Trip in Pictures

So, I finally made it through the 873 pictures I took on my trip. It took quite some time, but I definately had some good ones, I also have some terrible ones but you win some you lose some. This process got me thinking that I should post a single picture from each city I visited and tell you a bit about it and why it was worth posting for you. It will be a good challenge for me and hopefully interesting for you.

So, here it goes. My favorite from London is actually already posted, so I will pick a second one. It would be silly to just pick the one. This one was actually taken on the same day as the one from the bridge. I like this one beacuse it is the Royal Mews with the London Eye peaking over the top of the building. Martin and I had waundered a bit through the park before almost stumbling on the gravel practice area and then the building which was stunning. The sky and clouds were also quite extra ordinary. It was just a good time and it looks so British.

Next is Cambridge but my pictures are quite terrible from this daytrip. The reason is that is rained and hailed while I was there. The buildings are beautiful but also so very similar that it is hard to pick a picture. This one seems to sum up the college atmosphere of cambridge. I was actiually just trying to stay dry during a particularly strong burst of rain and it happened to be a school of some sort. The students were wearing uniforms and it just had this collegiate feel.




Paris the beautiful city was next. I had so very many pictures of Paris both this time and last time that it is hard to make a choice. So, I am picking the weird and trippy picture of the side of the Centre Pompidou. This is the inside out modern art museum. The pipes on the outside are color coded by their function and it is just a strange and intriguing building overall. So, enjoy the funkiness of this building.


I made a daytrip to Versailles the former palace of Louis the 14-16th. It is amazing and the literal size of a city. It was amazing both for the palace as well as for the gardens. The fountains, the actual garden space, and of ourse Marie Antoinette's private little village. I had a really hard time chosing just one picture to sum it all up. I finalyl decided nothing would sum it up and picked a picture of a bit of the gardens with a temple for Aphrodite in the middle, It is elegant and a little remote but a real part of the gardens. I just thought it was pretty.


After Paris I took a trip to Caen and Bayeux in Normandy. I actually did not take very many pictures during this basically 24 hours, but well, this one is pretty ok. This is a picture of the Catherdral in the center of Bayeux. Bayeux, the home of the tapestry was also the first city, all be in tiny to be liberated during WWII. This catherdral was the refuge for the people of the city and survived the onslaught. It is still the center of the city and a great meeting place for the people.



I next moved on to Alsace and the city of Strasboourg which I was skeptical if I would like the first night but ended up being a great place to spend a day. This picture is of a traditional Alsacian house in the typical style. If I remember correctly it is the oldest one in town. It was built by the grocer in town who used the arcades underneath for selling the produce. It is really a neat building with the exposed beams and is in the main square. The cathedral is next to it, which put it in the rich district in the past.





On to Switzerland. My first city was Lausanne in the French part of Switzerland. I really did not enjoy this city or the people very much, but well, they have a really big lake that looks almost like an ocean. There are sail boats and gulls galore. It was definately the nicest place I could find to relax after the stress of the trip and the terrible people at my crappy hostel for the night. The smell of the water reminded me of ebing home in some way, which actually might be why I did not have a good day there.

Thankfully I moved on to a great city next. Bern in the German speaking part was great, a wonderful place to walk around, lots of shops, but also a playground behind the cathedral that overlooked the city and the river running through it. This picture is from the little playground. It shows the mountains and the river, two of the most important parts of the city I think. It does not live up to the beauty of Bern, but well, I still like it.


After leaving Berne was Lucerne. This picture choice was actually quite simple. The most touching display on my entire trip was this lion in agony. It is amazing to stand under this memorial for Swiss mercineries from the French. The lion is caught in the wall in the final moments of its life and the agony and pain on it's face is palpable. It was one of the very few times I cried on the entire trip.

My next stop was Interlaken. A place to recharge in an area that felt like Montana only cleaner. I don't really have much to say about Interlaken itself, but the Alps were neat and relaxing. The hostel I stayed at was definately in my top three, both for everything that they offered and the great people that stayed there. I ended up picking a picture of the Alps with a paraglider in the shot. I wanted to go paragliding but I chickened out and didn't.

After a nice time in Interlaken, I moved on to Zurich. I actually did not spend very much time there, which was ok. It was enough time to find the national musuem which was in a great old castle style building, with neat little accents of leaves built into the stones. It was definately worth looking at and although I didn't go inside the outside was very well done. A nice way to finish my time in Switzerland.





Off to Italy. My first stop was Milan. It turned out to not be a very interesting city as I did not have the money or love of fashion to make it worthwhile. The ultra gothic cathedral was rather cool though. It seemed a bit like the textbook description of gothic times about 100, I loved it for it's over the top architecture. It definately had style all it's own.







Hooray for Venice. I really loved this city, from the cute shops all selling the same thing, to the canals filled with boats and gondolas to the crowded tourist areas of Piazza San Marco. I enjoyed walking around and getting lost, listening to a group of women talk even though I could not understand them, and most of all walking over so very many bridges.


Florence may have started out being rainy and uncomfortable, but the city itself was beautiful, vibrant and had amazing wine. One of the best places was standing in the campground and being able to see the city from above, especially as the sun was setting and the light was amazing. It was easy to see why this was the home of the renaissance and artists such as Michelanglo. Especially with a catherdral as unique and awe inspiring as theirs. So, as my picture for this amazing city I pick the catherdral in all of it's glory.




Siena was a surprisingly nice place with so much more to see than I expected. As the home of Catherine of Siena her house as well as the church she prayed at was of special interest. There was also a zebra striped cathedral and Il Campo which is the town square as a shell shaped brick square with a tower in the middle. I think Il Campo was where I spent the most time, including climbing the tower and reading on the bricks. It is also the perfect people watching local. So, it is my pick for this one picture journey.




Rome is simply overwhelming. There is so much to see and do that it is almost impossible to choose. From the Vatican to the remains of ancient Rome it has so many aspects and faces. I am not religious, but the Vatican was simply amazing. What really caught me was that around every corner there seemed to be another piece of ancient Rome. That being said, the ancient pieces are my favorite. I picked this picture because it seems to sum up the importance of the history of Rome and how phenomenal the remains are even if they just give a small idea of the greater whole.

Pisa was a quick stop on my coastal trip to Nice, France. The best I can do for this very quick stop of about 2 hours is a typical shot of the tower with a bit of the other buildings in it's compound. I don't really know what else to say about it, it is a tourist destination and well, I think I saw more tourists then actual sites in my quick stop.






Nice is the perfect place for me to have ended my trip. The sun, beach, people watching and French atmosphere were a great way to unwind and prepare to go back to the reality of the states. Here is the token picture of the beach and water as I spent an entire day laying or sitting there enjoying the sun and reading a book.




So, I hope you have enjoyed this one picture each trip through Europe.

Pisa and Nice

I left Rome early, very early actually in order to make everything fit in my day.

I was excited to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The walk from the train station was quite a pain in the ass, 30 minutes in foot each way. It was so worth it though, so very worth it, it looks so much cooler in person especially with all the other matching building around it. I loved my break to see it, I really did even with the major sketching looking people and far too many tourists.

It took a grand total of 12 hours to get from Rome to Nice, what with my 2 hour break in Pisa. That is quite a long day on the train, well 3 trains actually. It makes me tired to write about it actually. I met several great people along the way, but it was quite a long day.

Once in Nice, I found my hostel, with a great location, although super tiny room. After checking in and taking a well needed shower, I took a walk to the beach which was surprisingly pretty considering it was after the sun had gone down. I went to be early but it felt good to have a bit of sea air.

The next day, my last in Europe I spent soaking up sun, and calming down at the beach. It was great, just a book, sandwich and sun and I was happy. I did spend some time with people though, shich was also nice, but I think the beach did me the most good.

Quick travelling

I actually don`t remember what I posted last, so here is a run down of the days since Paris. I left Paris, excited to leave the city. I tried Caen but it was a weird Normandy city where everything was closed. Bah, no fun. So I hopped another train to Bayeux which was the perfect little town. Nice quiet and well quiet. I did see the tapestry which was great, and I found a place to stay. It is actually a very old building with really comfy beds even if the layout is rather strange. liked it there, but not for longer than a day. spend off to Strasbourg the next day. I basically spent the whole day on the train which was fine I guess. I liked Strasbourg and stayed for the next night as well. Even though a couple of guys did try to pick me up and one actually followed me for blocks. Scary. I enjoyed wandering and getting lost there. Oh and I walked across town (an hour and a half by foot) and crossed to border into Germany. Now I am on my quick trip through Switzerland. The people seem to be nice in Lausann as long as they are not working. This hostel is weird, but at least there are lots of people. Tomorrow I am off to Berne, then Lucerne, Interlaken and finally Zurich before heading off to Italy. I cannot believe I have been gone for 2 weeks, gah. I sort of wish it was time to go home but then again not. Yeah, weird.

Pqris, last day

So, today was my last day in paris. It actually went rather well. I went to the Montparnasse Cemetary and found Simone de Beauvoir and Sartre's tomb, it is so cool that they were burried together considering they never married.

Then I spent most of the rest of the day waundering arounf the Louvre. I had quite a good time looking at the French paintings and remembering learning about them in French class and in Art Appreciation.

I ended my day with a stroll along the Seine from th Louvre to the eifel Tower, it was sunny and nice.

Tomorrow I am off to Caen in Normandy. I don't have a reservation for somewhere to stay but I am going anyway. I really want to see the Bayeux taperstry in the next town and spend some time at the beaches. Wish me luck.

Paris

So, the last two days have been rather good. I have seen a few new places and have a greater appreciation for some others. Monet's waterlillies were amazing seeing them in huge format at the Orangerie. I recommend that to anyone in Paris, spend the 5 euros and then sit and take them in, it is simply breath taking.

Today I took a girl from New Zealand along with me. We visited the cemetery Pere Lachaise which is amazingly cool, and Aunt Vicki would have loved it. (I will have to send you pictures when I am home°. We also walked around Momartre and Sacre Coeur, then Notre Dame, and finally Centre Pompidou which is simply wacky.

Versailles

So, today I went ot Versailles. It was really beautiful, but wow my feet hurt. I walked all over the palace and then the gardens and finally Marie Antoinette's spaces. My pictures are fantastic, too bad my feet aren't.

Paris 1

So, today was my first full day in Paris. I was going to visit the Louvre but found out it was closed on Tuesdays. Bah. So, instead I waundered over to Notre Dame, St. Chapelle and the Concergerie. It was actually quite a lot of fun. Last time I was here they were cleaning Notre Dame so the facade couldn't really be seen, this time it was beautiful, it would have been better without the rain, but what can you do? The Concergerie was next on my trek, it was a palance then a prison during the revolutionary time in France. Marie Antoinette spent a coupld of months there before being beheaded, and Robespierre was there for a few hours before his sentence was carried out. It is actually a rather neat building. Next was St Chappelle. The church itself was gorgeous, the line wasn't really the same in that regard. I stood in line for almost 2 hours before getting in. Thankfully there was a coupld of Australians in front of me, they were quite interesting.

After St Chappelle, I strolled over by the Sorbonne and other left bank shops, as the Australians had told me there were good book stores and sales there. Gibert Joseph must love me now, I spenmt 112.50 euros or $145 on philosophy books. I couldn't help myself. I loaded up on Foucault, Deleuze's What is Philosophy?, a couple by Irigaray and Kristeva's Black Sun. Some of these I don't have in English, but most I do. I ended up with 9 books. Hooray! Now to just mail them home.

London/Paris

So, today was the trek from London to Paris. I seriously spent all day either on the train or waiting at the station. I finally made it to Paris though, and along the way I did talk to a few interesting people. A man who had such a strong accent I could only understand like 3 words out of the sentence and an older couple who were from San Francisco area (Freeman or something like that) who were just a blast to listen to.

Tomorrow I will go into the city and have a look around. I am not sure where but it might be a good day for the Lourve and le Orangerie. Yeah, that might be a good plan.