tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52632902751302235392024-03-13T10:23:42.052-07:00Across the PondWelcome to our blog all about our adventures in Bristol, the UK, and Europe!Harper and Dakotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05065588522753896211noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263290275130223539.post-37321554631433648432012-06-21T02:58:00.001-07:002012-06-21T02:58:42.251-07:00Escargot -Backyard variety<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtpFX_D_od8MpspPDZa2Phk-vLhy6OMMMagxnw4A8qKHLxJcwNB0RCKGt4ZAWktSCpzU1Ed7TL1tHvftEWpGtN07FG1YC4CeU1VdbHSokfKMw2neTfxmfaOjfRqu9uunjlWLRaN5WiVjU/s1600/Random+England+022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtpFX_D_od8MpspPDZa2Phk-vLhy6OMMMagxnw4A8qKHLxJcwNB0RCKGt4ZAWktSCpzU1Ed7TL1tHvftEWpGtN07FG1YC4CeU1VdbHSokfKMw2neTfxmfaOjfRqu9uunjlWLRaN5WiVjU/s320/Random+England+022.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The great snail escape -one day we awoke<br />to find runaway snails!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_oTq6RDw0rOWZNmCdnBv4IrIIb9_tHOCUcQIvkf3sEX4QAg4oIQGgg_QWOiO3pFZM6b4HiLLdb6GllmnhyphenhyphenPe8s3kE80bifNL7BnYr_jb2gnghGkAt0puPUvU4xYZTjpww4mKwaLC4ABw/s1600/Random+England+&+Hightower+visit+019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_oTq6RDw0rOWZNmCdnBv4IrIIb9_tHOCUcQIvkf3sEX4QAg4oIQGgg_QWOiO3pFZM6b4HiLLdb6GllmnhyphenhyphenPe8s3kE80bifNL7BnYr_jb2gnghGkAt0puPUvU4xYZTjpww4mKwaLC4ABw/s200/Random+England+&+Hightower+visit+019.JPG" width="200" /></a>In preparation for the arrival of my family (the Hightowers)
Dakota and I decided to take on a momentous project: escargot made from garden
snails. We began by collecting 24 of the
larger snails that roam our backyard weed jungle. England has plenty of snails to spare so it
didn't take us more than 10 minutes to find enough. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We deposited a few snails in old ice cream containers and
buckets and started them on a strict vegetable regimen, cleansing the snails of
any toxins that might be in their system.
We fed them new veggies and cleaned out their poop filled containers
every day for 10 days to get them clean and healthy and as big as possible. </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOOfOQLjwqhrcWQrIIew5is6yDX4f0AD1Xr2lzYKtTkgdeduYIDa-Y1iaHN9eMfk7L3b5bj4DOKgFa6-gSch9GVuKqbhUex-XCLdz17REtq-gB6iFv98TKqXrC2iF1s36n4UpTDETNvOU/s1600/Random+England+&+Hightower+visit+021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOOfOQLjwqhrcWQrIIew5is6yDX4f0AD1Xr2lzYKtTkgdeduYIDa-Y1iaHN9eMfk7L3b5bj4DOKgFa6-gSch9GVuKqbhUex-XCLdz17REtq-gB6iFv98TKqXrC2iF1s36n4UpTDETNvOU/s200/Random+England+&+Hightower+visit+021.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snail butter </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU2I4qXQHdg1nZBOaxE3WUiDfcUPHuOTyd8Sq1atx8z6ZNPvMeu8hewH9P-sOk-R4mFKLT3B1hnvxXJ1Nep1ufoktMvfHbcG2REAw6sI3kkeOJ_e3caxcOFougQQxS5Ypt934-rdHgQZ4/s1600/Random+England+&+Hightower+visit+017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU2I4qXQHdg1nZBOaxE3WUiDfcUPHuOTyd8Sq1atx8z6ZNPvMeu8hewH9P-sOk-R4mFKLT3B1hnvxXJ1Nep1ufoktMvfHbcG2REAw6sI3kkeOJ_e3caxcOFougQQxS5Ypt934-rdHgQZ4/s200/Random+England+&+Hightower+visit+017.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snails without the shells</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMeWAY8POtxdhb4ZACnr2J3b2j3xnfizpKtL7pzt620ZcPtNf9T4qFHk4EEiN8UnneEx6jIacz8bwIZph5LBl5FHw6jO4q6Z6W1GKQn2FdDkNy-k7gxEpJD80pdutKkQgNzCvb7_Q7ztY/s1600/Random+England+&+Hightower+visit+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMeWAY8POtxdhb4ZACnr2J3b2j3xnfizpKtL7pzt620ZcPtNf9T4qFHk4EEiN8UnneEx6jIacz8bwIZph5LBl5FHw6jO4q6Z6W1GKQn2FdDkNy-k7gxEpJD80pdutKkQgNzCvb7_Q7ztY/s200/Random+England+&+Hightower+visit+013.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Right before death... sorry snails<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBRGUbnuc3D_gH8V_0G9QXL9M7Dkp2KpUURh2eAHEAvXO86Yohc-ZIq4Ub1FGh4ki5UicIvycYuBNHyJB1-o9vehAkbzfvQfCSE0sLGoQedlkjdKvsedKGawAhWbsIcIQDg-nq5JHU4-U/s1600/Random+England+025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBRGUbnuc3D_gH8V_0G9QXL9M7Dkp2KpUURh2eAHEAvXO86Yohc-ZIq4Ub1FGh4ki5UicIvycYuBNHyJB1-o9vehAkbzfvQfCSE0sLGoQedlkjdKvsedKGawAhWbsIcIQDg-nq5JHU4-U/s200/Random+England+025.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Washing and feeding the snails</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_aFk7dNk7eIgwjRmFWZBxvIk_BiLmZgzwONqnAbstVSe-egb8VOX3Z8-arls2NlJ3KRdOIQtlns3aMnqpM01mAG5MkqXLOMNTYGGHf76anwB7QJ5lk88d2pWiju-7Ln6ZCP1aQ-WyO2g/s1600/Random+England+&+Hightower+visit+012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_aFk7dNk7eIgwjRmFWZBxvIk_BiLmZgzwONqnAbstVSe-egb8VOX3Z8-arls2NlJ3KRdOIQtlns3aMnqpM01mAG5MkqXLOMNTYGGHf76anwB7QJ5lk88d2pWiju-7Ln6ZCP1aQ-WyO2g/s200/Random+England+&+Hightower+visit+012.JPG" width="150" /></a>Finally the day my family was coming arrived and we prepared
them for eating. First we had to rinse
off the snails and dunk them in boiling water for a few seconds to kill them. Next we peeled each snail out of its shell
with a fork. It's incredible how their
bodies are molded into a shell shape even when you pry them out. Then we had to boil the shells several times
and dry them. At the same time we boiled
the snails and a gross slimy film came up to the top of the water and we had to
scrape it off. The water turned bright
green really fast and we had to change it a couple of times. We then stuffed the shells with a little garlic
herb butter and then the snail and some more butter and cooked them in the oven
for a few minutes and served them. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA2593a6_YTNTl_IE25oeNZAY4wROLyE-G-8HobhTyyaja9CfLKZLhDk3Irbr3XKarmJEjRs131S3qfWMfHKOZIBzR8R1dFfeGfTdnhqotZi7t_7M2SmCJAnbbslqXNwMmpR24RxBuYx4/s1600/Random+England+&+Hightower+visit+023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA2593a6_YTNTl_IE25oeNZAY4wROLyE-G-8HobhTyyaja9CfLKZLhDk3Irbr3XKarmJEjRs131S3qfWMfHKOZIBzR8R1dFfeGfTdnhqotZi7t_7M2SmCJAnbbslqXNwMmpR24RxBuYx4/s200/Random+England+&+Hightower+visit+023.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The taste test</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They turned out pretty delicious... well everyone else
thought so... I liked them except for the texture, but the herb butter part was
delectable! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Harper and Dakotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05065588522753896211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263290275130223539.post-21535039714349894062012-06-07T13:03:00.001-07:002012-06-08T04:54:44.535-07:00Hallo Deutschland<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH1x7GN_z1BdMGJoSBN53cJan5VlPpjpgj2iBzvToglBSTnGL0ieP-ipumnt8vuRcYjYKxxPC_zXmo_Ijida-5J4Z1SjE5bKf7CFevH7DUnuOO-mKhhKplV-jjA6_oMvTdFhR8oM7zbGk/s1600/IMG_5046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH1x7GN_z1BdMGJoSBN53cJan5VlPpjpgj2iBzvToglBSTnGL0ieP-ipumnt8vuRcYjYKxxPC_zXmo_Ijida-5J4Z1SjE5bKf7CFevH7DUnuOO-mKhhKplV-jjA6_oMvTdFhR8oM7zbGk/s640/IMG_5046.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcwjk_6q_DZAzjY6FWLhpMHq5_ip8S9fiFpxbkJ1TQp6Xqlw7FB5_0F_HJRTzsviPVM1k8_89C-5czS20v5jxwmBDxbrBLGEp2ajldajHQ1Y9YVOKJda7KP8bJrxh1-f2KIEQUwdUykx4/s1600/Germany+2012+077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcwjk_6q_DZAzjY6FWLhpMHq5_ip8S9fiFpxbkJ1TQp6Xqlw7FB5_0F_HJRTzsviPVM1k8_89C-5czS20v5jxwmBDxbrBLGEp2ajldajHQ1Y9YVOKJda7KP8bJrxh1-f2KIEQUwdUykx4/s320/Germany+2012+077.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our trek to the continent started off perfectly! We arrived
at Bristol Temple Meads Train Station with plenty of time to spare, enough time
we were even able to sit on a bench for the train to arrive (very unusual!). We
got on and sat in our seats only to realize that our tickets were from the
Bristol Parkway station NOT Temple Meads! The two trains were for exactly 1
minute apart but were definitely separate trains. After a brief panic hoping
that we wouldn't have to pay extra we realized it was no big deal, the conductor
didn't even notice the tickets were for a different train. They both said
Bristol I suppose. We arrived at London Stansted Airport once again with plenty
of time to spare, so we explored the airport and eventually waited for half an
hour or so at the Boarding gate for our flight to the Frankfurt-Hahn airport in
Germany. Our flight went well and we even arrived in Germany ahead of schedule.
So we went out to catch our bus, only to realize that there was no bus for
another 2 hours. So we went to the bus stop and sat out in the warm sun
enjoying the fresh Deutsch air. Our bus came and we ended up getting a free
ride to Koblenz (70 kilometers away)! We thought that our reserved train ticket
included the bus fare so we showed our train reservation to the bus driver who
stared at it for a while and nodded to us, so we got on the bus. Later we read
our instructions and realized that it said the bus was suggested information
for reaching the train in Koblenz, not a reserved ticket! Well it was written
in German so it was an honest mistake; I guess the bus driver liked us...</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB61ynlEaILlh80uofjNiJO12msYlixwtVMzdMUwX5icn6Xsgkerl3cU9tSLLLOir6yoA_8gC1GFJpDRylOvo0k5Y8MnGzqPBaHJu7pEhGypwncWTF8OozlLNkGIAYcHu6WMEhbah92bM/s1600/IMG_4994.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB61ynlEaILlh80uofjNiJO12msYlixwtVMzdMUwX5icn6Xsgkerl3cU9tSLLLOir6yoA_8gC1GFJpDRylOvo0k5Y8MnGzqPBaHJu7pEhGypwncWTF8OozlLNkGIAYcHu6WMEhbah92bM/s320/IMG_4994.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dakota's customary calf flex</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6E53lJ-j7QKn9CK5VjI3nH4NIAXGf7PDJgk8MfhB4izXpTbk0ISpgXviN9NcunDxHn1g9jFmqfVcvNMBtjI_Yl-EOf-pNFkP5OJ40i-pbQI3yqcrpnHulBCjS-Rv7uFmJkP2gkWwG-KQ/s1600/IMG_4946.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6E53lJ-j7QKn9CK5VjI3nH4NIAXGf7PDJgk8MfhB4izXpTbk0ISpgXviN9NcunDxHn1g9jFmqfVcvNMBtjI_Yl-EOf-pNFkP5OJ40i-pbQI3yqcrpnHulBCjS-Rv7uFmJkP2gkWwG-KQ/s200/IMG_4946.JPG" width="133" /></a>The bus ride was spectacular, the air
and the atmosphere was so much like home. We drove through wheat fields and
forests and small towns as we rode towards Koblenz. The windows were open on
the bus, but even though it was a little chilly we didn't mind because it
smelled so pleasant. We arrived at Koblenz and walked across the street to the
train station where we waited about half an hour for our train to Rüdesheim. While
we were waiting a giant beetle flew past us, I chased after the enormous clumsy
insect trying to see what it was, and to my surprise it was a Stag Beetle, very
cool. So we rode the train from Koblenz to Rüdesheim in the dark along the
river Rhine, as we rode we could see castles lit up by spotlights all along the
river, it was quite a site. We arrived in Rüdesheim in the pitch black (11:15
pm) and wandered around the small town in the dark searching for our hotel.
Upon arrival we went to bed immediately so that we could wake up by 7:30 the
next day to look around the town and catch the gondola up to the Rheinsteig
Trail.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ALEVTZJSop4JWMjpKccnEkBkyqXJKJu-lunoinY-5hHxGli98b2pgL3UTDP5Jd2KFAo6bePPgEPkvgnWnGqaS6iid10kBwykm16pg00BqoRMFUnl04C9GWm4Xd5YPDajCnvAGVX10Aw/s1600/Germany+2012+055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ALEVTZJSop4JWMjpKccnEkBkyqXJKJu-lunoinY-5hHxGli98b2pgL3UTDP5Jd2KFAo6bePPgEPkvgnWnGqaS6iid10kBwykm16pg00BqoRMFUnl04C9GWm4Xd5YPDajCnvAGVX10Aw/s200/Germany+2012+055.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giant Cuckoo Clock -St. Gorr</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_dC2w-Cg8v5uSd_XVEqzkmgp3JrhLiY1T2KPAEc1ZNQtmM148IuxW2FzGXdfrZyfkPqb_VoX5xjUqOjOnqwCTAjeKEQdTs6cDFGmha-yrDC-tsv-4JfXDVOiUVN3tI05t9Sy8DEi0gY0/s1600/IMG_4901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_dC2w-Cg8v5uSd_XVEqzkmgp3JrhLiY1T2KPAEc1ZNQtmM148IuxW2FzGXdfrZyfkPqb_VoX5xjUqOjOnqwCTAjeKEQdTs6cDFGmha-yrDC-tsv-4JfXDVOiUVN3tI05t9Sy8DEi0gY0/s200/IMG_4901.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the Gondola</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next
morning we wandered about Rüdesheim marveling at the wonderful little toy
stores which had elaborate window displays and beautiful handcrafted trinkets
and cuckoo clocks. We wandered about until about 10 and then we got on the
chairlift up to the Rheinsteig Trail. At the top of the chairlift there was a
large statue commemorating the Franco-German wars of the late 19th century. The
statue would have been awe-inspiring if it hadn't been covered in scaffolding!
Apparently it needed some restoration. Harper told me to take out my camera and
carry it in my pocket so we could take pictures faster, so I did. Then Harper
took the camera, took a picture, and then opened up the battery compartment and
flung the batteries off the edge of a cliff! So much for fast pictures.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRczNAqbv9Xij3qA_9XQiRDh-g8I-L0dSMgkHY0Xy_WMquhzD0nhO2j9xwaOdpPSCHw32zbZs02gxvm4c8O_bwDxF-Gu2p8wz7-tV8CFRXFlgohoMpHs3PYowKUbS6-Tz7TASjvvgHYjI/s1600/Germany+2012+076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRczNAqbv9Xij3qA_9XQiRDh-g8I-L0dSMgkHY0Xy_WMquhzD0nhO2j9xwaOdpPSCHw32zbZs02gxvm4c8O_bwDxF-Gu2p8wz7-tV8CFRXFlgohoMpHs3PYowKUbS6-Tz7TASjvvgHYjI/s320/Germany+2012+076.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AHHHH!!!!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEvMlAd7XZY_8Cc54s_7qJEBQRmdLyzmQlbcL0w81b408yWs63x-OevWF2bgzvuDagq1pFNAx52hyphenhyphenasrONZ3QIiHvCrMEBZEALY8PIdYCL1mAeTCegNvwlc_FPTNavctb0r9RDD0BzFPI/s1600/IMG_4926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEvMlAd7XZY_8Cc54s_7qJEBQRmdLyzmQlbcL0w81b408yWs63x-OevWF2bgzvuDagq1pFNAx52hyphenhyphenasrONZ3QIiHvCrMEBZEALY8PIdYCL1mAeTCegNvwlc_FPTNavctb0r9RDD0BzFPI/s320/IMG_4926.JPG" width="213" /></a>We found
the trailhead and started hiking towards the next destination, Assmanhausen
(great name). The trail wandered through mixed oak forests and wineries until
we arrived, rather sweaty in Assmanhausen where we stopped to try and find
lunch. After walking around the town several times we decided on one of the
four restaurants. It was aptly named the Anchor, as it was filled with model
ships and sailing equipment. We looked through the menu and decided to order a
half a grilled chicken and French fries. Of course that seemed like a lot of
food for lunch so asked to share it. The heavy-set waitress looked at us as if
we were crazy and said in a tone suggesting that that was not enough food, 'so
you only want a quarter of a chicken each?' We were glad we stuck to sharing; by
the time we finished our quarter chicken and fries we were stuffed to the brim!
We concluded that they must have larger appetites in Rhineland! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie71yxrVxGnMLI-0KTdCpPH7YtRNmTKA7Jd7087UDg6nEFUfMl0y41Scc_QEiTPChT8782hESytkYM-9ndllJLy_QAoEBpmpfte6diyM4UFYdl40t-jZYmL5RseKT8oaDgCc8xup8s-9w/s1600/Germany+2012+040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie71yxrVxGnMLI-0KTdCpPH7YtRNmTKA7Jd7087UDg6nEFUfMl0y41Scc_QEiTPChT8782hESytkYM-9ndllJLy_QAoEBpmpfte6diyM4UFYdl40t-jZYmL5RseKT8oaDgCc8xup8s-9w/s320/Germany+2012+040.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hohoho</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ar5ozOdzCdlKcOaWujEEYG6fcjntKYDUbYdVeveXP4L6Jaww4n8ySBwrHiAsgfDjQUAVM5s65h5L2ca3tYRiw-RCra6XW3cGe8L-rAgQPrQNKG3vJGdFyRFsKmtJxUdQ3cjq1EHPDZg/s1600/Germany+2012+069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ar5ozOdzCdlKcOaWujEEYG6fcjntKYDUbYdVeveXP4L6Jaww4n8ySBwrHiAsgfDjQUAVM5s65h5L2ca3tYRiw-RCra6XW3cGe8L-rAgQPrQNKG3vJGdFyRFsKmtJxUdQ3cjq1EHPDZg/s200/Germany+2012+069.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big Mushroom!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzIaeW_9OjU1m79v-cXQN__YHkv6b-EMhV0bnHN3OIfZT1r78flkrMpyYUQBhd8pahxfFRGjvQEj6QLDAbV384AvTjTGo-xNy_72KSOjVNtWA-XU_rkmgZxcBBCQVqY4VBK5oNZZUiwcg/s1600/Germany+2012+063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzIaeW_9OjU1m79v-cXQN__YHkv6b-EMhV0bnHN3OIfZT1r78flkrMpyYUQBhd8pahxfFRGjvQEj6QLDAbV384AvTjTGo-xNy_72KSOjVNtWA-XU_rkmgZxcBBCQVqY4VBK5oNZZUiwcg/s200/Germany+2012+063.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bag of fragile souvenirs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We moved on
from Assmanhausen and proceeded up the steep grade leaving the town, on towards
Lorch. All along the entirety of our Rheinsteig hike, much to our surprise,
there was abundant numbers of lizards (skinks). Germany is not really the
environment I associate with reptiles, in my mind they are in hot desert
places. But we were fooled, they were everywhere! Another critter that was
abundant along our hike were mice and shrews, they were quite unabashed and
would scamper around the undergrowth in plain daylight. We are much more
accustomed to the timid characteristics of mice at home, which we don't see as
often. So after hiking through thickets of wood and numerous wineries we
arrived in Lorch where we stayed at a hotel/winery. We were met out front where
we were given a key to our 'apartment' much to our surprise it was enormous!
For the same price as most regular hotel rooms in the area we had an entire
flat, complete with kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom and even a
fireplace! Too bad it was so warm out or it would have been fun to have a
little fire. We relaxed our sore feet for a while and after searching the town
several times for a restaurant or other source of sustenance we gave up and
resorted to eating Oreos and Haribo gummies for dinner. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgObKlhTS6fdE2KJsy8wAtNX_rFCruoNZstk3k4kqOXeM12XkR2BSdIeXA3YA-3MjZVFkUaQ_JPN-F0wz0OwDOkUxZzSCN2bSmzWbqmgdQN8MsDOyWvtkaSvSjahZe0Y-iah762BLqz1kU/s1600/IMG_4987.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgObKlhTS6fdE2KJsy8wAtNX_rFCruoNZstk3k4kqOXeM12XkR2BSdIeXA3YA-3MjZVFkUaQ_JPN-F0wz0OwDOkUxZzSCN2bSmzWbqmgdQN8MsDOyWvtkaSvSjahZe0Y-iah762BLqz1kU/s200/IMG_4987.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giant Yellow Jacket!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2vcWl_lXWOxixzwUmOPIUr-YyJ9gMFjt7zBLQzdETbpbf8eTACTOFdq-qtPzgDLCAAZQ5YMTlgJT2t8_3TcW3D2nQsNcvK_8XcOfD1UixPF9v8VkJt1ebYe59yblL5CPRguUDUX5qsh0/s1600/Germany+2012+060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2vcWl_lXWOxixzwUmOPIUr-YyJ9gMFjt7zBLQzdETbpbf8eTACTOFdq-qtPzgDLCAAZQ5YMTlgJT2t8_3TcW3D2nQsNcvK_8XcOfD1UixPF9v8VkJt1ebYe59yblL5CPRguUDUX5qsh0/s200/Germany+2012+060.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yummy!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next
morning we found the bakery open and bought some pastries for breakfast and
some sandwiches for lunch. We proceeded to hike up another steep grade out of
Lorch and headed for Kaub. Along the way we spotted a deer in the forest and
saw a few falcons flying above the forest canopy. They are such majestic
fliers, very precise in their movements. We passed several grandiose castles
which are every kilometer or so along the river and in no time at all (actually
a few hours) we had arrived in Kaub where we stayed at the Hotel Deutsch. For
dinner we ate really good food, once again in HUGE portions, Harper had a
sirloin steak scattered with feta on top with a salad and fries, I had braised
beef marinated in a red wine sauce with mushrooms, a salad and potato
dumplings; boy was that filling! That night we watched UPPS! which was the German
equivalent of America's Funniest Home Videos, it was hilarious regardless of
the difference in language.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2wy0ASLgkniz2OnWc7bXbC5bSZ_mB3myWbmvCT65ve0uLOBfJr4zgcN-IkR09YPrdPzICa7FtGLiscNXUw4_zAqLMl_p96cpDBjqQoYuNkh6k59_w-Ot5jxF7ac03EYb0xqxOkNRYv6Y/s1600/IMG_4968.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2wy0ASLgkniz2OnWc7bXbC5bSZ_mB3myWbmvCT65ve0uLOBfJr4zgcN-IkR09YPrdPzICa7FtGLiscNXUw4_zAqLMl_p96cpDBjqQoYuNkh6k59_w-Ot5jxF7ac03EYb0xqxOkNRYv6Y/s200/IMG_4968.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiny but oh so delicious!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYdahBEBKAU4EdF-MsGqX5rTFPCE9SeWsjGRaRl4FUIbzphJkImbOEogzn1bgZL_jqPJQmeDKQa3zVUybiqjvq1dFvQ-DdGVuhBj2sxZnny4h57E7aJNEBCyr3jnSypeAQNduIuAoOQls/s1600/IMG_4978.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYdahBEBKAU4EdF-MsGqX5rTFPCE9SeWsjGRaRl4FUIbzphJkImbOEogzn1bgZL_jqPJQmeDKQa3zVUybiqjvq1dFvQ-DdGVuhBj2sxZnny4h57E7aJNEBCyr3jnSypeAQNduIuAoOQls/s200/IMG_4978.JPG" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Climbing the cherry tree</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPNKWh1FMw0D-Ri4PSuywrRt-MRlRJbmzSnLaHrBiZJynkUsoQcFH8pN9ShegOgCqr4UrNiWtsl8IvEhF3SV_TZm-hbDKyo3uKJ470FQNY7bQkUrDW_HEJ4tFHyYY2JNdJhbO_bQ_RMo/s1600/Germany+2012+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPNKWh1FMw0D-Ri4PSuywrRt-MRlRJbmzSnLaHrBiZJynkUsoQcFH8pN9ShegOgCqr4UrNiWtsl8IvEhF3SV_TZm-hbDKyo3uKJ470FQNY7bQkUrDW_HEJ4tFHyYY2JNdJhbO_bQ_RMo/s200/Germany+2012+010.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPNKWh1FMw0D-Ri4PSuywrRt-MRlRJbmzSnLaHrBiZJynkUsoQcFH8pN9ShegOgCqr4UrNiWtsl8IvEhF3SV_TZm-hbDKyo3uKJ470FQNY7bQkUrDW_HEJ4tFHyYY2JNdJhbO_bQ_RMo/s1600/Germany+2012+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>The next
morning we got free breakfast at the hotel and they informed us we could make
sandwiches for lunch out of rolls, meat and cheese they provided, they even
supplied baggies to package them in -talk about great service! It was
sprinkling so we dug out our rain gear, but after an hour the rain had quit and
we had another pleasant day of hiking. This was the most beautiful of our days
hiking, we went 15 miles which was mostly in the forest, and there were only a
couple of winery crossings. The Wild Strawberries were ripe so we delighted in
eating as many as possible. We even came across a cherry tree that was ripe so
we picked as many as we could reach and stored them in our baggies to eat along
the way and with our lunch, which was a much enjoyed treat. As far as fauna
goes we spotted a fox in the path 20 yards ahead of us, we saw a deer, lots of
birds, more lizards and mice and shrews. Our favorite beings of the animal
kingdom we spotted that day were a large yellow and black salamander, another
stag beetle (a female this time) and giant yellow jackets that were more of an
orange color! These wasps were literally an inch and a half long!!! Good thing
they weren't very pestiferous that would have been one heck of a sting! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8gScaLhP6Z0WzbYDPVmZR_1Hq6QDADCQFUlDfohM8WdqPaOSRLjlI_lSA5eQSJaf4os_r5dusdqU_6_j1M0aoteC_ZctDgv3ND7HDa2bhZteun4nAJxYL_-qrxugBSDDdqGpG0huFEpY/s1600/IMG_5022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8gScaLhP6Z0WzbYDPVmZR_1Hq6QDADCQFUlDfohM8WdqPaOSRLjlI_lSA5eQSJaf4os_r5dusdqU_6_j1M0aoteC_ZctDgv3ND7HDa2bhZteun4nAJxYL_-qrxugBSDDdqGpG0huFEpY/s320/IMG_5022.JPG" width="320" /></a>Early in
the afternoon we arrived in Sankt Goarhaussen where we took a ferry across the
Rhine to Sankt Goar. The town was magnificent and had lots of little shops like
we saw in Rüdesheim. It was tempting to buy everything but we restrained
ourselves and settled for a few handmade toys and Christmas ornaments. Of
course after fifteen miles our legs and feet were worked enough, but to our
dismay we had to walk another mile out of Sankt Goar along the river to finally
arrive at our hotel. At the hotel we ate very filling meat dishes that we can neither
spell nor pronounce for dinner, but they were delicious. The best thing about
the hotels in Rhineland was that they left candies on your pillow, what a
pleasant surprise! They beds were awfully funny though, we would sleep in a
queen size bed that was composed of two smaller mattresses. So we each had our
own blanket and even mattress even though we were in the same bed frame.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo17PlcolPL1r8ECiDDAWTU-MO3DP79nCYup9G1Sk3lW9hTAzeJDAf_DPgxzivQXQ-yZQPvHX5iREi2PuhpdbZAbu0eGu-4AV7R6gg-fh33O1MZVHxcyCtkfryIowQsRNRuBw3Kl5Ykxg/s1600/Germany+2012+066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo17PlcolPL1r8ECiDDAWTU-MO3DP79nCYup9G1Sk3lW9hTAzeJDAf_DPgxzivQXQ-yZQPvHX5iREi2PuhpdbZAbu0eGu-4AV7R6gg-fh33O1MZVHxcyCtkfryIowQsRNRuBw3Kl5Ykxg/s320/Germany+2012+066.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next
morning we hiked the mile back in to Sankt Goar, bought some trinkets, took the
ferry back to Sankt Goarhaussen and started hiking to Kestert. We really can't pronounce that towns name but
it is something like Ket-Zert, not custard (just kidding I never pronounced it
custard!) We stopped quite a few times along the way and enjoyed our last day
of hiking. We took lots of castle pictures and we stopped to get some pictures
of bugs flying around flowers, and we even remembered the timer function on
Harper's camera so we got a few pictures of both of us on our Trek through
Rhineland. We stayed the night in Kestert and spent the next day in transit on
train, bus, plane, underground and train (plus lots of ridiculously long layovers)
again back to our home in Bristol. On our expedition through Germany we managed
to travel many ways; by train, underground, plane, bus, boat, foot and even
chairlift! Not to mention walking- we walked 50 miles in four days! That is
quite a feat in our book!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkSx1-XFBY1mCJcL1HPe41uqmLzSVI9WDcsv6DlcguJav1vHtG4eeOvQpPYTMWoDqtVd2X3nWsSgeZ1NNLhKIiSehrWQmVQ_PxpMDS5ynytse5jtRKK_LrZBHQkPxZKUpD9KzpXvQe-dU/s1600/IMG_5038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkSx1-XFBY1mCJcL1HPe41uqmLzSVI9WDcsv6DlcguJav1vHtG4eeOvQpPYTMWoDqtVd2X3nWsSgeZ1NNLhKIiSehrWQmVQ_PxpMDS5ynytse5jtRKK_LrZBHQkPxZKUpD9KzpXvQe-dU/s640/IMG_5038.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Harper and Dakotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05065588522753896211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263290275130223539.post-6743540203037827212012-05-14T07:33:00.002-07:002012-05-14T07:33:18.525-07:00Un Voyage en France<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6yGrWTgX6ALAeiKSZEpcjzmLz8enWaELM5d5Uli00qoamgNZ5zPre6RnPcrGsi_ggCaTLsoeEQpi26hT67V8B8E6zZZ_XIjGKg7NrJu1V54JYH7gagrfmM6K3vy5mtALJY2gDlATs4Vs/s1600/IMG_4664.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6yGrWTgX6ALAeiKSZEpcjzmLz8enWaELM5d5Uli00qoamgNZ5zPre6RnPcrGsi_ggCaTLsoeEQpi26hT67V8B8E6zZZ_XIjGKg7NrJu1V54JYH7gagrfmM6K3vy5mtALJY2gDlATs4Vs/s320/IMG_4664.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, we
were planning to be on time but with Harper that's pretty much impossible. (Harper:
<i>Hey this time it wasn't my fault!!!!) </i>We
got to Temple Meads Train Station with only minutes until our train was
supposed to leave. We ran to the Platform only to hear the whistle blow
signaling no more passengers were to board. The next train to London wasn't for
another hour but we asked the platform attendant the fastest way and he had us
board a train that went a few miles to Bristol Parkway where we could board
another train to London. So we ended up leaving in 30 minutes instead of an
hour, which was good because we arrived at Victoria Coach Station and were the
last people to be checked in for our bus to Paris that was already running late!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our
overnight bus ride proved to not be particularly restful. We ended up on a
coach that was full of Russians (in there 20's) who were very loud, laughing
their way to Dover. It was a relief to get onto the ferry from Dover to Calais
because we got a brief break from the loud Russians. The ferry however rocked
more than any seagoing vessel I have ever been on, which was surprising since
it was so large and the water didn't look particularly choppy. So we had
restless sleep on the Ferry until Calais where we got back on the bus, luckily
most of the Russians had quieted down some and we did get some sleep between
Calais and Paris.</div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnQpEF5OzcVHOy-iiN-QqArA7f8FN0_HA_qDLGDR9jAYCATmONzswoNKCdz7NJZYCBfiiautBtb5rUMLhAQzzlq-6rfUPbs0PypVRfAeORpMusU1MFH6MF62YbolKezHXLSE7Xfz5OAiI/s1600/IMG_4655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnQpEF5OzcVHOy-iiN-QqArA7f8FN0_HA_qDLGDR9jAYCATmONzswoNKCdz7NJZYCBfiiautBtb5rUMLhAQzzlq-6rfUPbs0PypVRfAeORpMusU1MFH6MF62YbolKezHXLSE7Xfz5OAiI/s200/IMG_4655.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking at part of the line from the top</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Gbt6PPL5sCzisz2CriL2tIZMuURXp2pId6Pgmmp5PgS7jRmAj78wbnKc3aNQ_PmCDEQeS0Nl-tUYYSK3rVId9pdaj0a1nV36AhbdzUf5Nk1MsUKtW-10-A330-xWWOQ-Qluv3TR9De8/s1600/IMG_4654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Gbt6PPL5sCzisz2CriL2tIZMuURXp2pId6Pgmmp5PgS7jRmAj78wbnKc3aNQ_PmCDEQeS0Nl-tUYYSK3rVId9pdaj0a1nV36AhbdzUf5Nk1MsUKtW-10-A330-xWWOQ-Qluv3TR9De8/s200/IMG_4654.JPG" width="133" /></a> It took us
a few minutes to get oriented upon our arrival at the coach station but we soon
found a Metro and headed straight for Le Tour Eiffel. The Eiffel Tower isn't
quite as tall as we imagined it but it was still incredible just to be there.
We waited in line for about an hour and half -which was pretty good considering
the tower hadn't even opened yet for the first half hour of our wait- and
finally reached the ticket window. Much to our disappointment the top of the
tower was closed! We were baffled; apparently due to some technical issues only
a </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk-_vrVWC9Cz0xrub06U-4Dhyx5_gVB5h5rGct-_bv0P03k3Hup3lWi_PX6zRlF_qc276spvvFhxTLaNRuRQC-IuGO-n0A8tKKLu_SHTh6qP1sgF6lVQzkz-98EApyvfwm2jue7al1wlM/s1600/IMG_4658.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk-_vrVWC9Cz0xrub06U-4Dhyx5_gVB5h5rGct-_bv0P03k3Hup3lWi_PX6zRlF_qc276spvvFhxTLaNRuRQC-IuGO-n0A8tKKLu_SHTh6qP1sgF6lVQzkz-98EApyvfwm2jue7al1wlM/s320/IMG_4658.JPG" width="211" /></a>few people who had pre-purchased tickets were allowed to go to the top. So we
bought tickets for the second floor of the tower, which saved us quite a bit of
money, and we still got the feel of being at the Eiffel Tower (not to mention
that we rode a double-decker elevator!) The best part of the Eiffel Tower was
probably taking the stairs back down to the bottom though, you feel so
vulnerable climbing down stairs from so high up in the open air. After that
many steps you get a weird condition that we have now named TMSS (Too Many
Stairs Syndrome) which gives you shaky legs for hours afterwards. We have
definitely climbed enough stairs in the past few months to know for sure that
this affliction is real!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpH8qcT51Uyj9fRRvOHN9vZNKLzeCDg5bbsjGBzW-VZ3Aabw6Gz5adt9vJg5ckoSbLJRoy5_fWvEPxBKulCb6z6czZSlHnjz8R7QsJvT5szFSlUoqtcYGMkLKEre4_iPJ8LhBMzKMgwO8/s1600/IMG_4669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpH8qcT51Uyj9fRRvOHN9vZNKLzeCDg5bbsjGBzW-VZ3Aabw6Gz5adt9vJg5ckoSbLJRoy5_fWvEPxBKulCb6z6czZSlHnjz8R7QsJvT5szFSlUoqtcYGMkLKEre4_iPJ8LhBMzKMgwO8/s200/IMG_4669.JPG" width="133" /></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From the
Eiffel Tower we got on the Metro and made a quick trip to L'Arc Du Triumphe on
Les Champs Elysèes. It was quite a regal monument but we decided to save our
money and not climb it since we had just gone up the Eiffel Tower (and there
was a very long line to climb it). So after claiming that we had 'Been There'
we got back on the Metro and went to the Louvre.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLBP5sZz-WWFYdH338u-hMMAJh_6yP1Y4A0kOzjLMvZ29MzWiuTZQru6z7Xibc7tnIV-5WUwhkFqI5_GGPDsGjcLP3c3m_3BL3pd4WbwviNYYA9clg4qMpa5U7gRd7GEFLgYhgYUPNiQ4/s1600/Paris+023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLBP5sZz-WWFYdH338u-hMMAJh_6yP1Y4A0kOzjLMvZ29MzWiuTZQru6z7Xibc7tnIV-5WUwhkFqI5_GGPDsGjcLP3c3m_3BL3pd4WbwviNYYA9clg4qMpa5U7gRd7GEFLgYhgYUPNiQ4/s320/Paris+023.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIL07P1NfTCx5ZPctRtVI2_yXqkxBOpJIeh7PKVqhtnvbDJ12UKy9si41wlsHIg33_WD8Cqa48WtNkZtp5BT4UzVCALFarZ_WttkFZXL8NickhHqy1XCN5P1JpKfeGs87z3m9jLCXMv8Q/s1600/Paris+027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIL07P1NfTCx5ZPctRtVI2_yXqkxBOpJIeh7PKVqhtnvbDJ12UKy9si41wlsHIg33_WD8Cqa48WtNkZtp5BT4UzVCALFarZ_WttkFZXL8NickhHqy1XCN5P1JpKfeGs87z3m9jLCXMv8Q/s200/Paris+027.JPG" width="150" /></a> The Louvre
was enormous! We had no idea where to start so we randomly progressed through
hallway after hallway of famous artwork. Eventually we came upon the Mona Lisa,
which we both agreed was not very impressive and should not be as famous as it
is, there are hundreds and hundreds of better paintings from the same time
period in the Louvre. We moved from Italian artists towards French painters and
came across <i>La Libertè guidant le peuple </i>(Liberty
guiding the people) which appears on the cover of Coldplay's Viva La Vida (and
happens to be one of my [Dakota's] favorite paintings). After looking at room
after room of paintings we progressed towards the Venus de Milo which like the
Mona Lisa was no better than any other statue in our opinion. But now we can
say we saw it! The Louvre was so enormous that there were thousands of people
in it but it was easy to be the only person looking at a picture, often times there
were no more than 15 people in a room. After seeing about as much artwork as we
could handle we made our way to Napoleon III's Apartments, which were more
lavish than anything we have ever seen. There were crystal chandeliers hanging
in every room and numerous velvet lounges, we were quite impressed. After
another hour or so wandering aimlessly about the Louvre admiring artwork we
made our way back out and headed to Notre Dame.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4vDVAYs9bsl_S27VaieD00dnWwm18MbTDmPhEmlgjwXGV96q-QXzeLHPV9ZzsOiRqvyJxQ2bO3NWq4A8LdQas8v-EAbBSaynRHfToDGoWX-xWmhhJSF-iU2GRNCk46cimo6jtRT7gjeA/s1600/IMG_4729.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4vDVAYs9bsl_S27VaieD00dnWwm18MbTDmPhEmlgjwXGV96q-QXzeLHPV9ZzsOiRqvyJxQ2bO3NWq4A8LdQas8v-EAbBSaynRHfToDGoWX-xWmhhJSF-iU2GRNCk46cimo6jtRT7gjeA/s200/IMG_4729.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The creepiest gargoyle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Y83IG5pbud-r4zMT44Di5O5c5YCiam9OM2sn67imqn1USI40RqGUdLOnjLYu60RJWIJZ2A3RsTrY1qQ_D7i-NHUEnB2C7dbibtJtxFyYI2oR29OAEa51o3I2wZ4LZuOPAM9Hk9Ymar0/s1600/IMG_4722.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Y83IG5pbud-r4zMT44Di5O5c5YCiam9OM2sn67imqn1USI40RqGUdLOnjLYu60RJWIJZ2A3RsTrY1qQ_D7i-NHUEnB2C7dbibtJtxFyYI2oR29OAEa51o3I2wZ4LZuOPAM9Hk9Ymar0/s320/IMG_4722.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coming out of the bellfry</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2JfkMl2S7Ljg7eXLzGwn8enyuUGzyGSoPRw24GfhElPELmiAPUgOoDFlkmV5A_jL92GOOpnARDLfZq0Dw1sKkpNoUlA-rIpTe7ZqI0Qge8Q5i34PHFYImj9hEGShyp8btu2053pQqgKw/s1600/IMG_4695.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2JfkMl2S7Ljg7eXLzGwn8enyuUGzyGSoPRw24GfhElPELmiAPUgOoDFlkmV5A_jL92GOOpnARDLfZq0Dw1sKkpNoUlA-rIpTe7ZqI0Qge8Q5i34PHFYImj9hEGShyp8btu2053pQqgKw/s200/IMG_4695.JPG" width="200" /></a>After seeing
as many churches as we have this semester, the inside of Notre Dame was not particularly
special. The greatest things were probably that the ceiling was taller and the
stained glass was very elaborate. Climbing the towers of Notre Dame was much
more impressive than anything inside. After hundreds of steps we came up on a
balcony and stood amongst the famous Gargoyles, many of which are very creepy
looking while others aren't so much, such as an elephant and a stork. We moved
on through a very short and narrow entrance in to the belfry and stood next to
an absolutely enormous bell and then went back out and descended the tower,
after which we got TMSS again. From Notre Dame we walked further down the
island and made a special point to cross Pont Neuf since it is such a famous
bridge (and was of extra interest to me since I just read The Three Musketeers
in which it is a very important landmark). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6fAiGKDyOesLJoGPYJnB15CyhDZuk8BKt5h2WzGRiB5cSkmviiTxlt8gQGUUGq37kzI-cYZeI1HMSUHPnNTpZAma5nemXhhaP7QijJ3WE-FRVdPfQuhfuCeSgQkDFdJXDouoj4e-1AA/s1600/Paris+060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6fAiGKDyOesLJoGPYJnB15CyhDZuk8BKt5h2WzGRiB5cSkmviiTxlt8gQGUUGq37kzI-cYZeI1HMSUHPnNTpZAma5nemXhhaP7QijJ3WE-FRVdPfQuhfuCeSgQkDFdJXDouoj4e-1AA/s200/Paris+060.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yummy sausages for lunch! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjudDp056uWntpv6Q-6tcgTlors76CRY4qE9qnqbEdFbulNwD9dfDQm5FWkz3zaj3301fu5Bf1sAH78-3mnEQ1m-wUjrpujwD4cEaWSfeCJSQNUiJ6skCoGqVl4pwP80hiOIw9hSe_ENCg/s1600/Paris+049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjudDp056uWntpv6Q-6tcgTlors76CRY4qE9qnqbEdFbulNwD9dfDQm5FWkz3zaj3301fu5Bf1sAH78-3mnEQ1m-wUjrpujwD4cEaWSfeCJSQNUiJ6skCoGqVl4pwP80hiOIw9hSe_ENCg/s200/Paris+049.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dakota by Pont Neuf</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From there
we took the Metro and found our way to our hotel. After checking in we went to
a grocery store and bought some bread and cheese for dinner. The cheese was
spectacular! It was called pié d'Angloy which was a soft cheese with a flavour
best described as yum! We wrapped up the evening amusing ourselves watching an
episode of <i>Monk</i> in French. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhYKHFeQefnvE0Pi5IQJhYYwTDmDVhyMQZClXCsG_xq_LopHWsjdowQuDalyGk2htqY40YSgjY2HeGruYb2gL4sSKvf2SLV7vqR5MYXQ5PSHIfwU3G30X_4v0Afd6vgF17d2Sp2V6xXhU/s1600/Paris+058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhYKHFeQefnvE0Pi5IQJhYYwTDmDVhyMQZClXCsG_xq_LopHWsjdowQuDalyGk2htqY40YSgjY2HeGruYb2gL4sSKvf2SLV7vqR5MYXQ5PSHIfwU3G30X_4v0Afd6vgF17d2Sp2V6xXhU/s200/Paris+058.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our boom boom bracelets</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3isfP_4sfFkPeyP_zZmXiS9VxJTPmASApvqYhzbAEC8gLYnhQka3RFOJqKiVAoypZYVZPZ_gaefybV-Yxwvidy95CO2IXF0K1n0vcZwJ_vRITU_QIk6O7GSMA7QVT8XN7W9t3LGDPQ14/s1600/Paris+051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3isfP_4sfFkPeyP_zZmXiS9VxJTPmASApvqYhzbAEC8gLYnhQka3RFOJqKiVAoypZYVZPZ_gaefybV-Yxwvidy95CO2IXF0K1n0vcZwJ_vRITU_QIk6O7GSMA7QVT8XN7W9t3LGDPQ14/s200/Paris+051.JPG" width="150" /></a>The next
morning we made our way to Sacre Cœur (yet another church) situated high on a
hill. As we went to climb the steps to the church some street vendors took a
liking to us. We tried our best to avoid them, repeating no thank you and
trying to walk away but it was futile. They grabbed our hands and slipped a
string over one of each of our fingers and proceeded to make bracelets, we
tried to slip away but we were stuck, the only way out would have been to beat
them off! So we gave in and the men were from Senegal and told us that hakuna
mattata (which you may recognize from the lion king) was from their language
and that we would have good Juju and that I would have 3 kids and the guy
making Harper's bracelet said she would have 5! (a little concerned about this
discrepancy!) However they proceeded to bless us and told us that we 'will have
good boom boom, you know what I mean by boom boom?' Well after scraping by
paying the Africans 5 Euros we hurried up the mount avoiding other vendors at
all costs!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQG03oW4tBkhMOAVghrqNvHCuAWQaqkzF12P-CZVNNUDV2PxApA6BkjO_aH7T-ErDfQhnov91MDYtMWcOd2O-XpZoPGVXJIDT7EPMgpHH3OGTSomqa-rSNfwIWq7XNtxMBQd0JzT9Agno/s1600/Paris+057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQG03oW4tBkhMOAVghrqNvHCuAWQaqkzF12P-CZVNNUDV2PxApA6BkjO_aH7T-ErDfQhnov91MDYtMWcOd2O-XpZoPGVXJIDT7EPMgpHH3OGTSomqa-rSNfwIWq7XNtxMBQd0JzT9Agno/s200/Paris+057.JPG" width="200" /></a>We did a
quick walk through of the church and then went to a separate entrance to view
the crypt and climb the basilica. The crypt was rather dull so we didn't spend
much time down there and progressed to the stairs up to the basilica. The climb
to the Basilica was neat because it was a combination of indoor and outdoor
stair climbing. We went up a spiral staircase inside, then went outside and
climbed stairs that followed the roof of the church and then went back inside
to another spiral staircase up to the cupola. It was neat climbing so many
monuments because you can see all of the other places you have been or are
going once you get up to the top.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitODaYMosBOyVi6wn_2JrGCqHg8BL1Sdy_1nx2_8hBRB9ncwCLWKxbeFAXeVnAUxMIv1A_PwAAeSeND0echD6lyHd4buRgwW5KMFKdR_qzqHy438ugT_KRhq8DiDFUyGme7d-JRxOiD-g/s1600/IMG_4745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitODaYMosBOyVi6wn_2JrGCqHg8BL1Sdy_1nx2_8hBRB9ncwCLWKxbeFAXeVnAUxMIv1A_PwAAeSeND0echD6lyHd4buRgwW5KMFKdR_qzqHy438ugT_KRhq8DiDFUyGme7d-JRxOiD-g/s320/IMG_4745.JPG" width="320" /></a> After descending the stairs back to the
bottom (and another case of TMSS) we wandered down the surrounding streets
looking in shops and then headed back down the mount. At the bottom of the
stairs we were confronted once again by African street vendors but we came
prepared and had our hands clenched. One man grabbed me and was trying to get
me to buy a bracelet but I escaped by saying 'No, I already have one' and then
he changed completely and thanked me and shook my hand instead. They are very
persistent! From there we headed to the Moulin Rouge since it was so close. So
we walked over in front of it and said 'saw it' and headed back to the Metro
and took it to the Catacombes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAnq_70-cAr8L4I0ejYqngl90RYq2FnHm4GXBTndrmvvTLlrzc7Fgqz-g92KthD36TM8JFgz5fZxyNKMUIPViW89S5ZsYLI5C4UcLXNijo1sgiWFTb2p2BQ2hq1JqiU_CDZihv1Sscxxk/s1600/IMG_4761.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAnq_70-cAr8L4I0ejYqngl90RYq2FnHm4GXBTndrmvvTLlrzc7Fgqz-g92KthD36TM8JFgz5fZxyNKMUIPViW89S5ZsYLI5C4UcLXNijo1sgiWFTb2p2BQ2hq1JqiU_CDZihv1Sscxxk/s400/IMG_4761.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6zz65zAQjzhGxlSx_GYYHMsaILI5Ib6xrHqvhFFULSigePDBiRGePpM64sln0dezl1Cai574KiEMxhwlmBPK5_UW1CwjT5VCC0A4eLSqtcPc15QihA1mRQdI1H6mE6FK7uV7cCmGUrdE/s1600/Paris+065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6zz65zAQjzhGxlSx_GYYHMsaILI5Ib6xrHqvhFFULSigePDBiRGePpM64sln0dezl1Cai574KiEMxhwlmBPK5_UW1CwjT5VCC0A4eLSqtcPc15QihA1mRQdI1H6mE6FK7uV7cCmGUrdE/s320/Paris+065.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
The
Catacombes were definitely a highlight of our adventure. We waited in line for
about an hour before we got the entrance, but it was well worth the wait. We
got in for half the price because we were between 14 and 26, which is always nice,
and then we descended a long spiral staircase deep into the earth. When we
reached the bottom (and recovered from TMSS again!) we reached a series of dark
narrow passageways. We walked for quite a ways and were pretty edgy because
there were dark side corridors with iron gates over them which were scary just
because they were in the unknown. After nearly half a mile of walking down
these old mine passages we came across a sign over a passage that said <i><span lang="FR">Arrête!
C'est ici l'Empire de la Mort</span></i> (Stop! This is the empire of the dead)
which made it even creepier. We entered and saw the walls of the tunnels lined
with femurs and skulls stacked up next to each other, the rest of the bones
were piled in a heap behind them. We walked for about a mile through collection
after collection of bones from throughout the city.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHupsnkQ8km8IWxw_tU93nhnH_E_wFDdMlDMhSoJv1NF2YjZOYozB-EbE-8QF5nFBPv5znUc1FaPcA9UrkgDj0YunMkwQnFwH4w52XBdbX1IdSmvmCEiMiq5svGPmLRvaAVmNqNIRMBLQ/s1600/IMG_4763.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHupsnkQ8km8IWxw_tU93nhnH_E_wFDdMlDMhSoJv1NF2YjZOYozB-EbE-8QF5nFBPv5znUc1FaPcA9UrkgDj0YunMkwQnFwH4w52XBdbX1IdSmvmCEiMiq5svGPmLRvaAVmNqNIRMBLQ/s200/IMG_4763.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcj3H3nxVbsY_mItPwNoHA_t_6yXcU2-M40r-Q16ZNS3-hP6Df3TbVCJTvvTWtujnbdDkj0N2ShrFaiyJF5uqQn7Iod7sH7w8CS3-aXsmAT8UhhaOJqVgtCFuNBX2lfLbSrqI1dMhcW94/s1600/IMG_4765.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcj3H3nxVbsY_mItPwNoHA_t_6yXcU2-M40r-Q16ZNS3-hP6Df3TbVCJTvvTWtujnbdDkj0N2ShrFaiyJF5uqQn7Iod7sH7w8CS3-aXsmAT8UhhaOJqVgtCFuNBX2lfLbSrqI1dMhcW94/s200/IMG_4765.JPG" width="200" /></a> If it wasn't enough walking
through walls of dead people some of the skulls bore the marks of murder,
execution and torture, some had obvious bullet holes in them, others had knife
or sword cuts into the skull, and still others had holes that had been drilled
into them. An interesting study in anatomy and crime and punishment, but
certainly not a light hearted trek! There are supposed to be more than 6
million bodies that were removed from cemeteries around Paris because the
bodies were piling up so much they were causing health problems. (Oops, got a
strange disease from a dead body at church today!) Throughout the tunnels there
were also quotes from poetry and books that referred to death, which were
disturbing and certainly put one on edge (and made me feel that my courses in
French had finally paid off). After about an hour and a half in dark tunnels
deep under the city we climbed yet another spiral staircase to the exit, where
our bags were searched to be sure we weren't stealing bones! EWW!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfi0y7QHzPYs6Z1mdwxDnPUs6sBW_pOCfNjNFdy9zoD0KMT4yrd7ZF2QYF68I8FPeXw0DKLCvcLPazt-s2mwqkI3oyqaq3xNLcF-YH8I_RIdkkFlOH8hyzkaeNMhZAI3PK6I6hj9bQQk/s1600/Paris+073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfi0y7QHzPYs6Z1mdwxDnPUs6sBW_pOCfNjNFdy9zoD0KMT4yrd7ZF2QYF68I8FPeXw0DKLCvcLPazt-s2mwqkI3oyqaq3xNLcF-YH8I_RIdkkFlOH8hyzkaeNMhZAI3PK6I6hj9bQQk/s320/Paris+073.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYrvyXoALBQsZEk4skpM3dsv9k_C3RJe9XvDySAXcz56lv9kgGHaGeDzTZ8gxJI7ZPXXcaX5Iua60_9eH2QKFp04iz8ut3K5Sb982dOSNvkwaU9jcuw1gYFX_iGliMlCypK5YVPy2iUU/s1600/Paris+070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYrvyXoALBQsZEk4skpM3dsv9k_C3RJe9XvDySAXcz56lv9kgGHaGeDzTZ8gxJI7ZPXXcaX5Iua60_9eH2QKFp04iz8ut3K5Sb982dOSNvkwaU9jcuw1gYFX_iGliMlCypK5YVPy2iUU/s200/Paris+070.JPG" width="200" /></a>Upon
exiting we realized we had just walked about two miles underground so we had no
clue where we were! (And it wasn't even on our map!) So we wandered down some
streets until we found a Metro, where we were able to navigate back to our
hotel. Then we went out to eat at a restaurant we found just down the street.
Our waiter thought it was quite amusing that we shared our meals and so he
laughed and joked to us every time he passed by. We ordered l'escargots (just
because we were in Paris) and a veal dish. It was by far some of the most
savoury dishes I have ever had! The escargots were actually really good, they
were broiled in garlic and tasted and had the same texture as mussels (meaning
Harper didn't like them too much). For dessert we had some very delectable
crème brûlée. We spent more than an hour
in the little French restaurant and enjoyed ourselves very much; the prices
were great except for the bottle of water which cost us 6 Euro! We ran back to
the hotel in pouring rain and watched the Simpsons in French, Marge sounds even
worse in French than in English!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next
morning we took the metro to the bus station and boarded our bus, which only
had about 15 people this time and was much quieter! We bussed to Calais where
we got on a ferry to Dover. We were excited to see the white cliffs of Dover
and were quite surprised to see them from Calais! Of course they got bigger as
we sailed across the channel, but they are definitely visible from France, we
had no idea! From there we bussed into London and took our train back to
Bristol, where we made a delicious late dinner of burgers and French fries (I
guess I should say chips) at 11:30 at night! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9tiRKGKQ0z_BksrBVmLsMh-QCQ6B8UBLFUAYDVCO9KpwT41ecHo-ttJoIdnFR7tvD0sLRe-sCtVSZX2OCOBbwYBD0QVEvOQUVqPCLfvPG4UC8aTnB-qmE2jpPzl6pjB7P9yAYgZJ7Ls/s1600/Paris+062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9tiRKGKQ0z_BksrBVmLsMh-QCQ6B8UBLFUAYDVCO9KpwT41ecHo-ttJoIdnFR7tvD0sLRe-sCtVSZX2OCOBbwYBD0QVEvOQUVqPCLfvPG4UC8aTnB-qmE2jpPzl6pjB7P9yAYgZJ7Ls/s400/Paris+062.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Harper and Dakotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05065588522753896211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263290275130223539.post-3700689513588478642012-05-03T08:34:00.003-07:002012-05-03T08:34:46.814-07:00Rome & The Vatican<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Our huge adventure last week was a jump over to Italy to see all the wonders of Rome and The Vatican. Having only three days to see all the sights we were busy running up, down and all around marveling at art and ruins.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihpeeLttWrbA1tXPE5Ib8AHJu6t1FJNJ_oU2MgY6lNk4LAkIWXg0PK-qOFiSc8ZkbaZAqZiNt0Tsbh8DUMmW2ovjaUHI9Nq2FwBbjEV8w3iNfK6G7RNChd2qTmIZkTJGbqpmaAzZAg92U/s1600/IMG_4615.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihpeeLttWrbA1tXPE5Ib8AHJu6t1FJNJ_oU2MgY6lNk4LAkIWXg0PK-qOFiSc8ZkbaZAqZiNt0Tsbh8DUMmW2ovjaUHI9Nq2FwBbjEV8w3iNfK6G7RNChd2qTmIZkTJGbqpmaAzZAg92U/s320/IMG_4615.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dakota along the river in Rome</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The trip began with our first planning mistake wherein I (Harper) booked a flight that left from London at 6 AM, thinking we could get a train from Bristol to London very early in the morning. This, however was not possible and we had to catch the last train from Bristol to London the night before our flight, leaving us in London's Paddington station from midnight till 3AM. Then the train company I had booked our trip on said we could get on the Tube (Underground) at 3AM to transfer to Liverpool station where the shuttle to the airport runs from. So we assumed that the Tube opened at 3AM and we would be able to get to Liverpool station at that time (since that is what our ticket said). We faithfully waited at Paddington in the freezing cold with no one else around but the cleaning crew and some vagrants. Dakota eventually noticed that he had brought his special pocketknife that had belonged to his Grandpa with him on accident and we were panicking that it would be taken away at the airport and it was too early in the morning to mail anything. So we walked around the station a few times looking for a place to hide it in hopes we could just pick it up when we returned. Finally we found a rafter just barely in reach that had 2 CCTV cameras mounted on it pointing in opposite directions away from the rafter, so they couldn't see it. We decided to go for it and hid the knife there in hopes that it would still be there on our return. And in hopes we wouldn't be caught for acting suspiciously. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCaJJGzbZArwi0859kmZOj_b6NeZ9cgoubg5FhHywKs_CklGIVIdQJwZO9cZPSf5Wvbjf1SVxvrzMjA2nVnVLlBtbrk8LRh1m5tHok84-9ofl0lbS7xjU0vp4O_Ivr5JqacmMOFHSX9FA/s1600/Rome+098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCaJJGzbZArwi0859kmZOj_b6NeZ9cgoubg5FhHywKs_CklGIVIdQJwZO9cZPSf5Wvbjf1SVxvrzMjA2nVnVLlBtbrk8LRh1m5tHok84-9ofl0lbS7xjU0vp4O_Ivr5JqacmMOFHSX9FA/s200/Rome+098.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eating pizza after a long trip to Rome!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
After playing lots of solitaire on my phone and standing in the warm light of the Millie's cookies booth, it was finally rolling around 3AM, but the Underground still wasn't opening. I asked someone what time it opened and they said not until 5! So we rushed to a bus stop and finally got on the right bus to take us to Liverpool station where an exhausted Dakota and Harper got on the airport shuttle and immediately fell asleep on the warm train. A 2 hour flight later we found ourselves in Rome. Going through customs unusually fast (they didn't even look at us when they stamped our passports) we were finally in the city and ready to explore!!!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwI0I0Nl3XQmmd_bc_G8ftix5fscZaAT4kzExI6DKEpYGB196Cs0bm8Ewd47rxVmuXsB8KwLU8Rrq1Qud3cB3mg7Dm9iu9G3u1jD5FKAu6SzygalCfKbI6xMC2rVmPGIxEZR6iYKmVRZg/s1600/IMG_4247.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwI0I0Nl3XQmmd_bc_G8ftix5fscZaAT4kzExI6DKEpYGB196Cs0bm8Ewd47rxVmuXsB8KwLU8Rrq1Qud3cB3mg7Dm9iu9G3u1jD5FKAu6SzygalCfKbI6xMC2rVmPGIxEZR6iYKmVRZg/s200/IMG_4247.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYrgk37srvch6CySDPX9J3XqP7vQ-rDmNJG9Y6uGmfL1sdifhNcL5kGM7lh7ue4ifevIc-YYpxKgtyUgGLMS35gteotKQMzo8CbCLi-fTUQbgz6M2NuDEYjAa8L7Rx0Oza2tvxhvH__Lo/s1600/Rome+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYrgk37srvch6CySDPX9J3XqP7vQ-rDmNJG9Y6uGmfL1sdifhNcL5kGM7lh7ue4ifevIc-YYpxKgtyUgGLMS35gteotKQMzo8CbCLi-fTUQbgz6M2NuDEYjAa8L7Rx0Oza2tvxhvH__Lo/s200/Rome+008.JPG" width="150" /></a>The first thing we set out to see was the coliseum. A ginormous ruin, it truly is a marvel. Happily, we had pre-booked tickets and a tour allowing us to skip the loooooooong line. We got the 90 minute archaeological tour, allowing us to go through locked gates and even to the top floor (not the original, but the highest one left standing). We learned lots of interesting facts for example nearly the whole thing including the seats was covered in marble, it used to have a roof, and the floor was covered in sand so that the blood could be cleaned out easier. Originally it started out as sort of an arena of water with boats in it that people would tell stories from. Then it became the bloody venue we know of today. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqJc13qpPC18MFFgkYgeoVubaTab6kT_9YbehOPb_vS7zkLejtmtrp9FlaL3oqEK0RlMttbmdM0yX6Xb-n8mnc-3AMUGJTOkg3TxcBXYpw9k8LRuXIbnyr0E3OpX6kab5ftda_7kBe39s/s1600/Rome+067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqJc13qpPC18MFFgkYgeoVubaTab6kT_9YbehOPb_vS7zkLejtmtrp9FlaL3oqEK0RlMttbmdM0yX6Xb-n8mnc-3AMUGJTOkg3TxcBXYpw9k8LRuXIbnyr0E3OpX6kab5ftda_7kBe39s/s200/Rome+067.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harper imitating a statue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguq4vxSmuIg9azFRDRSzeOY37KYNejoOegF3Pbgc1wPE6LqDqFQw-Fv2rEZ_qaLDwngr5mDqGV3yjzZindoFrNNVaRFT0MLM5hnPDqGXDt5qeMLoLwJXbrnQyJbdz-n7fR_CT2SKxCtic/s1600/_MG_4347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguq4vxSmuIg9azFRDRSzeOY37KYNejoOegF3Pbgc1wPE6LqDqFQw-Fv2rEZ_qaLDwngr5mDqGV3yjzZindoFrNNVaRFT0MLM5hnPDqGXDt5qeMLoLwJXbrnQyJbdz-n7fR_CT2SKxCtic/s200/_MG_4347.JPG" width="133" /></a>Next, we headed across the street to Palantine Hill (one of the 7 hills of Rome), where many Roman officials used to live. Attached to it was also the Roman Forum, and both of these made up a very large collection of ruins. Actually large is too small to describe it... there were so many we were almost bored by the time we'd seen them all! And that's saying something -especially for Dakota who's an archaeology major. But nevertheless it was very interesting and we spent a few hours trudging around there. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL-UvfVqhjumNvio2duSt7vJ5Ivyydo7bmyY0U8V8rrT-mm2dA8GOeXYYDRyXIbWfj5vDucYUA0lY-C467uCw3Nk3UznoGajfcDYUoOQs_B2TGbiu3ErBpGIbHKcNwemPe1r4phmNzreo/s1600/IMG_4361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL-UvfVqhjumNvio2duSt7vJ5Ivyydo7bmyY0U8V8rrT-mm2dA8GOeXYYDRyXIbWfj5vDucYUA0lY-C467uCw3Nk3UznoGajfcDYUoOQs_B2TGbiu3ErBpGIbHKcNwemPe1r4phmNzreo/s320/IMG_4361.JPG" width="320" /></a>After that it was gelato time! On our way to the Pantheon we stopped at a yummy looking gelato shop -after cramming ourselves into the tiny shop that was a brimming with people we picked out our flavors and ordered. Dakota asked for a small cone that had a wavy edge and pointed to the lady which flavor he wanted. She scooped it out and then looked at him expectantly and after a moment said that he had to pick out two more flavors. So he did and then she proceeded to put another cone, two wafers and several swirly cookie-sticks and finally handed it over to him for a charge of 9 euros!!! After finding out that the original chocolate-sprinkle cone I wanted was going to be 24 euros, I promptly asked for a simple cone with just one scoop -I have no idea what they could have possibly put on it to make it that much!<br />
<br />
We finished our abundant heaps of gelato and walked to the Pantheon -a huge domed church with great columns leading to it. Magnificent!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMa4aJx7JXTLrhSjaNoEDVGQ1eTfbs8Gp6YtwaI-TCKuQIb7d2oP9kIFCx-1uR_83ywp0q7joPxVZV-ojM2tL1f3bnqlB-MiDoeIK6UbGSgqPHdMaXn31HFoPGwbz7CetRbQRjT8HiyV8/s1600/IMG_4605.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMa4aJx7JXTLrhSjaNoEDVGQ1eTfbs8Gp6YtwaI-TCKuQIb7d2oP9kIFCx-1uR_83ywp0q7joPxVZV-ojM2tL1f3bnqlB-MiDoeIK6UbGSgqPHdMaXn31HFoPGwbz7CetRbQRjT8HiyV8/s320/IMG_4605.JPG" width="320" /></a>Our next stop was to check in at our bed and breakfast -which proved to be more difficult than we expected. It was in an apartment building with a buzz in door. We had told them what time we planned to check in and they were supposed to meet us outside but no one came and no one came so we went in behind some people with a key. At this point we were a little panicked and before we even got to the stairs, an elderly lady told us we were supposed to wait outside (or at least we think that's what she was saying). So we went back outside and waited a little longer, then snuck in behind more people with a key and hiked up to the seventh floor where the directory said our bed and breakfast was. On the door there was a little note that said if no one was there we should go to a different bed and breakfast on the third floor and they would check us in. We went down the four flights and sure enough the lady there helped us and checked us in to our room. Phew what a relief!<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh9PHyQR0RJZtIcly5NW5MM953Usb_NyULJ6tqPKrvX79rcHrQaxWAPLsYoIwafzBsQdBXboZ79fIJIDX6f9D6j8YkrC5IaC597WZqIRWIq-Fhdn98QOEnOjPvrwlm3rd9mTFo3U56Xic/s1600/Rome+102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh9PHyQR0RJZtIcly5NW5MM953Usb_NyULJ6tqPKrvX79rcHrQaxWAPLsYoIwafzBsQdBXboZ79fIJIDX6f9D6j8YkrC5IaC597WZqIRWIq-Fhdn98QOEnOjPvrwlm3rd9mTFo3U56Xic/s200/Rome+102.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harper in one of the many<br />churches we visited</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After a much needed sleep we woke up early the next morning at 4 o'clock because we had to register for our fall classes at home (University of Idaho), only to find that the internet server was down! But we managed to register by getting on to another network that wasn't secured (much to our relief). After a couple more hours of sleep we woke up to go to the catacombs of St. Callixtus, one of the first Christian crypts that used to house many of the first popes. The bus ride there was very... well crushing. We waited for about a half hour at the bus stop and then literally had to push ourselves into it to even get on it was so crowded! Every time it stopped everyone had to cram together so that the doors could open. Slightly flattened, we arrived at the crypts to take an interesting tour seeing rows and rows of what now look like built in shelves on the earth walls where the bodies would have been placed and then a plaster would be put even with the wall to entomb them. Our guide was an Australian priest who liked talking to me and Dakota and making little jokes -which made it all the better!<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccGfkLwdBseFTNrgOJ4MW56Xu6OHC2zk-_TBQc3gsxzArl3qt_1XdXBV4-9udGOEqn-wXxyXWmhA65UDtk0auz3lnxjfH18k7xwllwhbGX8AmQVXzDJBNeVn2bGA5AwjRlPCcoReJNUY/s1600/IMG_4439.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccGfkLwdBseFTNrgOJ4MW56Xu6OHC2zk-_TBQc3gsxzArl3qt_1XdXBV4-9udGOEqn-wXxyXWmhA65UDtk0auz3lnxjfH18k7xwllwhbGX8AmQVXzDJBNeVn2bGA5AwjRlPCcoReJNUY/s320/IMG_4439.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dakota in front of Trevi Fountain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
That afternoon we saw a few more incredible churches and fountains. Our favorite was Trevi Fountain -and it is many other peoples' too as the throngs of fellow tourist proved. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Our next stop was the Capuchin crypts under <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Santa Maria della Concezione. These were intricate decorations and monuments made of human bones. They were very impressive covering the ceiling and walls in what could be considered beautiful designs. To us that was pretty cool (although some might find it revolting and creepy) but the </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">disturbing</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"> part were the dead monks around the crypts that still had flesh on them. One even had a traces of a beard still! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4optUmwiW6HbeQdOwMa18n3fS7649MsEokQuXmSOxEKqXdW5B5cTI5ItJQDHpEA56GAbdhyeJbvlIDw6bSF-kVc2n3BI0GaWpXRvniZLSCH1aAuQWmD9jL37qrEZPsPyGcyFQ5jmk-KY/s1600/IMG_4598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4optUmwiW6HbeQdOwMa18n3fS7649MsEokQuXmSOxEKqXdW5B5cTI5ItJQDHpEA56GAbdhyeJbvlIDw6bSF-kVc2n3BI0GaWpXRvniZLSCH1aAuQWmD9jL37qrEZPsPyGcyFQ5jmk-KY/s200/IMG_4598.JPG" width="133" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The next day was devoted to the Vatican. We got up early to go see if we could get into St. Peter's Cathedral before getting into the Vatican Museums. St. Peter's is a separate entrance and Wednesday morning is when the Pope appears so there was extras security measures and they were checking people's bags. Dakota had just bought an Italian coke bottle and can (he's a collector) and they took them away (because they were such a threat to the Pope?). After getting our soft drinks confiscated we asked a Swiss Guard -who really do look hilarious -how to get into St. Peter's and he said that it wasn't open until after the Pope gave mass! So we went back over to the Vatican Museum entrance, happily skipping the line of several hundred there as we had pre-bought tickets. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVEnElciPLYLRX15GIjWuTN4e9mKa_hsgHvqkJY9_xbTRFcyg6FUCAy2OVIPdzRaOffCpBvZPkZsdmAYmKOISlTDC3ww4KVCgX88rtJfVHLOo_LC_HDQaocg4QehiNf1s22OtMuQopnIA/s1600/IMG_4527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVEnElciPLYLRX15GIjWuTN4e9mKa_hsgHvqkJY9_xbTRFcyg6FUCAy2OVIPdzRaOffCpBvZPkZsdmAYmKOISlTDC3ww4KVCgX88rtJfVHLOo_LC_HDQaocg4QehiNf1s22OtMuQopnIA/s320/IMG_4527.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dakota's nose filling in for the statues' missing one</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Vatican museums have a one way traffic scheme, but we hurried through to the Sistine Chapel so that we could be sure to see it before it was too crowded. It truly is amazing and the scenes look three dimensional in person. There were only maybe twenty people in the chapel when we were there so we had plenty of time and room to marvel at it. We went back to the beginning and through all of the increasingly crowded rooms with an overwhelming amount of art everywhere. My favorite part was the map rooms with wall size depictions of places and villages, cities, trees and mountains painted intricately on them. We were glad we went to the Sistine Chapel first though, because when we came back through a second time it was jam packed full of people!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-99jYVk1WJDhuTCBsfMR7TNADh87_sqsfVW-E4RMEE-vI2tA4fACBh4If83KAIq2vTbMlY2JVBZ-3gaRHHAw2uHR-yMwG56qNvm7OTZ2vS1jJwVSseLRgTeYAQNCWWnrIRB9C6GfcgVg/s1600/Rome+204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-99jYVk1WJDhuTCBsfMR7TNADh87_sqsfVW-E4RMEE-vI2tA4fACBh4If83KAIq2vTbMlY2JVBZ-3gaRHHAw2uHR-yMwG56qNvm7OTZ2vS1jJwVSseLRgTeYAQNCWWnrIRB9C6GfcgVg/s200/Rome+204.JPG" width="150" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnLy_FmpZJUWJwtswGs-0xqsA5e9ZMAy5lOHZt-qaTFgKHfi-e37lYq-crnrRmxNMXm43AMYSA7rYZAzBdLY-wHlkCzKiBFF5umdCKPEyI99lc3HkCgF_bSr0HRQmW0fwOhj8dcQ-lzE/s1600/IMG_4583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnLy_FmpZJUWJwtswGs-0xqsA5e9ZMAy5lOHZt-qaTFgKHfi-e37lYq-crnrRmxNMXm43AMYSA7rYZAzBdLY-wHlkCzKiBFF5umdCKPEyI99lc3HkCgF_bSr0HRQmW0fwOhj8dcQ-lzE/s320/IMG_4583.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7bX1vKmbnBC79aNdrIt7qaAjA88lMYJQ6Xl59mPs1EyjBmddqGGrNS1yeF3Xyzicl5BZpmFplvQ7RB460dNB8ynTt0q3h57DWLMQccFN0cDlMzvTE09QRL5hbeprk8QUSlSzSxtCZjw/s1600/Rome+214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7bX1vKmbnBC79aNdrIt7qaAjA88lMYJQ6Xl59mPs1EyjBmddqGGrNS1yeF3Xyzicl5BZpmFplvQ7RB460dNB8ynTt0q3h57DWLMQccFN0cDlMzvTE09QRL5hbeprk8QUSlSzSxtCZjw/s1600/Rome+214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7bX1vKmbnBC79aNdrIt7qaAjA88lMYJQ6Xl59mPs1EyjBmddqGGrNS1yeF3Xyzicl5BZpmFplvQ7RB460dNB8ynTt0q3h57DWLMQccFN0cDlMzvTE09QRL5hbeprk8QUSlSzSxtCZjw/s1600/Rome+214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7bX1vKmbnBC79aNdrIt7qaAjA88lMYJQ6Xl59mPs1EyjBmddqGGrNS1yeF3Xyzicl5BZpmFplvQ7RB460dNB8ynTt0q3h57DWLMQccFN0cDlMzvTE09QRL5hbeprk8QUSlSzSxtCZjw/s1600/Rome+214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic7bX1vKmbnBC79aNdrIt7qaAjA88lMYJQ6Xl59mPs1EyjBmddqGGrNS1yeF3Xyzicl5BZpmFplvQ7RB460dNB8ynTt0q3h57DWLMQccFN0cDlMzvTE09QRL5hbeprk8QUSlSzSxtCZjw/s200/Rome+214.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnLy_FmpZJUWJwtswGs-0xqsA5e9ZMAy5lOHZt-qaTFgKHfi-e37lYq-crnrRmxNMXm43AMYSA7rYZAzBdLY-wHlkCzKiBFF5umdCKPEyI99lc3HkCgF_bSr0HRQmW0fwOhj8dcQ-lzE/s1600/IMG_4583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZIdnh9Hmt4AN2ikG6P61IM3obmXb3vk46KGoplmi5_0SisppiV66k5sB34zrNSuOhu_s0tdH6l8miGI7Kynl5Xn5fUxahiWg7DIT9qhXxN0Cubpcpj7RHpumt3pVioJxG0ek2h75mJGc/s1600/Rome+199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZIdnh9Hmt4AN2ikG6P61IM3obmXb3vk46KGoplmi5_0SisppiV66k5sB34zrNSuOhu_s0tdH6l8miGI7Kynl5Xn5fUxahiWg7DIT9qhXxN0Cubpcpj7RHpumt3pVioJxG0ek2h75mJGc/s200/Rome+199.JPG" width="200" /></a>After seeing just about as much art as we could stand, we went back to St. Peter's Basilica around 1:00 only to find that the mass was still going on (and there was no security so no need to steal my coke in the first place! -Dakota).<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
We joined a small line that was forming to get into St. Peter's Cathedral while we saw the Pope come out and crowds of people cheering for him. So hurray! We saw the Pope! The line got longer and longer and when they finally opened it up to get into St. Peter's masses (Haha no pun intended!) of new people were pushing in to join the front of the line. That is one interesting thing we encountered in Rome a lot: pushing, </div>
<div>
shoving and line-cutting. Nevertheless, we ended up close to the front and headed strait for climbing the cupola. It was an amazing hike, the first level taking us to the dome inside the church were we could look down and up at the inside of the incredible monument. Then we went up more stairs until we were on top of the building itself, and then up more stairs until we were inside the cupola -the dome on top of the cathedral. In total we climbed 546 steps and some ramps. Towards the top of the cupola the walls were tilted so you had to walk crooked! The view from cupola is stunning and you can see the landmarks of Rome around you. After admiring the sights from above and finding our where we were staying from that height, we went back down a layer to the roof of the cathedral. There we looked in the souvenir shop, wrote a few postcards (to send by Vatican mail) and sat and enjoyed ourselves. This was our favorite part of the trip. <div>
<br />
<br />The next day we were sad to leave the city of Rome with its overwhelming amount of artwork, ruins, churches and fountains. Nevertheless, we boarded the plane and, after a scary landing where the pilot slanted the plane so the wing almost touched the ground, we were back on English soil. And at Paddington station we were happy to find that Dakota's pocketknife was precisely where we had hidden it. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>Harper and Dakotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05065588522753896211noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263290275130223539.post-10881287643379976962012-04-26T07:58:00.001-07:002012-04-26T07:58:43.231-07:00London Calling!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzxhPnRRGplHO9n80MQ0UnLhKg87DE5QkyA1IhUZlqXbOuYiFQNMkhYXdYAgyji7Wuwqe6W4rUgARmkHDgFsxRN0h8UdMMcOVGs7o66H7DdtRJjfpDggp2ZV3NGaDXy3Ufw1j3nsekJxQ/s1600/Wallen+Visit+2+065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzxhPnRRGplHO9n80MQ0UnLhKg87DE5QkyA1IhUZlqXbOuYiFQNMkhYXdYAgyji7Wuwqe6W4rUgARmkHDgFsxRN0h8UdMMcOVGs7o66H7DdtRJjfpDggp2ZV3NGaDXy3Ufw1j3nsekJxQ/s640/Wallen+Visit+2+065.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhghYkIuCd1hrmRce2-Ra-2G4jfiY2xXO6em1sg7zLjdNWW7r6z7lxvJAGREkVBIv9ShME_EmiqZSoYCE9XCWLzPeH-BDMM4ojrHv3ZVCVGkur1l_wsYZQ8dEgoHAs3LiDx4wvrzHT_X5E/s1600/Wallen+Visit+2+056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhghYkIuCd1hrmRce2-Ra-2G4jfiY2xXO6em1sg7zLjdNWW7r6z7lxvJAGREkVBIv9ShME_EmiqZSoYCE9XCWLzPeH-BDMM4ojrHv3ZVCVGkur1l_wsYZQ8dEgoHAs3LiDx4wvrzHT_X5E/s320/Wallen+Visit+2+056.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beefeater picture!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our last adventure and second trip to London with my (Dakota's) family was great. We started the day getting on to
a cheap Megabus (great company with inexpensive tickets) really early in the morning and we were to London in 2 hours... Sadly traffic was so bad that it took us another two to get to the bus station once we were in London! We
couldn't stand it, we were literally within 15 minute walking distance of the
sites we wanted to visit but we couldn't get off the bus! When we finally did
reach the bus station we hurried to the London Underground station and got a
day pass. Mom was horrified of riding on the tube and her eyes were extremely
wide as we flew through the tunnels beneath London. It didn't help mom's nerves
either that the lights on the subway flickered on and off a lot. We realized
that they did this when we came to stops so it wasn't quite as nerve racking
after that. We arrived at the Tower of London and found ourselves queuing (fancy word for standing in line) forever!
So if you go to the Tower be absolutely sure to pre-purchase tickets (which
cost a fortune)! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_uxab-BcFsQuvwPUcFGhjsJZX7Shme66_tuvW7jky4iRTL9mCsJ6RNDyu1uWiYyG8CeKWAIdulQyPTOxa6mO1qOi7GVqFg62sk0HTP4B98Fk6vIzYDgh3x2Y8Nh_Pp7f6TfPJmhYAz8/s1600/Wallen+Visit+2+063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC_uxab-BcFsQuvwPUcFGhjsJZX7Shme66_tuvW7jky4iRTL9mCsJ6RNDyu1uWiYyG8CeKWAIdulQyPTOxa6mO1qOi7GVqFg62sk0HTP4B98Fk6vIzYDgh3x2Y8Nh_Pp7f6TfPJmhYAz8/s320/Wallen+Visit+2+063.JPG" width="320" /></a>After another half hour
of waiting in line we finally got our tickets and headed into the tower. We
waited to go on a tour guided by a Yeoman Warder, better known as a beefeater. It
was enjoyable having him guide us around and tell stories about people being
tortured and executed, and it would have been even better if there wasn't a
crowd of a hundred people doing just the same! He was an enjoyable fellow
though and we had our picture taken with him later when our tour was over. We proceeded
to go through the White Tower which was turned into a museum housing weapons and armor of the kings and the country through history. It was a very interesting museum, but once again would have been more so if there
weren't so many people crowded into it. We moved on from the White Tower to the
Crown Jewels, which were quite spectacular. Those gems are more radiant than
anything you have ever seen. The best part was as we were leaving the display
there was a donation box, which had tons of money in it. It was like saying now
that you have seen all of our priceless gems and gold, give us some money to
keep them! Overall, it was cool to see but much too busy and expensive.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiofSSO-1Exj_S5oAVJChkYkqnva6xOpit0GMb5Ix0o4MTsTfG3mzzvWYnuNhRduhzbQle3LPwHmrDUgVdrguaNGoY0AyIKxzYNrgUw5eUdKxQYtck1LxOblGHGwRnt5Xc3v2TEhhj-6Q/s1600/Wallen+Visit+2+080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiofSSO-1Exj_S5oAVJChkYkqnva6xOpit0GMb5Ix0o4MTsTfG3mzzvWYnuNhRduhzbQle3LPwHmrDUgVdrguaNGoY0AyIKxzYNrgUw5eUdKxQYtck1LxOblGHGwRnt5Xc3v2TEhhj-6Q/s200/Wallen+Visit+2+080.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6otcmsZeeNXt0CQFel8txvK8Gf7s6wVUgWIXmiCPlyOkXtQLolgCdolVlS7Tvk6xGdc12I52ClwxYaVzX828yuCGglCx8IrQyT_xA-hT0tlUlqjiT9kAt8FcBRGHM_Z_-rP7T5O3jT1E/s1600/Wallen+Visit+2+079.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6otcmsZeeNXt0CQFel8txvK8Gf7s6wVUgWIXmiCPlyOkXtQLolgCdolVlS7Tvk6xGdc12I52ClwxYaVzX828yuCGglCx8IrQyT_xA-hT0tlUlqjiT9kAt8FcBRGHM_Z_-rP7T5O3jT1E/s320/Wallen+Visit+2+079.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPyXObrJOgJw0S6L5Fu1vrteoYUQg9p9rHclbH_QB9H27iX9Obb_41HQcYg_1Esd1KXiKApt5IkXedzT-z3gxedhnQEmvzT8j_yrvybaJ54ccAfv3di-Qi7w4KzYviliQ3vsk2KCTENlo/s1600/Wallen+Visit+2+068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPyXObrJOgJw0S6L5Fu1vrteoYUQg9p9rHclbH_QB9H27iX9Obb_41HQcYg_1Esd1KXiKApt5IkXedzT-z3gxedhnQEmvzT8j_yrvybaJ54ccAfv3di-Qi7w4KzYviliQ3vsk2KCTENlo/s200/Wallen+Visit+2+068.JPG" width="150" /></a> We left the
Tower of London and moved on to another tower, the Monument (what a creative name).
We all enjoyed going up all 311 spiral steps of the tower and were quite dizzy
when we reached the top, which gave a spectacular view of London. Jed especially
enjoyed climbing the tower. I think one of his favorite things while he was
here was climbing up spiral staircases! When we came back down at the bottom we
even got special certificates saying that we had climbed it. Harper and I plan
on having my artistic brother, Jasper, write our names in calligraphy on our
certificates.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMWp1V3SPo_DKEl8wQgXqH0gxdBFAl0pB0KycNgoBLr79a4woHRpjIGeRK1htaipXMapkhELHgmAfRVIOFcqGFzkg_RXjTOSQmC8NvOLvLvm7YLdmGhGLY2Z-ouaEgdhzIo3I-D2AN7vg/s1600/Wallen+Visit+2+058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMWp1V3SPo_DKEl8wQgXqH0gxdBFAl0pB0KycNgoBLr79a4woHRpjIGeRK1htaipXMapkhELHgmAfRVIOFcqGFzkg_RXjTOSQmC8NvOLvLvm7YLdmGhGLY2Z-ouaEgdhzIo3I-D2AN7vg/s200/Wallen+Visit+2+058.JPG" width="150" /></a> From the
Monument we took the Underground to the Museum of Natural History, mom was a
lot calmer this time and there was space for us to use seats which was much
nicer. We got inside of the Museum of Natural History and there was hardly
anybody there so we were able to walk right into the Dinosaur exhibit. Jed
really liked the giant animatronic T-Rex and I'm not sure who wouldn't -it is
awesome! We headed back to the bus and boarded for our trip home. However the
trip was quite sketchy, the driver kept swerving back and forth and driving
over the rumble strips for long periods of time. If that wasn't enough the
microphone was broken so it kept turning on making loud noises as we rode home.
We had an enjoyable time in London, even if it was a little busy and strange... but we were quite relieved to arrive safely back in Bristol!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf-eeoYvUidbvYX2tMzzvXzqA9Lhh_0R0eek6cXwDSsKEZSePbEa-XVOqcTLurBQ9BqBVzyx-BNbzI_LLecXXNxap7vGBJql84fpiN1-uZwavudG7E0QeyIzjt9kBch5KYdbe3P6zjyNA/s1600/Wallen+Visit+2+066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf-eeoYvUidbvYX2tMzzvXzqA9Lhh_0R0eek6cXwDSsKEZSePbEa-XVOqcTLurBQ9BqBVzyx-BNbzI_LLecXXNxap7vGBJql84fpiN1-uZwavudG7E0QeyIzjt9kBch5KYdbe3P6zjyNA/s400/Wallen+Visit+2+066.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Harper and Dakotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05065588522753896211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263290275130223539.post-28989014531201680912012-04-24T01:24:00.001-07:002012-04-24T01:24:11.212-07:00Bath<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioz-uT20U4t77gng5M50XO8qVjdkfM_O-mhBWAXQpt3DeO3UvRUSb-2DvwWOP299_RLOwUzCRGRyGmsIjK9K4WLudYgok9D829TspoJJ9UdyuzdXWg_Nw54wMc4aDnXJ0V4TxZSjw0dQ8/s1600/Wallen+Visit+272.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioz-uT20U4t77gng5M50XO8qVjdkfM_O-mhBWAXQpt3DeO3UvRUSb-2DvwWOP299_RLOwUzCRGRyGmsIjK9K4WLudYgok9D829TspoJJ9UdyuzdXWg_Nw54wMc4aDnXJ0V4TxZSjw0dQ8/s640/Wallen+Visit+272.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHkkcDKrhcAdCuwdO-jB3UIdAxE0vSOK0UoHwCdJW9S4YS9Rzb7zjYrp-hEW9_KDZLNB5kGMTHEa0t0sR-2DXMqb-GQp3ZQ0AX50sFcX-7WjC9V1clN9HRKE5kbZtY3lLg-lgME7IaE8/s1600/Wallen+Visit+268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHkkcDKrhcAdCuwdO-jB3UIdAxE0vSOK0UoHwCdJW9S4YS9Rzb7zjYrp-hEW9_KDZLNB5kGMTHEa0t0sR-2DXMqb-GQp3ZQ0AX50sFcX-7WjC9V1clN9HRKE5kbZtY3lLg-lgME7IaE8/s200/Wallen+Visit+268.JPG" width="150" /></a> </div>
<br />
No -as you might have guessed from the title of this post -we did not all get in a bath and play with rubber duckies. Bath is a small town about 10 minutes from Bristol by train. Named Bath for the Roman Baths that are the main tourist attraction, it is a charming little town and we had a relaxing day with the Wallens there. <br />
<br />
<br /><br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVY8cl4-s5oFjyPyeCbhc1JaArBgIR1M0u2CvQVKDQuwQY9fSO8SuPJ-L3Um3vkZktt0fCrtCe1mwFmUi7DrjlutmRZPMA3yYAKzB9pv-9ZJQTTdr9Ho8w4789RnY4meouVNCD2hA5ASA/s1600/Wallen+Visit+223.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVY8cl4-s5oFjyPyeCbhc1JaArBgIR1M0u2CvQVKDQuwQY9fSO8SuPJ-L3Um3vkZktt0fCrtCe1mwFmUi7DrjlutmRZPMA3yYAKzB9pv-9ZJQTTdr9Ho8w4789RnY4meouVNCD2hA5ASA/s320/Wallen+Visit+223.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jed took this picture! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We began by visiting the Roman Baths and museum surrounding them. They were huge and old and we wished they were still in use so that we could try it out. The main bath was outdoors and had no roof over it, but there was a spring of warm water coming from the hot springs that flowed into it. It would have been nice to soak in -except apparently no one thought of cleaning out the old Roman Bath which was covered in pond scum and looked <em>very</em> dirty! They do have a modern Bath Spa in the town, but the price was not very friendly to our budgets. There were lots of other baths in the complex as well. Some were just for men, others for women, some warm, some cold. Many of the floors were broken down and only stacks of flat stones, that had held up the floor from the foundation, were left. In the museum area there was a fountain with water from the spring that you could drink. Jed was very eager, but as soon as he got a taste he wanted to spit it out.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilFW8bgVjq3EHdUqq9LPTKzGP7Qcs3OQ6wCq0PHL45c_z9y3wXgm31bMgrJrk618vr056Ma6syrQNuDi5_QUbeH-5Vu4sxecMqXCEd8ncbpI8voq7GltKCsYcubj9Uq9_kojyZrYFhb2c/s1600/Wallen+Visit+206.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilFW8bgVjq3EHdUqq9LPTKzGP7Qcs3OQ6wCq0PHL45c_z9y3wXgm31bMgrJrk618vr056Ma6syrQNuDi5_QUbeH-5Vu4sxecMqXCEd8ncbpI8voq7GltKCsYcubj9Uq9_kojyZrYFhb2c/s200/Wallen+Visit+206.JPG" width="150" /></a> <br />
And I have to admit -it was gross water! It was warm and had lots of strange mineral tastes in it. One of the best parts of the Roman Baths was the audioguide, well at least the kid's version of the audioguide, which we were all listening to by the end. There were funny stories and sound effects making you laugh the whole way through -including a dying goat which sounds morbid now... but hearing the fake bleating and the fake cutting out of entrails and stuff was really funny.... okay now I just sound creepy but believe me it was funny!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsP8qKPYwfPBuH6OStiV4bfj8nBei6xydke1HETITVM9hb31cTJ4NUuPE4JjpHbMFeZdU4C3c8N6LCJjSACJ-BwN5bUhUdBURZjrTxWnb-YjxnhHCpuczeO-KmuaJlbkWJblh33edfj9M/s1600/Wallen+Visit+242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsP8qKPYwfPBuH6OStiV4bfj8nBei6xydke1HETITVM9hb31cTJ4NUuPE4JjpHbMFeZdU4C3c8N6LCJjSACJ-BwN5bUhUdBURZjrTxWnb-YjxnhHCpuczeO-KmuaJlbkWJblh33edfj9M/s320/Wallen+Visit+242.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjFTxbHBcKP8ySIUuPqjCf0Wp33lSg0TDgVR7VvrAT1BA8_D856TsvRaPDv4VIRo5Njy16IDYwjDJsNrpc-K0SiUkkipRlj6-n6k2BY_QH2rPGEDnklTn60-FkhFNyRGPm2ki90upfNfo/s1600/Wallen+Visit+230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjFTxbHBcKP8ySIUuPqjCf0Wp33lSg0TDgVR7VvrAT1BA8_D856TsvRaPDv4VIRo5Njy16IDYwjDJsNrpc-K0SiUkkipRlj6-n6k2BY_QH2rPGEDnklTn60-FkhFNyRGPm2ki90upfNfo/s200/Wallen+Visit+230.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsP8qKPYwfPBuH6OStiV4bfj8nBei6xydke1HETITVM9hb31cTJ4NUuPE4JjpHbMFeZdU4C3c8N6LCJjSACJ-BwN5bUhUdBURZjrTxWnb-YjxnhHCpuczeO-KmuaJlbkWJblh33edfj9M/s1600/Wallen+Visit+242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Moving on, for lunch we got some pasties and then we went next door to Bath Abbey. After admiring the beautiful interior of the Abbey, we started our tour going up the tower. Climbing windy spiral staircases with very narrow steps we got to see the bellfrey, the rafters, and behind the clock! Dakota even got to ring the tenor bell! </div>
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVUUuSFzsYCBH1i3NxGpd9frdwH2zs_TV1oeu8iJuMQbR0rl9jk4rfNAKK6ReJOt9Li_BAA5X66QmlXHg386p6ao0owihoYThkWujmQaNaLP-8oVPvT4Ulxg5vRQqk1KofMrN3fHSbfzM/s1600/Wallen+Visit+266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVUUuSFzsYCBH1i3NxGpd9frdwH2zs_TV1oeu8iJuMQbR0rl9jk4rfNAKK6ReJOt9Li_BAA5X66QmlXHg386p6ao0owihoYThkWujmQaNaLP-8oVPvT4Ulxg5vRQqk1KofMrN3fHSbfzM/s320/Wallen+Visit+266.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
Next we walked to the Bath Aqua Glass factory where they make a special aqua blue colored glass. We watched as the glass makers bent hot glass into vases and glasses -it was amazing! Then me and Jed got to blow big glass bubbles!!!! <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDVEf8rZU9iG9jochX6UIEGchyphenhyphen2WVjxIrNfpTtAgraFLGmsv0KJ1rYQ_Gw0sxFg49rOBbSczkB1S0AfmLBp3uLoSPY4O2trjrz1Efm-A-A_2Gx6-ThH-BTGwkeGQUk1EXVwmuffVvBRFI/s1600/Wallen+Visit+287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDVEf8rZU9iG9jochX6UIEGchyphenhyphen2WVjxIrNfpTtAgraFLGmsv0KJ1rYQ_Gw0sxFg49rOBbSczkB1S0AfmLBp3uLoSPY4O2trjrz1Efm-A-A_2Gx6-ThH-BTGwkeGQUk1EXVwmuffVvBRFI/s320/Wallen+Visit+287.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
We spent the rest of the day lounging around Bath, walking to the nearby parks and of course eating ice cream! We found a balloon man -which I (Harper) was really excited about I really wanted something balloon! He had a bunch of people around him but he made Jed a sword, and then Neal an alien man. I gave him some change (he was working for donation) and he gave me a balloon flower which made me so happy! =) He was pretty skilled, we even watched him making an octopus!<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQis7jpdlVyMATxv8JdQyfeKfxC9UAy-HWhw2FBBtrHLPgy5L1-1QsUNUUOJKk0aHd3ttMyc6CutqvpvuybxFZ6JqEWjR-LffDKEdMzjZ6LlOFhDWR4tI0ackpoxWfVcsEEMlvfbr0FTc/s1600/Wallen+Visit+290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQis7jpdlVyMATxv8JdQyfeKfxC9UAy-HWhw2FBBtrHLPgy5L1-1QsUNUUOJKk0aHd3ttMyc6CutqvpvuybxFZ6JqEWjR-LffDKEdMzjZ6LlOFhDWR4tI0ackpoxWfVcsEEMlvfbr0FTc/s200/Wallen+Visit+290.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
After visiting a tea shop called the Mad Hatter's -complete with Alice in Wonderland tables and chairs- we headed home from our unusually relaxing day. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGz8mKADUGpSVRUdnOI5Xu5XSgnvuMXHgDO-iaUG2E1xjsIXBecdozumyNFe9FT5hGB5DfidENTBhH_de0sRf1-vQIiHuZIRVjhUS0ELNm11tXwj9vAxb7rZnb0HhXAOgiuDBVodLIn_c/s1600/Wallen+Visit+300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGz8mKADUGpSVRUdnOI5Xu5XSgnvuMXHgDO-iaUG2E1xjsIXBecdozumyNFe9FT5hGB5DfidENTBhH_de0sRf1-vQIiHuZIRVjhUS0ELNm11tXwj9vAxb7rZnb0HhXAOgiuDBVodLIn_c/s400/Wallen+Visit+300.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
P.S. If you are ever visiting Bath and you are going by train, be sure to check out the 2 for 1 deals through First Great Western. Almost everything in Bath is 2 for 1!<br />
<img height="72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsP8qKPYwfPBuH6OStiV4bfj8nBei6xydke1HETITVM9hb31cTJ4NUuPE4JjpHbMFeZdU4C3c8N6LCJjSACJ-BwN5bUhUdBURZjrTxWnb-YjxnhHCpuczeO-KmuaJlbkWJblh33edfj9M/s320/Wallen+Visit+242.JPG" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 138px; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 1666px;" width="96" />Harper and Dakotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05065588522753896211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263290275130223539.post-45307625909068213292012-04-21T05:05:00.001-07:002012-04-21T05:05:54.621-07:00Adventures in Bristol<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGvV_wpRNdXn7B8oSf74Gv94OpwieWXGxJd3cLoLokMd4AxcenfelaKntdd85Eugn7vOglIbkMSiUwG4aiJqjqIRNQyCHmDO5mjWUYwS4MNg9oy6uy0ysdBS5yBg-REkjTFn_-cQj-fGw/s1600/Wallen+Visit+132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGvV_wpRNdXn7B8oSf74Gv94OpwieWXGxJd3cLoLokMd4AxcenfelaKntdd85Eugn7vOglIbkMSiUwG4aiJqjqIRNQyCHmDO5mjWUYwS4MNg9oy6uy0ysdBS5yBg-REkjTFn_-cQj-fGw/s640/Wallen+Visit+132.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Our adventures aren't all far away from our home here in
Bristol -there is plenty to do in this city as well! We are living in a city
that has a population of almost 450,000 making it the seventh largest city in
the United Kingdom. It has lots of
interesting history, with people living in the area since the Paleolithic Era and
it received a Royal charter in 1155 making it a town. Bristol, among other feats, is the home of
Wallace & Gromit, the first chocolate bar, the harbor that John Cabot
sailed out (the first European to touch the soil of North America, with the
exception on Leif Erickson and his vikings), Brunel (who has the awesome first
and middle names Isambard Kingdom), the invention of lead shot, home to the
street artist Banksy, the first city map in England, and the inspiration for
many of the people and places in Treasure Island. Needless to say there is lots to do in the
historic city and when we weren't going around to other places with the Neal,
Tammy and Jed (Dakota's parent's and little brother) we were busy zipping
around to the sites in Bristol.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidt7ERurrucksWB5wX7Y3CAOpmX6HQFEIucgVEBnRsLCSsHfWiseghvTHFgTFVXFtVxMWTH3R7y60LMI751bIG6PwazQ9KZIvZFVDQXrQYql80oVybK6cVnBT2uAfOnKWF93ZY2BwnHSY/s1600/Wallen+Visit+061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidt7ERurrucksWB5wX7Y3CAOpmX6HQFEIucgVEBnRsLCSsHfWiseghvTHFgTFVXFtVxMWTH3R7y60LMI751bIG6PwazQ9KZIvZFVDQXrQYql80oVybK6cVnBT2uAfOnKWF93ZY2BwnHSY/s320/Wallen+Visit+061.JPG" width="320" /></a> Aargh! Our Pirate Walk with Pirate Pete was
Perfectly Plunderous! We gleaned lots of interesting piratey facts about
Bristol. Such as that the Hole in the
Wall Pub is the basis for The Spyglass Inn in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure
Island. If that isn't enough the landlord of the establishment had one leg!
Remind you of anyone? (The correct answer is yes, Long John Silver!) The Pub
gets its name from a cubby in the corner where you can sit and look through
small slots looking down streets to see if Press Gangs were coming to impress
men into the Navy. We also visited the Llandoger Trow a Pub that's been in
business since the 1600's! This is the place where Daniel Defoe met Alexander
Selkirk and the novel Robinson Crusoe was born! Pirate Pete joked at us that
the crooked floors were made that way so they would seem level after you had a
few drinks! Jed carried a Jolly Roger around everywhere we went and Bristol
natives hollered Aargh! to our guide the whole time. We also paid a visit to
some caves where prisoners were stored and had to stand up on stones so that
the rats didn't eat their feet, as well as a pub with an entrance to a tunnel
in it, and the home of Edward Teach also known as Blackbeard the Pirate!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EQT2TeVbdVNi2RaNX-kOCVGsbxC2RBdkcDCid_CPInYwzPTRyhYN_2mzGJJC5qIHH4ZRWqBOtNi3iVBAnEu8M4HaKxuXeZAx3WvSRkoD_5SphpMFXCM9uPX8MlEzx-Joo6fGP0dl2QE/s1600/Wallen+Visit+154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EQT2TeVbdVNi2RaNX-kOCVGsbxC2RBdkcDCid_CPInYwzPTRyhYN_2mzGJJC5qIHH4ZRWqBOtNi3iVBAnEu8M4HaKxuXeZAx3WvSRkoD_5SphpMFXCM9uPX8MlEzx-Joo6fGP0dl2QE/s200/Wallen+Visit+154.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EQT2TeVbdVNi2RaNX-kOCVGsbxC2RBdkcDCid_CPInYwzPTRyhYN_2mzGJJC5qIHH4ZRWqBOtNi3iVBAnEu8M4HaKxuXeZAx3WvSRkoD_5SphpMFXCM9uPX8MlEzx-Joo6fGP0dl2QE/s1600/Wallen+Visit+154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOnCliZ3j5n_BFdcAYkfnyxhzzwTQ0JSbFR6A9Yf2EPQ0tKIrQBCIeuyV32ZESBaGOUg76VW9neUC2XAdKDiRrxJtkPznSLyGjdb-gPNB4qwaCaifuiiILtUVu0UAemhRDIxpesVbVwrU/s1600/Wallen+Visit+143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOnCliZ3j5n_BFdcAYkfnyxhzzwTQ0JSbFR6A9Yf2EPQ0tKIrQBCIeuyV32ZESBaGOUg76VW9neUC2XAdKDiRrxJtkPznSLyGjdb-gPNB4qwaCaifuiiILtUVu0UAemhRDIxpesVbVwrU/s200/Wallen+Visit+143.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpAhL0DKIWKl3qh4XcenrQwy50GKptYQfOjsuErJkjheKzQhhrsPFf7_SUC7fLtCtxkYcWNeR6C2CBijQdiXrEaleJjhbiDZEIBP-rlDEObL83m8satH7Vx8S9JPOTAof1Ca1rfCp-iGs/s1600/Wallen+Visit+116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpAhL0DKIWKl3qh4XcenrQwy50GKptYQfOjsuErJkjheKzQhhrsPFf7_SUC7fLtCtxkYcWNeR6C2CBijQdiXrEaleJjhbiDZEIBP-rlDEObL83m8satH7Vx8S9JPOTAof1Ca1rfCp-iGs/s200/Wallen+Visit+116.JPG" width="200" /></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The next
site we had our eyes set on seeing was the Bristol Zoo. Like every zoo, it houses lots of animals,
but the Bristol zoo has some special highlights including; an especially large
gorilla family, fur seals, snakes, and lots and lots of monkeys! We went to see
the fur seals being fed and learned that 'fur seals' is a misnomer because the
animal is actually a sea lion! Sea lions can move around almost as if their
flippers were feet and they are much more agile than seals. We watched as the trainer had the male sea
lion catch fish from the air and hop back and forth on rocks. It was incredible -he actually used his
flippers like they were feet and walked on them. The trainer had a trick up his sleeve to get
us all wet and let the seal belly-flop into the water, splashing us spectators -especially
Jed. We also got to see the gorillas
getting fed, watching them chomp down on vegetables, we noticed one had a
little baby clinging to her arm -super cute! =) One of the highlights of the day was feeding the lorikeets with little cups of juice. They flocked to your arms and one even attacked Jed's head! His shampoo must have smelt fruity or something! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIJxgo6w3fQw9pwixTXNJdct_q_zX4XaShHWj7ilZadmO8LHGjePee_Algwx9R-bahHvSktx4RMia9lz9869OltFIzgTCGKjC_3NG9NWXyfu16xPMSWSlAT4VqlcIA_RjMCA8tV-GHfT4/s1600/Wallen+Visit+126.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIJxgo6w3fQw9pwixTXNJdct_q_zX4XaShHWj7ilZadmO8LHGjePee_Algwx9R-bahHvSktx4RMia9lz9869OltFIzgTCGKjC_3NG9NWXyfu16xPMSWSlAT4VqlcIA_RjMCA8tV-GHfT4/s320/Wallen+Visit+126.JPG" width="320" /></a> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We also
went to Bristol Aquarium which has lots and lots of interesting fish! They have
sea horses, puffer fish, fish that have glowing cheeks, an octopus, unicorn
fish and a million more! Dakota and I loved it so much we got season passes and
have already been back three times. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc927FO1KupnWQLnLOxsrqDu74juyFx1bgHj5A-CFtumd4Hz8a8uMNDd4t-8h5E5TYLdWKeHtFt-e_5ynbEmyOmqAeZ408fC5Fmnfd7Edav6iDPq6qFSvIL2lC53xSv_xkghb7snoFnpo/s1600/Wallen+Visit+2+030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc927FO1KupnWQLnLOxsrqDu74juyFx1bgHj5A-CFtumd4Hz8a8uMNDd4t-8h5E5TYLdWKeHtFt-e_5ynbEmyOmqAeZ408fC5Fmnfd7Edav6iDPq6qFSvIL2lC53xSv_xkghb7snoFnpo/s320/Wallen+Visit+2+030.JPG" width="320" /></a> One of the
best places to find out about Bristol's amazing history is the M-Shed; a museum
on the harbor that is all about Bristol people, places and things. They have great hands on exhibits including
an entire Double Decker bus you can sit in from the 1960's, a bomb shelter from
WWII, a plane engine you can see in action and much more. There are stories playing at different places
in the museum, such as on the bus, so you can listen to people talk about moments
in Bristol's history. Sometimes they
have steam engine rides outside the M-Shed and we got to go on one! Jed's
favorite part of the museum was the double-decker bus; he ran up and down the
stairs and aisles and made funny faces at us through the windows. And there was an ice-cream truck right
outside which made his (and Neal's) day!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyFfthdv_M7feUJOQc3Bzy2pOlcXbiZ98WG-5MdjEJPBH6DdzmcYya8t0xmZFeAJ3qVR4vEbUdq_fmPNwmsKQcZzcCKnp1iMBy_Hx3yB-9tUn5xBZI4j2TTo8krLWH5Nn-I7v36SmKj58/s1600/Wallen+Visit+2+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyFfthdv_M7feUJOQc3Bzy2pOlcXbiZ98WG-5MdjEJPBH6DdzmcYya8t0xmZFeAJ3qVR4vEbUdq_fmPNwmsKQcZzcCKnp1iMBy_Hx3yB-9tUn5xBZI4j2TTo8krLWH5Nn-I7v36SmKj58/s200/Wallen+Visit+2+011.JPG" width="200" /></a> After
learning about the famous engineer Brunel at the M-Shed we went on a cruise
down the Avon River to see one of his more spectacular feats: The Clifton
Suspension Bridge. The bridge was
finished in 1864 and spans 700 feet across the Avon Gorge standing 200 feet
over the water. Our cruise of the Avon
Gorge began in the harbor and after going through the loch, which raised 20
feet to the water level of the harbor, then lowered us 20 feet to the water
level of the river, we could see the massive bridge. It truly is incredible... especially when you
remember that it was built in 1864!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii17hpfCb9h2tkRwC2vUXQB8FTDYKvmsTRaWESBdyag1-4g-SD_08pk__zpz6BUUCRYD3MuvIgDaYUmeB9WTFZrq9CKDtFYTgxkHSnMvqaK78mAskFx2k_fyJxFUbb-419U5ASG3KNmfs/s1600/Wallen+Visit+2+098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii17hpfCb9h2tkRwC2vUXQB8FTDYKvmsTRaWESBdyag1-4g-SD_08pk__zpz6BUUCRYD3MuvIgDaYUmeB9WTFZrq9CKDtFYTgxkHSnMvqaK78mAskFx2k_fyJxFUbb-419U5ASG3KNmfs/s320/Wallen+Visit+2+098.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jed holding up the S.S. Great Britain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJW15l8166zf-wjkbm59ltvnXZnDppAyLK8I70EdaI_xD6eJSyYyBCZNvmOhjYO_Y28eLaDDD5rU4tvcO-l9FrOvI9Vq4hPL2nyMMZcks_esujDKkeGKOPFokUM3Dskyx_4_RXTzaJUc/s1600/Wallen+Visit+2+091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJW15l8166zf-wjkbm59ltvnXZnDppAyLK8I70EdaI_xD6eJSyYyBCZNvmOhjYO_Y28eLaDDD5rU4tvcO-l9FrOvI9Vq4hPL2nyMMZcks_esujDKkeGKOPFokUM3Dskyx_4_RXTzaJUc/s200/Wallen+Visit+2+091.JPG" width="200" /></a> We also
went to see S.S. Great Britain which was another of Brunel's projects. The ship was one of the biggest of its day
and on our visit there we got to see all sorts of artifacts about it. Jed and Dakota even got to crank the
propeller and everyone rang the old bell.
The museum moved the ship back to Bristol from a beach in the Falkland
Islands where it was damaged and being kept to store coal. It is now kept in a dry dock with an
acclimatized chamber to keep the massive iron hull from breaking down. We walked next to the hull in a chamber that
has a ceiling made of glass and a thin layer of water over the top of it, which
made it look like we were under water.
We also went on board the ship which is decorated like it was in the
Victorian Era when it was one of the first great cruise liners. They had different audio guides to choose
from; you could be in first class, third class, an archaeologist, or a funny
little cat. There were even wax figures
all around. Dakota had the bright idea
to hide next to one and stand really, really still until Tammy came into the
room. He jumped out at her and boy did
she yell! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Overall we had a great time in the wonderful city of Bristol with Tammy, Neal and Jed doing all these activities and more! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4JYJc3oexCh87IRUfCQcA8W9hH0Wp1g5vvbYvHnR7HpPycSxXAz7HMB7GkhvDsu9PPQUu1GWpKeNeGUi7xEbm7L2HV2jVvSCvgLHje3b6eHwrxraSiczQuxZIYi2OMo5EcrDb-tIEjY/s1600/Wallen+Visit+2+150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4JYJc3oexCh87IRUfCQcA8W9hH0Wp1g5vvbYvHnR7HpPycSxXAz7HMB7GkhvDsu9PPQUu1GWpKeNeGUi7xEbm7L2HV2jVvSCvgLHje3b6eHwrxraSiczQuxZIYi2OMo5EcrDb-tIEjY/s400/Wallen+Visit+2+150.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Harper and Dakotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05065588522753896211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263290275130223539.post-56402420774012017042012-04-20T00:59:00.002-07:002012-04-20T00:59:18.361-07:00Stone Circles: Stonehenge, Woodhenge & Avebury<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMBKFvSTjtdGXu6jvSMjA3mHXnfJE9fc4reu52kqSLCU0mN7ci-r4cDJBu8bVJVh4hirXvjHkASLc0_WZOgDYBROXj8A7ykswM9pyetdFeXRQuQ26-4Vsw6hM2vdcizVQ5HR1yB7yAizA/s1600/IMG_3990.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMBKFvSTjtdGXu6jvSMjA3mHXnfJE9fc4reu52kqSLCU0mN7ci-r4cDJBu8bVJVh4hirXvjHkASLc0_WZOgDYBROXj8A7ykswM9pyetdFeXRQuQ26-4Vsw6hM2vdcizVQ5HR1yB7yAizA/s400/IMG_3990.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkbMryS65MytnGofoo_bTsII562YYMi_kynw_RD2btbC13Aurd4OGTNTiJSdpfX5CfpGmgSYP6hoZs_PykFJP0XosCLOMbCktMqemqGP53RqOph-7K2WN1E7cAfMB9L6a2nvOYVaF1lTc/s1600/IMG_4007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkbMryS65MytnGofoo_bTsII562YYMi_kynw_RD2btbC13Aurd4OGTNTiJSdpfX5CfpGmgSYP6hoZs_PykFJP0XosCLOMbCktMqemqGP53RqOph-7K2WN1E7cAfMB9L6a2nvOYVaF1lTc/s320/IMG_4007.JPG" width="320" /></a>We woke up at 3:50 on March 31st so that we could drive to
Stonehenge. Harper and I managed to reserve spaces for us so that we could get
inner stone circle access before opening. After a pleasant drive through the
English countryside we arrived at Stonehenge. (Please note that the pleasant
ride applied to everyone but my mom, who was horrified of driving on the left
hand side, going sixty miles an hour on narrow windy roads lined with hedges
and seeing signs for tank crossing). We arrived just in time for our entry and
we were even delivered the guidebook we ordered upon our arrival at the site!
We walked through an </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
underpass and up to the ancient monument.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjEuJY8-MutqDgFmKx96F651jsHLOXC_v2M8SvIP62opm5CArc9Om4JXxhhO27ttILjZNOGKnIS24369-mL_ro5NTZQxx1q8zcnfW24DeqWivT6zNBNYfdAt1Gc8An7UyltiQ6_QlAMk/s1600/IMG_4006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvjEuJY8-MutqDgFmKx96F651jsHLOXC_v2M8SvIP62opm5CArc9Om4JXxhhO27ttILjZNOGKnIS24369-mL_ro5NTZQxx1q8zcnfW24DeqWivT6zNBNYfdAt1Gc8An7UyltiQ6_QlAMk/s200/IMG_4006.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It was
incredible! We took hundreds of pictures and wandered through all the stones.
We were able to look at drawings of what the site looked like in its prime. We
could see where stones used to be and where wooden posts were. We were also
able to look all around the monument and see Barrows where people had been
buried long ago; I (Dakota) spotted at least twenty-eight from Stonehenge.
Although it was deathly cold out (compared to the 70 degree weather we had been
having) we enjoyed our visit and stayed there for our entire hour time
allotment. Even Jed enjoyed viewing the ancient monument; you would be
surprised how many facts he remembers about the site. He even read portions of
the guidebook and compared a map of the landscape long ago with what it looks
like today. The highlight, (at least for me) was finding my initials carved in
one of the Sarsen Stones by somebody hundreds of years ago!</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLrDxFmc5M1yZyVaRighTD8XzAm1Mv79RFkQ54So9rCZLA1k1biSz9wDxbo5-D6j6ykjmdjV5npn751dQD2aYMCb3xRrR72ixqHj-aQJRKy8-G-VGpbOMTN7KpAOPoGOmY6wVHWrmr8Vc/s1600/IMG_3984.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLrDxFmc5M1yZyVaRighTD8XzAm1Mv79RFkQ54So9rCZLA1k1biSz9wDxbo5-D6j6ykjmdjV5npn751dQD2aYMCb3xRrR72ixqHj-aQJRKy8-G-VGpbOMTN7KpAOPoGOmY6wVHWrmr8Vc/s320/IMG_3984.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The guard
who took us out to the stones told us some stories about the monument. He said
that some days when they take people out to the stones it smells inexplicably
of roses. It may have been the power of suggestion but shortly afterwards we
all thought we smelt roses! He also told us that there is supposed to be the
ghost of a monk near the site and different employees claim to have seen him
slowly walking towards Stonehenge and then disappearing as he gets close to the
stones... creepy! Although the site was spectacular we were quite relieved to get
back into the warm car!</div>
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNW6_-PuCL4cRztJ0ApYK98lFwd-fWGFbhk90EdmFlxphbtz5iPX8YYipDFctuCMxb1D_qXNpWx947-Rt0iJzZc4VHtCtur_XcJqGyJcwt4ppXDjA2wHqznw84EDFqew74ff2XLQ9ZdM/s1600/IMG_4004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNW6_-PuCL4cRztJ0ApYK98lFwd-fWGFbhk90EdmFlxphbtz5iPX8YYipDFctuCMxb1D_qXNpWx947-Rt0iJzZc4VHtCtur_XcJqGyJcwt4ppXDjA2wHqznw84EDFqew74ff2XLQ9ZdM/s320/IMG_4004.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>From
Stonehenge we started driving towards the Avebury Stone Circle but realized
that Woodhenge and Durrington Walls (two other monuments) were right along the
way, so we did a quick turn-around and went up to walk into Woodhenge. As we
drove up the driveway to Woodhenge a car honked at us and we realized we were
driving on the right (wrong!) side of the road! None of us even noticed until
the other car honked at us. OOPS! We got out and looked at Woodhenge, which
isn't very impressive anymore, now they put in some short concrete columns
where wooden posts used to stand. We did see a Druid doing some sort of ritual
though, a man walked around the circle several times and then walked down the
aisle to the center and placed some sort of offering on the child's grave in
the center. Durrington Walls is just a big ditch now, but during the Neolithic
(Stonehenge times) it was a village.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisvBZkq3seABhTZQWrkxDoWWI_VhR_TiGPEfGtmJvT42WjKDMWwCtzu1Q_adjrOuKc_2-JSQtmc77fwXem24vPM-F1E9uboq40iS9Av-f-GBP3nGbJTy1Pg-UmZ_Ll56-iRehFPoRXtNg/s1600/Wallen+Visit+345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisvBZkq3seABhTZQWrkxDoWWI_VhR_TiGPEfGtmJvT42WjKDMWwCtzu1Q_adjrOuKc_2-JSQtmc77fwXem24vPM-F1E9uboq40iS9Av-f-GBP3nGbJTy1Pg-UmZ_Ll56-iRehFPoRXtNg/s320/Wallen+Visit+345.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Once again
we hopped in the car and headed for Avebury.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On the way we saw a few giant chalk horses that were cut into the
hillsides as markers in the Neolithic, some Iron Age hill forts and numerous
barrows, and finally we arrived at the giant stone causeway to Avebury. The
Avebury Stone Circle's size puts Stonehenge to shame, although it has no lintels
(stones across the top) it is several times the size and the boulders composing
it are much larger. Not to mention it is big enough that much of the town of
Avebury is located inside of it! We wandered amidst the stones for quite a
while, and then I found a coin inside a hole in a rock! So we all went in
search of coins and found several in different holes in the rocks. We concluded
our expedition by walking through an old estate with thatched roof barns and
then visiting the local church. By the end of the day we were quite exhausted
from getting up so early and then gallivanting about the countryside so we were
glad to be home where we could get some rest.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOI944Dj5FzWtA8EaqAJtDJ0AmYhRf4Pg6Ysph4r1gyX2zM-w6VILpjBDGvKQHBKCKZfFvxQ3E_EbUWxM-lgdu8qdve9EmMPYN9Nnq-OOms1WARIo2BLic8-BHIpFGlupafckZWs93c5w/s1600/Wallen+Visit+326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOI944Dj5FzWtA8EaqAJtDJ0AmYhRf4Pg6Ysph4r1gyX2zM-w6VILpjBDGvKQHBKCKZfFvxQ3E_EbUWxM-lgdu8qdve9EmMPYN9Nnq-OOms1WARIo2BLic8-BHIpFGlupafckZWs93c5w/s640/Wallen+Visit+326.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
</div>Harper and Dakotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05065588522753896211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263290275130223539.post-18825522228894978952012-04-10T09:36:00.002-07:002012-04-10T09:38:10.016-07:00London Day 1After getting up at 5:15 to catch
our bus, we were an hour late in getting to London (busses go very slow in
London traffic! It took us over an hour to go a space that we could have easily
walked in 20 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are a lot
cheaper though!)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUYoI_1gC2kb371XSOyAd3Bn7mWvWbCfsaZ_hivMqPuHXLSQCzsb4qRYIU148XzsdQSpcPyrFVB8KqnGce8KAnHsuuol1su5A_uzkw66PtEsYV9fwjepM33NzxrJw_EKg4x-RLS_KQFhY/s1600/IMG_3769.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUYoI_1gC2kb371XSOyAd3Bn7mWvWbCfsaZ_hivMqPuHXLSQCzsb4qRYIU148XzsdQSpcPyrFVB8KqnGce8KAnHsuuol1su5A_uzkw66PtEsYV9fwjepM33NzxrJw_EKg4x-RLS_KQFhY/s320/IMG_3769.JPG" width="320" /></a>A short walk took us to Buckingham
Palace where we got as close as we could to the gates to wait for the Changing
of the Guard to start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were a good 45
minutes early, but we still weren’t at the front so it was a little difficult
to see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ceremony was fun to watch; every
time a guard took a step you could see the fur on their hats bounce up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They wear the funniest uniforms! When we were
there they were in their gray winter coats instead of the more well-known red
coats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ceremony itself lasted about
an hour and a half! After a while the grandeur starts to wear off as you watch guards
march back and forth 4, 5, 6 times. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
starts with a 20-30 guards and more march in slowly until there are 50-75 plus
the guards playing in the band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The best
part was when the band played Thriller… unfortunately they did not do the dance
to accompany it, but it was still hilarious! <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheO7hSotPujbEaHXgHTlCnpegB-ZtmdMrjeyQv4-mIB84c0-TK6byXii58ZLgDY_vtGfkqyZHkTNjjfyh2LmJ7p-WiIom8E370r8Xts8sfUqGVrwUptH3rBksjb_XdNpzQidHtX-7Cmv0/s1600/IMG_3777.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheO7hSotPujbEaHXgHTlCnpegB-ZtmdMrjeyQv4-mIB84c0-TK6byXii58ZLgDY_vtGfkqyZHkTNjjfyh2LmJ7p-WiIom8E370r8Xts8sfUqGVrwUptH3rBksjb_XdNpzQidHtX-7Cmv0/s200/IMG_3777.JPG" width="132" /></a><br />
After the guards marched off we
bought tickets to a city sight-seeing bus tour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It turned out to be an amazing idea as our bus had a hilarious tour
guide constantly commenting on all of the monuments, streets and passengers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus it was double-decker which Jed (Dakota’s
8-year-old brother) loved! At one point we pulled up next to another open air
double-decker that was a rival sight-seeing company and he teased that they
didn’t look like they were having fun at all and proceeded to tell lots of jokes
to brighten both busses’ passenger’s faces! <br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDkTlHl8LR-K1VruZhn3gRrqSfgW7P0WOKfiezDV-3PFGQBc9r1ybG3K2ay-K1CagGrdPJxCPv_Lz74_oJjFO7ul2oKabVGqrwZiSxtsI60y1FA3fJW1DrLpmF1hlrbLTSVjNPbTHA7Y/s1600/IMG_3801.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDkTlHl8LR-K1VruZhn3gRrqSfgW7P0WOKfiezDV-3PFGQBc9r1ybG3K2ay-K1CagGrdPJxCPv_Lz74_oJjFO7ul2oKabVGqrwZiSxtsI60y1FA3fJW1DrLpmF1hlrbLTSVjNPbTHA7Y/s320/IMG_3801.JPG" width="320" /></a>We dismounted the bus at Westminster Abbey and entered the
huge church full of very famous dead people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Royalty and nobles of Britain have been buried there for centuries and
it also houses memorials to famous writers such as Charles Dickens, Chaucer, and
Shakespeare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The monuments are huge and
many are very ornate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be warned though
it is very expensive!!!</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnhRkKsyEHWtbSuBs0VrxJCimaIpZfqhnIeu5ueXzcINt4yGKzTe64A4cFEodZGL1Rl1CgyIcK9ViLnxMtUfBHjc1g__-kYgT7MBMpPQ6BG15Y9s4Tw2AzBjpBoFt-Yiku13mG75rwOAs/s1600/IMG_3937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnhRkKsyEHWtbSuBs0VrxJCimaIpZfqhnIeu5ueXzcINt4yGKzTe64A4cFEodZGL1Rl1CgyIcK9ViLnxMtUfBHjc1g__-kYgT7MBMpPQ6BG15Y9s4Tw2AzBjpBoFt-Yiku13mG75rwOAs/s200/IMG_3937.JPG" width="133" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br />
<br />
<br />
Right next to Westminster Abbey is Big Ben and the Houses of
Parliament which we took photographs of and across the river you can see the
London Eye as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO4Glr4LCyFibC61QiuMdNZRgWsTqo5oCHiT2J12LbOy68_a0cQMp9hreYGtBXBPdya18J3dOCZQk8cxI8BPoFZcHANVa6i_UEmGayy2M57l-yPRe0EY3v9jiOGKef1x6s9EF5wi1YKMs/s1600/Wallen+Visit+181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO4Glr4LCyFibC61QiuMdNZRgWsTqo5oCHiT2J12LbOy68_a0cQMp9hreYGtBXBPdya18J3dOCZQk8cxI8BPoFZcHANVa6i_UEmGayy2M57l-yPRe0EY3v9jiOGKef1x6s9EF5wi1YKMs/s200/Wallen+Visit+181.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO2aqIdqZ7vrf8kmrUVQP-T0I_3xFD9S3xAxr5zOAZeYxfgCD_goEYBQiy7fEkAX4OvMqhzVgKkHWyTMfRdN1ws5oF4gnf2IzgDJgQfChRTgS8gIz3RlnCpHSbrrG-K9-8QKzkZ235xrI/s1600/IMG_3842.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO2aqIdqZ7vrf8kmrUVQP-T0I_3xFD9S3xAxr5zOAZeYxfgCD_goEYBQiy7fEkAX4OvMqhzVgKkHWyTMfRdN1ws5oF4gnf2IzgDJgQfChRTgS8gIz3RlnCpHSbrrG-K9-8QKzkZ235xrI/s200/IMG_3842.JPG" width="133" /></a><br />
<br />
Our next stop was the Sherlock
Holmes Museum where we observed lots of period artifacts and funny wax figures reenacting
scenes from some of the stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the
people in the museum were dressed as maids and police officers from the time
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And of course it was all located at
221 B Baker’s street!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXF0pPlsxkUsnn8rs2wHrgFX4ie0D5g7Yn9CeOStdTNDItIxywtYryoI4jaDRZV1A3pupu5coO5UZluR8Jb_3j2ErkhCw86L6npX5AC9_UaQd1_IR3IsrgJCuwHg23Btj_GjOGe73gqbM/s1600/IMG_3891.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXF0pPlsxkUsnn8rs2wHrgFX4ie0D5g7Yn9CeOStdTNDItIxywtYryoI4jaDRZV1A3pupu5coO5UZluR8Jb_3j2ErkhCw86L6npX5AC9_UaQd1_IR3IsrgJCuwHg23Btj_GjOGe73gqbM/s320/IMG_3891.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Jed and Neal’s favorite thing to do
while they were here in England was to eat ice cream; at least a cone or two a
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Strangely, the weather was in
support of it being warm and sunny (instead of the usual cold rain).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, we found out London is not the place to
support the ice cream habit –Jed got a cone and it cost 4 pounds –so $6 dollars!
That is an expensive snack!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
We ended the day by rejoining the
tour bus and we were glad to end up back with the hilarious guide we had on the
first bus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We rode it around looking at
lots of the famous sights in London hearing quirky little tidbits about each:<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The lions in Trafalgar Square, we learned, were
designed by a man who had never actually seen a lion! Instead he modeled the
way they are lying down after his Labrador –so if you ever think they are
sitting like a dog you are right! </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwH3fjOVl17rzDpHks3JytUcWFB8QMpJd1sFuJQpYtGoQsXJ5jXpIqYNW6fgez6aYsumfKsP34Go4uNwzwV7_w6Bm0nWEcugBmNsFdwLVOQiLNvvUGZ7KqY4wb56lb_80KadPiFMNB2OQ/s1600/IMG_3910.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwH3fjOVl17rzDpHks3JytUcWFB8QMpJd1sFuJQpYtGoQsXJ5jXpIqYNW6fgez6aYsumfKsP34Go4uNwzwV7_w6Bm0nWEcugBmNsFdwLVOQiLNvvUGZ7KqY4wb56lb_80KadPiFMNB2OQ/s400/IMG_3910.JPG" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Arizona (the state) tried to buy the most famous
bridge in London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They meant to buy
Tower Bridge which is the one leading to the Tower of London with blue
suspension cables and towers on it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
Arizona mistakenly thought that it was named London Bridge which is a bridge a
little ways down the river and purchased that bridge instead! So instead of the
famous Tower Bridge they got a relatively plain bridge to put over a body of
water in the States… Although I’m not sure why, because Arizona is not
particularly known for its bodies of water…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><br />
<br />
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Zz1YufaDXTefL9mj2gr6NDvZRBcaxHNjo9NlIUii1ybFnbaQbOsgxV2yNCw-UfXGTAu85-EV-b7yceZknPV27FDnvv8VbKC1RlCY_YtYUlKwpzFX92zxbB388M-mbsDnkhTTRqaQAAE/s1600/IMG_3898.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Zz1YufaDXTefL9mj2gr6NDvZRBcaxHNjo9NlIUii1ybFnbaQbOsgxV2yNCw-UfXGTAu85-EV-b7yceZknPV27FDnvv8VbKC1RlCY_YtYUlKwpzFX92zxbB388M-mbsDnkhTTRqaQAAE/s200/IMG_3898.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Most of the clocks in London –and England- have
an <br />
incorrect numeral 4 on them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead
of IV they have IIII! <br />
This is because King Louis the XIV (14<sup>th</sup>) of
France banned clocks having IV on them because it was part of his name! </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>Harper and Dakotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05065588522753896211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263290275130223539.post-3023815349352568232012-04-10T09:09:00.002-07:002012-04-10T09:09:32.964-07:00Return to Cardiff<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjlk0N3860srfawO2nL7lbrq7XuRJXCWBwpMFrv3oLec_FodIDAsaPLi2LiEmpuLMGA0RtI-Vc-gBRwtdoRBQP987Gw3ZS4d35YxxUOeqitMHmzM0cb4yBOTp8Q2QS5tF65FgXB1EvrqA/s1600/Wallen+Visit+017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjlk0N3860srfawO2nL7lbrq7XuRJXCWBwpMFrv3oLec_FodIDAsaPLi2LiEmpuLMGA0RtI-Vc-gBRwtdoRBQP987Gw3ZS4d35YxxUOeqitMHmzM0cb4yBOTp8Q2QS5tF65FgXB1EvrqA/s400/Wallen+Visit+017.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhuvBu2JbXXVGfuBb8auaOWwurqa1GslLaAADvtGNWws4wUKtggS834d62w6xfR5i9u_d-Jrrfa1frLowdoVjYv1AZgFHCJi8dS50IGp6sG264SNGkFGGQvAEzq3L-86qLPcM6E-ak6Jg/s1600/Wallen+Visit+034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhuvBu2JbXXVGfuBb8auaOWwurqa1GslLaAADvtGNWws4wUKtggS834d62w6xfR5i9u_d-Jrrfa1frLowdoVjYv1AZgFHCJi8dS50IGp6sG264SNGkFGGQvAEzq3L-86qLPcM6E-ak6Jg/s320/Wallen+Visit+034.JPG" width="240" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My (Dakota's)
parents and little brother arrived in Bristol on my birthday after a flight
cancellation fiasco.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We celebrated my
ancientness with chocolate cake and spaghetti and of course presents. Yay! And
after not nearly enough rest for my jet-lagged family, we left the next morning
for Cardiff. </div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxB6pHtEomqRQngzZTl4h_d8IE71cGLf4khdiiOxbhhoqQqNv7WZCqe7bu0OAQ63I21nBmxmOA7feiTKEyH3qZbI-A6ze85gQfP4U6hsVLJ2iV63wNxn3hWbrYMr3ppxViv3mMhznL6c/s1600/Wallen+Visit+026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxB6pHtEomqRQngzZTl4h_d8IE71cGLf4khdiiOxbhhoqQqNv7WZCqe7bu0OAQ63I21nBmxmOA7feiTKEyH3qZbI-A6ze85gQfP4U6hsVLJ2iV63wNxn3hWbrYMr3ppxViv3mMhznL6c/s200/Wallen+Visit+026.JPG" width="150" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Upon
arrival our first order of business was to go to Cardiff Castle (our second
time but my families' first). We did a little research before we left and
learned that we could get season passes for the same price as our ticket! So we
took advantage of that opportunity, especially since we will be returning there
when Harper's family comes in June. Hurray for saving money! This time instead
of taking a guided tour of Cardiff Castle we got free audio guides and listened
to all sorts of facts about Cardiff Castle from its Roman beginnings to its use
as a bomb shelter in World War II. Surprisingly my 8 year old brother Jed
listened to all of the adult tour and enjoyed it just as much as we did! Since
when do youngsters listen to lengthy historic facts? And more than that remember
them!?</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTvi9rdOpTfLvuxXTwmjvWTr8b-Z25LACAbCYWxTsYMtyPRo0__xRT5PeX2m6SK2-7iVmD18zprsZvAKOdK2JB26WcB0oN3SYf72oryx33aUZsq_uxAUQwEu4lJ5C27Ii6zj1ixA7j91Y/s1600/Wallen+Visit+019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTvi9rdOpTfLvuxXTwmjvWTr8b-Z25LACAbCYWxTsYMtyPRo0__xRT5PeX2m6SK2-7iVmD18zprsZvAKOdK2JB26WcB0oN3SYf72oryx33aUZsq_uxAUQwEu4lJ5C27Ii6zj1ixA7j91Y/s320/Wallen+Visit+019.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
highlight of the day was our trek up the stairs to the top of the tower on the
keep. Jed loved that experience and all 5 of us (us, Jed and my parents) counted
the stairs from the bridge to the keep to the top of the tower, in total we
reached somewhere between 104 and 109, our results varied depending on if some
"extra steps" counted. The weather was splendid in Cardiff once again
so we were perfectly comfortable eating an ice cream treat in the Castle lawn. Jed
and my parents felt strongly that dairy products in England (or at least Wales)
were far better than at home! After our treat we went into the Wartime Museum
in the Castle visitor center, where we took turns trying on war uniforms. Jed's
favorite part was putting on WWI outfits and posing with machine guns; one
staff member took a liking to all of us Americans and had us try on different
period outfits. The best part was when my dad put on a full Red-Coat outfit, a
little ironic being an American!</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitp7QL4nYJA4qRXFfJvUqFkTjYQJNg1PLXOCd3DqKz92YSy-NbOMMueCYWpWacJ521ce4HrSmVrHDyb9bMMo11FFN1VHNTYygGbIyJDYm283h-iX5WVogIWgLrqUQqcY83l9oyGk2faqo/s1600/Wallen+Visit+043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitp7QL4nYJA4qRXFfJvUqFkTjYQJNg1PLXOCd3DqKz92YSy-NbOMMueCYWpWacJ521ce4HrSmVrHDyb9bMMo11FFN1VHNTYygGbIyJDYm283h-iX5WVogIWgLrqUQqcY83l9oyGk2faqo/s320/Wallen+Visit+043.JPG" width="240" /></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxjfZjJ47VSNFTGe86jH9wWaWcZfzsNyJLFNd8kQ27yciwYM4VH6nJq6CJdBu53L-jLlmV3Kh_eEw4QIWqHr7MOU_fjUNMXOgqkP7Bw9KyD9M5FR_0uvLF-ZKoK9N868Su73Ibbh5sPBE/s1600/Wallen+Visit+048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxjfZjJ47VSNFTGe86jH9wWaWcZfzsNyJLFNd8kQ27yciwYM4VH6nJq6CJdBu53L-jLlmV3Kh_eEw4QIWqHr7MOU_fjUNMXOgqkP7Bw9KyD9M5FR_0uvLF-ZKoK9N868Su73Ibbh5sPBE/s200/Wallen+Visit+048.JPG" width="150" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Craig, a
really friendly guy who worked at the museum, proceeded to give us facts about all
sorts of artifacts. One of the most interesting facts was about horse hooves
found throughout the display cases. Cavalry members cut of their horses foot
after it had died as proof to their superiors that there horse had died and they
were in need of a new one. Many of these hooves were turned into decorative
ashtrays, how pleasant!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNC4ywYDN2WpV4uG-w76BqTNYuxvYq-ThjGx7_-Y9IJ5-SV2IoZ-sj4s1IlYlCcztdCH-D0DdzsWtH9jjmYQN5qT2RZ4ClkAbvxxl7LWXoPOqwW3Vl7A5X7UTQL4nWJCIjXFFp858z0k/s1600/Wallen+Visit+047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNC4ywYDN2WpV4uG-w76BqTNYuxvYq-ThjGx7_-Y9IJ5-SV2IoZ-sj4s1IlYlCcztdCH-D0DdzsWtH9jjmYQN5qT2RZ4ClkAbvxxl7LWXoPOqwW3Vl7A5X7UTQL4nWJCIjXFFp858z0k/s320/Wallen+Visit+047.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>He also
showed us an American flag which was captured in the War of 1812. It was one of
very few American flags that have ever been captured and they sure are proud of
that flag they caught!</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After 5
hours at Cardiff Castle and a couple more at the Cardiff Museum we headed home
to get some proper sleep!</div>Harper and Dakotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05065588522753896211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263290275130223539.post-66104198836262412482012-04-09T07:01:00.000-07:002012-04-09T07:01:16.126-07:00Don't get too excited... its just a preview on what's to come!Woweee! Its been a long time since we've posted anything! And don't think its because we have been sitting around watching TV (although I will admit we have done that occasionally). Dakota's parents and little brother came to visit us for two weeks and that whole time we were busy as bees buzzing around and having a million adventures! Get ready for lots of posts coming soon on:<br />
<ul>
<li>The grand city of London: double decker busses, the tower of London, changing of the guard, sherlock holmes, 311 monumental steps, Westminster abbey and incredibly expensive ice cream.</li>
<li>Bath (not <em>a</em> bath, but <em>the </em>bath): Romans bathing, listening to dying goats, blowing glass bubbles and Alice in Wonderland tea.</li>
<li>Cardiff Castle -Take 2: Military fashion show featuring Neal, Dakota and Jed Wallen.</li>
<li>Stone Circles: Stonehenge, Woodhenge, Avebury, white chalk horses and driving on the left side of the road.</li>
<li>Adventures in Bristol: Bristol Zoo, Bristol Aquarium, SS Great Britian, Bristol Cathedral, Clifton Suspension Bridge, and The Pirates in an Adventure with the Scientists!</li>
<li>Lots and lots of ice cream!</li>
</ul>
So keep checking we will get all of this and more up as soon as we can! =)Harper and Dakotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05065588522753896211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263290275130223539.post-71518396081559526932012-03-06T07:45:00.000-08:002012-03-06T07:49:07.152-08:00Cardiff Trip<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDZGICZwHY_TIbf5Cp8VQcREa6qPyB2fyRaEs2FFr3ESZ-PHdRLl2mh8RzGtiidCrDl3J3e83C7u7yRPRNqo2U_gFwguYIVAQe57NweQvVP57cq4tOSJ8Q-7ZKFwASWJDc9NtGTKsBaPc/s1600/Us+and+Keep.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDZGICZwHY_TIbf5Cp8VQcREa6qPyB2fyRaEs2FFr3ESZ-PHdRLl2mh8RzGtiidCrDl3J3e83C7u7yRPRNqo2U_gFwguYIVAQe57NweQvVP57cq4tOSJ8Q-7ZKFwASWJDc9NtGTKsBaPc/s640/Us+and+Keep.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Us in front of the Cardiff Castle Keep</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRvjE7RZ3YZyQCHHygt4pqdTw57-JFN_wxPxVqo_eNDHF7Tiqbh3uOMj0fh_ja2hva5RNiwUTnhTb1vnGs6sUBHKfeHlBExtuYhpCFwVYtCs9N_g1PpqqQx2f-JoesPaagArFFDYjiMY/s1600/Cardiff+Stone+Circle+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRvjE7RZ3YZyQCHHygt4pqdTw57-JFN_wxPxVqo_eNDHF7Tiqbh3uOMj0fh_ja2hva5RNiwUTnhTb1vnGs6sUBHKfeHlBExtuYhpCFwVYtCs9N_g1PpqqQx2f-JoesPaagArFFDYjiMY/s200/Cardiff+Stone+Circle+2.JPG" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stone Circle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
On Saturday the third of March we went on a trip to Cardiff,
Wales with the Study Abroad Program. An hour's ride on our chartered bus took
us straight to the center of Cardiff. We were dropped off right in front of
Cardiff Castle, which was a spectacular sight. Being from Idaho we had never
seen a fortress quite like this before. We had a tour of the Castle in the
afternoon so we started the day by walking down the street to the Cardiff
Museum.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSq6MUkoU8p2kwZRBFhC0W9bQ4VyDS5zmIkOMEaM6gHfMEyyfn-zn3H7S20KF4CsFdF9oGLYbN3PMiJl5KVm0aoh8za47XsDqWn91vaakISdtS8A-EuTsPqM1HrfhoqEjhVQTz-ugX9_Q/s1600/Dakota+at+Top+of+Keep.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSq6MUkoU8p2kwZRBFhC0W9bQ4VyDS5zmIkOMEaM6gHfMEyyfn-zn3H7S20KF4CsFdF9oGLYbN3PMiJl5KVm0aoh8za47XsDqWn91vaakISdtS8A-EuTsPqM1HrfhoqEjhVQTz-ugX9_Q/s320/Dakota+at+Top+of+Keep.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dakota at top of the keep </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyKugrHsIxH6zWwRFXmszxCBcU45Eu-6-RnxghzH7YfGFocbaYZPNaXrK56TnZzUf9kDPykT9mC3muZh8DXeM_ud9ewRJdyGWFbIca6vMQM0T_C2EYwSVAmcOX6CirJIpVH2-LfmFFrpk/s1600/Dakota+in+Spiral+Staircase.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyKugrHsIxH6zWwRFXmszxCBcU45Eu-6-RnxghzH7YfGFocbaYZPNaXrK56TnZzUf9kDPykT9mC3muZh8DXeM_ud9ewRJdyGWFbIca6vMQM0T_C2EYwSVAmcOX6CirJIpVH2-LfmFFrpk/s320/Dakota+in+Spiral+Staircase.JPG" width="213" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Cardiff
Museum was by far my (Dakota) favorite museum I have been to since we arrived
in the U.K. After seeing dinosaurs, fossils, a lot of artwork and an
animatronic woolly mammoth we went into the section on the Origin of Wales.
Wow! As an Archaeology student I was in heaven! They had artefacts (it is
spelled with an 'e' here) from the Neanderthals all of the way to medieval
times, including a few skeletons. The skeleton's were especially interesting
because in the United States we hardly ever see actual human remains due to the
Native American Graves Repatriation Act, so that was quite a shock to us! We
filled in a lot of gaps in our education on the United Kingdom in that museum. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a park in front of the museum we stopped at
a bench to eat our lunch and realized that we were sitting around a stone circle,
apparently ancient stone circles are common enough here that they didn't feel
the need to identify the landmark in any way... It was interesting to see our
first stone circle though!</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGdBAjQIR2c7t2HYuD9ssf2l6MmpxYV8PJz-5AKSjn_DGLX5THhx1-slfc69feK41o0oBJzS10Ms7mSvKdaMis_oMuYaAoPc3fgl7bgpfqumI1h3RC5dAEwe0PiCO9kFZV0QxYlwUVD-Y/s1600/Dakot+and+Dalek!.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGdBAjQIR2c7t2HYuD9ssf2l6MmpxYV8PJz-5AKSjn_DGLX5THhx1-slfc69feK41o0oBJzS10Ms7mSvKdaMis_oMuYaAoPc3fgl7bgpfqumI1h3RC5dAEwe0PiCO9kFZV0QxYlwUVD-Y/s320/Dakot+and+Dalek!.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dakota and the Dalek</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Before
going to our tour of Cardiff Castle we did some exploring around Cardiff. They
had lots of little shops in what they call arcades. They were a lot like
covered alleyways full of stores. We had a blast exploring the arcades and bought
some Tintin Adventures and a Doctor Seuss book in an awesome three story book
store, and barely survived an encounter with a Dalek! Hopefully The Doctor will
realize they have invaded Cardiff!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQ2hxNu2pYKjNTsTeoAgpsPxsntx3iluwgrG6mb8mGBS9YXVJ6wFSIIqmJpLN9qugASTZg7MzS1ZCPnF2EJqInrBi4vWPV-h5xTpJh2Ru2JIXYFW4CIzgptBpEc9w0ohPCkxNqO83lcI/s1600/Harper+and+Castle+Keep.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHQ2hxNu2pYKjNTsTeoAgpsPxsntx3iluwgrG6mb8mGBS9YXVJ6wFSIIqmJpLN9qugASTZg7MzS1ZCPnF2EJqInrBi4vWPV-h5xTpJh2Ru2JIXYFW4CIzgptBpEc9w0ohPCkxNqO83lcI/s320/Harper+and+Castle+Keep.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukMvjpcqZiyazux82lSAiFjyW5Es3E-Vgy5xKiZUnbro5GY6V3u34CTWX7fMyCqmmnFiuOTC31QHG8IKtCP2x0VoPtm88A_qQJkhnVw6WHGFAswrsBk0aRUY9ztaeVRCliZQBtka6onE/s1600/Castle+Doorway.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukMvjpcqZiyazux82lSAiFjyW5Es3E-Vgy5xKiZUnbro5GY6V3u34CTWX7fMyCqmmnFiuOTC31QHG8IKtCP2x0VoPtm88A_qQJkhnVw6WHGFAswrsBk0aRUY9ztaeVRCliZQBtka6onE/s200/Castle+Doorway.JPG" width="133" /></a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After
exploring the numerous arcades we made our way back to Cardiff Castle where we
were given a tour of the portion of the Castle that was inhabited during the
Victorian Era. It was very grandly decorated; all of the ceilings were painted
and had beautiful artwork and gold decorations. Of course the castle would have
never looked anything like that in the medieval times, but the Medieval Revival
in the Victorian era greatly romanticized the idea of medieval life and the
castle greatly reflected that exaggeration. The most interesting portion of the
Fortress was the Castle Keep in the center of the Fortress, complete with moat
and tower. There was a portion along the stairs where we were informed by our
favorite tour guide Elvyn that people were walled up alive in when the castle
was in use! That was a little disturbing to think about but we soon shuddered
that thought away. As we explored the walls of the fortress we came across a tunnel
into the wall and when we entered a motion sensor activated an audio track of a
WWII air raid! You should have seen us jump as a speaker shouted at us "I
AM TALKING TO YOU!" amidst the drone of air sirens and explosions in the
distance! Apparently the walls had been used as a bomb shelter, we found out
the exciting way! After a brief walk through the Wartime Museum below the gift
shop we headed back to Bristol after an exhausting day in Wales.</div>
<span dir="ltr"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWsOiV-QCTFxGLrbPl5P9t8W69w0Ab7joRjyS-LBkezcAlDbXZ6sOOIZifvlsdoxu1qpftmTdsB7VRPUhH71CEiSoupIc1HU0KVLNstqw-2yxAOZdYa7fRxERyC6-YY7wz4_XCBEkSn_Q/s1600/Dragon+and+Keep.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWsOiV-QCTFxGLrbPl5P9t8W69w0Ab7joRjyS-LBkezcAlDbXZ6sOOIZifvlsdoxu1qpftmTdsB7VRPUhH71CEiSoupIc1HU0KVLNstqw-2yxAOZdYa7fRxERyC6-YY7wz4_XCBEkSn_Q/s640/Dragon+and+Keep.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Harper and Dakotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05065588522753896211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263290275130223539.post-59148355577617525392012-03-01T09:29:00.002-08:002012-03-01T09:29:44.647-08:00Gowers, Wales<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfcXvKsEV43ykyd7tMeo0iAkd5rsD_iCdjvNRtDTw8kC7w5P6J2vIUWeGaF05ya9DS84obOivOUZeBQzOkVgJ-G3NL5X7quCI_j6vhGQAxzDgmkiYh4CWW83z2NBdksWSlq7qkYyp_QE0/s1600/Dakota+on+Rocks+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfcXvKsEV43ykyd7tMeo0iAkd5rsD_iCdjvNRtDTw8kC7w5P6J2vIUWeGaF05ya9DS84obOivOUZeBQzOkVgJ-G3NL5X7quCI_j6vhGQAxzDgmkiYh4CWW83z2NBdksWSlq7qkYyp_QE0/s200/Dakota+on+Rocks+2.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Last week we embarked on a grand adventure to Wales with the Explorer's society (a fabulous club all about walking, hiking and of course exploring). Our first trip across the Bristol Channel took us to the tiny town of Gower, a charming West-Wales village complete with a sandy beach, shipwreck, and an island only reachable at low tide. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia3YaismZ8wXTUJrQ644qINZBVCs8I2SNUcO_2LWfUrJbzwIit698gZknAbOXv9Shb6-5OLGW5fgjFtutKj5q6RQ9sgVnnrJe_Oxl6rUjvOB6RgDmjCxPrSv-5GS5uK-Ew5958LdzkS3k/s1600/Worm's+Head+up+close.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia3YaismZ8wXTUJrQ644qINZBVCs8I2SNUcO_2LWfUrJbzwIit698gZknAbOXv9Shb6-5OLGW5fgjFtutKj5q6RQ9sgVnnrJe_Oxl6rUjvOB6RgDmjCxPrSv-5GS5uK-Ew5958LdzkS3k/s320/Worm's+Head+up+close.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
We started the day walking down the beach, we combed the sand for sea-shells -which are now adding much needed decoration to our flat! It was a pretty warm day for February, in the mid 40's to mid 50's (Fahrenheit), but we were still shocked to see surfers catching waves. Granted they had full body-suits complete with hood, gloves and footies, but those we saw emerging from the water still looked frozen solid!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpEPOrS-pNKhA-p6hR8zn8CV_q-3SkDaIcmlvZUjGLSwSfbTA5VcJhJ1Q6J6xeIxqqvtFv9Ne6ES_urc5iuZgmuqjZSO-IFj9QxrEHtxqhNvWutacGUDR_GBsOY_F9IjbgmyuTO6OMyJs/s1600/Shipwreck!.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpEPOrS-pNKhA-p6hR8zn8CV_q-3SkDaIcmlvZUjGLSwSfbTA5VcJhJ1Q6J6xeIxqqvtFv9Ne6ES_urc5iuZgmuqjZSO-IFj9QxrEHtxqhNvWutacGUDR_GBsOY_F9IjbgmyuTO6OMyJs/s200/Shipwreck!.JPG" width="150" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Poking out of the sand on the beach, you can see what remains of the masts of the Helvetia -a ship from the late 1800's that wrecked offshore. It was apparently full of timber and the locals profited by selling the wood that floated in. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVH4Hegq_Mdk8DwsvCT8sF5ESp-YRq_ZnbEHthn_mWHPD94fWyzgNomCd8Er9qS_QyvvPzKZsRkAaqFkfbjn-AGG1vrwS2lTG9MmPK-ImuzFTvmGXoKWSrQsnxQxkBx3v2tkcNdZOaeo/s1600/Long+Tailed+sheep+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVH4Hegq_Mdk8DwsvCT8sF5ESp-YRq_ZnbEHthn_mWHPD94fWyzgNomCd8Er9qS_QyvvPzKZsRkAaqFkfbjn-AGG1vrwS2lTG9MmPK-ImuzFTvmGXoKWSrQsnxQxkBx3v2tkcNdZOaeo/s1600/Long+Tailed+sheep+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVH4Hegq_Mdk8DwsvCT8sF5ESp-YRq_ZnbEHthn_mWHPD94fWyzgNomCd8Er9qS_QyvvPzKZsRkAaqFkfbjn-AGG1vrwS2lTG9MmPK-ImuzFTvmGXoKWSrQsnxQxkBx3v2tkcNdZOaeo/s320/Long+Tailed+sheep+2.JPG" width="320" /></a>After a quick lunch, we headed towards The Worm's Head islands. You can only cross the rocky ground to the actual islands during low tide, and the higher tides had left us lots of fun little tide pools to look in on our way. The Worm's Head is made up of two islands with slanted slabs of rock (the part that gets covered up by the tide) separating them from each other and from the mainland. From the top of the last island you can see the beach and a lot of the Wales landscape. Beautiful! Occasionally a happy little seal bobbed its head up out of the ocean to say hello. There were lots of sheep all around -even on the island and some had long tails that made them look almost like foxes dressed in sheep's clothing. <br />
<br />
We discussed differences between the U.S. and England with our British companions the whole way back to Bristol. Here are a few of the things we learned:<br />
<br />
Pants = Underwear<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURkQ9aHsgdW7ErURfzy5Dpn9NVU2G7bgcpRZfPTzQfS-P47XysI8v3Tow5JBMkMLV5ikaDOOX6FHSDO-FwszX4bwWV99h_ElqOOwKclybRJjxnHeKnTIEOeU54_pUAmwLuuKNnmEojeo/s1600/Harper+in+an+Arch.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURkQ9aHsgdW7ErURfzy5Dpn9NVU2G7bgcpRZfPTzQfS-P47XysI8v3Tow5JBMkMLV5ikaDOOX6FHSDO-FwszX4bwWV99h_ElqOOwKclybRJjxnHeKnTIEOeU54_pUAmwLuuKNnmEojeo/s320/Harper+in+an+Arch.JPG" width="320" /></a>Trousers = What we call pants in the US<br />
<br />
Jelly isn't really used in the UK -just jam- our friends didn't really know what jelly was so we had to explain that it was jam without the seeds or preserves.<br />
<br />
Eating biscuits and gravy does not happen in England -they looked at us like we were crazy! Also the closest thing they have to our "biscuits" is scones which they only eat with jam or fruit <em>never</em> gravy.<br />
<br />
Marmite= Our explorer friends thought that the United States is an excellent place because it doesn't have it! They found extracts from bacteria just as gross as we did...<br />
<br />
Every area has a distinct accent and they all sound different to each other -but to us they mostly just sound British!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFyFp4uOvfKuSXHF-XTuK8ucZOAN6d31kLiyvPl7nWZ_mqMF8inR-ov549tKjlg27dUhmOb5iSqzZX15Bq7_4PN6keVUIB0TlolzdEr4T062fIlkeZbbJMfAQsz0Ttgp55LYVPaKp24Mc/s1600/Dakota+at+Gowers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFyFp4uOvfKuSXHF-XTuK8ucZOAN6d31kLiyvPl7nWZ_mqMF8inR-ov549tKjlg27dUhmOb5iSqzZX15Bq7_4PN6keVUIB0TlolzdEr4T062fIlkeZbbJMfAQsz0Ttgp55LYVPaKp24Mc/s320/Dakota+at+Gowers.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Harper and Dakotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05065588522753896211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263290275130223539.post-15766578802650199842012-02-21T08:54:00.000-08:002012-02-21T09:02:58.247-08:00British Sayings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0zuScDrW4XDkA1xfloTlLflYL0pkaNYDdNh0KC9h8H3JfpzYUgptCJ-sPbfPyMxzJqEXFDHa_gyCCDsuxd2awrAmz9bJrN9NqYPOm5i1NAWn_FOqvuHvykVli-nOEZzOqXOC-6nEb7s/s1600/Funny+sign.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0zuScDrW4XDkA1xfloTlLflYL0pkaNYDdNh0KC9h8H3JfpzYUgptCJ-sPbfPyMxzJqEXFDHa_gyCCDsuxd2awrAmz9bJrN9NqYPOm5i1NAWn_FOqvuHvykVli-nOEZzOqXOC-6nEb7s/s400/Funny+sign.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Sure they speak English in England... but not everything
they say has the same meaning. Here are a few of the new phrases we've learned:<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<u>British saying</u><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><u>American
Equivalent</u></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Pinch a fag<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>bum
a cigarette (no mom, we haven’t picked up smoking).</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 2in; text-indent: -2in;">
Pudding<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If someone asks you if you want pudding -say yes! It usually comes in the form of pie, cake, ice cream, cobbler, and occasionally actual pudding -but whatever it is it will be good. Somehow or other pudding has become an encompassing term for most desserts. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 2in; text-indent: -2in;">
Zebra Crossing<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Crosswalk; sorry no
zebras on the streets of Bristol</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Humped Zebra Crossing<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We’ll
let your imagination figure that one out…</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Biscuits<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>Cookies;
I probably wouldn’t eat them with gravy!</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 2in; text-indent: -2in;">
Knocked up<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> W</span>hat has an
incredibly derogatory connotation in America is a common phrase in England. When
someone says ‘I’ll knock you up at 8’, they mean, ‘I’ll wake you up at 8’ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> get you pregnant!</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 2in; text-indent: -2in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 2in; text-indent: -2in;">
They also
pronounce some things very differently, for instance in our British Prehistory
class we </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 2in; text-indent: -2in;">
discussed a site
at Happisbrough. Somehow Happisbrough is pronounced “Hayes-burrow.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 2in; text-indent: -2in;">
We have no idea
how they came up with that!</div>Harper and Dakotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05065588522753896211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263290275130223539.post-73355360987960702062012-02-18T09:01:00.000-08:002012-02-18T09:01:11.270-08:00Liverpool a.k.a Beatle Land!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg044F1y1TiTP_ifmkPuynWuD4a6tP-tPXgCgf2sjr1oqwyWdkL41QzR1zSQnAvOD4W8iFm8a_ecNbiI4FEDpCtBSDSjitj1HwSlJWGewTFLSjQQFH4HhOavrW4aoyWxeAyHTS-vx89vc8/s1600/Giant+Beatles!.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg044F1y1TiTP_ifmkPuynWuD4a6tP-tPXgCgf2sjr1oqwyWdkL41QzR1zSQnAvOD4W8iFm8a_ecNbiI4FEDpCtBSDSjitj1HwSlJWGewTFLSjQQFH4HhOavrW4aoyWxeAyHTS-vx89vc8/s400/Giant+Beatles!.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giant Beatle's Picture at a Mall</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>From the
11th to 12th Harper and I went on a trip to Liverpool.... My Life as a Beatles
Fanatic is now complete!! After a couple hours and a change of trains we
arrived in Liverpool on Saturday and jumped right into things. First we went on
a Magical Mystery Tour in an awesome bus that was decorated like the Beatles
Magical Mystery Tour bus. The tour took us all over the suburbs of Liverpool
where we saw famous Beatles sights such as; the houses where each of the
Beatles grew up, Penny Lane, St. Peters church where John Lennon and Paul
McCartney first met (and where the grave of one Eleanor Rigby is located),
Strawberry fields, and the Cavern Club. It was incredible to be able to
actually see places I had only heard of in songs or seen photographs of, these
were the places where it all began! </div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyz3mX-K8cbRB4KIVyFzxdFWzVi4nNV12MkcjDHKc2xuR6pMW3LD-vdSv1q-rSW9EA0BbLGNdtdESlebI5Z84__LZoS1N-_lSAQD4rQrQSfSE2TE24uAmDpSBFNwCiauz8lGoRTB-oaDM/s1600/Dakota+at+Penny+Lane.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyz3mX-K8cbRB4KIVyFzxdFWzVi4nNV12MkcjDHKc2xuR6pMW3LD-vdSv1q-rSW9EA0BbLGNdtdESlebI5Z84__LZoS1N-_lSAQD4rQrQSfSE2TE24uAmDpSBFNwCiauz8lGoRTB-oaDM/s320/Dakota+at+Penny+Lane.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dakota At Penny Lane Sign</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUB7FP_oHymuUsxoZSyjcxG0pzU75CnGrUq0cIKSc1FAMMTID9vX8neQRGWOdcCILEy0Mq5xAks9UiT7v5qyXIjj8_TlRIls0ip0xnGXR1V1wZRNqriYHEGQnWeTs2akdWj1G_3gbn3_Q/s1600/Us+at+Strawberry+Fields.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUB7FP_oHymuUsxoZSyjcxG0pzU75CnGrUq0cIKSc1FAMMTID9vX8neQRGWOdcCILEy0Mq5xAks9UiT7v5qyXIjj8_TlRIls0ip0xnGXR1V1wZRNqriYHEGQnWeTs2akdWj1G_3gbn3_Q/s320/Us+at+Strawberry+Fields.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Us at Strawberry Field</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If that wasn't
close enough to where it all began at 9:00 that evening we went to a Beatles
tribute band in the rebuilt Cavern Club! Of course nobody could ever compete
with the real Beatles but this band was very impressive. The guy who played
John's role actually looked and sounded like John Lennon, his rendition of Lucy
in the Sky with Diamonds was practically indiscernible from the Beatles
original! </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The next
day we switched hotels and moved in to The Hard Day's Night hotel, devoted
entirely to the Beatles! I was instantly infatuated with the Statues of each
Beatle on the outside of the building, but it didn't end there, on the inside
Beatles music was constantly playing (there was even a Yellow Submarine Juke
Box) and Giant pictures of the Beatles lined the Spiral Staircase showing the
Beatles' story through the years over 5 stories of the building. In our room a
giant picture of John Lennon overlooked our bed... a little disturbing but as a
big fan at least I was accustomed to being watched over by photographs of
Beatles. The Picture was titled Cynthia, and if you look closely you can see
Cynthia, John's ex-wife, smiling back at you in John's sunglasses. It didn't
stop there, all of the complimentary toiletries were dedicated to the Beatles,
our soap was in a wrapper that looked like a 45 rpm record, the shower cap box
was decorated like an amp, and the shampoo bottles had pictures of different
things involved with the Beatles, such as John's Glasses. We took the liberty
of each keeping a pair of Hard Day's Night slippers, which seemed to be
complimentary... we hope!</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7bo1CXzHxkrIkyahSTGPjVHOUh-iw0SSqT1Cemw941SR5R86_9qPojqK7sODRsAyIhkowyno5hULAQObKzq1d6I5hIDjGbfgTabJysmgY2lMgbgSTem5X_NGgx92MsGkbGJ2P88SZCs/s1600/Yellow+Submarine+Juke+Box.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC7bo1CXzHxkrIkyahSTGPjVHOUh-iw0SSqT1Cemw941SR5R86_9qPojqK7sODRsAyIhkowyno5hULAQObKzq1d6I5hIDjGbfgTabJysmgY2lMgbgSTem5X_NGgx92MsGkbGJ2P88SZCs/s320/Yellow+Submarine+Juke+Box.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow Submarine Juke Box in the Cavern Club</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoUIN7GVcLwKQxwV6EDFmo1MbsUE8iZ9e-zB2LFPbJd4YYvEz1xr2mpWe8BuIhNEu2BFfUM8HBkV8vMOSg-xeggf4-4X_2X4-UjFJ3kfZB0gxOA8H4lLfHkyM2zb87LVSIULyFQMO43bE/s1600/Dakota+and+the+Beatles+Story+Sign.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoUIN7GVcLwKQxwV6EDFmo1MbsUE8iZ9e-zB2LFPbJd4YYvEz1xr2mpWe8BuIhNEu2BFfUM8HBkV8vMOSg-xeggf4-4X_2X4-UjFJ3kfZB0gxOA8H4lLfHkyM2zb87LVSIULyFQMO43bE/s320/Dakota+and+the+Beatles+Story+Sign.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dakota in Front of The Beatles Story Museum</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We walked
down to Albert dock and visited the Beatles Story Museum, which was awesome!
The whole thing was designed like different places important to the Beatles.
For instance inside there were reconstructed full size models of; the outside
of the club they played at in Hamburg, a house where Paul and George came up
with Lyrics together, their first record studio, the outside and inside of the
Cavern Club, the outside and inside of Abbey Road Studios and even the inside
of the airplane they flew on when they first came to the United States. Towards
the end of the pathway through the Beatles' story some parts were a little bit
more imaginary, such as a large model of the Yellow Submarine. The sub was
complete with a Periscope which one could gaze out of and see Pepperland and
the invading Blue Meanies! The tour ended with 4 different sections devoted to
the paths of each Beatle after the groups break up. The museum was an
incredible experience that brought reality to my endless studies of the Beatles.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG59HRfhxIOdPz4h-Q0VTsU3fYXWJ-MiJe9ZKrdP9Z89DxdowcAZb4qOW09f7VFf3hs4mzIu_Vu_A-zUSM7f7LHWmeW_nNh4Z5c9GViGdSYdfe5b66lcxphV7Ka9JqviLtVmMlvzix_u0/s1600/Dakota+with+the+Beatles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG59HRfhxIOdPz4h-Q0VTsU3fYXWJ-MiJe9ZKrdP9Z89DxdowcAZb4qOW09f7VFf3hs4mzIu_Vu_A-zUSM7f7LHWmeW_nNh4Z5c9GViGdSYdfe5b66lcxphV7Ka9JqviLtVmMlvzix_u0/s320/Dakota+with+the+Beatles.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dakota and the Yellow Submarine Beatles</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That
evening as we were looking for a place to eat dinner we made a spur of the
moment decision and decided to go see Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
in 3D. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of eating dinner we
decided to splurge so we ate popcorn, gummy candies, and ice cream instead! In
order to get the full effect of the Star Wars Awesomeness we couldn't help but
buy some groovy Pod Racer 3D goggles to watch the movie through! This was
actually a good decision because they were actually far more comfortable than
the standard 3D glasses. We stayed in the Hard Day's Night Hotel that night and
after some very difficult decisions as to what Beatles stores to visit and what
goodies to buy, we left on the train back to Bristol.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_82813JjnQgvIpCr2w0TqvsA4bdOezjAFFP9XYGGxdvfYb_1rQEzCyJkQ4f72qMX1x5IWGRkSVeuvwCERmpSHWj5MiMyJQBoPp7Gs9fhGQLdkX0JWI_mM9KUrbtl7U-cgM9ZmcAc5a08/s1600/Pod+Racer+Glasses.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_82813JjnQgvIpCr2w0TqvsA4bdOezjAFFP9XYGGxdvfYb_1rQEzCyJkQ4f72qMX1x5IWGRkSVeuvwCERmpSHWj5MiMyJQBoPp7Gs9fhGQLdkX0JWI_mM9KUrbtl7U-cgM9ZmcAc5a08/s400/Pod+Racer+Glasses.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Us in our Pod Racer 3D glasses</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>Harper and Dakotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05065588522753896211noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263290275130223539.post-5201209791187334232012-02-18T07:11:00.000-08:002012-02-18T07:11:08.059-08:00Base Camp: Bristol Hi, our names are Harper and Dakota Wallen, we are attending the University of Bristol as study abroad students from the University of Idaho. At home in the states Harper studies Elementary education, and I (Dakota) am triple majoring in Anthropology, History and Secondary Education. Here at the University of Bristol we are taking a few different types of courses; The Archaeology of Myth, British Prehistory, and Classics of European Cinema.<br />
<br />
We come from the small town of Moscow, Idaho. Which for those of you who don't know is located in the Palouse region, so we come from a farming based community. Both of us grew up living in the country, so living in the heart of Bristol is a <strong><em>BIG</em></strong> change for us! But change is good and we are certainly enjoying our stay so far in Bristol.<br />
<br />
We have been in Bristol for a few weeks now -and it's great! =) Everywhere you go there are new things to do and places to see. Here are a couple of highlights from our recent adventures:<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDh4AR5whTa5_CKjriiqQmOjDlQ4S2HIa14whkzK6ApcSSYDJ0He5wjqhBEH-BmfeuyF2smR3IkVSarIp__8CGlKKmIKEc4EQq1rrAc7w-g_KejFDLMAbnLj5HPsQe5WTezM9M7rS8kCk/s1600/Bristol+Cathedral+End.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDh4AR5whTa5_CKjriiqQmOjDlQ4S2HIa14whkzK6ApcSSYDJ0He5wjqhBEH-BmfeuyF2smR3IkVSarIp__8CGlKKmIKEc4EQq1rrAc7w-g_KejFDLMAbnLj5HPsQe5WTezM9M7rS8kCk/s200/Bristol+Cathedral+End.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bristol Cathedral</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<ul><ul><ul><ul>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;">
Bristol Cathedral (left) : Stunning (and gigantic) cathedral located right down the street from campus! They have a huge pipe organ we can't wait to hear!</div>
</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul><ul><ul><ul>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
Pieminister: AWESOME pie shop with several locations in Bristol. Pies are delicious and you have to get the Mothership: pie on a bed of mashed potatoes, covered in mashed peas, with crunchy shallots on top -absolutely delicious! And yes, I (Harper) ate all of those things mixed together and LOVED it!</div>
</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul><ul><ul><ul>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
Bristol Museum: Museum with exhibits on mummies, art, local wildlife, and even dinosaurs. Definitely a fun trip!</div>
</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul><ul><ul><ul><ul>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
Clifton Suspension Bridge: Amazing suspension bridge built in 1864 spanning the Avon Gorge. </div>
</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul><ul><ul><ul><div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
Trip to London: We went on a quick daytrip to London with other study abroad students -went to see the Victoria & Albert Museum which houses ridiculous amounts of art including pieces by Raphael, Giovanni, Donatello and more. We also went to the National History Museum which had an amazingly large dinosaur exhibit (with a life-size animatronic T-Rex!), along with just about every other type of exhibit you can think of. </div>
</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul><ul><ul><ul><div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<li><div style="text-align: left;">
Stokes Croft: The area we live in is called Stokes Croft. Labelled the "cultural center" of the city, it is filled with little shops and lots of street art. Very different from little our little hometown of Moscow, Idaho! It's fun to watch as the art covering a building one day might change overnight. </div>
</li>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>
</ul>Harper and Dakotahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05065588522753896211noreply@blogger.com0