Reims

Reims Cathedral During the Light Show
Reims, France

In college, I took a medieval art/architecture history class, and the professor always encouraged us to visit the places we were studying in class. To the best of my ability, I’ve followed his advice; the Vatican, Cologne cathedral, Notre Dame in Paris, Il Duomo in Florence, Mont St Michel. Reims cathedral was also on the list. I know we won’t see everything on the list, but it’s always fun when words and images become real places.

Architecturally speaking, Reims cathedral isn’t too different from Notre Dame, but the city was a perfect stopping point for the night, and several champagne houses are based there. Furthermore, the cathedral was having an evening light show while we were in town. The show was originally conducted for the 800th anniversary in 2011, but there was an encore presentation this summer.

The show was after sunset, so we walked to the plaza in front of the western façade and waited in the darkness with the gathering crowd; the show used the cathedral as a movie screen, projecting images onto the façade. It started suddenly. The spot lights went dark. Silence fell. Then light returned—with music—illustrating the construction of the building. Step by step, from the architectural plans to the masonry work, the cathedral rose into the sky. The show’s finale was a sequence of rapid color changes that would rival an LSD trip. And then it was done. The crowd dispersed into the night.



The rear of Reims Cathedral
Reims, France

Useful Links!
Pictures from Our Trip!
Video of the Light Show (it's a little long, but really cool if you can hang in there, check out 05:25)
Practical Information for visiting Reims Cathedral
Learn about the Cathedral's History, Windows, and Architecture

Road Trip Pt. 3: Venice, Italy!

Interior of St. Mark's Basilica
Venice, Italy

I love Italy with its mild temperatures and Mediterranean diet. When we visited Venice though, I learned there is a big difference between southern Italy and northern Italy. The biggest shock was the olive oil—there wasn’t much. The climate is not conducive to olive growing and there are only a few groves in the area around Lake Garda. Also much less surprising, being closer to the Alps, the weather is cooler and subject to greater fluctuations—hence no olive oil.

We spent two days in Venice and had 3 tours booked using Veneto Inside. Our first tour was behind the scenes at St. Mark’s Basilica, and it turned out that we were the only people on the tour. We were able to ask lots of questions and our guide escorted us to areas no longer open to the public, most notably the baptistery dedicated to St. John. St. Mark’s has vastly different architecture than what we’ve seen previously. Venice was a seafaring, merchant city and the basilica was obviously influenced by styles outside of Western Europe; it looks like a typical byzantine church found in Turkey. Much of the interior was gilded and the art within was more Middle Eastern than typical renaissance art found in other Italian churches.

Venice, Italy

That evening we had dinner on the Grand Canal. Venice has more tourists than locals and the restaurant didn’t have an authentic feel, but the ambience of sitting canal-side was nice. We sat right next to the edge of the canal and were able to watch the chaos that is water traffic from a safe distance. As we finished our dinner we encountered a downside to sitting so close to the canal: flooding. The water had risen during our meal and was now pooling around our feet. We paid and headed into the labyrinthine streets in search of our hotel. There are over 400 bridges in Venice, but lots of streets still dead end into the canals.

Minor Flooding
Venice, Italy

The next morning’s weather did not bode well for the already swollen canals; a storm was brewing. We decided to visit Murano Island in the morning and wander around more of Venice in the afternoon. Murano is another small series of islands similar to Venice and is located about 1½ miles northwest of the city.

We took a water bus, or vaporetto, to Murano. Our route took us out into the lagoon where the waters of the Adriatic were rougher due to the impending storm. Knowing what white caps mean from experience, I went below deck and had the pleasure of watching everyone above get soaked when we hit the first wake of another boat. I also delighted in standing the whole ride; it was like surfing. I could see the locals waiting for me to fall and I’m proud to report they were disappointed. I may be clumsy on land, but years of sailing with my Dad have given me pretty sturdy sea-legs.

Rough Seas
Murano, Italy

Murano Island has far fewer tourists and locals than Venice; people tend to visit for one reason. For centuries, Murano has been the location of master glass craftsmen. During the height of the glass monopoly, the masters were forbidden from leaving the island for fear of trade secrets getting out. There were rumors that dissenters would have their tongues cut out.

The secrets are still jealously guarded, though with less brutal punishments. Today the main fear is cheap, Chinese knockoffs, and photography isn’t allowed. Now with fewer craftsmen in the city, I’d rather support the masters so the craft doesn’t die out. The art is stunning; shapes and colors that shouldn’t be possible with glass as a medium. It takes at least 10 years of training to become a master; many craftsmen spend even longer developing their skills. The price of the art is proportional to the amount of work that each piece requires. At first blush the prices seem outrageous, but as soon as you see the process, you understand.

Our Lamp Shades from Murano

If cooled too quickly, hot glass breaks. During formation the glass is heated to ridiculously high temperatures so that it will be pliable. After the master shapes the pliable glass, the piece is placed into an oven to cool down. Letting the glass cool on its own to room temperature would cause it to break; instead it cools slowly in the oven over a few days.

Joe and I purchased a beautiful light fixture (previously I was saying chandelier but that’s not really an accurate description) from Franco Schiavon Gallery. It’s mostly metal, and it reminds me of a tropical plant; the glass shades are the flowers. There are 5 shades, each in a different color. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take any pictures before they wrapped it up, so it’ll be awhile before you can get the full experience.

After our purchase we were allowed to see the work shop and the specially commissioned pieces. We were also permitted to photograph as much as we wanted. I won’t be making these pictures publicly available to protect the privacy of the artists, but it’s nice to have them for my personal use.

The Grand Canal
Venice, Italy

All the lights and chandeliers are wired for European outlets and voltages when they’re made. Since we are taking ours back to the US the wiring needed to be changed before we could leave the shop. While they were changing our wires and boxing the light, we wandered around the show rooms. After, while we were waiting, the power went out! The store was 3 levels and each piece had display lighting. During our tour of the store, our guide would power up each room when we walked in, and flip all the fuses back off when we left. I think someone had too many lights on at once and overloaded the system. Once power was restored we got our packages and some cute glass candies as a parting gift. We didn’t have time to return to the hotel so we carried our bulky packages the rest of the night—through 2 tours.

Venice, Italy

The first tour was pretty interesting; it was called a taste of Venice, and by chance we were again alone with the guide. Basically we were bar hopping; eating a traditional small snack, or cicchetti, paired with wine, sort of like tapas. Unfortunately, something they ate didn’t agree with them, and Joe’s parents both got sick. Joe and I didn’t, and everything we ate tasted amazing.

The second tour was a large ghost tour and it was given about a half hour before dusk, so it wasn’t very dark. It was difficult to get in the mood when there were no shadows creeping around corners. We were able to see more Venice on this tour and to witness the city under siege from high water. All the rain during the day had significantly increased the high tide depths. The high water warning siren rang, and the flood gates went up in front of home and businesses. We had to splash our way through a few puddles to get home that night.

Useful Links!
Pictures from Our Trip!
Franco Schiavon Gallery-Murano
National Geographic Guide to Venice
About Authentic Murano Glass
Byzantine Architecture - Be sure to scroll left and right
St. Mark’s Basilica Website
Veneto Inside Venice Tours
History of St. Mark's from Sacred Destinations (I love this site!)
Article about the Negative Effects of Cruise Ships Visiting Venice
Riding the Vaporetti (from Smithsonian Magazine)
Venetian Pub Crawl through Cicchetti Bars (from Smithsonian Magazine)
Climate Change: Rising Sea Levels and Venice (from Smithsonian Magazine)

München, again

Weisses Brauhaus
Munich, Germany

We pass through Munich a lot, usually taking the train. Whenever we arrive in the Munich Hauptbahnhof or main train station, we like to take a brief pit stop at the Pizza Panini stand in the station. There is something amazing about eating a slice of delicious pizza on the move after being cooped up in the train. We tried to mix it up this trip, and after lunch at our favorite beer hall, Weissesbrauhaus, we succeeded in visiting new venues.

The first was the Bier und Oktoberfest Museum. Most of the exhibits were in German, but there was enough English around that we weren’t totally lost. The admission was surprising low; I think it was €2.50 a person.

I think he'd make a cute beer maid.
Joseph Satava at the Bier und Oktoberfest Muesum
Munich, Germany

At Oktoberfest, the beer maids have to be able to carry 7 litres of beer per hand. At the museum they have mock liter mugs so you could compare your strength to that of the trained beer maids. Those mugs were heavy; I don’t have what it takes. Joe and Steve on the other hand could, with a little training, try out to be beer maids next year.

Our next stop on the tour was the Munich Residenz. There are 3 portions of the palace you can visit, and we only managed to visit one. This is another palace used by the Bavarian Kings because honestly, who only has one palace?

Munich Residenz
Munich, Germany

The Residenz was heavily bombed during WWII so a lot of the interiors are reconstructions, but there were a few original pieces. Like most royal palaces, the Residenz was decorated in all manners of opulence; I half expected a miniature giraffe to gallop by. There were a few standout rooms that broke up the monotony of audience rooms and bed chambers, but this tour is exhausting. There are over 100 rooms to tour, and I can’t imagine living here. What if I left my book at the opposite end of the palace? It would take me an hour just to get the thing. However, it would be awesome remarkably easy to get some private time and it would make a fabulous setting for an epic game of hide and seek.

Munich Residenz
Munich, Germany

Useful Links!

Photos from Our Trip!

Munich Residenz Museum

Bavarian Castle Pass

Bier und Oktoberfest Museum

Last Day in the UK! It Rhymes!

The globe from the outside
London, England

Our last day in the UK was pretty relaxed; just wandering. The first stop of the day was the reconstructed Globe Theater. The Globe is on the banks of the Thames, and is pretty true to the original 17th century specifications. The only major changes are in regard to fire regulations; fewer people can enjoy a show at once, and they now have electricity.

We were the first tour group of the day and when we entered the theater it was empty. We managed to take a few good pictures before 100 French high school students joined us. It must have been tour group day because we ran into them everywhere. I would love to see a play here, but in early April, they aren’t showing any yet.

Ice Mice on the Millennium Bridge
London, England

We left the Globe and walked toward St. Paul’s Cathedral over the Millennium Bridge. This is the bridge attacked by Death Eaters in the cinematic version of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. We were going to pretend to witness the attacks when something else drove all other thoughts from our minds: ice mice. Someone had placed about a dozen mice on the bridge; they were made of ice. I only wish a sign had warned us ahead of time; watch for ice on bridge.

Twinings Tea Shop on the Strand
London, England

We next looped around St. Paul’s, a lovely church designed by the famous architect Christopher Wren. We admired it from the outside and continued along The Strand, stopping eventually at Twinings. Twinings is a tea company and we visited their original shop in London; it opened in 1706. Inside the Strand Shop are few displays of antique teas and memorabilia—oh, and tea!

The shop smelled amazing, and there were many ways to customize your tea purchase. I bought a few tins; they’re beautiful and I may even repurpose them into a craft once they’re empty. The shop was well lit and a pleasure to explore; the front door is still original.

Lincoln's Inn Fields aka #12 Grimmauld Place
London, England

When we left, we wandered over to Lincoln’s Inns Fields. This area was a little less genteel; there was a van distributing food for the homeless. How fitting then that this area provided the exteriors for #12 Grimmauld Place, Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. We snapped our pictures and returned to the more populated streets.

Leadenhall Market
London, England

Grimmauld Place was quite different from the other HP exteriors set we visited: Leadenhall Market. This is a covered market with a lot of specialty shops. The area is very quaint; each address is made of mosaicked tile. One particular sore in the market held our interest: The Glass House. Though it has since changed hands, The Glass House was used to film the muggle side of The Leaky Cauldron. It’s blue now, but the exterior is otherwise the same.

The Glass House in Leadenhall Market
London, England

We also visited a Waterstone’s Bookshop while in Leadenhall market. The internet can help you find any number of books on a particular subject, but I still maintain the best place to find information about the city you’re in is the local bookshop. Here you will find books you didn’t even know existed, sometimes as translations from other languages. It’s also more fun to buy a book in a store than it is online. You can hold it, feel the weight of it in your hand, and peer through its pages before purchasing.

I was on a hunt for a particular Jack the Ripper book, authored by the London Walks guide, Donald Rumbelow. Here on the blog I’ve directed you to Amazon, but that is because you are (probably) not in London. The first store didn’t have the book, but they directed me to another stores in the city; the hunt continued.


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Pictures from Our Trip
Shakespeare's Globe
St. Paul's Cathedral
Twinings Tea
Waterstones Bookstore
Jack the Ripper Book by Donald Rumbelow

Chawton Cottage

Winchester Cathedral
Winchester, England

Our journey back to London from the beach took us by Winchester, and we stopped for a quick visit. This was a very cute town, and it reminded me of home. Chagrin Falls with a cathedral and some ruined castles.

Winchester Cathedral is a typical British cathedral from the outside, and probably inside too, but we weren’t willing to pay £8 each to find out. That’s approximately $12 a person to visit a church, and we felt that was a bit steep, so we admired it from the outside only. Inside is the burial place of Jane Austen, a very itinerant writer; many English places have a Jane claim to fame. Winchester is her final resting place, and it was here she spent the final weeks of her life.

King Arthur's Round Table

Winchester seems to house many remains, including the remains of King Arthur’s legendary round table. While the identity and reality of King Arthur are sometimes questioned, this round table is real and round, though it is no longer a table. The table was carbon dated, and is from the 13th or 14th century, so it is not actually a relic of the mythical king. The legs have been removed, and it is hanging in the Castle Winchester Great Hall overlooking all of Winchester. The Great Hall is all that remains of the Castle Winchester and it was originally used for legal purposes. King Henry VIII had it painted in its current colors. At the other end of the hall is a giant, vining mural of royalty and Hampshire members of Parliament since the 1200s.

Ancient plumbing isn't pretty.
Wolvesey Castle
Winchester, England

Back at the bottom of the hill were the remains of Wolvesey Castle, a Bishop’s castle from the 1100s. The rooms were quite spacious, and the ruined walls stood out against the sky. Bishop Henry of Blois also had indoor plumbing—a marvel in his day, but a bit of a cesspool now.

Wolvesey Castle Ruins
Winchester, England

When we finished imagining what was once a beautiful castle, we returned to Main Street for dinner. My sister and Joe wanted to check out a restaurant we walked by earlier that smelled good. The previous night we had eaten at a pub near Temple Tube Station that had the best onion rings. We were on an onion kick. The two were shocked when the menu didn’t have onion rings. I should explain . . . they had onions on the brain and thought the place was called Onion Jack’s. It was actually called Union Jack’s, like slang term for the British flag. Since they didn’t have any rings, we moved onto the next destination: Chawton.

Winchester was where Jane Austen died, and Chawton was where she lived and where she wrote. While Austen was living in Chawton Cottage, Sense and Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma were all published. Her former home has been converted into a museum and gift shop, but these were closed when arrived. But for me, it was enough just to see the place where she wrote. I’ve read some of her letters and the village and houses were exactly as she described. I also liked thinking that the town provided her with people to study and helped her create her own characters that continue to inspire and captivate.

Chawton Cottage
Now the Jane Austen House Museum
Chawton, England

The onion twins were also satisfied. Across the street was the village pub The Greyfriar. They each ordered a side of onion rings with their meal. When my turn to order came, I asked about the soup of the day since I was feeling sick. The soup was potato and leek, and being unsure about what exactly leeks were, I asked, “Those are like onions, right?” At the time, I didn’t think much of it, but Joe pointed out that since all 3 of us ordered onion rings, it looked like we wanted onions on everything, and the waitress probably thought we were all crazy. My favorite part of being in the UK though, besides the onions, was all the cider! On tap! In bottles! Flavored! Subtle! LOVED IT!

We were seated right next to the fireplace, and we got to observe the people of Chawton in their local pub. Our waitress owned the place with her husband, and they had a giant dog. This guy was about 3 feet tall and very shaggy; he reminded me of a Muppet. When we finished, we reluctantly returned to the hustle and bustle of London.

Useful Links!

Pictures from Our Trip!

Winchester Cathedral

Castle Winchester Great Hall

Wolvesey Castle

Union Jack’s Pub Menu

History of the Union Jack (The British Flag)

Jane Austen House Museum

Jane Austen House Museum Online Shop - Where You Can Buy a Facsimile of the 1st Edition of Sense and Sensibility

The Greyfriar Pub in the Village of Chawton

The (On) Foot Clan

It was too big to fit into a single photo, so I spliced 6 together
to achieve the Firenze Duomo Facade

We spent the rest of our day in Florence wandering around on foot. Our first stop after lunch was the impressive Duomo, the 3^rd largest cathedral in the world, its façade of white and green marble very domineering. The entire building, but especially the dome, is a feat of architectural innovation. The dome, often called Brunelleschi’s dome, is actually composed of two domes with a hollow space between them for ascension. It is the largest masonry dome ever constructed. Inside the cathedral seems even larger, perhaps because it is so sparsely decorated. The lack of art stems from a call for asceticism by religious leaders at the time, and from the removal of many of the pieces to the Museo dell’ Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore.  Nevertheless, art remains, especially in the frescos of the dome. If you are so inclined, you can climb the 500+ ladder-like steps to the top of the dome for €8 each. Having experienced the vertigo associated with the climbing of tight renaissance steps many times already on this trip, we did not pay the €16, and satisfied ourselves with the views from Piazzale Michelangelo, and from the ground.

Interior of Brunelleschi's Dome

Next stop after the Duomo was the Uffizi museum. Just a reminder, tickets for the Uffizi, like the Galleria, are best purchased ahead of time. The Uffizi building was commissioned by the first Medici, Cosimo I, to house the offices (Uffizi) of the government. Comsimo’s successor, Francesco I began using the passageways in the newly finished Uffizi as areas to house ancient sculpture. He also commissioned the Tribuna, a domed room in the midst of the Uffizi to house the Medici treasures. When we visited, much of the first floor was under construction to expand the gallery. This gallery is colossal in size and scope. So many artists are displayed here in the labyrinth of rooms. Like the Galleria, the Uffizi does not allow picture taking, but they too have a virtual tour of the exhibits online. There is an entire room of Boticelli, with many familiar paintings. It’s always wonderful to see in real life the paintings you’ve only seen previously in books.  We saw works of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, and Rafaello. Donatello kept guard outside, rounding out all the turtles. We were ready to take on any members of the Foot who dared to challenge us. None did. I guess there is too much namesake influence for them to gain a stronghold in Florence.

Exiting the Uffizi led us back into Piazza della Signoria with its Loggia dei Lanzi. In front of the Palazzo Vecchio, or town hall, is the 4^th David statue of the trip; this is where the original stood. One side of the square is taken up by the Loggia, a pavilion housing sculpture and previously used for state ceremonies. There is also a fountain of Neptune on the other side of the square. The whole area is like a public, outdoor, sculpture gallery. We enjoyed passing by the fountain of Neptune on our way to the Basilica di Santa Croce, or Holy Cross Cathedral. 

David #4 Outside the Palazzo Vecchio

Useful Links

Photos from our Trip!

Uffizi Gallery

Piazza della Signoria This site has lots of information about many sights in Florence

Duomo Cathedral Museum

Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore Website If you leave this site in its original Italian and let google translate it for you, there will be more information provided

Florence City Card We weren't in the city long enough to get full use out of the card, but if you are staying more than a few hours, city cards are usually worth buying

Lean, Mean, Towering, Merchant Marine

Byzantine Art on the Duomo

When we arrived in Pisa, we left our bus at a bus parking lot, and then boarded a city bus to reach the city center. Disembarking these 2 buses we were able to witness something ubiquitous to Pisa: African dudes hawking cheap knockoffs to tourists. They are like pigeons fighting over a piece of bread. Even before we had parked our tour bus these guys were circling with their trays of sunglasses, their belts loaded with umbrellas, and their shoulders over laden with women’s handbags. To exit the bus we had to run the gauntlet, but it was endless, and they followed us wherever we went. We finally left them behind to board the city bus, but found more when we arrived in the city center. It was a beautiful sunny day, and these dudes were trying to meet my eyes under my sunglasses, so they could sell me more sunglasses. Or, they were trying to convince me that I needed an umbrella to protect me from the sun. Hey guy, I’m coming to your country from Germany. The most sun we get is ½ a week. I’m not blocking any sunshine. I need to stock up.

Piazza dei Miracoli

Pisa is a pretty cute town, but it’s got a university, so many of the shops catered to the hundreds of students running around. It felt very youthful. Pisa is a walled city, which is always fun because you get to enter the city through a towering gate, and it feels very impressive. Once you are through the gate, Pisa’s main attractions are all right there sharing a piazza, or square. In addition to the tower, there is the duomo, or cathedral, and the baptistery, as well as museums pertaining to the history of all these grand buildings. All of this is nicely laid out on a beautifully manicured lawn, perfect for picnicking, or taking the obligatory “holding up the tower” pictures.

Oh, hey! Look who is peeking out!

We had a guide showing us around the Piazza dei Miracoli (Plaza of Miracles), but Joe and I thought he was a bit pretentious, and therefore we had a hard time listening to him. He did mention that the duomo was covered in Byzantine art, which I found interesting. Apparently, Pisans made lots of money in the shipping (with ships) industry, but they didn’t have the skill to build and decorate their symbols of wealth (the tower and religious buildings), so they paid other to come do it for them, resulting in the Byzantine art that remains today.

Romanesque Duomo

For lunch, we headed to a little café, Ristorante Antonietta, near the tower, where we ordered our first authentic, Italian pasta dishes. Joe got one with red sauce, but I opted for pesto gnocchi, and it was so fabulous. I want to make some pesto now that we’re back, but since no one watered my basil plants while we were gone, they are going to need some time to recover before we can have pesto or even bruschetta again. Maybe I can just buy a jar at the grocery store.

This bad boy is NOT level. 

After lunch, we took some pose with the tower pictures. Then we wandered the kitschy souvenir stalls where we got a tower reproduction and some cool alabaster eggs. They were made in Italy. In fact, our hotel was quite close to the carerra marble mountain quarries. Our next stop was the gelato stand. I got lemon, feeling it was an authentic Italian flavor, and it was refreshing and delicious. The even put a little anise cookie on top of the ice cream–it tasted like a pizelle.

  

Then we returned to the bus stop where we waited for our shuttle bus and tried to fend off the vendors. One particularly persistent man bothered us for several minutes before he finally gave up. He later returned to try again, and I gave him a very stern no, at which point he apologized for bothering me. I call that a win.

Useful Links!

Photos from our Trip!
Pisa Tourism
Planning a visit to the Piazza dei Miracoli
Buying Tickets Online
Ristorante Antonietta
Pisa at Wikipedia

#1 of Prague's Top Ten

287 Steps Later, We were Rewarded with the View

Saturday was Prague Castle day. I’m caliing it a ghost castle because the parts that we toured were no longer used by the state. Please let me elaborate. While it is still the seat of government, the modern rooms are not open for public viewing, so we confined ourselves to the older buildings. Prague Castle reminds me of a college campus a little bit. There are tons of buildings all falling under the Prague Castle moniker, representing a range of architectural styles across the centuries. This area is in all the guidebooks about Prague, and as a result, all the tourists come to visit. This makes it somewhat difficult to navigate the area, avoiding strollers, canes, and photographers. Add to this mayhem guided tours in every language imaginable, with tour guides yelling to be heard, and the tourists marching along behind them, most unwilling to let you walk past them in any direction. Madness I tell you! This really ruined the ambiance of many of the sights. It’s very hard to contemplate 14^th century life, when some woman is yelling in Spanish through a megaphone. 

Look! It's Prague

The castle was interesting, but I think it was a bit overrated. We ended up spending the entire day touring the buildings and grounds of the complex, but still didn’t manage to see all of it. We were bogged down in some of the buildings, and spent time in others, where the payoff wasn’t that great. The Castle offers 2 ticket options, the short tour, and the long tour. Ignore the names and the times expected to complete each tour, because it will take several hours to explore everything. We bought the long tour, and I think it is the better deal the difference in price between the 2 tickets is 100 crowns, and I highly recommend the Story of Prague Castle exhibition if only for the artifacts they keep there, including an actual grave. Unfortunately, this ticket does not include 2 things that seem awesome, the South Tower of St. Vitus cathedral, and the Treasure of St. Vitus Cathedral. We climbed the 287 spiral steps to the top, rewarded with a view of the entire city. We were not able to make it to the treasury of St. Vitus, but that would be something I’d love to see on another visit. We also weren't able to tour all of the gardens surrounding the castle–there were just too many to see. 

Click here to see more photos of Prague

Sábado Gigante

Cranes and towers indicating
the location of la Sagrada Familia

Sábado Gigante is a game show on Telemundo which, when literally translated, means giant Saturday, which is what we experienced in Spain. After our tour of the music museum, we stepped outside, curious where to head next. The skyline answered that question for us, with a glimpse of the towers and the cranes of la Sagrada Família. The basilica has been under construction since 1883, is not expected to reach completion until 2026, and was designed by Antoni Gaudí, a leader in the mondernisme art movement. His style is reflected throughout the city of Barcelona, but la Sagrada Família is his crowning glory. Gaudí died in 1926, but the work has continued after him, relying on his detailed plans and instructions. If the building is completed in 2026, it will be 100 years after the master architect died.

Quaker Parrots in a Barcelona, Spain park

En route to the basilica, we passed through a park, where we noticed a green bird in with the pigeons. We were amazed and stopped to take its picture, only to be further flabbergasted when we rounded a corner, and saw a flock of dozens! These birds are Monk parakeets, also known as Quaker parrots, and are actually an invasive species in Spain, introduced most likely by people releasing their pets into the wild.

La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain

Leaving the parrots behind, we proceeded to one of the grandest sights on our European tour. As a teen learning Spanish, this building was always part of the curriculum, and I had wanted to visit since it was first brought to my attention. The structure did not disappoint, it was unlike anything I have ever seen before, a riot of colors and textures all competing for attention from the thousands who flock there daily. Amidst all this, construction continues, evidenced by the cranes and occasional gaping holes in the ground to lay more foundation.

Construction continues on la Sagrada Familia
in Barcelona, Spain

The towers called to mind, a beehive with a sort of honeycombed appearance. They are colorful, painted as ancient temples used to be, and adorned with fruit. At the base of the towers, the beehives morphed into mud wasp nests, clumps of mud piled atop each other with tunnels to the interior. At present, only 8 of 18 towers have been completed, and I would appreciate returning in the somewhat distant future to observe the completed building. I’m not sure if I would call the outside beautiful, breathtaking to be sure, but beauty is more questionable. The statuary and sculptures I enjoyed; they were not lifelike, and looked to be carved with a rough hand, but I appreciated the simplicity and starkness of the pieces.

Stained glass windows inside
La Sagrada Familia
Barcelona, Spain

 

Towers and lights inside la Sagrada Familia
Barcelona, Spain

Scale model of a finished
Sagrada Familia

The inside, is most definitely beautiful, and is a glory to behold. It was the brightest place in Barcelona that day, and the way light was designed to enter the building could make me believe the day was sunny instead of gray. The columns were designed to look like trees, and the stained glass windows were abstract images combining color in a pleasing manner. The entire space was amazing, and I highly recommend it to all who visit. While the entrance price of 13 euro may seem steep, remember that your ticket is buying further construction work, and you get to be a part of it.

Passau

After all the travelling we did both before and after Christmas, we were craving a little continuity, and stayed in Regensburg for our 1^st weekend back in Germany. Since we arrived on a Monday though, this worked out to two weeks chilling with no travels. If we don’t travel, I don’t have too much to write about, hence the lack of blog posts. However, we’ve got some big plans coming up so expect some more posts in the near future. This past weekend we went to a city called Passau. We knew we wanted to travel somewhere, and after a quick weather check settled on Passau because the forecast predicted sunshine. Another bonus: it was about an hour away on the train, making for a nice easy day. The city is located at the conflux of 3 rivers, the Danube, the Inn, and the Ilz, with Old town on a peninsula between the Danube and the Inn. The Ilz is much small than the other two and makes less of an impact, but it too is visible on the peninsula.

The point of the peninsula of Passau, DE where 3 rivers become 1. The river on the left is the Inn, the river on the right is the Danube, and on the right side coming between buildings on the far right shore, is the Ilz river. 

Passau drew us in because of its cathedral–one picture in the guidebook was enough to convince me we needed to go there. Dom St. Stephan is located in Old Town and from the outside has all the appearances of being like Frauenkirche in Munich. The inside though, is breathtaking. The cathedral was rebuilt from 1668-1677 after the Great Fire of 1662. It was rebuilt in the Italian Baroque style and the largest and best example of this architecture north of the Alps. It is also home to the largest cathedral pipe organ in the world. When we walked inside, all we could do was stare dumbfounded at the artwork above us.

High Altar of Dom St. Stephan in Passau, DE

St. Stephan Cathedral in Passau, Germany
Baroque Architecture

Dom St. Stephan in Passau, Germany

The largest cathedral organ in the world, located in the baroque Dom St. Stephan cathedral in Passau, Germany

Back outside the cathedral is a remnant of the Great Fire of 1662, a stone head with a silly grin on its face, called the laughing fool. Passauers assume that this head fell off the original cathedral during the fire. The body has disappeared but the head survives, and is memorialized nearby its former home.

There are many other sites in Passau worthy of attention, but to be honest, we came to see the cathedral. When we had our fill of Baroque architecture, our plan was to wander around and check out whatever seemed interesting at the time. Our next stop became the Passauer Glasmuseum in the Wilder Mann Hotel. Approximately ⅔ of the historic hotel has been turned into a glass museum and the other ⅓ is still used as a hotel. The hotel has historic rooms, and if you are interested, you can stay in the wedding bed of King Ludwig II and his wife Duchess Sophie Charlotte. Personally, I don’t like to know who has been “sleeping” in beds before me, even if they are famous. When I stay in hotels, I pretend I am the first person in the bed and try not to think about other people who have already been in it, but to each his own I guess. http://www.wilder-mann.com/index.php?id=1152

The glass museum is pretty cool (at first) but it is A LOT of glass, and gets boring (unless you are a glass enthusiast) by the 2^nd floor. 2^nd floor you ask? Yes, this museum is 4 twisty floors full of cases of glass from the last several centuries. I was happy to go, because I like the concept of preserving the glass. In small sections, the collection has a lot of information to offer, but I think housed all together like that, it loses some of its novelty and its audience.

Our last stop before hopping on a train back to Regensburg was the Veste Oberhaus across the Danube from Old Town, and up a mountain. The goal being to see the Old Town from the mountain and get some great panoramic views, and after a serious uphill hike we were rewarded with the beauty of all that is Passau. 

View of Passau, DE from Veste Oberhaus on the banks of the Danube River

[Great Fire of 1662] This fire is mentioned a lot on the landmarks of Passau. Apparently, it consumed much of the city. I’ve googled it, and nothing historical has come up, so I can’t say what caused it or how much of the city was destroyed, I can only speculate due to the frequent references.