Florence

Days 8 and 9 - A stop in Pisa and then on to Florence

Our stop in Pisa was quick. We took the cliche pictures pushing over the leaning tower and then we headed on our way. The truth is, it was plenty of time in Pisa, and in the end we would rather have gone straight to Florence.

The Duomo of Florence

When we arrived we had a delicious Italian dinner, and then we spent some time walking around Florence with Eric, hearing stories about some of the characters that played such a key role in the renaissance. Among other things we visited the famous Duomo (pictured below), and admired the gates of the Baptistery. Eventually we headed back to our hotel and admired the view of the city from our hotel window.

In some ways our hotel in Florence wasn't much to brag about, but this view from our room was amazing.

The following day we took a guided, walking tour of the city. We were able to see the homes of Michealangelo, Gallileo and the Medici family. We saw great works by Michaelangelo, Rafael, Da Vinci, and the likes at the Uffizi Museum. It's a shame that classes like art appreciation are taught entirely from texts, because time and time again we were struck by how much more awe inspiring and beautiful these works of art are in person.

The Rape of the Sabine Women located in Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence. An absolutely amazing sculpture, despite the subject matter.

As great as the art was, Jen may have been more impressed by the Gelato. The look of childlike pleasure and self-content on her face in the picture below says it all.

We ended the day by taking a walk to a hill overlooking Florence. It was dusk, and we were able to look at over the city at sunset, while relaxing and taking it all in. It was a very nice way to end our brief stop in Florence.

Lucerne

Days 6 and 7 - Travel and Lucerne

Our stop in Lucerne, Switzerland provided a break from big cities and from the whirlwind tour of art history. The city was clean and beautiful, the alps were breathtaking, and the atmosphere was relaxed. Our tour-provided dinner was a bit of a joke, though. Our guide said it was a Swiss-Asian restaraunt, but I don't think we ate anything that was Swiss or Asian. They served us seven courses as follows: bread and coleslaw, tomato soup, spaghetti (the kind that tastes like it is just made with ketchcup), fried potatoes, breaded chicken, plain steamed veggies, and orange slices for dessert. It was like they forgot we were coming, then tried to throw together anything that they thought Americans eat. When we left, we looked at their menu and it was all real Asian food, nothing that we actually ate was even on the menu! Before we ate we were trying to decide if we should call Swiss-Asian food Swaisian or Swinese. Definitely Swinese.

This is a monument by the same artist that did the Christus. It is a tribute to the Swiss guards that were killed trying to guard the royal family (Marie Antoinette) from the mob during the French Revolution. Mark Twain called it, ' The most moving piece of rock I have ever seen.'

A procession of Swiss Guard in their traditional uniforms (silly, silly, traditional uniforms)

This was the view from our hotel. I carefully cropped up the mile-high McDonald's sign that is just to the left.

Paris

Days 4 and 5 - Paris

According to my father if you spent 10 seconds looking at each piece of art in the Louvre, it would take approximately 15 years to see the entire collection. We had two days in Paris. Let's just say it wasn't time to see much; however, we did get to visit the Louvre for several hours, we spent a morning at Versailles, we saw Notre Dame, we took an evening stroll on a hillside overlooking the city, and we ate a delicious baguette and a few crepes.

Of course, you can't go to Paris without seeing the Eiffel Tower, but our stop there was quick, because we feel it is a bit overrated.

The Louvre was amazing and overwhelming. It was great to have my father there with us to provide the context and history of so many works of art--it is much more meaningful that way. We each had some favorite pieces. Jen is partial to the work of a French artist named Jacques-Louise David, and the pieces by Vermeer (You may know him as the artist portrayed in Girl with a Pearl Earring) were absolutely beautiful. The Mona Lisa, which I had never been partial to myself, was much more impressive in person, that is, if you didn't mind the horde of Japanese tour groups compacted around it.

Jen, my Dad, and my Sister standing in front of "The Raft of the Medusa" in the Louvre.

Versailles was also a great stop. The sheer size of the palace is breathtaking. We found the interior to be interesting, but somewhat underwhelming. Once again, the throngs of tourists detracted from the experience indoors. The real treasure was found outside. The gardens at Versailles were phenomenal. They are so immaculately kept, and they are on such a grand scale, that when you look out over them it feels as if you are standing before a looking glass to another world. We got a pretty good picture of the grounds, but it really doesn't do the garden justice.

Heading out to the gardens, with the rear of the palace in the background.

View of the garden at Versailles from the top of the stairs.

Our hotel in Paris was an older hotel situated on the edge of the red light district. It wasn't the most romantic side of Paris, although our tour director assured us that the red light district's bark was worse than its bite (I think that sounds a little more kinky than he intended). Luckily, in addition to the red light district, our hotel was also situated a block from Montmatre, one of the largest hills in Paris, which really was a romantic place to take a walk and view the city's skyline.

The Moulin Rouge in the heart of the red light district (just down from our hotel)

At times Jen and I wondered whether Paris would be more aptly named the "City of Urine" than the "City of Lights," because it was entirely too common to be hit with an unexpected whiff of urine smell. However, in the end Paris was an amazing city to visit.

London

Jen at Piccadilly Circus (I believe)

Our vacation was a whirlwind trip, and London was our longest stop at three days. As such, we felt like we were able to see quite a few sites. We visited a few of the major art and history museums. Mercifully the majority of these museums have free admission, which was a lifesaver in a city where everything costs double what it does here. We took a quick trip to Windsor castle (where, surprisingly, the highlight was several sketches from Da Vinci's notebook, although tea with the Queen was nice too). We took a site seeing tour, and we attended an organ concert at Westminster Abbey.

Windsor Castle

For Jen the highlight of London was a morning trip out to Hampstead Heath--800 acres of untouched countryside surrounded by London suburbs. At the edge of the heath is Kenwood Manor, an old manor house that has been converted to an art museum. The countryside was beautiful and Jen would be lying if she said it didn't make her feel just a little Eliza Bennettish. She also loved our quick stop at the Dickens Museum.

Kenwood House at Hampstead Heath

Pictures of the grounds at Hampstead Heath

For Alec the highlights were superb Indian food at Piccadilly Circus and authentic Singaporean food at what was (unbeknownst to us) one of the top rated oriental restaurants in London.

Jen at the Dicken's Museum, which is located in one of Charles Dicken's London homes.

Installment Plan

Let's be honest about it. Our lives would not make for an interesting Hollywood movie, or a popular novel. Heck, they wouldn't even be fit for a Hallmark movie or an unpopular novel. With this in mind, you better believe that when something semi-interesting happens to us we are really going to milk it for all it is worth. For that reason we are going to share pictures from our recent trip to Europe in several installments. Days 1,2 and 3 were London, so we'll start there . . .