I made it back to Arlington yesterday afternoon. After dining on German food for two months, Cindy expected that I would have a desire for Mexican food and so had tamales ready for me last night. Good call. Cindy, the boys, and I exchanged 'news.' Their worlds went on without me - amazing. I fear that I am becoming increasingly irrelevant. I am writing this at my office. I caught up with colleagues and, while I have been having what I considered a unique and incredible adventure, it may be a minor blip compared to all that has happened here. It seems that everyone has traveled far and wide. While I am glad for them that they are enjoying themselves, once again, my own estimation of my self-importance is somewhat deflated.
After diner, it was amazing how quickly we settled back into normal routines and accepted roles. Some routine is good but some is not (ruts?). I am going to try to resist waiting around for something to happen by simply watching TV. This trip has been wonderful and rewarding but professionally and personally. The overall lesson that I learned and hope to implement is that, life is too short to sit around and wait for something to happen. It is not that difficult to make something interesting happen. It takes a bit of coordination with others, but the rewards are there.
This is the last post on this blog. I hope you all enjoyed the photos and my stories. There is a chance I will return to blogging in the Fall on a professional economics blog but we will see.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Saturday, July 5, 2008
ICT Conference
The ICT conference at the ZEW has been quite good. It has been better in past years but I still learned a lot here. Even better, I got some good comments on my paper that could help solve a problem I was stuck on. I think I was able to provide useful comments on a number of papers, which helps assuage my conscience that it was worth their inviting me. No presentation that I saw was just aweful and no one presented a pure policy polemic (though one came close).
A highlight of the conference was the conference dinner last night. This was in a small winery in the small town of Deidesheim nearby. The winery was in operation 800 years ago, owned by the bishop, but was bought and rebuilt by the current family after it was destroyed by Napoleon's army in 1804. The owner, along with his ~10 year old son, gave us lessons on wines and we tasted six different wines they produce. Dinner was actually served in the wine cellar. In true European fashion, we returned back to Mannheim from this dinner at about 11:30pm.
After the last session and lunch, we all said our goodbyes. It is a beautiful afternoon and I don't think anyone was much in a hurry to do anything but sip cofffee on the terrace. Irene and the ICT folks were each individually very gracious in their good byes. Collectively, they gave me some Mannheimer Dreck, a local dessert, and a ZEW teeshirt to take home which I will wear with pride. I offered room and board if any of them come through the Dallas area (and two or three moved to pull out their calendars). Honestly, we have an extra room and it would be no problem. Two weeks ago I was homesick, but now I am not - go figure. Since I will be back in Arlington, this is the last entry until Monday.
A highlight of the conference was the conference dinner last night. This was in a small winery in the small town of Deidesheim nearby. The winery was in operation 800 years ago, owned by the bishop, but was bought and rebuilt by the current family after it was destroyed by Napoleon's army in 1804. The owner, along with his ~10 year old son, gave us lessons on wines and we tasted six different wines they produce. Dinner was actually served in the wine cellar. In true European fashion, we returned back to Mannheim from this dinner at about 11:30pm.
After the last session and lunch, we all said our goodbyes. It is a beautiful afternoon and I don't think anyone was much in a hurry to do anything but sip cofffee on the terrace. Irene and the ICT folks were each individually very gracious in their good byes. Collectively, they gave me some Mannheimer Dreck, a local dessert, and a ZEW teeshirt to take home which I will wear with pride. I offered room and board if any of them come through the Dallas area (and two or three moved to pull out their calendars). Honestly, we have an extra room and it would be no problem. Two weeks ago I was homesick, but now I am not - go figure. Since I will be back in Arlington, this is the last entry until Monday.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Work Progress
ICT conference at ZEW. I am catching up with some old acquaintances and make some new ones. There are some decent papers but, on the whole, past conferences here have been better. I 'chaired' a session, which means that I was the time keeper and referee for the Q&A, and I discussed another paper. On some other papers, I was able to offer some nice comments. At least the recipients took them as nice comments. We have a dinner tonight and my presentation is in the morning.
2/5
2/5
Work Progress
Thurs: Preparing for conference tomorrow. This means reading the slides for my presentation and preparing slides for my discussion of another paper. (How to be kind and/or helpful when you do not think much of the paper?)
Conference 'get together' in the evening.
2/5
Conference 'get together' in the evening.
2/5
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Tuesday and back to work
Did not get much done today. I am editing slides for my presentation on Saturday and reading the paper I am to discuss on Friday. I am also tinkering with the Journals analysis but nothing too serious.
1/5
1/5
Monday we Stormed the Castle(s)
Here is the crew I signed on when we took a short break on our 2km hike to the Burg Eltz.
Here is the best view of Burg Eltz. This castle has been owned by the same family for 33 generations. It was one of the few not torn down by the French in their 1689 because the family had connections with the French. This is one of the few that has artifacts and rooms from the 12th century. Way cool.
This is the interior courtyard.
This is a water spout in the form of a dragon.
A fair maid and maiden (seeking a rescue maybe?).
Then we went to the Schloss in Cochem. This schloss was destroyed and then bought and rebuilt by an industrialist 100 years ago as a Summer home. It is a bit more modern but still interesting. This is a courtyard at the top with an out building an a very deep well.
This hanging object d'art (carved antlers) is suppose to give you luck if you touch the red spot. I hope it was good luck.
The view downstream.
The view upstream.
A terrace jutting out from the castle with those magnificant views.
A mural on the keep of the Schloss.
Here is our Hotel Haus Lipmann from the river side. Behind the tree to the right is the dining terrace shaded by grape vines. Really an idyllic setting.
And here is the hotel back from the back courtyard. My room is the one in the middle with the window open.
Here is the best view of Burg Eltz. This castle has been owned by the same family for 33 generations. It was one of the few not torn down by the French in their 1689 because the family had connections with the French. This is one of the few that has artifacts and rooms from the 12th century. Way cool.
This is the interior courtyard.
This is a water spout in the form of a dragon.
A fair maid and maiden (seeking a rescue maybe?).
Then we went to the Schloss in Cochem. This schloss was destroyed and then bought and rebuilt by an industrialist 100 years ago as a Summer home. It is a bit more modern but still interesting. This is a courtyard at the top with an out building an a very deep well.
This hanging object d'art (carved antlers) is suppose to give you luck if you touch the red spot. I hope it was good luck.
The view downstream.
The view upstream.
A terrace jutting out from the castle with those magnificant views.
A mural on the keep of the Schloss.
Here is our Hotel Haus Lipmann from the river side. Behind the tree to the right is the dining terrace shaded by grape vines. Really an idyllic setting.
And here is the hotel back from the back courtyard. My room is the one in the middle with the window open.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Sunday to Beilstein (via Cochem)
The original plan for Sunday was for my brother Jon to pick me up at the Cochem train station 10km from Beilstein where they would be staying. But they are traveling with kids and didn't think they would get in til evening (good prediction). So I decided to get a little hiking training in for my upcoming Philmont trip, packed my backpack and hiked along the Mösel to Beilstein. (I had always wanted to backpack through Europe. Does a mere 10km before staying in a nice hotel when you are 46 count?)
The train ride along the Mösel was gorgeous and Cochem was a charming town. Here are some hotels on the river just across from Cochem
And the upstream part of the town itself.
The walk allowed me to look back and get a picture of the bridge, which even this was cute.
I passed two or three villages along my walk. The valley is quite steep and wherever there was a flat spot near the river, there would be a settlement. Many of these now flourish on the tourist industry with charming little guesthouses or hotels, all with window boxes full of petunias and impatiens and terraces shaded by grape vines hanging above the tables.
When I did get to Beilstein, I ate, rested and then explored the ruin of a castle just behind it.
Another artsy photo trying to exploit the sun.
The keep of the castle was still standing and I was able to climb this and see for miles.
This is looking down river. Notice the pedestrian and car ferry in the lower left of the photo.
My hotel was on the river behind the first little dock sticking into the water. The village church to the right dominated the village.
Just as I finished this tour and was down by the river, Jon pulled up and said "howdy stranger." We caught up, I played with the kids, we toured the village (10 minutes if you walk slow) and sat down on the terrace for dinner. Here is Jon (notice a resemblance?)
His beautiful wife Andrea.
The fair maiden Cecelia (who turned eight in Paris just a week before).
And Mathew in a perfectly appropriate pose for a five year old boy.
That night, we watched the valiant German team go down to defeat at the hands of the Spanish 1-0. I am pretty new to soccer commentary, but even I could see that Spain played better. As Jon said, they seemed to always be a step ahead of the Germans.
The train ride along the Mösel was gorgeous and Cochem was a charming town. Here are some hotels on the river just across from Cochem
And the upstream part of the town itself.
The walk allowed me to look back and get a picture of the bridge, which even this was cute.
I passed two or three villages along my walk. The valley is quite steep and wherever there was a flat spot near the river, there would be a settlement. Many of these now flourish on the tourist industry with charming little guesthouses or hotels, all with window boxes full of petunias and impatiens and terraces shaded by grape vines hanging above the tables.When I did get to Beilstein, I ate, rested and then explored the ruin of a castle just behind it.
Another artsy photo trying to exploit the sun.
The keep of the castle was still standing and I was able to climb this and see for miles.
This is looking down river. Notice the pedestrian and car ferry in the lower left of the photo.
My hotel was on the river behind the first little dock sticking into the water. The village church to the right dominated the village.
Just as I finished this tour and was down by the river, Jon pulled up and said "howdy stranger." We caught up, I played with the kids, we toured the village (10 minutes if you walk slow) and sat down on the terrace for dinner. Here is Jon (notice a resemblance?)
His beautiful wife Andrea.
The fair maiden Cecelia (who turned eight in Paris just a week before).
And Mathew in a perfectly appropriate pose for a five year old boy.
That night, we watched the valiant German team go down to defeat at the hands of the Spanish 1-0. I am pretty new to soccer commentary, but even I could see that Spain played better. As Jon said, they seemed to always be a step ahead of the Germans.
Saturday in Koblenz
This weekend it was Koblenz before I met my brother and his family further on down the Mösel River in the village of Beilstein. Koblenz has a population of 100,000 and was settled by the Romans in 9BC. Its name derives from the Romans "confluence" because it is situated where the Mösel meets the Rhein. This is a wonderful location for some emperial propoganda and so Wilhem II erected a huge statue of his grandfather,Wilhem I, looking out over all the river going traffic coming up the Rhine.
The horse alone is 9m high. I climbed up into the base where one can see the confluence. Kinda looks like the foc'sul of a battleship, no?
There were some wonderful churches. This is a newer one.
Thus is from the 12 century. Notice I am still trying for the artsy look with the sun peaking through.
They do have a sense of humor. The base flows continously into a basin, but this 'spitting boy' fountain expectorates a few seconds every minute or so on to the pavement. This family could not convince their daughter to stand in just the right spot.
This is the base of a tall fountain (my full shot did not come out well). This is a wine boat carrying the town through history (quite apt to). The different layers of the vertical reflect the different time periods from Roman, middle ages, Holy Roman Empire, French occupation in 1689, Loyalist refuge during the French Revolution, Prussian, Weimar, WWII, and present. The depiction for WWII is simply destruction which was pretty acurate if I remember my WWII right. But being demolished is something that happened a few times here, mostlty by the French. It was sacked and destroyed by the Normans in 892. It was stormed by the French in 1632. Besieged by them in 1688. And taken by the French Revolutionary army in 1794. Then bombed to rubble by us in WWII.
Koblenz has a dozen or so pedestrian only blocks that connect about three or four platz. Here is one with a beir garten.
Here is another with shops and cafes.
This is the Rathaus on the right. I shoul remember who the statue is but I don't (it is in my tourist info). On the yellow building on the left you can see two strings of bells that are used to chime the hours.
I have been pretty lucky with hotels near train stations. This is great in big cities because you can get to it if you arrive late and you know it will be near a metro hub. I made the mistake of doing the same in Koblenz. The problem was that the train tracks are not submerged and I heard freight traffic all night long. It is a small enough city that I should have found a hotel nearer a platz.
The horse alone is 9m high. I climbed up into the base where one can see the confluence. Kinda looks like the foc'sul of a battleship, no?
There were some wonderful churches. This is a newer one.
Thus is from the 12 century. Notice I am still trying for the artsy look with the sun peaking through.
They do have a sense of humor. The base flows continously into a basin, but this 'spitting boy' fountain expectorates a few seconds every minute or so on to the pavement. This family could not convince their daughter to stand in just the right spot.
This is the base of a tall fountain (my full shot did not come out well). This is a wine boat carrying the town through history (quite apt to). The different layers of the vertical reflect the different time periods from Roman, middle ages, Holy Roman Empire, French occupation in 1689, Loyalist refuge during the French Revolution, Prussian, Weimar, WWII, and present. The depiction for WWII is simply destruction which was pretty acurate if I remember my WWII right. But being demolished is something that happened a few times here, mostlty by the French. It was sacked and destroyed by the Normans in 892. It was stormed by the French in 1632. Besieged by them in 1688. And taken by the French Revolutionary army in 1794. Then bombed to rubble by us in WWII.
Koblenz has a dozen or so pedestrian only blocks that connect about three or four platz. Here is one with a beir garten.
Here is another with shops and cafes.
This is the Rathaus on the right. I shoul remember who the statue is but I don't (it is in my tourist info). On the yellow building on the left you can see two strings of bells that are used to chime the hours.
I have been pretty lucky with hotels near train stations. This is great in big cities because you can get to it if you arrive late and you know it will be near a metro hub. I made the mistake of doing the same in Koblenz. The problem was that the train tracks are not submerged and I heard freight traffic all night long. It is a small enough city that I should have found a hotel nearer a platz.
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