16Apr2009: Day 325: Florence (Italy)

After eating our breakfast of Granola Bars, we headed out to the maze of Florence yet again. We found a parking garage where they took our keys and parked our car. It made us a bit nervous but what else could we do? They mainly have parking for the motorcycles and bikes in the downtown area and not so much for cars.

As we walked towards our first destination, we saw many vendors selling all sorts of things from trinkets of the area to belts, scarves, sweaters, shoes, purses, etc. Plus, as the day went on there were people begging for this reason or that, other people selling paintings, and since it was raining on and off, people walking around selling umbrellas.

I think the people selling paintings were the most interesting. They had a portfolio, would come near you, open it up and flip through their pictures. Some even put them on the ground for you to walk past. They were nice pictures but I had a hard time believing that the people selling them were the same people who painted them. There were some painters near the Uffizi gallery who were sitting there painting and with paintings of theirs to sell. That I believed. In fact, I was tempted to buy one I saw but it most likely would be ruined by the time we get home as we’re in such a small car. Plus, I’m sure they probably cost quite a bit.

Anyways, the first stop was at the Cappelle Medici (Medici Chapels) which is adjacent to the Basilica of San Lorenzo. We first went into the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana. This was a building that Michelangelo created to “shelter the expanding library of the Medici.” The entrance into it was inside an entrance. So you were inside and as you went into this library, the entrance was as if you were entering from outside, even though you were already inside. Then when you got inside it was rows and rows of really high pews. On the outside of the pews was a label of sorts. What it was, was a list of the books that would be within that row of pews. What people used to do was go into a row and sit and read the book they wanted from that row. They also then had a history of writings and samples through the ages of writings even on papyrus and wax and stone. Some samples they had were from 251 BC! Talk about exciting. They had some writings from books of the bible (even sections that aren’t familiar in a standard bible). They also showed the standard large bible as compared to what they call the Marco Polo type of bible which is smaller and portable. Unfortunately, the only pictures we could take were on the outside of the building and it wasn't too exciting really to look at from the outside.

We then went down into the Medici tombs which were created by Michelangelo. It basically had a lot of things too look at as the treasury was also down there. One box, not sure what it was for, had a bone in it, like an arm bone or something. Since most of it was in Italian we couldn’t really tell what some of these things were or what they meant. The main thing here was the tombs of two Medici family members. As I’m not familiar with who Medici was and what the importance of the family was, I can’t really expand. I know it’s something important as the name was mentioned a lot during the day – as if it was a time period in government that wasn’t good. We then went into the chapel and it had some interesting paintings but it did not have anything too exciting as I can barely remember going in here. I just remember Makenna starting to act up.

We then went to the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore which means St. Mary of the Flower and the flower represents Christ. This cathedral is known for the Brunelleschi dome which we could only really see a small part of. They roped off the area that lets you get close to look up. We didn’t pay to go up to the dome either. Although, I would’ve loved to have gone up and get a full view of this work of art. It also had an underground area that you could pay and see all the findings of what was there previously prior to this church. There was another church back from the 5th century on this spot but they found that it was too small and in 1296 started to build this grand church which took 170 years to complete. At the time, it was the biggest in Italy. The outside was almost more interesting in design and definitely the most colourful that I’ve seen yet.
It also had a separate bell tower that you could pay to go up and see a lot of Florence. Chris didn’t feel I’d be up to it as it had 421 steps (maybe more) and said if we had time later, which we didn’t, I could go up. There was also a baptistery (Baptistery of San Giovanni,) aka John the Baptist. This was really neat to see. The dome inside this was also painted and had a lot of meaning; mostly of Christ’s judgment at the time of resurrection. Even the shape of the building, an octagon has meaning. Each side represents a day but since an octagon has eight sides, the eighth day represents the day without end, when Christ comes again.



We got Makenna to fall asleep inside this cathedral, as she desperately needed it by her antics, and we walked to a little café and grabbed a bite to eat and some food for her for later. We continued to walk to the Galleria dell’Accademia which is known for the sculpture by Michelangelo of David. I do have to say, I’ve seen this in pictures but this was truly an outstanding piece of work. I was mesmerized by it and not because it was of a naked man. Just how perfect it looked and to be carved out of marble makes you wonder how in the world he did it. Especially since other artists at the time tried and failed to make something out of the big block of marble that the David was sculpted out of. Michelangelo took the challenge as a way of making his mark. There were other works of art and even other works of art in marble from Michelangelo that were unfinished and believed that some were from demolished buildings as you could see architectural features still attached to the sculpture.

They had a room of plaster castings that were of marble sculptures from other parts of the country. What’s interesting about these was all the nails in the sculptures. Why does plaster require nails to hold it together while marble none? I guess because of the composition and how it will break down? I would think that plaster would break and fall apart if you drive nails into it.

Also, you were not allowed to take any pictures inside this museum, especially of David. There was this one museum worker who caught a guy taking pictures and she yelled at him and then made him take the picture off his camera. I don’t know how he didn’t see all the signs that were posted telling you not to take pictures. Of course, I can’t blame him; I would if I got the chance.

Which I did, but a replica in the Piazza della Signoria. This is basically an area where there are a lot of statues and it’s next to the Uffizi Museum. It had a replica of the David, along with a fountain, and numerous other sculptures. It's the focal point of the origin and of the history of the Florentine Republic and still maintains its reputation as the political hub of the city. It was originally just a plain plaza but since the seat of government was there, over the years, various people gave sculptures to improve the look of the area.

The Ufizzi museum had an excruciatingly long line and surprisingly, Makenna did well. Of course, she had a good long nap, and she could get up and run around as mommy or daddy would take turns watching her as the other stood in line. When there were maybe 15 or so people in front of us, the guy who lets people in saw us and moved us ahead of the line. Wish we had made ourselves more noticeable sooner. What was nice about being in line and then in the museum is that it kept us out of the rain.

This museum officially opened in 1765 and is said to have Italy’s finest collection of art. It has works from Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Mategna, Bellini and others. I have to say that I’m not a huge art fan but it is truly amazing to see these works. We saw Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus,” and Leonardo’s “Adoration of the Magi.” There was also a room that had statues in it and what was more interesting to me was that it had been bombed in 1993 by some guy I guess. I have to look that up. We unfortunately couldn’t take pictures here either but at one point did take some pictures of the outside from inside the gallery. We weren’t the only ones and I think it was okay to do so.

After, we went to a restaurant near by and I had lasagne – had to – while in Italy! It was okay. I have to say that other one in France was a bit tastier even though it was smothered in cheese. Makenna had penne noodles with mushrooms and she gobbled up the mushrooms. Chris and I helped her to finish off the noodles. I had asked for a child sized portion and whether they gave us less or not I don’t know but they still charged us for an adult portion. I was upset but they made up for it by giving her a free gelato (ice cream). Chris and I had got some for ourselves on the way back to the car. This was good ice cream! Chris had this extremely chocolate kind and I had mint chocolate. Makenna had a bit of both of ours (on top of the one she had from the restaurant). We’ll definitely have to indulge in that treat again before we leave Italy!

That brings me to something else I found interesting. Again, at the rest stops, they had your usual stuff for sale but they also had huge tin cans of olive oil and also bags of different types of pasta. I should’ve bought some pasta that I can’t find in the UK.

15Apr2009: Day 324: France to Italy

Again, it was another poor breakfast for Makenna. She didn’t even ask for a granola bar. We did get her to eat some cereal – chocolate something or other. I told her she better eat this kind of cereal now as mommy isn’t buying this type at home – ever (Be sure to check with me in a few years to see if I have stuck to this!)

We finally got on the road at 10am for a long trip to Italy. Again, the mountains that we are driving near, around, through are just amazing. Very large and ominous and snow covered at the top. It’s just beautiful to look at. Pictures just can’t do it justice – at least with our camera. There were about 10 -15 tunnels through the mountains we had to go through I wonder how they ever cut through such stone without having it all collapse on them…

After one particularly long tunnel (the Tunnel of Mt. Blanc) there was a washed out roadway, just below a glacier that was coming between two mountains. It looked like there was an avalanche and there were a couple of cars trapped. It seemed as they were waiting to get out of the lodge that was on the side of the mountain. There was a nice waterfall coming through the mountains and a beautiful view of the mountain. Chris kept making me take pictures of this and that, but it was difficult to shoot by his big nose at times out his side window! (Click picture to see better)

We were glad we drove. We stopped at several points to just take in the scenery and the fresh air. There was still snow on the ground at several stops, but it was easily 65F out. We also saw some castles and a gondola ride up the side of a mountain that we saw in passing, but didn’t stop because it was a 7 hour drive and weren’t going to get to Florence until after 6pm as is.

Once we got to Florence, we got settled in the room and headed out to explore a little bit and get some money. We thought we could scout out the location of the sites we wanted to see tomorrow. We ended up driving down this maze of narrow one way streets with motorcycles and scooters everywhere zooming by us. We found the places we want to see and they are all within a short distance from each other. We then headed back to get money and food. It was around 8:30 by this point and Makenna was getting more and more cranky. So we changed our mind from a good place to eat to opting to go to McDonald’s…I know…in Italy and we eat from McDonalds? Well when you have a tired 2 and a half year old, you have to make compromises and this latest compromise was get fast food that we know she would eat and get her to bed ASAP.

She was screaming these incredibly high pitched screams, so loud they were actually deafening and our ears were ringing. She wanted everything now. We would have her get calm and then gave her whatever it was she was asking for. She would then immediately throw it and again start screaming for it. It was really annoying, but she is testing us.

Unfortunately, McDonald’s turned out to be back in the maze of narrow streets I mentioned and we were disappointed to have to go back through that maze again. We managed and it was actually open, so Makenna got her nuggets and mommy and daddy got a cheeseburger. They were the same soggy burger that we get back in the states. The Kids meal of 4 nuggets is just not enough for Makenna because she doesn’t always eat the fries, but she suffered through because that was all Daddy bought for her and she wouldn’t eat our hamburgers. She took it ok really, and surprised us eventually even eating a couple of fries.

I have to also mention…

1) the motorcycles and bikes in these European countries are like gnats. There are so many of them and they just weave in and out of traffic and at the tightest of spots. The problem is that you can’t always see them coming and as you start to take off from a light all of a sudden they’re zooming right past you, between you and the other car to your side. Oh, and that reminds me, here in Italy, there were at least lines on the road for cars to stay within, they just failed to do so (unlike France where there are no lines and they don’t follow any set pattern anyways).

2) What is up with the bathrooms? When we first got to France we stopped at a quick rest stop that only had bathrooms. I thought that it was a trucker stop or something because the toilet, on both sides of the building, only had a bowl, no seat. So I didn’t go. There was no demarcation as to which side was for women or men. Then, as we stopped at other places, I realized, nope, it’s the squat system. Well, then today was the one that topped them all. I’m not in the habit of taking a camera into the bathroom with me, so let me clear that up. It was when stopped just after passing through Mt. Blanc and we wanted to look at the incredible mountain. I was walking along taking pictures and I happened to notice a restroom so I went in. As you can see – this had not even a toilet bowl! It was truly a “bear in the woods” type deal where you were just squatting over this thing on the floor. I told myself it was a good workout for my thighs to go the bathroom in these countries.

14Apr2009: Day 323: Cathederale St. Pierre & Geneva (Switzerland)

The past few mornings, Makenna has actually eaten a granola bar. In fact, now, when she wakes up, she asks for “na na bar.” At first we had a hard time understanding what it was she wanted. The problem is that every day, she’s eaten less and less of it. Luckily today we had a complimentary breakfast with our room, unfortunately, Makenna wouldn’t eat much. I figured this would set us up for a bad day or a day filled with junk food, but she was not too bad considering.

We set off into Geneva again and headed towards the Palace de’ Nations – or the United Nations building. By the time we got there, right at noon, it was closed for tours until 2pm. I had read on-line that there were English tours at noon, but that’s not the case now. So we just took some pictures and left. Across the street was the Red Crescent Museum which is all about the Red Cross and its founding’s, but that’s closed on Tuesday’s which is today.

So we went back to the car and decided to go to Cathederale St. Pierre (St. Peter’s Cathedral). It wasn’t anything too spectacular but it did have a chapel section which was really neat. Then I went up into the tower which was a heck of a lot of steps, that’s why I went alone and Chris took Makenna outside. When I got up the first flight of many steps, I was inside a wooden structured area inside the church. I couldn’t even tell you where I really was. It wasn’t really the bell tower but you were basically walking above the church I guess. Then I went up some more steps and found myself outside. I got a pretty good view of Geneva but it wasn’t until I went up even higher that I got a 360 view of the area. As I was up there filming, the bells started going off which scared the living daylights out of me but at least I got it on film.

I came down and felt like my legs were rubber.
We all then went down into the crypt area underneath the church which was excavated for 30 years starting back in 1976 I believe. It had a lot of Roman ruins and even some before that. In fact, they found a skeleton from 100 BC of some important chieftain that was under the choir area. It was still half-buried so all you saw was from about it’s hip area down. There was a circular hole where his head would be as someone tried digging to find it in order to worship it so they think.
It also showed how the church was built over and over again through the centuries to be expanded or modified until its present make-up now. So you were able to see ruins or remains of baptisteries and even a roman mosaic floor, or what was left of it.

We left there and we walked around and found the Reformation Wall which honours many of the main individuals, events, and documents of the Protestant Reformation by depicting them in statues. The individuals most prominently depicted on the Wall were Calvinists. These states are of William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza & John Knox. (Not sure if it's left to right or vice versa).



It was in a nice park that we found had the University of Geneva in it, which explained all the kids milling and laying about in the park. We then headed back to the car as it was starting to rain. Even though we would look up and see no clouds but if we looked directly up, we saw the dark cloud above us. Of course when we got back to the car, it was nice and sunny again.

We decided to try and find the oldest house in Geneva. Come to find out, we probably walked past it a couple of times in the past two days and had no idea. We were unable to take a car down the road it was on so we just left to figure out what to do about dinner.

We had 60 Swiss Francs left so it was a toss up between finding a restaurant or just getting things from a grocery store. We opted for the grocery store. Makenna has been asking for her “oose” (noodles) and we were hoping to find some in the store. We were pretty lucky to find a grocery store as we were just saying how we hadn’t seen any that we knew of in the towns we had been driving through. Today we found two. We figured out that co-op was one and as we were driving we saw one and pulled over.

Chris went in and I waited in the car with a sleeping Makenna. At the time, I thought he was just going in for noodles, but as time kept going on and on I figured he was either buying food for all of us or he had gotten mugged and dragged out back somewhere. He came out with two bags full and spent 6 Francs more than what we had. He said there was quite a language barrier and luckily some girl behind him could help him with the cashier. He was trying to tell her that he didn’t want the cashews and to take them out but he gave up and just went over the amount we had using the credit card for the extra 6 Francs.

When we got back to the room and I started to unpack the food I asked him where the cashews were as I didn’t see them. He totally had this look of panic on his face and said, “what!? You’re kidding?” I answered, “Yes, I was kidding.” He said that was a good joke after all he went through regarding stupid cashews.

We had a picnic on the floor and Makenna was ecstatic to have her noodles. I was glad to give her some food, although not healthy, that wasn’t complete junk food. She only had one or two break-downs today and both times were because she was tired. We were able to get her to sleep in the pushcart by putting her coat over her and she fell asleep pretty quickly. That was after doing the crypt and she did a lot of steps and running around down there so it wasn’t too surprising that she was worn out.

Chris will be glad to get out of Switzerland and is in fact planning our route to Italy to avoid going through Switzerland. He’s mainly planning it around so we don’t have to pay 40 Swiss Francs to just go on their motorways and since it only added 20 minutes to the trip, it seems a waste to spend the cash for a 10 minute ride on the motorway. It’s required that you have a vignette (sticker) to allow you on those roads. He’s also glad because to get to Geneva, it’s been a huge hassle with the one direct road being closed and the GPS just taking us in circles to get us around it.


Thought I'd add some pictures of the ruins under St. Peter's Cathedral

13Apr2009: Day 322: Drive through France & Switzerland

I woke up this morning feeling someone kicking my bed. Makenna had at some point, fallen off of her bed onto the floor. I’m not sure how long she had been there. We had planned for this possibility and put the top covers and other padding on the floor. What was weird is that she was turned the other way—her head at the bottom of the bed—and I highly doubt she turned around while on the floor as there was not much room. She crawled into bed with daddy while I got up and took a shower. I came out and found her fast asleep.

We finally got going and Chris drove for over 3 hours through the French Alps. We took some video and pictures. It was truly amazing. Think of those movies where people are driving around “S” curves on a high mountain and one wrong turn sends them flying down into a ravine. That was us today. In some spots there wasn’t even any guard rails which made Chris real nervous. We were also driving through these mountains through tunnels that were carved out.

We got to our hotel which is right on the edge of France and Switzerland. We checked in and then took off into Switzerland to see what we could find. We first found a bridge that was out so we had to keep telling the GPS to avoid road block. We finally got to the border and found no one there to check our passports – again. Now we’re wondering if borders were dissolved with the EU.

As we were driving to downtown Geneva, I found some of the buildings to be retro 70’s. It was like I was viewing the Brady Bunch. There was dark brown with teal and orange buildings. We got into downtown Geneva, found a place to park and started walking. We found the Jet d’Eau which is a huge water jet that is Situated at the point where Lake Geneva empties into the Rhone River. It’s one of the city’s most famous landmarks. We then walked along the park that is along the water some more and found the also famous "Horloge fleurie,” which is the flower clock and is exactly what it sounds like.

We stopped to eat at a restaurant right there in the park. Chris and I shared a pizza which was pretty good. We knew it had meat on it, but were unsure, when ordering, what type of meat. It ended up being hamburger – I think. Makenna had chicken bites and fries, again, but didn’t eat any fries. In fact, she didn’t want to finish her chicken and was opting for ice cream. We put a few pieces of chicken on a plate and said, “You eat those and you can have some ice cream.” She started to gobble the first piece and we had to tell her to slow down. While her back was turned I added another piece for her to eat. Then again, I added another piece. She looked at her plate and grimaced with this face as if to say, “Hey, I know I was eating, how come there are more pieces?!” We both started laughing and took away the extra piece. We did get her ice cream and us one to share. It was good to taste real ice cream again. In fact, Chris wished we had gotten chocolate as he kept having some of Makenna’s.

We took off walking again to find a bank machine so that we could get some Swiss Francs. Even though the Swiss are part of the EU they don’t use the standard Euro. While looking we saw another merry-go-round. Makenna was anxious to go on it but we had no money. We finally found a place and went back up to the merry-go-round. She got into a car and went around herself. She had an absolute blast! We video taped her and at one point as she was coming around, I heard her say, “Come on stupid!” I was laughing so hard. When it was over, we had to tell her that other kids needed a turn and off we went. We found St. Peter’s Cathedral (Cathedrale St. Pierre) which is one of the places we’re planning on visiting tomorrow. We walked up to it anyways just to see if it happened to be open but no luck.

We then walked back to our car and headed back to the hotel. On the way back, we could see the clouds resting on the Alps. It was really neat to see, especially with the sun going down behind it. When we got back I gave Makenna her first bubble bath. She seemed to really enjoy it and it was nice because she didn’t splash around as much. Plus who knew all it takes is an empty water bottle and a cup to keep a child content in a bath tub. I’ll have to try that at home.

This collage is of different things we saw as we walked around in Switzerland. Click on it to see a larger version of the pictures.

12Apr2009: Day 321: Chambord and Chenonceau (France)

Happy Easter to us. We didn’t have any dinner of ham nor did Makenna have an Easter egg hunt but we did see a castle and a chateau in France. That’s a pretty good Easter to me.

We set off about 8:30am and went to Chambord which was about an hour and a half away. This place looked amazing and huge. It was a hunting lodge used in the summer, I believe. I know it wasn’t a full time residence I just don’t remember when it was mainly used. The design of it was thought up by Francois I who eventually became King of France on Jan 1, 1515 at the age of 20.

I guess the original architect is unknown as the plans have been lost but it’s constructed in the model of an open-country stronghold, meaning that it’s designed for defence of a time gone by. It was started in 1519 and didn’t finish being built until 1685, during the reign of Louis XIV.

I think what was the hardest about the layout of this place was knowing where I was and what I had already seen. We would walk from one side to another, go in a circle and then go on to another side, walk in a circle, etc. But I couldn’t help but feel we missed some areas. We kept going up a floor and repeating the process.

One of the rooms was set up as an area to show how the name and image of Chambord has been used in advertising. It had different cases set up with things that took on the Chambord name, including liquor – which I had forgotten about. There was also a vacuum, a pushcart, miniature cars (like matchbox cars,) and various other things.

Makenna was pretty well behaved AFTER we got her some food. We grabbed some sandwiches at Chambord before going in. They had an open market right on the grounds, plus some shops, as if it was a mini-town. What she really wanted was chips, as usual and was screaming to let everyone know her desire. I bought a chicken sandwich, which is really on a baguette, and barely had any chicken, but took out pieces for her to eat and did the whole bargaining process with her. She would take the smallest bite of chicken possible in order to get a chip, but eventually she realized that the chicken was pretty good and she ate it. I bought Chris a sandwich which I thought was going to be ham and roast beef, but the word I thought was beef was really egg. He ate it anyways, I guess it was okay. She also started to breakdown near the end but we put her in the cart and she fell to sleep pretty quickly. Unfortunately it was only about a half-hour nap and this came back to bite us in the butt big time at the next place.

We left Chambord and he drove another hour and a half to Castle/Chateau Chenonceau. I wish I knew how to pronounce it but I have know idea – any French readers out there? It wasn’t as impressive looking at Chambord but it was neat in that it had a gallery that walked out over the water. What wasn’t neat was that everybody and their brother decided this was the place to be today. It was extremely crowded. I figured everybody would be home enjoying an Easter dinner – not here. If it’s anything like England, a lot of places open back up for the season on Easter so that might explain it.

We started out by going to the wax museum which was kind of cheesy but it gave us a bit of history on the women of the castle which is what was the driving force of this place existing. The building itself was built sometime after 1513 and after the first owners passed away, Thomas and Katherine Bohier, it was given to their son but for some reason he was fined by the king and in order to help pay his debt, he had to give the king the property. It then became a royal residence until the King, Henry II, gave it to his mistress for her husband’s “great and commendable services.” This mistress then had the original debt by the son of Boheir cancelled which removed the castle from crown control and she got the son of Boheir to sell it to her.

Anyways, it went through a few other women of which two were queens before it fell into the hands of the Mennier family who decided in WWI to install a hospital and all the rooms of the castle were used. During WWII, the gallery that I spoke about that goes over the water, was used by both sides as the Southern door gave access to the “free zone” while the main entrance to the chateau was in the occupied zone. This last family also took the time and money to restore it to its former glory including all the many gardens around the grounds.

There certainly were a lot of gardens to look at. We only looked briefly at a couple. One because it had a water spray and Makenna would never have forgiven us if we didn’t stop to see it. The other one had these beautiful flowers, mostly tulips all in bloom. I read in the book that the rooms in the castle have fresh flowers put into it every day from the gardens. I remember seeing the flowers, I honestly thought they were fake – I didn’t even bother to look.

Again, towards the end of being here – the last half hour or so of being in the house – Makenna was mainly screaming about this or that. She had kicked off her shoes for about the fourth time and I was waiting for one of the times to not notice and have no shoes for her for the rest of the trip. I massaged her head lightly with my fingers at one point and that calmed her down. She was just very tired again. Chris and I were taking turns going into rooms and then the other one keeping her calm as possible – which didn’t seem to be too possible. At one point, I was coming back upstairs to let Chris go look around and I heard this high-pitched shriek of a scream. I knew that screech anywhere. I took Makenna outside while Chris finished the house, which is what she wanted anyways by the yelling she was doing – “OUTSIDE!” Once we got her out there, she was much calmer and her whole demeanour changed to being that of a happy girl.

That’s when we walked around the gardens and Makenna was able to see some ducks and some donkeys. Another little girl (probably about six or so,) came running up to Makenna and rubbed her head, and gave her a kiss. Makenna stood there frozen not sure what to do. The girl noticed Makenna’s Dora cup and showed her Dora stockings to Makenna. It was very cute. At the place we ate dinner, another little girl put in her own money for Makenna to ride a horse machine which I thought was really nice.

We did find a place to eat on our way to the next hotel. It was called “Buffalo Grill.” The food was somewhat American and we could more or less figure out the menu. Plus, Makenna was extremely happy to have chicken nuggets. She didn’t even eat one fry.
On a nice note, Makenna had an ice cream cone at this chateau and enjoyed it immensely. She didn’t understand the concept of eating it quickly before it melted everywhere so it did get quite a bit messy for Chris who was holding it. Plus, as we left I told Makenna that we were going to get food and she was like, “okay, let’s go eat!” I’m always amazed and surprised at how much she understands concepts and can reply with appropriate answers such as this.

So I have to end with kudos to Chris who at the last minute last night, put together this trip today for us. He did a great job!

11Apr2009: Day 320: Notre Dame & Surroundings

We all slept in until almost 9am as we all desperately needed it. Then we headed over to Notre Dame. Well, we tried to head over. The roads here are just absolutely insane as I probably mentioned yesterday. I added this fun video at the bottom for you all to see, of Chris trying to drive in part of the main section of Paris. Along with a couple of cute videos of Makenna from today.

Unbelievably, he grazed a “speed bump” of a smart car. Imagine a Volkswagen Bug and cut that in half and you’re still too big. So you can understand how Chris “might” miss hitting it. We pulled over when we could find a spot and I was like – “good luck,” figuring we’d have some angry Frenchman yelling obscenities that we wouldn’t understand. I couldn’t have been more wrong. This guy got out, looked at his damage and said that everything was okay. Chris apologized and the guy asked us where we were trying to go. We told him and he was explaining to us how to get there and then he said we could follow him. Chris told him we had the GPS so that it was okay, we’d get there. When we looked at our damage later, it was very minimal.

We did finally get there and it was neat to see, but I tend to compare the cathedrals to Westminster and everything else pales in comparison. It did have some really pretty stained glass windows. It was dimly lit and some of the chapel sections had paintings that we couldn’t really see as it was sectioned off and you could only peer over the barricade to try and look at what was in there.

Prior to Notre Dame, the Romans had built a temple to Jupiter, which was followed by a Christian basilica and then a Romanesque church. Building of Notre Dame started in 116 but it was not completed until roughly 180 years later in about 1345. The cathedral has had an eventful history over the centuries. Crusaders prayed here before leaving on their holy wars, and polyphonic it was pillaged during the French revolution. Citizens mistook statues of saints for representations of their kings, and, in the midst of their revolutionary fervor, took them down. Many of the cathedral's other treasures were either destroyed or plundered — only the great bells avoided being melted down.

It was also here that Napoléon, wishing to emphasize the primacy of the state over the church, crowned himself emperor, and then crowned Joséphine, his Martinique-born wife, as his empress. The job would normally have been done by an archbishop. Pope Pius VII, there for the occasion, raised no objections. I’ve seen a few paintings in regards to this occasion.

They did have something really neat and exciting which was a small piece of wood from the cross that Jesus was crucified on. I don’t know how authentic this really is but to actually have something like that is amazing.

We did do an audio tour, for what it was worth. Couldn’t always pay attention as this is where Makenna started to have some of her break down fits. It started out in this one chapel area where she could sit in the pew sections. She and this other little boy were playing on them and he didn’t want to leave either. I finally grabbed her off of them and then “it” started. She just broke down and gave us problems. We got over that hump. It seems that we have to deal with about 20 minute fits (probably shorter in some instances) but they seem like an hour when you have a child screaming in a section that says, “quiet, people praying.” Oh well.

One thing the audio guide said about the cathedral was that it was built to be high and open to get nearer to God. I thought to myself, that’s how the people of the Tower of Babel thought too and look what happened to them.

There was also another interesting section where people could actually sit and wait to do confessions. What I found funny about this was that the seats were in full view for people to sit and wait so everyone could see who was going in to confess but then the room they went into was a bit covered. You could see people sitting in there talking to someone but obviously couldn’t hear what was being said. They had two booths and signs that showed what languages you could repent in. I guess everyone else is out of luck.

We left the cathedral and tried figuring out what else to do in the area. WE walked about aimlessly and because Makenna was in the midst of another break down, Chris and I started to break down. I just didn’t want to walk aimlessly until we had a set destination. Plus, I wanted to go up to the top of the cathedral and Chris wasn’t really into going, especially with Makenna—too many steps. We did finally go down into the crypt. It was neat to see a lot of excavated ruins from hundreds of years ago that are under Notre Dame. Of course, most of everything was in French so we couldn’t understand what they were telling us. There were some English signs so we did get some insight into what it was like before the present Cathedral was built and what some of the excavations were.

We left and eventually found the Hotel De’Ville. We didn’t really know what the building was at first even though it’s what we were looking for. We didn’t go in as we weren’t sure what it was (a museum, a place of government, etc.).

There was a merry-go-round right there so we let Makenna indulge and she went on it twice and really enjoyed it. She was a typical “woman” in that she changed her mind about five or six times before the ride started about what apparatus she wanted to enjoy the ride on.

After, I realized that we were just going to walk about aimlessly and I was okay with that, especially when we stopped for a chocolate crepe. I’ve never had a crepe before and was anxious to try one, not to mention I was hungry and what better way to enjoy your first crepe but with chocolate and in France.

We walked around some more and found a café to eat at for dinner. I figured it would be better to eat in an area where we had some chance of someone speaking English and seeing a menu in English (somewhat). The waiter (maybe owner,) was really nice and helpful. He told us what he could in his best English and we pretty much could figure out the menu. We ordered a burger with “prize” as Makenna would say, for Chris to share with her. I ordered a lasagne and salad. Makenna was really well behaved as we waited for dinner to cook. She mostly ate fries and it wasn’t until we employed the one bite of hamburger for more fries technique that she finally relented and realized that she really liked it, as long as we took the cheese off of it. My lasagne was really good. It was really cheesy and about half way through it, I was wishing I had more sauce but I still ate it all regardless.

Because of these crazy roads and not being able to understand our GPS it took us over an hour to get back to the hotel room. Of course we did stop at one place that had these amazing buildings that we had to take a picture of – even though we have no idea what the buildings are. I’m pretty sure one was a museum/art gallery.

Makenna had a hard time getting to sleep as we were trying to plan out tomorrow and had the lights on. She even leaned over and turned off my light that I was using to read with. Then she asked daddy to turn off his light. We finally obliged. Chris used the light from his laptop to finish planning our day and I had brought a book light that I used and Makenna blissfully went to sleep.

10Apr2009: Day 319: Versailles, France

Yes, we’ve been gone on a trip through Europe – YIPPEE! So be prepared to catch up on long blogs of our days as we kept a “diary” of our days, sometimes pretty detailed, while we were gone so that we’ll never forget this opportunity to see sights, scenery, history, and culture.

We got up way too early to head off on our trip and then ended up missing the train we scheduled at 5:20am by minutes. Chris still tried to get on, but they just put us in a lane and we had to sit and wait for the next train at 6:20 (not the 6:50am one they said we had to take). So it was a good thing he tried to get us on the missed train. The disconcerting thing was that no one even checked our passports and just let us through. I guess they were assuming we might make the 5:20am train too if they just let us pass through.

We got to our hotel in pretty good time and I have to say I’m grateful that Chris was able to stay awake as I think both of us got less than 2 hours of sleep the night before. I honestly don’t know how he made it through the whole day. I’m also grateful that Chris DID forgot to put my name on the car rental, meaning can’t drive – drats! (said very sarcastically). That meant I could catch up on some sleep, plus I didn’t have to drive on these absolutely crazy streets. We got honked at a few times and it just seems at certain spots it’s a free-for-all – you got to have the guts to just go and hope someone else has the smarts to stop. Plus, picture your GPS telling you to turn right and there are three streets to turn right on to. Which one do you pick? If you’re us, 90% of the time, it’s the wrong one.

Versailles was unbelievably huge! Unfortunately, the first hour and a half was spent outside while Chris was in line trying to buy tickets. I guess we should’ve bought them on-line ahead of time. The pictures are of various things in regards to Versailles. Click on them to see bigger images. Our camera is not capable of making a complete image of Versailles as it's just a small digital but this picture from the distance gives you a very small glimpse of just the front.

Versailles took fifty years of building to become what it is today. It started when Louis XIV went to his father’s manor in 1661. It wasn’t until 1668 that he finally started adding extensions to the manor. In 1677 Louis XIV decided to move the Court & Government to Versailles permanently. Then the real building started to take place. The inside was constantly renovated and the gardens were constantly redesigned.

With the revolution, the chateau was emptied of its furnishings but the buildings itself was spared. Then after years of neglect, it was restored first by Napoleon I, and then by Kings Louis XVIII & Charles X. Neither of them dared to make it the seat of power again. It was saved from destruction by King Louis-Philippe who transformed it into a museum and was opened in 1837.

There was also one spot at Versailles, outside, where Makenna lost her footing and fell, I was trying to hold on to her from falling too hard but then she took me down with her. I ended up falling a bit on top of her (not fully). I was banged up and she really got banged up – on her head – as usual. Some older ladies helped me get up and Chris thought they were yelling at him for not helping quick enough (he thought I might have hurt my ankle…again).

The other unfortunate thing was that Makenna was absolutely miserable and a total major pain, especially in our backs. She insisted on being carried everywhere. She wasn’t up for listening to us and was up for screaming and going her own way. She was very tired as we soon concluded. She finally fell asleep but the problem was that you weren’t allowed to take pushcarts into the palace, so our arms (and backs) got quite a workout as we desperately tried to hold on to her as she slept and still went room to room. We kept trading her off like a hot potato. Plus, what is it with kids who sit down in the only free spots available in the rooms, see a mother struggling to hold onto her child and continue to sit? I felt like going up to them and smacking them upside the head and saying, “do you not see me about to drop my child?”

She was getting so hot (as we had left her coat on her,) that we finally took it off but it woke her up – then the misery begun again. It wasn’t until after we got back to the hotel and let her have about an hour and a half nap that she was much better.

I wish we had more time to see all of this. It had so many more buildings farther out in the gardens where Marie Antoinette would spend her time. Plus the gardens looked amazing. If it wasn’t such a long day already and Makenna was tired and grouchy to say the least. I would definitely jump at the chance to come back to see Versailles again.

Then it was off to find food. We’ve deduced that most people don’t eat dinner here until after 7pm. We finally found a pizza take-away and ordered pizza. That was fun. We didn’t understand some of the toppings and had a language barrier as no one spoke English. We kept asking them what “largon” was and then we asked, “can you show us?, or show us a picture?” The guy didn’t understand. One guy finally pointed to his eyes and I said, “Yes!” He showed us ham. “Oh, ham” we said. They said “ham” as if they have now learned a new word in English.

One last thing to add that came to mind when we got into the hotel room. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard that the French are known not to wash their hands after using the toilet facilities. The reason this popped into my mind is because our toilet in the hotel room, is completely separated from where the sinks are. So if you’re incredibly lazy, I can see how one might get into the habit of by-passing this hygienic ritual we all hope others do.

As we’re on the subject of bodily functions, I have to add that Makenna needed to go number 2 tonight and it took over an hour. She was just having a hard time of it. She was moaning in pain and we felt bad that we couldn’t do anything to help her. Why I added this little bit was because when she finally relieved herself her mood instantly changed and she immediately said, “yeah!” It was so funny. Chris and I were both laughing at her comment. It’s great to see the joy little things like pooping can have on one’s demeanour.

9Apr2009: Day 318: Living Room 360

Well, I realize the pictures below don't make it look "clean" (aka picked up) but I just got done cleaning (vacuuming, dusting) to the best of my ability with a toddler. I don't know how anyone can clean with a toddler around. It was more of me yelling at her to stop taking things out as I was trying to pick them up. I reached a frustration point of where I was about to lock her in her room. I'd be in one room vacuuming and she'd be in the master bedroom taking things out of drawers. I said, "Makenna, mommy needs to vacuum in here...stop taking things out!" She'd start laughing. I'd grumble.

It didn't help that I felt "rushed" all day. I just felt like I had so much to do and get done and not enough time to do it. In fact, right now, I'm feeling rushed so lucky for you...this MAY be short.

We did get to the song and dance playgroup and met Hannah and her whole family (her dad is on Easter break). When we first got there, all Makenna could do is say, "Hannah!" She finally calmed down and got into it. On the way home we stopped at the library to drop off books and picked up just a couple more for Makenna. As I was trying to look at books, Makenna was off on her own. She found a computer in the kids section with the Teletubbies on it and I heard her yelling "mommy" in the library and for me to "come press button," to get it to work.

Well, let me add the pictures. Again, forgive the messiness look as this is the main family room. You can see the books all over the place as Makenna tends to get them down almost on a daily basis so we just haphazardly throw them back in. Then you can also see a pair of Chris's jeans on the heater. Sometimes, this is the way we dry clothes when it looks like rain outside and we typically like to air dry our clothes that aren't under-clothes.

8Apr2009: Day 317: Belated Birthday Wishes to Uncle Jake

I was wrong yesterday about, “I for scott.” It’s “I for cot”. I just wanted to clear that up.

I totally "for cot" to wish my brother Jake a happy birthday back on the 6th. I apologize profusely! I at least got him a present while he was here so I was ahead of the game (for a change) in that respect. Usually our family is a 6 month or so behind in giving gifts kind of family when it comes to birthdays.

After working out, I took Makenna swimming as there are no lessons tomorrow (the teacher is off). She is getting to be more confident, and daring, in her abilities. I have to make sure I’m constantly watching her because she is getting so daring. She kept jumping from the steps and going under but trying really hard to keep her head above water and I would lift her up. Surprisingly, she wasn’t ever upset and rarely coughed from too much water intake. I guess that’s why she kept doing it again and again. I also remembered to bring toys and there were other kids with toys that she was able to share and play with.

We had to get home by noon as we finally had a gardener coming to do the lawn. It hasn’t been taken care of since October. While he was out front taking care of the front lawn, Makenna wanted to play out back. I had the garage door open and there were little plastic balls that the neighbor boy left for us back in July of last year. So she was taking them out and putting them in various places in the yard. I tried to keep her “contained” in her spreading of them so as you can see from the video I brought out a couple of bowls to have her put them in. She also wanted to use the watering can, her favorite toy. I was glad that it was a nice day so that she could play outside since we couldn’t leave. Plus, I could keep an eye on her from the kitchen so I could get it cleaned up.

The other exciting thing of the day was an Easter gift from grandma & grandpa Jones. You can again see in the videos below that her excitement was more for the bubble wrap (sorry grandma & grandpa). We can’t wait for her to try on the pretty dress.

7Apr2009: Day 316: I For Scott

A few times today I reminded Makenna of something after she asked me a question and she’d say, “oh, I for scott” (I forgot). This weekend as we were driving to different places, she would see things out the window and tell us what she sees and then say, “Look, out the window.” It would go something like, “See the cow?” “Look, out the window.” More cute sayings she can add to her repertoire. She also keeps asking for uncle Jake and anytime I’ve been on the phone, she first asks if its daddy, and when I tell her no, then she says, “oh, it’s wooter,” (Walter). Chris had talked to Walter this past weekend so she must be remembering that.

After lunch we went to the Strand which is another park in the area that has more playground equipment. We met Hannah and family down there but Makenna was more on her own mission of what she wanted to do. That was to go in this bounce house they had there. At first I kept saying no as I thought it was mainly for kids over five. After much persuasion on her part “this, this” (as she kept pointing to it,) I finally gave in and went over and asked if she could go on and how much. It was a pound-fifty for ten minutes and the guy said she could go on.

She was actually pretty patient for her turn, although, I had to keep telling her to wait for her turn. Hannah on the other hand had a major melt down. She wasn’t going on the bounce house and was pretty darn upset about it. I felt bad and offered to pay but her mom said no. I then thought they left the park, but I think she just took her to another part of the park for a bit.

Makenna did surprisingly well on it. I say surprisingly because I had this feeling that she would get off after a few minutes of being there but she stayed the whole time and in fact, I had to drag her off when the time was up. She of course wanted to go on again but I told her once was enough and that other kids had to have a turn. She stayed in my sights too which also helped me. She also wanted to go on this little train ride they had that went around this one area of the park but I said no to that and kept to that. They also had a horse ride, one of those one’s you see in front of a store where you pay money and it moves. I put her on the ride but didn’t pay for it to move. I usually do that to all these types of rides for now – until she realizes that it can move – then I’m probably going to be in debt.

She then moved on from that and wanted an ice cream. I gave into that one too. Not hard when I wanted one. She was upset though because I said that we were going to take it home to eat it and she just wanted to sit right then and there and eat it. It was starting to get a bit chilly and really windy so I wanted to get her home and then she could go straight to a nap after.

I added these pictures for you to see the fun she had today. The first one is in our back "garden" (yard). I just like all the pretty flowers that are now out. Plus, I need to rub it in since I see my hometown is calling for snow (tee hee hee).

Then the next is her on a see-saw. I'm on the other side. This is a nice see-saw from the ones I remember in childhood, as it's weighted and it doesn't fall down - at all - thus sending your "opponent" into a hard crash to the ground.

Here she is on the horsey-ride I was talking about above

Then this cute video of her on the bounce house - it was windy as you will hear.

6Apr2009: Day 315: Tattoos and Butt Cracks

Just to start out, if you click on the link to the Blog of "Grosek Family" you can now see pictures of Makenna's new cousin Natalie. She looks just like her big sister Katie. Especially the picture with her mouth wide open (as if screaming). Also, read closely the board from the hospital room. I can tell that's Josh's handy work.

I was nervous that today was going to be another bad day as it didn’t start off too well. Luckily, I was totally wrong. After going to the gym, things improved drastically. My attitude was better and Makenna was better.

We did go to the park after lunch and it was quite crowded as the kids are off from school now for two weeks. Makenna really wants to just stay on the swing anymore which is quite different from when we first got here. I had to let her know that we “hap to share” the swing with other kids waiting to get on. She agreed and we went to the slides and other areas. She kept asking to go back to the swing though. I did get her on it for about two more minutes then another kid came. She unfortunately didn’t get another chance to get on. I have to say I’m really impressed with how much Makenna does on her own now at the park. She crosses the thin little bar on her own. She gets herself up the steps and/or ramps, usually on her own.

Tonight we got out her flashcards. This gives me a lot of anxiety as it creates such a mess and I usually have a hard time getting her to help me pick them up. She loves to throw them all over more than look at them, but I remind myself, it’s no big deal. I’m so excited to see all the ones that she knows now. She even knew and remembered xylophone, although she didn’t quite say it correctly, but she tried. I think the only one that she stumbled on a bit was nest. She kept saying it was an egg. I'm just amazed at how much she has absorbed over the short time we’ve been here.

Now, on to some other observations of mine. There are two things that I’ve noticed about a lot of people over here. One is that they are really into their tattoos. A lot of the women even have tattoos. The swim aerobics instructor had this one on her leg that went up from her foot to her knee, maybe farther. I’ve also noticed one guy at the gym who has his head tattooed, even around his eye. It’s like you want to see but don’t want to stare. I’ve only seen him twice.

Another thing is that they seem to not care about their “plumber’s crack,” to put it nicely. A lot of women mostly, but also some men, wear pants that are just ill-fitting. So when they bend over you get a “lovely” view. I saw a guy at the gym last week who really needed some new work-out clothes so that we didn’t all have to see what areas that he needed to work out. I think it starts young though, as I remember many months ago at the park, a little girl running around and her pants were just not fitting her and she didn’t seem to care that they were practically falling off. I just wanted to run behind her and pull them up. I swear she was probably six or so.

One last little tidbit for anyone planning on traveling into Europe…if you plan on driving, you may need an IDP (International Driving Permit). This is not a license or a permit as we know it, but it basically translates your license into something that the people in the country can read. So it’s like a translation of your license. Chris seemed to be aware of this and is now having me frantically search for a way for us to drive in some of the European countries. We’re trying to plan a trip and this can put a serious wrench in our plans. We can get away with not having it in some of the countries but some of the others say they require it. So now we either avoid those countries or hope and pray that we don’t get pulled over for any reason, or the best outcome would be to find a way to get the IDP in time.

5Apr2009: Day 314: Syon House

Today is General Conference for church which is broadcast from Salt Lake City, but here, it’s shown late so it gave us an opportunity to go see something else today. Syon house is along the River Thames and is only open on Sundays and one other day during the week so I was anxious to go today. It’s just outside of London so we were able to drive. The house has been used in different films such as “The Avengers,” and “Gosford Park.”

It is owned and lived in by the Duke of Northumberland and has been in his family for over 400 years. It started out as an abbey that was built from 1426-1431. In 1539, while King Henry VIII was in power, he was getting rid of abbey’s and so this became more of a property. In fact, his fifth wife, Catherine Howard was confined at Syon and was given two rooms “furnished moderately” until she was executed in 1542. In 1547 the present house was constructed.

Even more gruesome was when King Henry VIII died in 1547, his coffin was placed in the abbey (before the house was built,) and a certain prophecy was fulfilled. A Franciscan friar named William Peto had said, ‘that God’s judgments were ready to fall upon his head…and that the dogs would lick his blood as they had done Ahab’s.’ This came true as a dog was found licking up certain remains which had seeped through the coffin from the bloated corpse inside. People felt this was what he deserved as he desecrated the abbeys.

Well, onto the house itself. We were unable to take any pictures inside but I was able to download pictures from their website. The first picture, above, is a staircase (obviously). The next is of the Long Gallery. What was interesting about this room was at one end of the room, the bottom 3 shelves of a bookshelf was actually just a picture of books as it was a door. Then each end of the room also had another small room off of it. One of the rooms had a small birdcage (with a fake bird). Makenna was enamored with this. She kept going back to see the birdcage over and over. The last picture is the Princess Victoria bedroom, which was used by her in 1832.

The grounds had many different things to it but we strolled along the gardens after going to the conservatory. Makenna enjoyed this area since one part had a water fountain with fish in it. She eagerly gave her chips and some crackers to the fish. As we walked around the gardens, which ran along the Thames, we found some ducks (not your normal looking ducks,) to which Makenna again gave her crackers to also.

The day would’ve been splended if Makenna was in the mood to listen. She started at home and continued pretty much all through the day of trying to get her own way. But alas, she’s just exerting her two year old will. At one point in the house, I put her in the hallway in a time out. Oh, I almost forgot something that happened yesterday and today. The staff at the houses felt that my little “boy” might get hurt so I needed to keep a close eye on “him.” I corrected both attendants telling them that it was a girl but the one yesterday kept using the pronoun he or him. Oh well. I thought now that she has more hair that it would be more discernable but I guess not yet. You would think that the pink boots she wore yesterday would’ve at least given it away. Had to throw this last picture in - too cute not to.