Fourth of July and last court visit.

Sunday we celebrated Independence Day in true American fashion. We cooked hamburgers and (kinda) hotdogs, which we had to walk over a mile to find. Although, we did get guided all the way there by a kind old lady who apparently just wanted to help some Americans on the fourth. She had lived in New York for thirty younger years as a social worker. Five or six of our classmates came over and after lunch we proceeded to play some drinking games. Then most of us headed to the group hotel to swim in their indoor pool and relax in the sauna. Then, we walked to dinner at tiny little Italian place where we (I) must have drank more than expected as the conversation turned to metaphysics on high volume. The group of us at the apartment made it back pretty early and I was able to get in a nice talk with Kim, until my computer died, and get in some reading.

Monday morning was a long day as we had class and then a trip to the European Court of Human Rights. This court hears cases from states party to the Council of Europe, which is similar to the EU but with 47 states and a different treaty. The court is in an amazing building and we had a discussion with one of the early members of the Commission (before it was absorbed into the Court later). Long story short, the court hears some great Human Rights cases (and tons of them) and hands out fines to violating member states, although it has lately sought to enforce injunctions. This is the last court we will visit, and all in all I must say there are too many courts and too many varying treaties/rules. However, they are all worthwhile endeavors and when a stronger union emerges I’m sure pieces of each system will be incorporated. Monday night was really fun, two of the girls in our group that are staying our complex made lentil soup w/ sausages, chicken with peppers, and salad. Then we walked into the city and had gelato, which is amazing. It was a nice slow evening (again with a call to Kim and some reading).