Cairo

Cairo is a city that seems to belong to a different universe. It's not just dirty; there are literal mountains of trash everywhere. Frankly, it was a bit scary. We did see some beautiful mosques, and the next photo is the oldest Christian church in Cairo, called the Hanging Church. We witnessed some sort of baby christening with lots of incense and chant-like singing.

Also pictured: a donkey-pulled cart carrying cauliflower (such "vehicles" share the busy city roads with regular traffic); a lady carrying a massive bag of something on her head; the Nile (from the riverboat we ate lunch on); a great t-shirt; another pyramid photo (I couldn't resist); the bazaar where we shopped--lots of fascinating and sometimes cool stuff; and a picture of a huge, beautiful mosque.

Eilat

We spent our last vacation morning relaxing on a beach on the Red Sea in southern Israel. It was a gorgeous morning, and the water was clear (see above photo). Jacob and Shawn decided they needed to sport European-style swimwear... And yes, we're pasty--we live in England where the sun rarely shines. :)

The State Opening

The Queen's speech every November opens the new parliamentary session; it's called the 'State Opening.' It's happened for more than 500 years, and it's very elaborate and ceremonial. She delivers her speech on the grand throne in the House of Lords. Her speech sets out the legislative agenda for the parliamentary term, and it's written by members of parliament. She has no say in what she says. But basically every sentence begins with "my government is committed to..." The photos here are just screen shots from when I watched it online today. This country is so awesome!

(Prime Minister Gordon Brown (left) and David Cameron (right), Leader of the Opposition, are listening to the Queen's speech. Someone must make them sit together; most of the time they're yelling at each other over the table in the House of Commons.)

Berlin

Berlin was a really cool place to be this week, especially because Monday they celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It's rare to see remnants of something whose impact to the world was so huge and so recent. Above, that's us with the Berlin Wall just across the intersection in the background. We learned more details about Berlin during the world wars, Nazi Germany, the division of East Berlin from West Berlin and other cool stuff on a walking tour around the city.

Above, that's me in front of the Brandenburg Gate, an iconic monument in the city. Below is Ronald Reagan in front of the Brandenburg Gate in 1987; this is the speech where he encouraged the Soviet Union to increase freedom and peace in the Eastern Bloc by tearing down the Berlin Wall. Obviously it took another couple of years before it happened. The below photo makes the above photo pretty cool. :)

Ok, I can't resist another photo of the gate, this time it's the other side and it's at night.

Near the Brandenburg Gate is the Reichstag building, where the German parliament meets. It's a beautiful building. The photo below the Reichstag is Jacob in front of the building they call the 'washing machine.' It's where Forbes #1 most powerful woman in the world works. But sadly we didn't happen to run into Chancellor Merkel while we were there. We wanted to give her a shoulder massage.

We also saw Checkpoint Charlie, the most visible passage point between the Soviet and American sections of the city. Below our photo of the checkpoint replica (and Jacob's shoulder) is a photo from the 1961 standoff between American and Soviet tanks at the checkpoint.

We also took a day trip outside Berlin to Potsdam, which was cool. And we enjoyed great German food, so obviously it was a great trip. :)

J'ai la banane!

I went to Paris this week with some friends! As this was my 6th visit to Paris, I'll try not to bore you with things you've seen on the blog before.

I've wanted to visit the Musée d'Orsay forever, and I finally got to go! The Museum is famous for its collection of impressionist (and post-impressionist) paintings, and they were totally amazing!! I was particularly moved by the room full of Renoirs--I LOVED them! The museum itself is a former train station, which was super-cool. Isn't the clock amazing? (Also pictured, me with Vincent Van Gogh--well, his self-portrait anyway.)

In addition to the Musée d'Orsay, we visited the Louvre. (Yes, 2 art museums in one day is a fabulous day for me!) We saw several artists painting other paintings. This was the only guy who didn't have a prohibition of photographs. Also pictured, a close-up of Canova's Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss. Magnifique!

Mandatory to a visit to Paris is the eating of a freshly-made crêpe with Nutella inside. I had one of those Tuesday--délicieux. Then yesterday I lived on the edge and added banana to the Nutella crêpe. What a discovery! There was an ENTIRE banana in it, and the taste combination was awesome!

I took this photo of the Eiffel Tower from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. We were about to leave when the tower started sparkling--it was so beautiful! It wasn't easy to capture in a photo, so there's a 2-second video below.

A star! (...with 16 Michelin stars)

Don't you love unexpectedly seeing a celebrity?! After we got through customs in the Paris Gare du Nord we saw Gordon Ramsay and his crew in the Eurostar train terminal. Secondhand information told me that he was sampling his freshly-made croissants and filming passengers' comments about them.

Confession: Jacob and I love watching his shows! He's so mean, but his food just looks amazing! And even when he's mean he's usually right and always hilarious!

For those of you less familiar with his work, he's a famous chef. He ranks 3rd in the world in Michelin stars. His TV shows include The F Word, Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen. We loved it so much last year, we're really looking forward to the new season of The F Word in a couple of weeks.

Here's another confession: I was actually a bit star-struck when I saw him. People were going up and shaking his hand and getting photos with him, but I was a too chicken. Maybe I was afraid he'd berate me until I cried. :)

Hungary, anyone?

We now have Hungarian stamps in our passports after visiting Budapest this weekend. It was a beautiful, fascinating city, and we had a great time! We took a bus tour, 2 river cruises (one day, one night) and a fabulous walking tour. The weather was perfect!
(Above, a view of the city from Gellért Hill; below, the Hungarian parliament building on the banks of the Danube River)

Below is a photo of the beautiful St. Stephens Basilica. St. Stephen was the first king of Hungary, crowned in 1001; he's revered by Hungarians for bringing Christianity to Hungary. The architecture in Budapest was fascinating. The Basilica is Neobaroque; there are also a lot of communist-era structures, as well as TONS of art nouveau buildings.I'm not generally an art nouveau fan myself, but I loved the hole covers all over Budapest streets. Aren't they beautiful?

We learned a lot about Hungary on our walking tour. Gábor, our guide, told us interesting stories about growing up in Communist Hungary. He painted a fascinating picture of the realities of living under Orwellian scenarios that seem bizarre to outsiders. On a lighter note, the below photo is one of the only remaining Communist statues in the city. It commemorates the 1873 uniting of the city (which used to be 3 cities: Buda, Pest and Obuda). Either the Communists were totally clueless, or they had a sense of humor. Either way...what were they thinking?!

Food-wise, Hungary is famous for its goulash (pictured below). We tried it, and it was well-seasoned and delicious. What we enjoyed more than the goulash was the pastries! Hungary's most famous pastry (also pictured below) is called a Kürtőskalács (don't ask me to pronounce). Its cylindrical dough is dipped in sugar and cinnamon before it's baked on a spit. The sugar caramelizes and leaves a crispy outside, with the inner dough remaining soft. It was amazing!

Just a few more photos: the city at night from the boat tour (Buda Castle and the chain bridge); Jacob next to the city's famous "Little Princess" statue; and the beautiful Dohány Street Synagogue (the second-largest synagogue in the world).