My neighbor passed away last night. She was the 54 year old mother to my daughter's best friend and she is gone. She wasn't sick, she didn't have an incurable disease or give us any warning. She went in for a routine surgery to repair some muscles in her arm - and she died three days later.
It is easy to let the day go by and not be sad because honestly, I hardly ever talked to her and now...I feel sad about that. As we all are, I was so busy living my life and making sure I was in the right places and doing the right things that I feel like I didn't take the time to check in with her nearly enough. After Taylor went to school and both of our girls were gone, I was so busy trying to sort out my life and I didn't take the time to think that maybe she wanted to talk or needed a friend. I know this sounds like one of those emails that you get and delete because you are sick of hearing it - but you don't get a second chance sometimes.
Tonight I was sitting at my desk putting together a slideshow of a life that I really knew very little about. I think what is making me cry now is that looking at all these pictures of my neighbor, I realize that we had more in common than I ever realized. We were both moms, with moms that we loved and children that mean the world to us. We both sent our children away to college and struggled with the new life alone without them and wanted what was best for them out there. I am lucky enough to have my mother to go to for moral support and advice. She lost her mother a couple of years ago and I'm just now finding out how horribly sad she still was about this. Her husband works nights and she was really so very alone right across the street from me. I managed to fill up my evenings with dance and friends and new hobbies and I didn't invite her or take the time to see how her journey was coming along.
I don't have a clever wrap-up because I'm sort of crying and typing as this emotional outburst was a little unexpected tonight. What I think I'm trying to say is simple - take time to be interested in those around you and don't take time for granted. I am deeply saddened for this family left behind and wish that I had more comforting words for them. I wish I had taken more time to talk to Tracy and know more about her but I just didn't. I listened...but I didn't hear. Why? Because she talked too much or she told long stories or...who knows. What I know is that our street is going to be a lot quieter and a lot less interesting without her presence. She was one of a kind but I think that deep down she wasn't that much different than the rest of us. I will do my best to teach her daughter the things I think she would want her to know from here on out...but I wish I didn't have to.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Live Me
So it has been quite some time since my last post. Taylor has been at school for almost a month now and only home three times. I didn't think I would get through a paragraph without crying for the first few days so I thought best to give the blog a rest. I think we are both getting settled in our new lives and we only talk in the evenings and somtimes just to say good night before one of us turns off the tv.
I was texting her last night and, as usual, I ended our conversation with a familiar sign off - Love you. I type these two words to my daughter at least twice a day. For some reason, instead of listening to me and doing what I say, my phone seems to have a mind of its own. Instead of Love you, my phone keeps putting up Live you. Like so many other times, I corrected my text and hit send, but then I started thinking that my phone was trying to tell me something.
All these years I have been doing just that - living Taylor. I loved every day, all her games, school functions and every other thing that being a mom entitled me to attend with my child. I never really thought of activities as obligations or chores or things I had to do because I was a mom. These were things I got to do because I was a mom. Sure, I didn't always think like this when she was little and the children were more difficult. I really did Live Taylor...but not so much me.
Now, she is off making her way and I am here, struggling to re-join mine. I'm not sure that I was really on my way anywhere when she came into my life so this is kind of like my first adventure alone too. We are both sort of on the same road at the same time, which is strange but exciting.
So many mothers that I have talked to over the last month have confirmed that I am not alone in this strange new world. It's a place that we aren't really warned about that I like to call the "now what" phase of motherhood. What is my purpose, where am I going to devote all my free time now that I don't have soccer games to watch, what am I supposed to eat for dinner every night (ok, that one doesn't apply to everyone). I want to start a blog where we can share ideas and learn from each other how to navigate out of this oh so quiet time and figure out something important to do with ourselves. There are a lot of women out there with a lot of good energy that can accomplish so much if we put our heads together.
I don't know how to do all that website, public blog stuff quite yet...but I think this might be my project. The book isn't coming along as fast as it should. I haven't started - but I have a lot of ideas. Plus I still have those notebooks. Anyway, the point is, now is the time to Live ME. I get to decide if I want to go to Ballet or take a painting class or learn to Salsa. There are too many choices and without learning from others, I feel like I'll just be searching forever. Hopefully I can pull this together...stay tuned. Well, don't really wait around, you know how I am - great ideas, now so great follow through :)
Good night.
I was texting her last night and, as usual, I ended our conversation with a familiar sign off - Love you. I type these two words to my daughter at least twice a day. For some reason, instead of listening to me and doing what I say, my phone seems to have a mind of its own. Instead of Love you, my phone keeps putting up Live you. Like so many other times, I corrected my text and hit send, but then I started thinking that my phone was trying to tell me something.
All these years I have been doing just that - living Taylor. I loved every day, all her games, school functions and every other thing that being a mom entitled me to attend with my child. I never really thought of activities as obligations or chores or things I had to do because I was a mom. These were things I got to do because I was a mom. Sure, I didn't always think like this when she was little and the children were more difficult. I really did Live Taylor...but not so much me.
Now, she is off making her way and I am here, struggling to re-join mine. I'm not sure that I was really on my way anywhere when she came into my life so this is kind of like my first adventure alone too. We are both sort of on the same road at the same time, which is strange but exciting.
So many mothers that I have talked to over the last month have confirmed that I am not alone in this strange new world. It's a place that we aren't really warned about that I like to call the "now what" phase of motherhood. What is my purpose, where am I going to devote all my free time now that I don't have soccer games to watch, what am I supposed to eat for dinner every night (ok, that one doesn't apply to everyone). I want to start a blog where we can share ideas and learn from each other how to navigate out of this oh so quiet time and figure out something important to do with ourselves. There are a lot of women out there with a lot of good energy that can accomplish so much if we put our heads together.
I don't know how to do all that website, public blog stuff quite yet...but I think this might be my project. The book isn't coming along as fast as it should. I haven't started - but I have a lot of ideas. Plus I still have those notebooks. Anyway, the point is, now is the time to Live ME. I get to decide if I want to go to Ballet or take a painting class or learn to Salsa. There are too many choices and without learning from others, I feel like I'll just be searching forever. Hopefully I can pull this together...stay tuned. Well, don't really wait around, you know how I am - great ideas, now so great follow through :)
Good night.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Thank you Irene
I'm sure that isn't a very common headline for many people but this thought just occurred to me while emptying my dishwasher. (something I'm sure I'm doing incorrectly according to my daughter) Irene is a blessing!
A good friend of mine is due to head East this weekend to do something many of my friends are dreading. She is taking her son to college in the midst of the largest natural disaster to hit the East Coast in decades. Some say, oh no, how terrible, how dangerous. I say, bring it! While worrying about the storm and the changed travel plans and the power outages, I am guessing that she has had two, or three days less to think about how sad she is going to be leaving her child at school.
I know that while we have been chatting about the storm and her getting there, I have worried less about leaving my child at school next week. Distractions are wonderful tools to draw us away from the things that are most troubling. For the most part, we can't cause our own distractions so today I say...thank you Irene :)
A good friend of mine is due to head East this weekend to do something many of my friends are dreading. She is taking her son to college in the midst of the largest natural disaster to hit the East Coast in decades. Some say, oh no, how terrible, how dangerous. I say, bring it! While worrying about the storm and the changed travel plans and the power outages, I am guessing that she has had two, or three days less to think about how sad she is going to be leaving her child at school.
I know that while we have been chatting about the storm and her getting there, I have worried less about leaving my child at school next week. Distractions are wonderful tools to draw us away from the things that are most troubling. For the most part, we can't cause our own distractions so today I say...thank you Irene :)
Saturday, August 20, 2011
The Star
This has nothing to do with my inner thoughts, just a little mom bragging. Taylor's award winning photograph from the Washington State High School Photography Competition will be showing at the Tacoma Art Museum in September. They will install the exhibit on August 30, 2011.
In the winter months, undetermined at this point, the exhibit will be at the Seattle Art Museum. I'm sure she will take advantage of showing off to her Cornish classmates.
I'm very proud of her - in case you can't tell.
In the winter months, undetermined at this point, the exhibit will be at the Seattle Art Museum. I'm sure she will take advantage of showing off to her Cornish classmates.
I'm very proud of her - in case you can't tell.
The horizon
A good friend of mine gave me a lot of books, or book suggestions, several years ago to help me with my writing. I don't know why I need help with writing because I have so much to say. But I find that I go about my life with all of these things running through my head that I want to write about and by the time I get home and finished with dinner and my daily nagging, I can't remember all of the things that I had to say.
Today, I started reading one of the books! The biggest thing I took from my reading was that I need to just sit and write. Maybe a blog isn't the place for that because as the author put it, I can be messy and not punctuate things and not worry about typos or spelling and just let it fly. I find that I'm not so good at that. The author also said not to go back and read what you are writing as you write because you worry too much about how it sounds and not about what you are saying. I think that is why the blog was so good early on. I was typing the entire thing on an iPod Touch and I couldn't see an entire sentence, let alone a whole paragraph. I was consumed with what had happened during the day and needed to get it on paper(?) before I forgot how it felt. I just went back and read the preceding paragraph, thus already breaking the new rule. Focus!
Another thing that struck me was that the author spoke of being present in your life and how that would inspire you to write things. I think my depression at being home from our trip sort of clouded my ability to be present. I was looking at life as a series of "have to do" things that just got me from one day to the next. I'll work on this but I think it involves leaving the office or the house more. I love to be in my house and with my kid - just being. But that is soon to end and my being will be different. I fear the number of thoughts that will run through my head on a daily basis when she isn't here for me to talk to about stuff. I'm not sure I can type as fast as I can think and I don't think my answers will be as interesting because they will all be my point of view...but again, something else to work on.
This doesn't have much to do with the book I was reading, but more about the book I want to write. I have several topics in mind but I think that what always keeps me from starting is that I don't know how any of the stories end. If you write from your own experiences, they are usually ongoing feelings or people around you that affect you in one way or another. None of these stories that float around have endings or conclusions and I'm not even sure I have learned all the lessons that I was supposed to from them.
I did it, I went back and read this over from the top. I found some words that scared me such as hear instead of here and paragraphy. These are things I can't just let slide in my wanton typing exercise. Problem is, now I've broken the flow coming from my head. I distracted myself with punctuation and went and got a drink of water and just like that...I'm out. This writing thing is going to be hard!
Shawn
Today, I started reading one of the books! The biggest thing I took from my reading was that I need to just sit and write. Maybe a blog isn't the place for that because as the author put it, I can be messy and not punctuate things and not worry about typos or spelling and just let it fly. I find that I'm not so good at that. The author also said not to go back and read what you are writing as you write because you worry too much about how it sounds and not about what you are saying. I think that is why the blog was so good early on. I was typing the entire thing on an iPod Touch and I couldn't see an entire sentence, let alone a whole paragraph. I was consumed with what had happened during the day and needed to get it on paper(?) before I forgot how it felt. I just went back and read the preceding paragraph, thus already breaking the new rule. Focus!
Another thing that struck me was that the author spoke of being present in your life and how that would inspire you to write things. I think my depression at being home from our trip sort of clouded my ability to be present. I was looking at life as a series of "have to do" things that just got me from one day to the next. I'll work on this but I think it involves leaving the office or the house more. I love to be in my house and with my kid - just being. But that is soon to end and my being will be different. I fear the number of thoughts that will run through my head on a daily basis when she isn't here for me to talk to about stuff. I'm not sure I can type as fast as I can think and I don't think my answers will be as interesting because they will all be my point of view...but again, something else to work on.
This doesn't have much to do with the book I was reading, but more about the book I want to write. I have several topics in mind but I think that what always keeps me from starting is that I don't know how any of the stories end. If you write from your own experiences, they are usually ongoing feelings or people around you that affect you in one way or another. None of these stories that float around have endings or conclusions and I'm not even sure I have learned all the lessons that I was supposed to from them.
I did it, I went back and read this over from the top. I found some words that scared me such as hear instead of here and paragraphy. These are things I can't just let slide in my wanton typing exercise. Problem is, now I've broken the flow coming from my head. I distracted myself with punctuation and went and got a drink of water and just like that...I'm out. This writing thing is going to be hard!
Shawn
Friday, July 29, 2011
Looking Back and Forward
I'm finally cleaning out my suitcase. I did all the laundry the day we got back, but then it seemed like a lot more fun to just put everything back in the suitcase instead of in my closet. That was too final.
I just found the cover to the $10.00 umbrella that I bought in Paris in the pocket of my rain jacket. I left it there because in the fall when it's raining here, I think that will make me laugh thinking back on the day I bought it. The day my very mature daughter didn't want to buy an umbrella for fear of looking like the ultimate tourist. I won't point out that everyone in Paris had umbrellas but us. I did purchase a very inconspicuous umbrella at a drug store. Not one of those cute black bumbies with PARIS scribbled all over it in white letters. I liked those but they were touristy. Mine is simple and purple and I actually brought it home with me. But that holder in my pocket makes me laugh.
I thought of another funny thing today, which isn't funny at all but makes me laugh every time I think of it. Taylor and I were boarding a train in Bath during the train portion of our trip. I think this was just a train change so we didn't actually spend any time in the city. We were on the platform and there was a gaggle of students so we stayed out toward the end of the platform to get a good spot. This man walked up from the parking lot and I swear he had no frontal lobe (physically, not literally as we sometimes think of men). Now, I realize this is in terrible taste to talk about it, but I've never seen anything like it. He literally had no front quarter of his head. That's not funny, but it did make us crazy. I wanted to take a picture - Taylor wouldn't let me. We got on the train, avoiding eye contact with the man with no head, and had to sit apart from each other because the train was very full. After a bit the conductor came through and he had the largest jowls I have ever seen in my life. His neck and head were abnormally small and his jowls stuck out like little balloons on each side of his jaw. Of course, we weren't sitting by each other so when we finally got to sit together we started cracking up! All I'm saying is...that town was full of crazies. If you see Taylor, all you have to say is something like "how about that guy with no head" and it sends her into a tizzy!
I'm sad to be back because I really had fun with Taylor. It's hard to imagine that we ate every meal together for two weeks without a television distracting us from conversation. We actually talked to each other directly for 14 days in a row. Sure, some of the talking was louder than other talking, but most of it was good conversation.
Now we are back in our ruts. I think that having habits and routines are good and comforting but I also find that they are most likely the reason that people that want to be creative aren't so much. There is no inspiration to be found in the daily grind. I've been looking for it...but I don't see it. I made a comment about JK Rowling saying that and it has really stuck with me.
I've been thinking a lot about what I'm supposed to do with myself now with Taylor going to college. I wonder if everyone goes through this "now what" phase and I'm guessing they do. When you have one child and no husband, it's almost like - now I can do whatever I want!! Yipee for me...right? But I don't know what that is yet and it's making me a little crazy. Those that know me understand that I'm a planner and I like to have things going on and things to schedule and figure out and get excited for. I think a lot of these feelings are vacation wind-down and high school wind-down and college anxiety. I'm also pretty sure it will get worse before it gets better. But for now, very important word, BREATHE. I used this word as my New Year's resolution a couple of years ago when I felt in a frenzy to understand a man and then realized that I just needed to relax and let life happen (we all know how that turned out). But the relax and let life happen part turned out really good.
So, wait and see. I think I'm really going to start writing a book now. Those that know me also know I've been saying this since 1991. I once bought a computer (512mb Compaq) because I thought then I would start my book. Little did I know that at that age I had nothing to write about yet. Now, I have a super fancy computer, lots to say and quite a bit of quiet time on the horizon. Let's say we cut the cable, cancel the Netflix and GO!
Ok, but first I have to go watch the Bachelorette. (kidding)
I just found the cover to the $10.00 umbrella that I bought in Paris in the pocket of my rain jacket. I left it there because in the fall when it's raining here, I think that will make me laugh thinking back on the day I bought it. The day my very mature daughter didn't want to buy an umbrella for fear of looking like the ultimate tourist. I won't point out that everyone in Paris had umbrellas but us. I did purchase a very inconspicuous umbrella at a drug store. Not one of those cute black bumbies with PARIS scribbled all over it in white letters. I liked those but they were touristy. Mine is simple and purple and I actually brought it home with me. But that holder in my pocket makes me laugh.
I thought of another funny thing today, which isn't funny at all but makes me laugh every time I think of it. Taylor and I were boarding a train in Bath during the train portion of our trip. I think this was just a train change so we didn't actually spend any time in the city. We were on the platform and there was a gaggle of students so we stayed out toward the end of the platform to get a good spot. This man walked up from the parking lot and I swear he had no frontal lobe (physically, not literally as we sometimes think of men). Now, I realize this is in terrible taste to talk about it, but I've never seen anything like it. He literally had no front quarter of his head. That's not funny, but it did make us crazy. I wanted to take a picture - Taylor wouldn't let me. We got on the train, avoiding eye contact with the man with no head, and had to sit apart from each other because the train was very full. After a bit the conductor came through and he had the largest jowls I have ever seen in my life. His neck and head were abnormally small and his jowls stuck out like little balloons on each side of his jaw. Of course, we weren't sitting by each other so when we finally got to sit together we started cracking up! All I'm saying is...that town was full of crazies. If you see Taylor, all you have to say is something like "how about that guy with no head" and it sends her into a tizzy!
I'm sad to be back because I really had fun with Taylor. It's hard to imagine that we ate every meal together for two weeks without a television distracting us from conversation. We actually talked to each other directly for 14 days in a row. Sure, some of the talking was louder than other talking, but most of it was good conversation.
Now we are back in our ruts. I think that having habits and routines are good and comforting but I also find that they are most likely the reason that people that want to be creative aren't so much. There is no inspiration to be found in the daily grind. I've been looking for it...but I don't see it. I made a comment about JK Rowling saying that and it has really stuck with me.
I've been thinking a lot about what I'm supposed to do with myself now with Taylor going to college. I wonder if everyone goes through this "now what" phase and I'm guessing they do. When you have one child and no husband, it's almost like - now I can do whatever I want!! Yipee for me...right? But I don't know what that is yet and it's making me a little crazy. Those that know me understand that I'm a planner and I like to have things going on and things to schedule and figure out and get excited for. I think a lot of these feelings are vacation wind-down and high school wind-down and college anxiety. I'm also pretty sure it will get worse before it gets better. But for now, very important word, BREATHE. I used this word as my New Year's resolution a couple of years ago when I felt in a frenzy to understand a man and then realized that I just needed to relax and let life happen (we all know how that turned out). But the relax and let life happen part turned out really good.
So, wait and see. I think I'm really going to start writing a book now. Those that know me also know I've been saying this since 1991. I once bought a computer (512mb Compaq) because I thought then I would start my book. Little did I know that at that age I had nothing to write about yet. Now, I have a super fancy computer, lots to say and quite a bit of quiet time on the horizon. Let's say we cut the cable, cancel the Netflix and GO!
Ok, but first I have to go watch the Bachelorette. (kidding)
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Last Day
Well, we are now at CDG all checked in and custom cleared and so on. Yesterday was actually a nice day after the mess that was Tuesday.
We spent the morning at the Louvre seeing the highlights and Napoleon's apartments and having a Gold covered Magnum ice cream bar, which I highly recommend. The museum is huge but I think we covered what we wanted. As a travel note, if you are going to visit a lot of museums, it was suggested that you buy a museum pass. Then you are allowed to skip the lines. I advise this as the lines in Paris are the worst I've seen.
We strolled outside and the rain had returned, even though my trusty iPod had shown sunny skies all day! Liar.
Wasn't bad though so we thought we might be able to squeeze in one more site. So glad we did. We walked to St. Chapelle which is near Notre Dame. It was beautiful and as luck would have it, had Wednesday nocturne hours which meant it was open until 10:00 instead of 6:00 as we had expected. I posted pics of this yesterday but this was our favorite church...well, ok, on the small church scale.
We had dinner near the church and headed home to charge camera batteries. My aspiring photographer with two camera batteries managed to drain one mid-day and didn't have one ready to go in the room.
That evening we headed to the Eiffel Tower for our ascent to the top. I'm not sure what I was thinking when we decided to do this. That is really high up. The lines, as usual, were ridiculous and even though we had timed tickets, we waited at least 30/40 minutes to ascend. In the rain. The view was fine but the clouds were heavy and I wasn't really comfortable bouncing about. Tay got some great pictures with her new lens and we did have fun. Met some nice people and then RAN like crazy to get on the metro.
We had dessert and cafe au lait at our corner brasserie and decided we were both ready to be home. This has been a lot of fun and many, many adventures. But Paris was tiring with the lines and the rain and the people.
I have had this dream for years (like 20) that I return to London to get something and when I try to come home, I can't fit all my things in my luggage and I always miss my plane. I thought maybe by coming back to Europe I would figure out what this dream was all about. I still don't know. I thought maybe my husband was here or, I would run in to an old friend. Maybe it was my youth that I left here...and you can't bring that back from anywhere :) I even contemplated that it was a career that maybe I was supposed to have here that I will discover someday. I still don't know what the dream means but I'll keep working on it.
At the end of the day, this trip was amazing to share with my wonderful daughter. She was a model tourist...trying so hard not to be one. She tried new foods, was polite and tried a few polite foreign phrases and saw beyond the tourism to the people. All things that made me proud.
I might keep blogging about life when we are home. I find it refreshing to reflect at the end of the day. Even the boring days. We won't be traveling any time soon but the next few months will be another kind of journey worth noting. I don't expect you to all read the rest...but thanks for keeping up this far.
See you on the other side...of the pond that is.
We spent the morning at the Louvre seeing the highlights and Napoleon's apartments and having a Gold covered Magnum ice cream bar, which I highly recommend. The museum is huge but I think we covered what we wanted. As a travel note, if you are going to visit a lot of museums, it was suggested that you buy a museum pass. Then you are allowed to skip the lines. I advise this as the lines in Paris are the worst I've seen.
We strolled outside and the rain had returned, even though my trusty iPod had shown sunny skies all day! Liar.
Wasn't bad though so we thought we might be able to squeeze in one more site. So glad we did. We walked to St. Chapelle which is near Notre Dame. It was beautiful and as luck would have it, had Wednesday nocturne hours which meant it was open until 10:00 instead of 6:00 as we had expected. I posted pics of this yesterday but this was our favorite church...well, ok, on the small church scale.
We had dinner near the church and headed home to charge camera batteries. My aspiring photographer with two camera batteries managed to drain one mid-day and didn't have one ready to go in the room.
That evening we headed to the Eiffel Tower for our ascent to the top. I'm not sure what I was thinking when we decided to do this. That is really high up. The lines, as usual, were ridiculous and even though we had timed tickets, we waited at least 30/40 minutes to ascend. In the rain. The view was fine but the clouds were heavy and I wasn't really comfortable bouncing about. Tay got some great pictures with her new lens and we did have fun. Met some nice people and then RAN like crazy to get on the metro.
We had dessert and cafe au lait at our corner brasserie and decided we were both ready to be home. This has been a lot of fun and many, many adventures. But Paris was tiring with the lines and the rain and the people.
I have had this dream for years (like 20) that I return to London to get something and when I try to come home, I can't fit all my things in my luggage and I always miss my plane. I thought maybe by coming back to Europe I would figure out what this dream was all about. I still don't know. I thought maybe my husband was here or, I would run in to an old friend. Maybe it was my youth that I left here...and you can't bring that back from anywhere :) I even contemplated that it was a career that maybe I was supposed to have here that I will discover someday. I still don't know what the dream means but I'll keep working on it.
At the end of the day, this trip was amazing to share with my wonderful daughter. She was a model tourist...trying so hard not to be one. She tried new foods, was polite and tried a few polite foreign phrases and saw beyond the tourism to the people. All things that made me proud.
I might keep blogging about life when we are home. I find it refreshing to reflect at the end of the day. Even the boring days. We won't be traveling any time soon but the next few months will be another kind of journey worth noting. I don't expect you to all read the rest...but thanks for keeping up this far.
See you on the other side...of the pond that is.
Sent from my iPod
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Machine Guns
20 years
Excess
St. Chapelle
Summer?
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Also...
I realize that post is riddled with typos. I just can't care any more. I already went back and edited three times. You see how the day is going.
On a smarter note, I had no idea that the artists that we have been looking at over the past few days had such a tightly woven history. They were all raging alcoholics, many of them with debilitating illnesses and many of them died relatively young. I find that I'm bored with French history but have a new found interest in Art History. I might take a class...Anyone want to join me :)
On a smarter note, I had no idea that the artists that we have been looking at over the past few days had such a tightly woven history. They were all raging alcoholics, many of them with debilitating illnesses and many of them died relatively young. I find that I'm bored with French history but have a new found interest in Art History. I might take a class...Anyone want to join me :)
Rain
One would think being from a rainy place would have helped us better cope with today...but it sure didn't. Our intention today was some time at the Musee D'Orsay, Napolean's tomb and the Rodin gardens. We got through one. We left our hotel and it was POURING!! I had an excellent plan to get from here to the museum with little to no rain interaction. That was going fine until the last leg and the train wasn't stopping at the three stops surrounding the museum. Tay won't admit this now but she said, I'm fine walking. That was our first mistake. We walked, no umrella, typhoon like weather and no clear picture of where we were. I made her get on a bus...I didn't even care where it was going. Anyway, you get the point. We are drenched.
We got to the museum and apparently everyone in Paris had the same idea. I thought we were so smart because we had purchased passes the day before at another museum...nope. That line was longer than the people with no tickets. Whatever...we stood in line for over an hour to get in. Yes, still in the rain.
Once in, we were thrilled to see works by Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh but not thrilled with all the other people there that were apparently having some sort of race to see how many pieces art they could see in one day. Sad to say that 1) the French are Terrible at managing lines and people and 2) going to art museums has seemingly become as popular as Disneyland.
Am I complaining too much? The cafe, the only one there, had one register. That line took over an hour to get through. They were very nice however when I dropped my debit card between the freezer and the wall...and they had to pull the freezer out to vet it. We dodnt have to discuss that part. Needless to say, that took a lot longer than anticipated.
We came home, dried out and I let Tay eat at the Hard Rock Paris even though it is mostly against my travel rules to eat too much American food while away from America.
Funny thing we noticed today is that the rest of the world apparently LOVES and is not sick of the Black Eyed Peas. The Hard Rock erupted with song tonight when their video came on.
I stopped off at a pub right next to our hotel for a Cider...because I was missing Cider. Tay wouldn't go with me so I went alone. First off, one should not bother with a Pub in France because no matter how much I love London and tried to pretend I was there...it didn't work. They played Johnny Cash, Kid Rock and Freebird. I had half my drink and came home. Just sad :)
Anyway, this was long and grumpy. The forecast looks much better for tomorrow and we live close to the Louvre, which is what we have planned for the day. Hopefully everyone else will go somewhere else!
We got to the museum and apparently everyone in Paris had the same idea. I thought we were so smart because we had purchased passes the day before at another museum...nope. That line was longer than the people with no tickets. Whatever...we stood in line for over an hour to get in. Yes, still in the rain.
Once in, we were thrilled to see works by Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh but not thrilled with all the other people there that were apparently having some sort of race to see how many pieces art they could see in one day. Sad to say that 1) the French are Terrible at managing lines and people and 2) going to art museums has seemingly become as popular as Disneyland.
Am I complaining too much? The cafe, the only one there, had one register. That line took over an hour to get through. They were very nice however when I dropped my debit card between the freezer and the wall...and they had to pull the freezer out to vet it. We dodnt have to discuss that part. Needless to say, that took a lot longer than anticipated.
We came home, dried out and I let Tay eat at the Hard Rock Paris even though it is mostly against my travel rules to eat too much American food while away from America.
Funny thing we noticed today is that the rest of the world apparently LOVES and is not sick of the Black Eyed Peas. The Hard Rock erupted with song tonight when their video came on.
I stopped off at a pub right next to our hotel for a Cider...because I was missing Cider. Tay wouldn't go with me so I went alone. First off, one should not bother with a Pub in France because no matter how much I love London and tried to pretend I was there...it didn't work. They played Johnny Cash, Kid Rock and Freebird. I had half my drink and came home. Just sad :)
Anyway, this was long and grumpy. The forecast looks much better for tomorrow and we live close to the Louvre, which is what we have planned for the day. Hopefully everyone else will go somewhere else!
Um...we hate today so far!
Pouring down rain. Closed metro stations. Too many tourists here. Ick! Bad day...makes us argue. So we will go eat and hopefully wake to a sunny, happy Paris.
Sent from my iPod
Monday, July 18, 2011
Street Art
Tay just reminded me of something else we learned about from Gil today. They have this really interesting street art movement going on here...and maybe everywhere. I'm not really sure but it was very interesting and we've been noticing it all over the place now that we know to look for it. An artist will have a signature piece, style or "thing" for lack of a better word, and will but it all over the place in different styles or iterations if you will. The grafitti artists respect the street art and won't tag over it if they find it worthy of being up. A well known artist we saw a lot of goes by the name Invader and his pieces are just small mosaics of space invaders hidden everywhere. Another, my favorite, was a sort of mask that the artist would make and then affix to the walls so that it looks like a face is trying to squeeze out of the wall. They were just so cool and Gil said they cause quite a lot of conversation because many feel that it is nothing more than grafitti bit many artists have become very well known with this kind of start. Anyway, Tay took some photos. I'll have her post them.
The home stretch
We are almost done! Hard to imagine that this is already our 4th night in Paris. We had a nice today with a very relaxed pace and actually a lot of learning. We started late, because vacation is about sleeping in once in a while. Our first stop was the Musee de l'orangerie where the very large Monet paintings hang that we saw the inspiration for yesterday. This was a much safer adventure as no tour busses were necessary and therefor did not run into us. We met a nice couple from Denmark and had a nice chat while waiting in line. I point this out because I don't think a lot of people have made any effort to talk to us this entire trip. I try sometimes but get the "mom, quit humiliating me" look.
Anyway, after the gallery we had a really nice walking tour of Montmartre and up to Sacre Coeur. Funny facts about our tour; the guide's name was Gil and he was a writer from San Bernadino (that will be more funny if you have seen Midnight in Paris)and he did work for the Gates Foundation and knew of Stadium High School. He and Tay chatted quite a bit. I wanted to marry him but he is engaged to a Parisienne woman. Anyway, he took us all around the streets of the area and had really great stories and knowledge of the history. We only knew of the significance of this area because we saw Midnight in Paris right before we left. Also, we had visited a perfect museum as a precursor to this tour as many of the artist we learned about today were in the L'Orangerie.
I have no idea how I planned this so well but that keeps happening that we do something one day that enhances something we do the next.
So, finally a dinner on the first viewing level of the Eiffel Tower. Really was beautiful and On the way home, Taylor started talking in a British accent and I couldn't get her to shut up.
Tomorrow we have a three stop agenda. This is aggressive for us. Wish us luck.
Anyway, after the gallery we had a really nice walking tour of Montmartre and up to Sacre Coeur. Funny facts about our tour; the guide's name was Gil and he was a writer from San Bernadino (that will be more funny if you have seen Midnight in Paris)and he did work for the Gates Foundation and knew of Stadium High School. He and Tay chatted quite a bit. I wanted to marry him but he is engaged to a Parisienne woman. Anyway, he took us all around the streets of the area and had really great stories and knowledge of the history. We only knew of the significance of this area because we saw Midnight in Paris right before we left. Also, we had visited a perfect museum as a precursor to this tour as many of the artist we learned about today were in the L'Orangerie.
I have no idea how I planned this so well but that keeps happening that we do something one day that enhances something we do the next.
So, finally a dinner on the first viewing level of the Eiffel Tower. Really was beautiful and On the way home, Taylor started talking in a British accent and I couldn't get her to shut up.
Tomorrow we have a three stop agenda. This is aggressive for us. Wish us luck.
Tonight
We had lots of fun tonight!
Dinner at the Eiffel Tower
Sex shops
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Runaway Bus!
We got up very early today...which doesn't happen very often. Couple that with the French standard of coffee being that 2 ounces is enough and you know how tired we were. We actually saw our 2nd and 3rd Starbucks today, and that took a lot of walking. Then, they only filled our Grande cups half full of coffee. I don't know why they are against being caffeinated around here. Anyway, I digress. Our tour guides were adorable today. So French and speaking so much English for us...almost like being on tour with Julia Childs.
They told us more about the French in 10 minutes today than our whole tour last night. First stop was Giverny where Monet did much of his painting. Learned quite a lot about the Impressionist movement on the way there which made the visit that much more interesting. For instance, prior to this movement, it was forbidden to paint landscape. Painting had to be specific and had to have a subject that was of noble class. Who knew these guys were rebels.
Next we had lunch at a darling French cottage. Tay tried the red wine (that they gave us for lunch even though I still have only had a teaspoon of coffee). She didn't like it.
We return to our bus and are given permission to nap. They are very nice here. I tried to stay awake to watch the countryside but that stinking wine...night,night.
We pull in to what is the biggest mess of tourism I've seen to date, the Palace of Versailles, get off our bus and wait further instruction from our ladies. All of a sudden I hear this man screaming like someone was running around with a weapon or something. Me, in my mom mode, can't understand a word of what he is screaming but know that it is bad. I grab Taylor's arm and drag/throw her back into the bus to get her out of harms way. I'm sure it was a site...anyway, bad idea because what the guy is screaming is get out of the way because his empty tour bus is careening down the hill headed straight at ours. Good thing we caught him With our bus because the lot was full of people and things could have gone very badly. Luckily all but one man was off our bus (well, and Tay when i tried to throw her back in)and the other bus had been locked from the outside,presumably by the driver, with nobody in it. After we all got over the shock of the whole thing...we laughed and moved on to our tour. We got a new bus for the ride home as ours had a giant hole in the side. Ok, not giant, but still a hole. See photo :)
Versailles was fine but so crowded and poorly managed now that is a little ridiculous. We came home and walked the rest of the evening. Walked around the Louvre and the Georges Pompidou Center with an escalator ride to the top of the city.
Dined in a nice cafe (which had smoking section which we forgot to ask to be seated away from) and got home to our happy home. Good day, good memories!
Good evening all!!
They told us more about the French in 10 minutes today than our whole tour last night. First stop was Giverny where Monet did much of his painting. Learned quite a lot about the Impressionist movement on the way there which made the visit that much more interesting. For instance, prior to this movement, it was forbidden to paint landscape. Painting had to be specific and had to have a subject that was of noble class. Who knew these guys were rebels.
Next we had lunch at a darling French cottage. Tay tried the red wine (that they gave us for lunch even though I still have only had a teaspoon of coffee). She didn't like it.
We return to our bus and are given permission to nap. They are very nice here. I tried to stay awake to watch the countryside but that stinking wine...night,night.
We pull in to what is the biggest mess of tourism I've seen to date, the Palace of Versailles, get off our bus and wait further instruction from our ladies. All of a sudden I hear this man screaming like someone was running around with a weapon or something. Me, in my mom mode, can't understand a word of what he is screaming but know that it is bad. I grab Taylor's arm and drag/throw her back into the bus to get her out of harms way. I'm sure it was a site...anyway, bad idea because what the guy is screaming is get out of the way because his empty tour bus is careening down the hill headed straight at ours. Good thing we caught him With our bus because the lot was full of people and things could have gone very badly. Luckily all but one man was off our bus (well, and Tay when i tried to throw her back in)and the other bus had been locked from the outside,presumably by the driver, with nobody in it. After we all got over the shock of the whole thing...we laughed and moved on to our tour. We got a new bus for the ride home as ours had a giant hole in the side. Ok, not giant, but still a hole. See photo :)
Versailles was fine but so crowded and poorly managed now that is a little ridiculous. We came home and walked the rest of the evening. Walked around the Louvre and the Georges Pompidou Center with an escalator ride to the top of the city.
Dined in a nice cafe (which had smoking section which we forgot to ask to be seated away from) and got home to our happy home. Good day, good memories!
Good evening all!!
Le Louvre
Our tour bus...
Fountains at Versailles
Our lunch spot...
For Grandma Dorothy
Claude Monet
Monet's water lily garden
Unplugged
Saturday, July 16, 2011
For grampy
iPod Disclaimer
For what it is worth...I'm typing all this on an iPod touch. It's not much different than a giant text message so please excuse the random nonsense :)
Ah, Paris in the Rain.
Well, we just saw that film Midnight in Paris before we left. Owen Wilson wanders around the city wishing it would rain. He would have been so happy tonight. We packed for hot,summer temperatures here in France, according to the 10 day forecast before we left. It changed drastically. Anyway, so rainy. But still a beautiful city.
We took a bus tour/illuminations tour tonight which was supposed to be a tour of the city of lights. Right when we got on the driver said something like, oh but in the summer it doesn't get dark until 10:00 so this will just be a tour. Really not what we paid for. Luckily we ran late so the sun did go down but the bus windows were covered with rain streaks so was kind of like a cool kaleidoscope.
We did go to see Notre Dame earlier today and that was beautiful as expected. Again, not much changes about these age old buildings.
What we've learned is that Taylor loves America and I think I'm just bored with it. This is not to say I don't cherish my freedom and my comforts...but something I recently read in a JK Rowling article struck me. She made comment that she was not inspired by things she sees every day. She travelled around seeing things and getting thoughts. I think that's what I mean by bored...not inspired.
Anyway, tonight we were sitting at a late night cafe and a police car stopped out on the road in from of us. I'm not positive but the cop in the front seat raised a glass to me like he was drinking a whisky. I thought it was a joke police car or something until a few minutes later we saw it driving across the way, lights flashing. Only in Paris.
We took a bus tour/illuminations tour tonight which was supposed to be a tour of the city of lights. Right when we got on the driver said something like, oh but in the summer it doesn't get dark until 10:00 so this will just be a tour. Really not what we paid for. Luckily we ran late so the sun did go down but the bus windows were covered with rain streaks so was kind of like a cool kaleidoscope.
We did go to see Notre Dame earlier today and that was beautiful as expected. Again, not much changes about these age old buildings.
What we've learned is that Taylor loves America and I think I'm just bored with it. This is not to say I don't cherish my freedom and my comforts...but something I recently read in a JK Rowling article struck me. She made comment that she was not inspired by things she sees every day. She travelled around seeing things and getting thoughts. I think that's what I mean by bored...not inspired.
Anyway, tonight we were sitting at a late night cafe and a police car stopped out on the road in from of us. I'm not positive but the cop in the front seat raised a glass to me like he was drinking a whisky. I thought it was a joke police car or something until a few minutes later we saw it driving across the way, lights flashing. Only in Paris.
Taylor in front of Notre Dame
Disneyland Paris Hotel
Friday, July 15, 2011
Can you read this?
My Blogsite has turned French so I can only hope this is coming out in English. Had a busy 36 hours or however long it was. We left our hotel in Gloucester on Thursday morning and the rest of the day was a little dicey. We managed to see the cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral where they shot many of the corridor scenes for the first couple HP movies. What we didn't know was that there was a flower show going on that day at the cathedral. We were there quite a while following around little old English folks. They didn't much care about our pilgrimage.
Made it out of there just in time for the last tour of Stonehenge to leave Salisbury that day. Amazing sight, which I always thought was just a boring bunch of rocks. Now that I've seen it, I'm glad we made the trek.
Finally we were back to London for the movie premier of HP. You could tell strange things were about when we saw potter costumes on the tube. We got out at Leicester Square and there was Potter everywhere. Folks were queued for the film hours before and we had assigned seats. We went to eat. I was excited but not enough to sit outside for no real good reason.
When the time came it was extra-specially amazing to be there and hear the crowd go wild each time a favorite character came on for the first time. Even more cool that we had just visited many of he sites in the movie. It was great, it was sad but a perfect, perfect end.
We won't talk about Taylor being introduced to the London party crowds at 3:00 a.m and my panic (almost) that we were never going to get a cab at that hour. I won't mention us walking the streets of Bayswater at 4:30 hailing another cab to the train station. All ended well, but it was a little sketch for a bit.
Final note, because I've got a headache, we left London last night through St Pancras Station, which ironically was the train station they show in the final scenes of the movie. I don't know how it happened that we left from that station, but I think there might have been a little magic involved.
More on Paris tomorrow. We are here and safe.
Made it out of there just in time for the last tour of Stonehenge to leave Salisbury that day. Amazing sight, which I always thought was just a boring bunch of rocks. Now that I've seen it, I'm glad we made the trek.
Finally we were back to London for the movie premier of HP. You could tell strange things were about when we saw potter costumes on the tube. We got out at Leicester Square and there was Potter everywhere. Folks were queued for the film hours before and we had assigned seats. We went to eat. I was excited but not enough to sit outside for no real good reason.
When the time came it was extra-specially amazing to be there and hear the crowd go wild each time a favorite character came on for the first time. Even more cool that we had just visited many of he sites in the movie. It was great, it was sad but a perfect, perfect end.
We won't talk about Taylor being introduced to the London party crowds at 3:00 a.m and my panic (almost) that we were never going to get a cab at that hour. I won't mention us walking the streets of Bayswater at 4:30 hailing another cab to the train station. All ended well, but it was a little sketch for a bit.
Final note, because I've got a headache, we left London last night through St Pancras Station, which ironically was the train station they show in the final scenes of the movie. I don't know how it happened that we left from that station, but I think there might have been a little magic involved.
More on Paris tomorrow. We are here and safe.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Funny things
Everyone on the trains play Angry Birds. Most have an iPhone/iPod and then some other device to actually talk on. Today, Tay bought a magazine because it had Rupert Grint on the cover. She thumbed through to make sure the article was substantial (it was...a good five pages) and made her purchase. We got out to platform and she noticed that there were other articles about "how much porn is too much" and how to do the skinny boy workout. I said, it's probably a gay man's magazine...it was. Don't worry, Ron Weasley isn't gay, but the gays love him :)
She read the article but hid the magazine behind her backpack.
I planned terribly today but were doing ok. On a train to Salisbury to see Stonehenge per Tay's request then in to the city.
Will report in tonight after Harry Potter. Hard to imagine we will be done watching before you all even think about heading to the theater.
She read the article but hid the magazine behind her backpack.
I planned terribly today but were doing ok. On a train to Salisbury to see Stonehenge per Tay's request then in to the city.
Will report in tonight after Harry Potter. Hard to imagine we will be done watching before you all even think about heading to the theater.
Cheerio
Sent from my iPod
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Train blogging...
I remembered my funny things from yesterday. The landscape in Scotland is beautiful and I think it is because they embrace the Fireweed. It grows tall and beautiful and they don't cut it down or pull it out. I'm going to embrace this philosophy.
And now Taylor made me forget the other two things...I remembered them earlier today. Oh well, they will come to me.
We had a lovely day in Scotland. The sun was shining, every meal we ate was SOooooo good and the people were so friendly. We stopped at the Balmoral Hotel for a quick moment. This is where Jo Murray (as her friends call her) finished the final pages of Harry Potter. We also drove by the Cafe where she started writing the books. Tonight we are headed to Gloucester where the cathedral is that was the site of many scenes in the first few movies. By the time the movie starts tomorrow night I will feel like we've truly been on a Potter Pilgrimage. It will be sad in many ways...and now I'm tearing up. What a baby! Thanks to Donna for introducing us to this boy wizard and his friends that have really inspired the world. Every tour we go on, every time we turn around there is talk of Harry. Has made this trip extra special :)
Ok...I still didn't remember. Maybe it's this gigantic Cider I just finished. I feel inspired to write here...not sure if it is the Cider or the air but I'm ready to do it!
Ok...Taylor insists on talking to me now so I'll sign off and go back to paying attention to her. This crazy drunk guy just got off our train. He was totally freaking us out. Not sure I've seen anyone that drunk ever!!
Anyway...more later.
Shawn and Bug
And now Taylor made me forget the other two things...I remembered them earlier today. Oh well, they will come to me.
We had a lovely day in Scotland. The sun was shining, every meal we ate was SOooooo good and the people were so friendly. We stopped at the Balmoral Hotel for a quick moment. This is where Jo Murray (as her friends call her) finished the final pages of Harry Potter. We also drove by the Cafe where she started writing the books. Tonight we are headed to Gloucester where the cathedral is that was the site of many scenes in the first few movies. By the time the movie starts tomorrow night I will feel like we've truly been on a Potter Pilgrimage. It will be sad in many ways...and now I'm tearing up. What a baby! Thanks to Donna for introducing us to this boy wizard and his friends that have really inspired the world. Every tour we go on, every time we turn around there is talk of Harry. Has made this trip extra special :)
Ok...I still didn't remember. Maybe it's this gigantic Cider I just finished. I feel inspired to write here...not sure if it is the Cider or the air but I'm ready to do it!
Ok...Taylor insists on talking to me now so I'll sign off and go back to paying attention to her. This crazy drunk guy just got off our train. He was totally freaking us out. Not sure I've seen anyone that drunk ever!!
Anyway...more later.
Shawn and Bug
Sent from my iPod
Starbucks
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Tay in the Great Hall
Christchurch Cathedral
Sick Days
So, poor Tay has been sick. I thought she was just allergic to old and bad air but we are in Scotland now and she's still sneezing. She is doing much better and we did get some excellent tissues today that put ours to shame. So soft, with balsam in them. No idea what that means...anyway, off we go.
Went to see St. Pauls yesterday for a very brief visit. I decided that since I lived here for six months and never went to see it...I better not come home again without getting there. Was well worth the visit. Another beautiful piece of history that my daughter can only relate to a scene from Mary Poppins where a homeless woman feeds birds.
We had tickets for Les Mis last night and as much as I love that show...it wasn't as full of grandeur as I remember. They moved it to a smaller theater about seven years ago so not as BIG as before. Still my fav music and I think Tay liked it. She was such a young lady last night dressed up for the show...being a good sport with her runny nose. She only sneezed a few times. We had dinner after in Picadilly (TGI Fridays, her choice) and then headed home.
Oh, almost had to bring home a son-in-law. She had a boy in one of the souvenir shops following her around asking if he could go home with us. Thought she was very beautiful...runny nose and all.
Today we got up somewhat early, headed for a quick stop in Oxford and then on to Scotland. Tay loves it here, with their clean air and green grass and all. We did well on our first day on the trains and are pros by now.
Things to note: Dad, our toilet has hydraulic lifts on it. If you drop it, it doesn't slam into the seat! Brilliant!! We had the most delicious French meal tonight, in Scotland, strange? Our bathroom here in Scotland is the size of our entire room in London. Both have been good so far. Just a strange size note. I can't remember the other funny stuff I had to say so I must be done.
Peace out...
Went to see St. Pauls yesterday for a very brief visit. I decided that since I lived here for six months and never went to see it...I better not come home again without getting there. Was well worth the visit. Another beautiful piece of history that my daughter can only relate to a scene from Mary Poppins where a homeless woman feeds birds.
We had tickets for Les Mis last night and as much as I love that show...it wasn't as full of grandeur as I remember. They moved it to a smaller theater about seven years ago so not as BIG as before. Still my fav music and I think Tay liked it. She was such a young lady last night dressed up for the show...being a good sport with her runny nose. She only sneezed a few times. We had dinner after in Picadilly (TGI Fridays, her choice) and then headed home.
Oh, almost had to bring home a son-in-law. She had a boy in one of the souvenir shops following her around asking if he could go home with us. Thought she was very beautiful...runny nose and all.
Today we got up somewhat early, headed for a quick stop in Oxford and then on to Scotland. Tay loves it here, with their clean air and green grass and all. We did well on our first day on the trains and are pros by now.
Things to note: Dad, our toilet has hydraulic lifts on it. If you drop it, it doesn't slam into the seat! Brilliant!! We had the most delicious French meal tonight, in Scotland, strange? Our bathroom here in Scotland is the size of our entire room in London. Both have been good so far. Just a strange size note. I can't remember the other funny stuff I had to say so I must be done.
Peace out...
Sick Days
So, poor Tay has been sick. I thought she was just allergic to old and bad air but we are in Scotland now and she's still sneezing. She is doing much better and we did get some excellent tissues today that put ours to shame. So soft, with balsam in them. No idea what that means...anyway, off we go.
Went to see St. Pauls yesterday for a very brief visit. I decided that since I lived here for six months and never went to see it...I better not come home again without getting there. Was well worth the visit. Another beautiful piece of history that my daughter can only relate to a scene from Mary Poppins where a homeless woman feeds birds.
We had tickets for Les Mis last night and as much as I love that show...it wasn't as full of grandeur as I remember. They moved it to a smaller theater about seven years ago so not as BIG as before. Still my fav music and I think Tay liked it. She was such a young lady last night dressed up for the show...being a good sport with her runny nose. She only sneezed a few times. We had dinner after in Picadilly (TGI Fridays, her choice) and then headed home.
Oh, almost had to bring home a son-in-law. She had a boy in one of the souvenir shops following her around asking if he could go home with us. Thought she was very beautiful...runny nose and all.
Today we got up somewhat early, headed for a quick stop in Oxford and then on to Scotland. Tay loves it here, with their clean air and green grass and all. We did well on our first day on the trains and are pros by now.
Things to note: Dad, our toilet has hydraulic lifts on it. If you drop it, it doesn't slam into the seat! Brilliant!! We had the most delicious French meal tonight, in Scotland, strange? Our bathroom here in Scotland is the size of our entire room in London. Both have been good so far. Just a strange size note. I can't remember the other funny stuff I had to say so I must be done.
Peace out...
Went to see St. Pauls yesterday for a very brief visit. I decided that since I lived here for six months and never went to see it...I better not come home again without getting there. Was well worth the visit. Another beautiful piece of history that my daughter can only relate to a scene from Mary Poppins where a homeless woman feeds birds.
We had tickets for Les Mis last night and as much as I love that show...it wasn't as full of grandeur as I remember. They moved it to a smaller theater about seven years ago so not as BIG as before. Still my fav music and I think Tay liked it. She was such a young lady last night dressed up for the show...being a good sport with her runny nose. She only sneezed a few times. We had dinner after in Picadilly (TGI Fridays, her choice) and then headed home.
Oh, almost had to bring home a son-in-law. She had a boy in one of the souvenir shops following her around asking if he could go home with us. Thought she was very beautiful...runny nose and all.
Today we got up somewhat early, headed for a quick stop in Oxford and then on to Scotland. Tay loves it here, with their clean air and green grass and all. We did well on our first day on the trains and are pros by now.
Things to note: Dad, our toilet has hydraulic lifts on it. If you drop it, it doesn't slam into the seat! Brilliant!! We had the most delicious French meal tonight, in Scotland, strange? Our bathroom here in Scotland is the size of our entire room in London. Both have been good so far. Just a strange size note. I can't remember the other funny stuff I had to say so I must be done.
Peace out...
Trafalgar Square
Buckingham Palace
Pretty much my favorite cookie :)
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Sunday, bloody Sunday
That is funny because it is Sunday and we went to the Tower of London today...which has a pretty bloody history. Anyway, the day started with a Harry Potter tour of London. Either Taylor's drink didn't sit well in my stomach or I had bad chicken, but I felt icky for most of the tour. Was a fun tour...but as with many movie scene tours, you need to use your imagination to really see how the movie looked. Sadly there was a citywide marathon going on which kept us from a few stops but I think Tay had fun. Our guide was so cute and made the tour really fun.
By this time, I'm feeling better and Tay starts sneezing. I think she is allergic to old and stuffy, which rules out most of Europe. We headed to the Tower of London and I think she sneezed almost the whole time we were there. Poor baby. We did get some good touring in and saw the crown jewels, a first for me, and decided that was plenty.
We headed back in to town via cab, my idea and a dumb one! Tay wanted to go to this 250 year old toy store. I thought cab would be quicker...and more fun. Ha, ha...remember that marathon? Anyway, we made it but only 15 minutes to shop. Wait, maybe that was smart?
After that we walked back to Trafalgar Square since Tay hadn't really seen the Square without the Harry Potter decor. She perked up a little so we headed out to Buckingham Palace (the site of beach volleyball during the Olympics I'm told). That was a nice walk and beautiful site of course.
Headed to find food, a tricky thing on a Sunday, and ate at cute Italian spot near our hotel. Tay is snoozing...hope she feels better tomorrow. Les Mis tomorrow...another of my London favs.
On another note...I still love it here. I remember why I wanted to stay :) Tay...not so much. She is a home girl and misses her comforts. Having fun, but not ready to move just yet :)
By this time, I'm feeling better and Tay starts sneezing. I think she is allergic to old and stuffy, which rules out most of Europe. We headed to the Tower of London and I think she sneezed almost the whole time we were there. Poor baby. We did get some good touring in and saw the crown jewels, a first for me, and decided that was plenty.
We headed back in to town via cab, my idea and a dumb one! Tay wanted to go to this 250 year old toy store. I thought cab would be quicker...and more fun. Ha, ha...remember that marathon? Anyway, we made it but only 15 minutes to shop. Wait, maybe that was smart?
After that we walked back to Trafalgar Square since Tay hadn't really seen the Square without the Harry Potter decor. She perked up a little so we headed out to Buckingham Palace (the site of beach volleyball during the Olympics I'm told). That was a nice walk and beautiful site of course.
Headed to find food, a tricky thing on a Sunday, and ate at cute Italian spot near our hotel. Tay is snoozing...hope she feels better tomorrow. Les Mis tomorrow...another of my London favs.
On another note...I still love it here. I remember why I wanted to stay :) Tay...not so much. She is a home girl and misses her comforts. Having fun, but not ready to move just yet :)
HP Tour
Pretty lame...
Taylor's drink
Well, she didn't finish it, so of course I did. Needless to say, after walking 25 miles yesterday and having to wait 2 hours for a table at Hard Rock (me drinking beers) I hit the bed last night and was OUT!
Kensington Palace, home to Diana and six other Queens or Princesses, is undergoing a major renovation but they had the stats rooms open to the public. however, was some strange Enchanted castle exhibit so the rooms had a strange Tim Burton feel to them. Was interesting and fun but I like to just see historical things as they were.
Anyway, next we walked my old neighborhood, which was moderately anticlimactic given that the dorms were a construction site and my favorite pub was gone. But 20 years is a long time. Progress I guess.
Taylor wanted to see the Peter Pan statue in Hyde Park. Through some poor map planning, we ended up taking the tube to the opposite end of the park...and walking almost all the way back to where we started. We walked the whole of Hyde Park. Very nice day for it...but an immense amount of walking.
Well, were off for Harry Potter city tour today. More later. Must shower.
Shawn
Kensington Palace, home to Diana and six other Queens or Princesses, is undergoing a major renovation but they had the stats rooms open to the public. however, was some strange Enchanted castle exhibit so the rooms had a strange Tim Burton feel to them. Was interesting and fun but I like to just see historical things as they were.
Anyway, next we walked my old neighborhood, which was moderately anticlimactic given that the dorms were a construction site and my favorite pub was gone. But 20 years is a long time. Progress I guess.
Taylor wanted to see the Peter Pan statue in Hyde Park. Through some poor map planning, we ended up taking the tube to the opposite end of the park...and walking almost all the way back to where we started. We walked the whole of Hyde Park. Very nice day for it...but an immense amount of walking.
Well, were off for Harry Potter city tour today. More later. Must shower.
Shawn
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Saturday...we did a lot of walking
Started out at Portobello Road. Very, and I mean very, crowded. Bought a few nice treasurers . Headed to Kensington Palace...strange but intersting. More on that later. Walked my old neighborhood. My dorms are under construction and my old favorite Pub is long gone. Got a funny look when I asked about it. But he had at least heard of the place. Must finish in the morning. Too tired...??
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