Final Reflections

I have been back in the United States for two weeks since completing my internship in Galati and wanted to post a few thoughts and reflections on my time in Romania. I left Romania with a very favorable impression. I'll admit that I knew little about Romania prior to my recent experience. If asked for what I associated  with the country, I would have probably said, like most Americans, said something about gymnastics and vampires. I discovered there is actually quite a lot to Romania. First of all, its a beautiful country. I will say, though, that Galaţi  is probably the least attractive place I saw. From Constanţa to Soveja to Bucharest to Braşov,  the various environs found in Romania are lovely and wroth exploring more. 

This leads me to what is certainly one of the largest issues in Romania: poor infrastructure. Traversing the country is not easy. I was fortunate enough to have Romanians who were willing to take me places, but I could see that navigating Romania would be difficult for a foreigner without such an advantage. Roads are not well maintained and the lack of a nationwide system of highways greatly enhances travel time. If the Romanian government is serious about its obvious desire for foreign investment and visitors, it should get serious about infrastructure development. 

As far as Galaţi,   my above comment about it being the least attractive part of Romania I saw should not be construed as disparaging. It is actually a very nice city. The vistas found in the rest of the country simply present difficult competition. The waterfront along the Danube was certainly one of my favorite places and I will miss taking jogs along it. The people in Galaţi  are fantastic. I can not thank everyone  I met enough for greatly enhancing my time there. I would especially like to thank Radu Oprea for proving the opportunity and Alexandra Teodorescu for the Romanian lessons. Mulţumesc mult!

I learned a lot from my work at SMART Development Center, even if we did not advance as far in the Black Sea Project as we would have liked due to government bureaucracy. This, though, is not an issue restricted to Romania and is something I've certainly experienced on another project in the United States. I am still hesitant about too much civic engagement, especially given its potential to drown out those with substantive experience, training, expertise, or knowledge about a topic. However, civic engagement does have its place. Also, its the development of the sort of talent found at SMART that will secure Romania's future. 

Romania is certainly a place I hope to return to in a few years.There is still a lot of the country to see, and I'll need to practice the Romanian I learned.  I will also encourage others to visit, and can hopefully correct misconceptions about it which I may encounter. 

Germany and Austria

One of the major traits defining the difference between the European and American mindsets is the proximity and ease of travel to other countries. From where I live in Southern California, I could be in Mexico after about a 4 hour drive. For many Americans, though, living in the rest of the United States, it would take much longer to reach either of the countries with which we share borders. For Europeans, however, (and I suppose Asians, Africans, and even South Americans) other countries are far more easily accessible, both in terms of distance traveled and financial expenditure required. The world certainly seems much smaller here, and this fact has a huge impact on the European world view and sense of identity. 

While in Europe for the summer, I wanted to be sure to take advantage of  the ease of travel to other countries and take at least one side trip outside of Romania. Last night, I returned for a few days in Germany and Austria. 

Last Wednesday I flew from Bucharest to Munich. Even though Munich is smaller than Bucharest (1.3 as opposed to 2 million people) it immediately felt like a larger metropolis. Its a very dense city. I found a great hotel right outside the city center (Hotel Muller Munich, which I highly recommend as it has by far the best breakfast I have ever encountered at a hotel). In 4 days of exploring Munich I saw quite a bit of the city, though I could certainly spend another week and still probably not cover every site. Here is a rundown of the places I visited. 

The English Gardens

The English Gardens is a huge park outside the city center adjacent to the university. Its actually larger than Hyde Park in London or Central Park in New York. I only saw a small fraction of it.

The Residenz

The Residenz was the former seat of the Bavarian royal family before the unification of Germany. Very impressive. The tour is divided into two halves. The first takes you through about a third, that is around 80 out of 240, rooms making up the palace. My favorite part was the room called the Antiquarium, which is a large and very ornate hall lined with busts of Roman emperors and other Classical figures. The second half takes you through the Bavarian royal treasury. 

Dachau Concentration Camp

Dachau was the first of Hitler's concentration camps, and the only one that operated continuously until end of the Third Reich. Most of the barracks have been torn down, but it is still mostly intact and maintained as a memorial and museum.

Nyphenburg Palace

Nyphenburg was another one of the possessions of Bavarian royalty. Located a little outside of the city, its not quite as large as the Residenz, but still massive. One of the rooms, know as the Hall of Beauties, is a gallery of the portraits of the 36  women whom the king at the time represented  the purest expressions of feminine beauty in his kingdom.

The BMW Museum

Germans simply do not do anything on a small scale. The BMW complex consists of two buildings. The first is called the Welt, and is a place for BMW to show off all of their latest innovations and cars. The second is the BMW Museum, covering the history of the company from its time as an airplane engine manufacturer up to the present day and containing quite a collection of cars. There was also an exhibition of Rolls Royce., I was really impressed with the setup. They hired some excellent designers to put this place together.

Alte Pinakothek and Neue Piakothek

These are Munich's primary art museums. The Alte Pinakothek was built in the 19th century, and the Neue Pinakothek was built later. I enjoyed the collection a lot. they have an especially nice inventory of works by Peter Paul Rubens. There are also 3 Van Goghs. 

The Deutsches Museum

If visiting Munich, the Deutsches Museum is one place not to be missed. Its a massive museum of science and technology. I'd guess about 80 of the California Science Center could easily fit within its walls. If you can think of a science related topic, they probably have an exhibition on it. I also loved that it was not target toward children, as many museums of science are. A couple of my favorite exhibitions were on the history and science of sailing (primary exhibited in a large hall containing several large ships) and a room called the Mathematics Cabinet that held various hands on games providing visualizations of mathematical principles. 

Other shots of Munich:

As ab aside to the Munich trip, I took a train for a a day in Salzburg, Austria. For 22 Euro plus 4 for each additional person you can buy a day pass which provides access to any train throughout Bavaria, including Salzburg. 

Differences between Germany and Austria were immediately apparent. The dialect of German sounded very different. The Austrian version is a lot softer than the Bavarian version. Salzburg itself is not a huge city, only having around 150,000 residents. Its a good mix of upscale shopping and dining and sightseeing. I spent the day exploring the city and seeing a couple of sites.

I took a long hide up to Festung Hohensalzburg, a massive medieval fortress overlooking the city from atop a nearby mountain. This provided great views of the region and some fascinating history.

I also visited the primary cathedral of Salzburg, which may be my new favorite of the churches I have visited in Europe.

Other pictures of Salzburg:

I am now back in Galaţi  or the final 2 weeks of my internship. There is still a lot of work to do, so it should be a busy time. I will also hopefully get to see a little more of Romania before I leave. My two objectives are to see the Danube Delta, which is close by, and the the north part of the country around Iaşi.