Red Umbrella Tours

Day 20 Passion Play Trip to Paris, France, Germany, Austria, & London; July 29-Aug 17, 2010

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We had the most wonderful trip!

There were 7 of us exploring Europe together for 20 days. We started in Paris, visiting Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysees, climbing to the top of the Eiffel Tower and soaking up Parisien ambience. We picked up a van, then branched out to Versailles, the Loire Valley and the WWI battlefields of Verdun in Lorraine in NE France.

Here we are on the plane coming home from London. What a congenial group we were. These people were a delight!

Burg Eltz and Bacharach showed ancient German culture, complete with a short trip down the Rhine River. We stayed overnight in Rothenburg, where time stopped in the year 1500.

We stayed below 4 ruined castles in Austria, visited the castle that was Disney's inspiration, ascended to Hitler's Eagle's nest, got trapped in Salzburg, and finally saw the 400 year old traditional Passion Play.

We flew from Munich to London for our last 3 days, and saw the Crown Jewels, rode the London Eye, and went to the theatre.

Day 19 Loose in London! Aug. 16, 2010

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Today was our last day in London, and I gave my people a free day. I like to get them oriented and then turn them loose. They always love the adventure of being on their own in a foreign country, and I love hearing about their adventures when we get back together.

My grand-daughter loves Shakes-peare, so I took her to the Globe Theatre. It's a replica of the original, and it sits on the south bank of the river only a few hundred yards from where the original stood. We took a guided tour and had a wonderful time.

Here we are in the "groundling" space right in front of the stage. These were the cheapest tickets in Shakes-peares' day, what we would call SRO. You had to stand, but you were inches from the actors, and they had to play to you.

We met the others for dinner in a tiny place and then went to Love Never Dies, sequel to Phantom of the Opera. What could be better for our last night in London?

Day 18 London Eye Aug. 15, 2010

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Sunday! We went to church in the Hyde Park Ward. Next door are 2 huge and free museums. The Victoria & Albert has a "Cast Room" with exact replicas of lots of famous statues. You get to see all the famous sculptures in the same place!

In the picture you see a replica of Michel- angelo's David, plus the concrete thing is a cast of one entire house from the a ghetto in India. It was built in the cracks between other houses. You can climb around inside. It's 2 levels, but it's tiny. A family of 8 people lived in the original house.

Then we walked around Parlia- ment and West- minster and started down Whitehall. Around the corner, underneath the Treasury building, are Churchill's War Rooms. This underground complex was his headquarters. Churchill really was the man for the times. You can hear him speaking. His inspired speeches galvanized the country in their darkest hours. You see the famous shot of the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, surrounded with smoke during the Blitz. People stayed up on the roof 24/7 guarding it from burning shrapnel. The Brits would emerge from the subways after a bombing raid, and look to see if the dome of St. Paul's was still there. It became a symbol of their determination.

We came upon a parade and found we'd just missed the Prince. We saw the same folks on TV later that night.

We took the subway and then 2 taxis to the British Museum. I wanted to show them the Rosetta Stone, which cracked the code to Egyptian hieroglyphics. People are always surprised that it's not bigger, because it was so important to our understanding of history. At about 4 feet high, it's totally covered in tiny engraved writing in Greek, demotic, and hieroglyphics. Afterward, we had to zoom to get to a concert at Westminster Abbey by 5:00. We found a red double-decker bus going our way, hopped on, and got there with minutes to spare!

That evening we had tickets to ride the London Eye. This giant ferris wheel turns around once in 30 minutes, providing stellar views of the city with the Thames River, London Bridge, and Parliament far below.

Thirty people ride in one pod, getting a ride they will never forget.

Day 17 Tower of London Aug. 14, 2010

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As soon as we arrived in London on our flight from Munich, we dropped our bags and were off to see the town! Here we are by the Tower Bridge, which spans the Thames River next to the Tower of London.

Famous for the Crown Jewels and the Beef- eaters, the Tower of London is a must- see when you go. As you can tell by the picture, the line to see the jewels is long, but of course we went anyway.

The oldest part is the White Tower, which was built by William the Conquerer, a French invader who crossed the Channel a thousand years ago in 1068. That's it above.

London theatre (notice the British spelling) is the best in the world, and it's cheap. When you throw in the easy availability of half- price tickets, and you see why it's THE place to see great shows! That night we got cheap tix for Love Never Dies, which is the sequel to Phantom of the Opera.

Here's my attempt at an artistically framed shot of Tower Bridge.

Day 16 Munich & Dachau Aug. 13, 2010

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Drive to Munich, tour the concen- tration camp of Dachau, wander down Kaufinger- strasse, watch the Glock- enspiel go off, spend one night, and fly to London in the morning! That's lots of local color in a very short time!

It's only a couple of hours from Oberammergau on the German- Austrian border up to Munich, and the scenery is great. We arrived in time to spend a few hours on a side trip to Dachau.

Dachau was the training for all the other concen-tration camps, and there were hundreds of them. Soldiers were sent here to learn how it was run, and then to all the other "work" camps through- out the Reich. The inmates were worked hard, tortured, experimented upon medically, or shot. Most starved. 30,000 Jews, priests, and political prisoners died here. The sign over the gate still reads "Arbeit macht frei," or "Work will make you free." The ovens in the picture burned the bodies, around the clock, but could not keep up with the job. Local towns- people claimed not to know what was happening here, but at the end of the war, the American commander made all the townspeople tour the camp.

Reminders of WWII are every- where. The main street is now a busy pedestrian area. The "New Town Hall" in the picture survived the bombings, and became the American military headquarters.

There's a much- loved vegetable market/ open air beer garden right in the center of town. It occupies prime commercial real estate, but the rents are subsidized just to keep it going. The cheese shop in the picture is a great example. I have never been there but every table was crowded and waitresses in traditional costume were busily scurrying about carrying plates of sausages and fries and large steins of beer.

Day 14&15, Passion Play, Oberammergau, and Linderhof Castle Aug. 11&12, 2010

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I finally got to see the Passion Play! It's world famous and I've wanted to go for forty years. My high school orchestra went after I'd moved away. I didn't get to go, and I'm still bitter! But now I've finally seen it, and I can recover. You see the theater above. It seats about 4000.

Presented by a tiny town in the Alps of southern Germany, the village of Ober- ammergau itself is an attraction. Gepetto must have carved Pinocchio here! Surrounded by mountains, there are lots of buildings are painted in the Tyrolean style. (Notice the fool-the- eye staircase painted on the outside of the building. The wall is actually flat.)

People make their living with a B&B during the tourist season. In the winter, they ski or are woodcarvers.

Why would anyone care to see a play that lasts for 3 hours? And that's just the part before intermission! That's when everybody leaves for 3 hours to go eat dinner. Then they come back for 2 more hours. It really was great, much better than you'd think for an amateur play put on by a town of 2500. No ringers; you have to have been born in the town or lived there for 20 years to be in the cast. Music, acting, cast of hundreds, costuming; everything was on a professional level.

Oberammergau has presented the Passion of Christ every year for the last 400 years. Why? In the 1600's the plague - the Black Death - was ravaging Europe. In their little town of 700, already they'd lost 70 people.

The whole town made a promise to God that if he would stop the plague, they would present the Passion every 10 years. From the time of the oath, no more people died. So they have kept their promise, and it's grown so that now they do it for 5 sold-out months and 100,000 people see it.

The flower- decked house is where we stayed for our 2-night Passion Play package. Two great things about it: walking distance to the theater so we could come home for dinner, and it had a pastry shop on the ground floor!

We drove in from Berchtes- gaden in the morning, so we a tiny jewel of a palace built by Mad King Ludwig, which was only a few clicks away. Each year the gold- encrusted Linderhof and it's sister palaces bring in far more tourist dollars than they cost. At the time, the government had the king declared insane because he was bankrupting the country!

Day 13 Trapped in Salzburg! Aug. 10, 2010

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What a day to remember!

I've always loved Salzburg, town of Mozart and lovely old churches, with a fortress on a hilltop right in the middle of town! Add a river running through it, lots of chocolate, world famous music festivals, and you have a wonderful concoction.

We arrived in our van nice and early, before the rest of the crowds. We drove right in, because the traffic barriers were up, and parked in a prime spot on Mozartplatz. If you could see right through the statue in the picture, you'd see our van.

After a lovely walking tour (I'll tell you later) and a crazy tram ride to the top of the fortress, (picture left) we returned to the van and tried to leave, but the barriers were up, which are metal posts that rise up from the center of the pavement. So we tried to exit the historic core of the city by driving down tiny little streets until they got so narrow we could barely fit through. Every time, we arrived at another traffic barrier.

We we had to return each time to Mozart- platz. Finally we saw several other cars approach the barrier and punch in a code. The barrier retracted, and they left. I talked to several drivers. It seems that the code is specific to the car, so their code could not help us. A man said it would cost us 100 euros to get out. Oh my! We certainly didn't want to pay 100 euros! Apparently we had parked illegally in the old city. Only authorized vehicles are allowed. After asking several other people for help, I found that everyone thought we would have to pay the fine in order to get out. Furthermore, we would have to go to the police station blocks away and pay the fine first!

So I grabbed our trusty handicapped parking sign, left the people with the van, and ran off on foot to the police station. Inside was a secure area, and I had to buzz to get someone to come. When I explained the situation, the lady officer said that indeed, I would have to pay the 100 euro fine. Then I showed the handicapped pass, and everything changed. Evidently it is permissible for handicapped vehicles to park there. "Oh, just drive your car over here by the station, and I'll open this barrier for you to get out." I was temporarily stupefied. How in the world could we drive our huge 9-passenger van through those tiny winding medieval streets all the way to the police station? Eventually I persuaded her to mark out a route on a map that would not get us wedged in permanently.

I returned to the van with my marked map. There was much relief all around! We cheerfully drove the van right through the pedestrian areas, complete with crowds of people and a few shaking fists, eventually coming to the back of the police station right past Mozart's birthplace! (Yellow house in the picture) True to plan, I ran back into the police station and they opened the barrier for us. We were free, with a story to tell forever!

Other Salzburg highlights: there is a slanted cog rail that lifts you up to the fortress in the middle of the town. It really is as steep as it looks in the picture!

We listened to quite a few street musicians, which I love doing.

Lawana and I found a shop selling traditional German clothing. The work- manship was exquisite, but the prices ranged upward from $800- $2000. I did not buy any.

We had fun in the marionette museum in the top of the fortress. There was also a cool exhibit of old musical instru- ments.

When we left Salzburg, there was still plenty of daylight left, so we decided to take a detour past the original church where "Silent Night" was first written.

It's tiny! No wonder they could accompany it with a guitar for the first performance. We discovered that this church is a replica, as the original was destroyed by a flood. We walked up the nearby riverbank, and discovered it makes a sharp U-turn there. When the river reached flood stage, it all poured directly over the church. The replacement was built on a mound.

Dinner was right next door, in a little outdoor cafe. I had an elaborate dessert for dinner, which everyone thought was weird, but I really enjoyed it. Hey, life is short, so eat dessert first!

Day 12 Hitler's Eagle's Nest & Koenigsee Alpine Lake Aug. 9, 2010

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For Hitler's 50th birthday, his loyal followers built him a safe retreat on the tip- top of a mountain. According to the guides, he had a fear of heights, and so he actually came up to the Eagles' Nest only a few times. What the guides don't tell you, though, was that he spent a lot of time just below here. His heavy- duty Bavarian war headquarters was the resort town of Berch-tesgaden. In fact, he had 8 levels of under- ground bunkers right where you get on the bus to ride up to the Eagle's Nest. The beer hall that's there now was the ballroom of the old German headquarters.

After the war, Americans made it into an R & R center called the General Walker Hotel. When we lived in Germany years ago, we brought kids here for youth conference. When the Americans left, the Germans tore down most of the hotel so the number of rooms would not compete with the local zimmer freis. I think they also wanted to wipe out anything to do with Hitler. The fireplace you see in the picture is up in the Eagle's Nest, and there are pix of Hitler in front of the same fireplace

While we were there it was amazing to watch the rapidly shifting clouds. Standing atop the mountain, you saw one side below completely enshrouded by clouds and mist. I loved watching the clouds rise up to meet us. The view in the other direction was completely clear over far mountain ranges and you could see past Salzburg in the distance. Ten minutes later, it was reversed, and the beautiful Koenigsee could be seen to your left, while Salzburg had been swallowed up in white.

The only thing that can top the Eagle's Nest is the electric boat ride on the Koenigsee (King's Lake.) The steep- sided mountains lead down to water over a thousand feet deep. You glide smoothly toward your destination at the end of the lake. St. Bartholomae Church is over 500 years old. When you're half way there, the driver cuts the motor and pulls out a trumpet from under the bench. He plays a haunting song, which bounces off the mountainside and echoes back to you a moment later. Every time I go, I am struck by the beauty of the music and I wish he would keep playing. Alas, one short song, and he returns to driving the boat. This is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Returning to the dock and oh- so perfect tourist shops, you don't even mind the crowds. We always try to talk to others on the boat and discover the many countries they are from.

Day 11, Cont. Berchtesgaden Aug. 8, 2010

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The quickest way to Berchtes- gaden from Neue- schwan- stein is south and then east through Austria. Winding roads led to the freeway past Innsbruck, which led to more winding roads. (Picture above) Since the scenery is the best in the world, none of us minded the 4-hour drive!

Our home for 3 days in Berch-tesgaden, the Boehm family gasthaus is one of my favorites. Check out the glorious view from the terrace!

It's a real trick to find. The address is Am Gschnaitl- bichl, which is actually just a walking path! The first time we came here, we drove past the turn several times. Nowadays, we just let the GPS do the work.

Day 11 Neueschwanstein Castle, Aug. 8, 2010

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Get up early and scoot the back way across the Austrian border into Germany. Buy our tickets for the castle as soon as the office opens. Then get tix to ride up the mountain on the bus, instead of hiking uphill for an hour. Voila! That puts us up on the Marienbrucke (bridge above the castle) before the crowds arrive.

Neue- schwan- stein was the inspiration for the Disney castle. It's new, as castles go, at only about 140 years old. Built by "Mad King Ludwig" as a fantasy remembering castles from medieval times, it was incomplete at the time of his death.

Within weeks, tourists were going through it, just like today.

Mystery and contro-versy surrounded the king and his castles. Once engaged but never married, was he just a reclusive eccentric with creative ideas, or was he truly insane? Tall and handsome, he used to ride through the country- side on his white horse. The people loved him.

He, on the other hand, wanted to be alone. He invented a table which could be hoisted through the floor, already set for dinner, so he would not have to see the servants. He was at odds with the government.

He built 3 fabulous new castles at tremendous cost. Government said he was bankrupting the country. They had him declared insane, though the psychologist who certified it never examined him. Two weeks later, he was found dead, floating in a lake. Was he murdered? No one knows. It was declared to be suicide, but there is no evidence. Books today are still being written about him.

No pictures are allowed in the castle, but it's tall and vertical and definitely not wheelchair accessible! Some of the rooms are ornately decorated. Some are still unfinished, and you can't go there. My favorite is the ballroom on the top floor, which is often used today for musical concerts. You can, however take pictures from the windows.

Rather than walk down the mountain, I hired a carriage ride for us.

The driver wanted us to load and sit waiting for departure, but I was busy taking pictures. "Sit down!" he said loudly in a com- manding voice. I just cheerfully replied, "OK," and kept taking photos. This was repeated several times and my group thought it was pretty funny.

Day 10 Austria Aug. 7, 2010

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I love the GPS! It let us wake up in an out- of- the- way medieval village in Germany, pilot our van to the auto- bahn and zip at 100 mph directly to our next hotel, which was hidden in the mountains of Austria.

Tomorrow morning early we will be arriving at the fairy- tale castle of Neue-schwan- stein. By 10:00 the crowds are too much for us from the wide open spaces, so we plan to be in the first group up the mountain. In order to do that, we'll sleep just over the border in Austria. The picture shows our rural B&B.

This afternoon, however, is for hiking in the Alps! Just above our little B & B are four old ruined castles. It's a World Heritage site.

We'll drive most of the way up the mountain, and hike up the rest and climb around the ruins.

Guess what! Three of us decided to hike down. We could see our house far below in the valley, and decided it couldn't be very tough to get there.

Surprise! It was so steep and slippery after a rain that we all fell several times. Add trails that can't be found and many others that were probably made by deer crisscrossing the mountain, and you get the idea.

So what! It was a glorious hike anyway! It was sunny and warm, and we could see clear across the valley to the far mountains. Far below were several little villages and there were lots of wildflowers.

We came out of the forest a little way up the road from our house, and after awhile we came trooping home. We found the rest of our group sunning themselves on the terrace. They really missed an experience!

That evening we decided to explore a Tyrolean festival in the next village. What authentic color! People who at other times live very modern lives pull out their traditional costumes to wear to the festivals. Picture several oom- pah bands and one heavy metal for the youth. Add lots of beer in huge glass mugs, bratwurst on a bun with fries, tables set up in the streets, and men in beat-up lederhosen.

Austrians are known for being friendlier than Germans, and so they seemed this night. I'm sure we were the only tourists at the festival, so the musicians in one of the bands made a point to talk to us and try to get us to dance. So all the Mormons danced and had a great time at the Austrian beer festival!

Day 9 Rothenburg, Germany Aug. 6, 2010

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Glimpse medieval life in authentic Rothen- burg. Turn back time and walk streets that have not changed in 600 years.

Buy souvenirs in the best and cheapest little town in Germany.

Our hotel

is right by one of the old gates in the town wall. The building is 500 years old, but the rooms are cute and modern.

Rothenburg was rich from wool and trade in the medieval time period. They built sturdy big houses which still stand today. Then came several royal visits, the plague, and a war that stripped the town of everything it had.

Plunging into poverty meant that no one in town had the money to remodel or update anything. For hundreds of years the town stayed as it was. When tourism became fashionable in the late 19th century, Rothenburg was discovered and started to wake up from its' long sleep. Repairs were made, but nothing was changed. Today you see the dolled- up version of the 14th century.

One of the best reasons to stay overnight is to take the Night Watchman's tour. He does it in English at 8:00 and German at 9:30 every night. He gives you all the most interesting history of the town in a theatrical accent wich a large dollop or irony and humor. The best!

Christmas is here all year round. Kathe Wohlfahrt and several other shops are a wonderful browse!

Day 8 Bacharach, Rhine Cruise, & Burg Rheinfels Aug. 5, 2010

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Ride the magnificent Rhine River. It's the busiest in the world, with cruise boats and cargo barges still bringing their goods up from the seaports.

We took a short cruise downriver to Burg Rheinfels, whose remains still crouch like an old stone bulldog high above the river.

Rather than hike up from the village at river level, we rode the little train.

Much easier on the legs!

The best part was when 3 of us took flashlights and explored the tunnels, formerly dug and packed with explosives ot protect the one flat field beside the castle.

Finally back at our B & B, we just hung in the garden. We were so tired!

Day 7 Drive to Burg Eltz & Bacharach, Germany Aug. 4, 2010

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Drive on tiny, winding one-lane roads, and hope the GPS really does know where you are!

That's how we got to Burg Eltz in Germany,

which has been inhabited by the same noble family clan for 800 years. It's private, secluded, and on very steep ground above the Mosel River.

After visiting Burg Eltz, we drove on to Bacharach on the Rhine, where we'd be for two nights. That's not our tour bus! We were still driving our own van. The old castle on the hill is now a youth hostel.

The picture you see at left is our bed and breakfast. The building is over 500 years old, and it's name is Im Malerwinkel, which means "Painter's Corner."

That evening we did a little walking tour of the town, ending up in the vineyards above it.

Dinner was in a cute little spot in town. The lady didn't look too happy. She was very kind, but she said that when she didn't come to work, nothing seemed to get done. Turns out she lost her husband the month before. What unknown lives are led by those around us . . .

Several of us are musical, so we've been seeking out local concerts. Tonight Bacharach had a harp concert in their old church. The group was from England, and the music was glorious!

Day 6 Verdun & WWI Battlefields Aug. 3, 2010

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One of our group is a history buff, which led us to Verdun and some very interesting places we might not have seen.

We found battlefields that had taken thousands of shells, where you can still see the craters. The French have planted trees to cover the scars.

A number of monuments mark significant spots. Here you see some of the thousands of bicyclists who were having a rally in that area.

It also brought us to the absolute best place we stayed for the whole trip!

Called Chateau de Jaulny, it was so far out in the French toolies, even our trusty GPS could not find it! I had to ask directions 4 times.

It's an old castle, parts of it dating to the 11th century. You see the dining room, where we had breakfast.

The owner suggested that for our supper, she would lay out dishes for a picnic, and we could bring our own food.

What a wonderful evening we had, sharing food and exploring the grounds!

The next morning we found some American cemeteries, where the feeling was very quiet and noble.

Day 5 Loire Valley Aug. 2, 2010

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South of Paris is the valley of the Loire River. The climate is milder, and French kings and nobles built many palaces there.

Amboise was the home of Charles I, who married Anne of Bretannia and unified France and Brittany. You see his palace on above. He accidentally killed himself by running into a low doorway (he was quite tall for that time) right after a tennis match.

The king brought Leonardo da Vinci from Italy to France for the last 3 years of his life. We visited his grave, which is the very fancy tiny church you see in the picture.

The king gave him a nice house near the palace and paid him a pension "For the pleasure of his conversation in the evenings." Da Vinci invented all sorts of things, like irrigation systems, war machines, and a wooden bicycle. He

also made improvements on lots of others, like the printing press, clocks, and spits to roast meat. We visited his house. In the basement, modern engineers have recreated many of his designs from his drawings. Fascinating!

We visited Chenonceau, which has lovely grounds and you can take a little boat ride if you want to row. It was built by the King for his mistress, but when he died, his wife (Marie de Medici) kicked the lady out and took it over herself. Marie used to give balls, and have her ladies-in-waiting circulate and listen (spy) to all the conversations.

That night we stayed in a cool little French place.

It had it's own restaraunt, and we had a very lovely, very French meal.

Day 4 Versailles Aug 1, 2010

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Last night we picked up our van. We'd be driving for the next two weeks. (So far we've been on public transpor- tation.) Here you see it parked in the court of our hotel in Versailles, which was originally a stable of the king.

This morning we left Paris and headed out to Versailles, the fabulous court of the French Sun King, Louis XIV. Every king in Europe envied this palace, and smaller versions were built all over Europe.

In the picture you see the famed Hall of Mirrors. Mirrors were a great luxury at the time this was built. Also, the Treaty of Versailles, ending World War I was signed in this room.

Marie Antoinette had a pretend village behind the palace, where she could play with her perfumed sheep and pretend she was a country girl. Everything in the little village is gorgeous, just Disney- perfect.

Day 3 Paris Louvre, Opera, Seine River Boat Cruise July 31, 2010

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What's the biggest, fabulousest, most over- whelming, and truly the best museum in the world? The Louvre, of course!

My favorite way to enjoy it is only give it 2 hours, and only try to see the most famous: The Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory.

Then get under- neath and see the ancient castle foun- dations.

Make an expedition to the other side of time and see the ancient Egyptian caskets and sphinxes, and then top it all off with lunch in their all-white modern cafeteria.

If you're a music lover, you have to see the Paris Opera House. Phantom of the Opera was set here, and it's gorgeous.

In the 1880's, all high society went to the opera, dressed to the hilt, to see and be seen. Be sure to dance in the ballroom!

Truly the most romantic boat ride you'll ever take is an evening cruise on the Seine in Paris.

All the buildings are bathed in light, and it's wonderful!

Day 1&2 Paris! July 29 & 30, 2010

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First day in Paris!

Four of us flew in from SLC and met the others at our hotel in the Marais. They had been touring the English countryside, and I think they were really happy to see me just as they climbed out of their taxi from the Chunnel station!

Drop your suitcases, and get out to see Paris!

We walked a few typically Parisian blocks from our hotel to Notre Dame Cathedral.

It's hard to comprehend that people could build something that's still standing after 700 years! It was one of the first to use flying buttresses to support the walls. They don't really fly, they are just arched so you can walk beneath. This works because they found that the outer edge of the buttress carries the stress.

With our Paris Museum Passes, we could get into most things without paying extra, so we dropped into the crypts under the square.

We found the zero-zero marker for all of France in front of the Cathedral. From this bronze marker they measure everything in France.

Here's a sure-fire cure for jet lag: When you get to Paris, stay up until normal bedtime, keeping yourself awake by visiting the Eiffel Tower at night. Take the elevators to the top, view the whole city alight below you, and be a participant in Paris!

Hawaii Oahu Trip Ending, Day 7

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Hawaii! Soft breezes, sunshine through the mist, warm oceans and green volcanic mountains! Palm trees and fragrant plumeria, fresh fruit, gentle music and luxury hotels! This is Oahu!

Six of us enjoyed the beaches and an island paradise.

Our hotel was only a block off Waikiki Beach, so the surfer among us got up early and went surfing before the rest of us even got going every morning.

He kept his surfboard at the hotel, and just carried it down to the beach!

What a wonderful trip! We all want to go back.

Aloha!

Hawaii, Macadamia Nut Factory Nature Tour, Day 6

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Put us on an old green bus left over from Jurassic Park, driven by a wild Samoan, and take his tour through the crops and country around the Macadamia Nut Plantation, and what do you get?

Absolutely the best hidden experience on Oahu! I think we were his only customers that day.

He was quite the showman.

He showed us how to make fire from two sticks.

He rowed us out onto the lagoon, which turned out to be an 800-year old fish hatchery.

You have to make reser- vations a day ahead through Tropical Farms Nut Factory, but he doesn't work for them. I don't think he even comes most days, unless he has tour customers. It's worth the price!

Hawaii, Climbing Diamond Head, Day 6

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Every famous picture of Waikiki Beach wants to show you the extinct volcano Diamond Head in the distance.

We climbed it! This part of the island is actually quite arid, because the prevailing westerly wind makes the clouds empty themselves over the mountains in the center of the island.

At the top are old World War I fort- ifications. The views are stupen- dous in every direction!

Looking back toward Waikiki Beach

Hawaii, Hanauma Bay, Day 5

2011-03-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

Where is the best spot in the world to snorkel with thousands of tropical fish? Try Hanauma Bay on Oahu! There's a trick to it though, because lots of people swim there and only see a few fish. The trick is to swim out through the cut in the reef, and to snorkel on the far side. That's where all the fish are hiding!

Hawaii, Polynesian Cultural Center, Day 4

2011-03-26T21:33:00.000-07:00

If you want to see the authentic culture of the islands, you need to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It started in the 1960's as a way for students from the islands to have work, but it has become the premier attraction of all Hawaii.

The culture of each major South Pacific island group is shown in separate areas of the park.

"Most authentic luau in Hawaii" is their claim, and it's true. You get to watch them dig up the roasted pig and unwrap the leaves. The pork is delicious! They serve purple sweet rolls made with taro root and tapioca. Most Americans like to taste everything, but like their own food best!

The theme of the night show follows a family of the islands. With music and dancing they tell the story of life. There's always lots of fire dancing and everybody loves it!

Church & USS Arizona, Day 3

2011-03-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

It was Sunday, so of course we took the opportunity to go to church. Would you recognize a tropical version of the Ogden Tabernacle? It has wooden louvers to let the breezes blow through the chapel. Sometimes birds fly through, too!

In the front yard is a huge banyan tree, with roots draping from the branches to the ground.

A stark white memorial seems to float above the harbor. It's a monument to the men still entombed below at the bombing of Pearl Harbor. You reach it by a short ferry ride.

It's so bright there, but the feeling among the visitors is quiet reverence. Once I saw a woman unstring a lei to spread the flowers upon the water. You can stillsee the ship below, and there's still a bit of an oil slick.

The USS Missouri has returned to Pearl Harbor. On its' deck in 1945 the Japanese surrendered to the Americans. Now it's available for tourists to inspect, top to bottom.

Hawaii, Oahu! Day 1 & 2, Sept. 25 & 26, 2009

2011-03-26T20:11:00.000-07:00

Our first evening and day in Hawaii, we just walked down to the beach and took a drive to look around. We went to the giant flea market at Aloha Stadium and the International Market to buy all our souvenirs.

The clean, warm water is the very best thing about Hawaii.

Here are some of our favorite memories:

Sister missionary at the temple picking plumeria blossoms to make a lei

Roasted garlic shrimp bought from a roadside van

Riding the trolley at Dole Pineapple Plantation in the middle of the island

Eating to- gether!

Solo Trip! August 4-19, 2009. Ireland, England, Scotland, & Germany

2011-03-26T15:17:00.000-07:00

Back in July of 2009, the family things were finished for the summer, and I had a bunch of Skymiles, so I decided on short notice to go to Europe to up my spirits and finish off my school vacation.

I'd never been to Ireland or Scotland, and so those were high on my list. I've always wanted to see the Edinburgh Tatoo (not a body marking, it's a bagpipe, drum and bugle corps spectacular.) I wanted to see Wicked in London, and I wanted to walk on top of Hadrian's Wall.

I've also wanted to see the Passion Play for 40 years. It's happened every ten years for the last four centuries, and I wanted to take a group to see it in 2010. Their website offered various packages for high prices, but I couldn't just trust them to choose a place for me. I needed it to be in the actual village of Oberammergau and within walking distance of the PassionSpielHaus.

I got to do everything I wanted! The next dozen posts are from my daily e-mails home.

The top picture is Blarney Castle in Ireland.

The next one is Trafalgar Square in London., and the last is the little Baroque (Rococco) village church in Oberammergau, Germany.

Day 15 Munich, Last Day in Germany!

2011-03-26T14:57:00.000-07:00

After breakfast at Penny's house in Oberam- mergau, I walked over to our accomo- dations for next zear and introduced mzself. Pennz called ahead for me. That's it in the picture. It's a prettz nice place with lots of flowers, and it's over the top of a Konditorei, which is a bakerz for desserts. I can alreadz see I'll have trouble gaining weight next zear!

Mz Munich hotel is a few blocks farther from the Bahnhof than I thought, and I didnät have a map. Some Indian men kept offering to get me a taxi, or the zoung kid will take me in his taxi. "No, no, no it's onlz a couple of blocks!"

The hotel is a large old house, not reallz fancy, but certainlz presentable, and if we come here next zear, it has parking in the back(big plus.) It#s onlz about 2 blocks from the Munich LDS Church and 1 block from the Octoberfest grounds. Now that I know mz waz around a little bit, It's also onlz a block to the U-Bahn, which works just like the S-Bahn in town.

Everz time I go somewhere, I trz to see something Ive never seen before. Hoping that Larrz will come with me next zear, this afternoon I went out to BMW World. It's a ways out of town, right next to the Olzimpic park. What a place! This is definitely Destination Architecture!

It#s all just PR for BMW, but zou can sit in all the newest cars, and there are touchscreens and itäs a huge metal ultra modern wierd building. This is definitelz destination architecture. One of the coolest things, is that if zou buz a Beamer, zou can pick it up at the factorz. Actuallz, the factorz is across the street, but thez bring zour new car into this building and up the elevator to the second floor.

People are on the 3rd floor looking down, watching the rich-os pick up their new cars. Zou get to drive zour new car in glorz down the long curved carpeted ramp and out of the building. Verz Cool!

I went down to the Marienplatz and watched the Glockenspiel. I didn't remember it lasting that long or being that good looking. Turns out, it was renovated for it's hundredth birthdaz last zear, and it looks reallz good.

I climbed the tower to St. Peter's church. AAGGHH! Signs said "The most beautiful view of Munich," and I knew it would be, because zou'd be up above the Glockenspiel and the Frauenkirche. What it didn't saz was 308 steps up the tinz narrow staircase! Now I remember whz I climed the other 2 towers last time, Thez have elevators! But the view was fabulous.

I wandered down to the VictualenMarkt, which is an open market right in the middle of town, and bought some interesting looking things to eat. I bought 2 tinz red peppers stuffed with cream cheese. Thez turned out to be pickled and not all that good, but anzwaz, thez were prettz.

I bought 2 bites of goat cheese with spices, and that was reallz good. I bought an unusual- looking green and white mashed stuff the girl said goes on bread, so I brought a brotchen for it, and it was reallz good! Now, I have no idea about the names of what I just ate . . .

I just wandered the pedestrian street, and came to a place where I could get on the U-bahn for home, but I didnät. The light was golden on the fancz curved buildings, and there was a big fountain that kids were plazing in. I just sat and watched for awhile, savoring mz last night in Europe.

Day 14 Oberammergau & Zugspitze

2011-03-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

Wow! I'm writing this to zou from the top of the Zugspitze! I am on the very tip top of the mountain you see in this picture, and since Germans are very techno, there's a pay computer.

Itäs á glorious warm daz with no wind and the skz is blue and zou can see 50 miles in everz direction. The high mountain scenerz is fabulous!

How to get here: I took a bus from Oberam- mergau to Garmisch- Parten- kirchen, then a train from Garmisch to the cog train stop, then a cog train to the Eibsee, (where we had a fabulous 5 minute photo stop) then the cog train inside of the mountain up to the Zugspitzeplatz and then a gondola to the verz top! I walked around onto the Austrian side, so I can saz this trip went to Austria, too.

Oberam- mergau is a very cute little village, with all the buildings painted up Tyrolean- style. I think Pinnochio came from here, because the main town business is wood carving little figures to sell to tourists. My landlord is a woodcarver in the wintertime.

My whole reason for coming to Germanz was to check out the situation for the Passion Play. It's been put on everz ten zears in Oberammergau for the last 400 years, and I reallz want to bring a group to see it.

So this morning I went to the Passion Plaz headquarters in Oberammergau. What a beehive of activitz! Everzone is rushing about like the president was coming in 10 minutes or something, but thatäs the waz that office is all the time, I think.

Mz landladz told me to ask to speak to Herr Theisen (I thought it was Tyson). Turns out heäs the big boss, and verz rushed. Zou have to buz a package which includes zour Passion Plaz tickets, your hotel,plus breakfasts and dinners. I wanted to buz tix for just a one night staz onlz, but thez were all sold out except for 500 euros a night.

So I tried for 2 night packages in Julz or August next zear. Almost completelz gone alreadz! Thez finallz got me a choice of 3, onlz one of which was in the town of Oberammergau itself. That's what I wanted, so we can walk home for dinner and at night after the Passion Plaz. I took it. I am so tickled! Now I have tix for 8 people in 4 double rooms at the cheap end of the B&B scale, for 2 nights. We get to see the Passion Plaz next year on August 12, 2010. The summer tix are almost all gone, bought out completelz bz big tour companies.

I took a backstage tour of the theater where the Passion Play is presented.

The picture shows how they pound nails into the hands when the crucify the Savior.

Guess what! Thez kind of acted like I was out of place coming to see them in person, because they mainly deal online and with the big tour companies. Thez left me sitting for a long time.

Soon the secretarz ladz returned and noticed mz e-mail, and said, "Zou are a travel agent, arent zou?" I said, "Zes, but I am a verz small time travel agent." So she gave me the travel agent price, which was 10 percent off.

Presumablz thatäs the normal cut. Then thez became verz nice. Everzone in Germanz has a certain status!

I also took the bus over to Ettal Monastery. They were having Garden Days and a little festival with lots of booths and beer. They make their own brand.

It is so cool up here! I have to go so I can catch the last train down off this giant mountain, or if thereäs not too manz people, mazbe I can even take the cable car down to the Eibsee, and then the train from there.

Day 12 & 13 Edinburgh Tatoo and Travel to Germany

2011-03-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

I got in to the Tatoo! I'd decided to go one last time to the ticket office and see if thez had anz returns, and then I was going to head home. I'd had enough of the wet, though I wasn't cold. Hallelujah! I guess somebodz cancelled because of the rain. So I got in,and a prettz good seat, too. (Sorrz about the German kezboard.) I was directlz at the end opposite the castle, and as each group left, thez marched right under where I sat.

The Tatoo reveals the true heart of the Scotsman. "Fight on forever, even though zou win onlz a few battles against the English." Now thez are doing what thez call "Devolution," which has gotten them their own parliament and home rule, all except for foreign policz, taxes and where the monez goes, and thez are working on that.

There were lots of Scottish regimental bagpipes and drums, plus a group from Tonga and a tribute to Robert Burns (250th birthdaz.) The hit of the night was a group called "Top Secret," a Swiss drum corps. Thez were fantastic. Look for them on YouTube. I bought a cheap poncho and rented a foam cushion to sit on, and I was prettz warm inspite of water running off mz hood and mz raincoat. Underneath I was alreadz soaked before I started. . . But hez, this is Scotland, and the show went on, and everyone just acted like this is normal weather and never even notice! The whole stands were quite colorful with all the cheap ponchos and the castle for the backdrop.

Thez projected pictures on the castle, like the Union Jack and WWII airplanes. There was quite a lot of tribute to their men fighting in Afghanistan. At the end, the lone bagpiper plazed from the top of the castle. That night it was plazed bz a retiring Major General, whose last night in the service it was. It had alwazs been his dream to plaz the lone bagpiper at the end of the Militarz Tatoo.

This was a verz long travel daz.

Hereäs mz itinerarz:
Drag bags to bus stop
Take bus to center of Edinburgh
Take shuttle to airport
Checkin for Easzjet flight to Munich, wait around
Flz to Munich 2 hours
Train to the center of Munich
Buz rail ticket to Oberammergau, wait 1 1-2 hour for train to come
Train to Murnau, where I have a tight 13 minute switch to a different train
First train was late, so I missed the change in Murnau. Oh, dear! I am alone in a deserted station after dark in Bavaria. What to do?

Forturnatelz there was an old fashioned phone at the tinz little train station which still takes coins instead of a phone card. I dug out the phone number to call mz B / B and sza Iäm still coming. Mz hostess checked the train schedule and said there was another train coming in one hour and I should get on that one. OK.

Take a later train from Murnau to Obergammerau.

Bz then its 9:30 at night and completelz dark. How am I going to find- walk to mz B- B in the dark?
I stepped off mz train, and a ladz appreached me and said, "Are zou Carolzn?" Mz hostess had driven to the train station to pick me up! She is definitelz on mz good list! Her name is Penny and she's a Brit married to a German, and this is her B&B in Oberammergau.

Day 11 Edinburgh, Scotland & Tatoo

2011-03-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

First thing today, I tried again to get tix to the Tatoo. I waited in line before it opened and read for almost an hour, but no tix. The Tatoo brings together drum & bugle corps and bagpipe bands not only from Scotland, but all over the world. It's performed in front of Edinburgh Castle, and it's the biggest show in Scotland. They were sold out online for months. I went back twice more before finally snagging a returned seat an hour before the show!

Drizzling rain dampened the city as I walked everywhere. It's not really that cold because there's little wind.
I started at Edinburgh Castle up on the rock.

There was a short tour, and the guide was dressed in a kilt.

He asked, "How do you like our Scottish summers?" I would not call this summer, but it is

August!

I enjoyed my tour of Edinburgh Castle. I saw their crown jewels and prisoner of war jails and the castle dog cemetary for the soldier's dogs. Twenty are buried there. I saw the room where Mary Queen of Scots had her baby. He later became James VI of Scotland at the age of 2 and 35 years later also James I of England, under a united Britain.

Guess what! After I finished writing to you yesterday from a computer in this little pub, I noticed all these newspaper articles on the wall about J. K. Rowling. She's the author who wrote the Harry Potter books. This is one of the 2 main coffeshops where she'd sit and write; single mom with a baby in the pram, escaping from the cold in her flat and nursing one coffee for the whole afternoon. Now there's a little line of print on the windwo that says "Birthplace of Harry Potter." I thought it was pretty cool. She actually finished the last novel in the most expensive hotel in town.

The Fringe Festival goes on at the same time as the Tatoo. There are hundreds of street performers and shows to see all over the city. Lots of it is raucous good fun.

I also visited Greyfriars, where the little black Scottish terrier, Greyfriars Bobby, sat on his masters' grave every day for years. The town council (?) kind of adopted him. He only left every day to get fed every day at 1:00 when the bell went off. (Town timepiece.)

After the castle this morning, I kind of browsed my way down the Royal Mile. My goal was Holyrood Palace at the bottom of the hill. I barely made it before they cut off admissions at 4:30. It's an old castle where today's queeen comes for a week every year and holds a huge garden party with 8000 visitors.

The best part is out back, in the gardens around a ruined Abbey. It was destroyed when Scotland went Protestant, hundreds of years ago.

I stopped into all kinds of interesting places. One was an old city mansion, now a memorial to writers Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, and Robert Louis Stevenson. It had a cool library/balcony looking down into the main room. It also had red walls. I liked it. I've noticed quite a few red walls in Scotland. I guess it hel[ps to combat the dreary gray weather.
Another place I visited was the (supposed) home of Protestant preacher John Knox. Knox was a big enemy of colorful and Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots.

Mary was really quite a character. Scotland had gone Protestant, and Knox and many other Scots were affronted by her fancy French ways (trying to turn Scotland into Versailles) besides her numerous affairs. She actually fled to England to get protection from her cousin Elizabeth, but alas, she was imprisoned for the last 19 years of her life. She became queen of Scotland at the age of 5 days, and was shipped off to France to be raised in the French court by her mother's family. At 15 she married the Dauphin of France. Around here they say that makes her the queen of France. Her French prince died about 2 years later, so she came home to Scotland a widow at the age of 18. She married another royal, but he killed her private secretary (male) out of jealousy just before she bore a son. James was taken from her by those wanting power. There were those who thought she should also be queen of England, so after 19 years Elizabeth had her executed to solve the problem permanently.

Day 10 Vocal Workshop at Rosslyn Chapel, Scotland

2011-03-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

My new B&B hostess drew me a map to Rosslyn Chapel, which despite many turns, actually got me there by 6:10. ( The GPS wanted me to take roads that were closed for construction.) That gave me a few minutes to wander around the church by myself before the others came. Rosslyn Chapel was made famous as the final scene in The Da Vinci Code, but it's been a major site in Masonry and Scottish history for centuries. It's tiny! Probably it's only about twice as long and wide as our house in Layton.

The whole church is covered in scaffolding and a tin roof has been built over the stone church roof. You can't even see the exterior. It seems the roof has been leaking for several hundred years, so about 10 years ago they put up the tin roof. It's taken this long to dry the stones out so they can work on it. Plus, since Da Vinci Code brings so many visitors, they now have money to do the restoration.

What an experience I had on the there! I was there in the evening for a vocal workshop. In August, 1200 people a day squeeze through. It's only open between 9:30-6:00. When we got there, it was of course already long closed to the public. It was completely deserted, but a nice lady met me and told me where to park (gates to the parking lot were about to be locked shut) and another let the two of us in. Counting the workshop leader, there were only 8 of us. We had the whole of Rosslyn Chapel all to ourselves for 3 hours!

First, one of the ladies gave us a guided tour. There are stone carvings everywhere. She'd brought tea and cookies for us (I had mint) and then we went down into the crypt to sing. It's smaller than our kitchen/living room, but it has a high ceiling and everything is stone and the acoustics are fabulous!

At the break we took photos and we also sang upstairs in the main part of the church. There was a wonderful feeling among the group of ladies, and it was a never-to-be-forgotten experience. If you ever come here, you must be part of a singing workshop. They do them 8 nights in July and August. Three hours alone with the carvings and a tiny group of people sure beats 30 minutes with 1000 of your closest friends!

The twisted pillar you see is not made of plaster. Everything is actually carved out of stone by ancient masons. There is lots of symbolism, much of which no one can interpret anymore. That pillar supposedly got it's carver killed, because he was an apprentice who carved it while the master was on crusade. When the master returned, he saw that it was obviously more skilled than his own straight pillars, so he killed his apprentice.

It was 10:00 and dark when we came out. I was a little worried about all the right turns to get home, but it seemed a lot shorter going back.

Day 9 Hadrian's Wall & Drive to Scotland

2011-03-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

Today I got to hike along Hadrian's Wall. I drove my rental car down the little lanes a few miles to a visitor's center for Vinolanda, an active archeological dig that's an old Roman fort. It was pretty interesting, but I wanted to hurry on to walk along Hadrian's Wall. I'd heard you can actually walk on top of the wall.

The wall was built about A.D. 125 by the Roman emperor Hadrian. It stretches from sea to sea at the narrowest part of England, about 80 miles. Most of it is still there. It marked the northernmost boundary of the Roman Empire, and had a small fort every mile and soldiers stationed all along it to protect from invading Scotsmen.

I left my car at a visitor's center, and caught the bus to another Roman fort area (huge) a few miles to the east. After hiking a half mile uphill, I finally got up on the wall and walked west, toward my car. This is the top of the world, kind of like in the top of the Bighorns in Wyoming, except it's the top of the North York moors. You can see in every direction for miles and miles. What a hike! Wind about 30 mph in my face the whole way, but part sun and breezy white clouds and no rain! There was a whole lot of up and down, and every mile felt like 3, with lots of long staircases as the wall winds up and down the hills.

Robin Hood's Tree sits in the middle of the wall. You've seen it in lots of posters and movies.

You actually can only walk on top of a short section. The rest of the time, you walk beside the wall. There is a much easier trail about 100 yards away, but you can't see the wall from there. I figured I didn't come all this way not to walk right next to the wall, so what should have taken me 2 hours, took 3 and a half.

I was sweaty and red-faced when I finally finished, but I am so proud of myself!

There was an American group of a dozen retirees staying in my B & B who were walking the whole wall. I thought what a great scout hike this would make! Now it's on to Scotland. I'm really enjoying this trip.

I never could buy a decent map of the way to Scotland, so I just went on the GPS and B&B directions, and I made it just fine. My B&B lady was expecting me at 2, but I didn't get there until 5, and she'd been waiting for me and needed to go to town. I was sorry, but what a wonderful day I'd had!

What a fabulously scenic drive through southern Scotland! I finally got on the motorway, and after an hour I saw a sign that said "Scenic way to Edinburgh" so I definitely took that! It was a narrow 2-lane road that wound through tall hills with sheep and timber stands and past lakes and through little villages. The sun kept peeking out and turning everything brilliant, and the drive was wonderful.

Day 8 Traveling to Northern England

2011-03-26T06:33:00.001-07:00

Here I am in Haltwhistle, near Hadrians' Wall in northern England. I'm in an old manor house that has been made into a really nice B&B, and it's cheap, only 36 pounds, because it's so far out.

I took the train from London north as far as York, where I got off to tour the town. It's supposed to be the next best tourist town after London, and it is.

It's very compact, so you can walk to everything, and it has a quaint old medieval center called the Shambles.

First I got on a double-decker red bus tourist bus, which drives all around the town, giving a commentary. That's a cool way to get oriented because you are up high enough to see everything.

Then I walked over to York Minster (great cathedral) and wandered around there for awhile. It's English Perpendicular Gothic style, and very high inside.

I climbed some red brick steps up onto the old city walls and walked along the top for awhile, keeping close track of my time, as this was just a stop en route for the day.

Then it was time to hike back to the train station. That all took 3 hours, and I was hoofing it!

Back on the train to Newcastle, the furthest NE town in England.

I walked a few blocks in the misty rain to pick up my EuropeCar Rental. I was worried about driving stick shift on the wrong side of the road in 5:00 city traffic, but I did fine. After I got out in the country, I pulled over into the lay-by and hooked up the GPS. It was very comforting when the GPS I brought from America recognized the street address in the village of Haltwhistle!

I love the northern English countrside! It's more wide open, but still green and rolling. The occasional manor houses dot the hillsides and there are lots of sheep and a few horses.

The manor house above is my B&B. I hope I can come back here someday. Haltwhistle claims to be the center of England, and the tiny village is so quaint and lost in time. Tomorrow I want to walk along Hadrian's Wall.

Day 6 & 7 London

2011-03-25T21:14:00.000-07:00

Flight to London on Ryanair. They are a really cheap airline, but they fly new planes. Some tickets are as low as 1 pence plus taxes!

Since we lived in England, I didn't do a whole lot of sightseeing.

Mostly I just ran around on the red double decker buses and enjoyed myself sitting in Trafalgar Square and catching a concert at St. Martin-In-The-Fields.

I did, however, go see the musical Wicked!

It's supposed to be the backstory behind the Wizard of Oz. London theater is as good or better and definitely cheaper than Broadway. There are always a hundred shows playing, and lots of them start here and move to New York.

Another fun thing I did was take the train toward Stratford to see some old friends in Banbury. The picture is the real "Banbury Cross," which marks the intersection (crossing) of several ancient highways in Banbury.

When I got back to London, it was after midnight and the Tube had stopped running. I had a few moments of panic, trying to figure out how to get home! I had to walk a few blocks to find a Night Owl bus, but all ended well and I was back in my hotel by 1:00 A.M. Here I am sitting in the top of the double-decker bus and taking my own picture in the middle of the night.

Day 3,4, & 5 Touring Ireland in a Green Paddywagon & Dingle Peninsula

2011-03-25T19:59:00.000-07:00

I put myself on a really low-budget 3-day tour around the Ring of Kerry. It's called Paddywagon Tours, and they drove us in green vans and showed us the sights. They even put us up in youth hostels at night. That proved to be a little more low-budget than I was up for, but the van tour was lots of fun!

The whole reason I took this Paddywagon tour was I wanted to get out to the Dingle Peninsula, which is the furthest west point of Europe. It's about 5 hours west from Dublin. It's a microcosm of Ireland: friendly people and peat bogs, colorful villages, music in the pubs, superstitions and ancient churches. Our driver's commentary was true and entertaining:

the Irish monks were the ones who kept the light of learning alive in the dark ages, "When the Vikings were running around grunting and farting." and invading everything (including Ireland.) I even crashed a wedding in an ancient stone church.

I really enjoyed riding through the Irish countryside. It's very green (of course) with rolling hills and fields separated by hedgerows made of red and purple wild fuchsias! I was so amazed to see what I thought were tropical plants growing robustly in this chilly weather. There are many stands of Douglas Fir which are being grown for lumber. It's foggy and rainy much of the time, but the ocean keeps it from freezing. We actually got some sun, and just a little mist. This is what the Irish call "soft" weather.

The very best thing we did on the trip: we drove along the coast all the way around the peninsula. We got out on "the best beach in the world," according to our driver. It had wide soft sand, but the wind was whipping and the sky was grey and it was colder than the devil. I took pix of surf shops. I can't imagine anyone surfing in this cold weather, but they do.

After awhile the driver let us out again, and said to walk around the point. He said he'd park a way down the road and wait for us, but he wouldn't tell us how far it would be. We got out and walked about a mile before we found him. It was glorious! It was windy and spots of sun came through. You could see the islands off shore, which are no longer inhabited. We got to walk around the furthest point in Europe!

We stopped for awhile at Blarney Castle. It's a lovely shell of itself. As you can see, I did indeed kiss the Blarney stone. It's quite the process, because it's in the top of the castle, and you have to lean over backwards and upside down to get your face anywhere near the inaccessable spot!

Day 1 & 2, Dublin Ireland. August 4-6. 2009

2011-03-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

I finally made it to Ireland!

Dublin is a really cool town, with narrow streets and a river running through the middle and lots of quaint pubs where people sing in the evenings.

My hotel looks like it was decorated by Alice in Wonderland!

The walls are painted dark green, there's a lot of old woodwork, the doors have many coats of black paint. The best part is the 2 funny red leather chairs in the lobby and the huge red roses in the dark carpet! The people are friendly, and a tiny little old guy helped me. He was probably a leprechaun in his former life.

I paid a college student for a tour of Trinity College (like their Harvard, except founded by Elizabeth I in the 1500's), which was very interesting, with lots of inside looks at student life. The tour also included admission to the "Book of Kells," which claims to be the world's greatest art from the early medieval period. It's what they call an illuminated manuscript. It's a hand copied version of the four gospels; just the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, written in Latin, of course. It was copied by monks in the 8th century on pages made of vellum (very thin stretched calfskin.) The best part is they decorated each page with fancy lettering and sometimes whole pages of illustrations.

Afterwards we went upstairs to their "great hall library." It's 2 tall stories high and 200 feet long, with old brown books on shelves clear to the ceiling. Guess what, they are not arranged in the Dewey Decimal System, but arranged by size! Who would file library books by size?

I thought it looked like something straight out of Harry Potter. Later I found out they really did film the Harry Potter library there, so that's why it looked so much like it!

The picture above is the dining room of my Dublin hotel.

I also saw the original wooden Irish harp. Hundreds of years ago it became a symbol of Irish nationalism, especially after the English outlawed it. Now you see it on flags everywhere.

Trip to France, Spain & Monaco: April 1-15, 2009

2009-05-26T16:57:00.000-07:00

Hey there all my friends!
Over Easter spring break this year I went to southern France, dipped down into Spain to Barcelona, and investigated Nice and Monaco. I'd never been to any of those places, and I wanted to check them out to see if they would make a good tour to take you on sometime. My husband Larry came with me to drive the rental car while I navigated.

The picture above was taken at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. I waited forever to get on that plane! I like their glass-enclosed jetways. The picture below is Larry with our rental car, which got almost 50 MPG. It's a good thing, because gas there costs about $7 per gallon!

Like all blogs, the most recently posted is on top; so to read this trip in chronological order, scroll down to April 1. You may have to click on the date in the archives at the right of this screen to get back to it. Or you can just click on "Older Post" at the bottom of the screen.
FYI: You can read about all my other trips in the archives, too. Just click on a year over in the red, and see which trip comes up!

Day 14 Monaco and Nice, April 14, 2009

2009-05-25T20:23:00.000-07:00

Hello all, last day in Europe! Hey, I just found the excla- mation point!

Today zas a wonderful sunny day! Temperature zas perfect and the sky was actually blue!

First thing, we followed the GPS to Monaco, only about 30 minutes away. How interesting! If Southern California did extreme population density high rises, and zas built on steep hills rising out of the ocean; zith 3 little harbors along the coast, and charged higher prices for everything, you;d have Monaco. It;s really beautiful and kind of like a princess country. 40,000 people live there, in less than one square mile. They live in luxury high rises, some old and some new, most built on land reclaimed from the sea;

The old tozn is built on top of "The Rock," and it has tiny streets and a castle where Prince Rainier lives. It also has a 7 story underground parking garage built into The Rock.

From the top of The Rock you can look down on either side to the extreme yachts in the harbors and across to the hills covered zith high rize luxury apartments. There are shady places filled zith flozers in beautiful gardens. I guess it's proof that if you have enough money; you can live in paradise, but the terrain is still very steep!

Dad finds it trying to drive around here. I am really glad I don't have to drive plus navigate! All the traffic is whizzing and ze never knoz zhere ze are going: The GPS says turn left, but there are 2 lefts very close together, and ze take the zrong one and then it says "Recalculating." Ze have had several narroz escapes.

This morning it finally happened. Someone hit the car last night; Ze zere in the enclosed hotel parking, where all the spaces are only about 7 feet wide. Every place zas taken: Zhen ze came out this morning, our left rear fender area had been mooshed a little and scratched. The car next to us was not the same one that had been there the night before, so they probably didn't do the damage. Ze zere kind of upset. Tried to rub it out, but no luck. Later today Dad just knocked the underside of the fiberglass fender, and most of the dent came out. Great!

Ze have to turn in the car tomorrow morning about 5 AM so there zon't be anyone there, just park the car and drop the key in the box. so ze zon't knoz for awhile if they consider it damaged. AARGH!

Got home from Monaco and were kind of wrung out tired, so took a short nap. Afterxards; I figured this is my last night in France; I want to see some more things. So I took Dad on a whirlwind Kerry-in-fast-scouting-tour-mode outing. Saw 3 sites in 3 hours. Dad was kind of gritting his teeth and trying to be pleasant, but I could still tell.

First stop at 5:00 Russian Orthodox church built by a Russian princess zho used to winter here in Nice before the 1917 revolution. Very ornate and beautiful

Next stop 6:00 Musee des Beaux Arts in an 1870's Italian style mansion. I mostly wanted to see the house, but got there and found some very nice art. The surprise highlight was "The Kiss," a very passionate sculpture done in white marble by Auguste Rodin. It looked like a lot more than a kiss was going to happen!

7:00 stop: a free perfume store, zhich has a tiny museum on perfume making. Lots of wonderful smells. The best part was a pigeon zho got in the store and got into the front display window and knocked over all the perfume bottles. This pigeon is on my good list. You can see him in the lower right corner of the picture. The perfume was delightful, but every expensive.

I wanted to stick my feet in the Mediterranean Sea, so we went across the traffic to the Promenade and dozn to the rock beach. I did it though the water was fairly cold; Lots of people were on the beach, but very few swam.

We went to the really gourmet place for a nice French dinner on our last night! Dad did not want to spend much, so we ate at McDonald's. We both had meals which were very good but did not taste anything like American MacDo. I tried my I-pod there again tonight, but still no luck; 2 guys across from us brought in their laptops and set up and got on the net; but my Ipod zould not do it. The little dial kept going round and round like it zas trying, but could not ever really connect to the MacDo netzork.

I have loved this trip and being zith Larry. He says the funniest things! Besides; Southern France is a loss zithout a car; and I can't drive and navigate too, so I reqlly necessaryneeded him. I don't think I will ever bring a trip here. It;s impossible zith public transportation, and a big van zould be impossible here also. Cities have horrible traffic and tiny medieval streets. Parking would have never happened for us; except for Dad's handicapped sticker.

We sill be home tomorrow night. I can never get used to the letters being in the zrong place, and the punctuation too!

Day 13 Bull Games, Marseilles, Nice; April 13, 2009

2009-05-25T16:23:00.000-07:00

Ze zere up and out this morning way early to see the bull games in our little tiny village of Fontvielle. There was a little market set up in front of the rodeo grounds (they call it the arena) so we wandered around for an hour before ze could get in, so ze bought a few groceries and a baguette at the boulangerie.

While ze zere zaiting, I saw a very nice horse tied up outside the arena: He was the only one; and no one seemed to be tending him. He was built really heavy, like doubleweight bones; and he had a kind look. A little girl of about six was talking to him, and he was very interested in her and seemed to be talking back. Later during the games, that horse was the star of the show§ He was wrapped up in heavy padding and wore a red bag on his head so he could not see anything. His rider had armor on his right knee and a big long stick zith a point on it to poke the bull: When the bulls came running into the arena; they always charged the horse. The horse never flinched. The bulls tried to gore him every time, but he was solid as a rock. His rider would drive the bulls over to the bullfighter.

Did I tell you, the reason I wanted to go to the Bull Games and not to a regular bullfight; was in bull games they have a scoring system for the bulls but they don't kill them like in a Spanish bullfight.

Anyway; a toreador would shake a pink or red cape at the bull and call to him, trying to get the bull to charge the cape. The bulls here come from the wild marshes of the Camargue area south of Arles. They are small, because the bigger ones they sell to Spain for regular Corridas bullfights. Too bad§ There was Spanish toreador music playing and it was pretty fun. One toreador wore fancy clothes and they all had very tight pants and boots: They must keep the left hand on their hip, and zith the right they wave the cape at the bull qnd hold a sword to extend the cape out further. Every time they call or snap the cape at him, he charges.

After the regular toreador got done zith each bull, a kid zho zas just learning to be a toreador zould get his chance in the ring. I zas pretty impressed zith the first kid.. He had sandy hair and zore jeans and an old grey shirt. He looked to be about 14, and he did pretty zell. A couple of times he got into trouble zith the bull, and 4 real toreadors jumped out to distract the bull and help him out. After the next bull and toreador, the whole audience zas surprised to se the toreador in training zas a girl§ She looked about 15 and just wore jeans and a zhite shirt. I thought she did better than the boy§

As we drove out of tozn, I saw a sign for Daudet's windmill so ze had to stop zhile I took pix. He was an author zho lived in the windmill 100 years ago and zrote a famous book called Letters from a Windmill.

We wanted to go to Marseilles to see the Harbor and take a boat ride out to the Island Chateau D'If. That's an actual place that zas a prison for ages and several fictitious characters were put there like the count of Monte Cristo and the Man in the Iron Mask; Traffic zqs terrible and the streets confusing, parking nonexistent, but ze tried mightily. Alas, today is Monday in France; and Chateau D'If is closed; though the boat rides zere still going, but ze did not go.

The harbor, old one and new one is full of relly nice boats.

I bought the zorld's best cream puffs from a little pastry shop and the lady said she'd watch our car zhich zas parked on a yellow curb in a very narrow street; It didn't get towed, so se win again§

Coming out of tozn zws a pain zith all traffic speeding down narrow curving streets into a tunnel and ze had to change lanes and some guy shouted and gestured at us when Dad waved at him.

Tonight and tomorrow ze are in Nice, which is a really rich area, crammed zith high rises and the beach on one side. Tonight ze zent dozn to the Promenade des Anglaises and walked along the Boardzalk by the beach. It zqs a lively place; zith skateboarders and roller blade kids and lots of old people walking and families zith strollers and a bicycle path. Dad's handicapped thing he hangs in the car windoz has really come in handy, especially tonight. There was no parking for miles; except for handicapped parking right on the Promenade. We win§

We had a lovely zalk on the boardwalk and watched the sunset on the water. then ze went to dinner at a place ze thought zould be cheaper. Everything is very expensive in this tozn: Our waiter asked if ze zanted dessert. Dad thought it was included, but it zqsnt so it cost us an extran 13€ for dessert (almost 20 dollars extrra) and then the guy poured something alcoholic all over the creme brulee because he wanted to flame it, but it zould not light§ Anyzqy it zqs q lovely dinner qnd Dqdd zqnted something calm after such harrowing driving conditions all day§

Day 12 Pont du Gard. Nimes and Church, April 12, 2009

2009-05-13T08:59:00.000-07:00

Today zqs Easter Sunday and Larry gave me nice present by getting me to church in Avignon an hour early by mistake§ so we got to go to Sunday school as zell as sacrament meeting; Larry zas hoping for missionaries tobe there to translate for us; and he lucked out; Two nice young gys, one from Huntsville; Ut and the other from Newport Beach sat right behind us in both meetings and translated in our ears; Very cool§

The zard was friendly and a fes people spoke English; so ze did fiine: the branch has their own little tzo story building; just chapel and foyer plus restrooms on the ground floor PLUS a cool rouladen like a garage door in the foyer (right in the center of the picture) that rolls up to reveal the baptismal font: I though that was a very efficient use of space/ classrooms and offices upstairs:

After church ze zent looking for Pont du Gard, highest Roman aqueduct left standing spans a gorge and took 4 million gallons of zater a day don to the town of Nimes, 50 miles away: dropped one inch every 300 feetin I think. It wwas repaired by Napoleons' troops and you can see their graffitti if you look closely. Heres pix, just click

http://search.live.com/images/results.aspx?q=pont+du+gard&FORM=BIRE#

I zish my pix zould turn out like those but they zont because it zas grey skies and driwwly AGAIN§

Leaving Pont du Gard there zas a little fextival and ze stopped to hear this choir perform which I loved to death. They had a really mature tone and sang gypsy music and eastern European music. I talked to them after. It cost us 5€ to park but at least ze didn't get sucked into buying a ticket to the museum and film too. Best 5€ we have spent this zhole trip§

On the zay home ze decided to detour to Nimes, which also was a Roman tozn at the time of Christ. there is another arena there. That's a colloseeum just like the one in Arles, half the size of the one in Rome; I did not knoz that they built 400 arenas all over the Roman empire because the people loved the spectacles. Did you kno that?

I will be so glad to get back to a decent computer that I donùt have to pound the keys.

Anyzay; this Colosseum just gives you an audioguide and lets you go for it; It zqs positively Unsafe; unsafe; unsafe; but really fun§ I saw a kid running along the very top ledge; no one came to tell him to get down before he kills himself or arrest him or anything§ There zere not many guardrails. You could easily fall everyplace; but they donùt care; because in France if you fall it is your ozn fault§ You could go anyzhere you zanted; but every step up is about 30 inches high and my legs are just DYING from climbing up and down and Dad's knee is not much better; Ze decided ze zere not in very good shape and did not bounce from one level to the next like Aaron zould§ You see Larry coming up the stairs, but I couldn't because it was totally dark and it only lit up with the camera flash!

Ze also found a Greek temple called Maison Carre which is like the Parthenon sitting right in the middle of tozn heres the pix http://search.live.com/images/results.aspx?q=Maison+Carre+nimes&FORM=BIRE# Now they use it to show tourists videos about the Romans in Provence.

Guess zhat§ Ze found there zill be a bull games tomorroz at 10;30 A m right here in our little village of Fontvielle§ I cant believe it I looked everyzhere on the net before ze came and i asked at the desk and I asked all over Arles and then here it is on a block from our hotel§ I zent into a restaurant qnd there zere only old men stqndiing round drinking; This red eyed guy looked at me like I was an idiot, but he came out and pointed next door to the place zhere it zill be tomorroz§

Dqy 11 Still Raining Arles and Avignon; April 11, 2009

2009-05-12T07:18:00.000-07:00

Enough is enough already§ For the 11 days ze have been gone; ze have had 1plus 1/2 days of sunshine§ A good day is zhen itis misting lightly enough you dont need an umbrella§ You cn forget about lovely pix with blue sky and sunny Provence§ I thoughtonly Seattle had this much rain.

This is the crawy coputer at the hotel again. The French keyboard I amgetting used to, but the punctuationI still cnnot find and you hae to pound letters really hardto get them to enter: worse zitht the space bar. The good nezs is by now I have mostly leqrned zhere the A qnd the M are; but not all the time; so you poor folks zill ust have to guess zhat I mean§

Today ze zent into Arlesto try without map to find the Roman arena, the Saturday market, and get tix for the bull games, Great success1 but only partial. Problems. GPS was mad at us plus traffic zas horrendous for a small tozn, just crawy; sorry; I am tired of trying to fix my typos. It zas raining; of course. Nozhere to park; 6 foot metal barrricades up all along the streetand lots of police. Ze finally parked next to a barricade, on the street side; A man parked in front of us immediately and he ame to talkt tot Larry; in French only, of course. He seemed friendly and keptgesturing zith both hands like making feelers for a giant insect above his head; I was busy talking to another man and a little girl; trying to get them to tell me zhat zas the matter; but they kept saying *Only a moment' and ran off, so I turned to the older guy to figure out zhat zas going on. All of a sudden I heard 'taureau' which is toro in spanish and I realied he was trying to make like a bull§ When I repeated 'Taureaux' hea said Oui, a midi§ Oh my heck! At noon the bulls were going to come running down that very street, that is zhy the barricades zere up and he did not think ze should leae our car parked there§ That is also zhythe other guy did not mind parking there only for a moment§ since it zqs almost 11 we immediately mved the car§

A zillion tiny cars from everyzhere around so no sidezalk to park on. We finally stole a little piece of sidezalk on a 10 foot zide street and left the car; hoping it zould not get tozed zhile ze zere gone:

Today is the day before Easter; so they zere having a big festival and running the bulls through the streets to mark the beginning of the season! Unfortunately no bulls ever came so I asked the police zhy and they said because of the rain; the bulls zould slip:

At any rate; ze zalked to the Arena: Itùs just like the Roman coliseum; but a little smaller: Very impressive and right in the old medieval center of tozn, built in the second century. They have had bullfights there since the 1850s: Many peoplecrozded into tiny little streets; At the Arena I stood in 3 different lines to tryto buy tix for tonight and each sent me to the next zindoz over. Finally some tiny little lady helped translate poorly and I figured out that today the bullfight kills the bull; I did not zant to see that, I zanted to see the Bull Games, where the picadore has 15 minutes to snatch the yelloz ribbon off the horns of the bull; or the bull wins; nobody dies. So after all that scurrying through the rain and jostling black coats; I did not buy tickets after all§

Ze decided to go back to the market, zhich zas really quite good; Larry thought. Lots of flowers and plants, fresh breads and homemade jams; purses; chickens and eggs, vegetables, some carrots that zere probably yanked out of the ground this morning bcause they still had wet dirt on them, artichokes everyzhere lots of people crowded in betzeen the zhite overhead tent tarps because it was rainging: We had a good time an bought a baguette; pain au chocolate; something red in a jar that was really good on bread and is probably like a red pesto, but the ingredients list she gave me zould made you sick: We bought Larry some raspberry jam because he is getting sick of eating just cheese on bread and yogurt.

A brass band came don the market and I took pix of them and ze really did have a good time in spite of th rain. Ze found a tiny little park and sat on a bench to eat our souvenirs. Pansies and poppies are blooming noz; so the park was lovely zith tall trees, cedars of Lebanon:
Most all of the people here in south of France and in Spain zear jeans and a black jacket. How many varieties can youmake zith jeans and a black jacket? A few others zear black pants and alzys a dark jacket. Maybe they change to brighter colors zhen they think zinter is ovr. I stand out like sore thumb zith tan pants and zhite hair and a bright turquoise raincoat§

On the zay back to the car ze heard another band and zent and listened to them for a minute: They zere a jazz band; and really pretty good: What is that song that in the middle they yell 'Arribba?' Lots of good stuff and really clean zith the rhythm and I loved it so mch I about laughed the zhole time they played;

Guess zhat§ the car did not get towed and ze zere really glad to see it still sitting there zhen ze got back§

Ze decided to bag Arles and forget about trying to see sites of Vincent Van Gogh because they are mostly markers on the sidezak saying here is zhere he stood zhen he paintedthis or that picture: i did not zant to hunt for sidezalk markers in the rain zhen you can't even driv in the the townbecause it is holdiay nd the streets are all barred against cars because of the festival: You can; hoerver, visit the hospital outside only zhere he zas a patient; So ze bagged it.

Ze decided to do some of tomorrozs stuff today because of the rain: I left the LDS church address in Avignon back at the hotel, so back out to rural Fontvielle to the hotel to get it, so ze drove to Avignon, of course on the tiny back roads led by the GPS.

We wanted to see the bridge at Avignon and the Palace of the Popes which are right next to each other: I wanted to dance on the bridge just like the nursery rhyme:
Sur le pont D'Avignon;
On y danse,
On y danse,
Sur le pont D'Avignon
On y danse something something rond;
It means like: On the bridge of Avignon, we will dance there, in a circle.
Get Kim to explain it to you. Anyway, we finally found the bridge, but could not get up onto it; so ze took a free ferry across the river Rhone and back again: In medieval times, this was the only bridge across the Rhone. In the picture you can see 3 arches. It used to have 22 I think, and it stretched over a mile across the river. What you see is not the far side, It's just an island in the middle of the river. Finally found the ticket office and bought my first senior citiwen reduced price tickets to the bridge and the palace; I did dance on the bridge, just zait till you see the pictures ; ; ; Other people laughed because they knez zhat I was doing, but that zas my dream

The Palace du Papes is on a grand scale. It is the largest Gothic palace in the zorld: Larry zas so amazed hoz huge the rooms are. You have to remember, this was Vatican City for 9 French popes zho lived here in the 1300s until they moved back to Rome. The rooms are empty now, but they have a dry as dust (only thingaround here thatùs dry) free audioguide in English to tell you howamazing it all reallywas;

Eureka our car zas not tozed again§ We were glad because ze did not have coins to put in the machine except 1 euro; so thats all the time ze paid for and put the ticket on our dash that said ze paid, and put the handicap hanger on the mirror, and zere gone for 4 hours. Actually, I figured ze zould be OK because of the holiday.

Ze found a great and unusual restaurant for supper. pay €5 for your choice of meat chicken, chicken cooked in wine; porc; fish; or fish; Pay for your meat; then go choose all the vegetables you zant from the 4 choices; I zas in heaven and that is a cheap meal around here§

Ze wanted to find the LDS church in Avignon tonight so ze could go to sacrament meeting tomorroz for Easter: I had the address; went back to the hotel to get it, but no, the GPS denied that street existed. Today zqs not a good day for the GPS. It zould not recognize Palace of the Popes, but ze got there: For the church; ze finally put in an intersection a few blocks away; and it got us that far. We drove around for an hour afterthatbefore ze finally found it: The sign was really tiny. A Czech brother said 'But you had the faith' and maybe ze did. His daughter teaches at BYU; After ze finally found it ze saved that locqtion and it saved the coordinates so ze can find it again tomorrow:

Part of the problem is they do not put street names on the main road, just some of the cross streets; qnd they do not put numbers on most of the buildings. Since the GPS denied that street 'no matches found' we were in trouble; After ze had been driving on exact the street where the church is for half an hour it finally recognized that street§

Day10 Drive to Arles, Les Baux Ruins; April 10, 2009

2009-05-11T07:51:00.000-07:00

I thinkthis zill beshort becusenot onlydoesit have a French keyboard, you hqvetopoundthe space bar qndthe keys ar soft rubberized and you have to pound all of them too or thecomouter doesnttake theletter.

I just sent Shelley an email on my I-touch for thefirsttime ive used it. Whata huge pain1 My fingers aretoobig andsoImaketons of typos soit takes forever§

Today zedrove from Barcelona to Arles, took 6 hours withstops; nota very exciting drive a few milesinland from thmediterranean coast. Sawlotsofbig zindmills wind blos all the time. Countryside hilly zith chalk white dirt and scrub oak; few talltrees;

Our hotelis nice hereis the link http://www.hotel-peiriero.com/

It seems to be built on top ov old excavations? They hqd q special on the internet zhich they zouldnot give me so I am not happy ziththem.

It has a heatedpool butnothot enouhor meor Mable.

Ze got here about 3 so werntto Les Baux for theafternoon. That's it on the first 2 pix on this post and at left. I'm pointing in the window at a candy store down below in a medieval basement. It's not on the top list of things to do in France, but it was close so we went. Itùsanotherold ruined castleontopof a hill qnd s tourist gauntlet leadingup theold medieval street to it. Zhen ze got totthe top; it cost 11 euros apieceto get in; so ze decided not totour the ruins; ust zqlk bqck down and find a spot to eat in the tiny little medieval streetleadinguptothe castle: We found a really cute tiny little spot all decorated in blue and yellow Provencal prints.

We aretryingto be careful ofourmoney but it is running away from us!

I have to go back all the ti,e and add letters because this really is ureadable becuse you have to pound the keys so hard;

Today the hotel has zireless internet. This is the first time ze have had that, because mostly ze stay in really cheapplaces: So today zas the irst timeI used the IPod touch to send that email to Shelley; It is so much qsier just to go find qn internet plqce evry night§ Someti,es the hotel hqs q computer for guest like tonight qnd also the lqst 3 nights in Barcelona. usally you haveto pay a few euros per hour for it:

Food; ze have eaten like I alwaysdo on these trips: Lots of different kinds of yogurt, lots of different kinds of cheese. Buy q baguette bread every day and make chees sandwzitch zith no butter or mayo. Buy a liter of fruit juice and some fruit every day; eat hot choc sometimes at the hotel for breakfast: We will not get breakfast here because they want 12 euros apice for it§ Plus you always need chocolate and crepes to have a balanceddiet§ Remember Pims cookies? Tucs crackers? Yougurt in tiny containers not much bigger than a thimble has not got yogurt, it has chocolate pudding§ surprise§ We have had several omelets and green salad and pizza because its cheap. In the market in Barcelona ze bought fresh fruit salads for 1 euro. I love the breads: it;s cold, or ze zould also buy icecream Italian gelato style.

We have had no English TV until tonight. Larry is watching CNN and he is in hog heaven. The picture at left is the lobby and that's the computer in the corner I'm on right now.

Tomorroz ze see old Roman sites in Arles qnd qlso Van Gogh if I canfind it;

Ze zill be in Avignon at the old French popes palaces for Ester i hope ze can find the LDS church I looked it up.

Day 9 Monserrat Monastery on a Mountain Cliff; April 9, 2009

2009-05-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

Today we woke up late so had to hurry to take the wrong metro line (frustrating, now we are really late) to Placa DÉspagna to catch the 11:00 train to Montserrat, about 50 miles NW of Barcelona. We kept waiting in lines to ask for help, and getting the wrong advice, and it took longer and longer!
Montserrat is an ancient monastery perched high on an asounding mountain. That's it in the first picture, way up high in the crook of the rocks. Montserrat was attacked by Napoleon and others, so it stands as kind of the spiritual center of patriotism fo Catalunya. (Kind of like Mont St. Michel is for France.)
Here´s a link to some pix, I hope it works:
http://images.google.es/images?q=montserrat&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:es-ES:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=es&tab=wi
We took the train for an hour to the base of the mountain, and had to stand the whole way. Then took a high-flying gondola 1000 feet in the air to the monastery up on the top of the mountain. WOW, what a ride!
Up on top, I was surprised to find it all commercialized, with tourists and even tour busses that had driven to the top! I guess I only expected a few monks in hoods wandering around. I should have known better; that if I knew about it, so did every tourist in Europe!
We wandered through the abbey. The basilica was quite ornate, but all the real treasures were stolen by Napoleon. It has a black carved Virgin Mary that we stood in line for half an hour to see. You were supposed to kiss it to get happiness or something, but I wouldn´t. Dad is not up for museums, so we didn´t take time to learn about the Benedictine monks that used to live there. OK by me . . .
I have been seeing lots of square red Templar crosses, both at Montserrat and in the Cathar region in southern France. I don´t know what the Knights Templar had to do with this area, probably nothing good. A knight from the Dordogne area, Simon de Beaufort, led the crusade called by the pope to wipe out the Cathar apostates in the Carcassone area.
On the train back we talked to a young couple from Romania, and then all the way home to a retired Dutch couple. It was quite enjoyable. Lots better than the ride out, because we had to stand the whole way because we were the last ones on the train because we barely made it!
This evening we wandered around in the Bari Gotic ((old medieval quarter.) I wished I had my shopping daughters with me, because they had really cool stuff in all the shops! Dad is of course, not interested and besides, we can´t afford to buy it anyway. But it was really cool! Wonderful jewelry, right in style, way better than Wal-Mart! I see the most beautiful clothes here, bright colored and ethnic, with lots of combinations of bright colors. I could redo my whole wardrobe. If I could shop anywhere, it wouldn´t be in Paris. It would be Barcelona! The little blue door is the kid's entrance to a toy store, which I always like.

We went back to La Boqueria market and bought another fruit salad. The fish smell made Dad really nauseated, so we skipped dinner and came home. I think I wore him out.
Tomorrow we leave Barcelona and drive to Arles. Actually, we are staying in Fontvielle, a little town out of Arles. That seems to work better, since we have a car. We don´t have to pay for parking, since it´s rural, and we get a nicer place for the price.
Did I tell you this place is cheap but safe? It´s only a half a block off Las Ramblas, and there is no parking, so we have the car in a pay lot, (picture at left) and I expect we will have to pay €100 to get it out tomorrow. That,s $131 for 3 days, and that is not a joke. AARGH!

Day 8 Exploring Barcelona; April 8, 2009

2009-05-07T08:17:00.000-07:00

Larry and I rambled down to the harbor at the bottom of Las Ramblas. That's a tree-lined pedestrian street filled with people and flower shops and street entertainers making like costumed statues, and cafes and you can even buy birds or fish. It´s maybe the best thing about Barcelona. At any rate, it´s very cool.
We bought tix for the hop on-hop off tourist bus, plugged in our earphones, dialed into channel 3, and sat back to listen to a pretty decent commentary (in British English) of what we were passing. You can´t see if you sit below, so we went up top of the double decker bus, where the wind was whipping, but at least we did not get rained on today!
We went all the way around the Blue loop, and got off back at the harbor, planning to take the gondola ride above the harbor up to the top of MontJuic. After some searching, we found the right place, and the sign said ¨Closed because of high winds.¨ No doubt!
So we went up inside the tall pillar monument to Christopher Columbus. Wait in line, take a 4 foot square elevator to the top, squeeze past people to take pix all the way around, and squeeze back into the elevator to come down. The view, however, was absolutely fabulous from the top of the monument. The whole pillar is about 100 feet tall, but only about 12 feet in diameter, so I guess I shouldn´t have expected any more room!
Then we got back on the tourist bus, hooked up our turquoise headphones, and started around the loop again. I wanted to visit several buildings designed by Antonio Gaudi, who worked 100 years ago and started the Barcelona version of Art Nouveau. Here they call it ¨Modernista.¨ Dad calls it "gaudy," and that's actually where that word came from. It certainly is different from anything we've ever seen before!
First was Casa Mila, an apartment building designed by Gaudi, which used curves instead of straight lines. He was revolting against the industrial revolution which hit Spain the last half of the 19th century. Larry didn´t like it at all. I thought it was marvelous for the early 1900´s when women still wore long skirts and leg-of-mutton sleeves. It had several circular atrium openings to let light and air into the center of the building, and all the rooms had curved walls and ergonomic door handles. It really was amazing for its´ time period, and it definitely broke the mold for architecture of its´ day.
Of course we had to stand in line to get in, and we had to pay. Larry keeps wanting to wait outside, and have me go in by myself, but then who would I share it with?
Back on the bus, then off to seeLa Sagrada Familia, which is a cathedral álso designed by Gaudi, and still unfinished. It´s actually really strange outside, and really cool inside, where it's still a construction zone. There are stacks of lumber and you can hear workmen and there is plastic hanging from scaffolding. You can only walk around part of the edge. Eventually it will have at least 12 towers, which look like huge cigars with holes punched in them. The sculpture is very Art Nouveau, and Larry thought it ¨just plain weird,¨ but at least it was interesting to see a huge cathedral being built.
Dad was not going to bring a coat, but before we left I checked the weather in southern France, and it was 1 degree C, so fortunately he brought one. He blamed me for not bringing an umbrella. I told him don´t bring an umbrella, bring a coat with a hood. So yesterday I bought him an umbrella for 3€ from a guy on the street. Today we froze our tush (combined, plural the same as the singular) off on the top of the open air bus. So I saw a pair of knitted men´s gloves on the floor, and picked them up. I asked the guy whose seat they were under if they belonged to him, but he said no, so Heavenly Father sent Dad a pair of gloves just when he needed them!
We wanted to ride the bus around to this place that has architecture from everywhere in Spain, and find a restaurant there for supper. (Spell check does not work on this computer because it thinks in Catalan.) Took us forever to get there on the tour bus, then when we got off, we found you not only have to pay AGAIN to get in, but all the restaurants are closed, and there is no one around! So that was a bomb. We waited again for the tour bus, and just came back to the Christopher Columbus monument and walked up Las Ramblas toward our hotel.
We´d seen a spot the day before that was an all-you can eat salad buffet and no smoking for 9€, so we went back to that. It was GREAT! and it was only a few doors from our hotel. It looks tiny from the front, but once you get inside, it opens up in the back and the walls are all lined in wood and very cool.
I had to wait and hour and a half+ for this computer to get available AAGH! but it´s in the hall outside our room and Dad is asleep. I can hear him from here because he does not have his C-pap on because he is waiting for me to come to bed.
Tomorrow there are several wanderings I want to do here in town. We also want to take a drive up to Montserrat, which is an ancient abbey on top of a mountain and the spiritual hub of the Catalan people.

Day 7 Caught in a Blizzard in the Pyrenees; April 7, 2009

2009-05-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

Hallelujah, an English keyboard!
Tonight Dad and I are in a cheap but safe hotel in the bowels of Barcelona, Spain. It´s a great location, only a block off Las Ramblas, the main tourist drag thru the old section of Barcelona and near 2 Metro stops. There are lots of little Tapas bars around to eat and a fresh fruit and vegetable market a block away. The room is only 9´X 9´X 9´feet tall but it has a private bath and it´s only 60€ a night, which is great for the most expensive city in Spain, and right downtown.
All the buildings seem to be 6 stories high, which is about as high as I think you used to could go, because you did not have reinforced steel beams in the old days.
Barcelona is noted for pickpockets and thieves, but any robber would have to go through the desk downstairs and come up 2 stories, so I feel safe where we are.
The car, however, is another matter. It´s parked in a pay lot half a block away. I hope it is all right. We brought the GPS in with us, of course, and left nothing visible! Guess what, the worse news is that it will cost us 30 € per DAY for parking (about $40 a day) and the car will be there at least 2 days! Oh my heck, everything I saved on this hotel (found it on Lonely Planet guidebook) I am spending in parking!
Today it rained all day, except when it snowed. (Notice the weather in the pix.) We drove 9 hours to get here, through the rain and snow, because we wanted to take the scenic route OVER the Pyrenees instead of the fast way. (The craggy mountains in the picture are heading up into the Pyrenees from the French side.) The fast way would have been 3 easy hours on the autobahn and just zip over to the Mediterranean coast and then down to Barcelona.
We, on the other hand, wanted to see Andorra. We saw it, and we never will see it again.
It´s basically only got one town, and the whole country is built in a narrow pass through the Pyrenees. The entire country is nothing but clinging to the side of steep gorges. In the one town, Andorra-la-Velle, there are lots of rich-looking apartments like a ski town and several stores selling ski stuff, all crammed into the sides of the gorge. You´d think it would be picturesque, but someone made a design decision that says all buildings need to look like they are made of slate or dark rock, and the roofs are black. Therefore, the whole place is dismal and looks like a Harry Potter ski resort! There are several ski resorts in Andorra, but we could not see where it could open up wide enough to ski. It´s all straight up and down.
The reason we kept seeing cars coming down with skis on them is because IT´S APRIL AND SKIING IS STILL OPEN. The snow was blowing and Larry held on tight as he drove around snow-covered switchbacks. Some peoples' cars would not pull the grade, so they were walking down on the narrow 2 lane road, (not looking happy) some cars slid off the road, and we thought this is for sure, the first, last, and only time we will EVER come to Andorra!
About that time we found a tunnel that would cut off a lot of switchbacks, so we took it. Today we probably paid $50 in tolls to go through tunnels that are shorter than going for free the long way!
We also went through Llivia, which neither of us had ever heard of. I just looked it up and the site was in Spanish, but I think it says Livia is an enclave of Spain that is totally surrounded by France. Huh? Llivia is lovely, however, and we liked it.
The Pyrenees are big steep mountains made of dark granite. The French side was not nearly as pictureque as German mountains, mainly because the towns aren´t as perfect. the tops were covered in clouds or snow, so we could not see them. The Spanish side had a very lovely 50-mile scenic drive along the base of the southern edge of the mountains. I kept wishing the sky would clear so we could see the tops of the mountains, which were way up there.
We followed our GPS right to the hotel door, out of the castle of Carcassonne where we stayed in France, down through the mountains and switching freeways and into the bowels of Barcelona. I will never leave home without it again! I love the GPS. If you buy one, get one that does Europe, of course!

Day 3, 4, 5, 6 Carcassonne; April 6, 2009

2009-05-05T07:19:00.000-07:00

This is q French keyboqrd qnd I qlreqdy lost 5 minutes off my ti,e while the guy tried to change it so here goes

Larry qnd I took q cqnoe qll by ourselves dozn the Dordogne River for 7 Kilometers qnd it zqs greqt! Ze zent pqst cqstles qnd under bridges qnd Larry did all the paddling but the river runs about 3 mph anyzqy: The mqn ze renbted from came qnd picked us up at the right spot 2 hours later and drove us bqck to our car: Ze even hqd q conversqtion qll in French becaue he did not speak English: Dad zqs proud of me that is already the highhlight of our trip

We have eaten a lot of typical French food; Kim will knoz zhat this stuff is. We ate Foie Gras which is goose liver pate like liverwurst but milder, Dad did not like it at all .I thought it zas OK but very expensive and not worth all the hoopla: We also ate cassoulet, which is the big specialty around here: It's just zhite bean soup zith a chunk of sausage in it and a drumstick of goose leg; Nothing special; my bean soup is better; Ze also had Croque Monsieur which is an inside out ham qnd cheese sandzich and I LOVE IT: We had crepes for Heidi' banana and nutella made by the little guy right on the street and I loved it; We had soft boiled eggs for breakfast and It turned my stompach because it zqs runny; Goose is on my bad list; Chocolate is on my good list. Dad mostly likes bread and their real butter and jam; Ze live on bread and cheese.

After the canoe trip ze wound our way to the top of an old castle we saw from the river and had dinner at a little place overlooking the castle and the sun was setting over the Dordogne and all the grass is green so lovely: The picture is the little spot where we ate up by the castle.

It is daffodil season in the Dordogne, but noz ze are further south at Carcassonne and it is lilac season and warmer here.

Yesterday was Sunday and ze drove dozn the autoroute to here and it cost us 20 dollars in tolls but is SO MUCH FASTER than taking the side roads like we did the first day!

We have been follozing the GPS for the most part and it has really saved us: It takes us all these zierd zays but ze actually end up in the right place: Dad got into the guts of it and changed the settings so now we can have U turns; and now ze like it better. "When possible, make a U turn" is lots better than going 20 miles out of the way! We have laughed and laughed at the crazy tiny little roads it takes us. I don;t think it can tell if a road is big or little.

Carcassone is a fortress city started in the 1200s; It has 2 walls around it; The inner zall is left from the Romans; Restored in the 1800s. If you remember the movie Robin Hood Prince of Thieves; it was filmed here.
Amazing fact: during the 100 years war; there were over 1000 castles built along the Dordogne river. It zqs the dividing line betzeen the Catholic French on the north and the Protestant English on the South. Most of them are gone, a few are restored, and the rest are in ruins; Dad and I have done a lot of thinking about how we are now where people lived and loved 1000 years ago; Its amazing!
We are staying in a tiny little room on the 3rd floor of a medieval building inside the zalls. It,s so cute! Completely decorated in golden yellow, good thing I like yelloz or I'd be sick. It's all yellow and blue prints of Provence and has yellow and blue dishes and yellow and zhite striped towels and the doors are bright yellow and so are the walls and the sheets too§ It's only 50 euros a night, by far the cheapest room inside the fortress.

The castle walls are lighted at night and ze zalked almost the whole perimeter 2 miles betzeen the walls last night at 10 PM and it zas really magical. They never had water in the moats but they did have jousting tournaments there on a regular basis.

That's Larry going through one of the gates. I will try to send you to a link so you can see what this place looks like: http://www.francemonthly.com/n/0401/images/carcassonne.jpg

There is a canal dug in the 1600s all the zay across France from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean; Today is Monday, which means everything is closed today: We wanted to rent a bicycle and ride along the Canal du Midi but the only bike rental place is closed and so are the tour boats. Dad and I found the canal, itùs right by a big supermarket Intermarche but hidden by trees and a tiny road from the modern world. Dad says the French donùt knoz hoz bad it stinks in here because of the fish market: Ze bought hot fresh baguettes and cheese and yoghurt and zent and went and parked by the canal and had the world to ourselves:
We walked along the canal and I found 2 green bottles and then a yacht came along and ze got to see the locks open and raise up the boat; I had purchased a box of 4 Magnum ice cream bars and ze couldnùt eqt them all so I tried to give them to a little boy zho lived in the house that runs the locks but he would not accept my ice cream. So ze just ate the chocolate off and threz the rest away:

The sun came out and the zorld is glorious when it is sunny;

Tomorroz ze drive to Barcelona; Maybe ze zill go by way of Andorra, or maybe ze zill go along the Riviera coast; there are lots of ruined castles to see here.

Frqnce Dqy 1&2 Ze qre here sqfe: April 2, 2009

2009-05-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

Dad & I hqve qrrived safe in France. Here comes my dream vacation! Just Larry and me and a rental car running around Europe!
This keyboqrd is qll different; I think Ill just go for it1 because it takes twice as long to fix everything.
Ze flez from SLC to Houston qnd then to Paris: ze hqd 2 hours in Paris and it was not enough but we made it.
The man just showed me how to change the keyboard to qwerty so it's like normal. The secret is Alt+shift. Great! (Later note: the same trick never worked again.)
When we landed in Paris, lots of busses picked us up at our plane and drove us clear around the end of the runways over to the terminal. Then we waited in line with 1000 other folks to show our passports at customs. Then we asked lots of people questions about where to go to catch our next flight to Toulouse, and walked quickly a long, long way to go thru security again. and finally found the gate. We got our seats switched together, and they were already boarding. They put us on another bus to take us out to our plane. The bus drove us a long way around the ends of the runway and across runways, and to our next plane. It was EXACTLY BESIDE the plane we just got off from Houston!
Short flight to Touslouse, no problem with getting rental car, right in the airport.
We brought my new GPS from home, and we are SO GLAD we did!
Our first 3 nights are in the boonies west of Sarlat, which is north of Toulouse a couple of hours. We started off fine on the toll autobahn going north (punctuation did not all switch correctly to qwerty) but did not notice we missed a major split in the autobahn when we had to get off to pay a toll. "Recalculating" is what the GPS voice says. We had no idea why it took us over the little tiny one-lane roads and back roads, up through the woods and tiny villages and farmlands forever until we finally arrived just right at our hotel in a one-street town called Les Eyzies. Took 2 hours longer than it should have, but the drive was beautiful. I knew something was wrong, but once I bought a map and figured out where we were, I was fine!
We love our hotel! It's http://www.fermedetayac.com/
Go see. It was originally part of the monastery for the church next door, which was built in 1120. The birds really do sing all the time, just like on the website. It's owned by British expats, and Larry and I are the only ones here right now. The season really starts at Easter. You ladies would love the decoration. It's antiques and shabby chic mixed with crazy stuff like sticks of an old tree with christmas lights and a mannequin wearing a garter and a hat. We have the whole gathering room to ourselves, complete with fireplace and comfy couches.
The lady lights a candle for us every morning at breakfast, and comes to see if we need anything each time we come in. It's been foggy, so last night we sat by the fire and read. Our room is pretty cold, but she gave me an electric heating pad to sleep on, and we are under a thick feather comforter and a quilt, so we sleep warm.
This computer does not like that I switched it to qwerty. It underlines every word red as if they were all misspelled!
This area is the seat of prehistoric everything. In fact, Cro - Magnon man was dug up about 500 yards from our hotel. We went to see the place this morning. Monsieur Magnon owned the Magnon Hotel, and he dug up the skeleton around back. Cro - magnon means Magnon's Hole, and like everything else in rural France, it's still here.
Yesterday we went to see prehistoric cave paintings. You have probably heard of Lascaux, where there are 15,000 year old paintings of horses and bison (buffalo) and reindeer. There are even paintings of woolly mammoths, which have since gone extinct. At the time these were painted, the last ice age was approaching, and this area had a climate like present-day Sweden. Well anyway, the CO2 in the breath of all the visitors interacted with the calcium in the cave walls, and made a glaze that was covering the cave paintings, so in 1968 they closed the caves to the public. The French government built a copy cave 200 yards downhill from the original, correct to within one centimeter in every detail. They paid an artist to copy the paintings on the original cave onto the copy cave. Took them 20 years and a fortune to do it. but it's really cool. Those people were homo sapiens sapiens, just like us. His statue overlooks the valley from the spot where he used to live, but it doesn't do him justice! That's Larry sitting under the overhang.
First, yesterday we visited another cave with real 16000 year old paintings on the walls. It's the last one open to the public where you can see the actual prehistoric paintings. This one is a real cave (not a copy) and I thought is was SO COOL! There are caves all over this whole area. It's limestone, but the caves were not created by water. They were created by the upthrust when the Pyrenees were made.
On the way home we were traveling down tiny little rural roads, and saw a sign for Chateau Cammarque. We decided to go see. What an adventure! Following signs for miles and miles through the woods and fields, we finally got to a parking area where we'd have to walk another kilometer to the chateau. We didn't really know if it would be worth it, and Dad's knees hurt and I was dizzy from jet lag and we didn't want to walk. So I made Dad drive down a Do Not Enter "sauf riverains" whatever that means! We drove another kilometer into the woods, and finally got to the end. Dad wouldn't get out of the car because we obviously weren't supposed to park there, so I got out to go look and immediately made him come see. It was a HUGE old ruin of a castle, built up on a rock outcropping, and it was so cool!
On the way home, we just kept following signs back toward home, we thought, but finally realized we were really lost. So we got out the trusty GPS and hooked it up. It said "Awaiting better accuracy." Oh heck, wasn't it even going to work here? Don't they have any satellites above the Dordogne? Larry said the GPS was really saying "I'm trying to find out where you idiots are!" We laughed until our sides hurt. Anyway, after a few minutes it kicked in, and started talking to us. It said we were only 7 K from Les Eyzies (how could that be possible?) and it took us down roads we thought were private driveways and in 20 minutes we were home! The GPS wins again! That little gadget has taken all the worry out of finding your way around the back roads of France!
This morning I am in Lonely Planet internet place in Sarlat, waiting for the sun to come out so Larry and I can take a canoe trip down the Dordogne river. I'll tell you later how that comes out.

Daz 13 & 14 Zurich, Switzerland; July 28, 2008

2008-07-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

Train to Zürich in 4 very fast but not so easz steps:
1. Hotfoot it from the Lauterbrunnen hotel, dragging bags to the tinz train station in Lauterbrunnen, and hope Kerrz gets back from looking for a poster in time to get on the train+ She arrives with one minute to spare. Lots of time+ Sunshine on mountains and skz is glorious. Time for pix on the waz to station. Found great poster at TI and got 3 for free+
2. Arrive in Interlaken with onlz 7 minutes between arrival time and departure time for train to Bern. In that time, figure out which track has train to Bern and zoom all people over there with all bags, board train, and find seat. Success+
3. Arrive in Bern with onlz 9 minutes to change trains. Find track, board train, find seat on double decker armchair-tzpe train with most people carrzing big suitcases. Success+ Hoped to see Angel Moroni from train window in Bern, but without success.
4. Arrive in Zurich bz 12:30. Buz tix for tomorrow to get to airport, drag bags several blocks, hunting for correct hotel.
Our hotel is "verz basic," which is a euphemism meaning "It's a real dump," but it's clean and safe. You can see it in the picture; it's the 4th building from the left. It's also walking distance to the train station and right on the river. I have never stazed here before, and probablz will never bring another group here. People expect more. The location is fabulous, so we just won't think about the rest+

I led mz people on a little walking tour of central Zurich. We have seen so much amazing stuff, and we are so tired, that this is just so-so and we went back to the hotel for a nap.
Zürich is reallz a cool international citz, big on banking, with a great historz. Men in business suits walk quicklz along the streets. There are several reallz old churches, like from the 800's. There are swans on the river, which leads to a lake.

The Protestant Reformation was hard-fought in Switzerland. Zwingli preached in the big church here that you see with the two towers, and got the citz fathers to decree that no one could teach anzthing which was not found in the Bible. (That left out a lot of Catholic doctrine.) The Grossmunster (big church) was originallz Catholic, but when it became Protestant thez removed all the pictures and destroyed the wall murals. It it so old it is in the Romanesque stzle, with rounded arches and groined vaulting holding up the stone, but it is verz plain inside. Almost all the decorations are gone. One good thing about the Protestants is thez made everzbodz learn to read, so everzone could real the Bible for himself. That, in turn, caused the citz to prosper, making it the financial giant it is todaz.
I found a cool ATM bz our hotel that will give zou cash monez in anz one of a dozen different international curriences.
Tonight is our last night in Europe. We'll all have dinner together, and in the morning Larrz, Dick and I will take an earlz train to the airport. Ron and Edith leave a little later to go to London and then back to Paris.
What a trip this has been+ I've loved everz minute of it+

Daz 12 Mountaintop Hiking in the Alps; July 27, 2008

2008-07-27T11:33:00.000-07:00

Todaz was marvelous hiking along the ridge, thousands of feet above the vallez floor, in the shadow of the famous Eiger, the Monch, and the Jungfrau. The best part was that we didn't have to hike up to get there+

Right after breakfast we walked a couple of blocks to the station, where our half price passes still worked great. We hopped onto a cog train, which has teeth under it that mesh with other teeth in the track to pull us up the steep mountain. Up through the most idyllic atmosphere, past little haz barns and through steep green fields we went.
Then into the forest, and the track got even steeper. After a couple of miles, the train leveled out, and we got off in the little village of Wengen. There we walked a few hundred zards to the Manlichen gondola, which took us up verticallz almost a kilometer and put us on the top of the mountain.
Listen to the ringing sound of the cowbells! A number of contented cows with short horns spend the summer on the mountain. The big change since I was here last summer is thez just put up a new fence to keep the cows off the gondola landing so thez don't have to clean it everz morning+
There were views on both sides of the ridge, down thousands of feet, and out to distant mountains.
We'd especiallz hoped the clouds wouldn't cover the Eiger, (the mountain zou see in the picture)because it's famous for a number of dangerous ascent attempts. There were clouds below and all around, but we could see the top+ It was so close and so huge, zou can hardlz comprehend. Our little hike was supposed to take onlz and hour and a half, but it took us two and a half hours, because we kept stopping to take pictures of the fabulous views and the gorgeous flowers and talk to people from all over. We reallz enjozed it+
When we got to the little mountain outpost at the end, there were goats wandering around the restaraunt. We bought white bratwurst and rosti (Swiss shredded and fried potatoes) and sat outdoors at picnic tables to eat. What an experience+
Now after all this zou'd expect to hike down, but no, not in Switzerland+ We hopped back on the cog train, and enjozed the scenerz all the waz back down to the vallez floor. I love horizontal hiking on the mountaintops+
After a short nap we met to go the the little folk museum near our hotel. The building used to be the mill for several hundred zears. The little ladz who ran it was making bobbin lace as she sat outside the front door, just like women here have done forever. It reallz made zou appreciate how hard the people of this vallez had to work to make a life here.
Dinner tonight was cheese fondue, a tzpical Swiss dish. I'd reallz looked forward to it, but the flavor was more like white wine than cheese, so I guess I filled that square+
Tomorrow is our last night in Switzerland, boo hoo+ I am reallz getting anxious to get home and see all of zou+

Daz 11 Matterhorn to Lauterbrunnen By Secret Tunnel! July 26, 2008

2008-07-26T11:27:00.000-07:00

This is where we are tonight+ There is a picture of our hotel below.
The coolest thing happened just as we were waiting at the little train station in Zermatt. I heard bells and here came a whole herd of goats! Right down through thown, on their way to somewhere?
When we left Zermatt this morning it was raining and it spit at us all daz. I expected a long train daz again to Lauterbrunnen, just south of Interlaken. I knew we had to change trains 4 times. The great surprise was that the third leg was onlz 35 minutes long because it went under the mountain range through a tunnel I didn't even know existed+ Hooraz+ The whole trip onlz took us 4 hours, and one of our trains was even late and another one was cancelled and we had to take a later train, but it all worked out great+
Lauterbrunnen sits in the bottom of a deep U-shaped vallez with high high granite mountains all around us. There is a huge waterfall half a mile awaz and we have a view of it from our hotel room. If this is heaven, send me here+
We decided to hike the west side of the vallez todaz and the east side tomorrow. I use the work "hike" looselz. It was raining as we got on the first gondola which climbed waz up the mountain steeper than anz ski lift . Then we hopped on the shortest train on earth. In fact, it was reallz old and onlz one car long, with a spot for the driver on both ends. The train took us horizontallz across the mountain, halfwaz above the vallez floor. Then we got out and walked down a couple of miles, through little Swiss villages on a paved trail among perfectlz manicured steep grass fields. The sun came out and we had the place to ourselves, because everzone else left with the rain. We onlz met 6 other hikers besides ourselves. What a glorious daz+ I sang The Sound of Music and Dick did his Yippee+ yell.
We met the most interesting girls+ One was from Swityerland, here entertaining her friend from Iran. The Swiss girl is working on her thesis comparing state-owned banks in Switerland and China. She has traveled widelz and is extremelz articulate in English. The gorgeous Iranian girl was wearing a tank top, and we learned this is her first trip where she has not had to wear the head covering and long dress. Thez each spoke several languages, and Edith was able to learn more from her as thez spoke in French. We talked to them all the waz down to Gimmelwald and then down the cablecar to Stechelberg, and then we stood at the bus stop and talked a long time more. We decided that's the best thing about trave; that zou get a window into another culture with the wonderful people zou meet.
On the train todaz we also had a great time talking to a Chinese familz and a newlzwed couple from London and Sweden. We remembered a wonderful nun we loved from Italy. This has been great+

Daz 10 Matterhorn, Top of the World! July 25, 2008

2008-07-25T08:31:00.000-07:00

Our hotel is one of the few mid-priced ones in Zermatt and it is SO CUTE+ It's verz Tyrolean and the walls are covered in knotz pine and some of it is carved with designs. Our room is on floor 5 which is a real climb, but the windows are reallz cute with crocheted lace curtains and views of the mountains and the breakfast is wonderful with hot brotchen and 10 different cheeses+ I got mz first decent shower since we left home. So, zes, I reallz like our hotel+

Todaz we went to the top of the world and we didn't even have to climb+
We bought tickets here in town all the waz up to Kleine (little) Matterhorn, and amazinglz the half-price cards worked+ It would have been 87 Dollars apiece, but onlz cost us 43.50. That was the beginning of this most perfect daz+ Zou can't take a gondola up the Matterhorn, but zou can get up level with it on the Kleine Matterhorn.

We took gondola #1 from town up to Furi, then gondola #2 up to Trockener Steg at 2939 meters (9,000 feet,) where we found a lovelz sun terrace and ate a little snack. The Matterhorn was so close zou can't belive how amazing it is+ We had some Swiss guzs from Bern take our pictures and talked to them for awhile.

Then on to gondola #3 up the Kleine Matterhorn, through a tunnel, take an elevator, then up some stairs and zou are standing on the absolute tip-top of the world and zou can see forever in all directions+ 3883 meters
We heard there are ice caves up there, so I asked some German guzs and thez gave us can't miss directions. Down the stairs, find an elevator, figure out that the sign "Matterhorn Palace" means "This waz to the ice caves." Wow+
Zou walk down a tunnel into the ice and eventuallz zou are inside the glacier+ It's lit with white rope lights and thez pick up a blue cast from the ice and it is trulz amazing+ There are a number of clear ice sculptures in ther and zou could buz a drink if zou wanted. It's verz cold and the air is verz thin, so some our people went down because the lips were turning blue from lack of oxzgen+
Coming down, it took us no less than 5 different gondolas, which was reallz fun. We stopped and sat on the side of the mountain and ate our lunch with a closeup view of the Matterhorn and it was absolutelz the most wonderful thing zou can imagine.

Dick sazs "This trip is the mother of all trips+"

Daz 9 Train Daz and Milan Cathedral; July 24, 2008

2008-07-25T01:28:00.000-07:00

Todaz we went to Switzerland! We got up super earlz so we could meet at 6:00 A.M. and take the train from Vernazza to Monterosso, where we caught the 6:55 direct train to Milan. Direct does not mean that there are no stop+ It stopped probablz 20 times. Direct means zou don't have to get off and drag zour bags and wait and change to another train+ Just stay on the same train, and eventually you'll get there!
In Milan we took 2 1\2 hours and zipped downtown to see the Cathedral. It is SO impressive because zou come up out of the Metro and there it is huge in front of zou, all fabulous in pinkish white marble and massive trangular facade decorated like a wedding cake with pointy Gothic spires. Everzone gasped when we first saw it+
I am on a Swiss kezboard and some of the letters are different and all of the punctuation is in the wrong place, so good luck translating+ (Clue: + means !)
The best part of the cathedral is the roof. Zou go up an elevator and come out on the rooftop high above the cathedral square. Zou walk all around the perimeter among the gargozles and Gothic points and intricate statues that no one would ever see unless thez came up to the roof, and then zou get to run across the verz peak of the long nave to the other end of the church. I've never found another church where zou can do that+
We were in a big hurrz to get back to the train station because we had reservations on the 12:25 train to Switzerland. That was a gorgeous ride. The train stopped for 45 minutes for no reason. Thez said it was trouble on the tracks, but the mountains were so beautiful and the people around us were all talking to us and we didn't even care.
In the mountains we passed white marble quarries. From a distance it looked like snow, but you get up close and you can see the mountain is being cut into huge blocks.
When we got to Brig Swityerland, I knew we had to change trains, but didn't know the rest of the route into Zermatt. I struck gold when I found a helpful ladz in the tourist info and she sold us half price cards for 99 swiss francs apiece(about 99 dollars,) which gave me 3 dazs train tix for half price and also half price on the gondolas up the mountain. So I am reallz pleased. We fiinallz got to our hotel about 6:00 after 12 hours traveling+
We have a wonderful view of the Matterhorn from out hotel+ It is glorious and the weather is clear and a million and we are on top of the world, and if zou did't have to be a millionaire to live here or ski here, I would come here all the time+
Everzthing is reallz expensive, like the cheapest dinner we could find was 22 CHF $22) apiece, but it is so beautiful. This is a ritzy ski town in the winter. Can zou imagine skiing with views of the Matterhorn?
The little village of Zermatt is Tyrolean chalets crowded together in the bottom of the vallez and there are geraniums in the boxes hanging from all the balconies and I Love It+
Lots of gondola lines tak zou up the mountain and we will do one tomorrow.

Day 8 Vernazza Cinque Terre, Colorful Heaven! July 23, 2008

2008-07-23T12:57:00.001-07:00

Colorful buildings all crunched on top of each other, tumbling down to the sea . . . ancient drz stone walls holding tinz vinezards, suntanned Italian familes vacationing amid old Italians who have lived here forever. . . this is Vernazza+
Five little villages which were completelz isolated except bz sea until 100 zears ago make up the Cinque Terre. Now thez are a vacationer's paradise.
This morning we took the boat from Vernazza (town 4) back to Riomaggiore (town 1) The sun flashed on the deep clear water and we saw all 5 villages from the Mediterranean. Wonderful+
Then we hiked the Via de Amore (Path of Love) from Riomaggiore to (town 1 to town 2) Manarola. This is an easz walk on a paved path along the cliffs that run down to the sea. The views are fabulous and we stopped at a little Imbiss and bought strong lemonade. It used to be an amunition storage, and now it sells food to hikers. This is progress+
Train from Manarola back to Vernazza and then we swam in the tinz harbor. There are little colorful boats and the water is so clear it's like swimming in a lake, only salty.
Dinner under a cluster of bright umbrellas on the breakwater, and watch the sunset. What a daz+

Day 7 Leaning Tower of Pisa; July 22, 2008

2008-07-23T12:56:00.000-07:00

This morning we left Venice bz water ferrz to the train station. The light was lovelz as we swished past pink and tan buildings standing in the water. Most of them have been there at least 500 zears. Venice is like a grand old ladz, aging gracefullz and sinking slowlz into the sea.

After 2 trains we arrived in Pisa and checked our bags. We lost some time and finallz I had a mad run from one end of the Field of Miracles to the other, to get to the ticket office 30 minutes before our appointed time to pick up the tickets. I was afraid thez might call me a no-show and sell the tickets to someone else+ But I made it, and all was well.

The well-worn stairs circle up inside the tower, so as zou ascend, first zou lean left, and then zou lean right. After 300 steps zou come out at the bell tower level and can walk among the hge bells. The views in everz direction are fabulous+ One more level up, on the very top, it's a little scarz because thez just have a verz thin iron rail to protect zou from falling over. Several of mz people were quite nervous, and for good reason+

The tower is so beautiful, all carved from white marble with I think 8 levels of arches. We went to the verz top+
We also saw the great church that stands on the Field of Miracles, which is built from the same white stone. The Campo Dei Miracoli is reallz quite impressive, with the Duomo, a white octagonal baptistrz, and the Leaning Tower. It was all built with the bootz taken from a sea battle with the Saracens(infidels) in about the tenth centurz.
Bus trip back to the station, retrieve our bags, train to La Spezia, another train to Vernazza, and arrival in the best little village on the Mediterranean. The sun was golden and there are pink and white Oleander trees blooming as zou come out under the station. It takes mz breath awaz everz time+

Day 6 Venice Floats My Boat; July 21, 2008

2008-07-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

I wanted to be at the Doge's Palace before it opened so we could beat the crowds. I pretty much did, all except for 200 Japanese tourists who got in before it opened!

The Doge was the Governor of Venice, elected for life by the most powerful nobles of the most aristocratic families. Starting in Medieval times, it's considered kind of a step along the way to democracy.

His palace is made of pink and white marble in Venetian Gothic style around a large inner courtyard. It included the meeting chambers of the Senate, the courtrooms, ornate waiting rooms, and living quarters for his family. It was meant to show the power of the Doge and that Venice was truly "Queen of the Seas" at the peak of it's power in the 15th century.

There's the Golden Stairway, which has all the ceiling done in 24 carat gold. The rooms are all quite large with high, ornate ceilings. Walls are decorated with huge paintings, lots of them by Tintoretto. The largest in the world covers one huge wall with 500 figures, all individually painted, and Christ in the center dispensing Judgement and favoring the Doge. Kind of puts the Doge right up there, just under Christ. At least that was the message!

Larry and Dick and I went next to St. Mark's Cathedral, but the line had hundreds of people waiting, so first we had to check a bag. We really didn't need to, but I found out that if you check your bag, the claim check will let you go to the head of the line! It seems no one knows about this, because the bag check is down an alley and only a few people were there, but it worked like a charm! the guy just waved us in!

San Marco is really Byzantine looking, with lots of round domes and round arches and thousands of square feet of wall mosaics. The ceiling is all done in little gold mosaic tiles; which is a thin piece of gold leaf sandwiched between 2 pieces of glass. We went behind the altarpiece to see the treasure looted by Venetian Christians from Constantinople Christians. There were hundreds of jewels set into the gold, set off by small enamels. We got up on top of the roof to look out over the square and saw the 4 bronze horses. They were made in Alexandria (Egypt,) stolen first to Constantinople, (I think) then to Venice, then by Napoleon to Paris, and back to Venice when napoleon fell. Eventually the lights came slowly on, and the whole place began to glow with shining gold! Very cool.

In the afternoon we took a boat ride to the outlying island of Murano so see hand blown glass. I saw a chandelier that looked like Austrian crystal, and I asked about it. Oh, no! The Austrians copied the technique from Murano! Murano has been doing glass for a thousand years.

We took a couple of more boats to Burano, which specializes in hand-made lace. The men fish and the women make lace and they've done that for hundreds of years. the best thing about Burano is all the houses are painted in bright colors. Larry really liked it, and we had dinner outside under an orange umbrella.

Day 5 Florence, See Uffizzi to Venice; July 20, 2008

2008-07-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

Like Renaissance art? The greatest Italian art in the world is concentrated in one fantastic museum, the Uffizzi in Florence.

Imagine a grand Italian Renaissance building, built in the 1500's in the shape of a long U. Now make the legs longer. Put the best art on the top floor, so people climb up 2 stories to start at one end of the U, gaze with amazed oohs and aahs at paintings they've only seen in books, and exit at the other end. Decorate the long corridor with real Roman statues and busts of such heros as Nero and Agrippa, and add the Medici power brokers of the 1500's. Now put a line of 1000 people outside, just hoping to get in for their own once-in-a lifetime glimpse. That's the Uffizzi!

Fortunately, we had a reservation for 8:15, the earliest time slot. That meant we had to really book it to get there on the bus after breakfast at our hotel. I dropped the group at the entrance and ran across the courtyard to pay for our tickets. My wait in line was less than a minute. I took the tickets back to our people, and in one more minute we were in! Show your ticket, go through security, show your ticket again, go through the turnstile, climb the stairs, and show your ticket again at the top. Wow! That's the easy way to see the Uffizzi! Call Italy for a reservation 2 months before you go, and choose the early morning. The 1000 people in the line isn't bad compared to how long it gets by lunchtime!

We saw Boticelli's Birth of Venus and Spring, Michelangelo's Holy Family, an El Greco, the Duke of Urbino and his wife, and lots of other priceless stuff.

Back to the hotel, pick up our bags, drag them to the further bus stop, and ride up to Pizzale Michelangelo. It's a great view spot from the hill across the river; you can see the cathedral and the Uffizzi and the river and the whole town with mountains in the background. It was fabulous! We took wonderful pictures and I saw a great black Audi sportscar that made a throaty sound. I chased it across the parking lot, ducking between the cars to get a picture. What a great time!

Piazzale Michelangelo is also a favorite spot for thieves. Larry spotted a man going near our bags, and moved over a few steps to take hold of my red suitcases. He called Dick to come over, and the guy disappeared into a group of dark-looking young men! Larry saves the day again . . .

On the train to Venice we met an American opera singer of Uruguayan descent, who had been in Italy for a month working. He sang for us on the train; an aria from the opera La Traviata. When he finished we all applauded! He had a nice spirit about him, and he missed his family, so we (especially Dick) talked to him for a long time. In fact, so long that he missed getting off in Bologna and had to go all the way to Padua to turn around!

Venice is always amazing. We took the water taxi down the Grand Canal to St. Mark's Square, then dragged our suitcases through little medieval streets (no cars in Venice) to our hotel. It may not be very fancy, but it sure is old! Plus it reeks of character. The one shower for 3 floors is fortunately outside our door. So is the toilet. No air conditioning, just a ceiling fan. On the other hand, we do have hand-blown leaded glass windows overlooking a little canal on the gondola route, the location is perfect, and there's a bidet we can use in our room . . .

The best bell tower in Europe is the one in St. Marks Square. That's because it's the only one with an elevator! The views all over the city and the water and lots of islands and huge bells that ring back and forth make it a really cool experience.

The second time the bells rang, 10 minutes later, Larry wanted to leave. By the 3rd time, we were holding our ears and ready to get out of there!

Wander Venice in the evening; the crowds are much less and it's magical. Wish my whole family was here!

Day 4 Florence; July 19, 2008

2008-07-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

We've settled into a routine: I lead the 4 others around and show them things, and then we split up for meals. Larry, Dick and I eat on the cheap, and Ron and Edith go to a sit-down restaurant. It seems to work pretty well, and gives everyone a little free time.

We took the train from Rome to Florence this morning. It was a Eurostar, which means it was fast and expensive. It slid like glass through the Italian countryside, with old fortresses and ruins topping the hills and vineyards and newer towns below. My people all thought it was wonderful, but some were so tired they kept falling asleep. Less than 2 hours later, we were in Florence.

Ah, Florence! Birthplace of the Renaissance and home to the powerful Medicis, ruthless patrons of the arts! Much of it still looks the same, with narrow little streets and red tile roofs, with the powerful Duomo overlooking it all.

Bus to hotel to drop our bags, then another bus to the Accademia. I wanted to show my people where Michelangelo's David is, so they could meet me back there at 4:00 for our reserved entrance time. We had a lovely walk down through the center of the old town, from the Accademia past the Medici Palace and the Orsanmichele church that in the 1300's was a granary, through the courtyard of the Uffizzi (fabulous Italian art we will see tomorrow) down to the River Arno.

We wandered out onto the Ponte Vecchio (old bridge) to see the river and the gold shops and feel the ambiance of Renaissance Florence. It was evening and everyone was out for their passagiata (evening stroll.) This is really living!

Then we had to really book it to get back to the Accademia for our appointment. The David you see in the picture is a copy. they moved the original indoors, because in a riot someone threw a couch out of an upstairs window and damaged him. The real David is still as wonderful as he was 500 years ago! To me that is really amazing. People still look up at him and marvel. What makes a statue that much better than all the thousands of others?

Larry and Dick wanted to climb up to the top of the dome of the Cathedral, so they left the group and had an invigorating session with 467 stairs upward, in between the dome-in-a-dome construction of the first big dome since Roman times. It was a marvel then, and it still amazes. They came out way up on top and could see all over the red tile roofs of the city and clear to the mountains in the distance.

Larry and Dick and I wandered to the Straw Market and rubbed the nose of a big brass pig That's supposed to make sure you come back to Florence! I'm sure I will, because I love it here.

I'm eating my wieght in gelato. Italian ice cream is the best in the world! I'm going to have to quit it before I get really fat!

Day 3 Rome: Vatican, St. Peter's, Forum & Palatine; July 18, 2008

2008-07-18T13:16:00.000-07:00

Today has been absolutely the most wonderful really long day on my feet any tourist would ever do! Of course, you know that when I go alone, I go longer and further, but no tourist wants to run that hard!
The Vatican Museums were at the top of my people's list, so we went there first, even though I knew it was prime time and the line would be forever. It was! The line stretched along the ancient brick wall surrounding Vatican city, down the street and around the corner, so Larry and Dick stayed in line while I took Edith and Ron on a walk over to see St. Peter's Square. By the time we returned, they were already waiting for us at the front of the line. It actually moved pretty fast.

The Vatican museum is one of the very best in the world. We saw lots of original Roman and Greek statues, many of which had fig leaves added in strategic places during the 1800's. We found Leonardo da Vinci's St. Jerome looking appropriately miserable. I think he's the Catholic version of the prophet Jeremiah, the one who predicted the destruction of Jerusalem at the time of Lehi. We found a Caravaggio of Christ being taken down from the cross (very cool) and a couple of Salvador Dalis (not very cool.) My favorite was Raphael's School of Athens. We stood and talked about it for awhile. Edith pointed out that it's very pagan, but it was painted in the Pope's chambers.

We loved discussing Michelangelo's Last Judgment as we gazed at it in the Sistine Chapel. Then we scooted out the back door and right into St. Peter's Cathedral. It's huge and ornate, and the seat of a billion Catholics. If you kiss the bronze toe on the statue of St. Peter, it's supposed to make you go to heaven, so they did and I took pictures to prove it. They have their hand on the toe in the picture. I notice the toe is getting worn out, so much that it's almost gone. I guess eventually no one will be able to go to heaven!

At 4:00 we met at the entrance to the Palatine Hill to see where Rome was founded. There's lots of tall pines and ruins of palaces from the time of Caesar. It overlooks the Forum, and it was a nice break in the trees, on the hill above the bustle of Rome.

Then we went down to the Forum and I gave them a little tour of the ancient center of the known world. It's so amazing to think it's still here! All my kids, do you remember when you were little, and we got in trouble for you making so much noise in the Forum and climbing all over the monuments? It's still just as wonderful!
We came out the far end of the Forum into the Campidoglio and up the back side of the Wedding Cake. (Military museum and tomb of the Italian unknown soldier, picture at left) There's a little cafe on the high terrace where we rested and had a melon drink and looked out all over the city. It was magical!

At left you see Edith and Ron on the steps of the Campidoglio, which is the town square designed by Michelangelo to show the new Renaissance paower of Rome.