1997 Trip: Leaving London

Today we went to Hamley's the biggest toy store in the world (5 stories) & got some stuff, like stuffed animals (me & Chrissie), posters (m & C), small trinkets (C), a "Gromit" pen (M), & craft books (Mom). After having lunch, we saw Jesus Christ Superstar, at the Lyceum (I rate it between Oliver & Guys & Dolls - pretty good). After dinner, we went back to the hotel to get ready for bed.

1997 Trip: Lazy in London

Today I did nothing except watch TV (Cartoon Network, as always) & eat. I have no museums or activities to write down, but we did call grandpa today. Otherwise, nothing really happened. Bye!

1997 Trip: A Birthday in London, Shakespeare, and More Culture

Here it is:

• Friday: It, of course, was my birthday. Chrissie & Mom surprised me w/cards, art supplies, & a cake (wheeled in the room at night). We went to the Tower of London & also went to see The Winter's Tale at the reopened Globe Theater. It was okay, but the girl who played Perdita was a bit annoying & the stage was such that one of the major focal points was hard to see from my seat. It was a good experience, anyways, so I wasn't upset.
• Saturday: On Saturday we finished up the British Museum, seeing the literary area, Mexican art (I liked the turquoise masks), prints by Picasso, & Korean art. Then, we went to see the new musical Always, about the romance between Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. I thought it was cheesy & also had bad music, but Chrissie & Mom thought it was pretty good.
• Sunday: After finally getting into the Hard Rock Cafe for an early lunch, we went to the National Gallery & saw the paintings there. Though the work was great, we all reached a consensus that we were museumed out!
• Monday: Today was our day trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon, where we saw Anne Hathaway's house, Shakespeare's mother's house (where I got to hold & feed an owl), & the exterior of Shakespeare's birthplace (it was closed by the time we got there). As a side note, Chrissie & I almost got locked in a store! Well, bye!

1997 Trip: Museums, Musicals, and More

• Wednesday: First, we went over to Westminster Abbey & saw all of the famous graves. After lunch, we headed over to a matinee of "Oliver," which was not as good as "Guys and Dolls," though it was nice. At intermission, when I attempted to get a CD, the stand was bombarded with pushy schoolkids & I had to wait until the end to get it. Also, the kids in the audience were a bit antsy.
• Thursday: Today we saw the British Museum (or most of it - we'll come back later), visiting the Ancient Greek, Roman, & Egyptian antiques (including the Rosetta Stone), Medieval to modern decoration, and an exhibit on mummies during the Roman-Egyptian period (which had paintings of faces rather than standard Egyptian stuff). We had an early dinner & went back to the hotel.

Ok - that's it. Bye!

1997 Trip: Culture in London

Here it is:

• Monday: In the morning we went over to Madame Tussaud's & the Planetarium. After lunch (where I had some really good "dough balls"), we went to the Dickens & Sherlock Holmes museums. After getting back, we dressed up to see "Guys & Dolls" at the Olivier theater. Because we got back late, we ordered room service before bed.
• Tuesday: After a late start, we headed to MOMI (Museum of the Moving Image). The temporary exhibition there was on Disney's Hercules & was pretty nice. To appease Dad, we went over to the Cabinet War Rooms, which were organized like they would be during WWII. We then had dinner & got ready for bed.

That's it for today.

1997 Trip: Parting with Paris, Cheerio to London

I finally have another chance to catch up, so here's what we did:

• Thursday: We complied with Chrissie's wishes & saw Disneyland Paris. Many rides were completely different from the Anaheim versions. The Indiana Jones ride was a straight-up roller coaster (with a loop-the-loop) and Space Mountain had both a loop-the-loop & a corkscrew. Thankfully, the park closed at 8:00, but we didn't get back until late.
• Friday: We went to London on the Eurostar (through the "chunnel"). It was nice, with tables & assigned seats. However, it was nearly empty. We made it to our hotel & had dinner.
• Saturday: We went to Regent's Park & the London Zoo. The park was lovely & I enjoyed the zoo more than I thought I would. I especially liked the potoroos, the skunk which I named the "coffee skunk" b/c it kept running in circles & bumping into the glass, the tigers, the bats, and the apes.
• Sunday: Today we saw the Imperial War Museum. While the Fashion & Espionage exhibits & "The Trench Experience" were nice & it was overall better than I expected, the straight out war stuff tended to be a bit on the dull side. We walked home with a stop at the Rainforest Cafe for dinner & watched some TV.

Well, that's it. See you later!

1997 Trip: Bonjour Paris

It's really late & I have to get to sleep, so I'll be quick:

• Sunday: We went to the Trevi Fountain & then walked around. After playing Hearts at the hotel, we went to Alfredo's (the original restaurant was closed, but we found a 2nd one) for a farewell dinner.
• Monday: We flew to Paris. I was able to talk to the lady next to me ("Ellen") b/c she knew some English & my Spanish helped me understand some Italian.
• Tuesday: We toured Paris, going from the prisons that held Marie Antoinette to Notre Dame to the Pantheon (which held the graces of French notaries) and back to the hotel. It was 5 miles total, but the cold temperatures & interesting sights made it bearable (I especially liked the crypts of the Pantheon).
• Wednesday: We saw the Louvre. That place is huge! There was some beautiful work, and, though the Mona Lisa was crowded (as expected), Leonardo's other stuff & many very famous paintings (David's crowning of Napoleon) were easily seen. Though it was worthwhile, everyone was tired by the end. We later went to the fair by the Louvre & went on a flume ride (so-so), a roller coaster (ow), a haunted house (so-so), spinning swings (pretty good), a motion simulator (nobody else was in the cabin so Chrissie & I kept sliding from side to side), and a fun house (all I have to say is that fun is relative - I would call it a bumping around house). It was okay, but I would have rather stayed back. Oh well.

 Goodbye & good night!

1997 Trip: Ancient Rome

Today we toured the ancient monuments, starting with the Coliseum, then the Forum, and finally finishing up with the Pantheon (which was nice, b/c it was indoors & cool, while other monuments were not). We went back to the hotel for a short rest. For dinner, we went to the "Cowboy" restaurant on the Spanish steps to reminisce (we went 5 years ago).

1997 Trip: Finishing Florence and a Roman Rendezvous

Hi again! Here's what happened:

• Wednesday: First, we went to the Uffizi (1:30 wait) & saw the works there. However, lots of stuff was being restored & several rooms were closed. I was kinda disappointed b/c Verrochio's Baptism of Christ (which had an angel & background by the young Leonardo da Vinci) was being restored. However, lots of other interesting stuff was on display. We also saw the Cathedral & Cathedral museum. I was museumed out!
• Thursday: We traveled to Rome. While trying to get on the train, Chrissie almost fell off backwards. On the train itself, there were lots of tunnels which hurt everyone's ears due to the pressure.
• Friday: We saw the Vatican. While the line to get in was long, it moved quickly. Inside, it was far too crowded! It was nice to see Raphael's The School of Athens (I didn't know it was there - it kind of made up for disappointments at the Uffizi) and the Sistine Chapel & Michelangelo's Pietà were nice. After the Vatican, we relaxed in the hotel & I drew two figures copied from the Sistine Chapel book we got.

1997 Trip: Finally in Florence

Monday was a travel day, so there is not really anything to say except that Dad got us on the wrong train but it all worked out eventually.

Today, we skipped the Uffizi (there was a one hour wait) so we could go early tomorrow. Instead, we saw the Palazzo Vecchio, the Baptistry of St. John (Gates of Paradise), and the Academy Gallery (David). After 2:00, we napped at the hotel, had dinner, & saw fireworks.

1997 Trip: Museums and Gondolas

Today was pretty busy. First, we went to the Accademia Museum, where we saw Venetian art dating from the Byzantine to the 1800s, including some stuff by Titian. Then we walked over to the Rialto Bridge (it should suffice to say it was a LONG walk) and to the hotel. On the way back, we went past a McDonald's (where I filled out a survey), a Disney Store (where Chrissie & I tried to get a CD in Italian but Dad said no), and a Picasso exhibit. Mom finally got that vase set she wanted (for only $180!!), we went on a gondola ride (before vase), and Chrissie & I drew in St. Mark's square. We played Scrabble (Chrissie -> Me -> Mom -> Dad) and I took a shower.

1997 Trip: Venice and Art

Today we woke up on time! ( :) ) We had breakfast at the hotel and then went to mom & dad's room for a game of Scrabble. I was in 1st (due to "zot"), Mom was in 2nd, Chrissie in 3rd, and Dad (he's not very good at this) in 4th. Chrissie got a slew of bad letters & so she had trouble.

We then went to the art museum at St. Mark's Square (I forget the name) & saw some works. Chrissie & Mom particularly liked the shoes. They were very TALL platforms like this. -> [drawing omitted] A lot of the ancient and Renaissance stuff was nice; I especially liked the statue of Icarus and Daedalus (is that his name?) and the small bronzes, but I wasn't too fond of the innumerable Gothic Madonnas and the modern art (does it really have a point, or is it just some cynical artists pretending to do something meaningful?).

Then we went back to the hotel, and then to the Doge's palace. Though it was interesting, the ceilings were a bit too ornate for my taste (less is more, isn't it?). At the gift shop, I bought a book on glass animals, one of which was by Picasso.

We went to the hotel again, finished shopping, and went to San Stefano's for dinner. I then took a shower & got ready for bed.

Well, bye!!

1997 Trip: Jet Lag and Venice

Hi again! Here's basically what has happened since we left Rochester:

We spent an agonizing 8 hours flying to Milan. It was impossible to get to sleep b/c the seats were small & this led me to several fights w/Chrissie. On the train to Venice, all of us kept falling asleep and there was a general feeling of mental tiredness (while playing a game of railroad - Me: "Ostrich"; Dad: "Do I have a 'P' now?"). We quickly ate and got to bed at around 6:00. Chrissie & I woke up at around 1:00 & could not get back to bed. We kept ourselves entertained by watching Italian "Baywatch" & "VIP" (Entertainment Tonight with British accents).

Today we saw St. Mark's Cathedral (think mosaic), the Murano glass factory (we saw a man make a cat out of glass which he later used to light a cigarette), and walked around the less touristy areas, such as the Academia Bridge & the Campio San Stefano (where we ate & Chrissie & I drew). Finally we walked back to a flooded (the sewage had backed up) St. Mark's Square and to our hotel (the Concordia). We called gram & grandpa, wrote postcards, and finished catching up on our journals.

Bye!!

1997 Trip: Visiting Rochester

Hi there!! Sorry I haven't written, but I haven't had the time. Here's a synopsis of what has happened so far:

1. We went on a tour of the Mayo clinic. Before the tour itself, we watched a dumb 70's film about Americans in France which we laughed through (Chrissie does a great imitation of the "pecan" part) & a dull one about the founding of the clinic itself. The tour was pretty nice and the older building has a classy style. Then we went to get Sean and went went over to the galleria (accessible through an elevated walkway), a nice Barnes & Noble, and the gallery which had Sean's artwork (medieval-style manuscripts). Sean left & we then saw the Rochester federal buildings and the nearby lake. We reunited for dinner at Henry Wellington's and, later, Baker's Square pies at Betsy & Sean's home.
2. We went over to the Mall of America in Minneapolis, looked through the shops, went on some rides in "Camp Snoopy," went through "Underwater World," and ate at the "Rainforest Cafe." I learned not to go on the log ride, since, on the big drop, a huge wave went over the boat and straight onto me (I was in front, of course). At least I was set for "Underwater World." I would have preferred just getting sprayed, like on Splash Mountain, but oh well. In "UWW," a shark kept following dad overhead. We then walked around & had dinner.
3. Today we had breakfast in the hotel & are getting ready for Venice.

That's pretty much it. Bye!!