Justin's Travel Journal

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Justin’s Travel Journal


I have been traveling in Europe the last six months. It was very interesting. I saw many things of historical interest as well as really cool stuff. The food in some countries was good, especially Italy and in other countries like Hungary it was not so great. The best part about my trip was gong to the water parks in different parts of Europe, like Aqua Blvd in Paris and Park Wodny in Krakow. The not so great part about my trips was the long car rides. They seemed like they were every other day and totally boring.

Tower of London (June 21-25, 2007)

When I went to London I visited the Tower of London. I think it was a great place to go because I learned lots about it. The London Tower was very historical. It served a as fortress, royal palace, and a prison. The Tower of London was first built in 1078 by William the Conqueror. It was meant to protect the city of London and William ordered the palace to be made out of Caen stone. Caen stone is a light yellow colored limestone found in northern France close to the city of Caen.

When I was at the London Tower I saw the White Tower. It had the weaponry and it was very interesting to see the different amour worn by the knights of that era. Next I went to he jewelry building, it was amazing to see the different diamonds, crowns, and scepters that kings and queens of England used. My favorite things to see were the different scepters made of solid gold and diamonds. It was so cool and each king or queen had a different one and there were so many to look at.

Next we went to the prison towers. First we saw Sir Walter Raleigh’s chamber. Sir Walter Raleigh was a famous English writer, poet and explorer. He was put in prison in the tower in 1591 for secretly marrying one of Queen Elizabeth’s ladies-in-waiting. It was pretty fancy because if he came back into his nobility he could take revenge. Queen Elizabeth I was also held in the tower before coming into power by hr sister Bloody Mary. We also saw some torture instruments that looked pretty brutal. In the second tower, it was not very big, we saw the cages people stayed in and we saw carvings in the walls by the prisoners held in that tower called prisoners graffiti. It was cool.

I was glad I went to the Tower of London, I learned a lot of history there. F you go London be sure to go to the London Tower.


Bath (June 25-27, 2007)

After London, I went to the town Bath, which is famous for its Roman Baths. When the early Romans explored the are of Bath they found ho springs, and they made buildings around them to make hot baths. Some of the baths were very big like the size of swimming pools and other baths were as big as hot tubs, still pretty big for a bath. The Roman baths were truly amazing. They were built nearly 2000 years ago, with no tools at all. The men’s baths were separated from the women’s baths. The men’s baths were mostly outside and all the women’s baths were inside. All the baths were filtered leading outside of the hot springs. Also there were Roman artifacts found at the site on display. They had a huge display of tiles that formed a picture but when it was discovered not all the pieces were there. They had many stone carvings in Latin. It was all very interesting and it is hard to believe it lasted so long without breaking or disintegrating.

The Roman baths were a very fun place to go. I never really thought about how Romans cleaned themselves. At the end of the tour they had a place were you could drink the water. I tried some and it was the most disgusting thing I ever tasted.


Dartmoor National Park (June 27-28)

Dartmoor is a section of England with much history. Dartmoor park goes back to the Bronze age (2100 BC) with Neolithic people, those people started farming and used fire to clear land. Areas without such good soil were burned for livestock. The remains of stone buildings and tools are still shown in the park today. The ancient people built houses called long houses which the modeling of long houses are still used today as farm houses. Also tin mines were found closer to the middle of the park. Further in the park, in the town of Pricetown there stand a notorious prison misjudged to be an inescapable prison.

Dartmoor is also known for toors. Toors are large hills with rocky outcrops on the top. Whole of Dartmoor has about 160 toors. Many hills in Dartmoor are called toors but most are just hills without rocks visited for hiking. Due to the high amount of rain in the park, there are many rivers that make the moors rarely dry and some areas there are dangerous bogs with moss topping many rocks and trees.

Dartmoor is a great place to visit and has a very interesting history to it. I like Dartmoor because it was fun to climb all the toors and there was much wildlife to examine, such as frogs, squirrels and wild horse that run through the park.

Bruges, Belgium (June 29-July 1, 2007)

Bruges, Belgium is a very town from the middle ages that I went to over my trip to Europe. The Bruges’ bell tower stands in the town square at 290 feet high and 366 steps to the top. The tower was built around 1300 and an octagonal lantern was added in 1486 to make it 290 feet high. The bell tower is a great place to go. You can travel to the top and see the enormous one ton bells and have a magnificent view of the town. One floor below you can see the clock still working today and you can see all the little ticks and clicks that make it work. The Bruges bell tower is an amazing site and I had a great experience there. I would really have had a different idea of it if they decided to ring the bells in my ear, plus the chocolate was great in Belgium.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands (July 1-5, 2007)

While I was in Amsterdam I visited the house of Anne Frank. The house of Anne Frank is a very historical building because two Jewish families hid in the attic of the house from the Nazi’s. There was a very tragic story that too place in this house.

When I was there I saw the buildings work rooms. They had many floors on the building and one secret floor hidden behind a bookcase. In the attic there were all kinds of rooms and a toilet and this is were the frank family hid. It was actually kind of a big area. The attic had five bedrooms and a bathroom on two floors. In was a very interesting place to go and I can hardly imagine doing what Anne Frank had to do in that attic.

Anne Frank was a young girl who was Jewish and lived in Germany while Hitler was in power. Her family decided it wasn’t safe to live in Germany so they moved to Amsterdam. Then the Nazi’s started to invade Amsterdam too. Then the anti-Jewish party was more powerful than ever and forced Anne Frank and her family into hiding. The day she went into hiding her family left dirty dishes in the sink and clothes in the closets so people would think they just went on vacation. When they left the house, they wore many layers of clothing. Those would be there only clothes for the next few years. They went into hiding in an office building where Otto Frank, Anne’s father worked. She was with her mother, father, and sister, Margot and another family with a boy a little older than Anne, plus one single man. They stayed in the attic for nearly two years. Every day all they could do was sit down and read, write or sit quietly, like starting into space. Anne started to fall in love wit the boy from the other family named Peter. Peter started to like Anne too. One night the Nazi’s came and searched the building and found the bookcase hiding he secret stairwell. They captured Anne Frank and her family and they were all put in concentration camps. Anne called of a disease called typhus, unfortunately four days before the camp was liberated. They only one of all eight people to survive was Anne’s father Otto. He returned to his old office building in Amsterdam after the war He found Anne’s diary and that is the only remaining part of Anne Frank today.

Bacharach, Germany (July 5-7, 2007)

Rheinfels Castle is an amazing castle that sits atop a hill in the small town of St. Goar. The castle was built in 1245 and unfortunately almost completely destroyed by French soldiers in 1797. The castle has very few remains and what is left of it are very aged but are still very cool to walk on and look at. The castle has many caves under it leading through and under the castle and out where you would never expect some were even pitch black (those ones we bought a candle for). There was also a museum that showed you the French troops that attacked and how the people getting ready for battle would line up inside and outside the castle with little models of people and one big model of the castle (before it was destroyed). I think Rheinfels castle was a really fun place to visit because of all the caves, which where my favorite part of the castle and seeing the castle before it was destroyed. I definitely would like to take another trip here if I ever go to Germany again.

Rothenberg, Germany (July 7-9, 2007)

I went to Rothenberg Germany over my 7 months in Europe, Rothenberg has a very interesting (and crude) torture museum which I went to while I was there. The museum has some pretty terrible looking torture instruments which I could not believe how it would feel to be in that kind of pain but I guess some did and I wonder what happened to them after? They got tortured more or got to wear casts and sleep? The museum had many things you would see in mediaeval movie and more. There was a rack, this is a type of wooden bed where they attach your arms and legs to the ends and stretch you until your limbs rip out of their sockets and it must really hurt! It also had a chair where spikes where sticking out of every spot of called “The Timeout Chair”. The last really horrible one is the Manacle. This lifts you of the ground by your wrists while they are tied behind your back to dislocate them and you just hang there in pain for like an hour (ouch!). What the museum had lots of is masks tons of them, masks where for insulting people who did crimes they where masks that only someone else could take off also. The masks where for different crimes not how bad the crime was but what you looked like or where like, for example if you where nosy the mask would have huge ears and if you had a wart your mask would have tons of warts on it, (pretty harsh) and you would have to walk around town in it. The museum was definitely a fun place to visit and I think someone with any kind of interests would appreciate it too.

Salzburg, Austria (July 9-11, 2007)

While I was on my trip of Europe I went to Salzburg, Austria. One thing Salzberg is famous for is the movie “Sound of Music” and the real life things that happened there that happened in the movie. While I was in Salzburg I went on a sound of music tour featuring the movie and the real places. We drove through the town and saw the church where the real Maria and Captain von Trap where married. After that we saw the amphitheater where the von Traps actually sang. Then as we drove out of town we saw the real von Trap house (which was much smaller than the one in the movie). We drove out of Salzburg to the mansion being filmed in the movie and the lake in front of it. It was really cool to see the real house from the movie and the lake where I saw 9 kids fall out of a boat into the water on a television screen. After that we went to a toboggan run at one of the mountains near Salzburg it was really fun because I had never been on a toboggan before and it was fun to have the wind whipping your face and you speeding down a hill on a stainless steel track. Salzburg is a beautiful and interesting city and if you ever go don’t forget to go on “The Sound of Music” tour.

Communism (Czech Republic: Cesky Krumlov and Olomouc Poland: Krakow Slovakia: Levoca July 11-19, 2007)

While I was in Europe, I saw some cities that were once under communist rule. The effects of communism were evident in all of them. Communism is a political idea that all people should have the same things and work the same. Also that no one should be rich or poor just the same wealth. Karl Marx was the man who originally thought up communism. Though communism was just an idea, in 1917 the poor peasants who agreed with Karl Marx and his teachings decided to revolt against the king and queen (named the Czar) of Russia and Russia went into communist rule. During World War II, Hitler invaded Eastern Europe and the Russians fought Hitler during that time. After Hitler was defeated America and Russia who had been allies during the war occupied Europe. Russia occupied Eastern Europe and then communism rule spread out through Eastern Europe (and at that time Czech Republic and Slovakia were one country “Czechoslovakia“). During the time of communism people were sick with disease, poor, and there wasn’t enough food to go around. This was not what Karl Marx had envisioned. Then finally in 1990 communism fell for many reasons, Poland and Czechoslovakia both voted for a new Democratic Society.

I visited Czech Republic before known as Czechoslovakia until it split into two, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. I visited two places in the Czech Republic, which include Cesky Krumlov and Olomouc. Both these towns are very different. For example, Cesky Krumlov is a very busy tourist destination and has a strong economy. Olomouc’s economy however is not as strong. The city looks run down and has crumply communist block buildings that all look the same. In November 1989, the Czechoslovakia broke free from the Communist era and became a democratic society. This was known as the Velvet Revolution. The Velvet Revolution was a peaceful non-violent event, that started as a student protest. They had their first electron six months after the Velvet Revolution began. Four years after the election, Czechoslovakia split into two countries Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic greatly improved after the end of communism and their spilt from Slovakia. This is an example of a country that was very poor under Communism and grew to a stronger economy under democratic rule.

Poland had a similar history to the Czech Republic after the fall of the Soviet Union. They also got their independence in 1989 and in 1990 elected their first democratic president. Then like the Czech Republic became part of the European Union (a. k. a EU). I visited the Polish city of Krakow. Krakow was the home of Pope John Paul II and he was one against Communist rule. Krakow’s economy has also improved greatly since the Communist era. It is a great city to visit.

Nowa Huta, a part of Krakow, was made to be a model communist town. It had a steel mill in the center of town and all the houses and schools were built around the mill. People were also rewarded for coming to Nowa Huta and working there in the mill. The steel mill became the largest steel mil in Poland by the 1960’s. There was no church in Nowa Huta because communists did not believe in religion. Pope John Paul II (before he was Pope) put enough pressure on the leaders of Nowa Huta to build a Catholic church there. The finally had a church in Nova Huta. In Nowa Huta there was a Square called Lenin Square (Lenin was a powerful communist leader in the Soviet Union) and after communism fell the square was renamed Ronald Regan Square, after the American president.

It was interesting studying the communists. I think it would have been hard to be a victim at tat time. I really hope nothing so bad ever happens again.


Slovakia/ Eger Hungary (July 18-21 2007)

Over my seven months in Europe I went to Slovakia and Hungary. These are both pretty small countries just South of Poland, not known by many Americans. Both countries have a big gypsy population. In that section of the world the gypsies are called Roma. Roma are people in Eastern Europe usually live in poor groups and communities with high unemployment. Many Eastern European countries have substantial Roma populations. Roma mostly live in ghetto-type neighborhoods. Only small fractions of Roma children pass elementary school. Roma children feel out of place at schools because of the small popularity of them which probably leads to them not passing to new grades at schools. 75% of Roma children are in schools for children with learning difficulties in the Czech Republic. While 70% of the adults are unemployed. In Hungary, 44% of the children are in schools for children with learning difficulties. 74% of men and 83% of women are unemployed. In Slovakia 28 times the Roma children are in school for children with difficulties learning. 80% of Roma adults are unemployed. The Roma have high unemployment because they move around a lot and are discriminated against. This is a problem in Eastern Europe that the EU will need to address.

Budapest (July 21-24)

I went to Budapest over my seven months is Europe. While I was there I visited some Roman/Turkish baths. These baths were used by people throughout history and are quite popular in Hungary. They were sulfur baths with spouts shooting out, steaming sulfur water into the large pools. The sulfur was said by ancient people to cure anyone that went into the smelly water. It didn’t really heal anything and the hot spouts were a bit smelly but it was still pretty nice way to enjoy the warm waters. The baths was a very relaxing place to visit and a bit smelly.


Plitvice Lakes National Park/Croatia (July 24-26, 2007)

The Plitvice Lakes is a national park in the country of Croatia. It is called the Plitvice Lakes because it has beautiful lakes that are clear blue and you can see 50 feet to the bottom it is so clean. It is also known for its huge and little waterfalls. The lakes are 3 sections, a bottom, middle and top. You can hike through all three sections. We hiked to the very top and back to the middle and had lunch. We then took a ferry to a very cool section that was kind of swampy. There were fish swimming through miniature pools and waterfalls. Then we took a row boat onto the lake for an hour, it was very cool,,,it was awesome when we road right next to a waterfall and felt the spray in our faces. .

The lakes are situated in the Plitvice plateau formed from the run off of the mountains Licka, Pljesevicka, Mala Kapela, and Medvedak. The 16 lakes are separated into a lower part and a higher part with many waterfalls. The lakes lie in the basin of Karistik rock mainly limestone and dolomite which makes them so clear. The lakes are divided by natural dams of travertine which is made of the moss, algae, and bacteria in the lakes. The lakes colors differ from blue, green and gray. The colors change constantly depending on the amount of mineral, organisms and amount of sunlight. The Plitvice Lakes was the best national park I have ever been to and I really hope I can go back someday.

Split, Croatia (July 26-28)

The ’s Palace is a famous palace in the city of Spilt, Croatia. It is was built for the Roman emperor Diocletian. He built the palace as a place to live after abdicating his leadership in 305 AD. Diocletian was the first Roman emperor to ever voluntarily give up his powers. All other Roman emperors were either forcibly removed from office or died. Diocletian was also known for torturing many Christians because this was not a Roman religion. During his stay in Spilt, formerly called Dalmatia, Diocletian took to growing cabbages. The coast of Croatia is today called the Dalmatian Coast. Today, the palace is a popular tourist destination even though it is mostly ruins. I thought the remains of the parts of the palace looked like an amazing place to live. They maintain lots of Roman architecture. I would really like to have a house that big and grand one day on the beautiful sea.


Makarska, Croatia-Dalmatian Coast (July 28-August 4, 2007)

During my time in Europe, I spent a week in Makarska Croatia. The Croatian had a war in 1991 and they were fighting the Serbians. Serbia is a country that borders Croatia. The war started after the former Communist ruled Yugoslavia broke apart. During this time communism was falling in all of Eastern Europe. Yugoslavia was led by a man named Tito. Tito died and the Serbians began to provoke the Croats to make them seek independence, but Serbia didn‘t like this and it led them to war. During the war the Croats fled to the Dalmatian coast, which is where I visited when I was there. They moved there because there was less fighting. The war lasted three years and was a very hard war as neighbors were killing neighbors. In the end it was a Croatian victory, leaving it an independent country.

I saw some bombed out houses in Croatia that made me want to do this report. The war left Croatia in a bit of a struggle but they are getting back on their feet. Their economy is getting better and they have great beaches.


Slovenia-Karst Region (August 4-6, 2007)


During my adventure I visited the Karst region of Slovenia. Slovenia was also part of the former Yugoslavia and was the first country to gain independence. They are also the only country from the former Yugoslavia to be admitted in the European Union. This part of Slovenia has some very interesting caves. Probably the most spectacular caves I will ever see. These caves are the Skocjan caves. The Skocjan caves are a system of limestone caves with 5 kilometers of 2-50 foot stalagmites (these grow up from the ground) and stalactites (these grown down from the cave ceiling). The caves are huge and have bats and everything you wish to see in a cave.

Cave formation has three main parts to it, stalagmites, stalactites, and columns. Stalactites are the forms that hang from the ceiling. They begin as a single drop of water mixed with the carbon dioxide, calcium carbonate, and cacite in the air. The water drop sticks to the ceiling and forms a ring. This process happens multiple times to form a small hollow tube hanging from the ceiling which is scientifically named a soda straw. This process happens many more times to form a stalactite.

Stalagmites are the spike like things that protrude from the ground reaching upwards toward the ceiling of the cave. A stalagmite forms from the water dripping off the stalactites and forms getting one centimeter taller every ten years. A stalagmite is also more smooth and rounded than a stalactite. It is not hollow in the center like the stalactite. Straight formations of a stalactite is called a broomstick. If the cave ceiling is higher than average the drop will fall and splatter and form a structure called a stack of pancakes.

One last cave formation is a column. These are more simple than the other two because a column is when a stalagmite and stalactite meet and connect. The caves are a tremendous way to spend your time in Slovenia.

Verona, Italy (August 6-8, 2007)

We also visited Italy while in Europe. One city we went to was Verona. Verona is home to a 2000 year old Roman arena and the fictional story of Romeo and Juliette by William Shakespeare. The Roman arena in Verona is one of the best preserved Roan artifacts in the world. The huge arena was built in 30 AD and is currently being used for opera shows. The arena was originally built of white and pink limestone but in 1117 a major earthquake hit Verona and almost completely destroyed the outer rim of the arena. Amazingly it still hold musical performances such as opera today. The arena once held 20,000 people but now 15,000 for safety reasons. The Roman arena is a very interesting thing to see and I am surprised people can even sit in it.

Verona is also home to the fictional story Romeo and Juliette. I visited Juliette’s house and saw the balcony she stood on and called out for Romeo…”Romeo, Romeo where for art thou, Romeo.” Below the balcony there is a statue of Juliette and many people go up to her and rub her heart for luck with love. Verona is one of the places in Italy with some of the best food I have ever tasted.

Venice, Italy (August 8-11, 2007)

While I was in Italy I went to he amazing city of Venice. While I was in Venice, I went to the church of St. Mark’s Basilica. St. Mark’s is a huge church constructed in 828 AD and has many beautiful paintings on the ceiling and walls. The church’s decorations have changed greatly over time. The church stands in one of the most famous places in the world, St. Mark’s Square Venice, Italy. The church stands next to the also famous Grand Canal and the Doges Palace, which I never got the chance to visit. The square is huge and most likely has more pigeons than people throughout the day and is almost for sure to have more pigeons in the evening. The interior of the church is beautiful with a marble checkered floor and many pictures of angles and Jesus on the ceiling. It is in such great shape it is hard to believe that everything has lasted about 1100 years. St. Mark’s Basilica is very amazing to visit and Venice is itself is even more amazing. I really hope I can return to Venice at least once more in my lifetime.

Cinque Terre (August 11-14, 2007)

Cinque Terre, Italy are five small towns located on the Northwestern Italian coast on the Liguria Sea. I stayed in the town of Vernazza. The Cinque Terre is connected by four separate hiking trails, about a 60-90 minute walk to each town and has a great view of the beautiful sea. The Cinque Terre is Italian for Five Terraces. In medieval times it was called the five towns and was watched over by castles and towers. In Vernazza there are no cars allowed. So you park at the top of the hill above the town. You walk down if you didn’t take the tram and you see a glimpse of the local people and their homes. The Cinque Terre is am amazing place and is strangely not very well know by many American tourists and I don’t think I will ever see a town like Vernazza again.

Tuscany (August 14-26, 2007)

While in Italy I went to the famous city of Florence, which is in the region of Tuscany. While there I saw many famous sculptures, but unfortunately I only saw a replica of the David by Michelangelo, the famous artist from 1501-1504. The David is one of Michelangelo’s most famous works of art. The other is the Pieta. The statue is 17 feet tall and represents the biblical king David, the moment he decided to battle Goliath. Today the David stands in the Academia museum, in Florence Italy. I would have loved to see the real David if it wasn’t closed the night we went to Florence. It is hard to believe that the a famous statue such as this was standing outside the Uffizi Gallery getting dirty and pooped on by pigeons. This shouldn’t happen to such a prized work of art as the David.

Interlaken, Switzerland (August 26-29, 2007)

After we left Italy we visited Interlaken, Switzerland. Interlaken is not far from the Jungfrau mountain region, a spectacular mountain range. One of the mountains in the Jungfrau is called the Schilthorn. The Schilthorn was the setting for the James Bond movie Her Majesties Secret Service. This mountain is also located in the Alps. A building at the top of the mountain also appearing in the movie is a revolving restaurant so you can see the entire mountain range. I went there and had a hot chocolate. It was fun to be in a famous restaurant that rotates so you can see the mountain view.

The Alps formed when the pressure of the Tethys’s Ocean as the Mesozoic and Cenozoic strata where pushed against each other to form the Alps range. The pressure formed great recumbent folds knows as nappes rose out of what had been the Tethys Sea pushing northwards often breaking or sliding to form gigantic thrust faults. Crystalline rocks which are usually found at higher climates formed the mountains Mount Blanc, and Matterhorn. The landscape was formed by glaciation during the past 2 million years, about 5 ice ages have done lots to change the region, scooping out lakes and rounding of limestone hills along the northern border, where I took a gondola ride to the peak of one of these mountains. Glaciers have been dissolving in the past 10,000 years, leaving large granite erratic scattered in the forest regions. At the end of the last ice age, it ha been believed that the climate changed so rapidly that the glaciers are retreating into the mountains in a 200-300 year span.

While I was in Switzerland, I saw some of these glaciers on hikes. They are also dissolving due to the huge change in temperature caused by global warming although there is still much snow on these mountains in the month of August.

Paris, France (September 1-30, 2007)

In Paris, France I visited the Arc du Triomphe. The Arc is located at the end of the famous street Champs Elysees. It was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 and was finished in 1833. The Arc du Triomphe is a miraculous sight. It is huge and you can look straight down the Champs Elysees at it and be awestruck. It was built for a battle won by France in Austerlitz. It shows the French fighting and beating the Germans carved on the outer sections. The names of the men who died are carved on the inner sections. You can also climb to the top of the Arc and have a marvelous view of Paris. It is hard to imagine someone building it to make to look like one solid block. I stayed in Paris for a whole month. It is one of the coolest cities in the world!!!

Provence, France (October 1-December 23, 2007)

Roussillon

While living in Provence, I went Roussillon. This is a very interesting little town because of its soil is red. The soil is red because there is a special mineral called ochre which was first discovered in Brigham, England. Ochre is found in many colors, a few are rust, wheat, khaki, sienna, and burgundy. These are just a few of the many ochre colors. The ochre can also protect ship’s sails from sea water. This material put on sails is boiled together with tar, tallow and oak bark. Ochre is am mixture of argillaceous sand and iron oxide. To obtain commercially pure ochre it is washed and then the heavier sand specs sink to the bottom while the lighter sand specs are taken and put in a filter and into settling tanks where it form layers and is then left to dry all summer. When it is down drying the ochre is cut into blocks and then to darken I the ochre is baked in ovens and crushed and put into crates or barrels. This town is an amazing place because of its soil and because all of the houses there are painted with ochre in the paint.



Pont du Gard

Pont du Gard is a famous Roman aqueduct in the South of France. An aqueduct is a large structure made of stone that will lead water from one place to another. In this case the aqueduct carried water from the river Gard to the city of Nimes. It is 49 meters high (147 feet tall) and 300 yards long. In the lower section of the structure there are six arches, in the middle it has 11 arches and in the upper section there is 35 arches. The gradient of this aqueduct is only 0.04% (amazing how this could be done without any form of advanced measurement). T was made with no mortar. The blocks were made to fit together like a puzzle. The aqueduct also served as a foot bridge for the Roman citizens who needed to get across the river. It was said to take 3 years with 800-1000 workers, most were slaves. Pont du Gard is an amazing site and it is almost impossible to believe that it was made with no mortar or electric tools.

Barcelona, Spain (December 8-11, 2007)

While living in Europe I visited Barcelona Spain. In Barcelona, I saw the Cathedral of Santa Eulalia. The Cathedral was built throughout 13th-15th centuries on top of a former Visigothic church. The Cathedral was dedicated to Eulalia of Barcelona a saint who suffered martyrdom by the Romans. One story was that she was exposed nude in the town square and a miraculous snowfall covered her up. This enraged the Romans so they threw her in a barrel with knifes stuck into it and rolled her down a hill. One interesting fact about the church is that there were 13 geese in the courtyard and if someone unwanted came in the geese would honk and alert the monks of invaders. The geese are still used today. My favorite part of the church was to walk around and watch the geese honk at people. The church was definitely cool and I wonder what it would be like putting your trust in geese.

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Photos

France
Pont du Gard

Roussillon
The ochre rocks

Paris
Arc du Triomphe

Nimes
Roman arena

Barcelona
13 Geese