Extra picture from Paris

Birches in front of the Louvre

Weekend in Paris

Pratt and I hopped on a train on Friday and headed to Paris for the weekend.  Just felt like we had to take advantage of being so close to so many great cities - couldn't miss an opportunity to visit one of them.  We got in Friday night and just went out for dinner and managed to find the Parisian equivalent of Toads.  Loud music, strobe lights, you get the idea.  The bar put lids and a straw in every drink - not sure how you do that with lax shots, I guess we'll have to run it by Kevin...

If anybody has seen all of Paris in one day, we did it on Saturday.  Sacre Cour, Lourve, Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame.  Pretty crazy, but did our best for one day.  Here's a couple of picture highlights.

London Eye

My first impression of the London Eye was "huge ferris wheel, whats the big deal?".

state fair ferris wheel, right?

I never really pictured myself paying 17 pounds (about 27 dollars) to go on a ferris wheel, but it was Sunday night and a couple friends were going and I got talked into it.  It turns out that it is, without a doubt, the best view of London.  We got on just as the sun was setting, so in our 35 minute loop we got to see sunset, dusk and night.  Perfect timing.  Here are a couple of the views.

Trafalger Square (and Piccadilly in the background) at sunset.

Parliament and Big Ben at the start of our London Eye ride

Same view at the end of our ride.

Definitely worth the 17 pounds.  I'm a former skeptic converted.

Quick Visit to Emirates Stadium

Yesterday, Pratt and I took the tube a few stops out to the home of Arsenal Emirates stadium.  

Very nice looking stadium (from the outside...) - on the same level as a very nice NFL stadium.  We we're hoping we could get on the pitch and check things out from the inside, but no such luck.  

On a brighter note - We'll get to see this view (although hopefully not this high up...)

if we can get tickets to the Wembley Cup.  Tottenham, FC Barcalona, Celtic and Al Ahly on July 24....

Klaudia's Farewell

Well, my time here is wrapping up and in the way of goodbye, I wanted to leave my Klaudia Shaw top list of things to do here, in no special order:

(1)  Buckingham Palace, parade to the changing of the guard.  (Wouldn't stand at BP and wait to see them there, would try to be near the parade route to hear the music....sends chills up my spine everytime)   See the video Ben posted....well actually don't watch the video, it makes you sick a bit with all the movement, but listen to the awesome audio!!!

(2)  St James Park - if a man with a machine on his hip approaches you, run - advice from our tourguide, to avoid paying chair use fees

(3)  The British Museum - Elgin Marbles and Rosetta stone for sure.  The Elgin Marbles are those very controversial Parthenon sculptures of horses and riders.  (see video on this blog site)  England took them, most say fair and square - now Greece has come into the 21st century with the capability of housing them.....has created a Parthenon Museum where they have some of the sculptures. Greece wants them back, England is saying no way.  (note here: the British Museum flyer on the subject quickly throws it's European counterparts under the bus by pointing out that the Vatican and the Louvre BOTH have these sculptures as well.)

(4)  Picadilly Circus - Young, kind of trashy and everybody seems to be looking to hook up?  But it's fun and bright and loud and it's only minutes from Trafalgar Square and Regent Street.

(5)  Trafalgar Square - Yesterday - Site of the Gay Pride parade concert, never a dull moment!  Trafalgar is great, beautiful and magestic.  It's been so warm and sunny, they've had to work at keeping the algae off of the fountains there!

(6)  Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and Westminster....Churchill Statue, he looks so burdened, it was a tough time for England, that's for sure

(7)  Watch a Rugby match in a pub, full of aggression and testosterone and liquor.   I was not afraid,..... howwwwever,....I'd say my senses were on alert.  The fight on the rugby field (whew, that is the toughest sport ever and when they fight, it's something!)  led to a huge roar in the crowd, drinking, drinking, drinking, yelling, HUGE wrestling looking men in the bar screaming....when it was over, I was ready to go and I knew I'd never attend a game in person.  It's something, like out of Gladiator days.

(8)  Shop Regent Street and Bond Street

(9)  The Tower

(10)The bridges

(11)The City - Financial district with the symbol of a Dragon, awesome

(12)And lastly, take in a show.  The photo here shows Ben and I before the play we (I) picked, The 39 Steps.  This was a production of the Alfred Hitchcock comedy (yes, comedy, I couldn't believe it either).  We laughed and laughed.  It was 4 actors playing about 10 parts, and as I'm sure you can imagine, hilarity did ensue.  (OK Tucker Max fans)  We howled, the production called for great acting, but also the use of crazy props (doors, windows, wacky costumes) as well as the liberal use of a kind of puppetry where the figures were lit from behind and projected on the wall - Loch Ness Monster - hard to describe but zany and wonderful and a great night out.

I hope your summer trips are every bit as wonderful as mine has been.   If you get the chance to spend it with your family, take the time to slow down, go for a walk, sit on a park bench and just talk.  I highly recommend it.  As our very cute and friendly waitress said last night - Ciao

Wrestling Midgets are Killed by Fake Hookers

Seriously.

Anyway, here are some pictures and a video from the British Museum.  Stuff I wanted to post yesterday but was too impatient to do so.

                               

And a little video of the Elgin Marbles - the original marble from the Parthenon.

  

Natural History Museum today - I know, I know - enough with the museums.  Dinosaurs are cool though.  No matter who you are, seeing a T-Rex is pretty badass.  And admission to all these museums is free.  A free T-Rex.  Even better.

Some dinosaur at the entrance of the museum

Triceratops

Klaudia found our way to a sports bar today to watch the Women's Wimbledon Final.  As we walked up, we were totally surprised.  Not because it was packed - we figured the local tennis final would draw a crowd.  I didn't expect, however, to see mostly large men in rugby jerseys.  Venus and Serena don't really seem like their type.  Turns out the England v.s. South Africa rugby match was playing as well.  The papers have been full of drama about this match all week.  Suspensions, aggressive statements, rescinding aggressive statements, accusations of dirty play, etc.  The match itself was great - England pulled away in the second half - made the bar much happier and more entertaining.  Fans were really getting into it.  

Then I realized - America doesn't really have anything like that.  Sure we can collectively get behind Phelps and other Olympians, but its not as intense as these Englishmen are.  And its only once ever 4 (okay, maybe 2) years.  Football?  Nothing national.  No rugby.  Hockey/Basketball - again, olympics - once every 2/4 years.  Baseball -  World Basebal Classic?  You're kidding me.  World Cup?  Maybe if we were good.  That's just something we're missing.  I guess the USA-Spain soccer game the other week is as close as we'll ever come.  

"Temperatures in Tube 110+"

The biggest talking point of the last few days has been the weather.  For what is usually a chilly and wet city, London has been surprisingly warm.  The last few days have all hovered 90 degrees, and yesterday was "the hottest day since July 2006".  I was surprised - 90 degrees is very typical for most of the states, but we are pretty far North over here.  And London men don't really dress well for the heat either - I can probably count on one hand the number of male Londoners that I've seen in shorts.

We took a walking tour to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.  Our tour guide was spectacular - he had moving like we were doing military exercises, and we seemed to be in the best position to see everything.  Here is a video of the Irish Guard (bagpipers) and the English soldiers who are going to be the ones that are changing in.  

We spent some time at the British Museum yesterday.  Saw the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles (the original marble from the Parthenon) and several mummies - all awesome stuff.  It really makes one realize how far England's power and influence used to stretch.

Had dinner at the Chicago Rib Shack last night.  It was July 2 and I needed some contact with American culture.  And American food is wayyy better than English food.  I'll take ribs and fries over blood sausage any day.

I'll post a video from the British Museum later today - we're off to go watch the British fan favorite Murray take on American Roddick in the semis at Wimbledon.

Klaudia's Contribution

I'm lazy.  My mom isn't.  She enjoys writing.  Here she is:

Finding London very alive and exciting - from the tube, to the people picnicing in the parks enjoying the unusual warm and sunny weather we're having, it's been sunny and 90 every day since we arrived, a heat wave.     I also love the way the people in pubs spill out into the sidewalks here to have a smoke or chat with a pint in hand and no unhappy police to arrest them for public drinking.   In many ways, it feels like there are less rules here then in the states, can that be possible?  I've always thought of the English as stuffy, but they aren't really.   There is a toughness here, the newspapers punch you in the nose, they are tough and somewhat meanspirited.  Yesterday's paper shows this headline: "Jacko asked for deadly JAB".  Today's entertainment page shows a (plump) photo of Brittany's ex, and the headline said "Kevin is WELL-Federline"  - whew, I mean really, it's harsh.   Or perhaps it's just not preoccupied with political correctness?  Anyway, I'm very much enjoying myself.  So far the cream of the crop has to be the walking tour of the Buckingham Palace changing of the guard and St James Park, spectacular.  We enjoyed dinner with Mark and Jordan Anderson last night, who are embarking on their 2 month bicycling tour, wow!   I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Wimbeldon, tomorrow we'll watch the semi of Roddick v Murray.  Murray is a UK product and people here are gassed that he's making such a good showing.  Read tonight that people were queuing for days to get seats and some tix are going for thousands of pounds, like 10 thousand pounds...for just the Friday semi.  Whew.   Hope you're watching, it's going to be great.  Signing off for now.   Klaudia