Venice – Day 2.
Breakfast was interesting. There are 64 of us and a group from France of about 40. The breakfast room seats 15 at a time. We had been given shifts to eat but people still wound up waiting in line for a seat. We are going to skip breakfast tomorrow.
We head for the waterbus and after a false start in which we got on a bus that did not go all the way to our stop; we managed to get the right bus that took us to the island of Murano. Murano is home to several glass blowing factories and about 200 glass-selling shops. We had a great and very relaxing day. The weather was great and the shops were very uncrowded. There just are not enough tourists this time of year to go around. We found a very nice place to eat lunch and were the only non-Italian people in the place. We made our way back to the hotel, dropped our loot, and then headed out on foot to “get lost.” Rick Steves writes that you are going to get lost but not to worry you are on an island and so you can’t get hopelessly lost.
We ran into several groups of our students as we wondered around, including one girl who was not far from our hotel. She had gone out on her own to get some food and the waiter was trying to pick her up and was insisting that she have a drink with him at 11:00. She spotted us, ran out, and asked if we would pretend to be her parents so she could say no without appearing too rude. I did not quite understand the logic but we played along.
We are back at the hotel and trying to figure out how to repack our suitcases. It will be even more fun tomorrow in London as we rearrange our luggage so that we can get things under 50 pounds. We hope.
Leaving Italy,
The trip to London had a bit of a hiccough in it. It seems there was a strike of the luggage handlers in Venice and thus our flight was diverted to Verona. British Airways provided bus service from Venice to Verona (all the way across the north of Italy). The trip took nearly 2 hours and it was actually very enjoyable. So now, I get to stick a pin in Verona on my wall map. While in Verona we did check and Romeo and Juliet are still dead.
We got to the hotel with some struggle after being picked up at Gatwick and being taken to Heathrow by the Harlaxton crew. We struggled with 7 pieces of luggage from Heathrow to our hotel and I kept explaining to folks that we had been living here for 4 months and were now moving back to the US. That was why all the luggage. We were not here for a long weekend with all the luggage.
Tomorrow we head to the US.
Friday, December 14, 2007
38 Venice Day 1
Venice, the city where you dare not try to hop off the city bus between official stops. If you did, you might very well drown.
We arrived about 1:00 and the 64 of us made our way from the bus stop across three bridges (steps up and steps down). People were warned about this procession but still some people had far too much luggage along with bears and packages, etc. We did arrive at the Hotel Atlantide, a fine 2 star hotel. The rooms, like most hotels in Europe that are more than a few years old, are a hodge-podge of sizes, features and decor. Some student groups have suites, with lots of space and great balconies, others have cramped space with a nice view of a brick wall. We have a nice rope clothesline on pulleys right outside the window and a courtyard that at one time was probably a lovely garden. It is now a place to store building materials.
Venice is a great city. On our first afternoon, we managed to figure out the vaporetti (the city waterbuses). The entire island part of the city of Venice is a pedestrian zone. There are no cars or motorcycles in the city (although I did see one 2 year old driving a red electric four-wheeler down the sidewalk). This was such a nice relief from the noisy streets of Rome and Florence. The most dangerous thing you can do while walking in Venice is to run over a 70 something year old nun as you round one of the blind corners in the very narrow streets that crisscross the city. I guess it would also be possible to be taking photos while you walk and then step into the Grand Canal. (No, it did not happen to me!)
We got on the city bus and it took us down the beautiful Grand Canal to San Marco Square. The church there houses the bones of St. Mark (so the story goes). Next door to the church is the Doge’s Palace (Doge is Italian for Duke). Venice was the major power in Europe for over 400 years. Being a port there was a lot of economic influence. The Palace was evidently glorious in its day. The Doge was elected for life but the power really fell on the nobility of the Venetian State. All 2600 of them met to pass laws and the Grand Council room held them all. There is the world’s largest oil painting located in this hall. It is by Tintoretto and is a painting of Christ and Mary surrounded by 500 saints.
After walking around San Marco square, we decided not to inquire about the prices of the stuff in the windows. Most of the shops were designer names and the kind of place where there is a large showroom with one item per shelf stylishly displayed. It was either way outside our price range or it was Moscow during the cold war.
We got back on the waterbus and were going to travel the long way around the island to watch as the sun went down. We got on the boat and when the sun went down very quickly, we discovered that there are not many lights you can see from the water. We got off at the next stop and then caught the next boat going the other direction. We got back to our hotel area and spent a so-so night on a hard bed (not too bad) but with a very flat pillow.
We arrived about 1:00 and the 64 of us made our way from the bus stop across three bridges (steps up and steps down). People were warned about this procession but still some people had far too much luggage along with bears and packages, etc. We did arrive at the Hotel Atlantide, a fine 2 star hotel. The rooms, like most hotels in Europe that are more than a few years old, are a hodge-podge of sizes, features and decor. Some student groups have suites, with lots of space and great balconies, others have cramped space with a nice view of a brick wall. We have a nice rope clothesline on pulleys right outside the window and a courtyard that at one time was probably a lovely garden. It is now a place to store building materials.
Venice is a great city. On our first afternoon, we managed to figure out the vaporetti (the city waterbuses). The entire island part of the city of Venice is a pedestrian zone. There are no cars or motorcycles in the city (although I did see one 2 year old driving a red electric four-wheeler down the sidewalk). This was such a nice relief from the noisy streets of Rome and Florence. The most dangerous thing you can do while walking in Venice is to run over a 70 something year old nun as you round one of the blind corners in the very narrow streets that crisscross the city. I guess it would also be possible to be taking photos while you walk and then step into the Grand Canal. (No, it did not happen to me!)
We got on the city bus and it took us down the beautiful Grand Canal to San Marco Square. The church there houses the bones of St. Mark (so the story goes). Next door to the church is the Doge’s Palace (Doge is Italian for Duke). Venice was the major power in Europe for over 400 years. Being a port there was a lot of economic influence. The Palace was evidently glorious in its day. The Doge was elected for life but the power really fell on the nobility of the Venetian State. All 2600 of them met to pass laws and the Grand Council room held them all. There is the world’s largest oil painting located in this hall. It is by Tintoretto and is a painting of Christ and Mary surrounded by 500 saints.
After walking around San Marco square, we decided not to inquire about the prices of the stuff in the windows. Most of the shops were designer names and the kind of place where there is a large showroom with one item per shelf stylishly displayed. It was either way outside our price range or it was Moscow during the cold war.
We got back on the waterbus and were going to travel the long way around the island to watch as the sun went down. We got on the boat and when the sun went down very quickly, we discovered that there are not many lights you can see from the water. We got off at the next stop and then caught the next boat going the other direction. We got back to our hotel area and spent a so-so night on a hard bed (not too bad) but with a very flat pillow.
37 Florence Day 2
Florence day 2
We are old. We cannot walk 10 miles a day on cobblestone streets as we used to. My feet hurt! Eight of those miles were inside museums and churches.
Adding to this aerobic workout is the side stepping to avoid all the people to whom, I swear, we are invisible. They come four abreast on a two person wide sidewalk. I have tried playing chicken with them. I always chicken out and step into the street or pretend I am a piece of spaghetti thrown against the wall to test for doneness.
Do you recall that I was saying that Michelangelo did not create plaster models of his statues before sculpting? The genius of his God given talent became poignant as we saw four unfinished sculptures that he began (evidently he was working on all four at the same time) for a grave monument for a dude who died before they were finished. The important dude’s family apparently did not agree with his own estimate of his importance and they canceled the order.
There is not a better way to describe his work than to say that he took hammer and chisel and chipped away everything that did not look like the figure trapped inside the stone.
I had a very odd memory as I stood staring at these stone men emerging from their marble prisons. I recalled an episode of the TV show superman from the early 60's. In the episode the bad guy had walled himself inside of a room that was made of something that was so thick or of some substance that made it impossible for Superman to break it down. Not to be defeated, Superman used his super power of mind over matter, by willpower he was able to make the molecules of his body less dense, and he could then melt into the wall and flow through the wall. The crude visual effects of early TV showed a stone wall out of which Superman slowly emerged.
Michelangelo’s statues appeared to have been frozen in time as they were caught in the act of emergingng from the marble.
The Academia museum, where we saw the unfinished works, is also home to perhaps Michelangelo's greatest sculpture: "David".
Fourteen years ago, when we were in the Louvre museum in Paris I remember my first impression of Michelangelo's painting of "Mona Lisa" was that it is much smaller than I had envisioned.
My experience of "David" was just the opposite. This statue is ever so much larger than I had imagined. My expectations had been shaped by the hundreds of statues that we had seen over the last few days in Rome and in Florence. Virtually all of them from ancient times to contemporaries of Michelangelo created statues of near life size. There were obviously some that were much bigger, but most were near life size.
David is huge - standing over 13.5 feet tall. Every inch of this work is a wonder of detail. Veins and muscles are clearly visible in the stone. Michelangelo sculpted David's right hand bigger than his left. The pose of this right hand is reminiscent of The Hand of God that Michelangelo painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican depicting the spark of life in the creation of Adam.
We visited Santa Cruze Church, which is the final resting place for a rather distinguished group of former citizens of Florence: Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Gentile and Rossini.
Florence is a great walking town at least in the old part where all the tourists are relegated. There are lots of pedestrian areas and all are well lit.
We are old. We cannot walk 10 miles a day on cobblestone streets as we used to. My feet hurt! Eight of those miles were inside museums and churches.
Adding to this aerobic workout is the side stepping to avoid all the people to whom, I swear, we are invisible. They come four abreast on a two person wide sidewalk. I have tried playing chicken with them. I always chicken out and step into the street or pretend I am a piece of spaghetti thrown against the wall to test for doneness.
Do you recall that I was saying that Michelangelo did not create plaster models of his statues before sculpting? The genius of his God given talent became poignant as we saw four unfinished sculptures that he began (evidently he was working on all four at the same time) for a grave monument for a dude who died before they were finished. The important dude’s family apparently did not agree with his own estimate of his importance and they canceled the order.
There is not a better way to describe his work than to say that he took hammer and chisel and chipped away everything that did not look like the figure trapped inside the stone.
I had a very odd memory as I stood staring at these stone men emerging from their marble prisons. I recalled an episode of the TV show superman from the early 60's. In the episode the bad guy had walled himself inside of a room that was made of something that was so thick or of some substance that made it impossible for Superman to break it down. Not to be defeated, Superman used his super power of mind over matter, by willpower he was able to make the molecules of his body less dense, and he could then melt into the wall and flow through the wall. The crude visual effects of early TV showed a stone wall out of which Superman slowly emerged.
Michelangelo’s statues appeared to have been frozen in time as they were caught in the act of emergingng from the marble.
The Academia museum, where we saw the unfinished works, is also home to perhaps Michelangelo's greatest sculpture: "David".
Fourteen years ago, when we were in the Louvre museum in Paris I remember my first impression of Michelangelo's painting of "Mona Lisa" was that it is much smaller than I had envisioned.
My experience of "David" was just the opposite. This statue is ever so much larger than I had imagined. My expectations had been shaped by the hundreds of statues that we had seen over the last few days in Rome and in Florence. Virtually all of them from ancient times to contemporaries of Michelangelo created statues of near life size. There were obviously some that were much bigger, but most were near life size.
David is huge - standing over 13.5 feet tall. Every inch of this work is a wonder of detail. Veins and muscles are clearly visible in the stone. Michelangelo sculpted David's right hand bigger than his left. The pose of this right hand is reminiscent of The Hand of God that Michelangelo painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican depicting the spark of life in the creation of Adam.
We visited Santa Cruze Church, which is the final resting place for a rather distinguished group of former citizens of Florence: Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Gentile and Rossini.
Florence is a great walking town at least in the old part where all the tourists are relegated. There are lots of pedestrian areas and all are well lit.
36 Florence Day 1
Florence
Florence is a very lovely city. Our bus driver, who had never been to Florence, insisted that our hotel was just a block to the south. Dr. Kingsely who had been there several times tried to tell him it was the other direction. We walked 3 blocks to our hotel and then in shifts we packed the tiny lift with our luggage and carried it up to the third floor.
We ventured out with several students to “Tratoria Za-Za” for dinner. It was a Rick Steves recommended place and was very nice with good food.
The next day we sat out to explore the city of Florence. The area that we wanted to see (the older part of town) is very compact and not too far to walk. We made our way to the Duomo which is the central cathedral of Florence. During the time Florence was at its peak politically and monetarily they did not do anything in a small way. The buildings are “ornate.” The multicolored marble is very eye catching.
The Cathedral Museum was a great time. The church was remodeled inside and out several hundred years ago. However, they were foresighted enough to create a museum of some of the great works of art from the old church by some great artists including Michelangelo and Donatello. Many of the art works were once niche statues that were on the front of the Church. They were in most cases very high up and thus if they were still there you would not be able to see them well. Now you can look at them closely.
The other things that were abundant in the museum were relics of lots of long dead people.
Later that afternoon we went to the Science museum. That was way cool. We saw Galileo’s original telescopes. One was made of paper and the other was leather. What I found interesting was that these telescopes were made either by him or to order and they are very ornate. I guess they had more time back then.
One of the other pieces of Galileo’s equipment was a piece of experimental apparatus that he used to test and demonstrate that falling bodies accelerate as they fall. The piece of equipment consisted of a wooden incline to roll balls down. Bells were spaced at greater distances as it is farther from top. The bells ring at steady time spaces. Thus, falling bodies accelerate.
Also in the museum is Galileo’s middle finger in a glass jar display case. It was removed after his death. I think this was when he was reburied when the church finally forgave him for saying that the earth revolves around the sun.
A good day.
Florence is a very lovely city. Our bus driver, who had never been to Florence, insisted that our hotel was just a block to the south. Dr. Kingsely who had been there several times tried to tell him it was the other direction. We walked 3 blocks to our hotel and then in shifts we packed the tiny lift with our luggage and carried it up to the third floor.
We ventured out with several students to “Tratoria Za-Za” for dinner. It was a Rick Steves recommended place and was very nice with good food.
The next day we sat out to explore the city of Florence. The area that we wanted to see (the older part of town) is very compact and not too far to walk. We made our way to the Duomo which is the central cathedral of Florence. During the time Florence was at its peak politically and monetarily they did not do anything in a small way. The buildings are “ornate.” The multicolored marble is very eye catching.
The Cathedral Museum was a great time. The church was remodeled inside and out several hundred years ago. However, they were foresighted enough to create a museum of some of the great works of art from the old church by some great artists including Michelangelo and Donatello. Many of the art works were once niche statues that were on the front of the Church. They were in most cases very high up and thus if they were still there you would not be able to see them well. Now you can look at them closely.
The other things that were abundant in the museum were relics of lots of long dead people.
Later that afternoon we went to the Science museum. That was way cool. We saw Galileo’s original telescopes. One was made of paper and the other was leather. What I found interesting was that these telescopes were made either by him or to order and they are very ornate. I guess they had more time back then.
One of the other pieces of Galileo’s equipment was a piece of experimental apparatus that he used to test and demonstrate that falling bodies accelerate as they fall. The piece of equipment consisted of a wooden incline to roll balls down. Bells were spaced at greater distances as it is farther from top. The bells ring at steady time spaces. Thus, falling bodies accelerate.
Also in the museum is Galileo’s middle finger in a glass jar display case. It was removed after his death. I think this was when he was reburied when the church finally forgave him for saying that the earth revolves around the sun.
A good day.
35 Arriverderci Roma
Arriverderci Roma
Blue skies to begin the day but alas, when it came time to load the bus, it was raining. However, I get ahead of the story.
Although we had seen the Pantheon on Friday night, it was very late and the church was closed. We set out on the now open metro to see this ancient building.
The Pantheon was built by the Romans and used as a church to all the gods. After the fall of Rome, the building became a Catholic (a real rarity here in Rome) church dedicated to martyrs.
When we arrived the choir was practicing. About 10 people filled the circular and domed building with music. The bronze doors are original. Much of the building has been rebuilt over the years. This is obvious from the outside as you can see the old and new materials blending together.
Another thing made clear is that over the centuries the city has been built higher and higher by building the new city on the ashes of the old. There is a10 foot (I am guessing here and could be off by30 feet or so) trench dug down to the bottom of the wall. There were evidently more stairs leading up to the main floor entrance than there are now.
The dome is wider than the one in St Peter’s designed by Michaelangelo. During the Renaissance, they marveled at the Pantheon dome and cut into the dome (leaving a square hole) to see what it was made of. It turns out it is thinner and lighter as it gets higher with the top part made of volcanic pumice.
We stopped again at the Trevi fountain. I forgot to tell you that the other night when we were at the Trevi a young man in running shoes came and asked if we would like for him to take a picture of Penny and I using my $900 camera. I am sure that would have been the last I would have seen of my camera. I did not fall for that one.
Today there were two police watching the crowd. Their main job seems to have been to talk on the cell phone and chat with the lady with the broom. Occasionally they would blow a whistle in my ear and say in Italian "everybody out of the pool!" and pointing at the kids venturing out on to the rocks leading toward the giant figure of Ocean standing in the midst of the water gushing from 24 spouts. This fountain and virtually all other Rome fountains are supplied with water from the aqueducts bringing an abundant supply of water from the surrounding hills to the city. These aqueducts have been repaired but are still the original system that gave Rome its power. Roads and water is what made Rome. Well, roads, water and over whelming military power is what made Rome. OK, it was roads, water, over whelming military power, and Gina Gina Lollobrigida that made Rome.
Speaking of police, I must say they are snappy dressers here in Italy. I wonder about their efficiency. We walked by a car accident that the police were investigating and an hour later they were still investigating.
Other things that make me question the competence of the Italian security system or people: At passport control, the person stamped passports without checking anything including checking to see if I was the guy in the passport photo.
The Vatican Museum and St Peters Church made people stand in a long line and send their bags and coats though an x-ray machine. While on the surface this sounds like good security system, but I am pretty sure this only is a deterrent if the operators of the machines actually look at the monitors. These guys were chatting and visiting and not looking at the screen. In one case he had his back to the screen.
We also visited 3 churches:
1. Santa Maria Sopra Minerva is the only Gothic church in Rome. (Twenty bonus points to the person who explains the difference between Gothic and Baroque style in 50 words or less.) The highlight of the church is a Michelangelo's statue of "Christ carrying the cross”. Mike was a great sculptor. I was told or read that Michelangelo was the only great sculptor who did not make plaster models of a sculpture before sculpting in stone. His answer to "how do you sculpt a statue of Moses?" Answer:"get a big block of marble and chip away everything that doesn’t look like Moses."
2. Church of St. Ignazio. This church epitomizes the Baroque solution to the problem of how to build a beautiful dome into a church with a flat roof. The solution is to place a masterful fresco (paint mixed with plaster and then "painted" on the surface so that the color is part of the wall or ceiling and does not peel off or fade for at least several hundred years) on the ceiling so that you swear that you are looking at a three dimensional domed roof.
3. Gesu Church is another very ornate baroque church which is also the headquarters of the Jesuits in Rome. So we sat quietly in the back and did not disturb anyone (aren't the Jesuits the really strict ones?)
We said Arriverderci Roma and pulled out in the rain and headed for Florence. The scenery on the trip was largely obscured by the haze from the rain and clouds, that and the fact that at 4:45 it is nearly dark.
We did stop at a rest stop and there we learned the Italian recipe for hot chocolate:
3 Hershey milk chocolate bars melted
2 teaspoons of warm milk
stir all ingredients together and pour in a cup. (If it is still too thick to pour, add a few more drops of milk.)
It was very thick.
Observations in Rome:
1. Italian men do talk with their hands.
2. Italian men do talk: on the streets, in restaurants, and in shops.
3. Italian women talk just as much as men but use their hands less. This is mainly because if they are less than 25 it is required that young women lock arms as they walk. The reasons may be social but I strongly suspect that it is a blocking strategy so they can walk down the narrow sidewalks made even narrower by the omnipresent street venders with their wares spread on blankets and folding display stands.
4. The reason for this method of display is the necessity to periodically grab the corners of the blanket and run. This dash happens when they spot (easily spotted) a police officer coming. This is just a game with well-choreographed dance steps. If the police were serious about stopping this merchandizing practice they could easily hire a few undercover cops and issue them street maps and cameras so they blend in seamlessly to the throngs of tourist. They could bust them all in a matter of minutes. I am also convinced that the Mafia is behind these street venders. There are always a line of people along the sidewalk by every place tourist go. Each has one item to sell but the pattern repeats as you go down the street: purses, watches, pens, scarves, camera tripods, and then the pattern repeats. There are identical items from each watch seller and each pen seller, etc. I imagine Marlin Brando sending these folks out with orders to not return until they have ripped off at least 20 tourists. Oh, I forgot. It doesn't rain cats and dogs in Rome. When it starts to sprinkle umbrella venders magically appear everywhere. This was handy for me as on Saturday as we left the hotel I found my umbrella had broken. It was sprinkling. Before going three blocks there was a guy selling umbrellas. I bought one just like (although not broken) the one i had for €5.00 or $7.50. Penny said I should have bargained but I figured the godfather might put a horse head in this poor guy's bed if he did not come back with enough money at the end of his shift.
5. Everyone over the age of 12 in Italy smokes. I suspect that the tobacco company's lobbied to pass the law that all tobacco shops (one per block) must sell bus/metro tickets. The system requires that 90% of the population visit a tobacco store on at least a weekly basis.
6. Pizza is the national food. Most of the take away fast food pizza is not round but the shape of a football field track. All the pizza I saw was thin crust. They cut you off a chunk starting at the 20 yard line, fold it in half and wrap it in paper: off you go with a relatively drip free lunch.
7. Sunday morning is take-your-kids-on-a-walk day. I did not notice until today how few kids I had seen. Today the stroller brigade was out in force. The strollers here, as in the rest of Europe, have many more models than we do. Some are plain, most are convertible models with clear plastic covers so that rain does not slow them down. I confess that every time I saw one of these plastic bubbles I felt the urge to warn then about the dangers of asphyxiation. Evidently, they have enough ventilation, as I did not see any parent administering CPR.
Blue skies to begin the day but alas, when it came time to load the bus, it was raining. However, I get ahead of the story.
Although we had seen the Pantheon on Friday night, it was very late and the church was closed. We set out on the now open metro to see this ancient building.
The Pantheon was built by the Romans and used as a church to all the gods. After the fall of Rome, the building became a Catholic (a real rarity here in Rome) church dedicated to martyrs.
When we arrived the choir was practicing. About 10 people filled the circular and domed building with music. The bronze doors are original. Much of the building has been rebuilt over the years. This is obvious from the outside as you can see the old and new materials blending together.
Another thing made clear is that over the centuries the city has been built higher and higher by building the new city on the ashes of the old. There is a10 foot (I am guessing here and could be off by30 feet or so) trench dug down to the bottom of the wall. There were evidently more stairs leading up to the main floor entrance than there are now.
The dome is wider than the one in St Peter’s designed by Michaelangelo. During the Renaissance, they marveled at the Pantheon dome and cut into the dome (leaving a square hole) to see what it was made of. It turns out it is thinner and lighter as it gets higher with the top part made of volcanic pumice.
We stopped again at the Trevi fountain. I forgot to tell you that the other night when we were at the Trevi a young man in running shoes came and asked if we would like for him to take a picture of Penny and I using my $900 camera. I am sure that would have been the last I would have seen of my camera. I did not fall for that one.
Today there were two police watching the crowd. Their main job seems to have been to talk on the cell phone and chat with the lady with the broom. Occasionally they would blow a whistle in my ear and say in Italian "everybody out of the pool!" and pointing at the kids venturing out on to the rocks leading toward the giant figure of Ocean standing in the midst of the water gushing from 24 spouts. This fountain and virtually all other Rome fountains are supplied with water from the aqueducts bringing an abundant supply of water from the surrounding hills to the city. These aqueducts have been repaired but are still the original system that gave Rome its power. Roads and water is what made Rome. Well, roads, water and over whelming military power is what made Rome. OK, it was roads, water, over whelming military power, and Gina Gina Lollobrigida that made Rome.
Speaking of police, I must say they are snappy dressers here in Italy. I wonder about their efficiency. We walked by a car accident that the police were investigating and an hour later they were still investigating.
Other things that make me question the competence of the Italian security system or people: At passport control, the person stamped passports without checking anything including checking to see if I was the guy in the passport photo.
The Vatican Museum and St Peters Church made people stand in a long line and send their bags and coats though an x-ray machine. While on the surface this sounds like good security system, but I am pretty sure this only is a deterrent if the operators of the machines actually look at the monitors. These guys were chatting and visiting and not looking at the screen. In one case he had his back to the screen.
We also visited 3 churches:
1. Santa Maria Sopra Minerva is the only Gothic church in Rome. (Twenty bonus points to the person who explains the difference between Gothic and Baroque style in 50 words or less.) The highlight of the church is a Michelangelo's statue of "Christ carrying the cross”. Mike was a great sculptor. I was told or read that Michelangelo was the only great sculptor who did not make plaster models of a sculpture before sculpting in stone. His answer to "how do you sculpt a statue of Moses?" Answer:"get a big block of marble and chip away everything that doesn’t look like Moses."
2. Church of St. Ignazio. This church epitomizes the Baroque solution to the problem of how to build a beautiful dome into a church with a flat roof. The solution is to place a masterful fresco (paint mixed with plaster and then "painted" on the surface so that the color is part of the wall or ceiling and does not peel off or fade for at least several hundred years) on the ceiling so that you swear that you are looking at a three dimensional domed roof.
3. Gesu Church is another very ornate baroque church which is also the headquarters of the Jesuits in Rome. So we sat quietly in the back and did not disturb anyone (aren't the Jesuits the really strict ones?)
We said Arriverderci Roma and pulled out in the rain and headed for Florence. The scenery on the trip was largely obscured by the haze from the rain and clouds, that and the fact that at 4:45 it is nearly dark.
We did stop at a rest stop and there we learned the Italian recipe for hot chocolate:
3 Hershey milk chocolate bars melted
2 teaspoons of warm milk
stir all ingredients together and pour in a cup. (If it is still too thick to pour, add a few more drops of milk.)
It was very thick.
Observations in Rome:
1. Italian men do talk with their hands.
2. Italian men do talk: on the streets, in restaurants, and in shops.
3. Italian women talk just as much as men but use their hands less. This is mainly because if they are less than 25 it is required that young women lock arms as they walk. The reasons may be social but I strongly suspect that it is a blocking strategy so they can walk down the narrow sidewalks made even narrower by the omnipresent street venders with their wares spread on blankets and folding display stands.
4. The reason for this method of display is the necessity to periodically grab the corners of the blanket and run. This dash happens when they spot (easily spotted) a police officer coming. This is just a game with well-choreographed dance steps. If the police were serious about stopping this merchandizing practice they could easily hire a few undercover cops and issue them street maps and cameras so they blend in seamlessly to the throngs of tourist. They could bust them all in a matter of minutes. I am also convinced that the Mafia is behind these street venders. There are always a line of people along the sidewalk by every place tourist go. Each has one item to sell but the pattern repeats as you go down the street: purses, watches, pens, scarves, camera tripods, and then the pattern repeats. There are identical items from each watch seller and each pen seller, etc. I imagine Marlin Brando sending these folks out with orders to not return until they have ripped off at least 20 tourists. Oh, I forgot. It doesn't rain cats and dogs in Rome. When it starts to sprinkle umbrella venders magically appear everywhere. This was handy for me as on Saturday as we left the hotel I found my umbrella had broken. It was sprinkling. Before going three blocks there was a guy selling umbrellas. I bought one just like (although not broken) the one i had for €5.00 or $7.50. Penny said I should have bargained but I figured the godfather might put a horse head in this poor guy's bed if he did not come back with enough money at the end of his shift.
5. Everyone over the age of 12 in Italy smokes. I suspect that the tobacco company's lobbied to pass the law that all tobacco shops (one per block) must sell bus/metro tickets. The system requires that 90% of the population visit a tobacco store on at least a weekly basis.
6. Pizza is the national food. Most of the take away fast food pizza is not round but the shape of a football field track. All the pizza I saw was thin crust. They cut you off a chunk starting at the 20 yard line, fold it in half and wrap it in paper: off you go with a relatively drip free lunch.
7. Sunday morning is take-your-kids-on-a-walk day. I did not notice until today how few kids I had seen. Today the stroller brigade was out in force. The strollers here, as in the rest of Europe, have many more models than we do. Some are plain, most are convertible models with clear plastic covers so that rain does not slow them down. I confess that every time I saw one of these plastic bubbles I felt the urge to warn then about the dangers of asphyxiation. Evidently, they have enough ventilation, as I did not see any parent administering CPR.
34 Rome Day 2
Day 2 in Roma
The breakfast in the hotel with students was very nice. We had red orange juice, bread, cereal, cheese and coffee.
Today the Vatican museum was open but not tomorrow, as it is the religious holiday called the Immaculate Conception. Therefore, we put a trip to the museum on our agenda for today. We got to the museum about 8:30 for an 8:45 opening. The line was 26 miles long (OK, it was a good 3 city blocks). The line did not move until after 10:00 and then it went very quickly. That gave me an opportunity to take some pictures of the tourists and the Romans as they passed by our non-progressing line. By the time the line started to move the line behind us was at least 3 more blocks. It went around a corner and I could not see the end.
We rented audio guides. The content of the museum is pretty much the history of the world. There are on display (like the Smithsonian the majority of the museum’s collection is not on public display) many statues (from all over the world), ancient maps, Egyptian mummies (at least one was a daddy), and of course paintings.
Interestingly, or perhaps not, due to the changing mores about nudity in art over the centuries most of the male statues either have the penis broken off (don’t ask me by whom, but I suspect some 14 year old Roman from the 3rd century) or they have had a stone fig leave glued over the private parts.
The tour through the Vatican museum is a forced one-way route that winds up in the Sistine Chapel, which was painted by Michelangelo. The room is not small but it was packed and people were literally standing shoulder to shoulder. Men stood at the font yelling “NO PHOTOs” in several languages at all the people who ignored them and snapped pictures. They also kept yelling “silence” and “SHHHHHHHH.” With 1000+ people in this room, these instructions were ignored.
We then went back to hotel for a nap. After regaining our strength, we sat out on Rick Steve’s night walk across Rome. The starting point was a long walk across the river and by the castle where I took pictures of a nice family of Italian tourists.
We ate at 7:00 (too early for Italian folks) at a nice restaurant over an ancient theatre. We had the restaurant to ourselves until 8:00 then the crowds came pouring in and the place got very noisy in a friendly family way. We ordered fish for our main course. The waiter took me to the display case with ice at the front door and there we picked our sea bass. The fish and the waiter emerged from the kitchen a bit later with the fish, head and all, on a lovely platter. He showed it to us and after we approved he took it to a table and filleted it. I am a great picker outer of dead fish because it was delicious.
We then walked to St Peters, The Pantheon, the Trevi fountain, and the Spanish Steps. All of this was very nice at night when there were almost no tourists around.
Our trip to the Spanish Steps was by a circuitous route but we made it. The Spanish Steps were less than impressive with an orange construction barrier at the bottom and a giant car ad at the top.
Then our mandatory daily transportation fiasco began. We found the Metro but could not read all the signs. We walked in a tunnel thinking we were going to the train. It was a long walk. We got to the end and found no train. After wondering around a bit (OK a lot) we asked someone and found that the trains were not running and that there was a replacement bus service. A very nice man helped us find the bus stop and he told us the number of the bus but the bus did not, would not stop for us. We waited and asked another bus driver and were told a bus number to take but that bus never came. We took a taxi.
Back at the hotel, it is midnight and I am going to bed.
The breakfast in the hotel with students was very nice. We had red orange juice, bread, cereal, cheese and coffee.
Today the Vatican museum was open but not tomorrow, as it is the religious holiday called the Immaculate Conception. Therefore, we put a trip to the museum on our agenda for today. We got to the museum about 8:30 for an 8:45 opening. The line was 26 miles long (OK, it was a good 3 city blocks). The line did not move until after 10:00 and then it went very quickly. That gave me an opportunity to take some pictures of the tourists and the Romans as they passed by our non-progressing line. By the time the line started to move the line behind us was at least 3 more blocks. It went around a corner and I could not see the end.
We rented audio guides. The content of the museum is pretty much the history of the world. There are on display (like the Smithsonian the majority of the museum’s collection is not on public display) many statues (from all over the world), ancient maps, Egyptian mummies (at least one was a daddy), and of course paintings.
Interestingly, or perhaps not, due to the changing mores about nudity in art over the centuries most of the male statues either have the penis broken off (don’t ask me by whom, but I suspect some 14 year old Roman from the 3rd century) or they have had a stone fig leave glued over the private parts.
The tour through the Vatican museum is a forced one-way route that winds up in the Sistine Chapel, which was painted by Michelangelo. The room is not small but it was packed and people were literally standing shoulder to shoulder. Men stood at the font yelling “NO PHOTOs” in several languages at all the people who ignored them and snapped pictures. They also kept yelling “silence” and “SHHHHHHHH.” With 1000+ people in this room, these instructions were ignored.
We then went back to hotel for a nap. After regaining our strength, we sat out on Rick Steve’s night walk across Rome. The starting point was a long walk across the river and by the castle where I took pictures of a nice family of Italian tourists.
We ate at 7:00 (too early for Italian folks) at a nice restaurant over an ancient theatre. We had the restaurant to ourselves until 8:00 then the crowds came pouring in and the place got very noisy in a friendly family way. We ordered fish for our main course. The waiter took me to the display case with ice at the front door and there we picked our sea bass. The fish and the waiter emerged from the kitchen a bit later with the fish, head and all, on a lovely platter. He showed it to us and after we approved he took it to a table and filleted it. I am a great picker outer of dead fish because it was delicious.
We then walked to St Peters, The Pantheon, the Trevi fountain, and the Spanish Steps. All of this was very nice at night when there were almost no tourists around.
Our trip to the Spanish Steps was by a circuitous route but we made it. The Spanish Steps were less than impressive with an orange construction barrier at the bottom and a giant car ad at the top.
Then our mandatory daily transportation fiasco began. We found the Metro but could not read all the signs. We walked in a tunnel thinking we were going to the train. It was a long walk. We got to the end and found no train. After wondering around a bit (OK a lot) we asked someone and found that the trains were not running and that there was a replacement bus service. A very nice man helped us find the bus stop and he told us the number of the bus but the bus did not, would not stop for us. We waited and asked another bus driver and were told a bus number to take but that bus never came. We took a taxi.
Back at the hotel, it is midnight and I am going to bed.
33 Rome Day 1
Leaving Harlaxton:
The Coach taking folks who were heading directly back to the US left at 12:30 PM. Some of those folk had a considerable wait at the airports. But for the 64 of us going on the Italy trip we left at 2:30 AM. Our flight for Rome left about 7:30 so we did not wait very long.
I was able to sleep some on the way to the airport. However, it was fitful. Our driver had a few idiosyncrasies. The trip was like riding with a 16-year-old learning to drive a stick shift. There were a lot of sudden stops and quick starts. The flight to Roma was a bit rough but still much smoother than the bus ride.
Dr. Kingsley went ahead of our group when we left the luggage pickup and he found the bus that would take us to the hotel. When our group all had their luggage, we headed out to the arrival hall and there was Dr Kingsley standing in the midst of a sea of limo and bus drivers holding large signs with the names of the people and groups they were meeting. Dr. Kingsley was holding up a business card with the word “Harlaxton” printed in tiny letters across the back.
The double-decker bus that had been sent did not have quite enough room for all the luggage that we Americans had brought. It did fit in the storage area and in the floor at the back of the bus.
Hotel Pacifica is OK. We have a room with a balcony facing the busy street. The streets of Roma are not quiet until at least 1:00 AM and then the solitude is frequently interrupted by honking and sirens. Rome drivers do not toot their horns they hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonk their horns.
Our room’s radiator was stuck on and it was very warm. We resorted to opening and closing the window to regulate the temperature. Of course, when the window was open the noise was exacerbated.
In the afternoon of the first day we walked (25 minutes) to St. Peters in the Vatican. We had been there before and I recognized and remembered most of the stuff but it is still so very impressive.
The walls have huge reproductions of some of the great painting in the word. They appear to be paintings until you look very closely and you see they are mosaics.
The audio guide was a treatise on catholic doctrine. St. Peter supposedly is buried in the church – can’t see his grave.
For dinner we had pizza take away that you buy by the gram. You tell them how big a piece you want and they weigh it.
We were in bed by 8:00 and slept until 7:00
The Coach taking folks who were heading directly back to the US left at 12:30 PM. Some of those folk had a considerable wait at the airports. But for the 64 of us going on the Italy trip we left at 2:30 AM. Our flight for Rome left about 7:30 so we did not wait very long.
I was able to sleep some on the way to the airport. However, it was fitful. Our driver had a few idiosyncrasies. The trip was like riding with a 16-year-old learning to drive a stick shift. There were a lot of sudden stops and quick starts. The flight to Roma was a bit rough but still much smoother than the bus ride.
Dr. Kingsley went ahead of our group when we left the luggage pickup and he found the bus that would take us to the hotel. When our group all had their luggage, we headed out to the arrival hall and there was Dr Kingsley standing in the midst of a sea of limo and bus drivers holding large signs with the names of the people and groups they were meeting. Dr. Kingsley was holding up a business card with the word “Harlaxton” printed in tiny letters across the back.
The double-decker bus that had been sent did not have quite enough room for all the luggage that we Americans had brought. It did fit in the storage area and in the floor at the back of the bus.
Hotel Pacifica is OK. We have a room with a balcony facing the busy street. The streets of Roma are not quiet until at least 1:00 AM and then the solitude is frequently interrupted by honking and sirens. Rome drivers do not toot their horns they hoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonk their horns.
Our room’s radiator was stuck on and it was very warm. We resorted to opening and closing the window to regulate the temperature. Of course, when the window was open the noise was exacerbated.
In the afternoon of the first day we walked (25 minutes) to St. Peters in the Vatican. We had been there before and I recognized and remembered most of the stuff but it is still so very impressive.
The walls have huge reproductions of some of the great painting in the word. They appear to be paintings until you look very closely and you see they are mosaics.
The audio guide was a treatise on catholic doctrine. St. Peter supposedly is buried in the church – can’t see his grave.
For dinner we had pizza take away that you buy by the gram. You tell them how big a piece you want and they weigh it.
We were in bed by 8:00 and slept until 7:00
32 Last days at Harlaxton
Thanksgiving dinner was a delight. They served turkey, mashed potatoes (real ones not the instant kind they normally serve), candied yams (freshly made), stuffing and the ubiquitous gravy. The students all had a great time in the Long Gallery. It was a delightful evening that generally made up for the fact that we had classes during the day. Thanksgiving, after all, is an American celebration (and Canada – but on a different day).
The week after Thanksgiving the Harlaxton Players, a student group, presented a delightful evening of Shakespeare vignettes and one play about Shakespeare. These students were for the most part in Dr. Snow’s Shakespeare class. They did a marvelous job. They were very talented and very professional. My favorite snippet was from The Bard’s Gildencranse and Rosenstern. I had not seen the play nor I fear had I read the play. It very well may have been assigned to me in a class at some point but….
Christmas dinner was the next big affair. The students who participated in the “Meet a family” program invited their families to come. Dinner was a long buffet filled with meats, breads, cheeses, desserts and sundry other items to explore. Tables were set up all over the public rooms of the Manor and it each place setting was a British Christmas tradition called a “Popper”. This is a tube (smaller and wider than a paper towel tube) that is wrapped in Christmas paper with both ends twisted (imagine a giant tootsie roll. Two people grab the ends firmly and pull. The center has a tiny firework that makes a pop similar to one of the old “Cap Guns.” The paper tears away and inside is a tiny little plastic toy (usually an animal that if you use your imagination you can figure out the species), a paper crown type hat that many people wore the rest of the evening, and a small piece of paper with a very corny riddle or joke.
Q. “How do you get down from an elephant?”
A. “You don’t. You get down from a duck.”
The week after Thanksgiving the Harlaxton Players, a student group, presented a delightful evening of Shakespeare vignettes and one play about Shakespeare. These students were for the most part in Dr. Snow’s Shakespeare class. They did a marvelous job. They were very talented and very professional. My favorite snippet was from The Bard’s Gildencranse and Rosenstern. I had not seen the play nor I fear had I read the play. It very well may have been assigned to me in a class at some point but….
Christmas dinner was the next big affair. The students who participated in the “Meet a family” program invited their families to come. Dinner was a long buffet filled with meats, breads, cheeses, desserts and sundry other items to explore. Tables were set up all over the public rooms of the Manor and it each place setting was a British Christmas tradition called a “Popper”. This is a tube (smaller and wider than a paper towel tube) that is wrapped in Christmas paper with both ends twisted (imagine a giant tootsie roll. Two people grab the ends firmly and pull. The center has a tiny firework that makes a pop similar to one of the old “Cap Guns.” The paper tears away and inside is a tiny little plastic toy (usually an animal that if you use your imagination you can figure out the species), a paper crown type hat that many people wore the rest of the evening, and a small piece of paper with a very corny riddle or joke.
Q. “How do you get down from an elephant?”
A. “You don’t. You get down from a duck.”
Sunday, November 11, 2007
31 Prague AKA Praha Czech Republic
In St. Vitus Cathedral in the Castle
A statue of Good King Wenceslas in the large square by the same name. It is interesting to note that the four men surrounding the king are also Czech patron saints They are holding books and other things of learning. The small country with little military power chose to venerate men of learning rather than war. Cool!
The castle at night from the Charles Bridge.
This is the main square area in the old town at night. The clock to the left is an astronomical clock that has no hands. So you can tell what phase the moon is in but who know what time it is.
On Saturday we walked. We went to Wenceslas square which is where the Velvet Revolution happened in 1989. The people (thousands) met peacefully in the large square to ask for a change of government. This was not long after a similar incident in Tiananmen Square in China. Whereas the Chinese government decided to crush that rally with tanks, the Soviet government in its wisdom decided not to bring in the tanks. Within a few days the Czech republic was born.
We also walked to an amazing piece of modern architecture called the Dancing House. It looks like the house is dancing. It is built on curved stilts that are reminiscent of legs. There is not a straight line in the exterior of the building. It is pretty cool looking.
We then decided to go back to the Jewish quarter to check in a shop that Penny saw something in on Thursday. Being Penny she had to mull this purchase over for a few days before deciding. We wound up at a small shop with a woman and her 6 year old daughter who had a scooter and was skating around the inside of the store. This was not a pillow store. It was a crystal store. The shelves were lined with very fragile crystal with signs that said do not touch. I guess do not crash into is a different story. But although there was one crash it resulted in no broken limbs or crystal. We purchased one item and then went for lunch while Penny mulled over the purchase. As we were walking around the area we began to hear sirens and then noticed police gathering on the street corners. I thought there was a parade. But the police just kept coming. Then there were the armored personnel carriers that showed up and we could hear helicopters. We went back to the crystal shop and the owner told us what we confirmed a bit later. A couple of months ago a small group 25 of neo-Nazis had filed for a permit to parade through the Jewish streets on Nov 10 to “protest the war” in Iraq which is being waged by the US and Israel. The 10th of November just happened to be the anniversary of the night of broken glass when the Jews were rounded up and taken to the detention centers. The Jewish watch groups reported this to the courts and the permits were not granted and the group was banned from marching. Indeed the leader is being prosecuted for crimes related to his anti-Semitic activities. The group said they were going to march anyway. The police were there to see that they did not and to see that any counter rally did not get out of hand. We managed to get back to our hotel before it started. But later that evening when we went out to eat we got to the end of the street and a whole throng of very peaceful and orderly people were walking from the Jewish quarter past our hotel to Wenceslas Square (where the Velvet Revolution had occurred. We opted to eat at the restaurant right across from out hotel. We ate there the first night and we thought it was good. We had shish kabob although they were called needles. I had the variety meat and it was all good. So other than about making the CNN world news section, we had a rather uneventful weekend.
This is the main square area in the old town at night. The clock to the left is an astronomical clock that has no hands. So you can tell what phase the moon is in but who know what time it is.
This is in the castle church. In some war long ago they shot cannon balls at the church. So they turned them into church wall decorations.
I have had a bit of blog block lately. Just could not manage to make myself find the time to sit and write. In my defense every time I have had a moment or two I have managed to sleep. I caught the Harlaxton Plague about 4 weeks ago and have spent the time since then trying to cough up a lung. The first week or so I did not have the energy to eat. I am feeling pretty good now but the cough has persisted but only really wants to come out and play at night when I lay down. I think the cough wants to keep Penny awake. This way it can incapacitate two people at the same time.
I did not go to the doctor until after I was pretty much over it but wanted to see if there was anything she might do for the cough. Her advice was to go away and die quietly. I told her that was the problem, the quietly part. It did not work. Well enough about my bout with viruses of the EU.
This weekend, starting on Wednesday morning, was our second and last “long weekend” of the semester. We will make up the Thursday class day next week. Penny and I had opted to go to Prague or as the locals spell it Paraha. I still do not understand the worlds insistence on changing the names of all the cities in the world. Paris is Pari, Rome is Roma, New Orleans only has two syllables “Nor Lyns.”
We wanted to go some place we had not been and someplace that was not too exotic (read safe). Prague seemed to have fit the bill, but we were having some doubts about the safe part on Saturday. I will get to that in a bit.
Paraha has been an independent country only since 1989. Before that it was part of the Soviet Union since the 1950s. The Czech people, previously the Bohemian people, have a history that goes back to the Roman days. Good King Wenceslas (of the Christmas Carol) was the guy who back in 900 or so helped to align the kingdom of Bohemia with the Holy Roman Empire. This led to King Charles IV becoming the Holy Roman Emperor in the 14th century and at that time for awhile Prague was the capital of said empire. But the patron saint of Praha is St. Vitus who was a good guy but got killed by his brother I think.
We spent Thursday touring the Jewish quarter. We got an audio guide that was very informative. I wish I had a photographic ear. The Jewish museum is really a series of places all within a few blocks of each other in the area that historically was where the Jews were forced to live. The Jewish people are and have been a persecuted people. I think the line was in Fiddler on the Roof when Tevia said “I Know we are the chosen people, but maybe you could bless someone else for awhile.” I probably have the wrong quote from the wrong play but that was certainly the thought I had as we learned the history. One of the buildings was a former synagogue that they have written the names and dates of birth and the date they were last seen alive of the thousands of Jews who were taken by the Hitler regime to be killed. Prague was chosen by Hitler to be the repository of all of the Jewish property, books, ritual implements. Hitler had a plan to set up a Museum to an extinct people. The names on the walls were a stark reminder for those who were never seen again. No burial because there was no body. A second museum held children’s art work from kids who were in the concentration camps. Some were recalling days prior to their imprisonment. Other pictures were stark images from a child’s eyes of what life in a detention center was like. When the children left the detention camp they were on their way to death. NO CHILDREN survived the death camps. No one under about 16 survived. Children were not capable of work and thus were not an asset and were killed.
I did not go to the doctor until after I was pretty much over it but wanted to see if there was anything she might do for the cough. Her advice was to go away and die quietly. I told her that was the problem, the quietly part. It did not work. Well enough about my bout with viruses of the EU.
This weekend, starting on Wednesday morning, was our second and last “long weekend” of the semester. We will make up the Thursday class day next week. Penny and I had opted to go to Prague or as the locals spell it Paraha. I still do not understand the worlds insistence on changing the names of all the cities in the world. Paris is Pari, Rome is Roma, New Orleans only has two syllables “Nor Lyns.”
We wanted to go some place we had not been and someplace that was not too exotic (read safe). Prague seemed to have fit the bill, but we were having some doubts about the safe part on Saturday. I will get to that in a bit.
Paraha has been an independent country only since 1989. Before that it was part of the Soviet Union since the 1950s. The Czech people, previously the Bohemian people, have a history that goes back to the Roman days. Good King Wenceslas (of the Christmas Carol) was the guy who back in 900 or so helped to align the kingdom of Bohemia with the Holy Roman Empire. This led to King Charles IV becoming the Holy Roman Emperor in the 14th century and at that time for awhile Prague was the capital of said empire. But the patron saint of Praha is St. Vitus who was a good guy but got killed by his brother I think.
We spent Thursday touring the Jewish quarter. We got an audio guide that was very informative. I wish I had a photographic ear. The Jewish museum is really a series of places all within a few blocks of each other in the area that historically was where the Jews were forced to live. The Jewish people are and have been a persecuted people. I think the line was in Fiddler on the Roof when Tevia said “I Know we are the chosen people, but maybe you could bless someone else for awhile.” I probably have the wrong quote from the wrong play but that was certainly the thought I had as we learned the history. One of the buildings was a former synagogue that they have written the names and dates of birth and the date they were last seen alive of the thousands of Jews who were taken by the Hitler regime to be killed. Prague was chosen by Hitler to be the repository of all of the Jewish property, books, ritual implements. Hitler had a plan to set up a Museum to an extinct people. The names on the walls were a stark reminder for those who were never seen again. No burial because there was no body. A second museum held children’s art work from kids who were in the concentration camps. Some were recalling days prior to their imprisonment. Other pictures were stark images from a child’s eyes of what life in a detention center was like. When the children left the detention camp they were on their way to death. NO CHILDREN survived the death camps. No one under about 16 survived. Children were not capable of work and thus were not an asset and were killed.
The Jewish cemetery was a stark reminder of the persecution they have endured. For centuries, the Jews have been allowed to bury their people only in a small plot of land. The Jewish tradition forbids them from moving bodies once they were buried. So when the grave yard filled up they would bring in more dirt and bury people on top. They then had two head stones for the grave. Then 3 and so on. The result is a jumble of very old stones. In a very crowded graveyard.
There were more uplifting aspects to the museum. It did mark the contributions of some of the more notable Jewish people who lived in the Czech Republic. This includes Sigismund Freud and Franz Kafka and others whom I do not recall.
On Thursday night we were going to go to the singing waters (a fountain show with music). Penny figured out how to get us by tram to the stop we needed but then I got us really confused. The area was dark and although there were people around I did not feel comfortable walking around without knowing where we were going. I convinced Penny we were lost and we got back on the tram and went back to the hotel. After looking at Google Earth I had us going in the wrong direction. I have a hearing next week with the IBNCP (International Board of Navigationally Challenged People) to determine if my license is being revoked.
On Friday we went to the Praha castle and Cathedral. The Cathedral was started in 1000 something and wasn’t finished until 1900 something. For centuries they had one wall blocked in where they were going to finish later. It was interesting to see and read about all of the relics. I don’t know if it is just Catholics but they sure have a thing for old bones and various other body parts that once belonged to this or that saint which makes the churches seem like a mausoleum of sorts rather than a house of worship. The crown jewels are those belonging to King Wenceslas. They are kept in his tomb and when a new king (of course they don’t have kings anymore) is crowned then they borrow them for a few hours and then return them to Wenceslas. He evidently was a very good King.
On Thursday night we were going to go to the singing waters (a fountain show with music). Penny figured out how to get us by tram to the stop we needed but then I got us really confused. The area was dark and although there were people around I did not feel comfortable walking around without knowing where we were going. I convinced Penny we were lost and we got back on the tram and went back to the hotel. After looking at Google Earth I had us going in the wrong direction. I have a hearing next week with the IBNCP (International Board of Navigationally Challenged People) to determine if my license is being revoked.
On Friday we went to the Praha castle and Cathedral. The Cathedral was started in 1000 something and wasn’t finished until 1900 something. For centuries they had one wall blocked in where they were going to finish later. It was interesting to see and read about all of the relics. I don’t know if it is just Catholics but they sure have a thing for old bones and various other body parts that once belonged to this or that saint which makes the churches seem like a mausoleum of sorts rather than a house of worship. The crown jewels are those belonging to King Wenceslas. They are kept in his tomb and when a new king (of course they don’t have kings anymore) is crowned then they borrow them for a few hours and then return them to Wenceslas. He evidently was a very good King.
On Friday night we had dinner at Buffalo Bill’s restaurant. Our lovely daughter Amy, who visited Prague while in High School, told us about this place. It was very nice. It is in the basement of a building but is decorated with lots of American Southwest artifacts (they could be fake but what do I know). The food was Mexican and for the most part it was very good. Europeans have to add something to the food that makes it just a bit different. Bill put olives in the tacos. I don’t recall other Mexican food with olives in the tacos. But it was still very good. The chips were very authentic. The salsa was OK but was just a bit off, but still very good.
On Saturday we walked. We went to Wenceslas square which is where the Velvet Revolution happened in 1989. The people (thousands) met peacefully in the large square to ask for a change of government. This was not long after a similar incident in Tiananmen Square in China. Whereas the Chinese government decided to crush that rally with tanks, the Soviet government in its wisdom decided not to bring in the tanks. Within a few days the Czech republic was born.
We also walked to an amazing piece of modern architecture called the Dancing House. It looks like the house is dancing. It is built on curved stilts that are reminiscent of legs. There is not a straight line in the exterior of the building. It is pretty cool looking.
We then decided to go back to the Jewish quarter to check in a shop that Penny saw something in on Thursday. Being Penny she had to mull this purchase over for a few days before deciding. We wound up at a small shop with a woman and her 6 year old daughter who had a scooter and was skating around the inside of the store. This was not a pillow store. It was a crystal store. The shelves were lined with very fragile crystal with signs that said do not touch. I guess do not crash into is a different story. But although there was one crash it resulted in no broken limbs or crystal. We purchased one item and then went for lunch while Penny mulled over the purchase. As we were walking around the area we began to hear sirens and then noticed police gathering on the street corners. I thought there was a parade. But the police just kept coming. Then there were the armored personnel carriers that showed up and we could hear helicopters. We went back to the crystal shop and the owner told us what we confirmed a bit later. A couple of months ago a small group 25 of neo-Nazis had filed for a permit to parade through the Jewish streets on Nov 10 to “protest the war” in Iraq which is being waged by the US and Israel. The 10th of November just happened to be the anniversary of the night of broken glass when the Jews were rounded up and taken to the detention centers. The Jewish watch groups reported this to the courts and the permits were not granted and the group was banned from marching. Indeed the leader is being prosecuted for crimes related to his anti-Semitic activities. The group said they were going to march anyway. The police were there to see that they did not and to see that any counter rally did not get out of hand. We managed to get back to our hotel before it started. But later that evening when we went out to eat we got to the end of the street and a whole throng of very peaceful and orderly people were walking from the Jewish quarter past our hotel to Wenceslas Square (where the Velvet Revolution had occurred. We opted to eat at the restaurant right across from out hotel. We ate there the first night and we thought it was good. We had shish kabob although they were called needles. I had the variety meat and it was all good. So other than about making the CNN world news section, we had a rather uneventful weekend.
On Sunday we went to the Communist Museum. It was stark and was a lot of reading of the history of how the soviets had come to power and about how democracy finally won. It was I think very truthful and very anticommunist. It described how the potato famine back in the 70s brought a lot of hunger to the people of Czechoslovakia and how the Soviet propaganda machine had blamed the bugs on a US air drop. The information painted it as propaganda. I hope it was.
We made it back to the airport on the shuttle which worked out great. It left from a hotel just a block from ours. It was a good trip. I took a ton of pictures.
Ray
Some of the ubiquitous graffiti.
We made it back to the airport on the shuttle which worked out great. It left from a hotel just a block from ours. It was a good trip. I took a ton of pictures.
Ray
30 Rent a car: yell at your wife
I confess. Not very loud and I think only once but I did speak a bit sharply with Penny, the driver, as I navigated our route across the north of England two weekends ago. However, it was not my fault nor was it Penny’s. It is the British highway department. Do you want to know why we won the war for independence? It is because the British are evidently incapable of using a compass. They have these roundabouts everywhere. If you have been to Lowes in Liberty you have seen one. Now imagine that roundabout on steroids. They have 3 to 4 roads intersecting at a big circle so there are 6 to 8 options as you go around the circle (sometimes more than once although that is not supposed to happen). This is not a particular problem if you are aware of which route you wish to take. Indeed, it is a very efficient way to keep traffic moving at intersections. The problem comes in when you have to figure out, from reading the signs, which route you want to take. Now in the compass literate USA the sign would say I-35 North or I-35 South or I-70 East or I-70 West. But without resorting to that simple logic we are forced to name a town that is somewhere between 3 and 200 miles down that road: A-1 – Doncaster or A-1 Peterbourgh. Now from where I am on the A-1 how am I supposed to know which option to take!!! You cannot always just use a compass and take the northern route because if it happens to be a dual carriage way and you don’t recall that you are driving on the left you will wind up turning north and going south. BUT I AM NOT BITTER!!! It was in that context that I may have stressed a bit too strongly to my lovely wife: “TURN HERE!”
We did rent a car and we did manage to get around to some places we wanted to go and we had a good time.
But before we get to the weekend let me share with you some of the activities of last week. On Monday we were entertained by the “Nottingham Foresters Morris and Sword Dancers” and the “Greenwood Step Clog Dancers.” It was quite the evening. This was a group of men (doctors, lawyers, and such) who get together and dance. The dancing involves wearing bells on your legs and waving scarves and jumping a great deal. It also involves laughing.
Then there was a dance that involved sticks and banging them together and then on someone else’s stick.
The woman’s group was much more relaxed with tap dance moves wearing clogs (wooden sole shoes). We were told that the wooden soles were made because they were more durable and water resistant that leather soles. They were worn by poor folks who would entertain themselves at a factory by dancing without moving from their place at the factory (keeping time with the machines).
Then the men came back and performed a sword dance with a sword that looked like a very small two man cross cut saw that lumberjacks might use. These were held between a circle of people (each holding one end between people on both sides of the dancer). Then they proceeded to twist in and out and between each other without letting go. Fun to watch.
The last event was a Plough Play. A short and funny play that had something to do with marriage and the devil. (I am not making this up.) The costumes were a bit outrageous.
The house is located out in the country with very little around it. That is quite different from many of the stately homes where the towns and cities have grown up all around them.
The Duke’s duck was present.
The house is surrounded by incredible gardens including a very nice maze where we encountered some very giggly tourists from Norway. We started in but got lost right away and made our exit as soon as possible.
The next day we traveled to Samford which is just a ways from Grantham and went to another stately home. It was nice as well. But after touring Devenshire it was a bit of a step backwards. It was a bit nicer than the Owens estate in the US but only received a 8 on the 10 point wow-factor scale. The Owens place gets a -4 on the scale.
The following weekend we went on a school field trip to London and were given a great tour of St. Peter’s Cathedral in London. Which is (in my opinion) not really a church but a monument to the British nation. Nothing wrong with that if you don’t call it a church. All the British war heros are buried there and have monuments. We learned that Lord Nelson (Naval Hero who won the battle of Trafalgar) died some years later and was on ship in some place far away. In order to preserve his body to be buried back in jolly ole England they put the Admiral in a vat of wine where on the journey home he soaked up so much wine that when they got him home he was so bloated that they had to cut him up to bury him.
We also saw Wicked on Saturday night. That was a lot of fun. The music and voices were great and the plot was very entertaining. It is the story of the witches of Oz before Dorothy arrived. The wicked witch of the west was not always wicked and was highly misunderstood. Glenda was a ditzy lady.
Ray
We did rent a car and we did manage to get around to some places we wanted to go and we had a good time.
But before we get to the weekend let me share with you some of the activities of last week. On Monday we were entertained by the “Nottingham Foresters Morris and Sword Dancers” and the “Greenwood Step Clog Dancers.” It was quite the evening. This was a group of men (doctors, lawyers, and such) who get together and dance. The dancing involves wearing bells on your legs and waving scarves and jumping a great deal. It also involves laughing.
Then there was a dance that involved sticks and banging them together and then on someone else’s stick.
The woman’s group was much more relaxed with tap dance moves wearing clogs (wooden sole shoes). We were told that the wooden soles were made because they were more durable and water resistant that leather soles. They were worn by poor folks who would entertain themselves at a factory by dancing without moving from their place at the factory (keeping time with the machines).
Then the men came back and performed a sword dance with a sword that looked like a very small two man cross cut saw that lumberjacks might use. These were held between a circle of people (each holding one end between people on both sides of the dancer). Then they proceeded to twist in and out and between each other without letting go. Fun to watch.
The last event was a Plough Play. A short and funny play that had something to do with marriage and the devil. (I am not making this up.) The costumes were a bit outrageous.
On Wednesday night we had the talent show. The students did a great job. There were dancers and singers and poems and comedy. One quartet of guys did a fabulous job of singing “kiss the girl” from the Little Mermaid. Then a great rendition of a song called “The Girl in 14G” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRNRbq76Bxw which I was not familiar with but which was very cute and Amanda has a great voice. A good time was had by all
The Road Trip
On Friday October 19 we drove to the Peak District which is about 2 hours north and west of Grantham. We decided to visit Chatsworth House which is the home of the 12 Duke of Devonshire whose name is Peregrine Cavendish. The house has a long history starting in the 16th century. There is a nice history at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatsworth_House.
Let me show you a few pictures:
The house is located out in the country with very little around it. That is quite different from many of the stately homes where the towns and cities have grown up all around them.
The Duke’s duck was present.
The house is surrounded by incredible gardens including a very nice maze where we encountered some very giggly tourists from Norway. We started in but got lost right away and made our exit as soon as possible.
The next day we traveled to Samford which is just a ways from Grantham and went to another stately home. It was nice as well. But after touring Devenshire it was a bit of a step backwards. It was a bit nicer than the Owens estate in the US but only received a 8 on the 10 point wow-factor scale. The Owens place gets a -4 on the scale.
The following weekend we went on a school field trip to London and were given a great tour of St. Peter’s Cathedral in London. Which is (in my opinion) not really a church but a monument to the British nation. Nothing wrong with that if you don’t call it a church. All the British war heros are buried there and have monuments. We learned that Lord Nelson (Naval Hero who won the battle of Trafalgar) died some years later and was on ship in some place far away. In order to preserve his body to be buried back in jolly ole England they put the Admiral in a vat of wine where on the journey home he soaked up so much wine that when they got him home he was so bloated that they had to cut him up to bury him.
We also saw Wicked on Saturday night. That was a lot of fun. The music and voices were great and the plot was very entertaining. It is the story of the witches of Oz before Dorothy arrived. The wicked witch of the west was not always wicked and was highly misunderstood. Glenda was a ditzy lady.
Ray
Thursday, October 18, 2007
29 France D-Day Beaches
Thursday and Friday
It was a very good trip from Harlaxton to France. We took the train from Grantham to London and then took the Tube with about the same number of people that live in Bombay. We only had to go from Kings Cross to Waterloo stations which is just a few stops but includes a change of subway line. We got on to the second line (Bakerloo – as if that means anything to you folks- I will tell you it has nothing to do with the bathroom of the companion of the butcher and the candlestick maker) and it was very crowded. At the next stop no one got off and 337 more people got in our car. At the next stop there were a lot of folks waiting. The doors opened and the folks waiting just looked at the sea of compacted bodies and decided to wait for the next one; that is all but one of them just looked. One “gentleman” with two bags decided he was getting on the subway come Hades or floods. He tried and managed to eventually to get in but not before he had the doors try to close twice on his leg and his suitcase. He and I shared the same personal space for the duration of our ride. Thankfully that was not long. We made it and actually caught a train to Portsmouth about half an hour earlier than our plan. We thought we would be cutting it close to make the ferry. It turns out that we waited 45 minutes or so before they let us board the ferry anyway.
The ferry was large with a whole raft of school groups running around acting like school groups. Evidently it is fairly common for both British and other countries to take their classes on field trips for the day or weekend to another country. One of the visiting faculty members has a 10 year old son (Cameron). His class was taking a trip on Friday to France. Cameron did not get to go because being an American and a non European Union citizen the paperwork was going to be too much hassle.
I stayed up for a while (we left at midnight). I thought I might get some night pictures as we pulled out of Portsmouth. However it is rather difficult to take a time exposure on a moving ship.
We had a nice cabin (small). We both slept some and it was a smooth crossing. The ship wide alarm went off about 5:30 to get everyone up on time. Fortunately it was nice classical music that they woke us up with.
After breakfasting on the ship we made our way with the other foot passengers (evidently all those other people came on board on their hands and knees) to the passport control which is not needed for anyone with an EU passport. We took the bus into Caen.
Caen is a city that was virtually all built since 1945. It was almost all leveled in WWII. The Cathedral in the center of town and two castle structures built by William the Conqueror were largely untouched in the war. Everything else is modern. We decided to take-in the Caen Museum. It was a history of WWI and WWII as well as the cold war. It had a large section dealing with peace.
I was reminded about the human suffering in the war. The people of Russian suffered horribly in the siege of Leningrad. Thousands of people starved or died of disease as a result of their malnourishment after the Germans invaded. The museum did have some information about the final solution and the holocaust. Although I am not sure I saw that word used. It was not a major part of the museum. It was presented but I guess I wanted to see a more prominent role for that part of the story.
When the information about the cold war was presented it painted America as an exporter of our pop culture which was seen by the Soviets as a bad influence. I found myself very ambivalent as I agreed that much of what the US exported and continues to export is not very wholesome nor very meaningful (they had displays of Hollywood exports and lots of things from the 50s like the music). I could not help but think that the only way we could export that culture was if someone wanted to import that culture. Then I thought, that is the same logic as a drug dealer.
We had a bit of difficulty finding a taxi to take us back to the train station. After about 20 minutes the taxi that was called did show up. The 15 minute train ride from Caen (pronounced like you were trying to rip off an elderly person -CON) to the small town of Bayeux (pronounced like the Louisianan “bayou” but only if you say it like they do in the heart of Cajon country. “by ooooh” not the Houston “by oh”.)
That is enough French lessons (we have exhausted my knowledge). In contrast to Caen, Bayeux was virtually untouched in the battle for Normandy following D-Day. Bayeux was the first town that was liberated by the Allied troupes (two small villages preceded). When the allied troupes arrived the Germans had already pulled out to establish a front north and east of the town. So there was no resistance and thus no real damage to the city. Many of the buildings date from the Middle Ages and the streets are cobblestoned and quite narrow (and filled with very noisy motorcycles).
Bayeux is also home to a 1000 year old tapestry that is almost perfectly preserved. I had envisioned a wall sized square rug-like tapestry like I have seen in other castles depicting a scene in the life a king or someone. The Bayeux rendition is a story telling tapestry that was embroidered with wool thread on a linen cloth. The cloth is about 2 feet tall and almost the length of a football field. It tells the story of William the Conqueror. The importance of this “history” is supposedly in the details it provides for the story and the daily life at the time (circa 1066). William became King of England and he was a Norman (French Viking type person – Nor(th)-man).
I am learning in British Studies that this was the beginning of a very long and bitter love hate relationship between the English and the French. The love part, while very powerful and usually short lived, is evidenced in things like D-day when Britain played a major role in the liberation of France. The Americans and the Canadians were trained and staged in Britain. Also the British Navy was largely responsible for clearing the mines out of the channel before the D-day landing. The hate part is evidenced by the 100 years war, and this weekend’s Rugby World Cup match which England won. The tapestry displays a lot of details about the kinds of weapons and clothing that people would have worn. They would not let me take pictures so I was forced to buy these.
The cathedral closed at 6:00 so we thought we would have dinner. We had picked out a restaurant based on recommendations on “tripadvisory.com”. This restaurant was right across from the cathedral but it was closed. We walked to another, it was closed and another, closed. We finally found one that had hours posted in the window and it turns out (which we confirmed) that most of the restaurants are opened from 12 until 2 and then from 7 until 11. We thus went back to the hotel and regrouped until just before 7:00.
We walked back the 8 or so blocks to the cathedral and our restaurant. We arrived at a few minutes past 7:00 and were given a table. The restaurant began to fill up soon after that. A sorority (I assume) arrived about 7:30. There were 25 or so young ladies from America who were having a nice time. The restaurant had an upstairs that could seat at least 25 or 30 and the downstairs where we were had a front room with the sorority ladies and our room with seating for 15 in or so. The room had beamed ceilings with things like old chairs and glassless windows hanging on the wall. The atmosphere was nice.
Not long after the sorority ladies arrived a group of 25 or so guys showed up and walked orderly upstairs. This is how I estimated the size of the upstairs. I had thought they might be there to watch the rugby match but it turns out that was Saturday night. Whatever they were doing they were very quiet about it. The ladies were chatting and by the end of the evening and several bottles of wine they were taking turns getting French kisses (the kind on both cheeks) form the waiter. The entire restaurant was being served by one man and one woman with one assistant. They were hopping. They were very attentive to everyone. They were on a dead run most of the evening.
Our dinners were very nice. We had the three course dinner. I had boiled shrimp (head and all) as an appetizer. Everything was presented like a French cooking show (wait a second…), lots of little garnishes and large plates. The shrimp was served with a small bowl of mayonnaise. I was thinking ketchup would be better until I tried the mayonnaise. I don’t know how it would be with fried shrimp but it is great with boiled. Penny had bacon (ham) and cheese on toast. It was not that common. It was served on a bed of mixed greens and she really enjoyed it. Our main course was the fish of the day. It was grilled cod in a delicious cream sauce with snow peas and beans, rice and a dollop of mashed carrots. For dessert I had ice cream and chocolate sauce with crunchy cookie things. Penny had Crème Brule. The meal was delightful. Ok, Penny says the cooking show is over now.
Saturday
We were taken on an all day tour of the D-day beaches and some of the towns and places of interest. Our guide was named Phillip (fay leap). We found out far more about Phillip than I wanted to know. He was very knowledgeable and seemed to have almost everything about the Battle of Normandy committed to memory (of course he could have told me that Mickey Mouse was the first Marine on shore and I would not be able to disprove it.) As the day wore on Penny and I both came to the conclusion that Phillip’s biggest joy in life was making himself look good at the expense of other people. He was not content in just telling us the information. He had to quiz us (there were two other Americans on the tour) about whether we knew who the American soldier was that led the attack at such and such a battle. He then spent a great deal of time talking about the mistakes that were made in the preparation and execution of the D-day plan. I am sure that the information he provided was correct. For example he said that the calculation of how much gunpowder to use to shoot the grappling hooks to the top of the cliffs was done with figures of the weight of the rope when it was dry. On D-day the rope was wet and thus many of the grappling hooks did not make it to the top of the cliff. The American landing craft only had one motor and not enough power to land easily with the current that was there. He told of the paratroopers who were dropped in the wrong places because of the young scared pilots who failed to recalculate the time in flight when the speed changed.
Phillip had many more of these stories. I wanted to say to him that it all seemed to work out fairly well for France in the end. But I held my tongue.
We were taken to Omaha Beach where so many men lost their lives and also to Utah Beach which was less well defended. This is Utah Beach.
But despite all that attitude, Phillip was very educational. One of the more memorable parts of the day were visiting the towns and farms where various events took place that had pictures taken by journalists and a few soldiers who broke orders and brought cameras. Phillip would park in the town square and show us the pictures and with the same buildings in the background.
We went to some of the remaining German bunkers and saw how solidly they were built to withstand the bombardment. We saw Omaha Beach where so many Allied forces were killed as they tried to land. The defenses on that beach were very difficult to stop. Utah Beach on the other hand was very lightly defended because they had withdrawn for some reason several of the cannons that had been stationed there.
I was reminded of the film we had seen the day before in the Caen museum. The first part of the film had a split screen with the right side showing German film and pictures from Normandy in the days leading up to D-day and the left half showed the allied force preparation. The film demonstrated that people died on both sides of the battlefield.
It was a very moving day.
Saturday evening we walked around and looked at menus and then wound up back at the same restaurant. We were joined by the sorority ladies again only this time they ate upstairs.
Sunday
We have been traveling since we left the hotel at 9:00 and it is now 10:22 and we are still on the train. We walked, took a train, then a bus, then a ferry, a taxi, then a train, then a bus, then a train, then two subways and now a train and we have one more taxi before we get home. Traveling is fun and tiring.
It was a very good trip from Harlaxton to France. We took the train from Grantham to London and then took the Tube with about the same number of people that live in Bombay. We only had to go from Kings Cross to Waterloo stations which is just a few stops but includes a change of subway line. We got on to the second line (Bakerloo – as if that means anything to you folks- I will tell you it has nothing to do with the bathroom of the companion of the butcher and the candlestick maker) and it was very crowded. At the next stop no one got off and 337 more people got in our car. At the next stop there were a lot of folks waiting. The doors opened and the folks waiting just looked at the sea of compacted bodies and decided to wait for the next one; that is all but one of them just looked. One “gentleman” with two bags decided he was getting on the subway come Hades or floods. He tried and managed to eventually to get in but not before he had the doors try to close twice on his leg and his suitcase. He and I shared the same personal space for the duration of our ride. Thankfully that was not long. We made it and actually caught a train to Portsmouth about half an hour earlier than our plan. We thought we would be cutting it close to make the ferry. It turns out that we waited 45 minutes or so before they let us board the ferry anyway.
The ferry was large with a whole raft of school groups running around acting like school groups. Evidently it is fairly common for both British and other countries to take their classes on field trips for the day or weekend to another country. One of the visiting faculty members has a 10 year old son (Cameron). His class was taking a trip on Friday to France. Cameron did not get to go because being an American and a non European Union citizen the paperwork was going to be too much hassle.
I stayed up for a while (we left at midnight). I thought I might get some night pictures as we pulled out of Portsmouth. However it is rather difficult to take a time exposure on a moving ship.
We had a nice cabin (small). We both slept some and it was a smooth crossing. The ship wide alarm went off about 5:30 to get everyone up on time. Fortunately it was nice classical music that they woke us up with.
After breakfasting on the ship we made our way with the other foot passengers (evidently all those other people came on board on their hands and knees) to the passport control which is not needed for anyone with an EU passport. We took the bus into Caen.
Caen is a city that was virtually all built since 1945. It was almost all leveled in WWII. The Cathedral in the center of town and two castle structures built by William the Conqueror were largely untouched in the war. Everything else is modern. We decided to take-in the Caen Museum. It was a history of WWI and WWII as well as the cold war. It had a large section dealing with peace.
I was reminded about the human suffering in the war. The people of Russian suffered horribly in the siege of Leningrad. Thousands of people starved or died of disease as a result of their malnourishment after the Germans invaded. The museum did have some information about the final solution and the holocaust. Although I am not sure I saw that word used. It was not a major part of the museum. It was presented but I guess I wanted to see a more prominent role for that part of the story.
There was a startling map of occupied Germany that had marked all of the concentration camps and the work camps that surrounded the main camps. I had never considered how many there were.
There was a very interesting section on the French Resistance and how they operated and how the Germans developed ways to triangulate the radio signals and find the broadcasters. This led to the Resistance finding ways to hide and move their broadcast equipment.
When the information about the cold war was presented it painted America as an exporter of our pop culture which was seen by the Soviets as a bad influence. I found myself very ambivalent as I agreed that much of what the US exported and continues to export is not very wholesome nor very meaningful (they had displays of Hollywood exports and lots of things from the 50s like the music). I could not help but think that the only way we could export that culture was if someone wanted to import that culture. Then I thought, that is the same logic as a drug dealer.
We had a bit of difficulty finding a taxi to take us back to the train station. After about 20 minutes the taxi that was called did show up. The 15 minute train ride from Caen (pronounced like you were trying to rip off an elderly person -CON) to the small town of Bayeux (pronounced like the Louisianan “bayou” but only if you say it like they do in the heart of Cajon country. “by ooooh” not the Houston “by oh”.)
That is enough French lessons (we have exhausted my knowledge). In contrast to Caen, Bayeux was virtually untouched in the battle for Normandy following D-Day. Bayeux was the first town that was liberated by the Allied troupes (two small villages preceded). When the allied troupes arrived the Germans had already pulled out to establish a front north and east of the town. So there was no resistance and thus no real damage to the city. Many of the buildings date from the Middle Ages and the streets are cobblestoned and quite narrow (and filled with very noisy motorcycles).
There is a very large cathedral called Notre Dame but not the one in Paris. The cathedral does have the similar style with the flying buttress that the one in Paris has.
Bayeux is also home to a 1000 year old tapestry that is almost perfectly preserved. I had envisioned a wall sized square rug-like tapestry like I have seen in other castles depicting a scene in the life a king or someone. The Bayeux rendition is a story telling tapestry that was embroidered with wool thread on a linen cloth. The cloth is about 2 feet tall and almost the length of a football field. It tells the story of William the Conqueror. The importance of this “history” is supposedly in the details it provides for the story and the daily life at the time (circa 1066). William became King of England and he was a Norman (French Viking type person – Nor(th)-man).
I am learning in British Studies that this was the beginning of a very long and bitter love hate relationship between the English and the French. The love part, while very powerful and usually short lived, is evidenced in things like D-day when Britain played a major role in the liberation of France. The Americans and the Canadians were trained and staged in Britain. Also the British Navy was largely responsible for clearing the mines out of the channel before the D-day landing. The hate part is evidenced by the 100 years war, and this weekend’s Rugby World Cup match which England won. The tapestry displays a lot of details about the kinds of weapons and clothing that people would have worn. They would not let me take pictures so I was forced to buy these.
The cathedral closed at 6:00 so we thought we would have dinner. We had picked out a restaurant based on recommendations on “tripadvisory.com”. This restaurant was right across from the cathedral but it was closed. We walked to another, it was closed and another, closed. We finally found one that had hours posted in the window and it turns out (which we confirmed) that most of the restaurants are opened from 12 until 2 and then from 7 until 11. We thus went back to the hotel and regrouped until just before 7:00.
We walked back the 8 or so blocks to the cathedral and our restaurant. We arrived at a few minutes past 7:00 and were given a table. The restaurant began to fill up soon after that. A sorority (I assume) arrived about 7:30. There were 25 or so young ladies from America who were having a nice time. The restaurant had an upstairs that could seat at least 25 or 30 and the downstairs where we were had a front room with the sorority ladies and our room with seating for 15 in or so. The room had beamed ceilings with things like old chairs and glassless windows hanging on the wall. The atmosphere was nice.
Not long after the sorority ladies arrived a group of 25 or so guys showed up and walked orderly upstairs. This is how I estimated the size of the upstairs. I had thought they might be there to watch the rugby match but it turns out that was Saturday night. Whatever they were doing they were very quiet about it. The ladies were chatting and by the end of the evening and several bottles of wine they were taking turns getting French kisses (the kind on both cheeks) form the waiter. The entire restaurant was being served by one man and one woman with one assistant. They were hopping. They were very attentive to everyone. They were on a dead run most of the evening.
Our dinners were very nice. We had the three course dinner. I had boiled shrimp (head and all) as an appetizer. Everything was presented like a French cooking show (wait a second…), lots of little garnishes and large plates. The shrimp was served with a small bowl of mayonnaise. I was thinking ketchup would be better until I tried the mayonnaise. I don’t know how it would be with fried shrimp but it is great with boiled. Penny had bacon (ham) and cheese on toast. It was not that common. It was served on a bed of mixed greens and she really enjoyed it. Our main course was the fish of the day. It was grilled cod in a delicious cream sauce with snow peas and beans, rice and a dollop of mashed carrots. For dessert I had ice cream and chocolate sauce with crunchy cookie things. Penny had Crème Brule. The meal was delightful. Ok, Penny says the cooking show is over now.
Saturday
We were taken on an all day tour of the D-day beaches and some of the towns and places of interest. Our guide was named Phillip (fay leap). We found out far more about Phillip than I wanted to know. He was very knowledgeable and seemed to have almost everything about the Battle of Normandy committed to memory (of course he could have told me that Mickey Mouse was the first Marine on shore and I would not be able to disprove it.) As the day wore on Penny and I both came to the conclusion that Phillip’s biggest joy in life was making himself look good at the expense of other people. He was not content in just telling us the information. He had to quiz us (there were two other Americans on the tour) about whether we knew who the American soldier was that led the attack at such and such a battle. He then spent a great deal of time talking about the mistakes that were made in the preparation and execution of the D-day plan. I am sure that the information he provided was correct. For example he said that the calculation of how much gunpowder to use to shoot the grappling hooks to the top of the cliffs was done with figures of the weight of the rope when it was dry. On D-day the rope was wet and thus many of the grappling hooks did not make it to the top of the cliff. The American landing craft only had one motor and not enough power to land easily with the current that was there. He told of the paratroopers who were dropped in the wrong places because of the young scared pilots who failed to recalculate the time in flight when the speed changed.
Phillip had many more of these stories. I wanted to say to him that it all seemed to work out fairly well for France in the end. But I held my tongue.
We were taken to Omaha Beach where so many men lost their lives and also to Utah Beach which was less well defended. This is Utah Beach.
But despite all that attitude, Phillip was very educational. One of the more memorable parts of the day were visiting the towns and farms where various events took place that had pictures taken by journalists and a few soldiers who broke orders and brought cameras. Phillip would park in the town square and show us the pictures and with the same buildings in the background.
We went to some of the remaining German bunkers and saw how solidly they were built to withstand the bombardment. We saw Omaha Beach where so many Allied forces were killed as they tried to land. The defenses on that beach were very difficult to stop. Utah Beach on the other hand was very lightly defended because they had withdrawn for some reason several of the cannons that had been stationed there.
I was reminded of the film we had seen the day before in the Caen museum. The first part of the film had a split screen with the right side showing German film and pictures from Normandy in the days leading up to D-day and the left half showed the allied force preparation. The film demonstrated that people died on both sides of the battlefield.
The American Cemetery that overlooks Utah Beach was a stark reminder of the men who died here.
All of the men buried here died during the Battle for Normandy. But as I looked at marker after marker the day that kept appearing was June 6, 1944.
It was a very moving day.
Saturday evening we walked around and looked at menus and then wound up back at the same restaurant. We were joined by the sorority ladies again only this time they ate upstairs.
Sunday
We have been traveling since we left the hotel at 9:00 and it is now 10:22 and we are still on the train. We walked, took a train, then a bus, then a ferry, a taxi, then a train, then a bus, then a train, then two subways and now a train and we have one more taxi before we get home. Traveling is fun and tiring.
Ray
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
28 North Wales
We headed out on the coach to North Wales with Ian, the driver, in charge. The movie Madagascar was the in-flight entertainment. I was less than entertained by the volume of the movie coming out of the speaker directly over my head but Penny said that the sound was fine by her. She was sitting opposite me due to her shoulder injury. Her shoulder felt much better this morning, a bit worse this afternoon.
Our first stop was at Chester in Northwest England. Chester is a roman city (so what else is new in England). But here in Chester they have Roman soldiers giving school kids tours of the city.
The city has a wall on which we walked and a clock which was erected to celebrate something to do with Queen Victoria. It is said to be the second most photographed clock in the world (or maybe it was England). Whatever, I was not going to be left out, so here is a picture.
We spent most of our 2 ½ hour stop visiting the cathedral. They had an audio guide and that was very interesting. One of the interesting historic events in this cathedral was that Handel had his first ever rehearsal of the Messiah in Chester Cathedral. The debut was to be in Ireland and that was where the rehearsal was to be as well. But when the winds were not favorable for the crossing from Chester to Ireland, Handel got stuck in Chester and he asked if there were people who could sightread the music. (Evidently he was still working on the music and wanted to hear it performed). One fellow was evidently not doing well at his sightreading. Handel said: “I thought you said you could sightread.” The man replied, “I can sightread, but not on first sight!” Evidently it worked out fine for Handel.
In the choir stalls there were some very beautiful yet strange wood carvings on the seats. This is evidently what happens when you describe an elephant to a wood carver who has never seen a real elephant. Note the horse-like legs including hoofs.
We then drove on to the Ambassador Hotel in Llandudno, North Wales. Llandudno is a very beautiful town on the northwest sea coast of Wales. There is a large crescent shaped bay where the town is located. The promenade wraps around the shore and a line of resort hotels front the promenade.
We felt absolutely like children as we strolled around the shore. The average age of the people out walking/shuffling/toddling/wheel-chairing around the promenade was at least 75.
We walked out on the pier and watched some fishermen as they snagged each other’s lines and the bottom of the ocean. One man did manage to catch a fish about 14 inches long. He took it off the hook and I thought he was going to throw it back as he reached toward the iron pipe railing. Then suddenly he smacked the fish’s head on the pipe to kill it and proceeded to clean it, so much for catch and release.
Just before smacking the fish.
It was then time for dinner about 6:00. We walked past the promenade to some business streets. We soon discovered that Llandudno is the proverbial town that rolls up the sidewalks at 6:00. They were really closing down everything. This includes the restaurants. There were just a few restaurants in the area that we found and most of those were only opened for lunch. We did find one place opened and ate there but at 7:00 they closed. The last couple that tried to come in was turned away. I bet the students are going to be bored silly. It is 8:14 and we have been back in the room (small but fine) for 45 minutes or so. Maybe there is something on TV.
We also saw that in the kitchen that they had hot and cold running water. One trough ran through the fireplace so that you would have hot water.
We had to pass this truck (lori) on this very narrow stone wall lined road. The driver of the truck had taken a wrong turn. He had to back up and squeeze to one side while cars and our bus snuck by. There was not much room to spare.
We then stopped at Seaside Resort called Portmerion. It was built between 1925 and 1972 by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis who designed it after an Italian village. It is quite lovely but really is kind of like a Disney World town. All the houses are hotel rooms, restaurants or souvenir shops. It is not really my kind of place.
The evening was spent at the cinema. We took a taxi and had a popcorn and coke dinner while we watched a movie. It was fun listening to the teens come out of the theatre as we waited for the taxi. They were talking in the same manner and tone as do all teens but they were speaking Welch. Welch is a language that is full of consonants. The words sound like they are talking English but the words just do not make sense to us. It seems very different than listening to any other foreign language. Most other languages have a recognizable accent (French, Spanish, Swedish) plus the words are different. But welsh people have an English accent but speak Welch.
Sunday we left Llandudno at “half ten” (as the Brits are want to say). A short ride brought us to Bets y coed. It is a lovely part of Wales that is forested and watered. Lakes and streams are in abundance in a land that is nestled in the foothills. Streams and foothills frequently result in waterfalls and one of the prettiest is called Swallow Falls. It is just a mile or so outside of Bets y coed and that is where we stopped first. We spent a half hour or so ooohing and aaahhhing at the beauty of God’s creation.
Another couple of hours were spent in Bets y coed. The range of activities here in this tiny village are limited to watching tourists (there were plenty to choose from), looking at the cute buildings, playing in the park, waiting in line to eat, or shopping in the tourist stores. We ate and shopped mostly but I did get in some people watching. The British equivalent of the Hell’s Angels was in town. This consisted of 100 to 125 motorcycles. These were ridden by what appeared to be middle class businessmen and women who spent a lot of money on their transportation and perhaps even more on their clothing. Almost all of them were wearing full leather suits right down to the motorcycle boots and gloves, often very colorful. You could tell by looking at their faces, hands, and hair that they were not original members of the “Wild Ones.” This, I believe, was a large group who woke up on Sunday morning to some of the most beautiful weather Wales has ever seen and decided to take a ride. When they arrived in Bets y coed they determined that “My, my Bernard, this looks like a lovely place for a spot of tea!” and so they did. The ones that drove in their cars brought their dogs. The British do love their dogs.
Ray
Our first stop was at Chester in Northwest England. Chester is a roman city (so what else is new in England). But here in Chester they have Roman soldiers giving school kids tours of the city.
The city has a wall on which we walked and a clock which was erected to celebrate something to do with Queen Victoria. It is said to be the second most photographed clock in the world (or maybe it was England). Whatever, I was not going to be left out, so here is a picture.
We spent most of our 2 ½ hour stop visiting the cathedral. They had an audio guide and that was very interesting. One of the interesting historic events in this cathedral was that Handel had his first ever rehearsal of the Messiah in Chester Cathedral. The debut was to be in Ireland and that was where the rehearsal was to be as well. But when the winds were not favorable for the crossing from Chester to Ireland, Handel got stuck in Chester and he asked if there were people who could sightread the music. (Evidently he was still working on the music and wanted to hear it performed). One fellow was evidently not doing well at his sightreading. Handel said: “I thought you said you could sightread.” The man replied, “I can sightread, but not on first sight!” Evidently it worked out fine for Handel.
In the choir stalls there were some very beautiful yet strange wood carvings on the seats. This is evidently what happens when you describe an elephant to a wood carver who has never seen a real elephant. Note the horse-like legs including hoofs.
We then drove on to the Ambassador Hotel in Llandudno, North Wales. Llandudno is a very beautiful town on the northwest sea coast of Wales. There is a large crescent shaped bay where the town is located. The promenade wraps around the shore and a line of resort hotels front the promenade.
We felt absolutely like children as we strolled around the shore. The average age of the people out walking/shuffling/toddling/wheel-chairing around the promenade was at least 75.
We walked out on the pier and watched some fishermen as they snagged each other’s lines and the bottom of the ocean. One man did manage to catch a fish about 14 inches long. He took it off the hook and I thought he was going to throw it back as he reached toward the iron pipe railing. Then suddenly he smacked the fish’s head on the pipe to kill it and proceeded to clean it, so much for catch and release.
Just before smacking the fish.
It was then time for dinner about 6:00. We walked past the promenade to some business streets. We soon discovered that Llandudno is the proverbial town that rolls up the sidewalks at 6:00. They were really closing down everything. This includes the restaurants. There were just a few restaurants in the area that we found and most of those were only opened for lunch. We did find one place opened and ate there but at 7:00 they closed. The last couple that tried to come in was turned away. I bet the students are going to be bored silly. It is 8:14 and we have been back in the room (small but fine) for 45 minutes or so. Maybe there is something on TV.
Day 2.
Today was a fabulously sunny day in North Wales. We headed out at 9:00 for a bus tour to see the beauty of this land. Our first stop was at Caernarfon Castle.
It turns out not be a castle at all but rather a royal palace. Evidently you can tell by the small statues that decorated the top of the walls and the towers that are polygon shaped rather than round or square. We took a guided tour and our guide was very informative. He was very Welch and took every opportunity to talk about the English with an ever so slight disdain in his tone. He said the English never could get along with their neighbors. They tried and failed to conquer France, Scotland and Ireland. They did manage, under Edward I to conquer Wales. Edward I being the king of two countries and began to fancy himself an emperor and decided to build a palace in Wales. That was Caernarfon. It was a very defensive fortress with the highest technology of the time. The arrow slits have a single narrow slit from the outside but on the inside there were three openings that all shared the same slit. Picture a ↑ with the 3 arms on the inside all leading to the same point opening on the outside. This made it look like you would only have 5 archers shooting at you if you were trying to attack the wall but in fact you could have between 15 and 30 (high and low shooters from each hole on the inside).
Other tidbits we learned from our guide: The moats also served as the septic tank for the castle which made them very uninviting for invaders to plunge in and swim across. Most castles have small spiral staircases. We had heard at other castles that this was built in a counter clockwise direction so that the defender on top could use a sword in his right hand and the invader would not have room to use his right hand for the sword. Our guide here at Caenarfon said this was not true. He said soldiers (at least those attacking castles) at the time would likely have been in armor. The swords used were not the small swords of the movies but rather large heavy rather dull swords used to bash in the head of a man in a suit of armor. This armor was why they built spiral staircases. If you have been in a spiral staircase you know that the steps are very narrow on one side and slightly wider on the outside. Now image a soldier in a suit of armor with armor shoes with pointed toes used for kicking your enemy. They would not be able to climb those stairs.
We also saw that in the kitchen that they had hot and cold running water. One trough ran through the fireplace so that you would have hot water.
The cooking spots had places for very large pots where they kept a fire burning all the time (because it was easier to keep it burning than to light a new fire – no matches). He said that thus the big brass pot was always there and always hot. So they did not wash it. They would just add new stuff to the pot when it got low. Thus there was a lot of really old food that was probably at the bottom. If you arrived to eat when the pot was low you would have to scrape the bottom of the pot and no telling what you would dredge up. Thus we have the phrase “pot luck.”
Outside the castle was a small market and a group of folks in traditional Welch clothing were dancing in a small park.
We then drove through Snowdonia National Park. This is where the second highest mountain in Britain is located. I use the term mountain rather loosely. These are not very big compared to most mountains but they are still very beautiful. Take a look.
We had to pass this truck (lori) on this very narrow stone wall lined road. The driver of the truck had taken a wrong turn. He had to back up and squeeze to one side while cars and our bus snuck by. There was not much room to spare.
We then stopped at Seaside Resort called Portmerion. It was built between 1925 and 1972 by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis who designed it after an Italian village. It is quite lovely but really is kind of like a Disney World town. All the houses are hotel rooms, restaurants or souvenir shops. It is not really my kind of place.
Portmerion is located on the shore of the Irish sea. The sea had gone on holiday for the afternoon. Evidently the tide was out and I mean way out.
Our final stop for the day was Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It is a now defunct mine that they take you down into and have a history of the slate miners life. They made us wear hard hats and it was a very good thing. The passages are very low (4 feet in spots) and you would hear the thud of a hard hat hitting the rock and people would laugh because you knew no one was hurt but would have been if not for the hat. The mountains around are full of slate. They still mine it a lot but most mines are now surface mines. We saw lots of half mountains where the face had been gouged out.
The evening was spent at the cinema. We took a taxi and had a popcorn and coke dinner while we watched a movie. It was fun listening to the teens come out of the theatre as we waited for the taxi. They were talking in the same manner and tone as do all teens but they were speaking Welch. Welch is a language that is full of consonants. The words sound like they are talking English but the words just do not make sense to us. It seems very different than listening to any other foreign language. Most other languages have a recognizable accent (French, Spanish, Swedish) plus the words are different. But welsh people have an English accent but speak Welch.
Sunday we left Llandudno at “half ten” (as the Brits are want to say). A short ride brought us to Bets y coed. It is a lovely part of Wales that is forested and watered. Lakes and streams are in abundance in a land that is nestled in the foothills. Streams and foothills frequently result in waterfalls and one of the prettiest is called Swallow Falls. It is just a mile or so outside of Bets y coed and that is where we stopped first. We spent a half hour or so ooohing and aaahhhing at the beauty of God’s creation.
Another couple of hours were spent in Bets y coed. The range of activities here in this tiny village are limited to watching tourists (there were plenty to choose from), looking at the cute buildings, playing in the park, waiting in line to eat, or shopping in the tourist stores. We ate and shopped mostly but I did get in some people watching. The British equivalent of the Hell’s Angels was in town. This consisted of 100 to 125 motorcycles. These were ridden by what appeared to be middle class businessmen and women who spent a lot of money on their transportation and perhaps even more on their clothing. Almost all of them were wearing full leather suits right down to the motorcycle boots and gloves, often very colorful. You could tell by looking at their faces, hands, and hair that they were not original members of the “Wild Ones.” This, I believe, was a large group who woke up on Sunday morning to some of the most beautiful weather Wales has ever seen and decided to take a ride. When they arrived in Bets y coed they determined that “My, my Bernard, this looks like a lovely place for a spot of tea!” and so they did. The ones that drove in their cars brought their dogs. The British do love their dogs.
Ray
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