I once watched a very interesting and insightful film about the cultural differences between Europeans and Americans. It was called Eurotrip. The Americans go to Europe and somehow the continent survives. My favorite scene in the movie is when the kids in the movie arrive in Bratislava. One of them says “we are in Eastern Europe.” This is what they see:

And then a local comes out of the building and says “you Americans? I love America. We just get the Miami Vice.” 2004 was when this little masterpiece was made. Now mind you, I am sure that many people don’t think all of Eastern Europe looks like those apartment buildings up there. But on my last trip to Poland, I was surprised by how new and modern everything looked:

Here, one of the ugliest pieces of architecture ever conceived, the Warsaw central station, is obscured by the cell phone looking tower, the darkness and the fog:

Here’s a shot of the big avenue running through the entire city:

And this brightly lit shopping street:

Even this thing looks good, at least in the fog and darkness:

Thank you Soviet Union for this lovely gift. Nah, I guess everything has gotten used to it by now.

Oh and Warsaw has a metro now too:

And the requisite shot of the inside of the metro I’ve have taken of the countless public transportation systems I’ve been on:

Love the expression on the face of the woman on the left side of the photo. I guess that makes it different from every other “people on the metro picture” ever.