June 4, 2001 (Monday)
Wichita to Rome! Whew! 29 hours of traveling! We started by driving to OK
City, where we dropped our golden retriever, Abbie, at a kennel. We flew from
OK City to St. Louis, St. Louis to London, had a seven-hour layover in London,
and then flew London to Rome. We took the train into town, and then rode the
subway two stops. (Termini to Policilo)
The apartment in Rome is beautiful. It is filled with artwork and nice furniture. There are three bedrooms, 1.5 baths, a kitchen, and a den. My room faces the back of three apartment buildings. A man and a woman in another building were singing to the whole neighborhood this evening!
June 5, 2001 (Tuesday)
We had delicious pastries for breakfast this morning from a near by "pastcieria." I had half a croissant filled with chocolate and half of a plain/sugar one. They were both very yummy! We got bus/subway week passes this morning. Then, we headed to the Vatican/Saint Peter's. We saw the high alter, the Pieta, toured the treasury and the catacombs. Surrounding the high altar are 4 statues. One of them is a relief of Veronica and her cloth, another is the spear that pierced Jesus' side, and, another is a relief of a piece of the cross. St. Peter's statue is near the high altar. It is a tradition for people to touch St. Peter's foot. The foot is very worn! We also climbed to the top of the Cupola (the dome.) It is SO high! We took an elevator part way up, and then climbed 320 steps to the top of the dome! You can look down into St. Peter's after the elevator ride (a little more than half way up), and the people in St. Peter's are already tiny ants!
We ate lunch at a "Tattroria Pizzeria" named the Four Leaf Clover. It's a little Italian restaurant near the Vatican. I had spaghetti. It was the best spaghetti I've ever had! Yummy! Next, we toured the Castle of S. Angelo. It is the place the pope will escape to along a "secret" wall if the Vatican were attacked. On the roof is a large statue of the Arch Angel Michael. Wow, there were so many rooms in the castle! There was an area in the castle that used to be where "theatrical performances" were held. I did a split leap here. :)
Next, we headed back to the Vatican to talk to the Swiss Guards. But, on the way back, we stopped and got our first taste of gilotti. I had tiramasu and chocolate. Yummy! At the Vatican, we talked to the Swiss Guards to get tickets to the Papal audience. The Swiss Guards wore uniforms that looked like jesters from medieval times! My mom had written a letter to the bishop in Wichita, who, in turn wrote a letter to people in Rome, so we could get special tickets for the Papal audience. We were told to take a bus to a different part of town to get the tickets from the priest/bishop at a US monastery. We arrived there, and were given red tickets, the tickets for very close seats. Green tickets are available to everyone, but they sit further away. After we got the tickets, we were given a tour of the monastery, which used to be a convent.
On our way back to the
bus, we walked up one of the Seven Hills of Rome and stopped in a few churches
(one was S. Marcello Papa e Martire). We also stopped and saw Trajan's
Column. It is a marble column with a spiral carvings of his campaigns. Below
the column is Trajan's forum. We also saw the "monstrosity" of a building in
the distance. The building is all white marble with many levels. On the
roof, there are horse drawn chariots. It was built and dedicated to Victor
Emanuel II, the first emperor of Rome. My favorite things so far are the
drinking water fountains! The water continuously flows from the spigot into
various bowls or fountain like structures.
Words I learned today:
Uscita: exit
Vietato: no (as in no smoking (vietato fumre) or no entry)
Alimentary: grocery store
After much ado, we found a grocery store and got stuff for breakfast (yogurt and coffee cake). We ordered pizzas for dinner at a pizzeria down the street, again, after much ado! Throughout the day, Ryan and I had problems with our allergies. We decided that we would try to visit a pharmacy tomorrow to get some allergy medicine.
June 6, 2001 (Wednesday)
We had a breakfast of yogurt, coffee cake, and orange juice. This morning, we went to the Papal Audience. We got to sit very close! There was a welcome, a reading, and several blessings, all in six different languages. Newlyweds got to meet the pope, and some large groups got to have their picture taken with him. During the mass, I took lots of pictures of the Pope and a few more of the Swiss Guards. The mass was very long, and we wanted to get good seats, so we arrived early as well. After the mass, we waited for the Vatican to open. While we waited, I talked to the Swiss guards in their funny uniforms while my mom took a picture of me. We wanted to see Pope John the 23rd, whose coffin was open for viewing. Yesterday, there had been a large crowd, so we hoped to beat the crowd today.
Next, we visited the Pantheon. We stood in the center of the Pantheon, right below the circular hole in the ceiling. This is where many famous people and popes have stood. Then, Ryan and I found a pharmacy. In Italy, the sign for a pharmacy is a green cross. We spent about an hour in the pharmacy, trying to get allergy medicine. I ended up getting Zirtec, which would be prescription in the US, not over the counter, as it is in Italy. And, the joke of the next few days was the way the lady pronounced Zirtec It was Zertec. With an extremely strong emphasis on the "r."
Then, we had lunch at another "Tattroria Pizzeria." (Just around the corner from the pharmacy.) We all had pasta, tomato, basil, and cheese. After lunch, we visited more churches. One of the churches we visited today had a flat circular area on the ceiling; painted to look like it was a dome. The monstrosity of a building, dedicated to Victor Emanuel II was open (it usually isn't), so we climbed to the top. Wow! It is SO VAST. There is a horse on the front of the building that is simply huge. Next, we went to the Rome Forum and saw the remnants of very old buildings and churches. Here, we learned what S.P.Q.R. stood for. It was carved on the front of what used to be a temple. We had seen S.P.Q.R. on water drains, gas mains, etc. throughout Rome. It was started in ancient times. It translates to "For the Senate and People of Rome." A legend says that Romulus was buried here in the forum. The sight where Caesar's body was burned by Antony is here as well. It was a mound of dirt under a rocky and dilapidated roof. Off to the side of the forum were the remnants of some VERY large buildings. It made us wonder how they would have built something so large "back then."
Next, we visited the Coliseum. It was very big too! We went up several levels and walk around the perimeter of the Coliseum. There was an empty pedestal, so I posed and pretended to be a statue. In the coliseum, there was a platform placed over the "basement" where animals would have been kept. Sand and sawdust would have been spread over the platform, and this is where fights would have been staged. Sometimes, the coliseum was flooded and mock ship battles were staged. :) We had turkey, cheese, and tomoto sandwiches and some cookies for dinner.
June 7, 2001 (Thursday)
Ryan and I decided today that the reason we don't have good water pressure in the apartment is because of all of the water fountains in Rome!
We had pasteries and yogurt for breakfast. First, we visited churches in the piazza with the foutain with four lions and an obelisk. Then, we walked to the Borghese Gallery. To get there, we walked through a long park. We passed a water fountain where my mom and I took a picture together. We also passed the zoo. The entrance has several marble statues, in true Roman style!
We had to wait about 45 minutes to get into the Gallery. There was a statue outside that was missing it's head, so I climbed up to it, stuck my head in the proper place, and my mom and dad took pictures. Inside the gallery, there were many statues and paintings. This gallery belonged to the uncle of a pope.
We had lunch at another Italian "Tattriorie." We were encouraged to try the family sized sampler plate of appetizers. We ended up eating just appetizers for lunch!
Just after lunch, we saw the "Spanish Steps." They are supposed to be the most architecturally beautiful steps in the world. There was a great drinking water fountain at the bottom of the steps. It was shaped like a viking boat, and there was a rock platform for you to stand on while you drank water from the side of the ship. Then, we looked at a few churches. One church had a beautiful angel holding the holy water. In this church, there was a "calendar" of marble in the floor that followed the stars over a 10-50 years period.
Later in the afternoon, we all had some gilotti. I had chocolate. The rest of the day we looked at several churches. One was the Basilica of S. Clemente. It is a church under a church under a church! We got to explore the bottom church and the middle church. There were several little, twisting passageways. We also saw what they think was a bastimal font. It was just a circular pit in the ground about a foot deep and about 4 feet wide. We also visited the Sacred Stairs and "walked" up the 28 steps on our knees. They are the steps that Jesus walked up to see Pilot. They are marble steps that are covered with wood, with spaces in the wood so you can see the steps. We visited the Church of S. Giovanni last today. Wow! It is humongous! We had pizza again tonight from the pizzeria down the street from the apartment. Again, we're not sure that we got what we ordered! Ryan and I found an Internet Cafe, and checked our email.
June 8, 2001 (Friday)
We had yogurt and pie-like pastries for breakfast. We went to the Vatican Museum today...ALL day! We saw the Sistine Chapel first. It was a long hike from the entrance! I took a perspective picture in the museum, looking down, down, down the long, long hallway and through many, many doors to the various galleries. In the Sistine Chapel, the "Last Judgement" on the wall by the entrance was especially interesting and very detailed. The scenes on the ceiling were also very detailed. The middle image on the ceiling is the infamous image of God creating Adam. There were tapestries painted on the bottom portions of the side walls that looked especially realistic. Twenty popes were painted on the walls as well. Further into the museum were very old maps and globes. The US was very vague on these. The MS River was drawn on them, but not exactly in the right place. However, on some maps, it appeared that I-20 was drawn correctly! :) There were many, many statues. One hall was filled with them! There were three shelves on both side of the hall that were all filled. Larger statues were placed between sets of shelves. My dad video-ed my head on a shelf with other busts! :) The statue of Venus and Diana was in this hall. My mom took a picture with the statue of Diana. I took a picture of me "in" a very large marble bathtub. In the next room though, there were even larger bathtubs! I also posed and took a picture next to the statue of "Tragedy." She was wearing a dress and had her foot propped up. :) She and six other statues of muses were found together and are now displayed together. I also took a picture of the statue entitled "Girl running a race in a religious festival." I also took a picture of a very beautiful and richly colored stained glass window. We saw a replica of the famous "Thinking" statue. We walked up a spiral ramp, designed so someone could ride a horse at full gallop up it. And, we saw the famous painting, "School of Athens." Pythagorean, Archamedieas, Plato, and Aristotle are some of the famous people depicted in the painting. The museum was closing exhibits at this point, so we had to leave. We did not get a chance to go to the gallery with the paintings. I got two postcards of the Sistine Chapel and a poster of the painting (I didn't get to see the actually painting) of Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. At some point during the day, we ate lunch at the museum. You can not leave the museum, and re-enter on the same ticket. We all had cheese lasagna. It was very yummy. Also, at the museum today, I learned what an ankh is! :)
On our way home, we got gilotti again. My mom really liked this particular gilotti. The flavors I picked today were Amaretto and Pistachio. The guy behind the counter flirted and asked if I would like another complimentary scoop! :)
After we got home, we went to get groceries again. My mom took pictures of the grocery store ("alimentary") and the vegetable and fruit place next door. There was an old Italian lady in the grocery store who thought we were crazy for taking pictures. Ryan cooked pasta for us for dinner. We used Barilla pasta and sauce. It was wonderful. Ryan also got a red wine, Chianti, to go with the pasta.
There is a painting in our apartment that I like by Fantulli. The painting is a girl, surrounded by red and pink tulips with the lights of a city at night in the background.
We put some laundry in the washer in our apartment. It has been washing for a long time...
June 9, 2001 (Saturday)
We had pastries and yogurt for breakfast. We went to the two museums of "Musei Capitolini" near the Rome Forum. Here, I took a picture of me imitating the sitting and reclining statue of Helena, mother of Constantine. We saw the same statue later in the day at Villa Medici, but many parts of Helena were broke off there. In the galleria of Musei Capitolini, I posed next to a statue that I named "Woman Thinker." I also took a picture of the statue Eros and Psyche, a boy (Psyche) and girl (Eros) kissing. We ate lunch near the Trevi Fountain. I had cheese pizza and a kind of hash-brown-like pizza. Then, we all went back to the Trevi fountain. We each threw American and Italians coins into the fountain, backwards over our heads, so that we may return to Rome, as the legend says. The fountain is fed by an aqueduct. Next, we had gilotti again. :) I had mixed berries and mint chocolate. By way of the Spanish Steps, we went to the Villa Medici, a French academy, hosting a Rodin exhibit from the Louvre in Paris. We saw "The Kiss", "The Walking Man", "The Thinker", and others. I expected the Thinker to be much larger. There were also several statues outside. Behind the museum was a water fountain statue of Mercury. Rodin has a gymnastics statue that I did not see in the exhibit. The statue is standing on one leg, and with both hands, holding the foot of the other leg behind its head. Next, we took the subway to another church.
We went to mass tonight in a church near our apartment. My mom insisted that we sit in the front row Therefore, we had to watch very closely to know when to sit, stand, and knee. Some of the people of the parish sat on the altar. Also, there was a second priest on the altar during mass, doing confessions..in the middle of the altar...during mass. Everyone was dressed very casual. The communion line was started from the back of the church. After mass, everyone from the parish went to the catacomb and said a quick prayer.
We went out to eat after mass. At the first restaurant, we asked to have a table for five, and were declined, as they said they were full...but no one was in the restaurant! At the next restaurant, after a very emphasized sigh because we didn't have reservations, we were put in the catacombs/wine cellar/meat storage area of the basement! I had lamb, salad, and some of the house wine. I asked for some butter to put on my bread. After a strange look, and a little bit of time, the waiter brought back a slab of butter that looked like it would be used in a pot for cooking something for the entire restaurant. Also, it did not taste like our traditional butter. Today, my mom decided that with all of the marble on the floors, columns, statues, and monuments, there couldn't possibly be any more marble left in the world! My dad wonders why Rome hasn't sunk into the ocean!
June 10, 2001 (Sunday)
Today, we went to Florence (Firenze). I had a small chocolate filled pastry at the train station for breakfast. We saw beautiful Italian countryside on the Eurostar train ride to Florence.
First, we went to the Galleria dell' Accademic, where we saw "the" statue of David. It was much larger than I expected. Next, we went to a castle-like museum, Museo del Bargello. Here, we saw a David statue by Donatello, with a hat on, sword in hand, and armor at his feet. We also saw "the" Mercury statue here. Among other statues, coins, and stuff, there was armor from medieval times here and a pair of scissors from 885 AD.
Next, we had lunch. I had spiral pasta, peas, pie, and Energade, a Gatorade like drink that was really tasty. Next, we went to a very, very large church. It had a separate building for the baptistery and a separate building as the bell tower. Ryan and I climbed to the top and got some great views. In the church, we spotted another tourist who we thought was an Albert Einstein look-alike. :) We visited another church (where we were hearded like cows) where the tomb of Michangelo and Galileo are. On the outside of this church, there is a Star of David, even though it is a christian church, the architect was jweish. A few blocks away, there is a jewish temple with a cross on it because the architect was christian! Ryan and I went to the Galleria degli Uffizzi, where we had to wait in several lines to get in. In one of these lines, Ryan and I met two girls from the US. They were on a trip going through Switerland, Scottland, London, Paris, Milan, Florence, Rome, Athens, and a cruise in the Mediteranean. We saw "Joy of Spring" and "Venus" by Bottacelli. We saw other works by Carvaggio, Goya (like the pastal of the woman in the Phoenix Art Museum), and others.
We all had a quick dinner. I had a roll and a yummy fruit cup with strawberries, melons, oranges, and grapes. At some point during the afternoon, we had gilatti. I had "rich chocolate."
On the way to the train station, I found some sunglasses just like my old beat up Oakleys. I bargained with the street vendor, and got for them for 25,000L. Because of the numerous lines at museums and churches, Ryan and I decided that people in Florence are control freaks.
June 11, 2001 (Monday)
Today, we went to Naples (Napoli). First, we had pasteries and orange juice for breakfast. The train we took to Naples was an older and slower train. There was no air-conditioning, so the windows were open all the time. When we got to Naples, I got a Snickers from vending machine for 1000L. The station that we arrived at was a station on the outskirts of Naples. We took the subway to downtown Naples. Ryan and I rented a hotel room for the night. It was in the Hotel Zara. The bathroom was down the hall. The toliet, sink, and shower were all in the same room, and there was no seperation between them. In our room, we had two twin beds, a sink, a small chair and table, a closet, and a half sized balcony. The owner of the hotel asked us to leave our key to the room behind the desk, as "they were open all night, and it was safe." Also, the hotel was on the 2nd floor, but it was what we would think of as the third floor. All buildings in Italy have a ground floor, and then what we would call the second floor, they call the first floor. Then, we all ate a quick lunch. I had (gross) frozen spagetti and gatorade.
After lunch, we rode the subway to Pompeii, the city buried by volcanic ash in 79 AD, and discovered 1700 years later. The entrance to the city has a small gate, for pedestrians, and a large gate for animals and carts. We saw plaster casts made from the holes left in the volcanic ash from the people who died. There were ruts in the cobblestones of the street from wagon wheels of the past. Many of the houses had beautiful mosaics on the floors and paintings on the walls. Most houses had fountains too. It was an area where there was a square hole in the roof and water would fall in from rain. Statues would be placed in this area. In the fountain of one house, I pretended to be a statue. In one of the houses, a mosaic on the floor at the entry showed a dog on a chain. Words below the dog in the mosiac translate to "Beware of the Dog." :) We also saw elaborate bath houses. They had separate baths for cold, warm, hot, and steam. Pompeii also had a small and large ampitheatre. In the small one, I did a theatrical performance, and we acted like we were clapping for a pretend performance. Pompeii also had a coliseum. Ryan and I pretended we were Gladiators and fought each other with sticks. Pompeii also had a Brothel with marble beds and painting on the walls. At the end and crossroads of streets, larger rocks (stepping stones) were placed so you could cross the street without stepping down into the street. (The sidewalks were raised about a foot above the street.) One house had an elborate water fountain with a long water channel attached to it and another water fountain along the channel. And,Pompeii had my favorite thing...water fountains in the streets! There were many different faces carved into stone with the water spouting out of the mouth. On his previous trip to Italy, Ryan hid an American coin in a back garden/room under a rock in one of the houses. We checked the spot, and the coin was gone, but the rock was still there. He hid another coin. We'll check it when we return. :) In one of the main courtyards of the city, there had been statues of important people in Pompeii on pedestals. The statues are no longer there, so I stood on a pedestal, and was an important person in Pompeii. :)
We travelled back to Naples and had dinner. I had roasted chicken and lettuce salad. I also asked for butter here, and was told flat out that "No, they didn't have any." :) My mom, dad, and Randy went back to Rome, via a Eurostar train. Ryan and I got pasteries, but we only ate one tonight. We planned how and when we're going to Capri tomorrow. On the 7:15 Hydrofoil/Jet.
June 12, 2001 (Tuesday)
Ryan and I woke up at 5:15am. We had breakfast at the marina. We ate pastries and the canoli from last night and had fresh squeezed orange juice. A little birdie was very brave and picked up a few crumbs from our table, about 10 inches away from me! Then, we took the Napoli Jet to Capri. We met another American traveler on the boat. He will be traveling until June 28th. The ride was windy and a bit chilly, as we decided to sit on top on the boat in the un-covered seats.
When we got to Capri, we rode a subway like car, angled at 45 degrees up the long hill to the city of Capri. We hiked to "Arco Natural," a natural arch formed by the wind and sea. It was very big! Next, Ryan and I wanted to hike to Pizzolungo, where there were some "secret" beaches. The map we had was very vague. We took several wrong turns. One time we ended up in a grape field/vineyard. Another time, we climbed many, many steps and ended up at a military base entrance. And, another time we met a dead end, but it had a nice ocean view. After asking some locals, and meeting up with an English couple who had a more detailed map, we finally found the right path. We had walked past it several times, but had been distracted by the construction crew working on the "road" right at the turn off. The path was just to the right of the "ristorante," just as the locals had said. The "roads" on Capri are wide sidewalks, usually with 5 or 6 foot walls on either side. The island is small (6km by 2km) and hilly, so most people walk everywhere. The path to Pizzolungo had 374 steps down and then there were several side paths. Again, we took several wrong turns before we found a path down to the beach. One wrong turn led us to a locked gate, which we found our way around, but then we ran into another gate and a house. We backtracked and took a very steep and long dirt trail down, down, down to a beach. The "beach" was a rocky area (boulders) that met the water, where there were more boulders under water. The water was a wonderful clear blue color. We swam for about an hour and a half. We jumped off rocks into the water and swam through an underwater arch. The water we swam in was the Mediterranean.
We hiked back up the steep trail and back up the 374 steps, and had lunch in an open-air room with ceiling fans. I had spaghetti and we shared a dessert of tiramasu. We tried to get a tour to see the famous Grotto Azzurra (Blue Cave), but the seas were too rough. We tried to get a snorkeling tour, but the only tours available were for the next day. So, we hiked to Bagno di Tiberio, the placed where an emperor used to swim. There were many people here, and the water wasn't as clear as where Ryan and I had swam at our "private beach." We swam for about 45 minutes here. I remembered to try to float, and it was really easy (since I was in the ocean)! After our swim, we went back to town. We purchased some lemon liquor, something the island is famous for. We walked down, down, down to the marina, and got some gilotti. I had some of the island's specialty, lemon. Then, we caught the Napoli Jet back to Naples. In Naples, Ryan and I ate pizza at Da Michele. It has been called Naples and Italy's best pizza place! A regular sized pizza was 6,000L (about $3.00)! They only make two kinds of pizza. The crust was wonderful. :) Then, we went to a famous pastericera, Attanasio. Ryan got their famous pastry, and I got a different kind, but I couldn't eat it because I was still stuffed from the pizza! Ryan and I got Eurostar tickets, and went back to Roma!
June 13, 2001 (Wednesday)
This was our "day off" in Rome. I got around to eating the pastry I got in Naples for breakfast. First, we visited St. Paul's. Then, we went back to the Vatican to look for a shop near there, but couldn't find it. We ate lunch in a "self-service" restaurant, while waiting for the mass to get out at the Vatican. For lunch I had lasagna. After lunch, we went to the Vatican Post Office and Ryan mailed a postcard. We visited St. Peter's one last time. Then, we went to Piazza Navona (the piazza with the three water fountains in it) again. My mom and Ryan each got an (expensive!) oil painting. Then, we walked to the Pantheon, went it in one last time, and then got gilotti at Ryan's favorite place. We headed back to the apartment just as it started to rain. On the way back, we passed a guy who had a "sidewalk art" exhibit. My favorite was a big chalk drawn body on the sidewalk, with a little rock as a head with a painted face, and real shoes and socks where the feet should be. We also passed Caesar's tomb/memorial, which was an overgrown building/mound.
When we got back to the apartment I put a load of wash in the washer. The washer washes for about three hours, uses about one cup of water per load, and makes your clothes scratchy because it doesn't get all of the soap out. My mom, dad, and Randy wanted to stay at the apartment because they were tired, and just wanted to have some pasta for dinner. Ryan and I went out to (an expensive) dinner at a restaurant that he went to on his first trip to Rome. To get there, we took the subway to Circus Maximus. We walked past old, old temples, the Rotten Bridge in the middle of the Tevere River, and Tevere Island. Then, we walked past Circus Maximus, which is now a very long grassy field. For dinner, we had quail for an appetizer and homemade Ravioli stuffed with rabbit for the main course. We each got a dessert and split it. One was chocolate mousse and one was chocolate cake with a fruit like syrup on the side. We also had a dessert wine.
General Stuff about Rome:
June 14, 2001 (Thursday)
Last night, my laundry was hung out to dry, and this morning, I packed it. We rode the subway to the train, and took that to the airport. On the plane to London, the Alitalia steward told us we had too much luggage... In London, we took a train into town (Victoria Station) and then walked to our bed and breakfast, the Arden Hotel. We checked in and dropped our luggage. We took the "tube," (we were careful to mind the gap), and saw Big Ben and Parliament, and the Eye of London. We ate at a restaurant called the "Footstool" which is in the basement of an old church. In London, people drive on the left side of the road, but use inches and feet. The cold water is on the left side of the faucet and the hot water is on the right side of the faucet.
June 15, 2001 (Friday)
We ate breakfast at the bed and breakfast. I had cereal, boiled eggs, tea, and toast with butter! J We went to Westminster Abbey. We saw a memorial to Shakespeare here, Charles Dickens' tomb, a female priest, and the altar where all of the kings and queens have been married for 900 years. Next, we went to London Tower. The "tower" is a castle, complete with a moat, an outside wall, an inside wall, and then the tower itself. We had a great tour, which was about an hour long, given by a "beef-eater," a retired military man. We saw the Bloody Tower and the first "water gate." We heard the story of the ravens too. Six ravens must always be present within London Tower, otherwise, the legend says that the Tower will crumble and the British Empire will fall. We also saw the Crown Jewels. Next, we saw the London Bridge. I did a handstand in front of the bridge. :)
We ate lunch at "The Shakespean," where we had fish and chips. We met up with Danny, Tim & Cornelia, Cynthia, and Rusty. We all went to the British museum together. We saw the Rosetta stone, and "marbles," taken from the Partheon in Athens. After some misunderstandings, we all came to find out that the "marbles" were marble statues...not marbles. Ryan, Danny, and Danny's family ate dinner at an Indian restaurant, while the rest of the Smith's ate dinner at "Garfunkel's," an Applebee's like restaurant near Victoria Station. I had potato skins and salad.
June 16, 2001 (Saturday)
We ate breakfast at the bed and breakfast again. Then, we walked to Buckingham palace in the rain. We saw the "wet weather" changing of the guards. We also found out that a parade was scheduled for that day, in celebration of the Royal Families' various birthdays. So, we waited about 1.5 hours for the parade. The parade included soldiers with the typical tall black funny hats, bands, bands with kilts, horses, and bands on horseback. Soldiers and police lined the street. One soldier used a large compass to measure the exact distance between the soldiers lining the street. We saw the Mother Queen, the Queen, and the Princes (Charles, William, and Edward). Then, we walked to Trafalgar Square, and it started pouring rain. We ate lunch at a French restaurant. I had hot chocolate, a spinach wrap, and Banaoffe for dessert.
Next, we walked to the markets. My dad got woodworking tools, Randy got a Chinese card, Ryan got a coin, and I got a mediaeval looking dagger that was a corkscrew. My mom and I decided to go to the ballet that night, so we ordered some tickets by phone. We went to the hotel, changed, and rushed to the ballet. We ate "dinner" at a Starbucks close to the ballet. I had a muffin and some more hot chocolate. The ballet we went to was called "Jewels" and it was performed at the Royal Opera House by the Kirov Ballet Company. The first act was called Emeralds and was a French style of dancing. The second act was called Rubies and it was an American style of dancing. The third act was called Diamonds, and it was a Russian style of dancing. My favorite was the second act, Rubies, especially, the first dance of the second act.
June 17, 2001 (Sunday)
We are headed home. We took the train to the airport. Ryan, Randy, and I bought some British candy at the airport to use up our "pounds." On the flight, we got to see "Chocolate" and "Down to Earth." When we arrived in St. Louis, we had to go through customs... Also in St. Louis, Ryan separated from us and took a flight back to San Jose. We took one last picture of this vacation with all of us standing together with all of our luggage. We picked Abbie up in OK City, and drove home. WHEW! What a magnificent trip!
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