Law, Partially

Ireland exudes a certain romantic lure. Christine, Bobby, and I had never been but were drawn. We wanted to jam one last European trip in this year before heading to the U.S. for Christmas. How could we have known the weather would be so cold and rainy in December? We were anxious to spend some time in Ireland because so many people talk so fondly of the place, and it has experienced a remarkable economic transformation (we, of course, being contributors to the blog Law Partially are always interested in the legal-socio-economic structures underlying our tourism destinations). I love the  Irish language  and Irish names. I love that the language is so old and a bit strange and actually hardly used anymore. We almost named our first born Seamus, and I still plan to name our first daughter Siobhan, even if Mum so far hasn't been convinced. Besides, visiting the Long Room of the Old Library at Trinity College was a bucket list item for Christine and me. In the Long ...

Which city is best? Christine, Bob, and I have been compiling some evidence on two candidates: Barcelona and Lisbon. Barcelona Barcelona is a handsome city like Paris, with a medieval quarter and stately buildings on wide boulevards outside. I was picturing a city full of cafes overflowing with Spanish wines, ham slices cut straight from the legs, sheep cheeses, roasted vegetables, and those famous small glasses of beer. Instead, the city was just overflowing with tourists, many of them at these cafes. Other tourists have as much right to visit Barcelona as the FD Linges. But at some point the city feels a bit less authentic and designed just to serve the tourist trade. Were the people at the sidewalk cafes drinking those giant beers on La Rambla locals? Does it matter? Tourism morality is not easy to make sense of. Unfortunately, we probably just picked a poor weekend to go. We visited on Easter; several venues in our list were closed, including restaurants and museums; and Barc...

In his narrative political history, The Origins of Political Order , Francis Fukuyama described the long road toward creating ordered societies as "getting to Denmark," with Denmark as the terminal example of a prosperous, stable, and peaceful political entity (other examples include Japan, Germany, New Zealand, etc.). Presumably, creating such political order is the goal of all states, so they are each on their way to Denmark. As the FD Linges travel with comparative institutional analysis  in mind, we were excited and curious to get to Denmark for a visit. Bob, at the Christiansborg Palace, welcomes you all to Denmark. According to Wikipedia , this palace is a former royal residence and now the seat of the Danish Parliament, the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme Court of Denmark. According to Bob, it was a place we needed to walk past to get to our next restaurant.  In addition to eating on vacation, now with our walking toddler, we also ...

Amsterdam, you may recall from your years as an undergraduate "studying" abroad in Europe, is a city famous for hookers in windows and coffee shops that sell marijuana but rarely coffee. Amsterdam, you may also recall from your European history classes, was at one time the richest city in the world. In Amsterdam, merchants relied on financial innovations like insurance and the world's first stock exchange to finance sea adventures to Asia and the Americas for spices, porcelain, silver, beaver pelts, gold, et cetera. Remembering the Golden Age of Amsterdam, viewing Rembrandt's Night Watch  at the Rijksmuseum ,  as the afternoon grew longer and Bobby increasingly longed for a nap. Another family photo with a tired baby. Random canal in the background. The canal may be Prinsengracht. Another way to view Amsterdam is as a modern European metropolis with a high standard of living. Loving the modern Amsterdam lifestyle, my sister and her husband make at least...