I did not have time to take many photos in Wales. We arrived by ferry from Ireland at about 1:00 am. When we arrived in Swansea, Wales at about 3:00 am, believe it or not, the town was still hoppin! The streets were full of young people, all dressed up, coming and going from numerous clubs.
The only photo I took in Wales is in fact a video. The visual is nothing, but if you turn up the sound before pushing play, you can hear some Welsh music.
Friday, September 12, 2008
England, part II: Aug. 30- Sept. 1
We crossed the Bristol Channel from Wales into England. First, we went to the city of Bristol to do some exploring. We actually didn't really like the city, as it seemed dirty and kind of depressing. Most of the shops, even in the touristy parts of town, were empty. We did enjoy an outdoor hippyish marketplace though!
The photo is of me by a really pretty and old house in Bristol.
After Bristol, we drove to Bath. I absolutely LOVE this city! All of the buildings are absolutely gorgeous! They are of course Roman and they have a uniformity of building material and style, but they are also so detailed and exquisite that the uniformity is just neat, not boring.
The photo is of Dad in front of the famous Roman baths.
The Roman baths are a feat of engineering. The water is very hot and comes from a natural hot spring. The water is now green with algae (and I suspect pollution), but at one point, the water was pumped into the main bath (in the photo) and multiple private baths of various temperatures. Men and women were not separated and they did not wear clothing in the baths. Bathing and exercising here served a very important social function.
People throughout the ages thought that the natural hot spring was a divine place, so like we do today, they would toss coins and other valuables into the water as they walked by, hoping that their wishes would be answered.
Tile mosaic from the baths
A sacrificial altar from the temple of Minerva (the temple was attached to the baths).
The Royal Crescent in Bath.
An aerial photo of the cathedral at Bath. I took it while on a helicopter ride... just kidding! I just took a photo of a photo in the entrance of the cathedral.
The inside of the cathedral. The ceiling and the floor are both exquisite!
Me, performing Mom's famous "pig nose" on top of the Roman Baths pig.
Painted pigs are all over the city in Bath. Some people make a point of walking all over the city just to see the pigs.
London: Sept. 1- Sept. 3
After Bath, we drove to Dad's company in Northampton and then we continued on to London. I walked around London until late, as Dad was in business meetings. Here is Big Ben at Parliament that night. The London Eye, located on the other side of the Thames, is in the background.
This is the exterior of Westminster Abbey. The day I actually went through the abbey, I forgot my camera in the hotel room. The Abbey is awesome... Many monarchs, including Queen Elizabeth and her arch rival Mary, Queen of Scots, are buried in tombs inside the abbey. The poet's corner was also really interesting. Many famous authors are entombed at Westminster, but there are also many tributes to authors buried elsewhere. Some names I remember: Jane Austen, the Brontes, Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott, Dryden, Chaucer (bleh), Hardy, Tennyson, etc. etc. As for non-authors, Sir Isaac Newton, Darwin, and Handel are all buried there as well.
Westminster is where the majority of English coronations took place. I saw the coronation chair, last used at the coronation of the current queen, and it is super old. There is an empty compartment under the seat where the Stone of Scone sat for hundreds of years until it was returned to Scotland.
Me in front of the British Museum. The museum is amazing and FREE. Unfortunately, they have so much to look at that it is quite overwhelming and really should require more than one day. Here are some photos from the museum:
The center of the museum... all of the display rooms branch off from here
This is a huge stone bust of Pharoah Amenhotep III from 1350 BC.
Ancient Egyptian tomb entrance
Ancient Greek pottery. It is hard to believe they could make such detailed work way back then.
The frieze from the top of the Parthenon in Athens. Somehow and for whatever reason, they moved it all the way to London.
Statues also taken from the front of the Parthenon.
Roman sculpture of a goddess
A bunch of old men
The actual Rosetta Stone! This stone cracked the mystery of the ancient Egyptian heiroglyphics. The same words are carved into the stone in three languages, including heiroglyphics. As a result, linguists were able to determine that it is actually a language and not merely pictoral depictions.
Cats, or mius, were sacred to the ancient Egyptians. This one is covered in gold and I think some kind of stone.
An ancient Egyptian coffin. You can see the outer coffin underneath it.
A mummy... creepy!
"Ginger," the oldest known Egyptian mummified remains from 3300 BC. The dry sands where he was buried dried the body out so it is well-preserved.
A crystal skull like the one in the new Indiana Jones... sans elongated alien head and magical powers. I would say it's real, but apparently recent tests have discovered that it isn't from ancient Peru or whatever, it's actually a fake made in Europe in probably the 1800's.
Here's another video... This one was filmed sideways and so you'll have to tilt your head to watch it. This will only make sense if you've watched the Harry Potter movies... and maybe not even then haha.
The biggest, baddest department store ever. It is also very expensive!
Another photo of a photo... This is an aerial shot of Buckingham Palace.
Buckingham Palace... I did not see the changing of the bearskin capped guards, but I did see the changing of some regular guards. They walked with stiff legs and arms and they went through a bunch of seemingly pointless routines.
The golden coronation carriage. This carriage is pulled by six gray horses in full regalia. The carriage is so incredibly ornate with golden carvings and painted frescos on the sides. The royalty use this carriage to drive to coronation services and royal weddings. For other functions, they use one of the other numerous carriages kept with the horses at the Royal Mews.
Dad and I saw a ton of shows on our trip. In addition to the others mentioned, we saw Les Miserables, Wicked, and Spamalot in London. My favorite was Les Mis, but Dad's favorite was Spamalot. I have to admit, that show was absolutely hilarious. Tap dancing men in chainmail and armor, the Trojan rabbit, the knights who say "Ni!" and of course the sounds of horse hooves made by coconut halves all made the Monty Python play hilarious.
The famous Picadilly Circus
That's all for Europe! Now, on to Dubai!
Dubai: Sept. 3- Sept. 7
When my dad had to go to Dubai for business, he discovered that if we extended our trip and he took me along, it would be half the price in plane tickets than if he kept the same return dates and went alone. So, I got the amazing chance to see Dubai.
Dubai is a part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The primary economy there revolves around the oil industry, which is a finite income. So, the sheik ruler decided that Dubai had to become a top world destination for tourism. In a few short years, Dubai has gone from the photo above to the photos below. It's amazing what an infinite amount of money can produce.
The sheik demanded that the new Dubai have a skyline like that of Manhattan.
I've heard that approximately 30% of the world's cranes are located in Dubai. I believe that... They're EVERYWHERE!
One of the sheik's newest projects: an expansion of Dubai's available coastline by digging out extra waterways.
Another plan to increase Dubai's coastline is to build multiple large completely manmade islands in various shapes. To the left is the Palm Jumeirah. We drove out on it and saw all of the amazing homes and hotels on the palm. More islands such as this will be completed soon.
Dad and I noticed that the city seems to have one general goal: find the best things of the Western world and then one up them. On the left is the world's tallest building, which is still being built.
The colorful hotel in the background is the Burj Al Arab, also known as the sail. The exterior changes color constantly. One night in the cheapest room costs $1,000 and the most expensive room starts at $28,000 a night! I wanted to go in, but it cost about $50 simply to walk in the front door. Whew.
Perched on the top of the hotel is a helicopter pad, tennis court, and golf range.
This is one of three pools at our hotel at about 5:00 am. The two fresh water pools had swim-up bars. I spent most of my time in the water at the bar, reading my book in the shade. Dubai is SO hot and humid!
My hotel room... Dad and I each had our own room and the beds were MASSIVE, larger than a California king! The room service goes into the rooms many times a day to remake the beds, deliver fresh fruit and wine, and turn down the sheets at bedtime. It's nuts!
My bathroom. Notice, it came with a personal rubber ducky.
Robes and a bidet! I didn't use the bidet, but the robe was comfortable.
While we were in Dubai, they were going through the holy month of Ramadan. The Qaran says that they are not allowed to eat between sunup and sundown, so finding food outside of the resort was difficult before sunset. After sunset could be just as hard though, since at that time everyone floods into the restaurants to gorge on food and drink.
The view of the Persian Gulf from my hotel balcony. The ocean water is over 90*F and isn't refreshing at all. However, I still swam out to one of two swimming platforms in the gulf. I had to wait until almost sundown so that I could stand the heat!
The hotel had multiple lounges like the one in the photo. Each lounge has couches on thick rugs and a table with giant hookas in the middle.
The brand-new Atlantis Hotel on one of the palm tree islands. At the time of this photo, the hotel hadn't opened yet, but should be open now. I'm not sure that I have ever seen a hotel built on this scale before. In this photo is only a very small portion of the hotel.
The mall in Dubai is now the largest in the world. It supposedly has the largest indoor amusement park, but Dad and I weren't impressed... It was more like an arcade with a couple carnival rides and a bowling alley. The mall itself was impressive, but not unlike our malls here....
Except that our malls do not typically have built-in ski slopes and toboggan runs. Just imagine, over 100 degrees outside and snowboarding inside!
Believe it or not, this beautiful building with water, light, and fire shows is just the parking garage for the mall.
This is the ski slope from the outside. That strip of light changes colors continuously like the Burj Al Arab.
The whole of Dubai is a lavish display of wealth. In the mall, all of the stores are insanely expensive and most are designers: Gucci, Armani, Valentino, Burberry, Chanel, etc. Also, the cars that are valet parked are Ferrari and Lamborghini and cars in a similar class.
The culture is a strange mix of modesty and immodesty. Many women wear the traditional burkas, which cover most of their bodies except their hands, eyes, and feet. Many men wear the traditional white robes with black cords around their heads. However, Dubai is also the new nightclub capital of the world, so I also saw a fair share of mini skirts and 4" heels. Also, even the women who show such modesty by covering their skin have gold embroidered burkas and head wraps that carry the labels of "Valentino" or "Gucci."
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