London Eye

One thing that was fun last time I went to London was the London Eye. It's a giant Ferris wheel next to the Houses of Parliament. Some people say it's kind of an EYE Sore, because it is pretty huge and gaudy next to old buildings. I'm here to tell you though, it's a really great view.

I haven't been in London in a couple of years, so this blog is a little dated. I will check on the prices and verify the times, but other than that, I don't know how much has changed since the pictures were taken. It seems like London is always changing. There is always construction and every movie, TV show, or picture I've seen has constant change. 


My husband would not go up in it with me. As usual he stayed on the ground where he likes to be and missed out on an amazing aerial view of London.  I was also lucky enough to go up at Sunset so it was wonderful watching it go from dark to light.

The entire trip around takes about 30 minutes. It's not scary, unless you are afraid of heights, then I'm sure it's frightening. So, if you are scared of heights, don't go up.  The cars are glass and this makes the view even better. They put a lot of people in the cars, but there still seems to be enough room to move around.

It's $35 a person to take the ride. I remember having to wait in a line, so after you buy the ticket there is no assigned time. It's like a carnival ride where you stand in line. Then you get herded in with a bunch of other people. It's very touristy, but it's a lot of fun and if you're not scared of heights I highly recommend it. 

Hancock Building in Chicago

One Sunday morning while staying in Chicago I decided to visit the Hancock building. I'm pretty confident who ever is reading this probably saw it on Facebook. It's pretty well known for it's ride, TILT. This is a window in which you stand and it tilts out. Growing up living within a couple of hours of Chicago we would visit and go to Sears Tower, now known as Willis Tower. At the top of the building one of my friends (Or boyfriend, I can't remember) showed me that if you lean with your face against the glass you can feel the building move. I always liked that feeling. So I thought the TILT would be similar.

I got there early, around 8:15- the place actually opens at 9am everyday-but there was already a line. It may have been because it was a weekend, but I was so glad I got there early.

After I bought my $21 ticket for the 360 degree view (which only is just going up the elevator and walking around- you must buy the TILT ticket up at the top) I walked through several rooms meant to hold lines and saw all the informational videos and posted signs. There was a photographer with a green screen and then the Elevator.  The elevator had a cheesy ad for travel in Chicago and took about 2 minutes. Once on the top floor I quickly bought my $7 TILT ticket and went over to the area. I figured I would be able to see the views afterward. I was told the ride didn't start until 10am. No one told me this in advance. I walked around a little, looked out at the gorgeous lake Michigan beach below, which was covered in snow, and realized this was a much better view than the Sears Tower. Also, unlike the more famous Sears Tower, there were lots of places to sit. They have benches installed and it's a great place to sit and look at the skyline.  I made my way back to stand in line for half an hour because people were beginning to show up. Very quickly there was a very long line behind me.

When the ride opened there were 8 spots, I was in the first group for the day. There is no pictures allowed to be taken in that area, a photographer shows up to take your picture again so they can try sell it to you in the end. They play some very loud music, this masks the sound of the hydraulics of the ride, and it's kind of like doing a push up. You have to hold yourself up with these bars. It lasts about two minutes. It wasn't really scary or exciting. It was just kind of like a tip outward, then back. The next day I felt like I had done a bunch of push ups, so it's a good work out.

This is the TILT ride

The Hancock Tower is only one of many exciting places to see in Chicago, but the view is unbeatable. 

Chicago Botantical Gardens: Asia in Bloom

The Chicago Botanical Gardens had an Asian Orchid Show this year. It was amazing. I'm unsure if this is something they do every year or if it was something special this year. They had Orchids from all over the world, but mostly Asia and the South Pacific.  It was beautiful. I love botanical gardens. I am completely unable to grow or keep plants alive. My own garden and yard is disgraceful, but I love walking through greenhouses. Nothing on earth smells like that, except, well, earth.


The Orchid Show was amazing. There were hundreds of different Orchids all over the entire place. Every where I looked there was some exotic orchid. Sometimes they were in groups and occasionally single flowers. Sometimes they looked like they have faces or lips. There were so many colors as well. There was no end to it.

The weather in Chicago in February is not beneficial to growing anything except in a greenhouse.  When I went, was really cold and windy, but the greenhouse was warm and full of life. In order to get to the orchids we had to walk outside, which I'm sure is lovely in the summer. It being so close to Lake Michigan, one of the Greatest Lakes in the world, makes it an ideal summer spot to stop. 

Sorrento: Amalfi Coast

When we stopped in Italy we took an excursion through Sorrento and Naples. It was Amazing. We got to tour a farm and watch a woman make mozzarella cheese. We also stopped at the Lemoncello factory where we had shots of the Lemon Liqueur.  It was all delicious. 

The tour through a farm in Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast was fascinating. Farms are set up differently in Italy. The hillsides and rocky terrain make it difficult for traditional farming in plains. I'm from the Midwestern United States so for me "farmland" means a flat place where people grow corn and wheat or have orchards where you can see miles of trees. In Italy it's very different. They grow a lot of their food in trees which have many nets underneath them to catch the fruit. It was amazing to see all the different kinds of fruit trees and to know that the farm doesn't just specialize in one kind of fruit or vegetable, but a bunch of different ones. I knew Olives grew on trees and this is staple in farmland. There were tons of olive trees all around.  Next there were many citrus trees: Oranges and Lemons prominently. I also saw a pomegranate tree! I didn't even know they grew on trees!!! The rocky hillsides are perfect for the fruit bearing trees. 

Rocky hillsides, fruit bearing trees, and the sea

On this farm we got to see an olive press, where olive oil was made and we also got to try some with fresh bread and fresh mozzarella. It was delicious.  The Amalfi coast was a beautiful back drop for our scrumptious lunch.  We were able to look on on the beautiful Mediterranean sea and eat delicious traditional fare as well!

Ancient olive press

This was the window in the bathroom

Cruise advice: Simple reference guide

There are many things to love about cruises. The food, the courteous staff, the pool, the excursions, the shows. My husband and I have been on many cruises and here is some simple advice to help you if you have decided to sail the high seas!

1- Go to your doctor and get sea sick patches. Do not hesitate or chance this. The Dramamine will make you sleepy, the pressure bands might not work. The sea sick patches always work for me and I suffer from severe motion sickness.

2-We brought an over the door shoe rack to hang over the bathroom door. Tight spaces need solutions. This is an excellent space saver to have any and all of the things you need in the bathroom and any medicines you need to bring along.

3- If you are not spending much time in your room, do not get a suite. It's not worth the price if you are going to hang out in the lido deck most of the time.  If you are going to hang out on lido make sure you get up early on days at sea to get a chair. They fill up fast and you are not allowed to hold a seat.

4-Go to the dining room every night. If you only eat at the buffet and fast food you are missing out on trying things you otherwise wouldn't try in a restaurant. It is included in the price and they always have something I've never tried or wanted to try. If you don't like what they serve, send it back and get something else. Also, if you don't like anything there are other dining options always open to you, (Or complementary room service, which if you got the suite you might want to hang out in there anyway.)

5- research the excursions before getting on the cruise, sometimes they sound good, or amazing, but can be really expensive disappointments. The fact they ensure you will get back to the ship on time before it disembarks is really important.

6- always stay on ship time. Get a watch. You do not want to see your ship disembark without you.

7-Days at sea are nice days for relaxing, but if your port of call is not a place you are interested in remember the ship has awesome deals on massages, beauty treatments, and of course the gym and pool will be empty so it's a bonus.

8- Check out the shows. A recent cruise we went on had Mama Mia on Broadway. Sure, it wasn't Broadway, but really what is (Broadway of course!).  It was still pretty good being on such a small stage.

Hope this helps! 

Pompeii: Warning, Pictures of the brothel

We went to Italy last October and it was a lot of fun. We saw Naples, a Cameo Factory, and of course Pompeii. The ruins are pretty amazing, but what I was most disappointed by was the lack of bodies. I know that sounds really macabre, but there were very few of the cast bodies around. When images of Pompeii stir in my mind I think of the people that were cast in stone forever at the base of the volcano. I've seen these pictures, most people have.

But Pompeii offers something a little different. I personally enjoy walking through ruins. Living this close to Detroit it would be a shame if I did not love going through ruins (Haha) My interest in Anthropology makes me want to go to these places, Manchu Picchu, Stonehenge, any place people have occupied and left a mark. Pompeii is a little different, it was an entire city, including ancient brothels. The streets were some what "littered" with Penises leading the way to houses of ill repute.

We began the tour in the center of a court yard. It was lovely. The grass was green, I could see where there used to be doors, it was like a mini stadium. Then we walked over to an actual stadium. It wasn't large, it was more like an Amphitheater, there probably used to plays or concerts held in such a place. As I stood there I imagined watching men act out a play, or perhaps deliver a speech on morals. The next place we went was out into a street. It was pretty amazing how the cross walks had extraordinary bumps in the middle to let carriages through. The housing was small, but very cute. I tried picturing roofs on the tops, because they were probably made of thatch. It's amazing to look at the spaces and think, people used to eat, sleep, and dwell here.

Then we saw a penis on the ground in the stone. This pointed us to the brothel. The brothel was interesting as well. There were pictures on the walls. Almost like a menu at a McDonald's. The rooms were very small with stone beds made out against the sides.  I wondered what on earth could possibly make those stone slabs any softer and made a comment to my sister about the condition of the prostitutes knees. I wondered if there was any evidence of damaged knee caps in the archaeological record.

We walked into other rooms. Rooms with fountains and after we left the brothel there were still penises all over the place, seemingly pointing us back to the brothel. This was probably the biggest business in town.

We also saw places of prayer, large beautiful columns that probably once held thatch covered roofs. At the end we finally saw a couple of the bodies. There was a dog and there was a child and there was a man. But most of the bodies were taken away or casts were made of them. Maybe I have a really macabre sense of history, but I wanted to see more. I expected the place to be teaming with bodies, they would have been strewn about like sand on a beach. If this is what you want as well, you will be disappointed.

"How much for that one?"

Our tour guide next to male genitalia

Most of the people who died asphyxiated

Amphitheater

These were the city streets

Toulon, France

This dog was everywhere, it's like their mascot

Our last stop on the cruise was in Toulon. This is also part of the French Rivera, it is near Marseilles and Provence. Toulon is a very nice place to walk around. There were blocks of flea markets and shops. It was lovely.

We walked about three blocks from the boat to find this amazing open air market. It stretched for blocks and contained all sorts of things. There are also solid brick and mortar stores, so it's like a downtown without car traffic. We found a resale store and they had some really cool stuff, like Murano glass necklaces from the 1940's, lots of antiques, and beautiful old clothing. It was a really nice place.

There were many English speaking people in the market, but occasional someone would only be able to speak French, going to this place it is helpful to at least know numbers and how to ask, "How much?" Even if you don't speak French, the people are nice.


There is fresh fruit, bakeries, blocks of cheese, and little dogs every where.  I bought the softest sweater I've ever owned in my life. The clothing was amazing in the stores and in the streets.  People frequently ride mopeds or motor cycles.

The first place we stopped was in front of a beautiful, old Catholic Church. I love Churches, so I stepped inside to look around. The inside was just as lovely as the outside. There was a gorgeous baptismal fountain at the entrance. I lit a candle, left a donation, and quietly made my way out as a service was beginning.  They were used to tourist and had a special exit. Walking around the market was peaceful. There were all sorts of smells, the bakery, flowers, tea, and soaps. It was an excellent place to spend the day. 

Mopeds everywhere!

My favorite: The bakery

A statue

Ajaccio, France (Corsica)

Everyone loves this guy! Pictured: My sister and Aunt

#BeachGoals

My favorite stops on our cruise were in France. We didn't do much in them but we stopped twice. Once on the island in Corsica, (Ajaccio, Pronounce AH-JA-C-OH) and the other time in Toulon. Ajaccio is beautiful. The boat slips, the palm trees, and Napoleon's birth place! All of it. Amazing. Seriously, the beaches are so pretty, #Beachgoals should be it's motto.

When we first arrived we strolled up to a tour bus and bought a ticket to take a ride out to another part of the island. The person at the booth barely spoke English, this also happened when we tried to order food. (On the island it can be hard to get around without at least a little bit of French.) The tour was full of historical information about the island. Napoleon was born on this island, he lived here, and this is the ancestral home of the Bonaparte family, so there are many things named after him here. The other side of the island the bus took us was a different kind of beach. It was very peaceful and pretty, but rocky. Most of the people using this side were using it for Kayaks and snorkeling, but not sunning and laying around.  The landscape was very hilly, but the inhabitants seemed to be making good use of the space they have available. I was surprised by the variety of vegetation, it seemed there were a lot of cacti.


After the bus trip we tried a restaurant. Their English was weak and my French is weaker so it was a bit of a struggle. I had some interesting steak (It was delicious) with some unrecognizable sauce (I am not a foodie, but I do enjoy eating) and I savored every bite. Despite the language barrier people were really, really nice and I had a nice glass of wine while looking out on the port.

After lunch we walked over to the beach, there were a lot of people there. This beach was sandy and it was beautiful.  We walked the city streets, visited a pharmacy, (It's always fun to look around) and headed back toward the docks. I decided I wanted a Crepe and my Aunt went with me. Mine was good, I had it with strawberries and they tasted very fresh.


Soon it was time to board the ship again, there is never enough time at these stops, but there is just enough to know if you'd like to come back.

Mediterranean Sea

City Streets, lots of bikes!

Lil' Napoleon (He didn't get much bigger)

Napoleon is everywhere

Kupor, Montenegro

One of the stops on the cruise was in Kupor, Montenegro. It is a country which was part of the former Yugoslavia. Just like Croatia, Montenegro was a victim of the Serbian war in the 1990's.  It became it's own independent country after the war. Despite the rain pouring down on us the landscape was breath taking. We did not plan an excursion on the day we ended up in Montenegro and we were pretty much at a loss of what to do. Luckily, we ran into a man named Nenad. He was a cab driver. He said he would drive us around. 

I was admittedly skeptical. He had a license, written in Cyrillic, so I could not read it, he had some laminated pictures of the surrounding area, and he was basically standing around near the dock looking for people to drive around. When he said he had Wifi we could use and he shielded me from the rain with his umbrella, I deduced he was a good person.  (I am not endorsing anyone ever do this, because he was after all a stranger, albeit a nice one) He drove us to Budava, which is a town in Montenegro, we didn't have a lot of time, but he stopped along the side of the road to let us take pictures of the sea and the mountains. I lost my camera cap somewhere along the way, which was is ok because I have a UV filter on it so the lens wasn't going to get scratched.  I was too caught up in all the beauty of the country side to worry about it.

Budava

Nenad drove us around the mountains and we saw some really amazing views of the inlet the ship sailed in on and he was very informative about the lay of the land. He showed us places where old hotels were and places which had still not recovered from the war. There was graffiti all over in some areas, but it was really good graffiti. They must have some talented artists in Montenegro. He told us about the island with a church built on it, half of it's man made. This seemed to be the big selling point if you visit the church on the island. They are all very proud of this man made island.

He took us back towards our ship and we paid him 50 Euros for our tour. It was completely worth it.  Overall, he was really, really nice and I still hear from him occasionally on Whatsapp.  He's a very nice person, we were very lucky to encounter him.

 

When we returned to the port we went inside the old city for a brief tour, they have old city walls too, just like Dubrovnik.  We saw a farmer's market with vegetables I was unfamiliar with and that always excites me.  They also have this really cool ancient looking clock. The entire place was buzzing with tourists, but it still had an unusual charm to it. Possibly because its nestled in the mountains, maybe because its surrounded by sea, or perhaps it's just people like Nenad making the entire place seem warm, friendly, and like a place worth getting to know better.

Corfu, Greece

One of the stops on our cruise last October was the island of Corfu, Greece. It was a delightful little place. We went on a tour of the city and I got to try Kumquat liqueur.  This is similar to Lemoncillo in Italy, but instead of lemons it is made of Kumquat and it is very sweet. We also tried Ouzo. This is a Greek liquor and it was very, very strong. The Ouzo tasted like licorice and looked very milky.

When we first arrived at Corfu we went on a walking tour of the old city. It was a lovely little park by the sea. There  were sculptures in the gardens. I loved seeing the Greek alphabet actually in use. It's so different from any other alphabet in the world and really, how often do you ever see it except in Greece?

After our tour of the park by the sea we went to the town and wandered around the shops. The shops were very expensive, but they had some interesting jewelry and all of them carried Kumquat Liqueur and some of them gave samples. I bought a bottle to bring home, it's a beautiful color. 

City Streets

Shopping district

Part of one of the government buildings

After shopping we went to a restaurant named Spiros & Vasilis. Our tour guide explained to us the name Spiros in Greece is very common. A lot of the restaurants and shops are named Spiros. The restaurant was great. They showed us all the dishes they made. Our main course was pastitsio, which is a Greek version of lasagna. Instead of marina they use a white sauce. We also had some interesting appetizers. The dishes contained bay leaves, which seemed to be growing every where around us.




Our desert was (Of course) amazing Greek yogurt with honey and walnuts.  It was the best Greek Yogurt I've ever had, but then again, I was in Greece...

Greek Yogurt and Honey

Bay Leaves

It was a beautiful sunny day, but we were under a tent, which turned out to be a great thing because it suddenly rained very heavily. Our tour guide explained it happens that time of year. I did not have an umbrella, so if you go there in the fall, bring an umbrella.

Overall Corfu was wonderful and I do wish we had more than a day there. The people were friendly, the food was good, and it was a wonderful stop on our trip!

Where we went: Spiros & Vasilis: https://www.facebook.com/spirosvasilisrestaurant/

Frederik Meijer Garden Butterfly Exhibit

Monarchs are hard to spot in the caterpillar room

This year I finally went to the butterfly exhibit. Every year Fredrick Meijer Gardens Sculpture Park hosts butterflies. These beautiful insects are flown in as caterpillars and people can tour the gardens looking at the various stages of the butterfly. Then in the tropical room butterflies fly everywhere. It is very chaotic. They frolic and play and there were several that were as big as the palm of my hand. It is overwhelming, but amazing. I loved the fact I could watch these huge, beautiful creatures in the prime of their life fluttering about with out a care in the world. Really and truly it must be kind of stressful being a butterfly. Think about it: limited life span (2-3 weeks), having to find good places to lay eggs, need to find a good mate to fertilize eggs, constant worry about getting eaten or killed. Actually, I guess it's like being a human on a smaller scale (Without the worry of getting eaten or being crushed by toddler fingers).
 

When entering the gardens there are security in and out of the butterfly exhibit because apparently butterflies try and hitch rides with unsuspecting people. The brochure upon entry described in great detail where the butterflies are farmed from, Costa Rica, they are actually shipped up in the chrysalis stage.  The chrysalis are carefully packaged with cotton and soft paper and off they go to the gardens.  When they arrive at the gardens they are still in this stage.

I took some slow motion videos of the butterflies. They did not turn out as spectacular as I hoped. They were still moving pretty fast. Even the slow motion didn't make them look slow.

The pictures I took were not all that great either, but it was nice to just sit and enjoy the butterflies. My only regret is that I wish I had gone sooner in the season because they were starting to die out when I finally made it down. There are lots of good places to sit and a beautiful waterfall inside. The exhibit runs every year until around April 30th.

Here is some more pictures! 

This is a small postman, native to Central America