August 26, 2005

02:25:55 pm Lithuania - Russia Diary  

Thursday, August 18, 2005 - Vilnius, Lithuania

Had a tour of a private museum, The Kavys Varnelis House Museum. As was often the case during our stay here, Kavys Varnelis is a friend of Darius's parents, and Stase arranged the visit for us. Kavys is a Lithuanian artist who like so many of his generation migrated to the US and has now returned to Lithuania. His house featured paintings, furniture, and books he has collected from around the world, plus his own abstract optical art. It is an impressive collection in an impressive building, and it is now a branch of the National Museum, only open by appointment. I could have spent several days in his library that was packed with historical books from the past several centuries. We spent about 15 minutes at the nearby Architectural Museum which had models and drawings from various Vilnius projects, some built, others not. After lunch, I spent the afternoon at the Internet cafe, updating the web site, answering e-mail, and looking up visa requirements for the remaining countries on our trip. We took out Bronius and Stase for early dinner at a French restaurant across the street from where they live to thank them for letting us stay with them. It is reputed to be the best in Vilnius. Their condo is in the heart of the old town, so we were able to walk to everything we did today--it was all within 10 minutes.

Prices in Vilnius and throughout the Baltics are cheaper than the rest of Europe and somewhat below the US, but catching up fast. Darius considers everything dirt cheap--we don't necessarily, having been to so many cheaper places throughout the year. For example, Argentina has roughly the same level of per capita GDP, yet a nice dinner there is only 1/3 to 1/2 of the price of Vilnius. I'm not sure how much of a bargain the Baltics will be in a decade or two. I could see it becoming more expensive than the US, although it may still be somewhat of a bargain relative to Western Europe. Through July, the official year-over-year rates of inflation were 6.1% Latvia, 3.8% Estonia, and 1.8% Lithuania. The increases in what you actually spend are higher, however, because more expensive and better quality goods are becoming available. For example, the best bottle of wine in a restaurant might be over $50 now, when it was only $10 three years ago. More expensive wine is now available, as rapid integration with the European and world economy is occurring.

Friday, August 19, 2005 - Vilnius, Lithuania and Moscow, Russia

6:35 AM flight on Lithuanian Airlines from Vilnius to Moscow. Staying four nights at Hotel Baltschug Kempinski, just off Red Square. Sheremetyevo-2 Airport (SVO) was small--closer to what you would expect from a US city of 100,000, not from a national capital of 9 million. Later learned that Moscow has five airports with a sixth being built--still SVO is the major international airport. The first 15 minutes or so of the 60-minute drive into Moscow was on what appeared to be 2-lane country roads. Overall, quite a contrast to arriving in a major Chinese city where the airport is huge and new and the highway from the airport is a four or six lane US-interstate equivalent.

Went to Museum of Contemporary Russian History, which covered last 150 years. It probably was quite good, but since it was all in Russian, I'm not sure. I half expected this as Russia is not that integrated with the west. I can excuse them for the lack of English (whereas I was critical of Sweden on this point), as even two decades ago they still hoped for Russian to become the world language--although they were probably beginning to doubt the likelihood of this by then. Throughout our travels, we have met people from around the globe--Cuba, Mongolia, Vietnam, Sweden, and the Baltics--who speak Russian fluently. Many of them studied in Moscow. Their children, though, will never know the language, given the fall of communism.

Took a taxi to the museum and then the subway back. First subway we've been on with no English. Russian alphabet consists primarily of Roman and Greek characters, so you can figure out the station names through character recognition, if you are patient. Moscow subways are known for being elaborate, with chandeliers and artwork, and every station designed differently. Still, having heard so much about them, I think I expected a bit more. 70 years with millions of people using them every day has made them a bit less grand, but they are still remarkable.

We met our Exeter Travel group at 5 PM. We toured Red Square and then had champagne and dinner at the hotel. There are three other couples--one from New York City, one from Cincinnati (northern Kentucky), and a mother/daughter from Miami/NYC. This may be the first all American group we've been with on this trip. When we have gone with a group, it has been primarily European. We paid up for our trip to Russia, instead of our usual DIY mid-range approach because we thought Russia would be challenging and would not have much English (and thus having pre-arranged guides would be useful). The other benefit is having people to talk to, and when you pay up, you tend to get interesting, accomplished people that can really make the trip more enjoyable. So far, this group seems similar in that regard to the Chicago Architecture Foundation group we went with to Cuba at the end of 2003.

Saturday, August 20, 2005 - Moscow, Russia

With our group, visited the State Tretyakov Gallery (Russian art) and had a tour of the city. Afterward, Deanna and I went to State Historical Museum, which guidebook misleadingly said had adequate English. It did not, so our visit was short. Had a nice dinner with everyone at Cafe Pushkin, in a refurbished old mansion.

Moscow is nicer than I expected. Of what we have seen, not much is run down, and the city is clean. The graffiti here is less than any city in Europe we have seen so far. From the negative press you read on the country, I expected there to be disorder, with public services falling apart in the post-communist system. A paradox of communism is that life is miserable, the stores are empty, but everything is safe, and--at least on the surface--orderly. So I expected the opposite now--a better life with stores full of goods, but with crime, dirtiness, and disorder. The former is there, but the latter is not evident. It may lurk beneath the surface, but it is not visible to a Western tourist. This makes Moscow a good place to visit, albeit expensive. You do need to be comfortable with the lack of English, though, or compensate for it by paying a lot and having all of your tours pre-arranged. Overall, the city looks much better than you would expect after experiencing 70 years of communist stagnation.

The group we are with is very interesting. When we were booking this trip, we had decided to go with Exeter but were undecided whether to go with a small group or by ourselves. By ourselves meant that we would have a guide everywhere and would get to see exactly the things we wanted to, while the group tour meant we would not see everything we wanted but would have the benefit of being with other people. In the end we decided to go with the group, to save some money (it was only very expensive instead of incredibly expensive), and hoping that having other people around for a change would enhance our experience. This latter point could go either way depending on the group, but so far it has been a great experience, and it is nice for us to have other people to talk with. Actually, we have had and will have this throughout much of Europe, knowing people or having friends and relatives join us in the UK, Sweden, Baltics, Ireland, Italy, France, and Spain.

Sunday, August 21, 2005 - Moscow, Russia

Group visited Pushkin Fine Arts Museum (western art through post-impressionism), Moscow subway, and a shopping area. Once the Russian part of our trip is over, I think I will have had enough shopping and visiting churches for a lifetime. We have seen so many during our trip. The number of churches in Moscow is a real surprise. The communists destroyed many churches, but they left a number of others closed but otherwise undisturbed. They are open now and very popular. Anytime people are denied something, there seems to be high demand for it once it becomes available.

The weather has been good--around 70 and sunny each of the last two days. This is a continuation of the great weather we had in Vilnius, where it was 70-75 and sunny the last three days we were there. It's cool here at night, though--in the mid 40s.

Monday, August 22, 2005 - Moscow, Russia

Spent about half a day at the Kremlin. Kremlin means fortress, and inside there are a series of government buildings, museums, and churches. Again, surprising that not all of the Kremlin churches were destroyed during communism.

Nearly everything I read on traveling to Russia was bad: expensive, overly bureaucratic, terrible service, and rude people. After being here my conclusion is that it is expensive, but having prepared mentally for the worst, it's actually not always as expensive as I expected. There are occasional service lapses and rudeness, and while this is probably lingering Sovietism, it also could be just randomness. Things are bureaucratic, especially the visa process before arrival, but once you are here it's no worse, and perhaps better than a place like India (although that may not be saying much!). If traveling straight from the middle of the US to Moscow, you will probably think worse of Russia than we do, as you will not have had the buffer of European costs and inattentive service. Overall, it is better than we expected, although we had set our expectations low. We wanted to see Russia, but we expected it would not be all that enjoyable, and we would be ready to leave. Actually, everything has been enjoyable, and we could spend more time here. However, I should quickly add that we are on a high-end very expensive tour that is over engineered to shield you from any possible unpleasantry. Thus, we are getting a less than authentic experience, but after seven months of primarily authentic experiences, this coddling is mainly welcome by us. I say mainly because at times the coddling is a bit absurd for us given all of our travel experience, but naturally the trip is priced and designed for individuals who expect a five-star experience with no hassles whatsoever.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005 - Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia

11:15 AM flight on Pulkovo Airlines. Staying four nights at Hotel Astoria in St. Petersburg. On plane I read last two issues of Moscow Times, the daily English paper. There was a lot of talk in op-ed pages, as there also is in the West, about President Putin's autocratic nature (he is a former KGB agent), and how the country is moving away from democracy toward authoritarian rule (e.g., eliminating direct election of governors, renationalizing previously privatized companies--albeit through somewhat free market purchases). There is concern that Putin will engineer a constitutional change to run for a third term in 2008 (presently Russian presidents are limited to two terms). I think the concerns are well founded. I put the chance of him trying to overstay the term limits at 40%, which is a worrying high percentage since it is only 2005. Seeing Russia I'm less bearish on it than I was before arrival, but I'm well aware that there is no real long-term history of democracy or capitalism here and the last 15 years of progress could be erased quickly (some would say it already is). The country went straight from the czars to the Bolsheviks. People don't have much experience thinking or acting for themselves.

The economy, by the way, is booming because of high oil prices--the country's primary export. In 1998, Russia defaulted on its debt and things appeared to be in shambles. Now, thanks to a low, flat tax that increased tax revenue and limited government spending, the government is running a surplus and paying off its debt ahead of schedule. One might even say that Russia has managed its fiscal affairs better than the US in recent years. For this, Putin deserves credit. Awash in cash, however, the government spending spigots are now being turned on full blast. Putin has said he wants to raise government salaries (one-fourth of the workforce) by 50% after inflation over the next three years. Russia's inflation rate is something around 13%. If that rate held steady, government salaries would have to more than double over three years for Putin to keep this promise. Moreover, such a wage increase itself could lead to increased inflation, requiring even greater wage increases. Some additional government spending is necessary. How much and what it should be spent on--infrastructure, salaries, social programs--is the question. Critics are suggesting that too much is being allocated on the last two items and not enough on infrastructure. Cynics are wondering if the government salary pledge is an initial step of a politician looking to amend the constitution for another term.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005 - St. Petersburg, Russia

Went to the Summer Palace and the Chinese Pavilion of Oranienbaum, both about an hour outside of St. Petersburg. The Summer Palace is reminiscent of Versailles outside of Paris in terms of distance from the capital and the grandeur of the building and gardens. The buildings in Russia are as opulent as anything in Europe, or the world for that matter. It's hard to compare the palaces of different countries because so many of them are so far over the top that it really becomes a matter of personal taste. Personally, I think I've seen about enough of them for all of Europe, and we've only been on the continent for a month! The my kingdom versus your kingdom one-upsmanship of palace building can become somewhat pointless. You can see why communist revolution happened here. The vulgar display of wealth by the royals contrasted with the poverty of the citizens and minimal Russian government reform is a recipe for social revolution. The lavishness of these Russian palaces is so extreme it really is a surprise that the communists did not destroy them for what they represented.

Parking meters--a concept unknown in Russia. You can park anywhere and people do.

Thursday, August 25, 2005 - St. Petersburg, Russia

Went to Pavlovsk Palace, Catherine Palace, and the Church of the Spilled Blood. Turns out the Summer Palace we saw yesterday was not the main summer palace--Pavlovsk Palace was. Again, the grandeur and endless displays of wealth is just over-the-top extreme. Several people voluntarily offered my thought of yesterday, "No wonder they had a revolution!" We have not seen Vienna, which I have heard is the grandest city in Europe, but at this point I don't think anything can top what we've seen here. The Church of the Spilled Blood has marble floors and glass mosaic walls and ceilings, making it as opulent as the palaces. It's probably the finest church I have seen. I don't understand why the communist atheists restored it, albeit at a slow pace, after World War II. Many of their actions seem inconsistent with their stated beliefs in ways I would not have expected. At night, we went to a ballet, Giselle, at the Hermitage Theater. It's off-season, so the production was only so-so, or so I am told by people who have seen a ballet before. I thought it good, as it was only two hours long.

Excepting for the palaces and churches, St. Petersburg is a bit more run down than Moscow, with somewhat more graffiti, although still less than what we have seen so far in developed Northern Europe. I suppose the most money is pumped into the government center, Moscow. Putin is from St. Petersburg, though, so I think it probably gets more pork than the rest of Russia.

Russia's population has declined by 5 million over last dozen years. We have written about population decline that developed countries, especially Japan, face in the 21st Century, but it is already happening here. I have not seen a breakdown of how much is due to deaths exceeding births and how much is due to a net outflow of immigrants. Russia does have some inward immigration, from the poorer former USSR republics to it, but I can't quantify how much.

On a separate note, I read in the local newspaper that research has revealed that Russian and Eastern European women may possess an extra gene that enables them to worry excessively about minor details at all times. The gene is present from childbirth onward, but it is also contagious by airborne contact if one spends a year or so in the Russian environment. After 1991, the gene and its contagiousness appear to be on the decline, although the chance of an outbreak is still possible, as the underlying causes that lead to the worry mutation are not completely eradicated from the country.

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August 18, 2005

07:17:10 am Baltics Diary Continued  

Tuesday, August 16, 2005 - Vilnius, Lithuania

Took a day trip to nearby town of Trakai, visiting the castle there. Probably the best day of weather we have had in Europe: sunny, low to mid-70s, blue sky with white puffy clouds--the kind of sky that makes every picture look great. Most of our three weeks in Europe have seen high temperatures in the 60s and occasionally only in the 50s. Back in Vilnius, we visited the TV Tower, the tallest structure in the city, with an observation deck.

Lithuania was the first Baltic country to declare independence on March 11, 1990; however, for the next 18 months there was an uncertain period where the USSR did not recognize their declaration, and the rest of the world waited to see what would happen. The US and other countries wanted the Baltics to be free, as most countries never recognized the Soviet World War II takeover; however, the world also wanted the nuclear power Soviet Union to be stable, and any breakup to be orderly.

On the ground floor of the TV Tower is a memorial to the dozen people killed on January 13, 1991 when Soviet troops dispersed independence demonstrators and retook the tower after pro-independence forces seized the tower and began broadcasting from it. This action was timed to occur when the world's attention was distracted--it was three days before the Gulf War began. Seven months later, though, in August 1991 after the right-wing military coup failed in Moscow, Baltic independence was recognized throughout the world. The weakened Soviet government by that time did not have the will to stop them, even though Soviet troops remained in the Baltics for a couple more years.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005 - Vilnius, Lithuania

Went to KGB Museum and took city tour of Vilnius. KGB Museum is in the building where KGB carried out its interrogations and murders from 1940 through 1991--except for the 1941-1944 period when, fittingly, the Gestapo occupied the building. The names of all of the people murdered are chiseled like tombstones into the stone facade that wraps around the building. The three Baltic countries have a common history, but there are some differences, of course, between them. As the southernmost of the Baltics, Lithuania's history has more in common with Poland than does Latvia or Estonia. The Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth lasted for hundreds of years in the 14th through the 18th century, at one time covering a vast area, south and east to the Black Sea. After this commonwealth fell, Lithuania became part of the Russian Empire. Treaties after World War I re-established Poland and Lithuania as independent countries, but each had to fight Russian Bolsheviks for several years to make this a reality. For good measure, though, Poland occupied part of Lithuania, including the present capital Vilnius, until World War II, when the three waves of invaders--Soviets, Germans, and Soviets controlled Lithuania. Another shared attribute of history with Poland, is that Lithuania had a substantial Jewish population--about 200,000 people when World War II began. Jews also lived in Latvia and Estonia, but in smaller numbers. Today only a few thousand Jews live in Lithuania, as the prewar population was largely slaughtered by the Germans.

The KGB Museum also had a small temporary exhibit on the Turkish genocide of Armenians during World War I. Approximately 1 million died.

At night we had dinner with Darius's cousin Aiste and her husband Claudius. As Claudius works for the government, we mainly talked politics. The current Lithuanian president is a Chicagoan, born in Lithuania. He is of Darius's father's generation, immigrating to the US, and now relocated back to Lithuania. Darius said he remembers having him over for dinner in the 1980s at his family's house in the Chicago suburbs. Chicago has a large Lithuanian community, with many of the older immigrants having personal stories similar to Darius's father.

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August 16, 2005

02:28:49 pm Sweden - Baltics Diary  

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Spent most of the day in Stockholm; flew to Tallinn, Estonia at night on Estonian Air. Darius Vaskelis flew in from Vilnius, Lithuania where he was visiting his parents, landing in Tallinn about an hour after we left. In Stockholm, we went to City Museum and War Museum. Former was okay, latter was probably good if you read Swedish, but pointless if you do not. The English guide handout provided only the most basic explanations. This was the first museum we had been to in months that was only in one language--the kind of thing that is common in South America but inexplicable in a developed country like Sweden, which has a small population and many foreign visitors. Afterward, filling the rental car with gas proved to be a chore. The first two gas stations took only debit cards--but not US debit cards--credit cards were not welcome. Instructions were only in Swedish. The third station did take credit cards, but only at certain pumps, and certainly not at the first pump we tried. Fortunately, unlike the first station that was completely automated and had no employees on site, this station had a helpful clerk who directed us to the correct pump. Earlier, parking in the tourist areas was a challenge as some parking lots only take local credit cards like a gas card, have no English instruction, and only take certain Swedish coins, not the bills that a traveler would be most likely to have. You might expect such native-language provincialism in a place like France, but not in Sweden where everyone happily speaks English and hardly any foreign visitors would know Swedish. Because everyone does speak English, and is friendly, all of these obstacles were surmountable by just asking someone for help, but the obstacles were surprising. We did not have similar issues in Iceland or Denmark, although we did not drive there.

It's worth mentioning that the reason I'm so gung-ho on English being available and down on places where it is not, is not because I am from an English-speaking country. Rather it's a simple point of function and efficiency that in an interconnected globalized world where people from different countries with different languages must interact, there must be one language that serves as the global language. It's impractical for every traveler to a foreign land to know the language of that land, or to have to hire a translator. Few people would ever go anywhere if this were the case. The global language could be any language--English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Swahili, Esperanto, or Martian--it does not matter what it is, there just must be one. That it happens to be the language I was born with, is a convenient coincidence for me, but if that were not the case, we would have had to learn the dominant world language before this trip, or more likely at an earlier point in our lives. Countries that don't require their students to learn the dominant world language in school are putting their kids at an economic disadvantage, unprepared to interact in the world economy. Countries that don't have the dominant world language available in places where businesspeople and tourists frequent are discouraging trade and commerce and holding back the development of their countries. So on our trip I have praised relatively poor countries like China on this point for being forward looking by being English friendly and criticized places like South America for being insular by not catering to an English-speaking crowd. Overall, Sweden is accessible to English speakers, but less so than I would have expected and less so than the two other Scandinavian countries we visited. We will see if Finland and Norway are similar to Sweden or more like Denmark and Iceland.

On the point of Spanish in the Americas, it has occurred to me that the homogeneity of language in Central and South America that ought to be an advantage for the region has actually been a disadvantage to date. The region has not reaped the benefits of a common language anywhere near as well as they should have--through trade agreements allowing free movement of goods, services, and people. These exist, but are much more limited than they should be. Actually, the common language has made the area insular, somewhat shutting themselves off from the outside world. In contrast, in Europe, with its dozens of languages, has overcome its language disadvantage, creating a union that is to its strong advantage. Its disparate countries have grouped together and realized tremendous trade benefits. Without this integration, many of its small countries would be isolated and insignificant. This is an example of how a disadvantage can lead to a better outcome because it requires ingenuity, and how an advantage can sap the willingness of a country to better itself.

Friday, August 12, 2005

Baltic Facts

Country Population
Estonia: 1.3 million
Latvia: 2.3 million
Lithuania: 3.6 million

Capital & Largest City, Population
Estonia: Tallinn 443,000
Latvia: Riga 856,000
Lithuania: Vilnius 576,000

Per capita GDP, Purchasing Power Parity
Estonia: $12,300
Latvia: $10,100
Lithuania: $11,200

Per capita GDP, Absolute Dollars
Estonia: $4,960
Latvia: $4,070
Lithuania: $4,490

Size
Estonia: about twice the size of New Hampshire
Latvia: slightly larger than West Virginia
Lithuania: also slightly larger than West Virginia

Currency
Estonia: Kroon, 12.5 per dollar
Latvia: Lat, 0.55 per dollar
Lithuania: Lita, 2.7 per dollar

All three countries joined the European Union in 2004 as part of the 10-country expansion from 15 to 25 members. These 10 new members will be allowed to use the Euro beginning in 2007.

Language

Each country speaks its own language: Estonian, Latvian, or Lithuanian. English is common in all three countries.

Independence

All three countries became independent for the first time in the years after World War I as part of the post-war treaties. The Soviet Union seized all three countries in 1940 when Germany and Russia agreed secretly to carve up Eastern Europe, incorporating the Baltics into the USSR against their will. Germany routed the Soviets from the Baltics when they attacked the USSR in 1941. In 1944, the Soviet Union returned, driving out Germany. All three countries declared independence from the USSR in 1991, four months before it collapsed.

Our hotel, Merchants House, is in the heart of the Old Town, just off the main town square. It's a new hotel in an old building in a great location. All of the Baltic capitals have an old town area dating back eight centuries or so with narrow cobblestone streets. We spent the day walking through the Old Town area visiting sites like the Museum of the Recent Occupations in Estonia, the Kiek in de Kok Tower, and the Tallinn City Museum.

The Tallinn City Museum covers the early history of the city, which is something like this: for this century the Germans ruled us, and then the Russians took over, and then the Swedes ran things for a couple centuries and we really went downhill. Then it was time for the Germans to come back, followed again by the Russians. I probably have the order wrong, but it was something like that, with maybe the Danes taking charge for a period somewhere in there. That takes us up to the end of World War I when Estonia finally gained its independence.

The Museum of the Recent Occupations in Estonia--the name clearly indicating that it does not cover the earlier occupations that are the purview of the city museum--covers 1940 to 1991, when the Soviets, Germans, and Soviets in turn violated the sovereignty of the country. Now a word about the Soviets. They were our Allies in World War II because we had the same enemy, Germany. That's not to say, however, that much was honorable and admirable about the Soviet government. They were thoroughly evil, and the Baltic countries--aside from their Jewish citizens--generally preferred the harsh rule of the Germans to the even harsher rule of the Soviets. Political arrests, torture, deportations, labor camps, and mass murder were all common instruments of Soviet policy toward the Baltics. Unsurprisingly, they rather hate Russia today, instead embracing all things Western, joining the EU, NATO, and supporting the war in Iraq.

Returning to World War II, a significant number of Baltic males joined the German army in 1941 to help eject the Soviets from their country. Finland is another country that--invaded by the Soviet Union--openly supported Germany as the better of two bad choices, from its perspective. The UK declared war on Finland because of this (the US did not), but I can understand the Finns reasoning. The Soviet Union was its enemy, having invaded it without provocation and forcing it to sign a treaty that surrendered part of its territory (which Russia holds to this day). The enemy of my enemy is my friend, making Finland and Germany allies. By that same logic, the US and UK were allied with the Soviet Union.

Thus a scorecard of Soviet aggression in 1939 and 1940 includes Poland (invaded from the east, while Germany invaded from the west), Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (all absorbed involuntarily in the USSR), and Finland (the League of Nations expelled the USSR over this). Only the barbarism of Germany made the brutish USSR an ally of the west.

Saturday, August 13, 2005

A driving day, from Tallinn to Riga. The 20-minute walk from the hotel to the downtown Hertz office took over an hour as we walked in circles, due to the miniscule Hertz sign being 95% obstructed by scaffolding. The drive back to the hotel probably took another hour due to Darius's circuitous navigation instructions through the narrow cobblestone streets, many of which are closed to vehicles.

Riga is larger than Tallinn, and its old town area is even more filled with sidewalk cafes and beer halls. Again, we stayed in a small hotel in the old city--Viesturs Boutique Hotel. If nothing else, the Baltics have become a relatively cheap destination for young beer-drinking enthusiasts from elsewhere in Europe to come and spend a mindless weekend in pursuit of the opposite sex. Baltic people have more Scandinavian features (e.g., blond hair) than I expected. This quality in females, when combined with the stereotypical slutty Russian style of dressing present in the Baltics, provides a tempting attraction for a drunken European young man, which I believe is the point of such manner of attire. Combine this with the ubiquitous strip clubs prominent on every corner, and Riga is a bit of a dream stag weekend destination for a group of Irish lads. Many Riga establishments attempt to please all comers--a sidewalk cafe provides an intimate setting for couples, a bar inside draws the drinking crowd, a room in back provides strip club gratification for frustrated males, while the upstairs is a dance club. Strangely it all works, as couples see nothing odd in having dinner in a pole-dancing establishment.

Having said all of this, I don't want to give the wrong impression of Riga. It's a charming place and a good place to visit--100% Europe at 50% of the price.

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Full day in Riga, visiting the Occupation Museum of Latvia, the Museum of War, and walking around old town. The former is the same concept as the museum in Tallinn, detailing the trio of World War II invasions from USSR, Germany, and the USSR again. The Riga version had less detail on Latvian participation on the German side. I don't know if that's because it did not occur as frequently, or because they are ashamed it did occur. Tallinn museum rather matter-of-factly presented the view that of course we helped the Germans; they weren't as bad as the Soviets after all, unless you were Jewish which not many of our people were. Museum of War was mainly in Latvian--I'm willing to give them a pass on this point where I criticized Sweden since Latvia only joined the EU last year (Sweden only joined in 1995, but they were part of developed Western Europe for decades prior.)

Monday, August 15, 2005

Drove from Riga, Latvia to Darius's parents' house in Vilnius, Estonia. During the drive, we decided that the Baltic countries rank first in worst public bathrooms in the world, dislodging the prior champion China and moving the US down to number 3 from number 2. Darius thought this was a leftover attitude from the Soviet era where no one took care of public property since no one owned it. Along the way, we stopped at the Hill of Crosses, which is literally that--a hill with a million or more crosses on it (see image gallery once we add our Lithuanian pictures). Originally, it was a protest site over the Soviet's ban on religion (although there are some reports that the site existed prior to the Soviet takeover). The Soviets would take down the crosses, and by morning, the local citizens would have them back in place. With independence, there is no longer any restriction on religion, but the site has flourished, not so much as a protest area, but rather as a celebration of religion. Lithuania is primarily Roman Catholic whereas Estonia to the north is primarily Lutheran and Latvia in between is a mix of the two religions.

Darius's parents have a fascinating life story. When the USSR was advancing to retake the Baltics from the Germans in 1944, his father, Bronius, fled west on a bicycle to avoid the Soviets. As related in our earlier entries, the Soviet Union was feared more than Germany as the real enemy of the Baltic States. He ran into the retreating German army. They detained him, but he escaped the first night. Having no food, he joined the Lithuanian resistance, which opposed the Soviets. Once his hunger subsided, he traveled by ship from Poland to German-held Denmark. He was forced by the Germans to perform construction and security duties until the war ended. For a while, he was in a British refuge camp. Eventually, Bronius ended up in Germany, finishing high school there after the war. He then immigrated to Canada, working initially as lumberjack, and continuing his education, eventually becoming a college professor. Later he lived in Pennsylvania and Chicago. He was the only member of his family to escape Lithuania; some other family members were persecuted and banished to Soviet labor camps in Siberia. His parents spent 12 years in Siberia after a neighbor informed the authorities that Bronius had been a member of the Lithuanian resistance. After he arrived in the New World, some North Americans could not understand why Bronius did not share their appreciation toward the Soviets for their World War II contribution. To North Americans, he seemed ungrateful for the Soviet "liberation" of his homeland from the Germans. As the Cold War heated up, though, this question became less common.

Bronius first traveled back to Lithuania in the 1960s, where he met Stase, now his wife. After about a week, they decided to marry. They could not do so, however, until Moscow approved, a process that took several more weeks. Bronius returned to the US without his wife, who had to remain in Lithuania for a year until she received permission to leave the country. In 1989 with glasnost well underway, but with the Baltics still part of the USSR, Bronius returned to Lithuania with other Lithuanian expat professors to found a university, which he later became president of. Since 1992, Stase has joined him, making Vilnius their permanent home, although they do spend a few months each year in St. Pete Beach, Florida to escape the Baltic winter.

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August 11, 2005

04:01:11 am Denmark - Sweden Diary  

Saturday, August 6, 2005

Arrived in Copenhagen last night around 8:30 (three-hour flight, plus lost two hours traveling east). Rainy and a bit cold in the 50s when we arrived, so we just ate dinner near the hotel and went to bed. Staying at Hotel 71 Nyhavn that is right on the water downtown. Nyhavn is a canal, now lined with restaurants with outdoor seating. We only have two full days in Copenhagen, today, and tomorrow, before flying out Monday afternoon. So today, we began the circuit of museums. Copenhagen has many, but the number is manageable and their quality is good. Went to Museum of Danish Resistance (World War II) and the National Museum, which presented the entire history of the country.

Can you name one fact of substance about Denmark? Many Americans confuse similar sounding Sweden and Switzerland. I don't have this problem (although my wife does, having visited Switzerland with a less geographically astute male companion many years ago). During our time in Denmark, however, I had to remind myself constantly that things I was mentally assigning to Denmark, in fact belonged to the Netherlands. The Danish, the Dutch--from the US, the two countries blur in the mind because their people are called similar names. Both are small countries with small populations, located on the water, fairly close to each other in Northwestern Europe. Denmark is a country that we just don't think about.

So here's a half-dozen facts about Denmark: 1) Hans Christian Anderson lived there; 2) the population is 5 million, 25%-30% living in the capital Copenhagen; 3) despite professed neutrality in World War II, Germany invaded them; they conceded in two hours, deciding--correctly I think--that they had no chance whatsoever, so why have their country destroyed (In contrast, the Dutch did fight back, taking five days to surrender); 4) like much of Europe, everything is expensive, but less so than Reykjavik; 5) per capita GDP is among the highest in the world, behind Luxembourg, Norway, Switzerland, the US, and Japan only; and 6) they sent a small contingent of troops to Iraq.

The list of per-capita GDP is on an absolute dollar basis; on a purchasing power parity basis, it would be: 1) Luxembourg, 2) Norway, 3) US, 4) Switzerland, and 5) Denmark, at least from the data I have.

Another fact on Denmark is that it has not adopted the Euro, preferring to keep its own currency, the krone, which is about 6.0 per dollar. Of the 15 EU members at the time of Euro adoption, three--the UK, Denmark, and Sweden, kept their currencies and 12 adopted the Euro. The 10 new Eastern European members will adopt the Euro in a few years (they'd like to do so now, but the existing members want to make sure they are ready).

Sunday, August 7, 2005

Continued the museum tour, visiting Copenhagen City Museum (very extensive history of the city), Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (mainly under renovation, but with the best paintings and sculptures of museum moved into one exhibit, it is actually a good time to visit; some good Impressionist paintings), and Hirschsprung Collection (20 rooms, all of Scandinavian art, easily viewed in 30 minutes). After Hirschsprung, we went to another art museum right next to it. On the map, this was labeled Royal Museum of Fine Arts, but it went by a different name, probably because the main building was closed for renovation and all of the art was moved to an annex building. Again, this probably improved the experience for us as you could see the best things in much less time.

Copenhagen is around 800 years old, but with various fires and wars, most of the buildings were constructed in the 19th Century. There exist, however, many notable earlier buildings. Copenhagen feels European, with classical architecture throughout. Its compact size is conducive to bike riding, and there are more people on bikes than we have seen anywhere outside of China.

Monday, August 8, 2005

Went to special exhibit at Danish Architecture Center called Dream of Tower, with models of 46 famous buildings from the pyramids to modern day. It included a few under construction, including one I had not heard of: Millennium Tower in Tokyo, a conical building 840 meters tall, to be completed in 2009. If built (and that's not certain--it's location on an artificial island two kilometers in the water seems a bit impractical--acceptable in a fantasy place like Dubai, but less desirable in logical place like Tokyo), it would be far taller than anything else in existence, other than Burj Dubai. Burj Dubai was not featured, perhaps because its height is a secret (some say 905 meters). Afterward walked through nearby Christiania, a hippie squatter community founded in 1971. The inhabitants originally may have hoped to die before they got old, but now they had aged, failing to achieve death, or much of anything else. Disappointingly, we did not see open-air orgies of men, women, and animals, nor were there acid-tripping freaks jumping off rooftops to see if they could fly like Superman. We had to settle for a college student begging for "small coins for a joint" and a slightly older woman hiking up her skirt to do nature's business. Our curiosity for weirdness only mildly satiated, we walked back to our hotel and cabbed it to the airport for our mid-afternoon flight to Stockholm. Traveling within most of Europe now is no more complicated than taking a domestic US flight. While this is an obvious convenience, it does mean, sadly for Deanna, no passport stamps when you travel between two countries belonging to the Schagen (sp?) customs and immigration union. Most of the EU members plus a few other countries such as Iceland belong to this--I don't recall if the 10 countries that joined last year were permitted to be part of this yet or not.

In Stockholm, we are staying with Dan Erik Ollas and Victoria Borisova-Ollas, who we met on our boat tour of the Galapagos Islands. Dan has a telecom software firm and Victoria is a composer who emigrated from Russia in the early 90s. They live about halfway between the airport and Stockholm, so we rented a car and drove on the right side of the road for the first time since January. When we drove on the left in New Zealand and Australia, we both had the problem of turning on the windshield wipers when we meant to use the turn signal, as these devices are reversed in lefthand drive cars. Now everything should be normal for us, but being no longer used to right hand drive, Deanna decided several times to use the windshield wipers while turning. Dan and Victoria did not know what to make of our driving skills when we drove in Stockholm to have sushi for dinner.

Tuesday, August 9, 2005

Drove into Stockholm, visiting a few museums in the old city. Stockholm is small for a capital city, around 1 million people in the city itself. The country has about 9 million people. The Nobel Museum focused on the Nobel Prize and was an interesting change from the usual museums of national history, war, city history, and art. Its subject, though, deserved a larger and better museum, as the Nobel Museum just skimmed the surface. The Modern Museum showed art from 1900 onward. Deanna probably enjoyed it more than I did. I am seeing firsthand what I had read before and that is just how good the Art Institute in Chicago is. I don't think we have seen an art museum on this trip that compares to it, although I expect to in Paris and some other places. On the way back to the car we walked by the National Museum, dedicated to earlier art. Despite a tepid endorsement by our guidebook, we went in, since it was free and we were there. The guidebook was correct, and the contents do not measure up to the grandeur of the building.

Dan and Victoria had a neighbor couple, Niels and Sharon, over for a dinner. Sharon is American, but has lived in Sweden since 1978. She and Niels met at the University of Florida, so there was much bonding between her and Deanna, including a ritualistic performance of the Gator clap. We enjoyed a traditional Swedish dinner party, consisting of crayfish, silly hats and bibs, drinking, and the singing of songs. The featured food was Surstromming, or fermented herring. It smells like two-week old garbage, a description that any Swede would readily agree with. I felt no need of ego or bravado to consume such a product. Deanna, having knocked back a few drinks, did try it, finding it a not entirely enjoyable experience and wishing she had had a few more drinks.

The day was actually warm, reaching 70 or so. The city not quite as expensive as Copenhagen, but still no bargain. Nevertheless, we are on a positive trend, with the last two places being cheaper than the prior stop. The US dollar exchange rate with the Swedish krona is about 7.6 to 1.

The US Fed raised rates again yesterday, now up to 3.5%. I think this is the right thing to do and perhaps they finally are moving ahead of the curve on inflation, or at least no longer behind. It is not a positive move for stocks or perhaps not for housing prices, although I could argue that inflation vigilance will prevent an inflation premium being built into long-term mortgage rates. I neglected to mention an e-mail I received two weeks ago from Don Furman, alerting me to Fordham Company's plans to build the tallest building in the US in Chicago. Fordham is a real estate developer who has done high-end condo buildings in Chicago since about 1999. They have timed the market incredibly well, but--per reasoning discussed in our prior real estate posts--I see this announcement as further sign of a real estate market top, and I place the chances of this building ever being constructed at less than 50%.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Dan and Victoria took the day off and escorted us on a day trip to a couple of nearby towns--Uppsala and Sigtuna. At night we watched Hotel Rwanda on DVD. Very good. It's surprising to me this was not nominated for Best Picture. I think it was better than my previous favorite of last year, Finding Neverland. Don Cheadle was nominated for Best Actor, and while he was good and could have won in another year, I agree that Jamie Foxx deserved to win for Ray.

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August 07, 2005

02:14:06 am London - Iceland Diary  

Tuesday, August 2, 2005

Last day in London for a month and so we did the usual last-day-in-a-particular-place activities: laundry, shipping stuff home, buying a guidebook for the upcoming destinations, editing pictures, finishing the travel log for the country we are leaving, and updating the web site. Club Quarters, the hotel where we are staying, allows you to leave luggage behind if you will be staying there again, so we offloaded a few kilos, a nice convenience.

Flew out of Stansted Airport, which I had not been to before. London now has five airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, City, and another one that begins with L (Luton?) that I had never heard of before this trip. Stansted has become popular over the last decade as discount air carriers have risen in Europe. It's like Chicago's Midway in that respect, although its location is more like Rockford. The express train from Liverpool Street station takes over 45 minutes to reach Stansted, with the second half of the trip through the countryside. The airport only looks about ten years old, a nice facility, but not very clean. Fitting with its discount positioning, little seems to be spent on cleaning, so it looks more like a busy train station with trash lying around. Still we saved something like $800 per ticket flying Iceland Express from Stansted instead of Air Iceland out of Heathrow, so it was just fine.

Miscellaneous items in the Economist, July 30 - August 5: 1) US existing home sales surged to record annual rate in June; median price up 15% YTD, highest rise since November 1980. As we said in our June post "Housing Prices Set to Tumble?" we expected numbers through June to be a record, but from that point forward we expected below average real returns in housing, although the underperformance might not begin for months or years. 2) Well known is that China revalued its currency slightly on July 21 making it stronger against the dollar, I did not realize that Malaysia did the same thing at the same time. We expected both (as did many people), as discussed in our April post on Malaysia. Each revaluation occurred earlier than I expected, though. 3) Top two emerging market currencies against the dollar in 2005 are the Brazilian real, up 10%, and the Mexican peso, up 5%. My mid-December 2004 sale of Brazil Fund and Mexico Fund look rather ill-timed! Real is now 2.45--it was 3.30-3.40 when we were there New Year's 2002-2003, and 2.70 when we were there January 2005.

Wednesday, August 3, 2005

Got to Reykjavik just before midnight on the 2nd. Airport is 45 minutes from city, so did not get to Hotel Reykjavik and to bed until after 1 AM. Time zone is same as London, but no DST here, so its one hour later right now. Weather is similar to Alaska, in terms of darkness (only a couple hours this time of year) and temperature (highs in 50s or 60s). Prices are also similar--everything is expensive due to geographic isolation, small population, and short tourist season. Hotels, restaurants, and transport operations have to cover all of their fixed costs during a three-month season, making prices high. Lunch at Quizno's was $30.

Today, we walked around city, seeing most of the museums and the downtown area. Saw Hofdi House where Reagan/Gorbachev Summit was held in 1986. National Museum was good, must be new because not mentioned in 2005 guidebook and not shown on several maps. Iceland declared its independence in 1944, figuring correctly that Denmark, itself occupied by Germany at the time, would be powerless to stop them.

The city is potentially picturesque, but falls short of its potential due to graffiti, something that seems absurdly out of place. Picture a bucolic small city of 100,000 on the water--say Santa Barbara in a cold climate with Scandinavian architecture, if you can picture such a thing. But then mar it all with graffiti on every block. It's not as bad as South America, but it is worse than many large Western cities. That's ridiculous, a total failure of government. This is a place only five times the size of Macomb--not very big in other words! With high income taxes and a 22% VAT, you would think the local police could employ one or two people to keep buildings clean. Why, you could get rid of it all in one city-wide Take Back the City Day, where the city supplied the paint and the citizens did the painting, but it seems no one here has the will. For such a developed country (per capita GDP is over $30,000), with such a pristine reputation based on its geography and scenery, it's a sad situation. I'll be quite disappointed if the rest of Scandinavia is the same. None of this will show up in our pictures--Iceland will look only beautiful to someone viewing our image gallery.

Thursday, August 4, 2005

Took the Golden Circle tour, which is the basic full-day tour of all of the sites you can see outside of Reykjavik in 10 hours. The scenery is gorgeous. Lots of geothermal activity here, similar to New Zealand. Most of the country's hot water and electricity generation is geothermal. The island itself was formed from a volcanic eruption and volcano blasts and earthquakes are a constant threat. The reason is that Iceland is perched on top of the intersection of the North American and European tectonic plates, which are pulling apart from each other.

Had dinner at a Thai restaurant and then spent several hours in a bookstore. Would have bought something as I finished Bill Bryson book on Europe ("Neither Here Nor There") during the day, but with everything $50-$60 I decided to wait for Copenhagen. I'm sure there things will only be $45-$55!

CNN had a feature on the 60th anniversary of Hiroshima, complete with the apologist case that the bombing was never necessary. An author was plugging his book (something like "The Case for the Atomic Bomb") that claimed historical documents point to Japan's likely surrender once the Soviet Union declared war on it. He sounded quite credible, but I did not find his argument to be plausible. Although I have studied this issue casually for years (see our post on Hiroshima), his argument is new to me--i.e., that the shock and fear of facing the Soviet Union would cause Japan to capitulate unconditionally. I don't find this plausible. I don't think Japan was prepared to give up on terms acceptable to the Allies no matter who declared war on it. I'm sure they would have given up on unacceptable terms--such as keeping all of their troops where they were before Pearl Harbor--including in China, Korea, and Taiwan. He also quoted a long list of recognizable US military figures who said the bombing was unnecessary. Not hearing the actual quotes, I'm left to ponder what was actually said and the context in which they occurred. I'm sure there are quotes that exist that say things like, "Could we have won World War II without using the atomic bomb? Yes, absolutely, it was not necessary for our ultimate victory." Even I could say that. But I continue to believe the atomic bomb deployment saved millions of lives by ending the war quickly, mercifully, and acceptably in a way that no other events could have done. I'm all for historical research with an aim toward learning the truth, but this author struck me as someone who formed his belief first and built his case second, using facts that conveniently fit his premise. I suppose he might think the same of me, but, of course, he would be mistaken!

Friday, August 5, 2005

At the airport in Reykjavik, mid-afternoon, our 64-hour journey here at its end. Went to the largest thermal pool this morning (the city is full of them). The main pools were disappointingly cool--sort of like a lukewarm bath. Several hot tubs were more satisfactory. Hanging out in the hot tub seems to be a primary morning social activity of the over-65 set. Beats walking laps at the mall, I suppose. Deanna and I brought the average age down considerably. The more time I spend in Reykjavik, the more this city's design and its people puts me in the mind somewhat of a Scandinavian and metropolitan version of the Upper Valley, the area around Hanover, New Hampshire. All except for the graffiti! I can never imagine the Hanover crowd tolerating this graffiti. The state motto may be Live Free or Die, but northern New Englanders know where freedom of expression needs to stop and law and order begins. Bryson describes the graffiti in 1990 Amsterdam as evidence of a society that has hung on to a principle--extreme tolerance of individual behavior--that no longer serves it. 2005 Reykjavik appears not as bad as his description, but I think his point is valid here as well.

Read in the paper that London's bus system has 6 million daily rider-trips, double the number of daily tube rider-trips, so I must revise my prior Macomb analogy to say that the July 7 bombings were the equivalent of one person in Macomb dying in a car crash over a nine-day period.

The UK's central bank lowered interest rates yesterday a quarter-point to 4.25%. Still, the pound has regained some strength against the dollar as it is now worth $1.78. On this trip, we follow currency movements like I used to follow baseball scores. Team US dollar has done well over the past five months, but it is presently having a bit of a losing streak.

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August 02, 2005

11:34:17 am London Diary  

London Diary

Changing the format for the sake of variety, here is Nick's stream of consciousness first person diary from our eight days in London.

Monday, July 25, 2005

Took morning BA flight from Dubai to London. With July 7 tube and bus bombings (52 killed) and failed July 21 bombings (0 killed), several people have expressed concern and surprise that we are headed there. What are we to do? Our timing there is long planned, and we don't really want to bow to terrorism and change our plans. Besides, statistically, there's still little chance of injury while in London. The most dangerous part of our trip by far is every day we travel by road in an undeveloped country. I'd much rather ride the tube in London right now than have to endure another car ride in India, China, Vietnam, Bolivia, or a dozen other countries! While London bombings dominate the headlines, bus crashes and flooding throughout the developing world kill many times more every day. Having lived there before, I don't really feel any fear about going to London. Once here, I don't have any kind of strange feeling as I did the first time after 9/11 that I was in a plane or in NYC. There are ever-present reminders of the bombings everywhere--stories in the press; posters and throngs of police in the subway and train stations, but none of it really felt odd. The IRA was still active here when I lived here in 1992 and several bombings occurred then, so security measures (e.g., all trash bins removed) felt normal or (extra police everywhere) comforting. You can't go to London and not use public transportation--it's often the easiest, quickest, cheapest way to get around. Like large Asian cities and unlike American cities, London is built around public transportation. You can't really avoid it--it's how everyone gets around. Other options aren't feasible (limited parking, prohibitive costs--e.g. taxi from airport to hotel > $100, street names change every few blocks, so inexperienced drivers have little hope of finding their way around). Something like 3 million people ride the tube every day. This does not include passengers on buses or trains, which carry millions more. Statistically, the London bombings equate to one person killed in a car crash in Macomb over a three-day period. Based on our experience after arrival, the tube is still a mess, though, in that many lines and stations are closed and this causes delays throughout the parts of the system that are still open. So we may need to use taxis on occasion out of necessity rather than fear. After arrival, went to British Library, a sort of National Archives of Western Civilization.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Took double decker tourist bus for the two-hour loop around the city and then continued the museum circuit. We have seen so many churches and temples on this trip that we don't care to see many more, but Westminster Abbey lured us in when Rick Steves termed it the "greatest church in the English-speaking world" in his guidebook. Visiting it, you would have to agree because of its contents. Went to Imperial War Museum, which is deceptively big. Spent over three hours and did not get out of the basement of this five-story building. We covered World War II and after. World War I and several special exhibits also are in the basement--will have to see them in a second visit. Weather is cold, high not even of 60 and drizzly. Welcome to London. Nonetheless, I must report that the air is noticeably cleaner than in the early 1990s. Perhaps the British have discovered the catalytic converter. No longer is a Kleenex black with soot when you blow your nose after a day out in London. A great environmental revelation occurred to me in 1992 when the first Bush was getting all sorts of crap over the Kyoto Protocol, much of it from the Euroleft that is well represented in the UK. After spending a day in London and blackening a Kleenex in the aforementioned manner, it occurred to me that the US was far better off than it gets credit for in terms of pollution by any observable standard that a reasonable person would use. Further, as is readily obvious when traveling to emerging countries, pollution there is far worse than the US, or London in 1992.

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Deanna went to St. Paul's Cathedral in the morning. I had seen before so I met up with her later at Tate Modern, which covered 20th Century art. Being painted a bit earlier, the largest impressionist and post-impressionist collections are in the National Gallery, and I think that will be more appealing to me. Tate Modern had some abstract expressionism, surrealism, and Jackson Pollocks that are interesting to me before the inevitable parade of post-World War II modern art that to me is often crap. Tate Modern is better than the MCA in Chicago, which is all post-world war II. After lunch went back to the Imperial War Museum and spent over four more hours there. There remain a few exhibits we did not see. This is the best museum we have seen so far on our trip. At night went to We Will Rock You, the musical made out of Queen songs (ala Mamma Mia and Abba). Best summed up as: horrible story but good music. For Queen fans only.

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Went to National Gallery, National Picture Gallery, and British Museum. The latter could more accurately be called the Museum of Western and Middle Eastern Civilization as it covers everything from the Egyptians and Ancient Greeks through to modern times. Impressive in scope. Went to The Woman in White, a new Andrew Lloyd Weber play at night (not to be confused with the old standby The Woman in Black). Good, would give it a three-star rating. Innovative set designs as most sets were projected onto screens rather than being in physical form. Some of the plot twists were foreseeable. Opens on Broadway next year. Weather finally has warmed up to the 70s.

Friday, July 29, 2005

The best two days in the history of fighting terrorism in the UK. Yesterday, the IRA renounces violence and today all of the July 21 bombers are captured (one was captured previously; four more were captured today, including a suspected fifth bomber who did not carry out his mission). Footage of the raids was shown repeatedly on TV, with the memorable and humiliating image of the bombers surrendering on their balcony, arms up and stripped to their underwear--noses, and eyes watering from the tear gas. Later we saw a portion of NBC Nightly News from the US and they showed none of this, which amazed us. Deanna went to Tower of London in the morning, which I skipped as I had seen it before. We both went to the Museum of London in the afternoon. Had curry and went to a pub in the evening.

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Went to Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum. Had visited former in 1992 when parents were here. Latter is new, just opened earlier this year, and is very well done, making return visit worthwhile. Full of interactive exhibits without being dumbed down--for example, could drill into a day-by-day log of Churchill's life if you wished, or could just see the top three or four events of each year. Took long walk through St. James Park, Westminster, Pimlico, and Victoria without using a map--just walking down streets that looked interesting. Went to finals of Twenty20 Cup, a form of cricket that is mercifully completed from beginning to end in three hours or less. Each team gets 20 overs, that is 120 pitches as one over is simply six pitches. This format completely changes the strategy--batting focus now is on maximizing runs per pitch whereas under traditional format focus is on not making an out since like in baseball you can keep batting forever until you make the maximum number of outs (nine innings of three outs in baseball, two innings of ten outs in cricket). It's not clear to us in our first cricket match that the teams have adjusted their style of play completely--outs seem to be celebrated far in excess of their importance in this format for example, and batters still seem risk adverse when running. The de-emphasis on outs in the new format ought to result in risky running, but this did not seem to be the case. Overall, this format is far superior, though--it makes cricket watchable and exciting. Event was nearly sold out and crowd followed action intently. Look for Rupert Murdoch or someone to start a made-for-TV Twenty20 cricket league. The tube is getting back to normal, more reliable so we are taking it more often. A few lines still closed, but you can plan around that--the unplanned interruptions seem to be less now.

Sunday, July 31, 2005

Saw Buckingham Palace State Rooms (open only from late July through mid-September), changing of the guard, Royal Mews (stables), and Queen's Gallery. Last three were only okay, but state rooms made the excursion worthwhile. Reminiscent of the White House public rooms, but quite different in style. Having just thrown off a monarchy, White House tried to be understated yet still elegant, but a British palace has no such need of self restraint. So all rooms were over the top spectacular. Afterward, took tube to see Vivina Berla, a Tuck classmate, at her home in East Putney. Had tea and stayed about three hours, discussing destinations around the world. Vivina is Italian, her husband is Dutch, her parents have lived for three decades in Kenya, she went to business school in the US, and since then has lived in the UK. Given her work travels to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and her time spent backpacking after college in South America, she has probably seen as many or more countries as we will on this trip. We talked of her experience in Africa, a continent that neither Deanna nor I have yet seen. Vivina's observation is that there is a direct correlation between number of years of independence and the state of collapse that each nation is experiencing, destroying her youthful idealism about the continent governing itself. We discussed our theory that capitalism is more important than democracy in societal development, and she quickly added that a rule of law is necessary to check capitalism's worst outcomes; otherwise, you will end up with a situation like Russia after 1991. We quickly agreed, as she articulated something we had been thinking recently but which we had not yet put into words in one of our logs. So, I think that 1) capitalism 2) a just and fair rule of law and 3) democracy are necessary to build a state, in that order. Security (police, defense) could be separated from rule of law (courts and regulatory system) as a 2a and 2b if you desire to spell out things in more detail. Read in paper that Disney rumored to open in Shanghai in 2012 (we speculated on this in our Hong Kong post).

Monday, August 1, 2005

Had lunch with Rich Ingleton who heads the Inforte London office. Used to have conference call with him weekly to review European business, but had not seen or spoken to him (other than a couple e-mails) for nearly two years. May stay a night with him and his family when we are back in UK in September. Saw The Producers in the evening. Many empty seats--more so than the other two musicals we saw. Thought maybe the humor did not translate well from US to here, but crowd really liked it, especially once Springtime for Hitler was introduced halfway through the first act. Making fun of Germans resonates very well with the British. Since we've left India, about 1000 people have died from flooding. We left just in time! This is 20 times the number killed during London bombings and puts into perspective the relative safety of London versus other places. In the morning talked to Peter Magee on the phone for about half an hour, mainly about cricket. He was in my Tuck '94 class. He's been sick, so we've been unable to meet, but he is going to organize something for when we are back in September. What's the best city in the world? Impossible to answer of course, but I think London has a strong claim on this title for its mix of historical significance while still being vibrant and exciting today. Some say the US economic domination of the world from 1945-1972 and its military domination post Cold-War and pre-9/11 are unique periods unlikely to be repeated. True, but how about Britain's colonial period where it ruled one-quarter of the world's people, with territory on all continents, from its small island base. It's language, English, dominates the world today because of this (and because of the later US economic dominance, but let's not forget the US was itself began as a British colony, so US accomplishments also reflect well on the UK). London was the control center for the empire. Its museums record this history, and its streets are full of people from all over the Commonwealth who now call London home. A great place to visit or live. It has only two problems--it is expensive, at times ridiculously so (with Japan's price deflation over the past 15 years, I think London and Tokyo cost about the same now, both among the most expensive cities in the world) and its weather: rainy often, warm infrequently. But it never gets freezing cold like Chicago and rarely gets boiling hot, so its weather does have the benefit of moderation.

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