Happy Bastille Day!

Have a picture of France in honor of Bastille Day even though it's no longer July 14 in France:

Ah, Paris

While we're at it, have a few more:



All favorite places of mine. The ones you don't recognize are Hyeres, the Mediterranean from St. Tropez, and Nice Roman ruins.

The Trip: Day Two

I know, I haven’t updated in ages. Since that first day of my trip, I’ve completed the trip, moved (mostly), and begun my new job. For the most part, these activities have kept me really busy or too tired to bother posting. Well, except for my three day exile in Holbrook, Arizona when I was too depressed. More on that later.
I’ve decided kind of to post about my trip in order with a few exceptions, this post being one of them. The highlight of my second trip day was, as I expected it would be, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater in southwestern Pennsylvania. Fallingwater deserves its own post so I’ll get back to that. Meanwhile, here’s the rest of that day.

As I mentioned previously, I spent the first night of my trip in Johnstown, PA which I had never heard of but probably should have. Johnstown is famous for its devastating floods; there have been a few but the most famous was back towards the end of the 19th century, 1889 I think. That flood was a huge disaster and I learned all about it at the Johnstown Flood Museum. It was more tragic than it probably needed to be: the flood was essentially caused by a burst dam and a ton of rain that didn't exactly help matters. The dam was crap, hadn't been maintained, and at the point of its bursting, existed to maintain a man-made lake as part of a hunting club for rich people from Pittsburgh (think for a minute and you'll have an idea who belonged). Although the dam was in bad condition and changes to the lake made its collapse worse, the whole thing was basically declared an act of god or something like that and victims lost fights to recover damages. Also more than 2,000 people died so basically it sucked a whole lot. Although I did go to the flood museum and stuff (and could therefore provide more information on it), I decided to focus on happy things when possible. Always look on the bright side of life, that's what I say. Anyway.

Johnstown’s other claim to fame is that it’s home to the world’s steepest inclined plane which looks like this:

As you can maybe see, cars are sort of attached and raised while staying parallel to the ground. It is possible to ride up the plane but I didn’t do it, either because my intel said it didn’t open until noon or because I’m a big baby or both. Your pick. (Hint: the actual answer is both and PS my intel was faulty). Instead, I headed out of Johnstown towards Fallingwater. At this point, let’s fast forward a few hours.

So there I was in the Fallingwater gift shop, thunder was booming, lightning flashing, and buckets of rain were pouring down. The clock was ticking and I’d covered no distance at all. With that in mind, I decided to skip Kentuck Knob, the other FLW home just a few miles from Fallingwater. I’ll get there someday, probably the day I lay siege to Fallingwater and claim it as my own.

Once the rain let up, I decided to head south to the National Road for the rest of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. I passed through Ohiopyle State Park along the way.  Ohiopyle boasts a river and waterfall with the same name, tough rafting (I didn’t), and some other stuff I skipped. Like ice cream. Why did I skip the ice cream? Ohiopyle Falls is powerful but not all that high. I made a movie:

I have no idea if this works or not... if it does, check out my nonexistent movie-making skills!

With the mist from the rain, the river was really beautiful. I’ve read that nearby Cucumber Falls is more impressive or at least prettier though not as powerful. I considered a visit because I love both waterfalls and cucumbers but I decided against it because it was getting late, it was still raining, and the access was via dirt road. I also don’t know how far from the road the waterfall is. I’d love more information on the place. After all, once I live in Fallingwater the park will be my neighbor!

For anyone who likes road trips, http://www.byways.org/ is a good site to know. I actually don’t love some details of the site like the tiny, virtually detailless maps of the various byways and lack of information on access points. I wish they’d work with Google or Mapquest or something to make finding and driving the byways easier. Still, the site is helpful. I’m a fan of being off the Interstate when possible; you see more and more interesting places, stopping is easier, roads are often very scenic, and there may be history or mystique which, in my own humble opinion, the Interstate tends to lack. One such fascinating byway is the National Road. I decided to drive a portion of it because it went due west, access was near Fallingwater, I’d heard of it, and it’s historic and pretty scenic. Interesting sites include this reproduction toll booth, a reminder of the road’s past as a toll road:

                                                          That's a toll booth? No EZPass I guess

and the occasional Madonna of the Trail:

There's one in every state the road goes through and they're about pioneer spirit or something. This is West Virginia's.

I also encountered the steepest posted grade of the entire trip: 13%. Yes, in Pennsylvania. I figure other roads may have been steeper but not accessible to trucks or something and grades weren’t posted. Also, this road was straight, not like all those awful switchbacks I faced out west. That downward slope led me to West Virginia, my third state of the trip.

Sorry West Virginia, I wasn’t impressed. I got there later than I had intended so things that may have been interesting were closed. I did walk around Oglebay Park which is on a hill above Wheeling. There are several museums there (all were closed) and the grounds are very pretty so it was a worthwhile stop.

Wheeling is famous as the “birthplace” of West Virginia which occurred somewhere downtown and I may have a picture somewhere. Honestly though, Wheeling at 7:00 on a Saturday night was not a happening place so I didn't stay long.

Next time I’ll try to hit the New River Gorge since that’s supposed to be really beautiful. This time, I just continued west. My day ended in Ohio where I decided to make a major change to my trip: I’d go south first. Thus ended trip day two.

My Great American Road Trip

Okay, so it's been ages since I've posted anything. What can I say? Travel rut. I have a bunch of half-written posts that I'm temporarily abandoning for the following stunning announcement.

For many years, I've wanted to drive cross-country. Meaning the United States as, for example, a drive cross-Monaco or cross-Liechtenstein would be a simpler, less daunting endeavor. But no, I want to drive across the United States. After thinking about it and sort of kind of planning for years, I'm finally doing it. Right now I have an odd month of free time which has just become go out and see America time.

As I write this I'm in Johnstown, Pennsylvania which I think there's a good chance you've never heard of. Neither had I. Today was mostly a driving day to really cover some distance before my first planned stop: the Frank Lloyd Wright home Falling Water which I've wanted to visit for ages. I'm going tomorrow.

My destined-to-fail plan is to briefly summarize when I can and either eventually or as I go (not likely) write real posts on things that are awesome. So here's today.

I drove a lot.

Okay, more detail than that. I drove across a large portion of Pennsylvania. Now, I've actually spent a lot of time in PA but the vast majority of that time has been spent near Philadelphia. My drive today was mostly rural and pretty. I visited the Endless Mountains (I imagine that name with some kind of flourish or spoken in a whispery voice or something) and got to see Altoona which, for some reason, I've always been weirdly curious about. Thanks to the wonderfulness of Roadside America, the bizarre highlight of the day was this monument thingy:

This is in the small town of Lilly, PA and it commemorates the time they drove the KKK out.

The other reason I actually stopped in Lilly and nearby Gallitzin was to see the trains which are apparently kind of a big deal 'round these parts. Gallitzin is famous for its tunnels which were instrumental in getting trains across the Alleghenies. I vaguely remember reading something about trains and tunnels and Pennsylvania but it could totally be unrelated to what I saw today. I tried to stop at a train related National Historic Site but although the sign said "Open til sunset" or something, the visitors center said "Open til five" and everything was closed and locked. I probably still could've walked around and stuff but there was a gate into the park and I really didn't want to get locked in.

Instead, I went to see the famous tunnels. I missed seeing the museum (of course...) since that closed at five but I'm just gonna say it probably wouldn't have been too fascinating so whatever. I was hoping to see a train but figured with my luck that I'd miss out. But wouldn't ya know it, I wasn't there five minutes before very loud rumbling announced the arrival of one very long freight train through the tunnel. I actually got to see one in each direction! (Seriously, I see trains all the time. Why was this so important?) For whatever reason, it was pretty thrilling. So here's a picture:

Today's slight regret is that I really didn't get any rural mountainous scenery pictures. There weren't good places to pull over, plus most of the driving was on limited-access highways and pulling over would've been illegal anyway. The views weren't really spectacular or really dramatic but they were often very nice.

So there it is, my first day on the road. Up tomorrow: Falling Water, West Virginia (never actually spent time there!), and Ohio. Probably.

Ode to the States

I'm not really a patriotic sort of person. To me, the Fourth of July means a day off from work and a lot of Twilight Zone. I didn't wear red, white, and blue today and I skipped the end of the fireworks because I wanted to get back to the Twilight Zone. I don't really like fireworks anyway. But I was thinking about what I could do, blog-style, in honor of today. After all, I have a travel blog and I've visited a lot of places in the United States. So I thought I might share a quick memory about all the states I've visited (plus DC) rather than saying "Yay America" or getting all political. I really just mean a I'll write a sentence or two about a particular memory or place, something quick. And random because in some cases I have lots of great memories. Lest you think I'm partial to my own country, I promise to post something nice about France in ten days. I also may make posts like this a regular feature in an effort to post more. I keep coming up with those though my ideas never really seem to work. Worth a shot, I guess. So here goes, alphabetical order, and I'm doing this in stages. DC is last, just cause. I will be skipping Alaska and Hawaii since I haven't visited either. Ditto for all those other places around the world.

Alabama: Driving along I-10 right on the coast. The road is often causeway-ish and the openness with the water is beautiful (well it was, don't know how it looks now, sadly).

Arizona: The Grand Canyon, misty in the August rain. I was cold and wearing a very large t-shirt--long sleeves on a six year old--because the gift shop didn't sell sweatshirts.

Arkansas: Getting amazingly dirty at Crater of Diamonds State Park. It was hot and muddy and so much fun. I still have the rocks though, sadly, no diamonds.

California: Panning for gold/taking a tour of a gold mine. The drive to the mine entrance was terrifying and I really think we almost went off a cliff. Obviously we didn't.

Colorado: Exploring the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde. Ladders were involved as were steep cliffs, both of which I'm very afraid of. Worth it.

Connecticut: Visiting friends who used to live there. Boring, huh?

Delaware: I remember a very clean bathroom at a rest stop somewhere. Sorry Delaware.

Florida: Wakulla Springs with its alligators, manatees, and lush canopies of trees. Snakes too, but I don't much like them. Cool, refreshing, and beautiful, worlds away from Disney. Not that I don't love Disney... it was a toss-up between this and the original Figment ride at Epcot.

Georgia: Southeastern Georgia is so flat and open it can be a little eerie. During a thunderstorm, I mean. Streaks of lightning light up the purple sky. Driving through that was both scary and incredible.

Idaho: Nice train tracks, very straight and even. I assume, as the train did not derail.

Illinois: The Art Institute of Chicago. Great museum, somewhere I still have a Degas print from their gift shop.

Indiana: The shore along Lake Michigan; the Great Lakes are incredible.

Iowa: Prairie Lights, great independent bookstore right in Iowa City. If you find yourself there, don't miss it!

Kansas: Fields and fields of sunflowers. Words don't do it justice, neither does the picture:

Okay, I'm done for now. I know this was pretty pathetic but, believe it or not, it kinda helps me organize thoughts. So there you have it. The rest to come.

Future Homes: Brighton Edition

Okay, so it's really just one home. But it's one really big, really cool, really tacky home. This home that I'd like to call my own is the Royal Pavilion built by King George IV but before he was actually king. In his case, Prince Regent. His father was mad, you know. As with lots of those great historic homes out there (including some others I'll be posting about soon), pictures of the inside aren't allowed. So I guess I'll have to do some describing.

A little more history: the Pavilion began life as a farmhouse, much more modest than the sprawling giant you'll see today. The Prince Regent wasn't necessarily too terribly wealthy at the time on account of recent unpopular spending and was only able to expand when funds permitted. And when they permitted, expand he did, in several stages over many years. The current building was basically designed by John Nash and completed around 1822. Let's just say George wanted it for the location's health benefits. Now on to my visit, the important part.

Starting from the beginning. My aunt, cousin, and I took the train down to Brighton on our first full day in England. The ride isn't that long but the change in atmosphere is dramatic: Brighton is a seaside resort city with beaches (rocky), a pier, and one fabulous royal home.

It's a little hard to get a picture of the whole thing.

We visited the Pavilion, my future home, first. The inside feels long rather than tall and is filled with lots of elaborate, brightly colored stuff. Some rooms aren't exactly full of furniture, the music room for example, but that's perfectly okay: instead there's a carpet as thick as a really thick carpet and very cool lotus-shaped chandeliers. Speaking of chandeliers, one room has a massive chandelier that basically looks like it's held by a dragon. A dragon, and an enormous one at that. That one's also got lotus flowers. It's amazing and I want it. Even though it probably wouldn't even fit inside my apartment. And you know? People used to eat under that thing. I totally wish I had a picture because it's awesome. There are some online but I'm all about posting my own pictures and stuff so do your own Googling. Seriously.

Anyway, the building is full of great chinoiserie* items and, er, designs like, you know, dragons and lotus flowers. There are also beautiful high ceilings, glass domes, and, of course, passageways so no one has to see the servants.

The Pavilion stayed in the family for a little while but apparently Queen Victoria wasn't such a fan. Great for the rest of the world since now we can all visit! Plus, lots of stuff inside is on loan from the current queen. I totally want this house as is though I admit that's for the chandeliers more than anything else. Also for the fact that it looks ridiculously out of place in England. That just adds to the charm.

If you want a better idea of what this place looks like inside, try Google imaging "Brighton Pavilion interior", there are some results there. I'd do some linking but I'm lazy.

Brighton is one of those places I'd always sort of planned on visiting but for some reason I never actually got there. Until this last trip, that is. While the Pavilion is a major historical attraction, there are lots of other fun things about the city. First of all, the pier. Oh, the pier. Brighton is, well, a bit of a tacky seaside resort. Not as seedy as Atlantic City, certainly, but "classy" maybe isn't the first word to come to mind when thinking of Brighton. I loved it.

So, right, Brighton Pier. Arcade games galore, ice cream with Flake, impossible to unfold sun chairs just there for the sitting.

Note the stack of chairs in the background. And a special thanks to the lady who helped me unfold the chair. Really, it was hard.

The good news: despite being hopeless at the first two arcade games I/we (that's my aunt and I) tried--that included dolphin racing, just for the record --our luck finally turned at the "Hook a Duck" booth. Never mind that every game at that booth wins a prize. I worked hard and my lovely duck, George, was the result. He was willing to pose for a picture but he's, uh, currently visiting relatives so no picture. He's bigger and fluffier than all of these ducks:

This guy operates the booth. How gracious of him to pose for a photo!

The bad news: I was really hoping to find a pinball machine in honor of Tommy. Who's Tommy? Yes, that's right. Sadly, I saw no pinball anywhere, just crazy modern video games. Where have all the classics gone? Sigh.

The day in Brighton ended well, if tiringly. A seatmate on the train ride down told us of the best fish and chips in the world, located just steps away from the Brighton train station. Well, it wasn't steps. In fact, if felt like miles and it was down a large hill (only really problematic when it came time to go back up). But oh, it was worth it. And I don't even especially like fish and chips. I mean, I don't especially like the fish. Love the chips.

One endless walk to the train station later and our Bright(on) day was over. Fortunately, there were more adventures to come and don't worry, I'll be writing about all of them.**

Up next: the theatre post. It has to be.

Er, one last note: I've debated writing with British spellings instead of American for these England-centered posts. Would that make me delightfully quirky or ridiculously pretentious? I'm guessing the second. Note the American spellings.

*Spellcheck tries to correct this word to either miniseries or trichinosis. What?

**Don't even try to tell me you weren't worried.

Week in London

So I really had planned to write and stuff while away (I'm in London, remember?) but I didn't bring my computer so I've been kind of borrowing those of other people plus I've been really tired. I'm only annoyed about all this because I don't want to forget details! So I'm writing this now as a reminder of what I've done over the past week; more detailed posts plus pictures are coming.

So, the highlights: Thursday, Hampton Court. Friday, Brighton. Saturday, Covent Garden. Sunday, British Library. Monday, Cambridge. Tuesday, the V&A. Tuesday, Hever. Today, hopefully the Tate. Britain, that is.

Okay, that's one little thing for each day hopefully to jog my memory. Just a teaser for the rest: I'm bringing home a duck, I saw a famous former doctor up close, and... well, I can't think of much else for now. So thus ends my first and only (pathetic) post from across the Atlantic.

Quick Update and a Picture

So, yeah, I've been absent from the internets lately. Luckily no one noticed. I'm trying not to be so absent so here's just a very quick little post. Remember how I made those vow thingies back in like January or something? No? Well, I did. And one of them was that I would go to London this year.

I leave tomorrow. Whoohoooooo! I plan to document parts of my trip on this here blog somewhat as they occur. That may or may not actually happen. It probably won't happen. Seriously, though, I'm really gonna try.

I've done a few kind of fun things lately and I will post about them. To tide my imaginary readers over, here's a picture from one of my "adventures" at a festival that takes place approximately 2 1/2 blocks from my house:

Please tiptoe. And have a happy week! I know I will.