namespace

Departure

London

Paris

Munich

Arrival

This is my sister, Carrie, and me on the plane before we left from Chicago's International terminal on our three-week vacation to London, Paris, and Munich.

Back to top

While we were in London, we used the London Underground system to go everywhere. I especially like this picture because the people are blurred from moving so fast--it seems like everything in London is accelerated somehow.

Piccadilly Circus is the equivalent of New York's Times Square. There is always something going on there.

Our hotel was right near one of the few McLaren dealerships in the world! Those cars are amazing, and I was happy just to see one.

We went to see the Tower of London, probably the richest historical location I've ever seen. Seeing the Roman walls there and walking through the ancient structures makes you realize how young the US is.

This is as close as they let you get to the guards inside the Tower of London complex. This picture was taken outside the building where the crown jewels are kept. The diamond on the scepter is pretty much the size of a softball.

We took a day trip out to Stratford upon Avon, and after a little trouble with our train tickets, we had a good time. This is a picure of William Shakespeare's birthplace, which has been converted into a museum of sorts.

Back in London, we visited St. Paul's Cathedral, an absolutely amazing place. We visited the WWII memorial and got to climb to the top for a view of the city.

All roads lead to Piccadilly Circus. We had a postcard vendor take our picture after visiting Tower Records (15 new Björk CDs for me!).

After spending a great week in London, we took the English Channel Tunnel to Paris. It took only three hours!

Back to top

We ran into some problems right away in Paris. Apparently, the day before we arrived, a Metro (subway) driver was beaten to death by some hoodlums. All of the Metro's drivers went on strike, and as a result, the traffic got very bad. Because of that, all of the buses and most of the taxis went on strike too. This is a picture of the crowd waiting for a taxi outside of the train station. We gave up and walked the 2 miles to our hotel, which was in a pretty good location, all things considered.

The first place we visited in Paris was the Notre Dame Cathedral, which was just a hop, skip, and a jump away from our hotel. The front was being renovated, but what was done really looked nice. I think they were fixing it up for the millennium celebration.

Just outside Notre Dame (you can see the renovation scaffolding behind me), a plaque in the ground marks the precise center of the city.

A view down the Champs Elysee towards L'Arc d'Triumph

Unfortunately, all of the museums were on strike in addition to the mass transit systems. The sign on the door behind me is a notice that L'Arc d'Triumph is closed due to a strike.

My picture of a lifetime in front of the Eiffel Tower! Unfortunately, we couldn't go up because it was too windy.

Outside the Palace of Versailles. It was open!

Versailles has a huge garden and collection of sculptures behind it. The statue in the fountain is Poseidon. Fittingly, it started raining while we were there.

The highest point in Paris is Sacre Coeur, which has a church and a variety of art for sale. It was fun to to there...probably my favorite place in Paris!

Back to top

Outside the Frauenkirche in Munich with the famous Zwiebelturm.

The view of Munich from the top (inside the Zwiebelturm).

We got to see the BMW Museum and take a tour of the factory where the 3 Series is built! It was amazing!

A wide variety of BMWs from years ago were on display inside the museum.

We toured the Olympic Park for the 1976 Olympic Games. While we were there, we visited the memorial for the people killed by terrorists that attacked the Israeli team during the games.

For an afternoon, we rented bicycles and rode to Munich's English Garden for a tour. Unfortunately, the camera was goofy that day, and most of the pictures didn't turn out from our trip.

We finally got to see an art museum in Munich. The newer of the two museums had a great Impressionist display, featuring works by Van Gogh and Monet.

We took a train to Fussen in order to see the castles Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. This is Hohenschwangau, the first castle built be Ludwig der Zweite, a German king.

This is the more famous of the two castles, Neuschwanstein. It was never finished before King Ludwig died under mysterious circumstances, probably because he nearly bankrupted the country during construction.

Back to top

Carrie and me on the way home after a great trip.

Back home again after landing at Chicago's O'Hare.

Back to top