Bastille Day

July 14th started off like many other summer days in Paris - 65 degrees (fahrenheit) and mostly sunny and it would end with the greatest display of fireworks most of us had ever seen. The day's festivities began around 3pm in the Champs de Mars (the park between the Eiffel Tower and Ecole Militaire). We joined the International group, noted by its roped off plot of land and the large French flag.

As the afternoon turned into evening, the famous French singer, Johnny Halladay, began his performance and the French people continued to stream into the park. By the end of the concert, it was said that there were 800,000 people in attendance. Johnny's final song was noted by one quick burst of fireworks from the sides of the Eiffel Tower and 1 minute of sparkling.

Now with darkness encroaching and 1+ million people in the park, we all prepared to be dazzled. And we were! The display started with a projection on the Eiffel Tower that looked like the Eiffel Tower was being built inside a tetris game. My favorite segments included:

1. 1936 (when France got into WWII - funny, there were no white flags): The music sounded as if it was written in war time and the fireworks looked and sounded like canons being fired
2. late 1950s: bright pink, purple and green flowers were projected along with the hypnotic music of the hippie era
3. 1993 (the year that the EU was established): various European flags were projected flying up the face of the Eiffel Tower with the "Marseillaise" leading the way
4. 2009 (120th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower): the countdown marked the beginning of the grand finale of the fireworks

My description of the fireworks probably have not done them justice, and these probably won't either, but click below to get the idea of how it looked:

• Finale - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FAl3dy9WTQ
• This one starts with the flags going up it, then shows the Eiffel Tower dancing, then it goes into the Finale - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=misk0PvGNvc&feature=related
• This one claims to be the "best of" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUNFxTaCI2c&feature=related
  

Rome (Italia Part IV)

Since our first trip to Rome was cut short, we knew what we still had left to see when we got back. Our mood was only slightly dampened when we got to our hotel and found that we were given the only room without a proper window (as I told Becca, one bad hotel out of the 5 we stayed in that week is not bad... at least there were no bed bugs!).

Since it was later in the day, we decided to stay close and headed over to the Pantheon. This dome was built around 125 A.D. and the fact that it is still standing has amazed architects for centuries. We also passed by the Temple of Hadrian, which was built in honor of Hadrian who took the Roman Empire to its furthest extent. In the 1800s, this row of columns was incorporated into a building that now houses the Stock Exchange and the Chamber of Commerce.











That night, we had a great Roman dinner at a restaurant near Piazza Navona. There, we met 2 really nice women from Pennsylvania who bought us Gelati after dinner (it just occurred to me that I haven't yet bragged about all of the gelati we ate... yummy). Before heading in for the night, we stopped at Campo di Fiori for a drink. During the day, Campo di Fiori is an outdoor food market, but at night, the bars around the square open up with outdoor seating where the youth of Rome go to drink.

The next morning I dragged Becca out of bed early so that we could try to beat the lines at the Colosseum. We found out that you if you go to the Forum first, you can buy both tickets and not wait on line at the Colosseum. We also decided to get the audio tour for the Forum, which I'm not sure I would recommend. We both found the audio tour directions VERY confusing (example "Now turn around. You will see two ancient stones..."-- if you did a full turn, you would see at least 4 sets of "two ancient stones").









So, 2+ hours and lots of sweat (it was pretty warm out) later, we exited the Forum and found out that we had to go back to the beginning to return the audio tours. We finally made it to the Colosseum mid-afternoon and had no problem getting in with our pre-purchased tickets. With no audio tour this time, we just followed the recommended path and took pictures to at least show that we made the effort to go there. With what little energy we had left, we went down to the Circus Maximus which was only half worth seeing-- it may have originally been where the chariot races were, but now it's just a park. We read later that all of the marble had been stolen in the past centuries to build other things.









After a short rest, we went for dinner in Trastavere, which is where we found the church that we went to for Easter Mass the next morning (left). Santa Maria in Trastavere has an interesting history - according to legend, on the day Christ was born a stream of pure oil flowed from the earth on the site of the church, signifying the coming of the grace of God. The column next to the altar that marks the spot has survived through the many renovations that were done since it was originally builts in the 3rd century. We didn't understand a word of the Easter Mass, and much to Becca's dismay, we didn't sing, but at least we went!

We left town early and stayed at a nice hotel near the airport. While that may sound lame, it was a nice calm ending to a long, but very fun, week. And now, back to Paris...

Florence (Italia Part III)

We arrived in Florence to find that our hotel was on the "5th Avenue" of Florence. After checking in, we averted our eyes from the designer clothing (and prices) and headed towards the Duomo. There were two long lines - one to go up to the cupola (dome) and one to go inside the Basilica. We decided to skip the cupola line and go the next morning (thus continuing the theme of not getting into church domes... when we went back the next day, it was closed until after Easter).

We found the inside of the Duomo quite anticlimactic (below, left)-- though the structure is beautiful, all of the statues and artwork were removed and put into a museum behind the church. We decided to go to the museum, which is where we saw Michaelangelo's other Pieta, and a creepy wooden statue of Mary Magdalene (below, middle). On the way over there, we also passed the "Gates of Paradise" (below, right).











Though we SAID we were not going to shop that day... we did. We went to the leather market at San Lorenzo and it was quite a sight to be seen. There are about 4 blocks worth of carts full of bags, belts, shoes, jackets, wallets, etc with 1-5 shopkeepers at each. Despite that bargaining is commonly practiced, I'm pretty sure Becca put a few merchants out of business with her newly acquired bargaining skills (by the way, I'm in NO way surprised that she's good at that). We each got leather jackets and sandals; I got 2 leather bags (over the top, I know... I already hyperventilated and there's no need to rub it in...).

After hauling our goods back to the hotel, we headed out for a traditional Florentine meal. We went to this great restaurant called Le Mossacce, where we ordered our first course of Ribollita (bean, bread and veggie stew) and cannelloni. We were seated near the open kitchen, and watched them prepare Bistecca alla Fiorentina (and by "prepare" I mean we watched the cook take a meat cleaver and hack away at a very large piece of beef).

Not only was the food great, but so was the company-- next to us sat a very nice couple from Belgium that we ended up hanging out with for the rest of the night. We met others along the way, including a 16 year old Italian (who had quite a knack for acting) with his American exchange student, and another very odd American guy who asked each girl if he could "walk her home" and would not take "no" for an answer.

The next morning we slept in a bit, then headed towards the Ponte Vecchio. This bridge was the only bridge in Florence that survived WWII. Each side of the bridge is lined with shops (mostly beautiful gold jewelry that I really, really couldn't afford after the previous day) and flowers. The first bridge to stand on this spot was built in 996; various floods swept it away, and the current structure dates back to 1345.


Instead of waiting on line at the Uffizi, we bought our tickets for the next day and headed to the Accademia to see Michaelangelo's David. We waited about about an hour and a half to see David (and Michaelangelo's Four Slaves-- they are the only interesting pieces in the small museum). David was pretty cool though-- Michaelangelo liked to create his art considering the perspective of the viewer. For example, the head and hands are larger, as if Michaelangelo gave advanced thought as to where the viewer would be standing (below, not straight on). Obviously we weren't allowed to take pictures, so you'll have to use your imagination.

After that, we went back to the Duomo and up the Bell Tower for a great view of the city (in case you wondered if I got any exercise that week, the Bell Tower had 414 steps... phew). We ended the day at Piazzale Michaelangelo, which is on a hill just south of the River Arno. This is the best view of Florence and the surrounding hills of Tuscany. There was another statue of David-- bronze this time-- and I was actually allowed to take a picture:











On our last half day in Florence, we saw the Santa Croce Basilica (we avoided the leather school in order to save our wallets) where Michaelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli were entombed. Another really cool item was the monument to Gionanni Battista Niccolini by Pio Fredi, which looks a lot like the Statue of Liberty-- it was sculpted 14 years before it was presented to the US by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and France... conspiracy? Probably-- this is the French we're talking about...


Then we went to the Uffizi during our alotted time slot. The Uffizi (translated "Offices") was originally built for the Medici family. Here, the Medicis brought together their extensive art collection, including Botticelli's Birth of Venus and La Primavera, and Titian's Venus of Urbino.

Then we hauled everything - leather, glass, and our tired bodies - back to Rome...

Venice (Italia Part II)

We got into Venice just after dark on Monday evening. We stayed in a hotel just down the street from the train station (which usually sounds sketchy-- but there is NOTHING sketchy about Venice). I don't know what we did to be special, but we got a great, private terrace attached to our room! After settling in, we went out and managed to get lost (on purpose) in the windy streets and find a nice little restaurant where we fed our faces with pasta.

The next morning, we headed out to Murano, the island just outside of Venice where the Venetian glass is blown. I don't know what I thought I would see, but I did not expect a crew that looked like they belonged on American Choppers (minus the fat/muscle). There they were: these scrawny, tattooed, chain-smoking men molding what will eventually be a gorgeous, multi-colored Venetian glass chandelier. Hopefully Becca will not hate me forever for talking her out of buying the glass clock that we saw in the here.

The rest of the day consisted of buying, buying and more buying. After Murano, we took a Vaparetto (ferry) to St Marks Square; once we'd said "ooo another big old church with lots of pigeons hanging out outside" we continued up towards the Rialto Bridge and we proceeded to spend, spend, spend. I bought myself a bracelet, some earrings, shoes, and a perfume bottle (before you go thinking I'm all selfish and stuff, I DID buy gifts that I haven't given out yet, so I cannot mention them :-) ).

We had dinner at a local restaurant recommended by one of the glass dealers that we met earlier in the day. I had cuttlefish and polenta, which is a local specialty (translated, cuttlefish = squid in squid ink sauce; polenta is cornmeal).

(But seriously, St. Marks was nice. We even went to the lookout point -- here are some pictures):


Bright and early the next morning, we were off to Florence...

Italia - where i'm from? (Part I - Roma)

The planning began all the way back in January-- flights and train tickets purchased, hotels booked-- all for Becca and me to travel to Italy during the week before Easter. You'd think it would have been a smooth entrance into Rome, but of course Becca's flight after her layover in Portugal was cancelled (who knew that the Portuguese Pilots go on strike every Easter?), so my first 24 hours in Italy were spent by myself.

After spending Sunday morning getting the lay of the land, I finally met up with Becca and we headed out to the Spanish Steps (described in Let's Go as "designed by an Italian, paid for by the French, named for the Spaniards, occupied by the British, and currently featuring American greats like Ronald McDonald, the Spanish Steps exude worldliness"). Becca's pictures are better, but here is an idea ---------->

We then proceeded on to Villa Borghese, and umm, went into the Galleria Borghese (we didn't actually, but I'm forbidden from telling Laura Parry that... it wasn't our fault that they had sold out their tickets for the day!). We got a little lost in the park (this is where we learned that none of the signs in Italy actually point in the direction that you want to go), but finally found the Terrace on Pincio, which has a great view of Piazza del Popolo (picture on the left)


To finish off the shortened day of sightseeing, we headed over to the Fountain of Trevi. We tossed in a coin over our shoulder, as is tradition... however, we didn't read the tradition close enough to see that if you tossed in 2 coins, you would fall in love in Rome. So the good news is that apparently I will have a speedy return to Rome, but the bad news is that I won't be falling in love there.

Fast forward 8 hours... it's about 3:30am and I wake up to a rattling sound and I am CONVINCED that someone is trying to break into our hotel room. I wake Becca (it's like waking the dead) to tell her and she claims it's the wind. I get up, make sure the door is locked and go back to sleep. In the morning, Becca off-handedly suggests that maybe it was an earthquake because she thinks she remembers the ground moving-- aaaand she was right. And I thought it was an intruder.

After that revelation at 8am, we got ourselves out the door and over to the Vatican to attempt to beat the lines. We started out with the Vatican Museum. We saw the famous Raphael frescoes - The School of Athens and The Deliverance of St Peter (both below) and OF COURSE, Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel (yeah, you're not supposed to take pictures in there, but we did it anyway- left)




Before heading out to Piazza San Pietro, we sent off a few postcards to the fam through the Vatican Post Office (to which I received a lackluster thanks for-- the Vatican has their very own postal system for goodness sake!!). Though the line to enter St. Peter's Basilica wrapped around 2/3rds of the square, it did not take long to enter the Basilica itself. The only reason the line is so long is due to the security-- the St Peters is the largest Christian Church in the world, and can hold 60,000 people. It took 120 years to build the Basilica as it is today - it was completed in 1626. Sadly, we ran out of time to go up into the dome (this became a theme in our trip-- both running out of time and not getting to up into the domes).

Another highlight of the inside of St Peters is Michaelangelo's Pieta-- and while I did find it moving, in my mind it's closely rivaled by his other Pieta, located in the Duomo Museum (actually, Museo dell'Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore) in Florence. You may need to see it in person, but here are my pictures:



Now off to Venice...

Fam comes to Paris!

Just as Marisa left, Mom, Ted and T arrived. Despite eyes weary with jetlag, we headed over to the Marche Aligre to buy some fruits, veggies and lunch items for the week. After eating some of these items back at Aunt Sue's apartment, we headed out for a walk. We walked down towards the River Seine and walked along the left bank until we got to Notre Dame. On the way back, we stopped for some gelato on Ile St Louis. While Sue and the men waited on line, mom and I drooled in front of the window of my favorite scarf store, Bayram. Though dissatisfied with not buying anything at the scarf store, the gelato was able to distract us.

Throughout the rest of the week, we hit some fun tourist destinations:
1) The top of the Sacre Coeur












Un petit cafe:












The Opera House (Garnier):

Aaaammmmsterdaaam (red lights, coffee shops and beer, oh my!)

I woke up bright and early on Saturday morning and hopped a flight to Amsterdam. I met Marisa and her friend Sharon at the airport there. We took the train to our hotel then went out to meet Sharon's friend Jemma (who is studying abroad in Amsterdam) for a pancake lunch (think: salty or sweet crepes - only bigger!). Jemma showed us around a bit, then we went out on our own to explore. We took a boat tour that took us through the canals and gave us a bit of history (they explained that the large hooks on the gables of the buildings are there so people can move in and out, since their stairways are so narrow). That night, we had dinner at a bar near the red light district (believe it or not, it's difficult NOT to go out around there - it's huge!)

The next day, we started out at the Anne Frank House. This is where she and her family hid out during WWII. I think I was too young when I read her book to understand what an amazing writer she was - she was only 13 years old!

That afternoon, we headed over to the Heineken Factory to see how the famous beer gets made. We got to see how the beer was processed and what goes into it. If anyone goes on the tour, DO NOT eat the hops... I wish I had gotten a picture of Marisa's face as she munched on a large pinch of that green stuff...



I left Amsterdam early the next morning to go back to Paris. Sharon and Marisa stayed an extra day then headed to Paris as well. Marisa stayed with me and went to do her sightseeing thing while I worked during the day. Tuesday night was St. Patrick's Day and I found an Expat Party in Pigalle (oddly enough, right next to the Moulin Rouge). Naturally, we made Marisa a t-shirt
<---------------------- Then we drank and danced the night away:









(note to reader: I've obviously left parts out this entry... I'll leave it up to your imagination to guess what happened...)

More pics:
http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=397298016/a=145697016_145697016/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

I <3 Madrid

I completely heart Spain. I don't know if it was the wonderful weather, the beautiful sights, or the tapas and beer, but whatever it was, I fell in love.

Saturday was the picture perfect day - it started out with breakfast and a trip to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, which is the 2nd largest private art collection after the British Royal Collection. While I knew that there were two other museums that I should go to, I just couldn't see spending the day indoors.

I headed towards Puerta del Sol and the shopping area and of course I bought something (picture to the right). Then, I continued on to the Opera House (Teatro Real), which has a beautiful garden in front of it called Plaza de Oriente that leads up to the Museo Palacio Real. Past the Museo is the magnificent La catedral de Santa María La Real de La Almudena (picture on the left) the plan for this cathedral started back in the 1600s, but wasn't completed until the 1950s. It was worth the wait-- the colors on the inside were absolutely amazing.


After visiting the cathedral, I headed over towards the Plaza Mayor. Though the name of the Plaza has changed about a dozen times over the years, the original construction was completed in 1790. It's been used for various purposes, including markets, bullfights, and executions, but now it's mainly a tourist trap.

On Sunday, I knew I had to hit a few museums, but I admit that I rushed through them just so I could get back outside. I went to see Picasso's Guernica (a reminder below - it's 11.5 feet tall and 25.5 feet wide!) at Centro de Arte Reina Sophia, then headed over to the Museo del Prado to check out the classics by Velazquez, Titian, Goya and El Greco.


After hitting the museums, I "retired" in Parque del Retiro. After soaking up some rays, I took a walk through the park to see the Palacio de Velazquez and the Palacio de Cristal. Here are some pictures that I took in the park:

Susan's Return

After a small teaspoon of guilt, I managed to talk Susan into coming back to France to visit me for my birthday. This time instead of suffering in the Marriott on Champs-Elysees, she had the luxury of staying over at my apartment (note the sarcasm: she even refused to sleep on the air mattress, so she stayed on the couch). Despite some serious lack of sleep for both of us last week (there was one night that we were both up at 3am, so I suggested a glass of wine, which she laughed at but drank anyway), we were still able to have some fun.

On Sunday, since we couldn't shop, we went over to St. Chapelle (the church that shares the Ile-de-Paris with Notre Dame, but is often overlooked) and Musee d'Orsay. The building that is now a Museum was a train station until the late 1930s, then a movie set, a mailing center during WW II, and even a hotel. Once the hotel was closed in 1973, it became the Museum that it is today - it holds a large collection of famous impressionist paintings, such as Van Gogh's self portrait (you know, the one where his head is turned so that you can't see his gross ear) and Degas' ballerinas.

Susan and I headed out to London on Thursday. While the flying experience was not as smooth as I thought it would be (gee thanks EasyJet), we managed to get to the hotel (the Marriott next to the London Eye) before noon. We figured since we couldn't check into the hotel yet, we would take a ride on the Eye. Once we got down, we walked along the Jubiliee path that follows the Thames on the south side to the Tate Modern.

Here was the view from the hotel room:













On the walk back towards the hotel, we stopped at St. Paul's Cathedral and watched the tail-end of the evening mass. While the outside of St Paul's looks like many other cathedrals, the interior sets it apart - the mosaics and paintings on the inside make the church sparkle at all times of the day.

After quite a long day of travel and walking, we stopped at a recommended bar (Blackfriar Pub - very nice little bar on the north side of the Blackfriar Bridge) for a couple of pints and some fish and chips.

We woke up early on Friday morning and started the day by passing the Houses of Parliament and taking a tour of Westminster Abbey. With the price of admission, we also got the audio tour which made the tour much more interesting. Then we walked over to Buckingham Palace, expecting to catch the changing of the guards, but...

So we proceeded on to Trafalgar Square
--->

Then we figured it might be fun to see the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London. Little did we know that it's practically an amusement park for children of all ages. Let's just say we saw the jewels, browsed at some other sites then walked across the famous Tower Bridge (though not to be confused with the London Bridge, which is the next one upriver and much less interesting). We finished the day at Oxford Circle to do some shopping, which we found was absolutely swarming with people on a Friday evening.

When we got back to Paris on Saturday night we went out to a great bar called Caveau des Oubliettes, which translates to "vault of the forgotten." It was once a real dungeon! The band (and company) was great!

Whew, well I guess we did do a lot in one week... I guess that explains why I stayed in all week and went to bed early every night :-)