Jess's Europe Tour: Summer 2007

All Good Things Come To An End

2007-07-04T13:58:00.001-07:00

Well looks like my wonderful trip is over, I leave to come home tomorrow morning! It has been so wonderful and I have learned so much & seen so much! Ill have to continue summarizing the past few days since I didnt get a chance. Thanks for sharing in the fun with me on my ventures! Im looking forward to seeing you all soon back at home!

Florence

2007-07-04T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of some of the sites of Florence. This place had a lot of character and lots of good shopping! Here are some pictures looking off one of the bridges, the Duomo which I really liked because it was different than any of the other cathedrals I had seen before. It wasn't uncommon to see famous sculptures all around too. We went to the museum where the David was. The picture of the David I have posted is not the original, it's a replica. However, where the replica is, is where the David was originally placed. Seeing the real David was as amazing as everyone says it is. It is huge, and beautiful. Unfortunately I wasn't daring enough to sneak some pictures, so I don't have a picture of the real one. The food was also amazing here. Probably the best yet. We found this really good Italian restaurant that we ate at three times just because it was so delicious and the guys who worked there were really cool and nice to us. Florence was a great place to end the trip!

The Trevi Fountain

2007-07-04T13:53:00.001-07:00

This was one of our stops at the Trevi Fountain...it was huge just like everything around here seems to be. I couldn't get pictures of the whole thing in one shot. Legend has it that if you throw a coin into this fountain, you will return one day to Rome... so I did it of course, and lets hope this is true:)

Vatican City

2007-07-04T13:51:00.001-07:00

Here we are in front of the infamous Vatican City. It started raining while we were here-something we didn't expect for Rome. Unfortunately due to the short amount of time we were in Rome, we didn't get to go inside because the line to get in was too long. Seeing what we saw however was really cool. I was most excited to see the huge colonade in front, and it was really neat seeing it in person. It was actually a little smaller than I imagined it.

The Pantheon

2007-07-04T13:48:00.001-07:00

The Pantheon was one of the places I looked forward to seeing the most. It really is a marvelous structure. The coffered ceiling was really cool and impressive. The individual coffers are a lot larger than I imagined them. The oculus in the center is also really cool. It would have been neat to be there on a really rainy day to watch the water come pouring in through it. A lot of my pictures of the interior unfortunately didn't turn out because the lighting was bad inside so I don't have that many pics to show. It was everything I imagined though, and I can now see why this is one of the structures that is most studied in architecture.

The Colosseum

2007-07-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

The Colosseum was amazing to see in person! It's hard to believe that ruins that old still exist. We took a tour through the inside & it gave a good idea of what it must have been like to really be there back in the day. It was pretty much like I imagined it only a little smaller. Enjoy the pictures...

A Day In Rome

2007-07-04T13:28:00.000-07:00

So after Venice, we planned a day trip to Rome. It was a very interesting trip. It started a little bit shaky, and ended a bit shaky, but all the in between and seeing the awesome sights was great. The day started off with me & the girl in the picture above, getting on the wrong train. It still went to Rome, only it was the Eurostar, which is nicer, quicker, and more expensive, instead of the cheaper, slower train. This wouldn't have been a scare except for the fact that the rest of our group was on the other train with our group tickets. So me and Rachel arrived in Rome not knowing if the rest of our group stayed on the train, or got off cuz we weren't with them. Luckily the train ticket checkers had mercy on us when we told them the situation & didn't make us pay more money. We were there for 2 hours by ourselves waiting for the other train to arrive with our friends on it. It was a bit scary & not gonna lie, I was a bit nervous being in a foreign unfamiliar place with only one other person. Luckily our group ended up showing up so we were relieved! After this, we got on a double-decker tour bus, and hit up the main tourist attractions in Rome. We figured this was the best way to get around and see all of the main sites in only one day. Everything for the rest of the day went well except my main complaint was that the service was crapy and the people here were not friendly at all! We had restaurant owners raise there prices on us, and got ripped off royally at the restaurant we had dinner at. It put us in a really bad mood unfortunately. So if there is one bit of advice I would give to anyone visiting Rome, it would be to bring your own food and not depend on anyone to serve you with a smile. Other than that our day was well spent!

Day 2 in Venice

2007-07-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

Our second day in Venice we went back into town where we basically just went through town on foot & shopped, shopped, shopped. We also found the Rialto Bridge and shopped around it as well. The highlight of the day however, was going on a Gondola ride! I have been looking forward to it for so long, & I finally got to do it. It was awesome-probably one of the best 30 minutes of my life. The Italian gondola man that we had was way cool too! He’s in my pics wearing the typical striped shirt. He even kissed my hand at the end of the ride-they weren’t kiddin when they said Italian men are romantic! Haha Don’t be jealous Wade :) That night we had a nice dinner where I had the biggest Calzone of my life. The food here is wonderful-probably the best yet on the trip.

Day 1 in Venice

2007-07-04T08:56:00.001-07:00

Our time in Venice was short unfortunately. I fell in love with the place from the moment I arrived! We checked into our hotel which was a few streets over from the train stop, so carrying our luggage around in the heat was a blast….haha. That’s when I regretted having so much stuff. It was all good though, I made it. After we got settled in we took a short train ride into town and walked around and got acquainted with the town. We took a water taxi to get around the first day and got to see a lot of the sites from the water. We stopped off by Saint Mark’s Cathedral & square-which was very cool & then shopped around at all the cute shops & booths that are set up on the streets. Then we had our first dose of real Italian food at this nice restaurant in this ally way. It was delicious! This place intrigued me so much, and I think it was because it all lies on water. Venice is just how it looks in all the pictures-simply charming & loaded with character. It was just how I imaged it. It’s so cool that there is water everywhere, and aged buildings that look like they’re floating & how boats and walking are the two main ways to travel anywhere within! I love Venice…check out the lovely pics!

Journey to Venice

2007-07-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

So our journey to Venice was a good one. We traveled by train & got to ride in a private cachette with 5 other people-it’s basically a small private room where the seats fold down into beds, almost like bunk-beds. It was a fun experience. It was nice getting to finally lie down and sleep horizontally on a train. The train ride lasted over night and when we woke up we arrived in a hot and humid, sunny Venice! Yea!!!!! Finally, my kind of weather! Here is some funny pics from the overnight adventure…

To The Top

2007-07-04T08:42:00.000-07:00

We’ll we finally made it to the top of the Eiffel Tower! Every time we were going to do it, it was either too late to go to the top because it closed, or the line was too long. So once we were able to do it we were all happy. It was way neat seeing the city from the top of it. It was crazy how windy it was once we were up there! It was also pretty cold and rainy…as usual it seems, but it was still worth going to the top. I’m finally starting to get over my fear of heights!

Chateau de Versailles

2007-06-28T01:30:00.000-07:00

Versailles was one of our last stops. It was quite the experience. That place was massive and beautiful! I loved the interiors! It was also home of Marie Anoinette! Seeing the movie made this experience more meaningful-I actually was the most familiar with the history of this place! It was cool. Now I need to watch the movie again to see if the scenes look familiar! Here's some pics...

Moulin Rouge

2007-06-28T01:25:00.000-07:00

Then we went to see the infamous Moulin Rouge. It wasn't quite like I pictured it, but it was still a fun place to see!

Church of the Sacred Heart

2007-06-28T01:22:00.000-07:00

This was another cool church on top of a huge hill that we went to. It had a large dome which made it different and neat to see.

Arc de Triomphe

2007-06-28T01:18:00.000-07:00

Finally after the museum, we made our way to the Arc de Triomphe and went to the top of it! The view from above was way cool! It was just how I imagined it!

Musee d'Orsay

2007-06-28T01:10:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Musee d'Orsay, a museum full of impressionists art! Here we saw Van Gogh's art along with Renoir, Degas, Monet, Manet, & more! These were some of the paintings that I was most excited to see since I had just learned about some of these pieces in my art history class this last semester and have grown up seeing...I really enjoyed this museum! There was also a really cool Art Nouvou style furniture exhibit. Seeing this stuff in person was great!

Random Paris Pics

2007-06-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

After walking all throughout the city, it's nice to just sit & take a break every once in awhile, so here we are in a park enjoying the sunshine! Also here is the classic Art Nouvou style Metro Station signs-designed by Hector Guimard. It's cool to finally see these in person after seeing them in the text books for so long! This last picture is the view from the top of the Pompidou looking out at the Eiffel Tower!

The Louvre

2007-06-27T14:50:00.000-07:00

After the Pompidou, we reached our final destination which was The Louvre! The museum that houses the Mona Lisa-& yes I saw it, however sadly did not get my own picture. They guard that thing like crazy! The museum itself is huge & it would have taken several days to get through the whole thing, but the parts we did see, and seeing the Mona Lisa was way cool. It's crazy that so many people go there to see that one painting-there was quite the crowd around it. The pyramids it the courtyard were designed by IM Pei. It is so neat to see in real life. The pyramids add a nice contrast to the classical architecture of the rest of the museum.

Pompidou Museum

2007-06-26T15:16:00.000-07:00

After Notre Dame, we walked to the Pompidou Museum. This place was awesome! The cool thing about it is the fact that the museum is purely modern architectually and is surrounded by lots of classical style architectural buildings. It has a completely exposed structure with all of its functioning parts on the outside of it. This is something you don't see very often. It's an awesome experience to visit this place. It is very colorful and interesting amongst the rest of the buildings around it. It was probably my favorite museum we have visited so far. It is full of modern art/installations and furniture-here are some cool things I liked and was inspired by! These chairs I have pictures of are all designed by Phillip Stark, one of my favorite designers. This was a way cool exhibit! Enjoy the pics!...

Notre Dame Cathedral

2007-06-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

Our next stop was the infamous Notre Dame Cathedral. It was beautiful as well. It was cool cuz there was actually a service being held inside when we walked through, so we got to witness it-we couldn't understand anything cuz it was in French-darn!

Sainte-Chapelle Cathedral

2007-06-26T15:06:00.000-07:00

Our next free day was loaded with many stops...our first stop was the Sainte-Chapelle Cathedral. It is one of the oldest cathedrals in Europe built in 1242 & is known for having originally housed some of the relics of Christ-esp. the crown of thorns. The stained-glass here was very impressive. There was a whole wall of it!

Catacombs & Eiffel Tower

2007-06-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a free day, and it was quite the adventuresome one…It started with a group of us going to church again, which was an adventure in itself to find, but once we found it, it was a cool experience. Then we went to see the Catacombs! It was pretty creepy. There were so many skulls & bones! It was interesting to see how they organized the bones to make designs & patterns. We also went on a boat tour of Paris down the Seine River. This was a really neat way to find out the history of many of the buildings in Paris. We went at the perfect time too-at dusk & the weather was even warm still. It was awesome! Then after that, we went to the famous Eiffel Tower! The sight you’ve all been waiting to see! It is quite the spectacle in person. It puts the one in Vegas to shame. At night, it is not only lit up, but also sparkles on the hour. This is a really cool site to see! It looks like a sparkler. I tried to get some good pictures of it! Anyway that was our first free day here! I've also encluded some other pics of stuff we did during the day. In one of the pictures we are eating French ice-cream. It was amazing! Enjoy the pictures…

Vaux Le Vicomte

2007-06-24T16:24:00.000-07:00

Our next stop that day was Vaux Le Vicomte. This residence, is not only known for the house itself & its grounds, but it’s also known for candle light. When it gets dark, this place is lit using nothing but candlelight- this includes all through the house and gardens! They also play classical music throughout the gardens to complement it. This was a beautiful & super romantic experience. It was like a fairytale. I have never seen anything like it! We took a tour through the house, & sketched & ventured through the acres of gardens that exist around it. This residence was basically just built and owned by an extremely wealthy man-not royalty believe it or not! This was the first place we’ve seen that actually had a mote around it! Pretty cool!

Fountaine Bleau

2007-06-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

So one of our first stops now that we are in Paris was the Chateau, Fountaine Bleau. This was our first opportunity to see how the French Royalty lived. This place was gorgeous just like all the rest of the places we’ve been to! I have to say though that after seeing England’s royal residences, I prefer the French’s style a bit more. I noticed that the French use more pastel colors, whereas the English use more solid dark colors. It’s interesting seeing the similarities and differences between the two. This place was also apparently a popular wedding destination. We probably saw about 5 brides on the grounds while we were there. The stone staircase at this place was beautiful and different than any place that we’ve seen so far. I took some pictures inside as well so you can see the elaborate details and ornate decoration that is inside.

Welcome to Paris!

2007-06-24T16:11:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally made it to Paris! This was the first sight we saw from the train station. We traveled by train to get there & while on the train ride we went through the Chunnel (basically under the ocean!) Sorta freaky… It took about 3 hours to get from London to Paris. Not bad. Anyway our bus never came to get us once in Paris, so we waited for a couple of hours with our stuff & then we finally ended up taking taxi cabs to our hotel-the Hotel Arley Tour Eiffel. The ride was quick & a bit crazy too. People drive crazy here. The good news however is that they drive on the normal side of the road so that is more normal than London. Waiting outside the train station turned out to be a good thing however because it sort of broke us in to the French culture-we had a good time people watching and basically just tried to take it all in. There was one definite observation that we all made, and that is-Everyone smokes here! It’s nuts! It was also interesting hearing everyone speaking French. We felt a bit intimidated & out of place at first, but that feeling started to fade after our first day here…for the most part people here are pretty friendly to us despite what we heard before we came. After we got to our hotel, we basically just moved in & found a nice pizza parlour to eat at that is right down the street from our hotel. That was all we did for the night. We were all very tired from the long day!

Last Chance London!

2007-06-24T16:07:00.000-07:00

So before I left London I really wanted the classic little red phone booth picture, so the last day there I finally got one! I also did some last minute London shopping and got my sweet London jacket! Here we are sporting our jackets!

Wicked!

2007-06-21T05:23:00.000-07:00

So last night we finally got to go to see the show/musical Wicked! We had to keep putting it off because it didn't work with our schedule, but finally it worked out. Seeing a show in London was amazing! People weren't kidding when they said how good it was! It was so good! The singers & actors were so talented, and the costumes were incredible! For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it's the untold story of the witches of the Wizard of Oz. It was a thoroughly enjoyable night on the town! For those of you who haven't seen it & are into musicals, I would highly reccomend it!

Hard Rock London!

2007-06-21T05:16:00.001-07:00

So one night here we planned a fun outing to the Hard Rock Cafe in London! This was a fun night that was as close to American as we could get! It was great to have a good ol' cheese burger and fries! Who would guess that in a foreign country you would actually crave & want American food!? It's happened more than once!

Syon House

2007-06-21T04:54:00.000-07:00

Today we went to and took a tour of the Syon House -home of the Duke of Northumberland. This was the first residence we went to that didn't really have a formal garden, however, the interior space and furniture inside was really neat. There was also a conservatory that was really cool too! I've included some pics of the Syon House, the Conservatory, & some flowers that I loved just for fun! I also posted some sketches that I did of some of the furniture found inside the house.

Chatsworth

2007-06-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

Today we took a train to see Chatsworth, which was used as another setting for the movie Pride & Predjudice. This is the home of the Duke & Dutchess of Devonshire. This place was really different from all the other places we have visited because they allowed you to take photos of the interior-which was really nice! So I have posted some pictures this time so you can sneak a peek of what some of these royal estates look like inside. Amazing! The gardens here were especially cool because of it's fountains. With one of them you could even go in it and play! We had fun with this! I also posted the statue of Mr. Darcy used in the movie-check it out!

Blenheim Palace

2007-06-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the beautiful Blenheim Palace...and it was just that- beautiful & huge! Blenheim Palace is the current home of the 11th Duke of Marlborough. It was also the birthplace of Sir Winston Churhill, who was the 6th Duke of Marlborough's grandchild. Bleinheim was built to celebrate the victory over the French during the Spanish Succession. It was a gift to the 1st Duke of Marlborough who lead them to victory. Well some gift it has turned out to be! As far as architecture & interior design goes, this place was probably one of my most favorite places so far. I could definately live here! haha I've posted some exterior pictures, & garden pictures of course-which were also amazing!...

Weekend 2 Adventure-Scotland

2007-06-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

So this last weekend was interesting & a true adventure to say the least! A group of about 12 of us took a five hour train ride to Edinburgh from London and arrived in Edinburgh around 11:00 am on Saturday to find that it was super cold and rainy! This wasn't good considering that a lot of the people in our group wore flip-flops and shorts/skirts. Yeah big mistake! Luckily I happened to wear pants & shoes that covered my feet. That didn't stop me from getting soaked however, along with the rest of the group. While there, we stayed in a very interesting hostel. Lets just say that we were grateful for our place back in London. I kept reminding myself that it's all about the experience and it's what you make of it. It was funny. While there we visited the Edinburgh Castle that lies on top of a mountain, that was really cool. I posted some pictures of it. Things got really crazy when it started to lightly snow! None of us were expecting this. Overall culturally Edinburgh was really cool though, the architecture was amazing as well. There were bagpipers in kilts playing on the streets which looked & sounded so neat. I even stole a picture with one of the Scotsman Guards! Its too bad we didn't get nicer weather. On Sunday we left Edinburgh and took another train to Glasgow, and then on to Preswick. Glasgow was a really neat town and we finally got blue sky and some sun, which we were all grateful for. Then in Preswick, we were going to go to another castle, but we ran out of time, so we just ended up going to the beach, which turned out to be really neat & nice. Up until this point it was hard to imagine going to the ocean over here. Now I can say I have! I've posted some pictures from all of the exciting happenings on our weekend adventure...I will probably never forget Edinburgh though, that's for sure!

My London Roomates (or Flatmates)

2007-06-15T08:12:00.000-07:00

Here are my awesome roomates while in London-Mikell, Rachel, Katie, Holly, Breanne, & me! This is us in our room by our bunk-beds, yep we sleep in bunk-beds! We have lots of fun!

Cambridge

2007-06-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Cambridge & toured the town, churches, and University. This town was charming as well. We saw the best example of fan vaulting in the King's College Cathedral. It was breathtaking! We also went to the Fitzwilliam Museum & went punting-the equivalent of a gondola ride in Venice, only it was in England. While punting, we passed one of the sites used to film Harry Potter. It's the pic with the ivy covered building... This was probably my favorite part of the day! We also ventured through a down pour of rain, which was also an adventure! Here are some pics of the sites, and us soaking wet...

Haddon Hall

2007-06-15T07:42:00.000-07:00

So after going to Hardwick Hall we got back on the bus and traveled a short distance to our next stop, Haddon Hall-home of Lord & Lady Edward Manners. This home is one of England's oldest & most romantic houses/castles. The kitchen & furniture inside was really neat to see. It was also another place where scenes from Pride & Prejudice, Jane Eyre, & The Princess Bride were filmed. The gardens here were probably my favorite that i've seen so far. The word I would use to describe them is charming. I felt like I was in a fairytale land. It was beautiful! There were flowers of every color! Here are some pics of us by the home & in the gardens. One of the garden pics sorta reminds me of a scene from Edward Scissor Hands...

Hardwick Hall

2007-06-15T07:22:00.000-07:00

Here we are at Hardwick Hall-the older and newer. The older one is in ruins, which was really cool to see cuz it was so old and still standing-I think it was nearly 5 stories tall! Elizabeth of Shruseberry (or the Bess of Hardwick) lived in both of these estates situated right next to eachother. The newer one had really neat furniture inside of which I did some sketches of and will eventually post. This day was also the first day that it rained here! Here are some pics of the us on the train ride there, and the old and new estate, and the view from the top of the old ruins...

Salisbury Cathedral

2007-06-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

So since we were in the town of Salisbury visiting the Wilton House, we also visited The Salisbury Cathedral. This cathedral has Britain's tallest spire at 404 ft., which we climbed nearly to the top of! My fear of heights made this experience quite a thrill! Architecturally it is designed almost entirely in the early English Gothic Style & was built in 38 years. It is also home to Europe's oldest working clock-which was really cool to see! It is incredible how much detail is put into these cathedrals-it's hard to believe that it's humanly possible to construct these, especially back in 1220 when construction was started! Climbing to the top was very interesting. It was neat to finally get to see how these cathedrals were actually made. Here I've posted some pictures of the exterior, interior, and on top of the spire...

Wilton House

2007-06-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

Here we are in the town of Salisbury at the Wilton House-home of the Earl of Pembroke. This home & it's grounds were beautiful! We got to take a tour through the inside, where we saw a wonderful art collection and exquisite interior design & furniture. Scenes from the movies Pride & Predjudice, & Sense & Sensibility were also filmed here! As you can see I took tonz of pictures here, it was hard to pick which ones to show!

The Tower Bridge

2007-06-15T06:36:00.000-07:00

So we finally made it to the famous Tower Bridge! It is a lot bigger in person than i imagined it-pretty much like everything else here I guess...here are some photos of me, the group, & my roomates! On this day, we also visited the Design Museum & Tate Modern Museum where we went to an exhibition of Salvador Dali's art and film. It was cool to see so many of his paintings. Before going to the exhibit I had no idea that Dali did film as well. After this we saw St. Paul's Cathedral & I went to my first English pub!

The First Weekend Adventure

2007-06-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

So on Sunday a group of us attended the LDS church here to start the day off. It was a really cool experience to go to church in another country. Then after church another group of us took a short day trip by train to the town of Bath-where we saw the ancient Roman Baths! This place was amazing and perhaps my favorite place that i have visited yet. Not only was it cool to see the baths, but i loved seeing the rest of the town as well. The apartments there were so cute! I would love to someday live in one! What I liked most about Bath were the colors of the buildings contrasting the greenery surrounding them. It was beautiful! Here are the pics showing some of my favorite sites during the day...and a sketch, i love all the different light posts here!

Past Days Recap...

2007-06-14T13:06:00.000-07:00

So the past few days have been a whirlwind of amazing events...I am seeing so much and learning so much- I'm just trying to take it all in and really appreciate it all! So starting with last weekend...

Times Square Anyone?

2007-06-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

So here's London's version of Times Square. Not bad eh?

Design Inspiration

2007-06-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

So far on this trip, I have found inspiration in many things. Design is everywhere! Here are some things that I find to be inspiring...in the first pic, this is a design made out of iron! So intricate-Wow! And check out this killer chandelier found in the V&A museum-not your everyday light fixture...In the next pics, I really liked the displays in this gift shop at the V&A museum. I think they do a nice job at making their merchandise look appealing, in the last image I thought it was cool how the architect of this building combined old classic architecture with new modern architecture.

The Tube

2007-06-09T11:51:00.000-07:00

Here we are on London's subway, the Tube. We take this to get mostly everywhere with a few exceptions...talk about crazy adventures!

Shopping, Shopping, & More Shopping!

2007-06-09T11:48:00.001-07:00

Today was our first weekend here, & that means we get free time to do whatever we want...so today a group of us went shopping at a market! This is the time to practice major self control...

The Marble Arch

2007-06-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

Here I am at the Marble Arch. This city is great cuz everywhere you turn there is something that just randomly jumps out and surprises you. We came out of the tube station and there it was in the middle of tonz of people, buildings, and traffic. The scale of everything here is so large that it makes me look like an ant!

At Our Hotel...

2007-06-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a group of us outside the Ace Hotel-the hotel we are staying at while in London. It's on a very quiet street. For such a bustling town, it amazes me how quiet it is around our hotel.

Hampton Court

2007-06-09T11:21:00.000-07:00

Here we are at Hampton Court... This palace was huge! We took some great tours throughout the interior, including the King's & Queen's apartments. It is crazy to think that they actually lived here tonz of years ago-I had to keep reminding myself! We also got to explore the gardens too! These were amazing, they went on forever it seemed-they were gorgeous! This place also allowed for some great sketching oportunities! I'll try to post some...

The British Museum

2007-06-09T11:09:00.000-07:00

Today we stopped by the British Museum. Here we saw a cool Egyptian exhibit, featuring mummies, artifacts, & treasures. These pictures are actually taken in the interior central atrium of the museum! I think everything should be designed like this!

Westminster Abbey

2007-06-07T11:27:00.000-07:00

Today we visited Westminster Abbey. The ornament and detail on this church is incredible, and the stained glass is beautiful. It's hard to imagine the scale of these churches when you see pictures, but actually experiencing them in person is unreal-they are massive! We took a tour inside and got to see the memorials and burial sights of many Kings & Queens! The pic of the green leaves is actually ivy growing on the side of the Abbey. This is not uncommon on many of the buildings around here-it's beautiful! And green!

The National Gallery

2007-06-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

Here I am at The National Gallery. Here we saw amazing works of art, some of which I learned about in my art history class last semester. It's great seeing things in person that your only used to seeing in the text books.

Buckingham Palace

2007-06-07T11:09:00.001-07:00

We actually saw the queen pull out from the palace and drive right by us! Now what are the chances of that happening? Lucky us!

A Change of Scenery...

2007-06-07T11:05:00.000-07:00

Check out the cool cars & double deckers!

Just Arrived!!!

2007-06-07T10:54:00.000-07:00

Our first day here in London we didn't waste any time...here I am by the legendary "Big Ben"!

Blenheim Palace

2007-06-03T21:32:00.000-07:00

Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace is one of Englands largest monumental country houses located in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the only non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title "palace"

History

Blenheim Palace was built between 1705 and circa 1722. It was originally intended to be a gift to John Churchill-the 1st Duke of Marlborough, however it soon became the subject of political infighting. It was designed in the English Baroque style and is unique in its combined usage as a family home, mausoleum, and national monument. The palace is also known for the birth place of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. It was designed by the untrained architect, Sir John Vanbrugh, who designed it to be viewed from a distance. Standing up close the facade is said to look daunting or weighed down too much by ornamentation and stone. Blenheim sits at the center of a large park that the Glyme River flows through, making for lovely scenery and grounds. The palace today remains the home of the Dukes of Marlborough — the present incumbent of the title being John George Vanderbilt Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough. Like his forebears he lives for part of the year in the palace, with his family occupying the same suite of rooms as the 1st Duke and Duchess. The palace is open to the public, and contains tourist attractions in the grounds, but still has the atmosphere of a large country house. The progression from home to business has been essential to the palace's survival in the 20th and 21st centuries.

La Defense-Paris

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La Défense
La Défense is the prime high-rise office district of Paris, where many of Paris's tallest buildings can be found.

History
At the end of the first World War, plans were made to develop an axis from the Arc de Triomphe at the Etoile to La Defense. This new stretch of property would come to be known as the Triumphal Way. During the 1930's several competitions were held and numerous plans of modernist and classical style skyscrapers were submitted by architects such as Le Corbusier and Auguste Perret, however, none of these plans were recognized, due to the Great Depression in the 1930s and a lack of funding. Height limitations were also put on the skyscraper designs as to not obstruct the view on the Etoile. Towers were also only allowed on the ends of the long avenue (The Defense).

The name défense originates from the monument 'La Défense de Paris', which was erected at this site in 1883 to commemorate the war of 1870. Eventually in 1951 the Defense site was chosen as an office center. In 1964, a plan was finally approved to have 20 office towers of 25 stories each. This plan was not followed exactly however, due to companies wanting taller office towers. The result is a combination of short and tall towers. A monument called the Grande Arche de la Defense was then erected to counterweight the Arc de Triomphe. This was designed by the Danish architect Otto van Spreckelsen. This cube shaped building/arch actually contains offices within.