USA trip Day 3 The Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

Today I went to the grand canyon. It was a mega early start of 5am from Las Vegas after about 3hrs sleep which was a bit painful. But I was able to get a bit of shut eye on the bus.

I had picked a west rim tour because the west rim has this skywalk which is a glass platform that lets you walk out over the canyon and look down.

This is the 2nd time in 6 weeks that I have done something like this. (I went to Cairns and rode in a glass bottomed cable car.) and it's the 2nd time I have thought to myself "whose brilliant idea was this?!?" Because I don't really like heights. Before entering the skywalk they have a display showing how it was built out of a strong German glass (lol because German is safe!?!). They make you wear shoe covers on the bridge so you don't scratch the bridge. So I felt uneasy but was assured the bridge would be safe. They also don't let you have cameras or any other personal effects on the skywalk so I couldn't take any photos and they try to sell you the professional ones but I always think they are expensive.

The Grand Canyon itself was amazing. I was watching a documentary about it on the plane trip over. It talked about how when 2 tectonic plates meet and are forced together, one buckles under the other and the top one is buckled to form land ridges. Years ago the whole canyon was covered in water but as the water levels dropped, it eroded the mountain faces to what they are today. You can still see the Colorado river winding through the Grand Canyon. 

 

 There is also a long history of local Indians living in the area and the west rim is an Indian area run by the Hualapai Indians. Their arts and craft are very pretty. We didn't get much info on them and their history. The tour did include a visit to a recreated town in that area. It reminded me a bit of old Sydney town and also looked like a set in all those Wild West, Clint Eastwood movies.

US Trip 2014 - Las Vegas

Day 2 saw an early start and it's off to Vegas baby!!
The day was a bit boring with most of it spent on the bus but it was a good opportunity to catch up on sleep.

Our hotel is a bit further from the action but still on Las Vegas boulevard. The Stratosphere hotel has a tower that you can go up. There is a ride at the top  and there is also a bungee jump you can do from the top of the tower. It looks crazy. Still feeling jetlagged but we decided to go out and check out the 'Strip' It's $8 for a bus ticket around the Strip for 24hrs.

Walking around seeing all the bright lights was exciting. The casinos are so grand in design and I don't know whether I'm impressed or just think it's incredibly tacky and cliche. Most of the night, however was spent in the M&M and coke stores.

One of many silly selfies

The coke store is one of only 2 in the world. The other store is in Atlanta Georgia which is the headquarters of coke. Everything is wall to wall coke... It was pretty wow!

Yes you can deck out your whole kitchen with Coke crockery

mmm Coke clocks

Going into that 4 storey M&M store, I felt like Alice in wonderland and I did end up buying a few things.

Saturday night fever M&M

A whole wall of self serve M&M's

My friends...

Design your own M&M's (yes you can write your name on them)

Walked around a bit and booked a show before calling it a night. Just got a bit of an idea of the lay of the land so that we could do more exploring tomorrow. The Bellagio has a nice fountain show. I think the best fountain show I have seen was in Dubai but this one was pretty good.

US trip 2014 - Los Angeles

Yes holidays have finally come.
Boarded a plane for LA and it was a pretty uneventful flight...
So we left Syd at 1pm on Sunday and arrived in LA at 11am Sunday as well... 
With only half a day in LA, we knew we were prepared to hit the ground running...

Got to the hotel which is really nice! It is in the Japanese district of LA with lots of Japanese restaurants and shops up the street. Our room was on the top floor and looking down, I could see a line of people waiting outside certain sushi/udon restaurants... Must be good...

After depositing our bags in the hotel, we grabbed lunch at a nearby Japanese restaurant and then headed to Hollywood. Took the red line train from nearby the hotel to Hollywood/Vine to follow the Walk of Fame stars towards Hollywood/Highland. The Highland side of Hollywood Boulevard is the busiest side and it was interesting to notice that there were a few people sleeping and begging by the side of the street near Vine but less towards Highland as the surroundings grew more upmarket.

It was fun just reading all the names along the Walk of Fame...

As we walked towards El Capitan Theatre, the road was blocked and the local police advised us that there would be a TV show premiere there in an hour or so. The show was Once Upon a Time... I have probably seen the show once but don't really follow it so don't know any of the actors except Ginnifer Goodwin.

We crossed the road and continued to Grauman's Chinese Theatre to have a look at the celebrity hand and footprints and autographs in the concrete outside the theatre.

Just near the Chinese theatre, there is a huge candy/chocolate store that was pretty amazing. Marika spotted one of the actors from Modern Family shopping there. We also got to create our own chocolate bars. Mine was dark chocolate with nutella filling and M&M's, popping candy and cookie dough... decadent and so yummmm!!

While we were waiting for them to make the chocolate bars, we rode the elevator to the top floor of the building that happened to have a balcony and it was a great spot to check out the red carpet that just started across the street... We were actually very fortunate to find such a nice vantage point as there seemed to be lots of screaming people there trying to get a glimpse of stars but people didn't seem to know about the balcony where we were. I took a few photos that I posted (I had to check IMDB to try to find out the names of the people and I still don't know who some of them are...)

 

After all the star spotting, we had dinner and then an early night because it's an early start because tomorrow we are off to VEGAS baby!! The hotel staff tell us that it's fairly safe to walk from the station back to the hotel and we did pass the LA police station and I did see police walking around the street... I also noticed a couple of 24 hour bail bond shops though which I have never seen before. 

Rome

So we actually only have one proper day in Rome before flying out to Sydney via Dubai at 3pm tomorrow.
I have already been to Rome and so had Cat. There were some things that I wanted to see so we stayed around the Colosseum area and saw those things.

The first place we visited was La Scala Sancta church. This is a small Catholic church that contains a relic - Pontius Pilate's stairs. These are supposedly the stairs that Jesus ascended when he was appearing before Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem before his crucifixion.

Constatine the Great's mother, St. Helena apparently brought these stairs to Rome around 326AD. You can only ascend these stairs on your knees and people still do it today. There are 28 stairs and you say a prayer on each step. Popes used to grant indulgences to people who did this.

The reason why I wanted to see these stairs is because Martin Luther climbed these stairs on his knees and went home without any assurance that his sins were truly forgiven. He later read the Bible for himself and realised that being right with God depended on faith in Jesus alone and not from any works he could do or any indulgence the church or the Pope could dispense.

We did not climb the stairs on our knees. There are two staircases to either side of the 'holy' stairs and we went up there. Once at the top you can see a very well decorated room that they call the 'holy of holies'. There is a little chapel to the right of the stairs.

This part of the visit was quite funny. Rome is actually still quite hot at this time of year. Cat and I were both wearing shorter dresses and I had a cardigan on. We were given bad looks when we entered the church and then a priest asked us to leave because our knees were not covered and neither were Cat's shoulders.... Hehe that was the most decadent thing we did all trip - get thrown out of a church!

Across the road is the Pope's chapel which is actually not a little chapel but one massive, huge ornate building. We didn't even try to go in...

The next thing I wanted to see was the Arch of Constantine which is next to the Colosseum. In 312, Constantine the Great (one of the Roman emperors) saw a vision in the sky during a battle at Milvian Bridge. It led him to put the Christian symbol, a Greek 'chi-rho' on the shields of his troups and win the battle. In 313, the Edict of Milan granted tolerance to Christianity in the Roman Empire. Christians had previously suffered immense persecution.

We learnt about all this in church history but the question was asked whether Constatine was really a Christian. His mother was a Christian and he supported it. The Arch of Constatine was erected to celebrate the triumph of the battle of Milvian. I was just interested to look at it. I did notice that there is no 'chi-rho' on the arch at all and no Christian carvings appear on the arch.

Cat and I were in the general area so we decided to visit Palatine Hill and see some Roman ruins. We had both done the Colosseum so did not bother as time was short.
It is amazing to look at the ruins and try to imagine the buildings as they were. The remnant columns are so large and high. It's amazing to think they built all this such a long time ago when there were no cranes or electronic tools to help lift all those heavy stones.

  

Florence Part 1

Today we did a one day tour of Florence. It was a long day!! We had been used to sleeping in and getting up late as this is Barcelona time (very laid back). Our tour started at 9:15am and we were really struggling to stay awake.

The first part of the tour was a walking tour. The meeting point was at Ponte Vecchio. The bridge is filled with gold jewelery stores. Apparently in the 2nd World War, everything around the bridge was destroyed but the bridge remained intact. The Ponte Vecchio used to be the meat and butcher market of Florence but when the de Medici's came to power, they converted it to jewelery stores. This was because they built two palaces on either end of the bridge and had visitors often and the visitors would have to cross the bridge to go from palace to palace. The meat market would have smelled bad in the days of no refridgeration. It was nicer for the wealthy guests of the de Medicis to cross and admire gold on the way.

There were also secret passages built between the palaces and the place where you see windows on an upper storey of the Ponte Vecchio is the only place where the passage becomes visible to the public.

We walked to the Plaza della Signora and looked at the big replica statue of Michaelangelo's David outside the Palazzo Vecchio and a whole heap of other sculptures in the square. To the right of the Palazzo there is a statue of 'Neptune' except the face looks a little like the face of one of the de Medicis. So the locals don't call the statue 'Neptune' but they call it something Italian that means 'the white giant'.

Nearby, there is a little outdoor market that is famous for the 'porchetta'. It is a bronze pig that is a replica of a sculpture in the Uffizi gallery. There is also a similar pig in the Sydney Hospital that was a gift from the city of Florence to Sydney. The superstition is this... you pat the pig's snout for luck and then put a coin in the pig's mouth. You let go of the coin and if it drops into the grate below then it means you will be back in Florence soon (some legends say it is luck).

After that we walked to the Duomo (the dome). We were able to go inside the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. The inside is surprisingly plain compared to the elaborate gothic appearance of the outside of the church. But the dome is an amazing feat of architecture. I had seen some of the background to the building of the dome on Kevin McCloud's European Grand Tour DVD.

The morning part of the tour ended with a trip to the Accademia Gallery. Our guide showed us some of the sculptures and told us what to look out for. There was one which was "The Rape of the Sabine Women" (n.b. rape is the literal translation of contextual abduction). It depicted a Sabine woman being carried off by two Roman men. The statue is designed to be looked at from all angles (not just from the front). The bodies of the three figures are intertwined in a spiral like pattern so that you walk around the sculpture and see it from different angles.

The other famous sculpture at the Accademia Gallery is Michaelangelo's David. Our guide explained to us how Michaelangelo studied human form to get perfection and precision in his sculpture. The David is obviously nude to represent strength as Greek gods and athletes were always portrayed nude. But she said the stance of David is one of a thinker or philosopher. 

After lunch, the tour continued at the Uffizi Gallery. Our guide was great and gave us an insight into the artwork displayed there. She explained some history of the artist as well as the things to notice in each piece of art and how to interpret it.

Barcelona Part 1

Well it's been quite a whirlwind trip so far so it was nice to sleep in.
Most of the touristy things that you can see in Barcelona focus on one thing... Gaudi. 
I'm not good at describing architectural styles. Gaudi is definitely unique and you recognise his style when you see it. His designs are based a lot on nature and so instead of straight lines and square corners, you see a lot of curviness... That's not a great description but it's the best I can come up with. His work also contains a lot of colourful mosaic.

Decided to go and visit Guell Park today. The park dates back to the early 1900's where Eusebi Guell commissioned Gaudi to help him build a garden city in the outskirts of Barcelona.
The park is built on a hill and Cat and I caught the train to the nearest stop and decided to walk... big mistake... the hike up the hill was so tiring! We actually had bought a 4 day unlimited travel pass so should have just caught the bus up to the entrance as there are about 4 bus routes that go that way...

The park itself is beautiful and full of life. Buskers line corners trying to make a bit of cash from the tourists walking through the park. Barcelona has a lot of unemployment, especially amongst the old and relatively young so it's good to see that these young people aren't being idle. The buskers play and sing all kinds of music from guitar that sounds a bit like Santana to classical violin.

There are also a lot of hawkers selling their wares. I notice that they all seem to be Indian... They sell all kinds of things like scarves, fans, jewelery, fridge magnets and knick nacks.

Walked around the park for a while. We entered from one of the paths up the top so made out way down and eventually ended up at the main entrance where there are two little houses that are now a tourist information and souvenir shop and a Gaudi museum. These two little houses are again Gaudi design. From a distance, they look like little gingerbread houses.

After Guell Park, we decided to wander around the city for a bit doing some shopping. Cat tried an aqua fish spa. I had already done this in Singapore but said it is an experience she should try at least once. You put your feet or hands into these tanks where Garufa fish eat the dead skin. You are left with very smooth hands and feet and it is also quite relaxing once you get past the initial ticklish feeling.

The main tourist street in Barcelona is La Ramblas which is actually quite close to our hotel. Took a stroll down that street. There are always lots and lots of people around. Along the street are lots of stalls selling tourist souvenirs. Actually I noticed that it changes. If you walk down La Ramblas in the morning you will find a lot of flower stalls open and if you walk down it at night then it's more of the tourist souvenir shops and the instant tapas cafes. In the afternoon, instant restaurants pop up as tables, chairs and umbrellas are added to the sidewalk. Owners put up boards of pictures of food and deals to try to get customers to eat at their stall.

Half way down La. Ramblas there is a food market  called 'Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria' that reminds me of Paddy's markets at Central in Sydney. Cat went back to the hotel to rest so I wandered around by myself. The fruit and veg all looked great and I was there at the right time as some of the stalls were closing and they were getting rid of anything they can't keep for cheap. I bought some fruit salad and freshly squeezed juice really cheap!

The market is also very busy with tourists. The central aisle was just packed with people and since I have no patience for crowds, I ducked off to the side of the market which is only a few rows down. I found there were less people. After walking around a bit I also realised that the stalls off to the side were also cheaper as they have less people. It was easier to get service and I bought things cheaper here than the central aisle which I walked through later when I felt brave enough to push throught the crowd.

Made it back to the hotel. Today was a very easy day which was nice to have since it had been a pretty hectic trip so far.
Our hotel is just next to a train station called 'Universitat'. The location is great as it is a short stroll to Catalunya square and La Ramblas. When we checked in, we met the concierge named Oscar. He was really really friendly and helpful. The other staff weren't so nice so we were always pleased to see Oscar at the front desk during our time in Barcelona.

Paris Part 3

Well I only had a morning in Paris before heading off to the airport to catch a flight to Barcelona.

Cat was catching up with a friend so I decided to visit the Louvre as it was close to our hotel. I was keen to see the new wing that has just opened which is the one housing the Islamic art.

So I entered through the pyramid in the middle of the Louvre courtyard. You then take the escalator down to the entrance area to buy a ticket. Probably the most well known exhibition in the museum is the 'Mona Lisa' by Leonardo da Vinci. There are always a lot of people crowded around that display so it is best to go early and do that first and then wander around the rest of the museum.

The museum can be quite overwhelming with so much to see. Luckily the art is categorised into type (paintings, sculptures etc...), country of origin, time period etc.

So I went and saw the 'Mona Lisa' and then just walked around looking and taking photos of whatever I recognised or what I liked.

"Mona Lisa" - Leonardo da Vinci

Nike of Samothrace - winged Victory

Egyptian wing

"Psyché revived by Cupid's kiss " by Canova

The halls are beautiful!

The new wing is actually a little ugly compared to the other halls. The entrance to the Islamic Art exhibition had what looked like brown mesh sails as roofing. It was interesting to walk around this exhibition as it is new but there were a lot of people here too as it is new.

Elaborate door and window frames

Qur'an