A Traveling Man

I have been traveling a ton for work. In the past month I have been to Florida, North Carolina, Helsinki, Finland and Munich, Germany. It is crazy. I have been meaning to blog about my trips but I just have not had the time. I am working on two large deals and they are taking nearly every waking minute.

Europe

For those that have not been, let me tell you a little about Europe. As most people know, Europe it not a country but rather a group of countries. One thing that binds countries in Europe is the European Union or EU. Not all countries in Europe are members of the EU, but 27 are a part of the EU. Below is a picture of the EU building in Helsinki, Finland.

13 members of the EU have adopted the Euro (€) as a common currency. The Euro was introduced in 1999 and has performed very well compared to other countries currencies. Below is a picture of a 1€. Unlike the US, the 1€ only comes in a coin. The smallest Euro in a bill is a 5 € bill.

Below is a 2€, 1 €, 1 cent, 2 cents, 5 cents, and 20 cent piece.

Below is a 10 € and 20 € bill.

You can learn more about the Euro at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro

1 € is worth $1.35. Therefore, while things may seem somewhat comparably priced (in € as compared to $) you really have to add a 35% premium. Some examples of things being crazy expensive in Europe:

• I paid 122€ to have 3 days worth of laundry done
• I paid just over 35€ for a hamburger in the hotel
• I paid approximately double that I would have paid in the US for the digital camera I used to take these pictures
• My hotel room in Helsinki cost more than a high end hotel in New York, New York.
• Below is a picture of a radio. Misty purchased this radio for me at Restoration Hardware 4 or 5 years ago. The cost in the US several years ago was around $150. In the Helsinki airport the exact same radio was 239€ (that is $322)!

• Below are some Converse All Star shoes. Normally around $20. In Munich - on sale - 50€.

In Europe they generally tell time in 24 hour blocks instead of 12 hour blocks (a.k.a. military time). Can you figure out the times on the clocks below?(answers at the bottom of the blog entry)

Clock #1

Clock #2

Below is a picture of the Europe version of Diet Coke - called Coke Light.

Europe uses a different kind of electricity system than the United States. First, and most obvious, the plug is different. Second, a standard outlet in Europe is 220v compared to 110v in the US.

I thought these Levis shoes were interesting. I have never seen these in the US.

Lets talk about transportation in Europe. In the cities, people most often either (i) drive a really nice European car (BMW, Mercedes, Audi, etc.), (ii) ride bikes, or (iii) take public transportation (train, subway or bus). I will note, the entire time I have been here I have not seen a single SUV. Therefore, while our Suburban is just one of MANY in Rockwall, Texas - it would be totally unique here.

Below is a typical car in Munich - Audi A6. Below is a picture of me by a "Smart" car. This is a brand of car sold primarily in Europe but is coming to the US.

Below is a Spider that I saw in Germany. Very cool.
Now this is totally crazy, but taxis in Europe are almost always really nice, high end cars. Below is a line of Mercedes taxis in Munich. It is the same in Finland.

If you are ever looking for the bathroom in Europe, look for the WC sign (short for Water Closet). Now I understand why Tudor Cojan (a guy I worked with at Williams & Connolly who came from Romania) did not want Williams & Connolly to have the domain name wc.com. I got it anyway.

I had some people ask me about flying to Europe. It is true that if you fly Business Class you do have significantly more room. Below is a picture of my seat when I flew to Finland.

Germany

Today (August 18th) was my first day in Munich, Germany. Great place. I will be here all week working on a deal. I expect that today will be my only day to get out and about. My friend Mauricio and I basically just walked the downtown area. Because I have never been to Germany, and might not be back anytime soon, I thought I better take some pictures. What follows is a little sample of my day eating, drinking and looking at old buildings. It was a good time.

One thing Germany in known for is, of course, its beer.

** I didn't really drink both of these. . .

Below is an Oktoberfest 2007 mug. As you would expect, Oktoberfest is a huge event that attracts millions of people from around the globe to Germany each year.

Here is an example of a typical road in Munich. Notice all the people on bikes, the separate bike lane on the sidewalk and the stone walkways.

I don't know how they lay this stone but it is amazing.

This is a group of bikes outside a mall. I have never seen so many people on bikes.
Below is a quartet playing in the City Center area of Munich. They were really good.

I thought my Dad and brother Jerry would like the next one. This is a picture of the bottom of a escalator. The company name is Thyssen, the German company that formally owned Stahls. Nearly every escalator and elevator in Munich is made by Thyssen.

This is a picture of the beer hall we were at.

Here are some of the incredible buildings in Munich (if I knew anything about them I would provide more information . . . but I don't)

The river beside this building ran through downtown.

It is hard to tell in this picture, but notice the red flowers below every window in this building. They were very bright and beautiful. I would hate to water those every day. We have a hard time keeping a couple house plants alive.

Notice that this huge tower is made entirely of brick. That must have taken forever to build.

Below are some pictures of an beautiful old church. It is hard to appreciate through this pictures but it (and other churches in Germany) are incredibly ornate.

Finland

Before Germany I spent several weeks in Finland. For those that don't know Finland is way up North and is one of the Nordic countries. Finland is very clean, modern place. It get very cold in the winter, but is great in the summer. I think I will be spend a lot more time here over the next few weeks.

One interesting thing about Finland is that because it is so far North, at certain times of the year it does not get dark at night. I took this picture at just after 3am. It was raining and it still looked like it could be 3pm!

For some bizzar reason they never cut your pizza in Finland.

Nokia is a Finish company and basically dominated the Finland economy.

Iittala is a very famous company in Finland. They make high end glassware and other household items.

Reminders of United States

Even though many things are differentin Europe, many things are the same. Most people speak English along with their native language. People love sports (mostly scoccer). Most movies are American. Many TV shows are American. And for some reason, you see a ton of people with Yankees hats (no Cardnials, no Cubs, no Royals). I am serious. It is odd.

Pictures of McDonalds and Starbucks. Yes, its true, they are everywhere.

Answers to Clock Questions:
Clock #1 - 3:37 pm
Clock #2 - 12:05 am