"We die only once, and for such a long time" ...a quote by the French comic playwright Molière, the first person interred at Père Lachaise. He actually died in 1673 but was reburied here in 1804, in a ploy to entice more people to be laid to rest in the cemetery. The bourgeoisie society of the early 1800's thought the grave yard was too remote and unappealing. Eventually it did become popular to be buried here, and now it is a city of the dead. 100 acres of cobblestone paths and mature trees, 70,000 inhabitants. This cemetery is absolutely worth searching [View Full Entry]

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view of south west Paris from La Tour Montparnasse Paris in the spring The photo above is taken from atop the Montparnasse Tower, in the area of the 6th arrondissement. You can take the elevator up to the 56th floor, where there is a spacious observation area, cafe, gift shop, film about the tower, and plenty of windows for viewing the city. With each arrondissement, is a different neighborhood, a different feeling. We have chosen to stay in a district that is known for the cafes, and the fabulous shops. These cafes have been popular for over a hundred years with [View Full Entry]

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Flags of Belgium and it's region of Flanders flying at the Town Hall A day in Brugge. And in case you don't already know, the name comes from the Viking word for 'wharf'. Since a thousand years ago the sea was connected to the town by a river, which 'silted up', putting an end to their thriving economy. The city of Brugge, is west of Brussels. It's World Heritage designation comes from the fact that the old town centre is a well preserved example of a medieval settlement. In the 15th century it was a major market for cloth merchants. A [View Full Entry]

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Tower of London The next couple of days are planned with must-see sights. Since the locations of meetings usually dictate where we go, we also refer to the World Heritage List for places to visit. On that list is the Tower of London. It with it's notorious history, is our first stop. It is really a calm place in the midst of the noisy, hectic city, and we spend more time here than we thought we would. We had picked up bagels from a cafe in Covent Garden, and sat on a bench to watch the ravens and people, while we [View Full Entry]

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Detail of Chinese Tile in the British Museum Let me start - at the end, of our trip to London. It's spring time, April 6, daffodils and tulips are blooming, the trees are budding. And then, we wake up to snow! Big fat floaty flakes of snow! Not much accumulation at all, but enough to delay our flights so that we are 20 hours late getting back into Krakow. When is it going to be warm sunny weather?... ...Anyway. Yes, back to the beginning of our trip, spring, London, Covent Garden. So many cafes, pubs, boutiques, what a great, but crowded [View Full Entry]

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Brussels is the next stop after Amsterdam. The one sunny day, I was able to wander around the area of the Grand Place, the main historic square. (translation:tourist area) Just happened upon an empty seat at a crowded outdoor cafe, so I ordered one of their versions of the specialty. I received a warm Belgium waffle topped with a scoop of the sweetest vanilla ice cream, sliced strawberries and chocolate sauce drizzled all over. The weather was warm enough that instead of a cup of hot filtered coffee, I sipped a tall iced coffee, and sat facing the sunshine. Can you [View Full Entry]

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With more than a hundred canals spanned by 1000 bridges, we had great vantage points to watch the unofficial floating parade. The battery for the camera was low, so I missed photographing some classic old boats. Boat owners were cruising around in the spring-like weather. They had their drinks and snacks, nice little table settings on board for their guests. The big house boats are in all kinds of conditions. Some haven't seen anyone on board in years, and some had folks puttering around, tending to potted plants and having coffee on the decks of their floating homes. Just ten [View Full Entry]

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Lots of bikes, and boats, is an understatement, but instead of loading the Amsterdam entry with pages of photos, I figure I'll put them into seperate categories. I am sure I've said this before, but you hear so much about different places in the world and what makes that specific area unique, and then when you get there - ah ha! It's true! Like the number of bicycles in Amsterdam, it probably is true that every person owns one, and rides it everywhere. Even tourists ride them, which aside from having a little rental company sign on the bike, you know [View Full Entry]

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Amsterdam, Netherlands. Winter in Holland, what do you think of? Frozen canals? Skating? Not this trip, sunny skies and temp's in the low 50's. How lucky are we! But we hear a lot of comments about global warming, the canals haven't been frozen in several years. Lucky is a relative term. While planning our stay we decide to focus on the museums, because it should be cold in February?! To begin with, the first afternoon we met our guide Isabelle for a quick walk around the canal districts. She is very lively and sweet, beautiful accent. Having her show us around [View Full Entry]

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The Rio Tejo, 25th of April Bridge, and the humongous Cristo Rei History lesson comes to life...This plaza in the Belem district is full of history and sights. Not surprising as it is on the World Heritage list for the Monastery of Jeronimos and the tower of Belem. First the Belem Tower, was a defense tower and now stands guard over the Tejo River. This was where ships set sail for unknown destinations! Can you imagine the relief when those sailors caught sight of the tower after months and maybe years away. It is several miles outside of Lisbon and did [View Full Entry]

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