Friday, July 24, 2009
One more thing about Berlin
Oops, forgot something. The East German, communist, government built a giant television tower in Berlin--a monument to their greatness and their expectation that communism would last forever. At the top of the tower is a huge ball--it's kind of like the one atop Reunion Tower in Dallas, but covered in silver metal, not lights. Anyway, as you know, communism is atheism and all religious observance is firmly discouraged. In one of life's great ironies, when the sun strikes that giant metal ball, it forms a cross pattern, towering atop the monument and visible for miles and miles. Pretty funny.....
Europe Part Three: Berlin
I really don't like night trains. They're noisy, crowded, the toilets get nasty, and it's not a restful experience. Plus, the cheapie compartments (where touring high school kids and their teachers end up) have six bunks in them, three on each side, stacked vertically. This overnight train journey didn't start out well because our group had four of the bunks booked, but the two bottom ones were occupied by a couple of unknown teenage girls. And they didn't speak English. Nor did they speak French, German or Spanish (and at that point we had exhausted all the language skills of our group). Eventually we discovered that one did speak a smidgen of English and that their native language was Polish, their grandparents were in the next compartment, and they wanted very much to be with their family--not with us. (Apparently the bottom bunks are considered the choice spots and people book them first, but this time they weren't pleased with their roommates--us.) So, an exchange was made, our other teacher and one student ended up with four Poles and my compartment was filled with me, three girls and two boys from GPHS. (I teased Rene and Eddie that they could go home and tell people they slept with three girls--or even more frightening, a 51 year old woman!) Based upon my experience last year, I was not looking forward to trying to sleep on a train, but I actually did sleep a few hours, and I was thankful.
Because....in the morning we arrived in Berlin and were expected to be functional enough to explore the new city. We started out with a tour by guide Kevin Kennedy, and he was the best guide we had all trip. Berlin is a beautiful city, but very different from London and Paris. Since for many years it was actually two major cities, Berlin is very spread out, with the major sites quite distant from one another. You can't see everything on foot; you must go by bus or subway. More than once Kevin mentioned the tragic history of Berlin and it's true--you see something beautiful and then just around the corner, there is a reminder of something horrific. It must be difficult for a people to live with such a dichotomy.
One of the biggest parks in the city was completely demolished after WWII as the people were forced to cut down all the trees for firewood. Today, it is lovely, and one thing I will always remember about Berlin are it's Linden trees. They bloom and smell delicious. The scent is everywhere, wafting through the entire city. It was something very special.
The Brandenburg gate, which Reagan stood in front of for his "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" speech, was beautiful--gigantic and impressive. Nearby, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe was a stark gray remembrance of genocide. It's a city block filled with stone rectangles of varying heights. Pathways run between the blocks, but it's totally gray and cold and somehow dead. Visitor are left to interpret the memorial in their own way, but it feels menacing. I learned that when building it, they found bunkers belonging to some of Hitler's henchmen, and they know that Hitler's own underground bunker is nearby, but they keep those locations secret to prevent them becoming Neo-Nazi shrines.
We also visited the Reichstag, Germany's parliament building. In front are 96 slate slabs, placed vertically in the ground (it actually looks kind of like a bicycle rack) each with the name of a parliament member who was sent to his death for opposing Hitler. Each also notes the concentration camp where the man died and his death date. A quiet memorial to Hitler's first opponents, those with the courage to speak up in the German parliament during the 1930s.
If you go to Berlin looking for the wall, you'll be disappointed. Twenty years after the fall of communism, all sign of the Berlin wall is pretty much obliterated. One section remains, and we did see that, but the no-man's-land, guards and guard towers are long gone. You can get a good feel for it all at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum though. So many people concocted ingenious schemes to escape communism. It was impressive, and depressing--especially the stories of families who tried but failed to escape. Afterward, the government would often take away their children to be raised by "good" communists.
In the evening, we met up with Kevin again for a walking tour in the trendy Prenzlauer Berg district. Most of the buildings have been renovated, but every now and then you see a row house that remains in a state of disrepair. Kevin explained that after World War II, when the communists took over, they owned everything. Then, when communism fell, the huge task of determining who originally owned the buildings began. Many buildings had belonged to Jews, whose entire families perished in the concentration camps. Finding descendants has been a major problem, and now, 60 years on, the ownership of some properties remains in dispute. He said other countries, such as the Czech Republic handled things better, placing a deadline on property claims, after which, land and buildings were sold on the open market. But, Germany didn't do that, and disputations linger. In any case, the neighborhood, in former East Berlin, is lovely and we also got to see the only synagogue in Berlin to survive the war. Apparently some important Nazi leaders lived in the area and burning down the synagogue would have placed their homes in danger, so it was saved.
We ended our evening in one of Berlin's oldest beer gardens. It was cool and green and shady and they did serve soft drinks so the Mormon girls and underage teenagers were welcome, too. Plus, we found some yummy ice cream just around the corner. (Ice cream became one of our quest foods--we ate it whenever and wherever we could find it.)
On Monday, we participated in the Domino Project, an activity designed to memorialize the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. After an interesting tour and explanation about the fall of communism and the wall, our students painted a design of their own creation on a giant block of canvas--about 7 feet tall, three feet wide and two feet deep. It was in reality, a giant domino and many of them will be lined up in front of the Brandenburg Gate this November, then knocked down, like a row of dominoes, to commemorate the fall of the wall 20 years ago. Part of the background information was a history review of the events of 1989. I had remembered that Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Albania and Romania (I think those were all the eastern European countries under Soviet domination) broke free as the Soviet Union collapsed, but I had forgotten that the protests in China occurred at the same time. Sadly, China chose a violent, bloody "solution," while Europe embraced freedom. I think the other Soviet satellites were gaining their independence then, too--Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbajan and all the -stans that I can't remember. I also learned about previous attempts to throw off Soviet domination. I knew that the Hungarians had tried in 1956 and the Czechs in 1968, but I didn't know that the people of East Berlin also staged a revolt in 1953 (so, apparently, they were the first). It, too, failed, but you see again and again how determined people were to gain their freedom. In most of the countries, that freedom has led to peace and prosperity (Yugoslavia being the main exception), and it was fascinating to learn more and actually be there.
Speaking of being there--I tried to explain to Kara how amazing that simple fact was to me. When I was growing up, Americans did not visit East Germany or Czechoslovakia or Hungary, yet there we were. When I was her age, Russians patrolled those streets, and secret police spied upon and oppressed the people. Today, East Berlin still has a Karl Marx Strasse, and a park with statues of Marx and Engels, but Lenin and Stalin are definitely out. In fact, with the wall gone, the best way to tell you're in the former East Berlin is the streetcars. West Berlin got rid of them, but they remained in the East, so if you see tracks on the street, you're in East Berlin, otherwise, you're in the West. The pedestrian lights at intersections also used to give it away--in the east you had Ampelmann who wore a derby hat, while in the west, you just saw a plain green man when it was time to cross--and they had planned to change everything to the more utilitarian west-type signs, but people loved Ampelmann too much. So, now he helps people cross in both the east and west and is a beloved symbol of the entire city of Berlin. By the way, there are Ampelmann stores all over the city and you must bring him home if you go there to visit. You can find him online if you search, I'm sure.
My main regrets regarding Berlin are the two museums I missed. I really, really wanted to go to the Pergamon Museum and see the Ishtar Gate (I saw it in my college Humanities book and have wanted to see it ever since--it's a giant, blue, tile gate from the Middle East, stunningly beautiful), but it was closed on Monday and that was our main day in the city. I also missed the Jewish Museum, said to be the finest in Europe. We had a missed connection and a shortage of time, and it just didn't work out. I doubt I'll get there again, but maybe someday......
And so, on we went. Our travels next took us to Dresden, Germany; a show-place concentration camp called Terezin; and the beautiful city of Prague. More in the next installment.....
By the way, if you missed London and Paris, just keep scrolling down in my blog and you'll find them.
Because....in the morning we arrived in Berlin and were expected to be functional enough to explore the new city. We started out with a tour by guide Kevin Kennedy, and he was the best guide we had all trip. Berlin is a beautiful city, but very different from London and Paris. Since for many years it was actually two major cities, Berlin is very spread out, with the major sites quite distant from one another. You can't see everything on foot; you must go by bus or subway. More than once Kevin mentioned the tragic history of Berlin and it's true--you see something beautiful and then just around the corner, there is a reminder of something horrific. It must be difficult for a people to live with such a dichotomy.
One of the biggest parks in the city was completely demolished after WWII as the people were forced to cut down all the trees for firewood. Today, it is lovely, and one thing I will always remember about Berlin are it's Linden trees. They bloom and smell delicious. The scent is everywhere, wafting through the entire city. It was something very special.
The Brandenburg gate, which Reagan stood in front of for his "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" speech, was beautiful--gigantic and impressive. Nearby, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe was a stark gray remembrance of genocide. It's a city block filled with stone rectangles of varying heights. Pathways run between the blocks, but it's totally gray and cold and somehow dead. Visitor are left to interpret the memorial in their own way, but it feels menacing. I learned that when building it, they found bunkers belonging to some of Hitler's henchmen, and they know that Hitler's own underground bunker is nearby, but they keep those locations secret to prevent them becoming Neo-Nazi shrines.
We also visited the Reichstag, Germany's parliament building. In front are 96 slate slabs, placed vertically in the ground (it actually looks kind of like a bicycle rack) each with the name of a parliament member who was sent to his death for opposing Hitler. Each also notes the concentration camp where the man died and his death date. A quiet memorial to Hitler's first opponents, those with the courage to speak up in the German parliament during the 1930s.
If you go to Berlin looking for the wall, you'll be disappointed. Twenty years after the fall of communism, all sign of the Berlin wall is pretty much obliterated. One section remains, and we did see that, but the no-man's-land, guards and guard towers are long gone. You can get a good feel for it all at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum though. So many people concocted ingenious schemes to escape communism. It was impressive, and depressing--especially the stories of families who tried but failed to escape. Afterward, the government would often take away their children to be raised by "good" communists.
In the evening, we met up with Kevin again for a walking tour in the trendy Prenzlauer Berg district. Most of the buildings have been renovated, but every now and then you see a row house that remains in a state of disrepair. Kevin explained that after World War II, when the communists took over, they owned everything. Then, when communism fell, the huge task of determining who originally owned the buildings began. Many buildings had belonged to Jews, whose entire families perished in the concentration camps. Finding descendants has been a major problem, and now, 60 years on, the ownership of some properties remains in dispute. He said other countries, such as the Czech Republic handled things better, placing a deadline on property claims, after which, land and buildings were sold on the open market. But, Germany didn't do that, and disputations linger. In any case, the neighborhood, in former East Berlin, is lovely and we also got to see the only synagogue in Berlin to survive the war. Apparently some important Nazi leaders lived in the area and burning down the synagogue would have placed their homes in danger, so it was saved.
We ended our evening in one of Berlin's oldest beer gardens. It was cool and green and shady and they did serve soft drinks so the Mormon girls and underage teenagers were welcome, too. Plus, we found some yummy ice cream just around the corner. (Ice cream became one of our quest foods--we ate it whenever and wherever we could find it.)
On Monday, we participated in the Domino Project, an activity designed to memorialize the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. After an interesting tour and explanation about the fall of communism and the wall, our students painted a design of their own creation on a giant block of canvas--about 7 feet tall, three feet wide and two feet deep. It was in reality, a giant domino and many of them will be lined up in front of the Brandenburg Gate this November, then knocked down, like a row of dominoes, to commemorate the fall of the wall 20 years ago. Part of the background information was a history review of the events of 1989. I had remembered that Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Albania and Romania (I think those were all the eastern European countries under Soviet domination) broke free as the Soviet Union collapsed, but I had forgotten that the protests in China occurred at the same time. Sadly, China chose a violent, bloody "solution," while Europe embraced freedom. I think the other Soviet satellites were gaining their independence then, too--Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbajan and all the -stans that I can't remember. I also learned about previous attempts to throw off Soviet domination. I knew that the Hungarians had tried in 1956 and the Czechs in 1968, but I didn't know that the people of East Berlin also staged a revolt in 1953 (so, apparently, they were the first). It, too, failed, but you see again and again how determined people were to gain their freedom. In most of the countries, that freedom has led to peace and prosperity (Yugoslavia being the main exception), and it was fascinating to learn more and actually be there.
Speaking of being there--I tried to explain to Kara how amazing that simple fact was to me. When I was growing up, Americans did not visit East Germany or Czechoslovakia or Hungary, yet there we were. When I was her age, Russians patrolled those streets, and secret police spied upon and oppressed the people. Today, East Berlin still has a Karl Marx Strasse, and a park with statues of Marx and Engels, but Lenin and Stalin are definitely out. In fact, with the wall gone, the best way to tell you're in the former East Berlin is the streetcars. West Berlin got rid of them, but they remained in the East, so if you see tracks on the street, you're in East Berlin, otherwise, you're in the West. The pedestrian lights at intersections also used to give it away--in the east you had Ampelmann who wore a derby hat, while in the west, you just saw a plain green man when it was time to cross--and they had planned to change everything to the more utilitarian west-type signs, but people loved Ampelmann too much. So, now he helps people cross in both the east and west and is a beloved symbol of the entire city of Berlin. By the way, there are Ampelmann stores all over the city and you must bring him home if you go there to visit. You can find him online if you search, I'm sure.
My main regrets regarding Berlin are the two museums I missed. I really, really wanted to go to the Pergamon Museum and see the Ishtar Gate (I saw it in my college Humanities book and have wanted to see it ever since--it's a giant, blue, tile gate from the Middle East, stunningly beautiful), but it was closed on Monday and that was our main day in the city. I also missed the Jewish Museum, said to be the finest in Europe. We had a missed connection and a shortage of time, and it just didn't work out. I doubt I'll get there again, but maybe someday......
And so, on we went. Our travels next took us to Dresden, Germany; a show-place concentration camp called Terezin; and the beautiful city of Prague. More in the next installment.....
By the way, if you missed London and Paris, just keep scrolling down in my blog and you'll find them.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Europe Part Two--Paris
Ah, Paris. The city of light and one of my favorite places on the planet. It's beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, but our stay there didn't start off well at all.
We arrived in Paris on Thursday night and the bus took us directly to the restaurant for dinner. Nothing wrong with that, except that we were told our bags would be safe on the bus and most people left everything there except for small purses. Well, they weren't safe.
When we returned, two backpacks were missing--both of them were black and both had been sitting on seats near the front of the bus. One belonged to our tour director, Eve, and the other to my student, Ashley. It appeared that someone had somehow boarded the bus (even though the driver swore it was locked) and took the bags. It was, at least momentarily, a stunning blow. Ashley had left her money belt in the backpack and lost her credit cards, quite a bit of cash, and her passport, as well as her cellphone. Eve lost her laptop with all her trip and work info on it, plus her camera and other important personal items. It was hard to see Paris in any kind of positive light after the theft.
Then we went to our hotel. Not a nice place. We stayed at a lovely hotel in London, but the one in Paris, while located next door to the metro stop and very convenient from that perspective, was pretty much a dump. Plus, the air conditioning was, shall we say, anemic at best?
Still, we settled in as best we could and Eve spent ages on the phone to the police and EF offices and began getting things in order.
Next morning, my first job was to accompany Eve and Ashley to the local police station. Thankfully, Eve's French is excellent (much, much better than mine) and she took care of making the report. However, she eventually had to go and take care of the rest of the tour group (it was their morning on the bus with a guide and a sightseeing tour of Paris) and Ashley and I stayed to finish up the paperwork. I am so thankful that if this had to happen, at least it happened in Paris, where I could be of some use language-wise. I would have been totally lost in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary or Austria, but in Paris I knew enough French to muddle through the remaining questions at the police station and get the report completed. The police officers were so nice. (I know what people say about the French--especially Parisians--but I am here to tell you that I met only nice, helpful people in Paris and one was truly an angel, but more about that in a bit). I was able to understand enough to answer the basic questions and at the end, when our officer was trying to give me some advice that I couldn't figure out, she found another officer who spoke a bit of English. Between his bit of English and my bit of French, we understood that they were advising us to put our valuables in the hotel safe. We thanked them for their help and kind concern, and headed off to the U.S. Embassy.
Another blessing--we were in a capital city, with the embassy located right there. Plus, I've been to Paris six times now and am very comfortable with getting around on the metro. I could easily get Ashley and myself anywhere we needed to go--and I knew exactly where to find the embassy. So, as I told Ashley, even though the Lord does not necessarily always prevent bad things from happening to us, He certainly helps us cope with them. He blessed us a lot in taking care of a very trying situation.
Whew.....security at American embassies is impressive. They went through my purse and took pretty much everything except some tissues. Cell phone, toothbrush, comb, lipstick...all into a plastic bag to be saved until we completed our mission.
In we went, to take a number and wait, and wait, and wait. Finally, it was our turn and we explained Ashley's lost passport and the need for an emergency one. Then paperwork and more waiting. But, after three and a half hours (and a mere $100), we had it. A new passport, completed and in Ashley's hands. Again, very nice, helpful people. (The wait wasn't their fault; the place was mobbed with people). They even let me use their phone to call Eve and give her an update on our status. We got the passport, picked up my phone, etc. and finished just in time to join the rest of the group on a visit to the Louvre.
It was another madhouse filled with people, but when in Paris, one must visit Mona and the gang. It's truly a beautiful place. Probably my favorite is the Winged Victory, beautifully displayed at the top of a staircase and lit by sunlight streaming in from above. It's always breathtaking.
We wandered around, visited Mona, saw the Venus de Milo, and admired the other paintings by Leonardo da Vinci (there are about five others in the hall on the way to Mona, but most people just pass by them in their frenzy to see the famous lady). Of course, the Louvre is so enormous that you could stay there for weeks, but we saw some beautiful things and then it was time to go.
From there, we hiked along the Seine to Notre Dame. I'd been in before, and Kara was starving (and she must be fed regularly or she literally gets sick), so we went for food, but some of the others visited the cathedral. It is beautiful, as is the walk along the Seine. We even went down the steps and walked along the water for a bit. Every city we visited had a river, but I think I like the Seine the best. It seems more friendly, perhaps because the French have put it into what amounts to a large concrete culvert. It's lovely, but tamed. The Thames in London seems much more powerful and intimidating. The Seine is intimate, crossed by many, many lovely and elegant bridges. It's definitely more romantic than the larger rivers.
Dinner required a metro ride to the north side of Paris, but we had no more "lost" people after that one episode on the tube in London. The kids were soon veterans of subway travel, making connections, following the twisting, turning tunnels to our next platform. Kara soon took the lead and guided us through, since she was there last summer and was quite familiar with it all. Sometimes you have to walk a long, long way underground just to find or change trains, but I surely wish we had such a system here. You can go anywhere in Paris quickly and cheaply on the metro.
After dinner, we headed to the Eiffel Tower for our trip to the top. We already had tickets, so we skipped the endless lines at the base, and headed up. You have to change elevators at the second level to ascend to the summit, so we had quite a wait there, but eventually we made it to the top. It was already about 8 p.m., but in the summer, the sun doesn't go down in Paris until about 10, so it was light and clear and we could see for miles. The city is in a river basin, and it is truly beautiful--white and cream colored buildings, a river winding through it--what's not to love?
When we reached the second level on the way down, the kids (Kara, Paige, Alyssa, Brennan, and Ashley) decided to walk down the 200 or so stairs to the bottom. Trudy, Joann and I waited (again) for the elevators, and the kids actually got to the bottom first. Apparently they were singing Broadway show tunes as the went down and were belting out "It's Raining Men" as they passed two British ladies, whose response was "Hallelujah!"
After La Tour Eiffel, we boarded tour boats for our cruise down the Seine. It was lovely. We were in the outside seats (not having to look through cloudy plexiglass) and had a great view. It was a relaxing trip down the river, past Notre Dame, around the Ile St. Louis and back. The girls all sat quite far in the back of the boat and had a great time as well (except when two fellows on the bank mooned them....) We arrived back at the Eiffel Tower just as it began to get dark and the strobe lights came on at 10 p.m., making the tower sparkle madly. It's a beautiful sight. Then, we stopped by a crepe stand and had delicious crepes on our way back to the metro. Street food in Paris is yummy!
So ended our first full day in Paris--passport taken care of, money still to come.
Eve had arranged the schedule so that we had almost all of Saturday as a free day, so we got up fairly early and tried to get to the Musee D'Orsay when it opened at 9. We were only a bit past that, and the line was short, the museum wasn't mobbed yet, and I was very happy. We spent about an hour and a half there, and it is one of my favorite museums in the world. If you love Impressionist paintings, you must, must go. Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Degas, Manet, Sisely, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Seurat--all there. It's amazing. Trudy and I loved it. I'm not sure if the girls did, but I hope so. At least there was a cafe with refreshments when they were tired of admiring the art.
Then we went in search of a Western Union office. Ashley's parents had wired her some money, which we needed to pick up. Eve gave me an address in the 8th Arrondisement and off we went. It was an area new to me, so I was consulting my map as we came out of the metro station. As I said, "I think we need to go this way," another of those wonderfully helpful Parisians, said (in perfect English) "Yes, it's that way." (I'm telling you, the Parisians have been getting a bad rap all these years). So, off we went. As the trek looked like it might be a bit longer than we anticipated, we found some lovely benches under trees (the Parisians plant trees everywhere along their streets and often have benches, too. It's a great place, Paris). So, everyone else sat, while Ashley and I continued our search. However, when we finally found the correct address, it was not a Western Union office. We knocked and tried, but the door was locked and things were not looking good. I was about to give up, when I turned around and saw a lady behind me walking her dog. I thought I'd try to find out where the office actually was located. "Nous cherchons Western Union" (we're searching for Western Union) I told her and (wonderfully) she answered in English, saying this was not it and she didn't know where the office was. Now, here's where our angel comes in. Out of nowhere, a man came walking up. He also spoke perfect English, and he had a cell phone with internet access. In short order, he had googled Western Union in Paris, found two offices on the Champs Elysees, and walked us back to join our friends. There is no way this just "happened." I am convinced he was sent by God to help us poor little lost Americans in Paris. He even told Ashley, "Don't let this (the theft) spoil your experience of Paris." I'm telling you again, Paris is filled with lovely people. (Eve, a skeptical Brit, said I must have met the only nice people in Paris, but I think she was joking).
The Champs Elyssees is one of the most elegant and beautiful boulevards in the world (when we got to Budapest, they even said their main avenue was modeled on it). We had lunch in an Italian restaurant (Alyssa got to choose because it was her birthday) and enjoyed it greatly. Then Ash and I went to find Western Union--and it was practically across the street. The lady there (again!) spoke perfect English, was very helpful (again!), and in short order Ashley had cash. All in all a great day.
We finished our free time with a quick trip to Napoleon's tomb. I just had to see it again after visiting Lord Wellington's in St. Paul's in London. And, as I mentioned, Wellington's does mention Waterloo, while Napoleon's does not. Nonetheless, it's a very impressive tomb. Stop in at Les Invalides if you're ever in Paris. Napoleon lies eternally and magnificently dead underneath a gold-encrusted dome.
Then it was time for us to get back to the hotel, gather up our things and head for Gare de L'Est (the eastern train station) to catch our night train to Berlin. I am not a fan of night trains, but that story comes in the next installment.......
We arrived in Paris on Thursday night and the bus took us directly to the restaurant for dinner. Nothing wrong with that, except that we were told our bags would be safe on the bus and most people left everything there except for small purses. Well, they weren't safe.
When we returned, two backpacks were missing--both of them were black and both had been sitting on seats near the front of the bus. One belonged to our tour director, Eve, and the other to my student, Ashley. It appeared that someone had somehow boarded the bus (even though the driver swore it was locked) and took the bags. It was, at least momentarily, a stunning blow. Ashley had left her money belt in the backpack and lost her credit cards, quite a bit of cash, and her passport, as well as her cellphone. Eve lost her laptop with all her trip and work info on it, plus her camera and other important personal items. It was hard to see Paris in any kind of positive light after the theft.
Then we went to our hotel. Not a nice place. We stayed at a lovely hotel in London, but the one in Paris, while located next door to the metro stop and very convenient from that perspective, was pretty much a dump. Plus, the air conditioning was, shall we say, anemic at best?
Still, we settled in as best we could and Eve spent ages on the phone to the police and EF offices and began getting things in order.
Next morning, my first job was to accompany Eve and Ashley to the local police station. Thankfully, Eve's French is excellent (much, much better than mine) and she took care of making the report. However, she eventually had to go and take care of the rest of the tour group (it was their morning on the bus with a guide and a sightseeing tour of Paris) and Ashley and I stayed to finish up the paperwork. I am so thankful that if this had to happen, at least it happened in Paris, where I could be of some use language-wise. I would have been totally lost in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary or Austria, but in Paris I knew enough French to muddle through the remaining questions at the police station and get the report completed. The police officers were so nice. (I know what people say about the French--especially Parisians--but I am here to tell you that I met only nice, helpful people in Paris and one was truly an angel, but more about that in a bit). I was able to understand enough to answer the basic questions and at the end, when our officer was trying to give me some advice that I couldn't figure out, she found another officer who spoke a bit of English. Between his bit of English and my bit of French, we understood that they were advising us to put our valuables in the hotel safe. We thanked them for their help and kind concern, and headed off to the U.S. Embassy.
Another blessing--we were in a capital city, with the embassy located right there. Plus, I've been to Paris six times now and am very comfortable with getting around on the metro. I could easily get Ashley and myself anywhere we needed to go--and I knew exactly where to find the embassy. So, as I told Ashley, even though the Lord does not necessarily always prevent bad things from happening to us, He certainly helps us cope with them. He blessed us a lot in taking care of a very trying situation.
Whew.....security at American embassies is impressive. They went through my purse and took pretty much everything except some tissues. Cell phone, toothbrush, comb, lipstick...all into a plastic bag to be saved until we completed our mission.
In we went, to take a number and wait, and wait, and wait. Finally, it was our turn and we explained Ashley's lost passport and the need for an emergency one. Then paperwork and more waiting. But, after three and a half hours (and a mere $100), we had it. A new passport, completed and in Ashley's hands. Again, very nice, helpful people. (The wait wasn't their fault; the place was mobbed with people). They even let me use their phone to call Eve and give her an update on our status. We got the passport, picked up my phone, etc. and finished just in time to join the rest of the group on a visit to the Louvre.
It was another madhouse filled with people, but when in Paris, one must visit Mona and the gang. It's truly a beautiful place. Probably my favorite is the Winged Victory, beautifully displayed at the top of a staircase and lit by sunlight streaming in from above. It's always breathtaking.
We wandered around, visited Mona, saw the Venus de Milo, and admired the other paintings by Leonardo da Vinci (there are about five others in the hall on the way to Mona, but most people just pass by them in their frenzy to see the famous lady). Of course, the Louvre is so enormous that you could stay there for weeks, but we saw some beautiful things and then it was time to go.
From there, we hiked along the Seine to Notre Dame. I'd been in before, and Kara was starving (and she must be fed regularly or she literally gets sick), so we went for food, but some of the others visited the cathedral. It is beautiful, as is the walk along the Seine. We even went down the steps and walked along the water for a bit. Every city we visited had a river, but I think I like the Seine the best. It seems more friendly, perhaps because the French have put it into what amounts to a large concrete culvert. It's lovely, but tamed. The Thames in London seems much more powerful and intimidating. The Seine is intimate, crossed by many, many lovely and elegant bridges. It's definitely more romantic than the larger rivers.
Dinner required a metro ride to the north side of Paris, but we had no more "lost" people after that one episode on the tube in London. The kids were soon veterans of subway travel, making connections, following the twisting, turning tunnels to our next platform. Kara soon took the lead and guided us through, since she was there last summer and was quite familiar with it all. Sometimes you have to walk a long, long way underground just to find or change trains, but I surely wish we had such a system here. You can go anywhere in Paris quickly and cheaply on the metro.
After dinner, we headed to the Eiffel Tower for our trip to the top. We already had tickets, so we skipped the endless lines at the base, and headed up. You have to change elevators at the second level to ascend to the summit, so we had quite a wait there, but eventually we made it to the top. It was already about 8 p.m., but in the summer, the sun doesn't go down in Paris until about 10, so it was light and clear and we could see for miles. The city is in a river basin, and it is truly beautiful--white and cream colored buildings, a river winding through it--what's not to love?
When we reached the second level on the way down, the kids (Kara, Paige, Alyssa, Brennan, and Ashley) decided to walk down the 200 or so stairs to the bottom. Trudy, Joann and I waited (again) for the elevators, and the kids actually got to the bottom first. Apparently they were singing Broadway show tunes as the went down and were belting out "It's Raining Men" as they passed two British ladies, whose response was "Hallelujah!"
After La Tour Eiffel, we boarded tour boats for our cruise down the Seine. It was lovely. We were in the outside seats (not having to look through cloudy plexiglass) and had a great view. It was a relaxing trip down the river, past Notre Dame, around the Ile St. Louis and back. The girls all sat quite far in the back of the boat and had a great time as well (except when two fellows on the bank mooned them....) We arrived back at the Eiffel Tower just as it began to get dark and the strobe lights came on at 10 p.m., making the tower sparkle madly. It's a beautiful sight. Then, we stopped by a crepe stand and had delicious crepes on our way back to the metro. Street food in Paris is yummy!
So ended our first full day in Paris--passport taken care of, money still to come.
Eve had arranged the schedule so that we had almost all of Saturday as a free day, so we got up fairly early and tried to get to the Musee D'Orsay when it opened at 9. We were only a bit past that, and the line was short, the museum wasn't mobbed yet, and I was very happy. We spent about an hour and a half there, and it is one of my favorite museums in the world. If you love Impressionist paintings, you must, must go. Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Degas, Manet, Sisely, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Seurat--all there. It's amazing. Trudy and I loved it. I'm not sure if the girls did, but I hope so. At least there was a cafe with refreshments when they were tired of admiring the art.
Then we went in search of a Western Union office. Ashley's parents had wired her some money, which we needed to pick up. Eve gave me an address in the 8th Arrondisement and off we went. It was an area new to me, so I was consulting my map as we came out of the metro station. As I said, "I think we need to go this way," another of those wonderfully helpful Parisians, said (in perfect English) "Yes, it's that way." (I'm telling you, the Parisians have been getting a bad rap all these years). So, off we went. As the trek looked like it might be a bit longer than we anticipated, we found some lovely benches under trees (the Parisians plant trees everywhere along their streets and often have benches, too. It's a great place, Paris). So, everyone else sat, while Ashley and I continued our search. However, when we finally found the correct address, it was not a Western Union office. We knocked and tried, but the door was locked and things were not looking good. I was about to give up, when I turned around and saw a lady behind me walking her dog. I thought I'd try to find out where the office actually was located. "Nous cherchons Western Union" (we're searching for Western Union) I told her and (wonderfully) she answered in English, saying this was not it and she didn't know where the office was. Now, here's where our angel comes in. Out of nowhere, a man came walking up. He also spoke perfect English, and he had a cell phone with internet access. In short order, he had googled Western Union in Paris, found two offices on the Champs Elysees, and walked us back to join our friends. There is no way this just "happened." I am convinced he was sent by God to help us poor little lost Americans in Paris. He even told Ashley, "Don't let this (the theft) spoil your experience of Paris." I'm telling you again, Paris is filled with lovely people. (Eve, a skeptical Brit, said I must have met the only nice people in Paris, but I think she was joking).
The Champs Elyssees is one of the most elegant and beautiful boulevards in the world (when we got to Budapest, they even said their main avenue was modeled on it). We had lunch in an Italian restaurant (Alyssa got to choose because it was her birthday) and enjoyed it greatly. Then Ash and I went to find Western Union--and it was practically across the street. The lady there (again!) spoke perfect English, was very helpful (again!), and in short order Ashley had cash. All in all a great day.
We finished our free time with a quick trip to Napoleon's tomb. I just had to see it again after visiting Lord Wellington's in St. Paul's in London. And, as I mentioned, Wellington's does mention Waterloo, while Napoleon's does not. Nonetheless, it's a very impressive tomb. Stop in at Les Invalides if you're ever in Paris. Napoleon lies eternally and magnificently dead underneath a gold-encrusted dome.
Then it was time for us to get back to the hotel, gather up our things and head for Gare de L'Est (the eastern train station) to catch our night train to Berlin. I am not a fan of night trains, but that story comes in the next installment.......
Friday, July 10, 2009
Europe 2009 Part One
I know I haven't ever written about my 2008 trip to Europe, but I'll get to that sometime..... Today I need to begin the saga of the 2009 trip. So, here is Part the First:
You may ask, "Hey, Sherry, what did you do in Europe?" Well, let me tell you.......
Our first stop was in the great city of London. We arrived at Heathrow, met our tour group and took the bus to our hotel, which was in the suburb of Croyden, south of the city. We took the train and the tube in to town and went on a short orientation walk. I really enjoyed walking down Whitehall--it was one of the things I had planned to do anyway. It's the street with the U.K.'s monument to all the soldiers who died in World Wars I and II. The cenotaph sits in the middle of the road, and people leave wreaths of poppies to remember the war dead. I read once that if all the soldiers from the British Empire who died in World War I were to march down that street, four abreast, the parade would last two weeks. That's a mind-boggling thought.
We also passed the Queen's Horse Guards, very impressive in their shiny helmets and boots and riding very fine looking horses; the Banqueting House designed by Inigo Jones where King Charles I stepped out on a balcony in the 1600s and was the only British monarch executed by his people; and the intersection with Downing Street, where the British Prime Minister lives. I love, love, love British history, so London is one of my all-time favorite towns.
We stopped at Trafalgar Square--a very impressive monument to Lord Nelson who defeated the French at Trafalgar, then strolled past the National Gallery and the church called St. Martin in the Fields. I really want to go there for a concert someday, but didn't make it this time. From there our group split up and some of us decided to hike to St. Paul's cathedral via the Strand. It looked great on the map, walking past the famous tea shop, Twinnings, and past a pub where Samuel Johnson and Charles Dickens used to hang out, but in reality it was a looooonnnngggg walk. I'm afraid I overdid it for my companions on the first day and I felt guilty about that ever afterwards.....Still, St. Paul's was gorgeous inside and I'm thankful for the opportunity to see it. I was particularly impressed with the tomb of Lord Wellington, who finally and decisively defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. His tomb lists his many battles, and of course mentions his great triumph at Waterloo. Interestingly enough, Napoleon's much more lavish tomb in Paris fails to mention his final defeat. Hmmm.....
We ate dinner at a little restaurant near St. Paul's (and also near the Millenium bridge) dining on fish and chips with mushy peas (this is actually a well-loved British dish and it's pretty tasty, even though it really is mushed up peas--with mint no less).
I liked our hotel in London and the using the Underground and the train was no problem at all.
Our second day began with an attempt to visit Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately, it was closed for a private service, so I still haven't seen all the wonders in it that I want to see. Looks like I'll have to go to London again! Afterwards the three adults in my group set out to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Couldn't persuade any of the kids to join us, so they all went with Ms. Crane to climb the 200 or so steps at Tower Bridge. We really enjoyed the pomp and circumstance at Buckingham Palace. The British certainly do ceremony well. The soldier's uniforms are quite impressive, as are the matching horses of the Horse Guard. It's something everyone should see if they're in London.
The three of us had lunch in a lovely cafe near the Thames (I have a firm rule--I always sit down for lunch, relax and enjoy the local food). Then we met our bus for a tour of the city. It was well-done and interesting and we even had a few minutes to race through the British Museum at the end. Not nearly enough time, of course, but that gives me another reason to go back. I did get to see the Elgin Marbles and that was something I had long wished to see, so it wasn't a total loss.
We ate dinner in Soho, my first experience with Indian food--it was delicious. Then we traveled to Tower Hill to meet our guide for a Jack the Ripper walk. Once there, I realized that one of my students was missing. Paige had not noticed when we all turned in to the underground station, and was left behind. Luckily Alyssa soon received a text from Paige explaining what had happened and she was able to send instructions on how to find us. Just to be certain that Paige was okay, I took the tube back to the previous station and searched for her, but Kara then texted me that Paige had arrived and I rejoined the group, which had already begun the walking tour. That was problematic as we had already walked too far for the first day and Trudy was having trouble with her feet. I felt so guilty about it and there didn't seem to be anything I could do except keep trudging on. So, on we went and were most grateful when we finally reached the tube station. I think Trudy would have gone home that night if she could have, but we made it through. After the tour, she went on back to the hotel, and Joann and I took Kara and Kayte shopping on Oxford Street. We also thought about going to the London Eye, but decided against it. Shopping was pretty fun, and we had an easy route home from there.
On Day 3, we left London and began our long journey across much of Europe. Our final stop in the U.K. was at Canterbury, the city where Thomas Beckett was killed, and where pilgrims later came to visit his tomb. The tomb is not actually there any more, as it was destroyed in the 1500s when Henry VIII confiscated all Catholic properties in England and had the shrines destroyed. By the way, docents at the Cathedral told me that Henry VIII's men took 26 carts full of gold, silver and jewels from Canterbury Cathedral. (Makes you wonder if his motivation for ditching the Catholic church wasn't really Ann Boleyn after all, but the money and property he could confiscate from the church. I know, I'm such a cynic). Still, the Cathedral is the place of Thomas Beckett's murder, and a very historic cathedral. Canterbury is a pretty little town as well. Our lunch there at Pret a Manger (a salad/sandwich chain that is all over London--and probably everywhere else as well) was excellent. I highly recommend the chain, particularly since one seems to lack fruits and vegetables when traveling and they have wonderful varieties of both. Several of us got to participate in a brief prayer service in the cathedral and it was a peaceful, moving experience. I think I may just teach the Canterbury Tales this year, since now I've been there, too.
We then traveled onwards to the English coast at Dover, where we saw the famous White Cliffs, and boarded a ferry across the English Channel. It was my first time on an ocean-going vessel (even if it was just across a 20 mile channel) and I found that if I watched the water out the window, I felt fine, but if I focused on what was happening inside the boat, I tended to feel dizzy. Weird.....
Upon our arrival in France, we boarded our coach and drove to Paris. And, as Paris is a long story, I'll write about it in the next episode.......
You may ask, "Hey, Sherry, what did you do in Europe?" Well, let me tell you.......
Our first stop was in the great city of London. We arrived at Heathrow, met our tour group and took the bus to our hotel, which was in the suburb of Croyden, south of the city. We took the train and the tube in to town and went on a short orientation walk. I really enjoyed walking down Whitehall--it was one of the things I had planned to do anyway. It's the street with the U.K.'s monument to all the soldiers who died in World Wars I and II. The cenotaph sits in the middle of the road, and people leave wreaths of poppies to remember the war dead. I read once that if all the soldiers from the British Empire who died in World War I were to march down that street, four abreast, the parade would last two weeks. That's a mind-boggling thought.
We also passed the Queen's Horse Guards, very impressive in their shiny helmets and boots and riding very fine looking horses; the Banqueting House designed by Inigo Jones where King Charles I stepped out on a balcony in the 1600s and was the only British monarch executed by his people; and the intersection with Downing Street, where the British Prime Minister lives. I love, love, love British history, so London is one of my all-time favorite towns.
We stopped at Trafalgar Square--a very impressive monument to Lord Nelson who defeated the French at Trafalgar, then strolled past the National Gallery and the church called St. Martin in the Fields. I really want to go there for a concert someday, but didn't make it this time. From there our group split up and some of us decided to hike to St. Paul's cathedral via the Strand. It looked great on the map, walking past the famous tea shop, Twinnings, and past a pub where Samuel Johnson and Charles Dickens used to hang out, but in reality it was a looooonnnngggg walk. I'm afraid I overdid it for my companions on the first day and I felt guilty about that ever afterwards.....Still, St. Paul's was gorgeous inside and I'm thankful for the opportunity to see it. I was particularly impressed with the tomb of Lord Wellington, who finally and decisively defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. His tomb lists his many battles, and of course mentions his great triumph at Waterloo. Interestingly enough, Napoleon's much more lavish tomb in Paris fails to mention his final defeat. Hmmm.....
We ate dinner at a little restaurant near St. Paul's (and also near the Millenium bridge) dining on fish and chips with mushy peas (this is actually a well-loved British dish and it's pretty tasty, even though it really is mushed up peas--with mint no less).
I liked our hotel in London and the using the Underground and the train was no problem at all.
Our second day began with an attempt to visit Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately, it was closed for a private service, so I still haven't seen all the wonders in it that I want to see. Looks like I'll have to go to London again! Afterwards the three adults in my group set out to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Couldn't persuade any of the kids to join us, so they all went with Ms. Crane to climb the 200 or so steps at Tower Bridge. We really enjoyed the pomp and circumstance at Buckingham Palace. The British certainly do ceremony well. The soldier's uniforms are quite impressive, as are the matching horses of the Horse Guard. It's something everyone should see if they're in London.
The three of us had lunch in a lovely cafe near the Thames (I have a firm rule--I always sit down for lunch, relax and enjoy the local food). Then we met our bus for a tour of the city. It was well-done and interesting and we even had a few minutes to race through the British Museum at the end. Not nearly enough time, of course, but that gives me another reason to go back. I did get to see the Elgin Marbles and that was something I had long wished to see, so it wasn't a total loss.
We ate dinner in Soho, my first experience with Indian food--it was delicious. Then we traveled to Tower Hill to meet our guide for a Jack the Ripper walk. Once there, I realized that one of my students was missing. Paige had not noticed when we all turned in to the underground station, and was left behind. Luckily Alyssa soon received a text from Paige explaining what had happened and she was able to send instructions on how to find us. Just to be certain that Paige was okay, I took the tube back to the previous station and searched for her, but Kara then texted me that Paige had arrived and I rejoined the group, which had already begun the walking tour. That was problematic as we had already walked too far for the first day and Trudy was having trouble with her feet. I felt so guilty about it and there didn't seem to be anything I could do except keep trudging on. So, on we went and were most grateful when we finally reached the tube station. I think Trudy would have gone home that night if she could have, but we made it through. After the tour, she went on back to the hotel, and Joann and I took Kara and Kayte shopping on Oxford Street. We also thought about going to the London Eye, but decided against it. Shopping was pretty fun, and we had an easy route home from there.
On Day 3, we left London and began our long journey across much of Europe. Our final stop in the U.K. was at Canterbury, the city where Thomas Beckett was killed, and where pilgrims later came to visit his tomb. The tomb is not actually there any more, as it was destroyed in the 1500s when Henry VIII confiscated all Catholic properties in England and had the shrines destroyed. By the way, docents at the Cathedral told me that Henry VIII's men took 26 carts full of gold, silver and jewels from Canterbury Cathedral. (Makes you wonder if his motivation for ditching the Catholic church wasn't really Ann Boleyn after all, but the money and property he could confiscate from the church. I know, I'm such a cynic). Still, the Cathedral is the place of Thomas Beckett's murder, and a very historic cathedral. Canterbury is a pretty little town as well. Our lunch there at Pret a Manger (a salad/sandwich chain that is all over London--and probably everywhere else as well) was excellent. I highly recommend the chain, particularly since one seems to lack fruits and vegetables when traveling and they have wonderful varieties of both. Several of us got to participate in a brief prayer service in the cathedral and it was a peaceful, moving experience. I think I may just teach the Canterbury Tales this year, since now I've been there, too.
We then traveled onwards to the English coast at Dover, where we saw the famous White Cliffs, and boarded a ferry across the English Channel. It was my first time on an ocean-going vessel (even if it was just across a 20 mile channel) and I found that if I watched the water out the window, I felt fine, but if I focused on what was happening inside the boat, I tended to feel dizzy. Weird.....
Upon our arrival in France, we boarded our coach and drove to Paris. And, as Paris is a long story, I'll write about it in the next episode.......
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