Amsterdam

I celebrated the 4th of July in Amsterdam over the weekend. There were lots of museums and plenty of culture, and of course there was the famous red light district, which was a little surreal.

The canals really dominate the city. They're everywhere, and they're all pretty nice. Also everyone rode bikes here. Cyclists also dominate the city, and if you walk in a bike lane, you're basically a target.

The gang hangs out in front of Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam - the photo museum. The museum was quite nice. It featured work from just a few photographers, but each photographer had a significant amount of work represented. A highlight was Massimo Vitali's series of overhead shots of people at beaches. The images were huge, allowing you to see both the large-scale patterns of people as well as the close-up details of individuals' behavior.

Tourists play on the giant letters that spell "I AMSTERDAM."

Visitors of the Heineken Experience gather around a vat of wort, the liquid that is fermented into beer. The old brewery in Amsterdam was turned into a tourist attraction. With beer samples, a make-your-own-music-video booth, and a ride that "turns you into beer," we deemed the Heineken Experience the "best advertisement we ever paid for."

Green Heineken bottles were turned into the ceiling at a lounge. Classy.

Madagascar Protest

Here's something I shot today for AP in Brussels.

Protesters gather outside EU headquarters in Brussels to call on the EU to further condemn Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina on Monday, July 6, 2009. Rajoelina met with European officials in an attempt to convince the EU of his legitimacy after rising to power in what the EU has called a coup d'état. The sign in French reads "No to the coup d'état."

Atomium

The Atomium in Brussels is a rather large monument, though it doesn't seem to be very well known outside of Belgium. The monument was built for the World's Fair in Brussels in 1958 and is over 330 feet tall.

Each of these spheres contained an exhibit or attraction. One had a sandwich shop while another had comic-style drawings of the Atomium.

The Atomium's structure is that of an iron crystal, magnified 165 billion times, representing the technological advancements of the 1950s. An elevator (the world's fastest in 1958) takes visitors to the top sphere where there's a pretty nice view and a pretty expensive restaurant. The other spheres can be accessed through escalators in the tubes that connect the spheres.

Paris

Last weekend we took a train down to Paris, a large city in France that you may have heard of. It really was a beautiful city, and I think we saw just about every main attraction there. It was fun to see all of the famous landmarks, but I'd love to go back some time and spend more time in some of the neighborhoods like the Latin Quarter.

A street performer juggles a football (soccer ball, whatever) as he hangs from a lamppost outside the Sacré-Cœur Basilica. The Basilica is on top of a hill in northern Paris overlooking the city. Street performers, shady vendors and tourists lined the stairs leading up to the cathedral.

The Eiffel Tower peaks through the trees in park surrounding the monument. I went up almost 1000 feet to the top on Friday night. Built for the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1889, the tower was intended to be a temporary exhibit to be dismantled in 1909. However, the structure was useful as a communication tower during World War I and was kept intact.

A couple dines on the banks of the Seine River that runs through Paris. Tons of people flock to the river to eat, drink or just enjoy the scenery. Great place for a picnic.

The pyramid entrance to the Louvre sits in a courtyard in the museum's huge complex. Originally the Louvre was used as a palace for French kings, but was later converted into a public museum during the French Revolution. And yes, the Mona Lisa was underwhelming.


A man takes a picture of the Paris skyline through a clock in the d'Orsay museum. Though less well known than the Louvre, the d'Orsay housed many nice works from artists like Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir, and Seurat.

A makeshift shrine to the late Michael Jackson sat near the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Flowers, pictures, candles, and notes in many different languages were arranged to honor the King of Pop who died last week.

The Eiffel Tower again. It's pretty when it's all lit up. What else can I say?

London (Briefly)

Last Monday I spent less than a day in London as part of my class. Mainly the visit consisted of a tour of the BBC, a trip to the Natural History Museum, and a EU-related debate.

The BBC's main television center opened in 1960, and its studios were home to shows like Fawlty Towers, Monty Python's Flying Circus, and Dr. Who.

Tom receives breaking news in a fake earpiece while reading the "news" during an interactive portion of the BBC tour. As a broadcast television major, Tom looked confident reading news bulletins that mostly consisted of BBC advertisements.

A BBC employee works in a studio at the television center. The lights in the foreground are just a few of the dozens that can be lowered from the ceiling to create lighting conditions for almost any show.

The Natural History Museum's impressive building housed dinosaur bones, animals bodies, and tons of other stuff I didn't get a chance to see. While there I saw a BBC crew filming for a show. Full circle.

I wasn't in London for very long, but I'm looking forward to coming back for about five days in the beginning of August.

Iran Protests

Protesters gathered outside of European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday to speak out against the government crackdown of protesters in Iran.

Demonstrators in Brussels also called for a review of the recent election in Iran, claiming that Iranian President Ahmadinejad's reelection was fraudulent.

A woman shows the victory sign at the protest in solidarity with the protesters in Iran.

Protesters in Brussels hold signs questioning the actions of the Iranian government. The sign in French reads "Stop the Repression of the Iranian People."

A man hangs an Iranian flag from a statue near European Parliament in Brussels.

Iranian Human Rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, left, addresses protesters in Brussels.

A man flashes the victory sign at the protest in Brussels.

I shot these pictures for my internship with the Associated Press, and several of the pictures here are currently on the AP wire. The LA Times used one of them on a blog and CBS News used one in their Day in Pictures section.

Ireland

We had a great, busy few days of travel this weekend. We were in Ireland from Friday until Sunday, and then we took a day trip to London on Monday. First Ireland.

On Sunday, we traveled to a small fishing town near Dublin called Howth. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. The cliffs and hills were spectacular, and the colors were really vivid.

Morgan looks out into the Irish sea while standing on a cliff in Howth.


Baily Lighthouse sits on the southeastern part of Howth. It was quite a long hike from the train station we arrived at to the lighthouse, but the whole walk was very nice. It was a little rainy that day, but the slight drearyness somehow contributed to the atmosphere. I would love to go back here or see other parts of Ireland like this. So, so nice.


As great as the countryside was, we spend most of our time in Ireland in Dublin. Dublin is a smallish, but very fun city. There were plenty of old building, nice bars and restaurants, and fun things to do.

On Saturday, we visited Bedford Hall which is part of Dublin Castle. The buildings were just a couple minutes away from our hostel, and currently serve as an Irish government complex. Until Ireland broke away from Britain in 1922, the castle served as the seat of British power in the country.

The buildings were nice enough, but we soon pulled out a map to figure out what we would see next.

Also near our hostel was Trinity College. The campus was pretty, and we took a tour of an old library and saw the Book of Kells, an illuminated manuscript bible made over the course of the 7th to 9th centuries.

A stencil painted on a Dublin wall calls for the rejection of the Treaty of Lisbon. The Treaty of Lisbon is an EU proposal that would grant more power to the European Union, giving the democratically elected Parliament more control of legislation and introducing a President of the European Union. Each EU nation must ratify the treaty for it to take effect, and the national assemblies of most EU countries pushed the treaty though. However, Irish law required that the treaty be put to a referendum, and in 2008, Irish voters rejected the treaty, halting the ratification process. Critics of the treaty have suggested that the treaty will decrease democracy by moving power to the EU and away from national politics. A poll found that Irish voters rejected the treaty largely based on lack of knowledge about the treaty or a desire to preserve Irish identity.
Though voters rejected the treaty, there are plans to present the referendum to Irish voters once again. At last week's meeting of EU leaders, Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen secured the assurances that the treaty of Lisbon would not affect Irish military neutrality, taxes or abortion. The assurances were made in an attempt to mollify voters' concerns about the treaty. A new referendum is expected in the next several months.

During the beautiful day on Saturday, we spent a little time in St. Stephen's Green, a park in central Dublin. While there, I approached some jugglers because fellow jugglers always seem to be friendly people. The jugglers invited us to a street performance competition at another park nearby, and we watched a couple shows there. There was a funny breakdancing troupe and then a woman who fit into a 16 inch box. There were tons of people watching, so I couldn't get close enough to get good pictures with the lens I had. Too bad.

On Saturday, we also went to the Guinness Storehouse, a museum that is part of the Guinness brewery. The museum was very well designed, but unfortunitely we did not actually get to see the beer being brewed. There were some interactive sections though, and at one point we were shown how the brewers taste-test the beer, and we were given samples to try.
When we reached the top of the museum, they gave everyone an additional free pint of freshly brewed Guinness, as you can see here. Mmmm.


The panoramic view of Dublin at the top of the museum was a wonderful backdrop to a wonderful beer.

The museum also included a history of Guinness advertising and a collection of memorabilia, including bottles. I learned that the Guinness Book of Records was started by the Guinness company as a way to resolve arguments in pubs. I had never put that together before.

Ireland wasn't all sightseeing. We hit some pubs in Dublin, giving Becky and Amy a chance to dance to oldies. The pubs we visited on Friday were ok, but on Saturday night we went to a great place called Messrs Maguire, a microbrewery with dancing and a fun, young crowd. There are no pictures from there. I was dancing, too.

On Monday we took a day trip to London. I'll post pictures in a day or two. Stay tuned.

New Design

I got tired of the old design of my blog, so I found a template that I liked online and modified it for my use.

What do you think? Any suggestions?

Antwerp

On Saturday, I spent the day in Antwerp, a beautiful port city in northern Belgium. Though Antwerp had some very touristy areas, there were many lively local areas as well, which made the city seem like a fun place to live.

A street performer in Antwerp performs tricks with a flaming stick on a busy tourist street. Later the performer juggled the flaming stick, a blade and an apple, which he ate. I was impressed.

Pink balloons rise above Antwerp City Hall in the Grote Markt, or main square. A wedding party released the balloons just before the bride and groom drove away to live happily ever after (or at least in some approximation of happiness).

It was wedding day in Antwerp. A second newly-wed couple leave Het Steen, a medieval castle near the city center. The castle, known as The Stone, was originally used as a duke's residence, but was converted into a prison in the 14th century. Apparently it is the oldest building in Antwerp, having been constructed around the 7th-9th centuries.

A jeweler in a diamond store in Antwerp welds the band of a ring together before filing it smooth. Antwerp is a huge diamond center, and about 80% of the world's diamonds pass through the city at some time. In 2003, the biggest diamond heist in history happened in Antwerp where over $100 million worth of goods was stolen.

People enjoy various rides at a fair in Antwerp. The fair was large, having many rides, including a roller coaster and giant Ferris wheel. Carnival games were also set up, some with prizes that included big-screen televisions and computers. There was also a Disney-themed ride that likely included the extra thrill of copyright infringement.

People step over the opening in a fountain outside the Royal Museum of Fine Arts. The fountain consisted of a large, textured area that would periodically become flooded when the opening, pictured here, released water.

Lunch! We went to a little cafe near the city center, and I ordered Carpaccio and fois gras - thin, raw beef and goose liver served on bread. So good. So good. I might need to go back to Antwerp just to eat it again.

NATO Defense Minister Meeting

On Thursday, I worked at NATO headquarters in Brussels covering a meeting of the world's major defense ministers. Robert Gates, the US Secretary of Defense was there, along with other military leaders. The defense ministers held closed meetings throughout the day, but there were also press conferences to advise the press of the ministers' decisions.

German Minister of Defense Franz Josef Jung answers questions during his arrival at the NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels on June 11. During the day's meeting, the ministers discussed troop levels in Kosovo and the response to maritime piracy.