the semester's work behind me.

I sat towards the back of the exam room. As the exam was being handed out, you could hear people gasping (this is never a good sign for an exam). I thought to myself, how bad can this be? It's only supposed to be a 200 level class. I received my exam and immediately understood why the others were so horrified. Instead of the expected short essay questions, there were three sections to the exam. The first section listed all of the election years in Turkish History from 1950 to 2007. The top of the paper asked us to identify the party that won the elections (which is a fairly reasonable request) and then to indicate the percentage by which they won the votes (as in 40% +, 30-40%, 20-30%, or less than 20%). That was the part that was quite a bit less reasonable in my opinion. Imagine having studied concepts and main ideas from Turkish politics and then receiving an exam like THAT. As if section 1 wasn't bad enough, section 2 was worse! A list of dates were given and we were asked to identify what major event in Turkish politics occurred on that date. Now this would be fairly simple if there were say 5-10 blanks reserved for major events. However, instead there were about 30 blanks and the distance between dates were something like April 1960, June 1960, December 1960. How the hell are we supposed to know what happened in such specific instructions?

The third section was reasonable and was the short essay question we had expected for the other two sections.

So why would a professor lie to us about the format of the test? I have a theory about it actually. From what many students have said, Professor Yilmaz is supposedly quite lazy. We also had a major group project (complete with a major paper). It was curious that all of my group members received the exact same final grade in the course (also apparently people in other groups did as well). He also allegedly does not like to give out many AAs (the equivalent of an A here in the US). I believe he only graded the projects and drafted a ridiculously hard exam in order to prevent any students from questioning their grade. I mean if the exam is so hard that everyone thinks they failed (and the exam is 50%), if they get a B, no one is going to say anything to the professor. He also asked for our projects to have the transcript of all interviews and a release form to be used for other studies by Bogazici professors. Is it possible that we were essentially doing his research for him through our projects? I will never know the answer to that for certain, but I really do believe he wrote an impossible exam in order to justify not having to read them (admittedly, grading 120 exams is a lot).

So despite my ups and downs my final results for my courses were decent overall.

Turkish Language AA (Equivalent to an A here in the US)
International Law AA
Contemporary Issues in World Politics AA
Contemporary Political Economy of Turkey BA (Equivalent to an A- here) (I would also admit that there was a nice little curve to help me there)
Turkish Politics BA

Although my grades abroad were the lowest of my entire 4 years at Emory, I was satisfied overall. The classes in Turkey were on the whole more difficult AND I definitely played/traveled more than I would during an average semester in the US. So ends the study part of my study abroad adventure.

I decided to extend my stay through the summer, rescheduling my flight to return on July 31st instead of mid June.

Friday, July 16, 2010

The trip in the middle of finals - Day 4-5: Budapest

I woke up in Vienna and went to the train station to travel back to Budapest. I suppose the story of how I made it make to Budapest foreshadowed the rest of my trip there. I boarded the train for Bratislav and we departed East. When the conductor came to check my ticket, he looked at me with a straight face and informed me that I was on the wrong train. I laughed, thinking he was joking (you know how sometimes people will see someone foreign and joke about something like that). He did not laugh and I said, "you're kidding right." He said he wasn't. Apparently, Bratislav is a different place than Bratislava. As a non-native German speaker, I assumed that since the city names were in German, that Bratislav was just the German name for Bratislava (just like Wein is Vienna in German). I asked him if it was possible for me to get off the train (since we were undoubtedly still in the suburbs of Vienna). He told me that it was an express train and that was not possible. I was to get off at the next station, about an hour to an hour and a half away and would have to find my way from there.

I left the train at a place called Breclav. I had crossed from Austria into the Czech Republic. Luckily, I was on the same train line as Bratislava and only had to wait about an hour or so for the Prague-Budapest train. I boarded the train and arrived in Budapest three hours later.

I went to the hostel and put my stuff down and went out to explore. The Danube River divides Budapest into Buda and Pest, which have since merged to form the city Budapest. I decided to explore Buda first. From my hostel the walk was probably about a mile to the river and I crossed the bridge. My first stop was the largest hill in Buda. At the top of a steep and tiring climb is a statue. It is to the left of the Buda Castle when looking at the river. At the foot of the hill, I encounter some gypsies. I ended up getting robbed. I won't go into detail about how it happened exactly because it is an aspect of the trip I would like to forget. Upon visiting the ATM, and getting awat from these gypsies. I climbed the steep hill to sulk angrily about what had happened.

I stopped about halfway up and started talking to this girl who was also alone. I can't remember her name (which is actually kind of sad) but she had an interesting story to tell. She was originally Russian but had moved to Australia and gotten Australian citizenship (her English accent was also Australian). She was doing what many Australians have done and decided to travel around the world. I told her about the incident and asked her if she wanted to hang out. Truthfully, I was getting tired of traveling alone and with the incident that occurred, I especially did not want to be alone. She was also alone and agree to hang out. She was going to be in Budapest for a few days at least before she made her way to her next stop. From what I understood, she was spending a little bit of extra time in Eastern Europe because it was cheaper and she had to take care of something at the Russian consulate.

At any rate, she told me that she didn't want to climb to the top so that I should go check it out and come back down when I was finished. The hill was the highest in Budapest and you could see the bridges that cross the Danube and the rest of the city perfectly and it was absolutely beautiful (see my Budapest pictures). I climbed down the hill and found my new friend (I forgot her name unfortunately).

We walked together along the river and made our way to Fisherman's Bastion. It was a reconstruction of a fortress that was pretty much destroyed in WWII. The Fisherman's Bastion has 7 towers that represent the 7 Magyar tribes that settled in the area in the late 800's. After hanging out there for a little while, we continued up Castle Hill to the famous Buda Castle. The castle was a very ornate structure, but unfortunately we could not go inside. There was some sort of art gallery there but we weren't too interested. We walked around the top of the hill looking at the statues and enjoying the park. At some point, she needed to go to the bathroom and I decided I would walk around a bit more up there and we would meet back at a meeting point in 15-20 minutes. When I returned to the meeting place, my new friend wasn't there. I decided to wait for her for some time. The sun was setting on the other side of Castle Hill and I took pictures of it. Because I was in one of the highest points of Buda (I believe it was technically the 2nd highest), it made for a great view. Unfortunately, my new found friend never returned. I stuck around the castle and took some night photos of the area and then made my way back to my hostel around 10pm. There was also some sort of labyrinth on the guide map that I really wanted to see, but I walked all around the area and could never find it.

Day 5: Budapest

The next day, I had decided that I would explore Pest. Pest had a lot neat historical places to see. One of the most interesting areas was the Jewish Quarter and the synagogue. The synagogue in Pest is supposedly a great place to see. I woke up around 9am, hoping that I would be allowed in for the 2nd part of services (this was a Saturday morning) to see the interior. Unfortunately, when I arrived, the metal detectors were off and no one was outside. The synagogue was locked up tighter than Ft. Knox. So instead I just walked around the Jewish Quarter a bit. I was a bit disappointed. I decided to backtrack to a place near my hostel where the Budapest Holocaust museum was located.

The museum was open and I went inside. I will say that this museum was one of the better Holocaust museums I've seen and I thought it was really well done. It was neat how the museum was specifically about the Jews and what happened in Hungary rather than the entire Holocaust in general. After I spent a couple of hours there, I walked over to the Parliament building. As if I hadn't been disappointed enough with the synagogue and the robbery, I discovered (contrary to what Brooks and Tyler told me) that I did need an appointment for a Parliament tour and that the tours were sold out when I got there. Just as I did with the synagogue, I admired the Hungarian Parliament from the outside.

I decided to move on and went to St. Stephens Basilica. It was a nice, typical European church. The one cool thing was that you could pay a couple hundred Hungarian Forint to climb to the top of the church and see all of Budapest from the Buda side. The inside of the church was really pretty just like any other European church.

After the church, I made my way to Heroes' Square at the edge of City Park. In the center of the square is the Millennium Monument to commemorate the Hungarians living there for a millennium (hence the name). I also walked around the city park (which had some sort of festival going on and there was even a medieval looking castle inside). After the park, I went to one of the city's islands (Margaret Island) which is covered with parks. I decided to sit in the grass, relax and enjoy the view before I ended the day.

I finished by heading over to get some pizza across from the city market (which was also closed for the day by the time I got there). The pizza and beer was good (Hungary has some really cheap beer!). Overall, I thought Hungary and Budapest was beautiful with a lot to offer. Unfortunately, my experience wasn't that good because I was robbed and I missed out on some of the highlights. I hope one day to return to Budapest and tour it properly. All in all, it was a nice introduction to Eastern Europe and I hope it will not be my last trip there.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

The trip in the middle of finals - Day 3: Vienna

The next morning I took the train from Bratislava to Vienna. It only took about an hour to get to Sudbanhof (the south train station). I entered the Vienna subway system and made my way to my hostel. It was the most expensive hostel ever (about 25 euro for a night). I looked for cheaper but there wasn't really any. On top of that, you had to pay 5 euro for blankets. That was annoying. I couldn't check in to my room, but they were willing to hold my stuff while I explored the city.

The city of Vienna is definitely a top European destination. Luckily, I already had an itinerary of exactly what I wanted to see while I was there. Dr. Karnes, my music history professor, typed out a whole description of exactly what I should do with only 1 day in Vienna. Because he had been there about a thousand times, I just decided to follow his itinerary with only minimal adjustments.

I started just as Dr. Karnes suggested in the center of town. My first stop was St. Stephens Cathedral (Stephansdom). The cathedral was magnificent (just as one would expect of any church of Europe). Haydn was a choirboy here; Mozart's Requiem premiered here. The inside was beautiful, with statues, paintings, and stained glassed windows. The size of these European churches never ceases to amaze me. I also walked downstairs to the crypt portion, where many prominent church officials had been buried.

After enjoying my time in the cathedral, I took a detour from Dr. Karnes' suggestions. According to the map, we were very close to Mozart's apartment in Vienna. The place had been converted into a museum tributing Mozart and his accomplishments. I decided it was worth a detour. The price to go inside was a a ridiculous 10 euro. I thought to myself, "this museum had better be good..." Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed. It did show the rooms where he lived and some information about his life as a composer but honestly it wasn't anything I didn't already know from the history books. I suppose this is why Dr. Karnes had not recommended it in his list of suggestions.

I returned to the street and headed down Graben St. and Kohlmarkt. I don't remember much about the walk (I am writing this entry a year later) but there was a fountain in the middle of Graben and it was a nice little walk to take even though there wasn't anything specific to see. The end of Kohlmarkt St. took me face to face with the Hapsburg Palace! The Hapsburgs, as many of you know, were at one point one of the most prominent royal families in Europe. Even though Karnes didn't suggest it, I could not help but take the tour. I knew it would be a long tour so I decided to go to lunch first and then return for the tour.

For lunch, I went to a Würstelstand which was located in front of the Albertina. I had been instructed to order a "Waldvierteler" and ein Glas Bier. I was assured that I would not be disappointed and indeed I was not. Although it cost 6 euros (not so cheap for street food), it was probably better than much of what I could find in a restaurant. I was being treated to the two things German-speaking countries are best known for: pork (in the form of sausage or weinershnitzel) and beer. Both were top quality at this place and I enjoyed my lunch.

I returned to the Hapsburg Palace to take a self-guided tour. The tour was long and took well over 2 hours to complete. However, it covered a lot, taking me from all of the dishware used in the palace to the quarters of Sissy (one of the last famous Hapsburgs to live there). It was a great tour with a lot of information. Throughout the tour, my legs were sore from walking and standing so long and I had to sit down several times. I would compare the tour through the Hapsburg palace to the tour I took of Buckingham Palace. Both were great and allowed you to see a lot about the lives of the people who lived there.

Afterwards, I proceeded to the Opera House, where Mahler conducted from 1897-1907 and where Richard Strauss conducted for a short time. Unfortunately, there was no way for me to go inside. I decided to keep walking and head to the Museums Quarter. Unfortunately, by the time I got there, the museums were closing for the day and I wouldn't be able to go inside and look at the exhibits. Instead, I decided to walk over to see the Parliament building. I knew I wouldn't be able to get inside, but at least I would get to see the outside and say I was there. It had a nice fountain out in front of it. After that, I walked to a park and relaxed for a little as it grew later.

I then decided that I was tired and it was time to return to the hostel. Before I would return, the nerd in me took over and I decided that I couldn't leave Vienna without seeing the United Nation's building. Vienna is home to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA is responsible for many things, including reporting the nuclear activities of countries that have nuclear power. I had read several articles and documents concerning the IAEA during my internship at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies the previous summer in Monterey, CA. I couldn't resist the temptation to take the subway across the river to see the building first-hand.

I arrived at the IAEA headquarters (just outside of all of the security stuff of course). A man walked over to me and asked me to identify myself and to give him my passport. I didn't think about it at the time, but realized that taking random pictures of the UN building could look very bad. I suppose the guy thought I could be a terrorist or someone planning an attack and wanted to confirm that I was not. He walked away with the passport, studied it for a minute or so and gave it back to me. At that point, I had decided that I probably had enough pictures and it was my time to leave.

I returned to the hostel to find that I did not have a roommate for the evening. That was a nice surprise. I went to sleep early because I was so tired from walking around all day.