European Trip '99

Our Europe Vacation Photos '99

The BAD News: We had 75 photos from our October trip to London and Paris. Tragically, I had a disk failure and lost most of them. Fortunately we had copied these to Ken's PC.

The GOOD News: The vacation was GREAT! The flights were fun as well. On the trip there it was night and we got to see the Northern Lights in the sky. Flashing green sheets of bright light. Way spooky! It was daytime on the way back and we saw icebergs off the tip of Greenland. Neat!

Tower of London is THE tourist attraction in London. It's actually 31 towers. I could see it from the air when we were landing. There used to be a moat around it. The Ravens are still keeping watch. Lots of history there.

Beefeaters, or Yeoman Warders act as tour guides and tell stories of decapitations (the gesture) and hangings and hauntings. They all had to serve in the English military to get this cushy job, and live there guarding the Crown Jewels et al.

The London Bridge is near the Tower. We didn't walk/climb up there - you can walk across the top even when it's open for river traffic. Lots of stairs tho - and a toll.

We went on the River Thames boat ride too. This is the British Parliment building from the river. It looks gold when the sun shines on it, and actually has gold on all those spires.

The Clock Tower - Big Ben is right near Parliment. It has gold trim too. Actually, Big Ben is the bell that tolls in the Tower. The Brits think it's wierd that so many tourists call the Clock Tower Big Ben.

The white building is the Globe Theatre which was where Shakespeare's plays were performed in his day. It is actually a recreation of the original building in the same location - open air performances and all.

We lost the photo of the big white Millenium Ring laying on it's side over the river. We saw the news here that it was raised (second attempt) and will be known as the London Ring. It will be the largest ferris wheel in the world running by New Years. It is expected to be torn down after a decade or so, but that's what they said about the Eiffel Tower...

We visited beautiful Westminster Abbey and walked on the floor stones covering graves of so many famous historical figures. The ceilings are magnificent, but it's wierd walking on and reading the gravestones, and all those little side rooms dedicated to the graves of royalty.

We did a lot of walking in London. It's so odd to have to look left for traffic coming. They even paint it on the sidewalks to remind us tourists that they are coming fast in the "wrong" lane. The cars are so small - the smaller the better on these narrow streets!

Trafalgar Square is famous for its pigeons. In the background is the National Gallery and we saw the oldest paintings - a LOT of Jesus and Mary and bible scenes. Lots more genitalia than I've expected in public displays.

We walked near the Thames and used "Big Ben" as a landmark to keep our bearings. There seems to be lots of cranes on the skyline as the city is constantly growing and restoring old landmarks.

This Sphinx is one of 2 along the river facing a really tall Egyptian stone monument with hyroglyphics that is actually from Cleopatra's time, donated to England hundreds of years ago. There is bomb damage from WWII that can be seen up close.

We saw Buckingham Palace and it's beautiful parks, tho we didn't wait in the LONG line to go inside. This was the only day it rained! We got soaked later on the open upper deck Big Bus roaming the ritzy shopping district.

This is the main gate where the Royals and visitors drive thru. We missed the Changing of the Guard, but they are marching back there somewhere.

Ken is across from the gate with the gold statues. This circle drive is famous as the Royals and the horse-drawn carriages are seen on the news a bunch.

La Louvre in Paris. We took a day trip on the bullet train. Traveling at 180 mph on the ground is quite exhilarating. The train station (not pictured) is obviously a relatively new building, but in Paris, they have "taste". It was built with the architecture style (1500's) of the other buildings in the area (unlike London which mixes new and old). The exception is the glass pyramids. One can be seen behind me and there is an inverted pyramid in the basement of La Louvre. They added them in the early 90's during the pyramid-power movement.

The Arc de Triomphe is in the same park across from Le Louvre. This one anyway. There are 3 actually. They are all in a row with unobstructed view, so when standing at the base of one, you can see all 3. The newest one is very modern - chrome and sleek. It's out in the modern part of the city with the big modern banks and tall skyscrapers on the horizon. The other one is near des Champs Elysees, the grand avenue of modern tourism - shoppes, cafes, theatres, etc.

La Tour Eiffel is now a major communications tower. Initially they had planned on tearing it down after the 1889 Universal Exhibition.
The other side, seen from the River Seine, has a countdown to the Millenium clock - displaying the number of days to Jan 1, 2000. I lost several good photos of it. I also feel ill thinking of the beautiful photos of Notre Dame Cathedral from the Seine River ride that I lost with my disk problem.

We had wine and a French omelette at Cafe Ruk for lunch. Paris is really a BEAUTIFUL city!

OK, cheating! When Dad was here in Sept, he and Ken framed in the basement. The boys came over to see how they did without the "real" carpenters on the job. They approved of the old men's work!

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	Tower of London is THE tourist attraction in London. It's actually 31 towers. I could see it from the air when we were landing. There used to be a moat around it. The Ravens are still keeping watch. Lots of history there.
	Beefeaters, or Yeoman Warders act as tour guides and tell stories of decapitations (the gesture) and hangings and hauntings. They all had to serve in the English military to get this cushy job, and live there guarding the Crown Jewels et al.
	The London Bridge is near the Tower. We didn't walk/climb up there - you can walk across the top even when it's open for river traffic. Lots of stairs tho - and a toll.
	We went on the River Thames boat ride too. This is the British Parliment building from the river. It looks gold when the sun shines on it, and actually has gold on all those spires.
	The Clock Tower - Big Ben is right near Parliment. It has gold trim too. Actually, Big Ben is the bell that tolls in the Tower. The Brits think it's wierd that so many tourists call the Clock Tower Big Ben.
	The white building is the Globe Theatre which was where Shakespeare's plays were performed in his day. It is actually a recreation of the original building in the same location - open air performances and all. We lost the photo of the big white Millenium Ring laying on it's side over the river. We saw the news here that it was raised (second attempt) and will be known as the London Ring. It will be the largest ferris wheel in the world running by New Years. It is expected to be torn down after a decade or so, but that's what they said about the Eiffel Tower...
	We visited beautiful Westminster Abbey and walked on the floor stones covering graves of so many famous historical figures. The ceilings are magnificent, but it's wierd walking on and reading the gravestones, and all those little side rooms dedicated to the graves of royalty.
	We did a lot of walking in London. It's so odd to have to look left for traffic coming. They even paint it on the sidewalks to remind us tourists that they are coming fast in the "wrong" lane. The cars are so small - the smaller the better on these narrow streets!
	Trafalgar Square is famous for its pigeons. In the background is the National Gallery and we saw the oldest paintings - a LOT of Jesus and Mary and bible scenes. Lots more genitalia than I've expected in public displays.
	We walked near the Thames and used "Big Ben" as a landmark to keep our bearings. There seems to be lots of cranes on the skyline as the city is constantly growing and restoring old landmarks.
	This Sphinx is one of 2 along the river facing a really tall Egyptian stone monument with hyroglyphics that is actually from Cleopatra's time, donated to England hundreds of years ago. There is bomb damage from WWII that can be seen up close.
	We saw Buckingham Palace and it's beautiful parks, tho we didn't wait in the LONG line to go inside. This was the only day it rained! We got soaked later on the open upper deck Big Bus roaming the ritzy shopping district.
	This is the main gate where the Royals and visitors drive thru. We missed the Changing of the Guard, but they are marching back there somewhere.
	Ken is across from the gate with the gold statues. This circle drive is famous as the Royals and the horse-drawn carriages are seen on the news a bunch.
	La Louvre in Paris. We took a day trip on the bullet train. Traveling at 180 mph on the ground is quite exhilarating. The train station (not pictured) is obviously a relatively new building, but in Paris, they have "taste". It was built with the architecture style (1500's) of the other buildings in the area (unlike London which mixes new and old). The exception is the glass pyramids. One can be seen behind me and there is an inverted pyramid in the basement of La Louvre. They added them in the early 90's during the pyramid-power movement.
	The Arc de Triomphe is in the same park across from Le Louvre. This one anyway. There are 3 actually. They are all in a row with unobstructed view, so when standing at the base of one, you can see all 3. The newest one is very modern - chrome and sleek. It's out in the modern part of the city with the big modern banks and tall skyscrapers on the horizon. The other one is near des Champs Elysees, the grand avenue of modern tourism - shoppes, cafes, theatres, etc.
	La Tour Eiffel is now a major communications tower. Initially they had planned on tearing it down after the 1889 Universal Exhibition. The other side, seen from the River Seine, has a countdown to the Millenium clock - displaying the number of days to Jan 1, 2000. I lost several good photos of it. I also feel ill thinking of the beautiful photos of Notre Dame Cathedral from the Seine River ride that I lost with my disk problem.
	We had wine and a French omelette at Cafe Ruk for lunch. Paris is really a BEAUTIFUL city!
	OK, cheating! When Dad was here in Sept, he and Ken framed in the basement. The boys came over to see how they did without the "real" carpenters on the job. They approved of the old men's work!