Hello all!
Typing is a bit slower today as I am on one of the european keyboards. Instead of :qwerty: along the top left of the keyboard; there is :azert: Makes for some strange typing. Plus, the period needs to have a :shift: Arghh
All is well but this is our last day here so we are going to try and do some shopping. We have to change hotels because I messed up the dates but was glad we finally found somewhere as I was told everything in the city was booked!
Yesterday I went to Versaille while the girls went to Disneyland. Each was its own spectacle. Versailles was beyond, beyond extravagant. Never have I seen so much unusual marble carved and used so beautifully: Then there was the paintings, the statues, the moldings, the ceiling murals, the tapestries......wow! And the gardens were gorgeous; too. Simpler but expansive.
Time is counting down at the internet cafe so I must say au revoir!!!!
Monday, June 18, 2007
Saturday, June 16, 2007
In Paris...
Yes, we are in Paris! Sorry its been so long since a posting but finding a computer is difficult. No wireless in the hotel, either!
We've been very busy as you can imagine. (don't mind my spelling...)The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Arc de Triomph, Champs E'lysees, Musee L'Orangerie, Center Pompidou, Basilica Sacre Couer and more! Plus we've been to many, many cafes to rest and recharge.
The dining here is very lengthy and lingering after the meal is over is very common. Meredith likes it and I'm starting to get used to it. There certainly seems to be no hurry to turn tables here.
Everything is very beautiful, very big and very French. Everything we've seen, we've only see a part of! The Louvre is beyond huge. However, we all have our highlights. I loved seeing some of the old medieval art I studied at school. And the Venus de Milo and the Nike statue were awesome, too. What's amazing is that the Louvre is this huge castle as well. So you can be looking at some really old Egypt stuff in a room of marble, gilded walls and mammoth ceiling murals.
Well my internet cafe timer is counting down so I'll say good bye for now and try and write more later!
We've been very busy as you can imagine. (don't mind my spelling...)The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Arc de Triomph, Champs E'lysees, Musee L'Orangerie, Center Pompidou, Basilica Sacre Couer and more! Plus we've been to many, many cafes to rest and recharge.
The dining here is very lengthy and lingering after the meal is over is very common. Meredith likes it and I'm starting to get used to it. There certainly seems to be no hurry to turn tables here.
Everything is very beautiful, very big and very French. Everything we've seen, we've only see a part of! The Louvre is beyond huge. However, we all have our highlights. I loved seeing some of the old medieval art I studied at school. And the Venus de Milo and the Nike statue were awesome, too. What's amazing is that the Louvre is this huge castle as well. So you can be looking at some really old Egypt stuff in a room of marble, gilded walls and mammoth ceiling murals.
Well my internet cafe timer is counting down so I'll say good bye for now and try and write more later!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
National Gallery
Wow! There's not much more to say than that. Never have I seen so many Rembrandts, Raphaels or Rubens in one shot! The last self portrait painted by Rembrandt would have been enough to keep me entranced for an hour. Plus I found 'The Madonna of the Pinks' by Raphael a real gem. But I really had to blow through the final parts at the end. I only got to gape at Cezanne's 'Bathers' for a teeny bit. I loved seeing Carravagio's 'Dinner at Emmaus,' too. There were many surprises too as some of the Velazquez paintings I don't ever remember studying. Seeing the work in person really was enlightening. It was an Art History major's dream. Plus the museum is just gorgeous on its own. And free, too!! Ahh, I could go on and on!
We then saw 'Little Shop of Horrors' which the girls had never seen. Jim and I had seen on off-broadway in the eighties, but I loved it so was game to see it again. It was fantastic. Some of the staging seemed very new to me. The guy who played the dentist/boyfriend of Audrey was really good. The whole show exuded energy and was tons of fun.
Today is our last day in London so I'm going to try and pack in tons of stuff. I'm not sure how we'll hold up but wish us luck!
We then saw 'Little Shop of Horrors' which the girls had never seen. Jim and I had seen on off-broadway in the eighties, but I loved it so was game to see it again. It was fantastic. Some of the staging seemed very new to me. The guy who played the dentist/boyfriend of Audrey was really good. The whole show exuded energy and was tons of fun.
Today is our last day in London so I'm going to try and pack in tons of stuff. I'm not sure how we'll hold up but wish us luck!
Monday, June 11, 2007
Remember, Remember, the fifth of November!
Third day in London! I'm very glad that London is a little more internet-friendly than Amsterdam... there are internet cafes everywhere. Today we woke up bright and early and headed to the London Tower. It was very cool, it was the Buckingham Palace of back in the day, but it's most interesting and talked-about history all involves executions. We had a great tour guide who was very excited about telling us all about the executions, from Henry the Eighth's many wives, to Lady Jane Grey (the almost queen at age 16... before she was beheaded), to the infamous GUY FAWKES. Some of the descriptions were pretty gruesome but very interesting.
After that we headed to this cool noodle place for lunch, yum! Then, we trekked over to Trafalger Square to visit the National Gallery. Meredith and I got bored after a while and it brought us here. Mom is still looking at all the paintings! There's so many of them, but my favorites were the Van Gogh Sunflowers and Leonardo DaVinci's Virgin on the Rocks, which is incidentally, not a fruity drink. The cool thing about the DaVinci is that really recently they discovered with infared cameras that DaVinci originally had Mary holding Baby Jesus, but for some reason he changed it. Interesting stuff!
Okay, now Meredith and I are going to go shopping for a bit and then we're going to head over to the Duke of York Theater to see Little Shop of Horrors! Bye!!
After that we headed to this cool noodle place for lunch, yum! Then, we trekked over to Trafalger Square to visit the National Gallery. Meredith and I got bored after a while and it brought us here. Mom is still looking at all the paintings! There's so many of them, but my favorites were the Van Gogh Sunflowers and Leonardo DaVinci's Virgin on the Rocks, which is incidentally, not a fruity drink. The cool thing about the DaVinci is that really recently they discovered with infared cameras that DaVinci originally had Mary holding Baby Jesus, but for some reason he changed it. Interesting stuff!
Okay, now Meredith and I are going to go shopping for a bit and then we're going to head over to the Duke of York Theater to see Little Shop of Horrors! Bye!!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
London Calling!!
Amsterdam was a blast! I was obsessed with our hotel guy... TIMO! But, he wasn't really friendly (the Dutch have no sense of humor, according to the Belgian man who gave us our train tickets), Meredith and I just really liked to bother Timo. We did tons of fun stuff that my mom already wrote about, but I thought I'd link this video that we made at the Heineken museum, it's pretty silly! You can view it HERE! Meredith and I especially loved our hotel, to Mom's dismay. We loved it for the same reason she hated it... smack dab in the center of the Red Light District!
However, now, Woo hoo! We're in London! It's so exciting being here, I can't even wrap my head around all the history. There are buildings from the year 1020... and to think that America's only been a country for 200 some years, sort of wimpy compared to the UK! We took one of those really cheesy double-decker bus tours today, but it was great to get a sense of everything around us. We were able to see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and most importantly Harry Potter's (Daniel Radcliffe's) high school!!
I feel so dumb-sounding with my American accent. Brits all sound so proper and I just sound like a silly Yank. So far, everyone has been really nice and helpful, especially when we're lost... which is ALL THE TIME. London is massive!! Oh, and the shopping is fantastic! Mom and I went to the Portebello Market which is this huge flea market/antique shopping area in Notting Hill (yep, like the Hugh Grant movie). Tonight, we're going to try and go to Buckingham Palace to get a better view, since our tour bus wasn't allowed directly in front for security reasons.
The most irritating part about London is how expensive it is! Plus, the American dollar is basically worthless, a British pound is two American dollars. Just to put this into perspective, a Mocha at Starbucks is about three pounds... SIX American dollars!!!! Ahh!!! Not good for my Starbucks addiction, or for shopping.
Our hotel here is not quite as seedy as our hotel in Amsterdam, but it is a little strange. We're in the middle of St. Christopher's Place, a really great eating and shopping area. Unfortunately, the beds are very small and one "bed" is just a mattress on the ground. You can guess us three girls escalate into dramatics whenever we have to decide who is banished to the mattress... Oh, and no one actually is working in the hotel after 3'oclock, slightly weird!!
Okay, I'm going to get going now, but leave a comment if you want anything while we're in Europe! XOXO!
However, now, Woo hoo! We're in London! It's so exciting being here, I can't even wrap my head around all the history. There are buildings from the year 1020... and to think that America's only been a country for 200 some years, sort of wimpy compared to the UK! We took one of those really cheesy double-decker bus tours today, but it was great to get a sense of everything around us. We were able to see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and most importantly Harry Potter's (Daniel Radcliffe's) high school!!
I feel so dumb-sounding with my American accent. Brits all sound so proper and I just sound like a silly Yank. So far, everyone has been really nice and helpful, especially when we're lost... which is ALL THE TIME. London is massive!! Oh, and the shopping is fantastic! Mom and I went to the Portebello Market which is this huge flea market/antique shopping area in Notting Hill (yep, like the Hugh Grant movie). Tonight, we're going to try and go to Buckingham Palace to get a better view, since our tour bus wasn't allowed directly in front for security reasons.
The most irritating part about London is how expensive it is! Plus, the American dollar is basically worthless, a British pound is two American dollars. Just to put this into perspective, a Mocha at Starbucks is about three pounds... SIX American dollars!!!! Ahh!!! Not good for my Starbucks addiction, or for shopping.
Our hotel here is not quite as seedy as our hotel in Amsterdam, but it is a little strange. We're in the middle of St. Christopher's Place, a really great eating and shopping area. Unfortunately, the beds are very small and one "bed" is just a mattress on the ground. You can guess us three girls escalate into dramatics whenever we have to decide who is banished to the mattress... Oh, and no one actually is working in the hotel after 3'oclock, slightly weird!!
Okay, I'm going to get going now, but leave a comment if you want anything while we're in Europe! XOXO!
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Computer at last!
Well, the girls have been mocking me terribly because I've been so computer deprived! But of course it is only so I can update you all! I'm at an internet cafe while laundry is getting done next door.
We had a great time in Amsterdam but are now in London after a half day of travel.
We did lots of walking in Amsterdam and rode the Canal boats, too. There are over 1700 bridges among the 63 miles of canals. Over 300 of the bridges date from the 17th century. At night they are lit up and it is quite beautiful. I took lots of photos of the canal houses because things were going by too fast to appreciate all the fabulous architecture.
We went to theRijksmuseum and it was very nice. Meredith wasn't feeling well but was a real trouper. It was a nice museum in that it wasn't too big...very manageable. We saw 2 awesome dollhouses that were made for some wealthy merchant's daughter. A replica of their own house down to the last detail. Even marble floors. And it was wonderful to see the Rembrandts but my favorites were the Vermeers. Little gems!
We went to the Heineken Experience as well and that was...an experience! Not a working brewery, but a museum of the old brewery. There were a couple of "pseudo" rides. You know the kind - you're perched on a platform that moves while watching a video in front of you on a big screen. In one of the rides we were a beer bottle going through the bottling process. We also, of course, got tokens for beer.
We went into an old church and it was beautiful. Amsterdam is very protestant though so the inside was very plain. There is a long history of the tension between catholicism and protestantism as well as monarchy rule versus a sort of burgher rule. It has been difficult to keep the timeline all in my head and I expect when I return I'll do some more reading to get it all figured out.
We've had beautiful weather the whole time. Just last night it thunderstormed and it was much needed as it was getting muggy. As it began to pour we ducked into a restaraunt and had a nice dinner. All our meals have been good and everyone has been so nice to us. The people there speak excellent English as well as many other languages. It's quite impressive.
We never got the opportunity to rent bikes but it was easy to see that was the preferred way to get around the city. The bikes all take precendence - even over the pedestrians. The bikes are big and sturdy with high handlebars. However, no one wears helmets! Even little kids perched on the fronts and backs of the bikes are helmetless. Although we did notice that the bike police wear helmets.
Now we are in London and are anxious for our London excursions to begin! We flew over via British Midland and it was a great airline. Sooo roomy. We managed the tube fine until we tried to find our hotel. Ooops! Mom messed up and took us to the same named street in the wrong part of town. Locals were kind enough to point us in the right direction and commented that it happened all the time! Back on the tube, pulling our luggage and we finally made it. It is a newly remodeled, tiny hotel but I think it will serve us fine. The price is certainly right. And given how poor the American dollar is over here, I'm glad.
I know there's more to say about Amsterdam but I just can't think of it now. We've taken lots of photos and of course the girls have their own silly stories. I'll try and get them to post soon.
We had a great time in Amsterdam but are now in London after a half day of travel.
We did lots of walking in Amsterdam and rode the Canal boats, too. There are over 1700 bridges among the 63 miles of canals. Over 300 of the bridges date from the 17th century. At night they are lit up and it is quite beautiful. I took lots of photos of the canal houses because things were going by too fast to appreciate all the fabulous architecture.
We went to theRijksmuseum and it was very nice. Meredith wasn't feeling well but was a real trouper. It was a nice museum in that it wasn't too big...very manageable. We saw 2 awesome dollhouses that were made for some wealthy merchant's daughter. A replica of their own house down to the last detail. Even marble floors. And it was wonderful to see the Rembrandts but my favorites were the Vermeers. Little gems!
We went to the Heineken Experience as well and that was...an experience! Not a working brewery, but a museum of the old brewery. There were a couple of "pseudo" rides. You know the kind - you're perched on a platform that moves while watching a video in front of you on a big screen. In one of the rides we were a beer bottle going through the bottling process. We also, of course, got tokens for beer.
We went into an old church and it was beautiful. Amsterdam is very protestant though so the inside was very plain. There is a long history of the tension between catholicism and protestantism as well as monarchy rule versus a sort of burgher rule. It has been difficult to keep the timeline all in my head and I expect when I return I'll do some more reading to get it all figured out.
We've had beautiful weather the whole time. Just last night it thunderstormed and it was much needed as it was getting muggy. As it began to pour we ducked into a restaraunt and had a nice dinner. All our meals have been good and everyone has been so nice to us. The people there speak excellent English as well as many other languages. It's quite impressive.
We never got the opportunity to rent bikes but it was easy to see that was the preferred way to get around the city. The bikes all take precendence - even over the pedestrians. The bikes are big and sturdy with high handlebars. However, no one wears helmets! Even little kids perched on the fronts and backs of the bikes are helmetless. Although we did notice that the bike police wear helmets.
Now we are in London and are anxious for our London excursions to begin! We flew over via British Midland and it was a great airline. Sooo roomy. We managed the tube fine until we tried to find our hotel. Ooops! Mom messed up and took us to the same named street in the wrong part of town. Locals were kind enough to point us in the right direction and commented that it happened all the time! Back on the tube, pulling our luggage and we finally made it. It is a newly remodeled, tiny hotel but I think it will serve us fine. The price is certainly right. And given how poor the American dollar is over here, I'm glad.
I know there's more to say about Amsterdam but I just can't think of it now. We've taken lots of photos and of course the girls have their own silly stories. I'll try and get them to post soon.
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
We made it!
Hurray! We made it to Amsterdam!! Our flight went very well except that it is hard to sleep on a plane. It was a challenge figuring out the transportation to the hotel but the guy at the ticket counter was flattering and funny. He explained it was because he was not Dutch, but rather from Belgium.
We found our hotel which I think might be described as sketchy, but the girls love it. One might say it is right on the cusp of the red light district but for mothering purposes I will say it really is near Dam square. We have to take two, narrow flights up to our triple. Our bathroom is basically one big shower that also houses a toilet and sink. We have a teeny balcony that over looks Dam Straat and we hear all kinds of interesting noises all hours of the day.
We mostly chilled the first day trying to get our sleeping schedule right. But it still isn't! Most everyone speaks English and try as we might we do stick out like tourists.
Today (Tuesday) we woke up early to do stuff and found that people here like to sleep in. Makes sense given the commotion we heard at 4:30 that morning. We finally found a small coffee shop and had a light breakfast.
Our first stop was the Anne Frank house and as you can imagine it was very sad. The museum part was beautifully done and going through the rooms where she and her family hid was very moving. We saw her actually diary, too.
We then decided to walk to the Van Gogh museum which was farther than we thought. However, the weather was beautiful and it was so wonderful to look around at all the cool architecture. We followed one of the canals and it was quite idyllic. Everything is so pretty here and so interesting to look at. Every building seems so unique.
We took a drink break before heading to the museum. The museum was nice but we realized that many of his famous paintings are spread out all over the world...many in the US. However, I saw the painting of his room (one of my favs), a sunflower painting and an iris painting. There also was a Max Beckman show which I enjoyed but the girls were not impressed by his heavy black outlining!
We had a nice lunch at the museum and then decided to take a tram back. It took a little figuring but it saved our feet. We are now in an afternoon rest mode. The girls are napping and I'm at a McDonalds using the wireless. T-spot mobile which I had to pay for! Arghh!! It was the only place I could find!.
We found our hotel which I think might be described as sketchy, but the girls love it. One might say it is right on the cusp of the red light district but for mothering purposes I will say it really is near Dam square. We have to take two, narrow flights up to our triple. Our bathroom is basically one big shower that also houses a toilet and sink. We have a teeny balcony that over looks Dam Straat and we hear all kinds of interesting noises all hours of the day.
We mostly chilled the first day trying to get our sleeping schedule right. But it still isn't! Most everyone speaks English and try as we might we do stick out like tourists.
Today (Tuesday) we woke up early to do stuff and found that people here like to sleep in. Makes sense given the commotion we heard at 4:30 that morning. We finally found a small coffee shop and had a light breakfast.
Our first stop was the Anne Frank house and as you can imagine it was very sad. The museum part was beautifully done and going through the rooms where she and her family hid was very moving. We saw her actually diary, too.
We then decided to walk to the Van Gogh museum which was farther than we thought. However, the weather was beautiful and it was so wonderful to look around at all the cool architecture. We followed one of the canals and it was quite idyllic. Everything is so pretty here and so interesting to look at. Every building seems so unique.
We took a drink break before heading to the museum. The museum was nice but we realized that many of his famous paintings are spread out all over the world...many in the US. However, I saw the painting of his room (one of my favs), a sunflower painting and an iris painting. There also was a Max Beckman show which I enjoyed but the girls were not impressed by his heavy black outlining!
We had a nice lunch at the museum and then decided to take a tram back. It took a little figuring but it saved our feet. We are now in an afternoon rest mode. The girls are napping and I'm at a McDonalds using the wireless. T-spot mobile which I had to pay for! Arghh!! It was the only place I could find!.
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