The Modern Hitler: A Horrible Comparison or a Warning of Things to Come?

In recent years, a number of people have been compared to Hitler by both the media and the public. Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un come quickly to mind, as do the members of the WestBoro Baptist Church. For Mr. Trump its something the public should be concerned about, as there are many parallels from the rise of Trump in the GOP in the years leading to his election, and the rapidity that the National Socialist German Worker's Party (Nazi party) rose to power in the early to mid-1930s. Both came at times when the world was still feeling the pressures of wars and international debt crises. The only difference was the way the parties followers were able to interact with not only each other, but their opponents as well. Thanks to the glory of the internet, Donald J. Trump rose to power not by a violent show of force, but by force of words. Both blossoming leaders used their followers to help push their agenda by giving them promises of things they wanted. Granted this is not dissimilar to many politicians, however, the meteoric rise in support is what sets Hitler and indeed Donald Trump apart. In both cases, this was the fault of the media. As an Ohioan during the years leading up to the 2016 election, coverage was for both John Kasich and Donald Trump was almost constant while other contenders for the leader of the GOP were given minimal air time as well as media coverage in general. The same was true for our dear friend Adolf in his, for the time, meteoric rise to power and popularity. Germany needed a savior, and in the eyes of a war-torn German people, he seemed to have been sent from God. (We'll come back to that one soon enough.) The only problem with Hitler, is that he realized he needed a scapegoat. Fighting for initially the Austro-Hungarian Empire in WW1 as a conscript, he later fought for the Germans when German generals promised the now losing Austrians and Hungarians that they would lead them to victory at a point in the war where defeat was imminent. The might of the German army helped to extend the war for another two years.

When the war had ended, Austria and Hungary were split into two different empires, based on political differences, and somebody was needed to be blamed for the war. Germany was the obvious answer as it's power helped to extend the war, and strict sanctions were put in place by a forerunner of the United Nations. As the Germans had one massive advantage over the enemy with one specific technological advantage, that came from the past. As most countries were using aircraft to bomb enemy cities and positions, the Germans had an excess of international flights via blimp. For an empire that needed massive fire power, and quickly, they realized it would be too long before their own bomber planes would even be able to rival those of the enemy. So they converted almost all of their passenger airships to bomber use. Which were filled with helium. Aditionally, as the Germans were starved of coal from embargoes in all of their ports, they used very clever pneumatic systems in their factories, which also used helium. After the war, the German port embargo was lifted, and shipments of coal could resume. However, it was an expensive undertaking to convert the factories back to a coal/steam systems. However, it was necessary, as Helium was denied to Germany in the sanctions that followed the Great War. (They then refilled their world famous Airship liners to run on Hydrogen as at the time they were the equivalent of the Jet Age to cross the Atlantic compared to slower passenger ships. This was one of the main causes for the explosion of the Hindenberg, but thats a story for another essay in another class.) Just as Germany had finished reverting its factories to run on steam, the stock market in America crashed, and the whole world suffered. But nobody suffered more than Germany. Already one of the poorest nations in Europe after sanctions from WW1, Germany was hit the hardest by the depression and most people were out of work. Instead of trying to rebuild under sanction laws, the German leaders decided to just print more money. (Cause thats definitely how that works.) By the mid-1930's the German Reischmark had so little value that you would need just about a wheel-barrow full of it to actually buy groceries. (Many Germans would actually burn the money to heat their homes as it was cheaper than coal, and would use it as wallpaper to cover the insides of their homes.) The people were angry, and nobody was angrier than the workers, who were both out of work, and the lucky ones with jobs weren't paid even enough to burn the money for heat during the winter. So when an angry mustache model came to power, he had to blame somebody for the problems. Thanks to many censorship laws in place by the German government, and still resounding sense of national pride, even when Hitler was in German Parliament, and his party controlled most of the seats in the early 30s, Hitler still couldn't tell the people that the economics problems facing them were in fact caused by the then German government. Hitler needed a scapegoat. The owners of the factories then, who still had money. Incidentally, most of these factory owners were Jewish immigrants, and with the international and historical view, dating back from the days when Venice was still a city state, that the Jews were a miserly bunch. Obviously to an angry mustache man this means that they would refuse to pay their workers, or even put their money back into the economy. Target acquired, and for the rest of time, Hitler convinced his party that the Jewish people were evil and were against Germany in every way. 

750 words later, and we come back to modern times. Donald Trump needs a scapegoat for the still struggling post 2008 economic downturn Americans. Once bustling factories were still producing nowhere near the national averages of the early 2000s or the later half of the 20th century. (There is alot of things that caused this, and the 2008 housing crash was really the end of the industrial powerhouse of America.) Obviously, Trump needed support of the people without telling them that the culprit was actually international factories were cheaper and could produce more for less. And with a still post 9/11 boom of American Superiority Complexes, and dwindling international ties, Mr. Trump realized that he couldn't blame our own problems on either ourselves, or our closest trade allies. (Well, yet for the latter.) So he needed a group of people that have been a hotly debated issue for a while. (And I'm not talking about... you know what I'm not going to make that joke, but I'll let you finish it for yourselves.) Obviously it was the fault of the immigrants coming to the United States willing to work for the minimum wages that were being offered if it meant being able to live in the "Greatest place in the world." Obviously the people who were willing to work for what the corporations were offering, and not wanting more, were taking jobs from people who were wanting better working conditions and more pay. (And Abdi the neursurgeon is definitely stealing jobs from BillyBob the former factory worker, but again thats a discussion for another time.) Clearly then, its those pesky Mexicans trying to take advantage of America's advertising campaign of the "American Dream*." (*Restrictions apply) And as always, its the fault of the previous leader as it always has been, but this time, it was a man from another one of those groups of people the GOP supporters definitely do not like, so that was easy to propagate. And obviously a man who graduated from Harvard Law School was definitely worse at running a country than JimmyJohn who drives tractors for a living. (Not saying any way to make a living is a bad way to make a living, but if you're going to run a country I'm just going to vote for the man with the Law degree.) So yeah. there are quite a few parallels there. And, I'm not the first one to point it out, and I won't be the last. But for a while, it was an unrespected theory just created to keep the Annoying Orange from becoming president. Until one man came along, and started to plant the seeds of respectability into this crazy theory. A year and a half into Mr. Trump's presidency, an essay was published by one of the most respected Holocaust and Hitler historians. Christopher Browning's essay brought up a couple of great points, regarding both similarities and differences, as well as the rise of the Neo-Nazi movement that seemed to just so happen to rise again with the now president's campaign. (https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/10/5/17940610/trump-hitler-history-historian , https://www.thenation.com/article/escape-hitlers-germany-taught-trumps-america/ , https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/07/16/its-not-wrong-to-compare-trumps-america-to-the-holocaust-heres-why/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.dc8b89308a4f )

(Also this is getting quite long and I apologize to anyone reading this, but I am quite the history buff when it comes to international affairs of the first half of the 20th century. I promise the next two points will be nowhere near as long.)

Moving on to our second favorite Hitler contender, Kim Jong-Un. Many people consider our glorious leader here to be even worse than the man, the myth, the mustache legend, Mr. Adolf himself. And on some points, its hard to argue. For example, while Hitler singled out people to abuse for the "greater good of the German people" he never kept his people unaware of the outside world. He brainwashed them quite a bit to the point where they thought they were the best and were the sole inheriters of the planet sure, but they were aware that the rest of the planet existed, and were allowed to interact with them. So on one hand, Hitler was nowhere near as bad as Mr. Never Not Bowled a Perfect Game. (And apparently he doesn't have a butthole so theres also that, and well, theres something to be said when your leader thinks of himself so highly that he pushes this onto his people.) However, as far as we know, mistah Kim has never slaughtered millions of Jewish people. (But he probably would if he could.) (https://www.handelsblatt.com/today/politics/north-korea-goodbye-stalin-hello-hitler/23571690.html?ticket=ST-4396253-b9igpSZOJEjIUmpv1KBk-ap5 , https://theweek.com/articles/450792/north-korea-isnt-nazi-germany--some-ways-worse )

Finally, we get to look at everyone's favorite religious cult, our friends at the Westboro Baptist Church. Although they have never been directly compared to Hitler, (That my 3 minutes of Googling could determine) its definitely hard not to include a modern group of people who hold such a horrible person in such high regard. How high of a regard? Well calling him the second coming is almost there. In fact, not only was Jesus Christ, the first savior sent directly from God, but so was Mr. Mustache, as they proclaim "God sent Hitler" in bold letters on one of their blog posts. The link citing this is following this sentence, but I wanted to put in there that the title of the website is the actual Blog sponsored by the WB-BC and I have no control over what they call it. (http://blogs.godhatesfags.com/workmen/2011/12/28/god-sent-hitler/ ) Also theres some bits of their FAQ page where they claim that they are not affiliated with the Nazi Party because the Nazi party (basically) was violent. And obviously, WB-BC isn't as violent as the people who abort babies and are gay or whatever. (https://www.godhatesfags.com/faq.html#Militia ) Additionally, I found a tweet that really speaks for itself so I'm just going to link it and not talk about it cause we just flew past 2000 words. (https://twitter.com/wbcsaysrepent/status/999694573138931712?lang=en )

From the Utopian Illusion to the Dystopian Reality: Exploring the Uncertainty of the Present State of the American Dream

Dan Jira

Dr. Padmore Agbemabiese

English 1020: 80623

28 November 2018

From the Utopian Illusion to the Dystopian Reality: Exploring the Uncertainty of the Present State of the American Dream

            When I was younger, my family would often make trips down to Geauga Lake amusement park. It was one of the largest amusement parks in the world, and as a child, it was the highlight of every summer. Although I was never a fan of the roller coasters, or most of the rides, for that matter, I still loved the atmosphere. The foods, the smells, the people, the excitement, and the seemingly endless amounts of fun we had. When the park closed down in 2007, it was hard for me, as a ten year old, to understand why, as it had always seemed so pristine and perfect. It wasn’t until some of my friends and I, freed by the acquisition of our driving licenses, returned to the site of the park in 2016 to take pictures to extend our urb-exing (Urban Exploration) photo albums. The 9 years between the last person through the gate, and us climbing over the fences had been enough for nature to start to reclaim what was initially hers. Although surrounded by rusting and almost terrifying abandoned structures, when I closed my eyes, I could still smell the food, and hear the excited screams of patrons on the many rides. The park’s tagline for the years I remember was always “Two great parks for the price of one!” touting their waterpark pass being included in the ticket price for the amusement park. However, as much as I loved Geauga Lake, I always remember it being nothing more than mediocre, especially when comparing it to Cedar Point, which was about the same distance away. It wasn’t until I started writing this essay that all of these memories came flooding back to me, and I believe there is a very good reason for that. The land of the “American Dream” may indeed have once been the crown jewel of destinations, however today, with more and more economical troubles, and political instability, this once great land of opportunity is nothing more than a soon to be defunct amusement park with a tagline from its spectacular past.

            For the longest time, and to some extent today, the United States of America was considered the “Promised Land” for people around the globe. A new land of opportunity and freedoms that their own countries failed to provide. Most of them spent their last dollars getting a passport, visa, and ticket to the new world. Travelling from all over the globe, they descended on the realization of their dreams. The immigration numbers, for many years, were staggering. From 1901 to 1920, fourteen and a half million people came to the United states. During this period, they came mostly from Europe, most probably to escape the Great War which raged in their hometowns and all around them. During the Great Depression, however, emigration numbers plummeted. The great financial woes of the country were seen as a direct cause of the inflow of foreign-born workers. Allowed immigration levels were slashed. By 1933, only 23.1 thousand people were allowed into the United States per year. However, by the time World War II was ramping up in Europe, more and more people were allowed in the country. By 1939, however, only 83 Thousand people were allowed to emigrate into the United States (Smith, Bloomberg). However, as the war in Europe grew deadlier and larger, America started rebuilding itself from the depths of the Great Depression, as lend-lease contracts from other European allies came in asking the United States to utilize its once great industrial powers to craft the supplies needed for war. As factories started filling pre-paid orders from countries such as France and Holland, the American economy started getting richer again, and were mostly wanting nothing to do with the war. Once again, this meant another slash on emigration as people were concerned that the refugees would bring the war with them to the United States. Therefore, from 1941-1960, only 3.5 million people emigrated to the United states, with most of those people coming in the 1950s. During the last 20 years of the 20^th Century, however, more and more people were allowed into the United States again. From 1981-1997, over 14.2 million people started new lives in the United states. This impressive rise in emigration comprised of 5.3% of people in the 1998 US Census.

            Many people will look back on the “good old days” of the United States and think that in terms of jobs, we are doing much worse now then we ever have. However, according to data from the United States Census Bureau, in 1950, only 29.8% of the population were considered employees. Fast-forward 50 years and much has changed. In 1958, 46.6% of the American population was considered an employee. This is an increase in workers by population of 16.8%. Additionally, the New York Stock Exchange traded 169.2 billion more shares in 1998 then it did in 1950, and 169.61 billion more shares than it did in 1900. Of course, there are way more companies now than there were in either 1900 or 1950, however, shares are only sold and bought if there is money to buy and sell. Furthermore, the median adjusted household income in 1950 was just over $20.3 thousand dollars while it more than doubled to $44.5 thousand dollars. On the surface then, the American economy is better for the citizens then it ever has been. This, of course, makes you wonder why all of the people CNN interviews are so worried. Instead of looking at the data at the local level, when you zoom all the way out, all of their concern becomes validated. In 1950, the non-adjusted GDP of the United States was $294.6 million dollars, which seems great until you know the adjusted Federal Debt. We were spending much more than we had and we were already in $3.119 million. In 1997, however, the GDP of the United States was making above $8.5 billion, once again, however, we were spending more than we had, and the federal debt climbed to just shy of $10 billion. Additionally, the last time the United States had a surplus, was during the Clinton Presidency in 1998-2001. Since then, however, the US Federal Debt has climbed to just over $1.3 trillion in 2011, and dropped again to $438 billion in 2015. However, the debt has once again started to rise as the 2018 estimate is $833 billion, with an estimated $987 billion in 2020 (Amadeo, TheBalance.com).

            In plain numbers then, the United States of America is still the “Land of Opportunity” it once was for the people. So, why are so many people convinced the American Dream is no longer? Two major reasons stood out during the research period of this essay. The American Dream meant two different things to the rich and the poor. The rich want to be able to afford richer luxuries in life, and the poor want to afford to live. These two dreams are very close in wording but mean drastically different things. In 2014 the state with the lowest cost of living was Mississippi with a median monthly rent payment of $875 and a median monthly utilities payment of $175. The minimum wage however, was only $7.25/hr. $1050/$7.25hr = 144.83 hrs. If we assume a 20-day work month, (4 weeks, 5 work days a week) 144.83hrs/20days = 7.25hrs/day. This means that someone working minimum wage would have to work 7.25 hours out of every 8-hour day just to afford a place to live. However, these calculations do not account for a phone bill, or internet, or even a grocery bill. This also means that for a Mississippian working full time for minimum wage, they would only have an extra $13 a month for all of the aforementioned things (Rawes, USAToday). Talk to almost anyone over the age of 50 today, and they would tell you it was the exact same way when they were growing up… or was it?

            In 1965 the national average cost of rent was $118 a month. If we assume that the cost of utilities is the same percentage of rent as it was in 2014, that brings the monthly cost of utilities to $24. This brings the bare minimum cost of living to only $142/month. Minimum wage was only $1.25/hr. $142/$1.25hr = 114hrs. Again, assuming a 20-day work month, this means that the average minimum wage American only has to work 5.7hrs of their day to afford the basics, again not including groceries. However, this leaves them an extra $10 a month for everything else. This is only $3 less than today, and that was 50 years ago when a gallon of gas was only 31c, and a gallon of milk was 95c. Today, however, a gallon of milk costs around $3.15, which is just more than the 50-year gap in wage. If we adjust the living wage in 1965 for today’s money however, we find that a measly $10 in cash turns into $78. This means that a person working a minimum wage job full time was making an adjusted $64 more a month than todays minimum wage workers, and this was at a time in history when most minimum wage jobs were reserved for high schoolers and immigrants before they gained enough experience and language skills to move up in the job force. In 2017, 12.3% of Americans were below the poverty line according to the US Census, however other sources cite it at 13.9%, which is down 2% from 1965, however, 46.7% of these people in 2017 reported that they were in Deep Poverty. This means that their household income was half of the minimum poverty line (UCDavis, “What is…”).

            The depth of the poverty pool in the United States is not at the highest it has ever been; however, it is affecting people more and more as costs rise. Specifically, in the 20-30 age range, the cost of education. This has caused a massive $1.5 Trillion crisis in the United States. According to Forbes, “Student loan debt is now the second highest consumer debt category (behind only mortgage debt) and higher than both credit card and auto loan debt” (Friedman, forbes.com). The massive student loan debt, coupled with the ever-increasing job market that requires higher education, leads us to one simple reason for most Americans to believe in the downfall of the American Dream. We are getting smarter, and learning more than we ever have in history. We know more about the universe and our world now than we ever have in history. In 2017, the Census Bureau said that 33.4% of Americans aged 25 or older had a bachelors degree or higher. This is a 5.4% increase since 2007, and a 28.8% increase since 1940 (Wilson, TheHill.com).

            This relatively meteoric rise in education means a number of things. For one, eventually the quality of life, and technological production of the United States will continue to rise, and we may eventually reach the average IQ’s of countries around the world, such as Norway and Japan. However, at the moment, for the United States, it means that people are more likely to see holes in what has been called the American Dream. Not only are people looking at the American Dream through the lens of higher education, but they are also looking at the American Dream with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt on their backs. The American Dream seems to only exist for the extremely poor because they need something to believe in, and the extremely rich, because they are living it. For the rest, however, the American Dream is as surreal and as fictitious as a dream itself.

Works Cited

Amadeo, Kimberly. “US Budget Deficit by Year, Compared to GDP, Debt Increase, and Events.” The Balance, Dotdash, 29 Oct. 2018, 22 Nov. 2018.

Friedman, Zack. “Student Loan Debt Statistics In 2018: A $1.5 Trillion Crisis.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 13 June 2018, 26 Nov. 2018.

Rawes, Erika. “10 Least Expensive States to Live in the U.S.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 7 Sept. 2014, 20 Nov. 2018.

Smith, Noah. “One Sure Way to Hurt the U.S. Economy? Cut Immigration.” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, 9 July 2018, 23 Nov. 2018.

UC Davis. “What Is the Current Poverty Rate in the United States?” UC Davis Center for Poverty Research, UC Davis Center for Poverty Research, 15 Oct. 2018, 26 Nov. 2018.

United States Census Bureau. Statistical Abstract of the United States: 20^th Century Statistics. Section 31, 1999. 867-889. United States Census Bureau. Web. 20 Nov. 2018.

Wilson, Reid. “Census: More Americans Have College Degrees than Ever Before.” The Hill, Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., 3 Apr. 2017, 26 Nov. 2018.

European Adventure: Day 5: A Tradition is Born

Paris 10am CEST; June 2nd, 2018
I awake on the couch bed to the sound of swearing. Not what I expected to be woken up to, but life is full of surprises. Amidst the swearing, I learn that Jennifer somehow spilled coffee all over the bathroom (?) and got some of it on the dress she was going to wear to the wedding ceremony in less than two hours. David rushed in with a roll of paper towels to help her deal with this great misfortune. After some time, they reemerged from the bathroom with many coffee soaked paper towels, and Jennifer pointing at the stain in her dress. Which, I must be honest, I couldn't see. As Jennifer and David were leaving in less than an hour for their friend's wedding, Elizabeth and I took the opportunity to sit down, and have a couple cups of coffee as we waited for the bathroom to be empty.

During this time we worked out a plan for the day. We were in Paris, so obviously, we would go see the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and walk up and down the Champs-Élysées. Not a massive itinerary for the day, but we were still quite exhausted from our adventures yesterday. As Jennifer and David left, we were able to get ready for the day. While waiting for my turn in the bathroom, I was looking at the map in order to find the best way to get to the Eiffel Tower. The Metro seemed like the obvious choice, but that is not always the case. This time it was, however, we would first have to go to a different station than the one we were used to, which proved to be rather eventful later in the day and indeed trip.

When the both of us were ready, we placed the key in the agreed upon location in case Jennifer and David got back to the Airbnb earlier than we did, and headed towards the other Metro station. Which at first completely confused my sister as she initially refused to walk the "wrong way to the Metro" before I told her that we were going to a different station. The walk to the station was uneventful until Google said "You have arrived" and we were nowhere near a Metro station. It took us longer than we'd like to admit to finally work out that the station was indeed at this location, but it was underground so we would have to look for an entrance somewhere. Most of the Paris Metro stations are clearly marked staircases down into the darkness below the city with a large sign overhead that reads "Metropolitan" however, some are hidden inside buildings so as not to be part of the scenery but blend in with it.

This station entrance, for example, was connected to the reception area of a large and relatively modern office building. It must be admitted that it took us a good ten minutes to find, however, in our defense the front of the building was being cleaned that day, and there were many things in front of the sign. Once we got inside the building, I told my sister to look for the sign for the "6" train, only to turn around and see that she had gone down an escalator into the lower area of the station. (Although not a theme, this does happen often enough to be rather annoying.) After looking at the signage, she ended up being correct, so I followed her down the escalator thinking that maybe she knew where we were going as well. All of my hopes were quickly dashed away as she asked me when I got to the bottom what train we were taking. 

I elected to ignore what had just transpired, and tell her the train number. We entered the station and went to the correct platform for the train. There were many other tourists on this platform so we knew we were on the right one. This part of the Paris Metro had stations both above and below ground, which I found to be rather interesting, but I don't think Elizabeth shared my queries. We followed the crowd to the correct station, and followed them onto a street filled to capacity with tourists, peddlers, and scooter traffic. Every so often, there was a break in the skyline and we could see it, the Eiffel Tower. Much larger in real life than it is when you picture it in your head. It towers over the local skyline at 81 stories tall. (Just to clarify how tall it is, it is the largest building in France, and was so until the Millau Bridge/Viaduct opened in 2004. It was also the tallest man-made structure in the world for 41 years, until the construction of the Chrysler Building in New York City.)

(The Eiffel Tower was originally built for the 1889 World's Fair in Paris, and was scheduled to be taken down soon after. However, the city fell in love with it and has kept it ever since. There are stories about people who have legally married the tower, and my personal favorite, the story of the man who ate lunch underneath it every day because that was the only place in the city where he could not see it, and he loathed its existence. Of course, the tower now has its practical uses as a radio and television broadcaster thanks to its great height, and during the war, it served as a communications relay for both the Allies and the Axis powers. Today, though, it is an entirely different story. Although it still sends radio and television signals, the main purpose of the tower is tourism, and it does its job well.)

As we navigated the steady but constant tourist traffic both going towards and away from the tower, we were able to stop and take the occasional picture. It was during this point where I remembered viewing the tower on my previous visit to Paris, and how few people there were at the spot we decided to view the tower from. As I tried to remember, we made our way closer and closer. As we were two people, and not a large tourist group, we were able to snake in and out of the crowds. When we got to the park where the tower is, we were in for a shock. The local powers that be in Paris determined that the Eiffel Tower was such a tourist attraction that they could charge people to enter just the park where the tower was. Of course, the reasons cited were terrorism protection, and while that may be a factor, you can protect a monument from terrorists without charging people.

At this point, I stopped looking at the tower, and across the river where I saw it. The place where I viewed the tower the last time I was here. I mentioned this to my sister, but she decided that we must first go to a cafe and eat lunch as it was nearing two in the afternoon. She took out her phone and found a relatively cheap and not too far away cafe for us to go for lunch. The cafe was only one street away from the Eiffel Tower, and compared to the throngs of people we spent the last 20 minutes with, it was completely deserted.

The Eiffel Tower from a comparatively deserted street.

After eating at the cafe, which was both delicious and cheap compared to the prices we expected from it being so close to a tourist destination, we continued on our tour of Europe's grocery stores as we went into one across the street from the cafe. I will spare you from the details of the grocery store as I am relatively confident my reader has been inside one before. The only difference is that the labels are all in French. We both picked out a liter of water, paid, and continued on our journey. (Always buy water bottles from grocery stores if you ever visit Europe. For the prices that they charge at the little kiosks for a small bottle, you can buy two liters of water for the same price at a grocery store.) While following the map to the location I had spotted from this side of the river, we encountered multiple street performers, and an overabundance of peddlers.

The Trocadero Gardens are, in my humble opinion, the best place to view the tower, and be able to do so while not being worried about having your pockets picked. The fountains in the garden are beautiful, and the mist from them is very refreshing. The park is filled with numerous shady trees and benches to sit and contemplate life. If you do not like tourists, like myself, this is the place to be.

Elizabeth requested an "artsy" pic of her near the flowers by the tower

and then complained that I didn't take it right.

The view of the tower from the balcony at the Trocadero Gardens.

Another view featuring this pigeon who couldn't be bothered to move.

But would look towards the camera every time you took

a picture of him.

One of the other great things about viewing the Eiffel Tower from the Trocadero Gardens is that it is just a short walk (~10 min) from the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Élysées. Both of which are must-sees for those visiting Paris. The Arc de Triomphe is one for France's monuments that are almost everywhere, but none, of course, compare to the original. As I had seen this beautiful monument before, I was more interested in the traffic flow around this great roundabout in the center of Paris. The flow of traffic is chaotic, but somehow flows together like a dance. All I could think of at the time was that if this were in Cleveland, it would be nothing more than a 100+ car pileup multiple times a day.

The Arc de Triomphe in all of its glory.

Following our encounter with the Arc de Triomphe, we headed down the Champs-Élysées, which clearly, until now, Elizabeth thought was just a street covered in monuments because as soon as we turned down the street, her eyes lit up. The Champs-Élysées is indeed covered in monuments, however, they are indeed monuments to capitalism. The entire street is one giant outdoor shopping mall with all the posh stores and chains you could imagine. From jewelers like Tiffany&Co. to fast food like McDonald's, to even car dealerships, everything was here. I knew I had one stop to make, and I knew Elizabeth would want to go in and out of many stores, so I settled myself in for the long haul. Luckily for me, the store I wanted to go into was one of the first we came across that either of us was interested in. The Swatch store. 

(I have a bit of history with this store, which I realize seems crazy given the city I was in and only really having history with a watch store. You see, the last time I was in Paris was in 2014. I was a Sophomore in high school, and we were in France for a French class trip. Back in these days because I was with multiple chaperones, and of course many friends, we did not include an international plan on my phone for that trip. Instead, I was borrowing my friend's plan, and we would reimburse their family after the trip. Because of this, I made sure to keep my phone calls short sweet and to the point. And this time was no different. I went into the Swatch store with a couple of my friends, and bought a watch. A very nice one without any batteries, and charged with the motion of your arm. Right after purchasing the watch, I called my mother and said "Hi, France is great, by the way, I bought an expensive watch. Love you, bye!" and hung up before she had a chance to answer. My friend Kenny thought it was hilarious and has been an inside joke ever since.)

Naturally, on a trip that was mostly Switzerland, I wanted to buy another Swiss watch, however, I did not want to pay Swiss prices for it. So I decided to purchase it at the same store that I bought my last Swiss watch. The Swatch store on the Champs-Élysées. My sister thought I was crazy, but I almost felt as if it were necessary for my return to Paris. So, thirty minutes later, I walked out of the Swatch store with the second watch I had purchased there, and a tradition was born.

The Swatch store on the Champs-Élysées featuring the watch I first bought there

(on my wrist) and the new watch I had just acquired (in the bag).

Following this, we weaved our way in and out of clothing stores and the occasional home goods store before we found ourselves rather tired from walking around all day. Just as we were about to turn around and head back down the famous street, we saw the Tiffany&Co. store. Elizabeth wanted to go inside, and as I imagined that they would have some really nice watches, I followed her inside. Let me just start by saying that there was a visibly armed guard who opened the door for us. I walked into the store and stopped. A rush of cold air hit me as I realized that this was the first store in Paris I had been in with air conditioning. (A lack of A/C is not uncommon in Europe. In fact, it is more uncommon to have it.) In front of me was a marble staircase that ascended for at least three floors, and a giant jeweled chandelier hung in the center of the spiral. We perused through the jeweler relatively quickly as we determined that we weren't rich enough to even breathe there.

As we made our way back to the Metro station at the top of the street near the Arc, we discussed what we wanted to do for dinner. We decided that both of us were tired of crowds of people for the day, and wished to stay close to the AirBnb for the rest of the evening. Soon enough we determined that we would get dinner at one of the outdoor cafes near the subway station in the neighborhood of the AirBnb which were both quiet and relatively cheap. A quick glance at our phones told us that dinner would have to wait as they were both on the verge of dying.

Once we got back to the apartment, it was closer to 5pm however, dinner for most restaurants in Europe does not start until 7. We took the time to put our phones on the charger and take a quick power nap as walking around all day in the heat and sun takes a lot out of you. We headed to the restaurant we had chosen around 6:30pm (18:30) with both ourselves and our phones recharged. When we walked up to the restaurant and asked for a table outside, the waitress told us that the kitchen doesn't open until 1900 however if we would like to wait at the table she would be more than willing to serve us drinks. Instead of walking back and forth, we took her up on her offer, and sat down at a streetside table. 

As we were in France, and were both of legal age here, we determined rather quickly that we should have wine while we waited for the kitchen to open. Elizabeth chose the local Rosé and I had a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. The waitress first came back with a cup full of potato chips, which I found to be rather humorous, before coming back with our glasses of wine.

Regrettably, this is the only picture I have from that meal.

When the kitchen finally opened, we both decided on the House special of the night, the Ravioli. Although delicious and quite possibly the best ravioli I had ever eaten, a true Italian and noodle aficionado would tell you that the ravioli noodles were actually tortellini, but at that moment I could not care less. Over dinner we determined that we both wanted to get a bottle of the wine we were drinking, and started looking for (you guessed it) a grocery store on the map. We were so engrossed in looking at Elizabeth's phone looking for one that was close to us, that when the waitress came to clear our plates and give us the check, we were rather surprised to find one that was right across the street the whole time. We both decided not to mention this to anyone of course, but I found it rather hilarious, and figured my readers would as well.

After dinner, we went into the grocery store and purchased our bottles of wine. A rosé for Elizabeth, and a Sauvignon Blanc for myself. Initially, the plan was to go back to the apartment and pick up a bottle uncorker and some wine glasses to take to a park, however on our way back it started to rain. We decided to abandon that idea, and had a glass of wine at the table in the apartment instead. It was during this time that Elizabeth announced that she had found a gelato shop near the apartment and wanted to go. By this time the rain had stopped, and it had gotten rather dark, but we figured screw it, and went anyways. As she could not find the hours on the website, or couldn't read them as the website was in French, we were hoping that it would still be open by the time we got there. Luckily for us, it was. And, I must say, it was delicious.

Please ignore the Snapchat filters.

(Yes, lemon basil is one flavor, and yes, it is delicious.)

We took a different route back to the apartment, which really annoyed Elizabeth, however, I wanted to see more than what we had already seen, even if it was all closed and dark outside. When we finally did get back, however, there was not much that happened. We very quickly got ready for bed, and were soon fast asleep.

European Adventure: Day 4: Backwards Through Switzerland, Forwards Through France

Zurich 9:15am CEST; June 1st, 2018

I awoke to cheerings of "It made it! Its here! You can go to Paris with us!" It was clear what had arrived. The Eurail pass, that our mother so graciously overnighted across the world at a considerable cost, that allowed us to travel Europe at our leisure, had arrived on time. And not just on time, but just in time, as we were due to leave for Paris in less than an hour. As I packed my backpack for our weekend stay in Paris, the apartment was a hive of activity. All four people were getting ready. My sister and I for our tourist adventure, and Jennifer and David for the wedding that they were attending on Saturday.

The train was due to leave at 11:40am CEST, and this was Switzerland, it would leave then, no ifs ands or buts. Although it was late enough on Friday morning that we had missed the initial rush hour, we still had to walk to the tram stop, take the tram to the station, activate our Eurail pass, find the platform, and get on the train. All within the course of an hour and a half. Once again, thanks to the accuracy of Swiss timekeeping and transport, we knew we would be at the train station by 11am, but would the next 35 minutes be enough time to wait in line and activate our Eurail passes. Jennifer and David seemed confident that it would. My sister and I were not.

As we took the ticket to secure our place in line, we looked down at the number. 96. It didn't seem that bad, at least until we looked at the "Now Serving:" board, which displayed the number 72. 24 people were in front of us. By the time I worked this out, however, a ding went off and the number switched to 73. At least it went pretty fast, we might just make it after all. The ding went off again, and the number switched to 303. Oh no. There are multiple different groups all for the same area. The number of people in front of us went from 23 to 23 at the minimum. There could very well have been 230 people in front of us, there was no official way to tell. I spent the time trying to hack into the train station's wifi (unsuccessfully), and my sister was reading a book on her phone.

After what seemed like an eternity, our number was called. Five minutes later we had our passes verified and six minutes to find the correct platform and get on the train. Thanks to the many signs hanging from the station ceiling, it was not hard to find the correct platform and get on the train. That all being said, there was no time to spare, as the second we sat down, the train started moving. Que another major problem. Our seat reservation was facing backward from the direction of travel. Although not a problem for me and David, this was a monumental problem for Jennifer and Elizabeth, who are both very prone to motion sickness, and especially when travelling backwards. At first, we hoped that at some point the train would turn around, Basel was the first stop, so we hoped there, but that was still an hour away.

By putting on headphones and closing her eyes, Elizabeth was able to stave off her nausea for now, but that wouldn't last the four-hour duration of the trip. And I don't know about you, but I don't like dealing with that kind of thing in the slightest. So, Jennifer and I went to see if we could find a set of forward-facing seats that were free. We walked up and down the length of the train, but no dice. (As the train was travelling 150km/h I recorded my fastest and only marathon ever as it took 20 minutes to walk from the back of the train and back again. Which means that we walked 30.9 miles. (20min/60min =.33 | .33*93mph = 30.99 miles)) After we informed my sister of this terrible news, Jennifer had an idea: Maybe we could ask the train conductor to switch us seats with one of the other patrons. A fantastic idea. Once again we walked up and down the train (I don't know why people complain about marathons being hard, I did two that day and didn't even break a sweat!) trying to find the elusive conductor. Every assistant we found said he was in a different place.

Eventually, we stumbled upon him in the restaurant car. We explained to him the situation, and he did not look too pleased with the predicament that may befall him if he did not take action. Once again, we walked with him up and down the train. Nothing was said between the three of us during this. When we got back to the dining car, he opened the door marked "Staff Only" (I presume at least as it was in both French and German.)  There were two men, in the train uniform, sitting there playing cards. (It looked like a scene Agatha Christie would have described in Murder On the Orient Express to be honest. They were just missing the pipes or cigars.) They spoke for a bit, both in German and French, which made it a very confusing conversation to follow.

Finally, he turned to us, and told us that we could use the business car in the front of the train. However, we were not allowed to traverse the train, as we would be going through first class, and it might annoy the people who paid for first class that someone got an entire train car to themselves. We immediately agreed to these terms. He told us that we would be allowed to be able to change when we reached Basel, the first stop of the train's trip. We relayed this information to Elizabeth and David when we finally got back to our seats.

Basel 12:48pm CEST
We were waiting at the door of the train for it to open as we reached the platform. At the moment, we were the last car of the train, and in a few seconds, we would have to run between the crowded platform, full of people getting both on and off of the train. The train stopped, the conductors whistle sounded, and the door opened. We ran as fast as we could and made it onto the first car with just a few seconds to spare. We opened the door of the car, and were amazed. We had an entire train car, complete with complimentary wifi to ourselves. A few minutes after departure, the train manager came back to the car to check our tickets, and declared "Welcome to the business car. If you need anything, come and find me. Enjoy your trip!" Nothing of note happened for the rest of the journey, except for some of the scenery, which flashed by way to fast to take pictures of.

Paris 3:58pm CEST
Paris Gare de Lyon station is one of the three major train stations in Paris, and the one we arrived in. It also happened to be on the opposite side of the city from where our AirBnB was. Luckily for us, there was a Metro station at this station. Unluckily for us, it went nowhere near the stop that we needed. Luckily for us, David and Jennifer have lived a combined 8 years in Paris, and knew the city quite well. Three different trains later, we arrived at the station we needed. (The Metro that serviced this stop went to many of the major stops in Paris which proved to be quite useful, and will prevent the subsequent mentionings of the Metro in this series, except for later, but we'll get to that in due time.)

After some difficulty, and arguing over the map, (which was a phone map that almost walked you there step by step) we found the address for the AirBnB. We put in the password for the building, and made our way to the apartment. It was a very quaint two bedroom 1 bath apartment, with a small kitchen and living room. It was very nice, and very clearly someone's house, so we made extra care not to break anything. (AKA snoop too much into their personal lives from the pictures on the mantel and bedroom walls.) After settling in, we decided that Jennifer, Elizabeth, and I would go see the Louvre while David stayed back and did work for his upcoming conference.

When we got to the Louvre, we found it very crowded. More crowded than we figured it would be for a Friday evening. We later found out that it was because the first Fridays of the month are free admission for anyone under 26. Which two of us were able to capitalize on. The three of us also picked up the audio guide for five euro. (I highly recommend it, its a Nintendo 3DS that provides a live map of the museum, and offers multiple different tour options.)

We decided to go on the "Masters and Greatest Works" Tour, which showcased the greatest works in the Louvre, culminating in the greatest disappointment in art, the Mona Lisa. During the tour, we saw, well, the greatest works in the museum. All very pretty and very nice paintings and sculptures. And then we made it. The greatest painting of all time, supposedly, the Mona Lisa. (Let it be known that I despise the Mona Lisa. It is barely bigger than a 9x11 sheet of paper, and really is not that impressive.) However, if you really want to be impressed by art, go to the Louvre, walk to the Mona Lisa, Look at it for the half a second it takes you to turn 180 degrees, and appreciate the most beautiful painting in the entire museum. "The Wedding at Cana" by Paolo Veronese is a gorgeous painting that is absolutely giant. The attention to detail, and the execution of the scene is absolutely amazing. It is nice, however, that this painting is not the most famous one in the museum, because it allows you to walk right up to it, and see every brush stroke, and every detail.

The Venus de Milo in the Louvre

An artsy picture looking from the underground section of

the Louvre to the top of the glass Pyramid.

My favorite part of the museum, however, is the outside of the Louvre. It is completely free to walk around the courtyard, and is easily more beautiful than even "The Wedding at Cana." The outside is an architectural masterpiece, and the showpiece is the beautiful glass pyramid in the center of the courtyard. If you want to enjoy the Louvre, but you don't have the time to go and deal with the lines or the people, just go to walk through the courtyard, and take in the beauty that is all around you.

After leaving the Louvre, we walked through the center of the city to Ile Saint-Louis. This is where we were scheduled to meet up with David, and one of David's friends from school. He took us on a tour of the island, and then we met up with his wife before walking down the river Sienne toward the restaurant for tonight's dinner. At some point during this walk, mother nature decided that we were having too much of a nice time in Paris, and let the skies open. Within ten minutes all of us, well, those of us without umbrellas, were soaked.

The clock tower on the Ile Saint-Louis that showcases the two shields

that would later be combined to create the current French flag.

The quarter of the city the restaurant was in Le Marais, which used to be a marsh. Most of the land underneath the quarter is still very swampy, and because of this, they cannot build metro lines underneath this quarter of the city. Which means you have to walk everywhere. Very nice I presume on a beautiful evening, but not so much in the rain. When we got to the restaurant, because we missed our reservation, we had to wait until a table large enough was available. (Wow really? That's how restaurants work. Huh.) As we were waiting, Jennifer and David's other two friends arrived. As David and two of his friends were French, we crossed the street and watched the France-Italy friendly game at the bar.

Eventually, our table was called, so we were retrieved by Jennifer. The restaurant specialized in crepes, both sweet and savory. Personally, I preferred the sweet crepe to the savory, but they were both delicious. We ended up staying and talking amongst ourselves until almost 1am the next morning, however, I will end the story for today here, and pick back up tomorrow when we wake up. All there is to know is that I had some difficulty pulling the bed out of the couch, and then very quickly fell asleep.

European Adventure: Day 3: The Pink City

Zurich 11:30am CEST; May 31st, 2018
I awoke to the sound of my alarm, and my sister telling me to turn it off and get out of bed, which I was very reluctant to do. Our cousins had gone to work, and we had instructions to meet them at one of the tram stops by one o'clock. Seeing as I still had quite a bit of time, I took a shower while my sister made us both a double shot of espresso and warmed up two croissants in the oven. (A frozen croissant in the oven while preheating to 150C is just as flaky and delicious as a fresh one.) Over breakfast on the porch, and in between admiring the scenery we tried to determine our plan for the upcoming weekend if our Eurail passes did not arrive on time. We determined that we would rather not think of that scenario and hope that our plans would not be ruined by our colossal mistake.

After doing the dishes, we walked to the tram station to buy another daily pass. We spent more time than either of us would like to admit trying to decipher the German terminal before we noticed a button in the bottom right to change the language to English, which made the process much easier. By the time our tickets had printed from the machine, the tram was arriving. We could vaguely remember the tram number we were supposed to take, but we knew the name of the stop. After getting on the tram, we realized that there were three different ones that came to this station. So, we decided to gamble that this tram would end up taking us to the stop that we needed. Once again, we got lucky and saw our stop pop up at the bottom of the destinations screen.

We met up with Jennifer at the station, and she proceeded to tell us about the area we were in. It was the main university area of the city, and both the main campuses of the University of Zurich and ETH were located across the street from one another. It also turns out that while the universities compete for students, they share resources for the faculties and students. She explained this as we were walking towards the ETH library so she could pick up some materials she had requested. The building itself was almost classical Greek in architecture, but with a few differences that denote the almost universal style of architecture for universities.

The real treasure, from an architectural standpoint, was inside the building itself. From the outside, it looked like there were three different building, but from the inside, they were all connected to each other with what I consider an "inside-out" style courtyard between them all. It looked as though at one point they were not connected and instead of adding walls and a roof to each of the buildings to connect them, they just constructed one massive roof. (I realize this is rather confusing to visualize, but there is a picture below this paragraph which should sum it up.) In the main room of the center building was a room of columns that stretched from floor to each ceiling, with each floor culminating in an arch, to the top of the building, three stories above. All in all, it was a beautiful place to be.

The back of the building, leading into the green space.

Showcasing the old exterior of the building, the new windowed roof,

and the newer additions, such as staircases.

The columns and arches of the main room, with the gorgeous patterned

ceiling.

Leaving through the back of the building brought us into a beautiful courtyard, littered with students studying and eating lunch amidst the reflecting pools, and green spaces. One of these green spaces overlooked a good portion of the city below, and offered breathtaking views of the mixture of old and new styles.

The view from one of the balconies offered a view into one of the city's older districts.

As you can see here, a number of steeples dominated the older part of the city's skyline.

From here we walked to another one of Zurich's seibons, the UBS Polybahn. Named after the bank, this funicular is operated by Zurich Public Transport and offers rides ever quarter hour. It connects the main campus of ETH with the main tram station. At a grade of 23%, this little car carries around 1.6 million people a year up, or down, 41 meters Monday through Friday. In my opinion, the most interesting thing about this funicular is that because there are two cars that have to pass each other, there is a switch system for the track. This confused me for multiple rides until I finally figured out that one cable goes over one side and the other cable stays to the other side. Because the cables pull the cars up, they'll follow the cables which prevents the need for a mechanical switch device. Really interesting if you're into that sort of thing.

After we took the Polybahn down to the main tram station ("Central"), the three of us walked along the river, taking in the sights. There were swimmers in the river, and a few particularly brave souls jumping from the bridges into the river below to the delight of their friends. We followed the river a good distance before we started to get hungry. We stopped to look at the map and Jennifer realized that we were close to one of the more "hipster" areas of town which offered fresh produce and many lunch options.

From the outside, it looked like nothing special, except the vast amounts of people eating their lunches gave away the location's very obvious secret. Inside, however, was a completely different story. If you live in Cleveland, or have ever been to the West Side Market in the Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland, you can kind of picture this. The only difference is that 3/4 of the stands on the inner ring are gone and are replaced with a flower shop at one end, and a fancy restaurant at the other. All around are lunch options, ranging from shepherd's pies to pizza to pasta, and to the sandwiches that we got. Of course, the occasional ice cream and chocolatier were dotted around the inside as well.

After lunch, we made our way to the Viadukt, an open-air mall that is built into the side of, well, a viaduct. What once carried water from one part of the city now houses the city's most hip shopping, dining, and nightclubs. We said goodbye to Jennifer, as she had both a dentist's appointment and a meeting to attend, discussed a meeting point for later, and then my sister and I set off down the street. Mostly due to her penchant for window shopping, we weaved in and out of stores for the better part of an hour before deciding to head back to the old town to check out a few of the churches that our cousins recommended touring.

Que another tram ride, and my sister continually questioning my sense of direction. (Another thing that would become a theme for the trip, but not exciting enough to mention. Just assume that when we are by ourselves and we head from one place to another, my sister is questioning my map reading abilities until we are actually inside the place we are looking for.) The first tram took us to the central station, and then a quick look at the lines told us we could have stayed on that tram for a few more stops to reach our destination. Because they come relatively often (at least once every 10 minutes during the busier parts of the day) we took the time to fill our water bottles at the fountain, and wait for the tram we just got off to come back again.

Although we could have taken the tram to the inside of the old town, we decided to get off on the outskirts, so we could walk through most of the area as possible. While following the directions on the map to get to the first of the three churches, we came across something that I would not believe actually happened if I had not taken any pictures of it. The entire square in front of this church was bright pink. And I don't mean entire square in a superficial and exaggerating for the enjoyment of my readers entire square, I actually mean the entire square. The keen-eyed reader will realize that the descriptions and pictures to follow give way to the title of this day's adventure.

What I presume used to be a stone square ringed in brick sidewalks, was now a bright pink astroturf square ringed in brick sidewalks. And I mean bright pink. At one end of the square (It was ovular in shape but they're still called squares for some reason) was a giant water fountain, both a nice showpiece, and providing drinking water for the public. At the other end of the not square square was a giant pink cube. It seemed to serve no purpose, save for its own existence. Affixed to every light post and building were white and pink banners which seemed to advertise the coming of some festival happening through the month of June.

The very pink not square square with its bright pink cube. Directly behind

this picture is one of the churches we were looking for. We were so distracted

by the pink square that we passed by it about three times before finally "finding" it.

The other end of the square featuring the fountain.

Showcasing some of the banners along with the fountain.

After our encounter with the bright pink square, we continued wandering around the old town "looking" for the churches. One ended up being closed, and we couldn't find the other for some time because it was right next to the very distracting pink square. However, we did end up finding a local chocolatier, and enjoyed their delicious gelato while contemplating where to spend the next two hours of the day before we were to meet back up with our cousins.

One of the smaller streets in the old town, proudly flying the Swiss flag.

After wandering aimlessly for about a half hour (which drew many complaints from my sister that we weren't actually going anywhere. Which to be fair, was entirely true. But our preferred types of travel are very different. I prefer to wander and explore randomly and at my own leisure, while she prefers to stick to a guidebook and major attractions. This will be another common theme for the trip, to each of our annoyances.) we came across a very small river leading into Lake Zurich. (After a quick look at the map, it appears to be a branch off of the main river.) There was a sidewalk/dock at the water's edge, which we did not know if we were allowed to walk on, but determined that if no one came to stop us than it was probably for public use. We followed this pathway all the way to the lake, and spent some time taking pictures, and admiring the views.

The secluded and possibly forbidden path down the river.

Instead of having pedestrians wait to cross the six-lane main road,

there was a tunnel underneath. Although you cannot tell from

this picture, the walkway was below the waterline.

Once you exit the tunnel you are greeted by Lake Zurich.

It seemed to be a good place to take some "aesthetic" pictures.

The view of the lake from here was beautiful.

This little tunnel also provided views into one of the city's

private harbors.

We stayed here for a good half hour, admiring the views, and of course, Elizabeth had me take some pictures of her for the "gram". We continued our wandering up the main river, away from the lake, and trying to stay away from as many main streets as possible. (One thing I highly recommend in any city as you might find your favorite things along these routes.) One of the breaks in the floodwall gave us some fantastic views of the other side of the river, and Grossmunster, a 12th-century cathedral.

Grossmunster from the old town side of the river.

One of the city's many clocktowers.

When we finally made our way back to the Central tram station we realized that we still had another hour before we were to meet back up with our cousins. We took this time to explore the other side of the river and take in what it had to offer. This turned out to be a lot of window shopping, and gawking at the prices in a city where the majority of its residents are extremely wealthy. To be fair, we did find a few things that we could afford at a small candy shop in which we were definitely the oldest people in the store aside from the cashier, who was very friendly, but spoke no English at all. (I was also a good two feet taller than most of the other patrons as well!)

After finally meeting back up with our cousins, we took the time to go grocery shopping for that evening's dinner. I believe it was a Greek salad that was delicous, but that may have been a different evening, I do not remember. After dinner, we took our final adventure of the day, a walk around the short hiking path near their apartment. The hills were steep, and we were very out of breath when we reached the top of the trail, but it gave us a glorious view of the city and the lake. It also showed us the impending rainstorm that was coming for us if we stayed too long looking at the view.

Altogether a beautiful view. Lake Zurich, the mountains in the background,

and the barley field in front of us all came together to form one spectacular sight.

As you may have expected, with a view like the one above, we stayed and admired it just a bit too long, and were caught in the storm as we made our way back down the trail. By the time we had made it back to the apartment, all four of us were completely soaked, not to mention exhausted. So we dried off, recapped the day, watched another episode of Arrested Development, and went to bed hoping the Eurail pass would be in the mailbox by the time we woke up.