The Atlanta Report

This report might not get as much viewers as the news about Paris Hilton reentering court for another session. Hope she gets to stay in jail this time.

But Atlanta is great. I have now been here for almost two days and it feels like I have been here longer. Travelling by myself I thought this would mean I would get a lot of time at the hotel lying by the pool and reading books. But as it turns out the hotel is very boring and so is the pool (and also I forgot to bring books). So I have instead been occupied in trying to figure out what Atlanta is all about. The city held the Olympics in 1998 and is also the home of Martin Luther King Jr. The later raises a lot of questions about how the city is coping with racial issues and I must say that still today it is bad or even worse than it has been just a few years ago. This is just an assumption from my part but I get the feeling the Americas thriving economy and the fact that Katarina destroyed most of New Orleans has gathered many poor people in the streets of Atlanta. I usually use the subway here to get around, the MARTA its called (very silly name) but is very nice and takes me around the city for a reasonable price. The people using the subway are manly black (90% I would say) beacuse all the white people use their cars instead. I can understand why as I walk around down town I constantly get stopped by people asking me for money. It is a bit anoying but then again I get to know the city like it is and not from behind the car window.

Yesterday I was took the subway and bus to a place called Atlantic Station. Here I could definetly feel more european than in the other parts of the city. This is a nice and secure area with a lot of shops and restaurants. I went to a restaurant there called the Grape and the first thing I did was order a beer. The russian bartender Alex told me they only serve wine (that might have something to do with the name). So he gave me a glas of a Shiraz called four sisters. He definetly knew a lot about wines and he also knew what wines I wanted to drink. To go with that I ordered lamb chops. I thought it was going to be a big plate but sadly just three chops and some sauce.

Later on two girls and a guy came in and sat next to me at the bar and we started chatting. They were very friendly and I explained what I was doing in Atlanta. After awhile a couple came in. They wanted to sit by the bar but there was only one chair so I said that they could have mine. They were very grateful and we started chatting aswell. It turned out that they were going to get married in a couple of weeks so the owner of the bar gave us all a glas of champagne and we toasted for them. The two girls and the guy asked me if I wanted to join them and look at a movie at the cinema right across the street. I forgot momentarily that I was still very jet laged and accepted the offer. We went and saw Knocked Up. It was a very funny comedy about a one-night stand going wrong and the girl deciding to keep the baby. After the movie I was very tired and took a cab home to the hotel. I feel asleep immediately and woke up with a slight headache.

Today I went to the CNN building and went on a tour to see how they do the news. It was nice to see but I think the Arts museum that I went to yesterday was a lot more bang for the buck. Especially the Anne Liebovitz (something like that) excibition was very moving and left me startled with amazement. I had no idea what kind of a photographer she was but I definitely feelt a connection with a lot of her work and they way she works.

Tonight I think I am going to just read a new book that I have just bought. When the conference starts on sunday I want to be fresh and awake.

ciao.