Fun with Street Signs

 When Kyra and I visited Florence, I spotted a few street signs that were not typical.

They had something extra.  It was fun to see what a creative person added to them.

I thought you might enjoy them too.

"I Need A Day Trip to Paris"

When asked where she wanted to go this summer, Kyra listed Italy, Copenhagen and "I need a day trip to Paris."  Don't we all?

This statement could only come from the mouth of a wonderfully spoiled child (and she is).  But in context it is not so awful as it may seem.

Context -
Paris by train is less than two hours away.  For my northern Virginia friends, think of it as going to Richmond and back in the same day.

Kids here will in one breath tell you they don't travel much and in the next breath list off 3-5 countries they have visited this year.  "My family doesn't travel much."  "Well, where did you go for Christmas?"  "Oh, we went skiing in Germany and took a day trip to Paris."

When Kyra and I went to Paris in December, the Eiffel Tower looked like this.  One day we could sort of make out the top of the tower through the fog, but mostly it looked only partially built.

Had this been a once in a life time trip (which for many people it is) the Eiffel Tower enveloped in fog would have been most disappointing. Kyra ever the pragmatist, looked at it and said "well, we'll just have to come back."

So go back we did.  Yesterday started off rainy and gray.  So we started with indoor activities - the Louvre (Kyra is free) and lunch.  While the Louvre doesn't lack for popularity (particularly when it is raining) I knew once in, we'd be out of the crowds.  Why?  Because I wanted to visit the History of the Louvre exhibition.  So unpopular that the signs for this exhibit are only in French.

After lunch at Angelinas (separate blog post, maybe tomorrow) we began our walk to the Eiffel Tower.

As you can see, the day was lovely.  I have not done anything to enhance the photo.  The sky was a beautiful blue.  The clouds were white and fluffy and we enjoyed a nice breeze.

Kyra and I enjoyed a trip to the top of the tower and Kyra got her much hoped for photos of her with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

Now to see if we can indulge her other travel wishes....

European Vacation - Optional Elements

 We established yesterday that a European vacation will include visits to at least one castle and one cathedral/really big church.

As I consider it, there are three optional elements.  The first would be ancient ruins (usually Roman).  On the island of Mallorca they are currently excavating an ancient Roman city.  They have uncovered a few larger homes, a forum and an amphitheater (my current facebook profile photo).

Throughout Mallorca's history, they changed hands quite frequently, so not only are there Roman ruins but also Arabic ones.  We visited an Arabic bath house and gardens as well.  This bath house dates back to the 11th century.

Bath house 

The second optional element of a European vacation is an art museum.  Mallorca does have one.  We did not visit it.  (If one hopes to enjoy an art museum from time to time, one must not subject one's teens to every art museum in Europe.)

Optional element three is a historical rich person's house aka a mansion or manor.  Mallorca did have a rather nice one called La Granja.  The building and grounds date back to the 10th century and at one time it was a monastery.

La Granja not only had the typical displays of old furniture and pretty grounds but also demonstrated some of the working elements of local food and cloth production.   There was a yarn dying workshop, looms, olive and grape presses.

A strong stream runs through the grounds of La Granja.  This water powers a few water wheels which in turn power some of the equipment used in cloth and food production.   Kyra really liked the waterfall and took numerous photographs of it. (I'm very grateful for digital photography - she would eat up a lot of film).  I am invariably drawn to the arcaded terraces.  Thus I picked this photo instead of one of the waterfall ones.

If you come to visit we are prepared to show you a castle, a cathedral/really big church, a manor, and an art museum.  As for ancient ruins, we don't have anything local but we could suggest some in France, England, Italy and Spain.

European Vacation - Required Elements

 Allen and Kyra have come to accept that no matter where we vacation there will be two things they always do on a vacation.

1.  We will visit a castle.
2.  We will visit a cathedral/really big church.

It is inescapable.  As loving parents we do give them a break though.  Usually we only visit the biggest castle and the most renown cathedral.  After a while all the stained glass begins to blur and  so much historical furniture one can look at.

Mallorca's castle was an interesting short visit.  The castle was circular in shape.  Thus the courtyard was circular.  I found it quite pretty.  From the top of the castle we had some lovely views of the capital city of Palma and the Mediterranean Sea.

Options for cathedral/church visits abound.  We visited the cathedral called La Seu. It was built over almost a four hundred year period beginning in the early 1200s and finished in the 1600s.

It was surprising to encounter such a large cathedral on an island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.  We couldn't imagine that there was such a significant population on the island of Mallorca to support such a massive building.  And yet there it was and as cathedrals are a required element, we visited it.

Tomorrow - optional elements of a European vacation...

Veterans Day

Depending on where you are today, you are observing Veterans Day, Remembrance Day and/or Armistice Day - or you are just sleeping in.

November 11th - marking the end of major hostilities of World War I - is a big deal in Europe.  As the war was fought on local soil this makes sense.

One can not travel in Europe without noticing these memorials everywhere.  Every town (even the teeny tiny ones) has a monument that looks similar to this one.

They are small obelisks honoring the town's soldiers who fought and died in World War I.  Often there is an additional plaque noting that the memorial also honors the World War II dead as well.  (It is there in the photo - it's the long rectangle between the stone facade with writing and the base with the dates of WWI)

Kyle will be spending the day with some British people we know from church tracing some battle lines and visiting cemeteries where soldiers are buried.  I'll be playing chauffeur to Kyra's dance engagements and Allen, well, he's sleeping in.

All Saints Day

Today is All Saints Day, also known as Solemnity of All Saints or Hallowmas.  It is a holy day on the Roman Catholic Church calendar but many Protestants observe this holy day too.  On this day we remember the saints who have gone on before us, particularly those who have died within the past year.  We give thanks for their witness for the ways in which their lives glorified God, for their faith lived out in our midst.

Who are you thankful for this day?  Whose faith has had an impact on yours?  And if you aren't sure about God and Christianity - I'll simply ask, who do you miss?  Whose love made a difference in your life?

Now to get a bit less reverent -
In searching for a link for All Saints, I came across an interesting little nugget.  I knew that in the RC (Roman Catholic) calendar that All Saints was a day of Holy Obligation (meaning church attendance on this day is considered a must).  I did not know that if you live in the United States it is not a holy obligation if All Saints falls on a Saturday or Monday (you're off the hook this year).  Also if you live in Hawaii it isn't a holy obligation no matter what day it falls on.  Are Mondays, Saturdays and Hawaii somehow special?  How does living in the US versus living in Europe or South American make a religious observance optional when for others it is obligatory?


In Europe the kids get a week off of school for what is called the All Saints vacation.  I'm guessing the Catholics will be observing mass today (it is a day of holy obligation here).  I'm also guessing that most people will ignore this holy day completely.

Honestly I struggle with this.  Here in Europe there a many churches that sit empty or exist mainly as tourist attractions while society as a whole marks the dates on the Christian calendar - All Saints, Christmas, Easter, Lent (the kids get what is called a Pre-Lenten break).  From my point of view these are all mostly empty observances.  I think I'd prefer that the church calendar be ignored all together rather than be used as a calendar for school breaks.

Halloween

When the kids were younger and we had au pairs living with us, we made an effort to share American culture with our au pairs.

There are a number of holidays that both Americans and Europeans observe - Christmas, Easter, independence days, New Year's, etc.  Yes we had different cultural spins but these holidays were familiar to our au pairs.

Halloween has no European cultural equivalent.  The pumpkins, the costumes and the candy are uniquely ours.

Even though we are far from home, we are not far from Halloween.  The commissary sells pumpkins and Halloween candy.  The PX has Halloween costumes and decorations.  Club Beyond (the youth ministry here) had a pumpkin carving evening.  Americans are kind of spread out throughout the Mons region, so trick or treating is not quite possible - but the kids can dress up and enjoy trunk or treat.

Here and there I've noticed shades of Halloween among the Belgians.  There are some Halloween type decorations for sale in the local supermarket and I've seen some small nods to it in the neighborhood.  I'm not talking about lovely fall decor - pumpkins, hay and mums.  I'm talking jack-o-lantern pre-printed/factory made stuff.

If one must adopt American stuff, I think, they should take the best part.  Factory made decor not being what I consider the best part.

The best part is trick or treating - costumes and chocolate.  And here that would be costumes and Belgian chocolate.....