Highlights of Washington DC

Each year, an international meeting of Neonatologists takes place in Washington DC, and Ray decided to attend this year. Ray has attended this meeting many times, the previous two times with Traci. Having already done the usual historical tours including the special evening holiday monument tours, all of the Smithsonian museums, Arlington Cemetery, Georgetown, and the Holocaust museum, they looked for new places to explore during an extended stay in the capitol city.

The conference takes place yearly at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, near the National Zoo and across the street from the Woodley Park Metro Station. Fortunately, Washington DC has one of the best subway transportation systems and its grid layout of streets makes getting around quite easy. The highlight of the trip for both travelers was visiting the US Supreme Court and getting to witness the 1 hour argument on the case Black v US. When the court is in session, a very limited number of seats are available to view the action. The courtroom itself is quite large but most of the benches are filled by attorneys in the Supreme Court Bar, law students and the press among other VIPs leaving very few for the public. People assemble at least 30 minutes before the case starts (first case is usually 10AM) and get in first come first serve. The case was about an executive who the government claims deceived his company into wrongfully giving him a $5 million bonus under a Federal Mail Fraud statute. Even for non-lawyers, it was quite impressive to see the 9 Supremes in person (visitors to DC rarely get to see top leaders of the government up front and personal). First, the executive's attorney argued the law was vague and unjust – the justices asked questions and carried on a spirited conversation with the fast talking lawyer. The real entertainment started when the solicitor general (attorney who represents the government's side) started speaking. First, the justices started questioning what constitutes deceit to your company – if someone knew their company was going to build a bigger factory, is it wrong to buy land in the area ahead of time? What about telling your brother in law or best friend to buy land? The company still pays the market value for the land, so the entity harmed is not the company. Then Justice Breyer, got a lot of laughs asking how do you figure out how much harm constitutes fraud? He suggested there were 100 million Americans who would tell their boss they were going to work really hard just to get him out of their office, and then spend the day reading a racing form. Justice Kennedy followed by suggesting American workers might disingenuously tell their boss how great his new hat looks just to get the boss off his back so he could slip out the door to an afternoon baseball game. Should all of these people go to jail? The solicitor general argued prosecutors could make a judgment on what is significant enough prosecute. Justice Roberts then said we cannot just pass a law saying people must not do bad things and leave it up to prosecutors to decide who to put in jail. Anyway, the banter was very entertaining – watching the justices in action was amazing, and showed many of them really lived in the real world and not just some academic fantasy one. Ray thinks attending the Supreme Court was one of the most interesting tourist activities he has ever done (up with visiting the Tower of London!).

Ray and Traci also visited the brand new "Newseum" where ABC host George Stephanopoulos broadcasts his Sunday show every week. While a $20 museum entry fee is quite foreign in a city where all of the Smithsonians are free, both travelers think it was well worth it. The Newseum covers history of media from the Gutenberg press to Twitter – and with it, American history. The memorial to 9/11 was quite breathtaking. The museum is filled with multimedia films, interactive computer displays as well as glass cases containing significant news events during this country's history. The Newseum also has a balcony giving visitors one of the best views of the US Capitol.

Before visiting the Newseum, Ray and Traci went to the Smithsonian American Portrait Museum which represented a more traditional way of appreciating American history – in the form of great art. While museums will continue to show great art, it is difficult to not to choose the high tech Newseum to highlight and learn about American history. Comparing experiences such as the Holocaust museum, the Louvre, or the Newseum is difficult, but Ray definitely enjoyed his visit and plans to return in the future.

Besides the Newseum and the Smithsonian American Portrait Gallery, Ray and Traci visited the "Washington DC National Museum of Crime & Punishment"– Notable criminals including Jesse James, Al Capone, Timothy McVeigh and the Unabomber have their stories memorialized in a glitzy museum with lots of hands on artifacts and displays. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the Crime Museum is how it highlights how so many notorious criminals have been had their stories told in Hollywood movies! Before leaving for the hotel, Ray and Traci stopped by the National Christmas Tree (with the many smaller trees for each state and territory).

Despite several previous trips, Ray and Traci had never visited the US Capitol – Ray obtained advance tickets over the internet from the Congressional web site although during this slow day, walkup tickets were available. Besides visitor passes, one can request "gallery" passes for the House and the Senate from your elected representative / senator – these passes allow you to go into the bleachers above the House and the Senate and watch the action. Ray didn't get gallery passes but fortunately House passes were available from the House appointment desk in the visitor center. The Senate was voting on an amendment to the Health Care Bill so all the passes were gone (probably to lobbyists). The US Capitol Visitors Center was recently built and spectacular – no expense was spared (your tax dollars, of course) in building a spacious and elegant tribute to Congress. Even the cafeteria was good with a rich selection of foods, complete with both Pepsi and Coke dispensers to avoid alienating any particular state. The Capitol tour was short – they let visitors see the large round and largely empty space under the big Rotunda, the Hall of Statues with many famous people (each State gets 2 statues in the Capitol) and the old rooms formerly used for the House and Senate Chambers (which each body outgrew). The most interesting part of the Capitol visit was sitting in the House Bleachers and watching representatives say their piece for 5 minutes each with most of the chamber being empty. On C-span, only the representative talking is shown – what you don't see is a mostly vacant chamber. The place is rarely full except for votes or the State of the Union Speech. The whole process seems a bit silly when so much time is spent talking to an empty room.

Visiting the White House was another fun part of the tour – unfortunately, post 9/11 it is difficult – large groups like classrooms can get passes, you can beg your local representative or senator for passes or you need to know somebody to get you in. Traci's cousin Wendy arranged for such a personalized guided tour – Seeing the East Wing decorated for the holidays was great – you actually see more of the White House on the tour than you do of the Capitol.

Ray and Traci also made a trip to the National Cathedral, a short taxi/bus ride from the Omni hotel. The 6^th largest cathedral in the world, like many structures in DC is spectacular except for the fact it looks like a copy of Paris' Notre Dame and construction was finally completed during the George H. W. Bush administration – not hundreds of years ago. They attended a wonderful demonstration by the organist and enjoyed the great view of DC from the balcony.

Unlike previous blog entries, not much has been mentioned about food – mainly because the travelers didn't eat at many memorable places. Other than lunch at the Capitol, most meals were on the run at chain cafes like Cosi and Corner Bakery. Near the Omni Hotel, Ray and Traci ate at Open City, Trattoria Italiana, and Tono Sushi which all provided tasty and reasonably priced food for hungry travelers. Ray and Traci also enjoyed lunch with Traci's cousin Wendy at a "healthy" asian restaurant called Teaism in Dupont Circle.

Before returning home, Ray and Traci visited one more attraction just down the street from their hotel – The National Zoo. Washington DC is only one of 4 zoos in America with Giant Pandas. The travelers snapped some pictures of them and said farewell to the National's Capitol.

Traveling to Toronto

Ray and Traci decided to follow their favorite baseball team into a foreign country and make a visit to one of North America’s greatest natural wonders – Niagara Falls. Their journey started on Tuesday with a non-stop flight from Seattle to Toronto on Air Canada. Ray found the modern Embraer 190 to be a very comfortable plane. Even in coach, the jet has individual TV screens which had about 25 movies plus a variety of TV programs, music, and games which entertained passengers from departure to arrival without waiting for the plane to reach a certain altitude. Ray watched “Angels & Demons” which he found to be a good movie, in contrast to the general bad reviews given by the critics. Upon arrival, it took about 20 minutes to clear immigration, get Canadian dollars at an ATM and get in a taxi. The weather was pleasant, overcast and 80 degrees. The taxi ride from Pearson Airport to downtown took 45 minutes. The travelers’ new home for the week was the Royal York, which is a historic – meaning old – hotel 2 blocks from the baseball stadium. Ray booked the hotel due to the great discounted rate at hotels.com which he subsequently cancelled when the hotel itself offered an even better rate - $129!. The Royal York was built in 1927 – Ray and Traci’s room was spacious by New York standards and had a nice view of Lake Ontario. Ray and Traci spent the first evening exploring Toronto’s PATH, a maze under Toronto’s downtown – most of the skyscrapers populating downtown are connected with corridors providing refuge from the elements. Naturally, the passageways are lined with shops and eateries, often with the same stores repeating every few blocks. Ray and Traci negotiated the confusing passages, finally arriving at a large shopping mall – the Eaton Centre. This massive multistory structure was different in one significant way from an American mall– it was very busy on a nondescript weeknight! People in Canada are shopping and actually buying stuff. While few, if any, stores were furnished with unique goods, Traci checked out the Roots store. Roots is a Canadian apparel maker that clothed past US Olympic teams. Now hungry from their day of travel, Ray and Traci ate at the shopping mall’s food court – Ray ate a very unimaginative chicken dinner from KFC while Traci had a much more healthy chicken wrap from a Toronto chain restaurant Freshii. After leaving the mall, Ray and Traci wandered above ground in the “theatre” district of Toronto. While Toronto has a few theatres, a few regular shows were playing – “The Sound of Music,” “Jersey Boys” and a new show “The Boys in the Photograph.”. Ray and Traci stopped at Toronto’s version of “The Second City,” undoubtedly a Canadian version of Chicago’s well known comedy troupe but they decided to pass on the show. After grabbing a few snacks, Ray and Traci retired for the night.

Wednesday morning brought another warm but cloudy and humid day. Ray started the day in the Royal York’s gym which was equipped with many cardio machines but little weight equipment – it did, however, have a nice indoor lap pool. Ray and Traci next wandered to the waterfront area where they found some nice condo buildings and not much else. One thing that Toronto has (that Seattle needs) is bicycle stations in the subways where people can secure their bikes and then hop on to the trains. Disappointed, Ray and Traci wandered back to the Toronto underground PATH and had lunch at Bento Nouveau where Ray enjoyed tempura shrimp udon and Traci had chicken udon. After their early lunch, Ray and Traci met their Grey Line Bus at the Royal York to start the evening tour of Niagara Falls. After a 90 minute journey, the first stop was at the Pillitteri Estates Winery where the 9 person group (a really slow day for the Grey Line!) sampled red, white and an “ice” wine. Traci especially enjoyed the ice wine which can be produced only in certain cold climates as the grapes are picked by hand frozen, the water crystals discarded and the little remaining juice used for production. Most of the world’s ice wine comes from Toronto and the difficult production process results in fairly high prices. From the winery, the group travelled to the floral clock which is a beautiful arrangement of flowers built on a platform with a working clock. The floral pattern is changed yearly and planned by the top students of the Niagara horticultural institute.




The next stop was at the aerocar which basically is a glorified tram across the Niagara river. Ray assumed you would get a view of the falls from the skyride which turned out to be wrong – the $12 tram simply gives you an overhead view of a (boring) river. After the disappointing aerocar, the tour got more interesting with the “Maid of the Mist” boat ride. A tour boat takes a whole bunch of people on a 20 minute ride fairly close to the bottom of the 3 waterfalls which make up Niagara Falls – the American falls, the tiny Bridal Veil falls and the much larger Canadian falls. The Niagara river starts at Lake Erie and flows into Lake Ontario (350 feet lower) – this drop in elevation is what creates Niagara falls. During the night most of the water flows thru American and Canadian hydroelectric plants while during the day/evening most of the water flows down the waterfalls. The American/Bridal waterfalls are separated from the Canadian waterfalls from Goat Island located on the US side of the border. The Bridal Veil waterfall is a sliver off of the American waterfall separated from the main falls by tiny Luna Island. The boat ride gets you up close and personal with all of the waterfalls. Riders can get soaked if you don’t take cover in the downstairs of the boat even while wearing the provided rain poncho.


Dinner at the Sheraton Hotel’s Fallsview Buffet was included in the Grey Line package. While the view was spectacular, the food wasn’t bad either – Ray and Traci enjoyed salads, fruits, pasta, prime rib, baby-back ribs, tomato with beans and rice soup, while passing up many other equally tasty dishes. For dessert, Ray enjoyed cupcakes while Traci had a bit of a chocolate cake and a disappointing bread pudding. The Sheraton has a small balcony just outside the Fallsview buffet, giving a few more opportunities for pictures. After the hearty meal, the group scattered until departure time. A large entertainment district surrounds the falls with everything from amusement rides to a casino. Ray and Traci rode the Skyview Ferris wheel before getting a few pictures with the illuminated waterfalls and had an uneventful ride back to their hotel.

Thursday brought cooler temperatures and clearer skies so the day’s adventures started with a trip of the famed CN tower. The structure started simply as a broadcasting antennae but a decision to build an observation platform made the world’s tallest (1815 feet) freestanding tower an attraction for 2 million people a year. The skypod observatory is at 1465 feet, the world’s current highest (note that Taiwan’s Taipei 101, the world’s tallest occupied building has an observation platform at a mere 1285 feet). Unfortunately, when Burj Dubai opens up at the end of 2009, it will set all records at a rumored 2650 feet. The view from the CN skypod was quite impressive. On the lower observation platform, a section of the floor is replaced with glass giving a quite interesting perspective of downtown Toronto. From the CN Tower, Ray and Traci got on the “Hippo” tour which is similar to the ubiquitous “Duck” tours in the US. The Hippo leader gave a quite interesting history of Toronto and some of its landmarks as the tour made its way thru the city eventually ending up at the waterfront where the amphibious vehicle entered the water for a boat tour of Toronto. From the Hippo tour, Ray and Traci headed to a well known foodie hangout – St. Lawrence Market. Ray had a chicken caesar salad at Pasta Mia while Traci enjoyed the Food Channel featured peameal sandwich made with Canadian bacon at Carousel Bakery. Ray also picked up a chocolate cupcake at Future Bakery with a Batman picture on the top. After satisfying their palates, the travelers went to the Distillery District which is an artsy combination restaurant & gallery area. On the way home, Traci got a disappointing vanilla yogurt with raspberries at Yogurt Fruz. The Mariners fans then rested for a bit and then headed to the Rogers Center (formerly known as the Skydome) for a highlight of the trip – watching pitcher Felix Hernandez lead the Mariners against the Jays. Ray got premium seats for both the Thursday and Friday games on stubhub.com. Fortunately, the lukewarm interest (a term used generously) by Toronto fans allowed “scalped” ticket prices to be below regular priced seats at Safeco. Skydome is a round concrete domed stadium with the world’s first retractable roof. It was quite an attraction when it first opened, but now is somewhat dated. The old Astroturf carpet is a hazard to the athletes! The stadium has a huge video screen and many colorful video displays. It has a rich selection of ballpark foods – what it is missing is fans, only 15,000 at the Thursday game. The game was well played, ultimately with the Mariners winning 4-3 and Felix picking up his 17th win. Ray and Traci had a sign “Mariners Fans (heart) Toronto and Rally Fries” – Although the Toronto fans seemed to like it, and put it on the stadium screen at least twice, Ray and Traci did not win any fries from sportscaster Mike Blowers of FSN. With few fans in attendance, and only a handful of signs, it was unclear if anyone won any fries. Hungry, but happy with a win, Ray and Traci picked up dinner at Harvey’s – Canada’s answer to Wendy’s. Famed for customized burgers, Ray had a bacon cheese burger while Traci had a chicken burger. While neither dish would win on Top Chef, the food was good given the late hour.

Friday started with promise – another cool morning with sunshine. Ray woke up early and had a run in the gym followed by a few laps in the very nice indoor swimming area at the Royal York. The first activity of the day was visiting the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). The museum is easy to find, it is right off of the “Museum” subway stop. At the time of the visit, the ROM had a special exhibition of the Dead Sea Scrolls – a collection of ancient documents including the world’s first lease agreement, and several versions of early religious scripture. The works, hidden in special clay pots were believed to have been written around the time of Christ, and discovered in the 1950s. Other highlights of the museum included a collection of semi-precious stones. In general, the ROM had a nice collection covering the spectrum from the Dinosaurs to ancient Egypt/ancient Greek to modern times along with natural history and art. It is no Louvre, but is worth visiting. After the ROM, Ray and Traci walked past the University of Toronto toward Chinatown. Supposedly, Toronto has the 3rd largest Chinatown in North America – Toronto is, perhaps, the world’s most diverse city with a large variety of neighborhoods and different languages. By law, French and English are official languages. Ray was puzzled by several stores that sold nothing but flags of assorted foreign countries. The weather was becoming quite cold, so Ray purchased 2 pairs of gloves ($4 total) for the upcoming baseball game in Chinatown. The tourists then browsed Kensington Market, a neighborhood with funky shops and eateries located right next to Chinatown. On the way back to the hotel, the tourists passed by the Frank Gehry designed Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) but didn’t go in. They stopped at the Eaton Mall for Traci’s fruit salad and Ray’s Dairy Queen Sundae. After a rest stop at the hotel, Ray and Traci met up with Traci’s cousin Denise and her friend, Rob for the baseball game. Upon arriving at the Rogers Center (Skydome), the roof was closed – but opened prior to the start of the game. The roof is very interesting, unlike Safeco’s 3 section rectangular carport, the Skydome room has two circular sections on the ends and two middle rectangular sections – the rectangular sections slide to the outfield, then the circular section slides & rotates underneath the fixed circular section – quite ingenious! Roy Halladay, one of baseball’s finest pitchers owned the Mariners and the Blue Jays won 5-0. Again, Ray and Traci got no rally fries with a different sign “Rally Fries, Eh? Go Mariners” despite being seated along the left field line immediately behind the ball boy. Perhaps the poor economy is cutting into the FSN fries budget. After the game, the group headed to Chinatown where they enjoyed a fine Seafood Chinese meal including Shrimp & Cashew nuts, fried chicken wings, tofu with mixed vegetables and seafood sizzling hot plate. Long time resident Rob, picked a restaurant called “Excellent Chinese Restaurant” which almost made up for the Mariners terrible loss.
On the final day, Ray and Traci got onto the subway and went to Yorktown, a high end shopping neighborhood. From there, they got back onto the subway and at Union Station transferred to the “Red Rocket” Toronto’s street cars for a very short ride to the waterfront. Ray and Traci decided to take the 7 minute ferry ride to Centre Island, a Toronto version of Coney Island and Central Park mixed into one. While in the summer months a full amusement park operates daily, fall season brought closures to many things – Ray and Traci didn’t get off the ferry and just returned back to downtown. For a final lunch, Ray had a sukiyaki dish at Edo and Traci had chicken noodle soup at Pumpernickel’s, both located in the Harbourfront Centre. Ray and Traci returned to their hotel, and met up with Rob and Denise who kindly transported the travelers to the airport for an uneventful flight back to Seattle.

First visit to London (Part 2)

Still tired from their brief Paris adventure, Ray and Traci got a late start – Ray started the day by running around Hyde Park after stopping at Buckingham palace to find a sign stating “No Guard Changing Today.” He was amused at finding a traffic signal just for horses between Green Park and Hyde Park. The first trip of the day was to the Victoria and Albert Museum - this free museum contains a vast collection of art from around the world. Specialized collections from Asia are found as well as European art, Ancient art and even a Chihuly Chandelier. Highlights include a “cast collection” – back in the days before photography and world travel, museums would make plaster casts of great works of art such as Michelangelo’s David statue – these casts then were shipped to other museums during the 19th century for foreigners to enjoy. The V&A museum has a most impressive collection.

After leaving the V&A museum, Ray and Traci walked to one of England’s most famous landmarks, Harrods. This enormous 1 million square foot store really has “More of Everything.” While bargains were sparse (here is a $25,732 toy car at the prevailing exchange rate), the store exists as a sharp contrast to the US where large department stores are dying, replaced by big box discounters. Harrod’s boasts several eateries, both eat in and take out – Ray purchased some delicious sushi while Traci went to the Indian food counter and got a yummy chicken & rice dish, total cost for both about 10 pounds.

Next stop was the British Museum (also free) – a huge collection of amazing artifacts from all over the world. On the steps of the museum, you feel like you are entering the Roman Civilization – once inside, visitors find a huge atrium covered by a glass room. Within the expansive structure are long corridors with interesting items, “acquired” from civilizations throughout time.

Stop one was at the Rosetta Stone, a stunning stone tablet which 19th century scholars realized was the key to translating Egyptian hieroglyphs. Next, Ray and Traci were intrigued at seeing a room filled with Roman art pilfered from the Parthenon, under the guise of “preservation.” Well, considering the Romans once conquered the land known now as England, perhaps payback is a bitch. Less easily dismissed is the huge collection of Egyptian art, caskets, tools, and jewelry found in the British Museum – clearly the Egyptians must not be pleased with all of the body snatching.

Ray and Traci had time to visit other fascinating exhibits about money thru the ages (when physical money ruled over digitally created “quantative easing”) as well as an amazing collection of time pieces. Seeing working 15th century clocks is quite humbling to inhabitants of the 21th century who are happy just to see machinery work beyond the manufacturer’s warranty. Nearing closing time, Ray and Traci had to pass on other exhibits and instead, headed to nearby Oxford Street. This area hosted many shops, eateries and boasted a ton of people in the late afternoon on a weekday. Ray and Traci hunted for souvenirs in the many shops. Growing both hungry and tried (especially after the long Paris adventure the day before), Ray and Traci walked down Piccacdilly toward their hotel and stopped at the same Japanese restaurant Toku they visited early in the trip – for about 30 pounds they enjoyed a great ramen dinner including shrimp tempura for Ray and yellowtail sushi for Traci. For dessert, Ray had some strawberry ice cream at a nearby shop.

On their last night in London, the travelers decided to take in some British theatre. Ray got two half priced tickets to a comedy paying at the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus. London is well known for its theatre. In the summer, Shakespeare plays are often performed, sometimes with only natural daylight and no microphones as in the author’s day. Many shows such as Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia and Wicked are found in London as in the US. Ray and Traci saw 39 steps, which was unique in that only 4 actors played hundreds of characters in the show which was about a bored WW2 era Londoner who became involved in a secret plot against England. Ray didn’t follow much of the humor, but appreciated the cultural experience. Shows in general are much cheaper than in New York, and a TKTS half price office works the same way in Piccadilly Circus as it does in Times Square.

Wednesday marked the end of Ray and Traci’s European Adventure. Rain came and went overnight but left brilliant sunshine in the morning – the entire week in Europe had picture perfect tourist weather. Ray started the day by running a few laps around Green Park (next to Hyde Park) and making sure the “No Changing of the Guard Sign” was not shown at Buckingham Palace. Ray and Traci then packed up and before checking out ventured out to Old Bond Street which is a Rodeo Drive of sort for London with very exclusive brands found in boutiques. As expected in a depression, the street was nearly empty. Traci purchased some chocolate boxes at Charbonnel et Walker which was a bit more expensive than Hershey’s finest in the US.

The last stop was at Buckingham Palace where Ray and Traci tried again to see the changing of the guard. This time the event took place, but an incredible mob of people prevented viewing. Travel guides suggest going early and standing on the Victoria Memorial Fountain.

Ray and Traci arrived just about starting time (11:30) and basically heard the band march down with the troops into the place and the mounted soldiers pass the palace but not much else. Fortunately, videos are found on You Tube, and that will have to fill in the details.

Their European adventure ended uneventfully after checking out of the May Fair, hopping a cab to Paddington Station and taking the 20 minute Heathrow Express Train to their British Airway Flight. Ray and Traci left Europe with a much better appreciation of the art and history and a desire to continue their explorations. Ray also wondered what became of his camera, and particularly the flash memory card inside it.

Ray’s Favorites from the European Adventure
1. London Tower (especially the Beefeater guided tour)
2. Musee du Louvre
3. Notre Dame
4. Eiffel Tower

Traci’s Favorites
1. View of Eiffel Tower from Place du Trocadero
2. Parthenon frieze and sculptures at the British Museum
3. River boat tour along the Thames
4. Eating lunch on the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral
5. Westminster Abbey

The City of Light at the Speed of Light

Ray and Traci decided to go against recommendations for a longer stay and made a 1 day whirlwind tour of Paris during their London holiday. They had to get up very early to catch the tube to the King’s Cross – St. Pancras station which is the London terminal for the Eurostar, the high speed train that carries passengers from London to Paris via the Chunnel. Ray and Traci had reservations for the early morning 6:55 train. Accommodations on the Eurostar were quite comfortable, similar to the Japanese Shinkansen (Bullet Trains) – with tourist select advance purchase tickets, a pretty decent breakfast with croissants, fruit, orange juice, cheese omelet and chicken sausage was included. The Eurostar arrived on time at Paris at 10:15 (2 hours, 20 minutes later – Paris clocks are 1 hour ahead of London). Travelers need to know that checking into the Eurostar is more involved than a typical train – baggage is screened, riders need to go to metal detectors, and passport control needs to be navigated. As at airports, last minute arrivers may miss their transportation. At minimum, passenger should arrive 30 minutes ahead of the train departure.

The Eurostar drops passengers off at Paris’ Gare du Nord. The first thing one notices is the dudes in berets walking around in fatigues brandishing assault weapons – France is really serious about security, even the “TSA checkers” who guide passengers thru metal detectors are packing Glock pistols. The next thing visitors discover is the plethora of pay bathrooms in Paris, even at train stations. Usually 1 euro is required to get past the gate of a bathroom to use the facilities. Travelers are advised to not leave home without euros!

Fortunately, the weather was wonderful for a brief Paris Adventure – cool and partly sunny. From the Gare du Nord, Ray and Traci hopped in a taxi for a 10 euro ride to Notre Dame, the famous cathedral in Paris. Words cannot do justice to the magnificent Notre Dame. Even on a Monday morning, large crowds milled around. While viewing the inside of the cathedral is free, visitors do have to pay to climb the steps to the higher levels offering views of Paris. During Ray and Traci’s visit, the lines were too long so they walked to their next stop, Sainte-Chapelle – another great church located in Paris. Unfortunately visitors do have to pay to get into this cathedral, and the lines were even longer than at Notre Dame so when you have only 10 hours to spend in Paris, you are going to skip a lot! From Sainte-Chapelle, Ray and Traci walked to their next destination, the Louvre.

The Louvre is the most incredible museum both Ray and Traci have ever seen, and they probably only walked around 25% of it. For a mere 9 Euros each, visitors are treated with the most comprehensive collection of art anywhere! While well known attractions like the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo highlight the collection, the wide range of art from all civilizations and all of recorded time is overwhelming.

Ray and Traci basically spent 2 hours in one of the Louvre buildings looking mainly at Egyptian and Roman artifacts. Visitors spending a week just at the Louvre probably leave feeling that they missed out on some great works.

The crowds at the Louvre are large, but the cavernous exhibit halls accommodate them even at high profile exhibits such as the Mona Lisa.

All of the museums Ray and Traci visited (England and Paris) had the majority of their sculptures and paintings unprotected from the crowds – while the fragile ones were encased, most were not which makes for some very fun picture opportunities.

After leaving the Louvre, Ray and Traci walked past the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel which is a smaller version of the larger and famous Arc de Triomphe. Along the way, they noted the Paris traffic circles which surround many monuments – the traffic flows were insane with drivers trying to navigate the circles without a clear pattern.

Now walking down the Champs-Elysees, Ray remarked how amazing it was on a Monday afternoon to see so many people doing nothing – sitting around in parks, sipping coffee at many sidewalk cafes and crowding the sidewalks. Ray and Traci actually got separated during their trip down the Champs-Elysees, causing 15 minutes of near panic.

They ended up sharing a baguette sandwich and buying drinks at a sidewalk café before reaching the Arc de Triomphe.

Both Ray and Traci noted the decreased appetite both had during their European adventure – all of the walking should be stimulating an appetite. Traci thought the 8 hour time shift forward suppressed appetites since sleeping occurred in London during typical Seattle meal times. With long lines becoming a recurring theme, Ray and Traci decided to not purchase tickets to the top of the Arc and instead continue their walk to one of the world’s most celebrated landmarks, the Eiffel Tower.

Lines (or queues if you are British) were long. Tour groups get to buy tickets in advance and bypass the long lines. The word is internet ticket purchases to individuals will be possible in the near future – do it if you can. With 4 hours left in Paris, Ray and Traci decided to wait what turned out to be 90 minutes to get to the top of the tower (tickets were about 14 euros each). The views are great and getting pictures on top of one of the world’s landmarks is fun also. The tower is open at night, and Ray looks forward to some future nighttime visit to see the city of lights. From the Eiffel Tower, the travelers wandered around the immediate area and found a taxi stand. A Mercedes Benz taxi (A first for these travelers!) took them thru pretty busy Paris streets and dropped them off at Gare du Nord for the 9:10 pm return trip back to London. The Eurostar, again, served a good meal consisting of a chicken dinner (Ray and Traci didn't take the advice of the steward who recommended the fish pie). Unlike Japan where the Shinkansens are never late, the Eurostar ended up arriving in London 20 minutes late.

As in London, money is readily available from overpriced currency exchange shops as well as ATMs although tourist locales such as the Louvre and Eiffel Tower accept credit cards (the best option). The entire Paris visit (Louvre & Eiffel tickets, 2 taxi rides, and snacks and drinks along the way) cost 100 euros (1 euro = $1.32 at the time of the visit). This brief trip to Paris was quite exhausting and isn’t recommended but both Ray and Traci are happy they had a chance to visit Paris for a day and plan to return sometime in the future.

First visit to London (Part 1)

Ray and Traci decided to travel to Europe for their very first time. Because of the historical ties with the US and predominance of the English language in the UK, they chose London as the primary destination for this initial European adventure.

British Air flies two non-stops daily to London from Seattle making choice of airline easy. With the current economic crisis, economy class tickets were available as low as $178+taxes each way! Ray and Traci took the 747 flight (the second daily flight is a 777) and had a pleasant 8 hour 40 minute journey, leaving Seattle at dinnertime and arriving in London at lunchtime (London is 8 hours ahead of Seattle). The airline served a fair chicken teriyaki & rice dinner for Traci and a Beef & Potato dinner for Ray. The highlight of the journey was the “On Demand” AV system with a rich selection of both new and old movies / TV shows available for free!

After arriving at Heathrow, clearing passport control and customs was quite fast as overall traffic at the airport during mid-day seemed light. Ray and Traci used an American credit card to get Heathrow Express tickets (16 pounds each, 1 pound = 1.43 American dollars at the time of this trip) and hopped on a very fast train which travelled nonstop from the airport to central London’s Paddington train station in 20 minutes. After arriving at the station, Ray and Traci got into the taxi “queue” – in London, places where people line up and wait are called queues. Fortunately, there was little wait and their taxi driver took them to the May Fair Hotel near Buckingham Palace. Their taxi driver was a wealth of information: unlike most American cities, taxi drivers in London are extensively tested before getting a taxi permit. Also taxis are relatively cheap when you consider the $8/gallon “petro” prices and high London car taxes. Our driver disappointed Ray and Traci by telling them they missed Michelle Obama’s motorcade by 10 minutes (The Obamas, like most of the G20 World Leaders were meeting in London during this time). After a 15 minute, 8.8 pound taxi ride, Ray and Traci found their new home at the May Fair Hotel. Their hotel room was quite modern – the size was quite good, larger than you would expect in New York. The May Fair obviously expects many foreign travelers as dual 110V and 220V American/European outlets were available at the computer desk and the bathroom. London is notorious for high priced hotels, but with the bad world wide economy and the weak pound, internet 50% off (or more) deals were widely available! The marble bathroom was the nicest seen since their stay at the Tokyo Westin years ago. Two interesting British factoids about many London Hotels – 1) “Lifts” (elevators) number floors 0 for lobby, -1 for basement, -2 for subbasement, etc. and 2) Signs state “Way Out” not Exit.

After unpacking, Ray and Traci started their London adventure by buying an “Oyster Card” 28 pounds each (which permit riders to travel unlimited thru two zones of London by subway or bus, basically downtown, for one week). Next, the subway at Green Park Station (2 blocks from the hotel) took them one stop to Piccadilly Circus. They walked to the National Portrait Gallery to look at many pictures of famous Brits, although neither traveler could identify most of the people. They did recognize Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek Next Generation fame) and Judi Dench (M from James Bond movies). From the Portrait Gallery, Ray and Traci went to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery (of Art).

Trafalgar square is a most interesting place – full of people, some street performers entertaining audiences. Artists doing amazing works in chalk decorated the pavement. Ray and Traci entered the National Gallery to admire many works of art from the usual suspects (Picasso, Monet, Da Vinci, etc). The Portrait Museum and National Gallery are similar to America’s Smithsonians in that they are free to get in. After this cultural experience, Ray and Traci had dinner at the nearby Bella Italia – a very busy café with very rapid service. Ray had a spaghetti meal while Traci enjoyed linguini, total price about 20 pounds.

From Piccadilly Circus Subway Station, Ray and Traci took the “Tube” (locals call their subway the “Tube”) to the Waterloo station and the rapidly tiring travelers rode the London Eye – a giant Ferris wheel on the Thames River near Parliament and Big Ben. London doesn’t have a very distinctive skyline by New York, Chicago, or even Seattle standards, but you get a nice view of the river and a perspective of this city is at the top of the London Eye. You also get a great picture with Big Ben – by the way, Big Ben is not the name of the clock or the tower next to the parliament building, it is the name of the bell underneath the clock. Thoroughly exhausted, Ray and Traci retired to the May Fair for the evening.

On the second day, Ray and Traci started by taking a Tourist Bus Ride around downtown London. Their tour guide was quite entertaining and the bus driver was quite skilled but the close maneuvering around obstacles and traffic was unsettling. Ray and Traci got off the tour bus 3/4s way thru the entire 2 hour course at the London Tower. From the London Tower, the sightseeing continued on a ferry boat ride up the river to Westminster Abbey. With the assistance of a knowledgeable and witty tour guide, passengers were entertained and educated about London’s waterfront areas. Ray and Traci exited the Ferry and entered Westminster Abbey, the site of Princess Diana’s Funeral. Visitors to this church are immediately overwhelmed by the 600 year old building – Seattle couldn’t even build a domed sports stadium lasting more than 30 years! While Westminster Abbey lacks some of the glitz of New York’s St. Patrick Cathedral, the overwhelming size and age of the church is awe inspiring. For an offering of 12 pounds, visitors can tour one of the world’s oldest churches and learn about British History during the self guided audio tour. Located in crypts and coffins inside the church are famous bodies from British history – giving the two travelers the creeps. From Westminster Abbey, Ray and Traci walked back to their hotel picking up sandwiches for a very late lunch (Ray had a BLT (price about 3 pounds) from the ubiquitous Pret sandwich store and Traci had a less expensive Tuna sandwich from Sainsbury, a Rite-aid sized combination grocery/drug store located right across the street from their hotel. After a brief rest, Ray and Traci headed to Chinatown to meet Traci’s cousin, aunt & uncle for dinner. Loon Tao was the chosen restaurant at the heart of Chinatown – a meal of Sweet and Sour Pork, Fried Prawns and Cashew Nuts, Fried Squid, Fried Rice, Tofu and Broccoli pleased all, but Traci felt it was a bit bland. The entire meal cost about 57 pounds – in London many restaurants add an automatic 10% tip, others hope to get a tip but not as large as American restaurants expect. Tragedy struck the group as they tried to take a photo only to discover Ray’s camera was stolen by the diners next to them who mysteriously disappeared before ordering anything. While the Sony camera was 3 years old, lacked necessary hardware to even charge it, and had little value even on Ebay, the day’s photos were lost to these criminals. Pickpocketing is common in Europe and often they steal things with modest monetary value but cause high frustration to the victims. Crime victims Ray and Traci returned to their hotel without the day’s photos.

The third day, started out with typical London drizzle although like the previous two days, sunshine dominated most of the day. Ray started out with a run around London’s Hyde Park, similar (but 3x larger and much better according to their London cab driver) to New York’s Central park. Ray and Traci then took the tube to London’s Electric City (Tottenham Station) to buy a new Sony T series camera. Although even the Sony Store had very little inventory of the latest version ultrathin camera, Ray did find a local camera chain had the model he wanted. Happy to be photographers again, Ray and Traci travelled to St. Paul’s Cathedral – one of the most amazing buildings on earth. The current St. Paul’s Cathedral was built in the early 1700s, being the 4th or 5th church on the site – the first one was built around 606 AD. After making a customary 11 pound each offering, visitors are immediately overwhelmed by the size of the Cathedral, the site of Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding. While not as prominent as in Westminster Abbey, coffins and memorials to former heroes are found at the church margins and in the basement. One of the treats to the St. Paul’s experience is the ability to climb hundreds of steps to the top of the dome – the highest level was closed for maintenance but the second highest level offered a great view of London. Ray and Traci then had a take out lunch (10 pounds) consisting of salads and drinks from a store called Marks & Spencer, across from St. Paul. Like many other visitors, Ray and Traci enjoyed lunch on the steps of the cathedral. From St. Paul’s, Ray and Traci walked across the Millenium Bridge to the Tate Modern Museum (free admission). Like the MOMA (Museum Of Modern Art) in New York, the Tate caters to those who believe that art is to be experienced, not judged. The exhibits included a clone of the MOMA’s plexiglass encased vacuum cleaner, a hanging wire with used soap bars impaled in it, and a windmill that appeared stolen from a local miniature golf course with the inscription “Moulin Rouge” on it. After this “experience”, Ray and Traci headed to Covent Garden Market – combination street fair and permanent outdoor market with all types of foods and goods available. Ray and Traci shared a waffle, which was somewhat disappointing compared to the ones they had in Japan.

Covent Garden was full of music performers, notably a Chinese man playing the world’s first wind instrument the Sheng (from 1000 BC). After a break back at the hotel, Ray and Traci traveled to Traci’s cousin’s “flat” where they met up with more family and had a nice dinner for 6 at Marechiaro, a pizza/Italian food restaurant. A feast (70 pounds) consisting of pizzas, pasta dishes, and salads was satisfying.

A few notes about London – you have to be very careful when crossing traffic where Walk/Don’t Walk signals are not visible. Cars do not stop for pedestrians except at very rare crosswalks marked with large yellow light domes on top of poles. You also must remember that busses and trucks often squeeze thru narrow streets by encroaching on sidewalks. In an international city like London, money exchange places are everywhere – and you shouldn’t use any of them – they charge huge 10-20% fees! The best exchange is using your credit cards for significant purchases and obtaining cash from ATMs (It seems most American ATM cards from major banks will work in Europe). London appears to be a very international city – crowded, with people of all races speaking all sorts of languages. Being a center for commerce, you see people much more dressed up than in cities such as Seattle. At busy subway stations such as Piccadilly Circus, many artists perform for the bustling crowds as in New York. While in NYC, subway riders often see fancy dancing routines with gymnastic tricks, most of the London performers stick to music. Talented violinists performing classical music are found along with guitar hero “musicians” that should stick to the video game in the privacy of their own home.

On day 4, the weather continued to cooperate with clouds in the morning which parted somewhat in the afternoon. Ray and Traci started at Buckingham Palace, the home of Queen Elizabeth II. After passing an ornate gate, visitors are overwhelmed by the size of the Queens Home. Ray and Traci patiently waited on the recommended location atop the Victoria Memorial for an event that never happened. Sunday morning tourists were quite unhappy when the horses, guards and band that normally put on a majestic ceremony didn’t show up as scheduled. Fortunately their hotel was only a 10 minute walk from QEII’s home. Disappointed, Ray and Traci boarded a subway which due to construction didn’t complete its normal route. After a ferry ride (and a 30 minute wait), they finally arrived at their destination – The London Tower.

Perhaps the most famous London tourist site, the tower actually lives up to its reputation. Once a monarch’s castle built 1078 AD, it served as a home, a prison for special inmates (kind of like a medieval Guantanamo Bay), and now a tourist delight. Visitors are guided by Beefeaters (even they are not sure where their name came from), and see areas of the castle where prisoners were housed, tortured and guillotined. The Brits seem to enjoy celebrating monarch Henry VIII for his “colorful” life, but after learning about his habit of beheading wives at the Tower, one has to wonder where the attraction for the 15th century “OJ” comes from.

The Beefeaters, including their own cleric and doctor, live in houses around the wall. Tourists also get to see the Queen’s crown jewels in a vault in one of the buildings at the site. Getting to tour a castle built nearly a millennium ago is quite remarkable and well worth the 17 pound entry fee. After a 3 hour visit to the tower, Ray and Traci walked across the Tower Bridge and took an operating subway back to their hotel near Buckingham Palace. Ray and Traci decided to try some Japanese food in London, chose a place called Restaurant Toku near Piccadilly Circus. The restaurant boasts healthy & organic Japanese food – Ray had a beef teriyaki set and Traci had a pork katsu curry. Ray found the 25 pound meal quite bland but he was hungry and left satisfied. Both travelers turned in early with their whirlwind Paris adventure on deck.

Ray's Top 10 at Disneyworld

Ray and Traci returned to Disney World as Ray attended a meeting held at the conference center at Disney’s Yacht Club. The Yacht Club (and its sister hotel, the Beach Club) are near the Dolphin/Swan Hotels closer to the Epcot end of the lagoon which is found between Epcot and the Disney Hollywood Studios Park. The parks were much busier than their previous early January visit as many schools were on Spring Break (it seemed that much of Lousiana’s population including their governor spent the week at Disneyworld!) – investing in a subscription to touringplans.com which is an “unofficial guide to Disney” is well worth the $8.95 especially if you have limited park time as it helps you formulate the most efficient way to navigate the long lines.
The Yacht club is a nice facility which commonly hosts large conferences as it is adjacent to Disney’s giant convention center. The traveler’s biggest complaint was the long corridors residents need to navigate to get from their room to the sparse elevators – and fire alarmed stairways don’t allow walking. Rooms were fairly spacious and well equipped – a nice water park with several pools and a water slide offered fun when guests didn’t venture into the parks.

Ray offers his top 10 list of Disney Attractions to not miss (from an adult’s perspective) – note that 2 popular attractions at Epcot (Cranium Command and Body Wars were closed during their visit)

1. Wishes Firework Show (nightly at the Magic Kingdom) – if you enjoy firework shows, see Wishes – the choreography is spectacular and you will see an amazing variety of pyrotechnics set to Disney tunes.

2. Kilimanjaro Safaris (Disney’s Animal Kingdom) – Ray’s favorite “ride.” Guest’s board jeep like vehicles and take a safari with “wild” animals in their “natural” habitat. Not exactly like visiting an animal preserve in Kenya, but a lot better than visiting any zoo.

3. Festival of the Lion King (Disney’s Animal Kingdom) – Ray’s favorite “show,” held daily at multiple times. Why travel to New York and spend lots of money on Broadway tickets? See the amazing costumes, hear living musical performance and see some neat “Cirque du Solei” type stunts in a 30 minute rendition of the Lion King. Don’t miss it!

4. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (Disney’s Hollywood Studios) – a wonderful coaster, the best at Disney World – an indoor version of Disneyland’s California Adventure coaster Screaming, Ray’s all time favorite coater. The coaster shoots you forward from a complete stop, puts you thru complete loops yet has an amazingly smooth ride.

5. Soarin (Epcot) – Disney copied the popular California Adventure attraction and built it at Epcot. An incredible ride – people sit in a hang glider like contraption simulating a flight over scenic California – complete with sounds and smells of the Golden State.

6. American Idol (Disney’s Hollywood Studios) – Fans of Idol, don’t miss this attraction. The producers have daily auditions at the park and 3 selected participants per show perform live on a set mirroring the TV show with the audience selecting their favorite performer. Each show winner participates in the final show of the day where the daily winner gets a priority invitation to audition for the real American Idol show. Obviously the quality of the performances differs from show to show but Idol’s popularity keeps the pool of contestants quite deep.

7. Fantasmic (Disney’s Hollywood Studios) – a nighttime show which is not always open daily during off peak season. A sometimes scary combination of fireworks, stunt actors, parade of floats with Disney characters and video clips projected on a screen made of water fountains, this show is full of imagination and entertainment. Young children may be frightened!

8. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (Disney’s Hollywood Studios) – supposedly a “different” ride each time, this simulated drop ride in a broken elevator is only one part of the whole experience. From the creepy entrance, to the videos of Twilight zone clips, this ride exemplifies why Disney is different than any other theme park with their attention to every detail.

9. Beauty and the Beast (Disney’s Hollywood Studios) – Ray enjoys the 30 minute “abridged” version of the Broadway shows – you get live musical performances with great costumes and choreography, and the 30 minute limit excludes lots of filler materal. This is a well done show which parallels the classic story.

10. Space Mountain (Magic Kingdome) – After many decades, still a favorite of Disney visitors. A great roller coaster.