Photos: Bridge in Paris, open air market in Vienna, Demel cake display and at the request of my friend Pam I have also added the two photos in the photo exhibition

April has been a busy travel month. Dan came to visit for a week over Easter and we went to Paris for four days. Yes Paris in the springtime……it was great, though in my true fashion, I over scheduled the itinerary and walked our legs off.

Dan arrived in Holland on a Friday and we took the Thaleys train to Paris on Sunday (Easter) Morning. We stayed in a hotel between the shopping street Rue Clare and Hotel invalid, or Napoleon’s tomb. After checking into our hotel we went to theRodan museum and then went for a long walk along the Seines River to the Latin Quarter. After strolling past St. Michelle, Notre dam and the Pantheon, we had dinner then went back to the hotel.

Monday morning we walked down the Champs Elysees to the Louver. The streets were mobbed with people. On arriving at the Louver, we entered fairly quickly. The museum was swamped with more people. Of course because of the over whelming size of the space you have to pick and choose what to see. Most people want to see the great
pieces in the collection so every person entering the building heads to
see the Mona Lisa and Venus De Milo. We did the same.

The Mona Lisa was marked off with crowd control ropes allowing only a hand full
of people at a time to stand in front of her smiling face. It took
about 15 minutes to get close enough for a look. Of course there was a
sign “no photos”, thought some people felt it did not apply to them and
insisted on taking a picture even with museum staff holding up a sign
stating the same in front of their cameras. It was amazing to watch a
couple trying to push forward with their camera out trying to get the
people in front to move out of their way so they could snap a picture.
They were acting as if they were in a race.

Net we were off to Venus De Milo, and then rounded our museum day off with a tour through northern European masters from the 16th and 17th century. Of course including some great Dutch masters. This section of the museum was less crowded and we were able to linger a bit. After the Lover it was off toNotre Dom and the heart of Paris.

The next day we wanted to go to the Picasso museum and discovered it was closed on Tuesday. Miss read the guide and after finding it closed, we headed for the D’Orsay museum instead. The D’Orsay is filled with more impressionists such as Monet, Manet, Renoir and they had one Klemt. From there it was some shopping, a picnic dinner in the park in front of the Eiffel tower and a tour of Sacre Coeur at sunset. Then walked down “pig ally” and past the Moulin Rouge.

Our last day we did make it to the Picasso museum and after four days of
museum viewing we both were in “art overload” and our eyes began to cross. The museum was small and after and hour we headed to the Arcde Triomphe. From here it was shopping for a picnic lunch of cheese, crackers, tomato’s, good beer and the most amazing chocolate tart ever made for desert. Then it was off to the train station and back to The Hague.

The rest of Dan’s visit was spent exploring The Hague’s beach and hanging
out with friends. Sunday morning he was on a plane heading back to Portland.

Now on to other stuff: A few months back I joined the local English speaking photo club that has been in existence here for about ten years. Every year they have a photo exhibition where members can show the work that most reflects their individual talent. This year the museum where the club meets gave the club space for this
year’s exhibition. The museum has a photo section and there is a bar/restaurant attached to this section of the museum. We were given space set aside next to the restaurant dedicated to limited special exhibitions. Each member was allowed to submit two photos and with much reluctance I decided to participate. The two photos I submitted, to my surprise created a great deal of excitement with a few of my club
members. I think because they were very different from most of the
others.

The exhibition opened May 1st and there were thirty-six photos displayed in all. The club had an opening party at the museum restaurant and it was really exciting to see all the photos hanging up. I was asked by one of the club organizers if one of my
photos could be submitted to The Hague on line magazine for ex-pats. The magazine wants to do a write up to advertise the exhibition. Of course I said “yes”. We will see if they us it.

At the end of April I went to Vienna for a long weekend with Frank and Kristina.
Kristina had to go as a representative of our staff union for some meetings at the UN headquarters located there. The meetings followed a holiday weekend for us so the timing was good and we decided to take advantage of the extra day. The three of us flew to Vienna early on Saturday the 28th, Then Frank and I flew back to The Hague Monday evening leaving Kristina behind for the week to attend her meetings.

I have to say, Vienna is great! It is an easy place to get around and has a lot to offer. The architecture is a real cross between eastern and western Europe. The old center of town is very Germanic in its feel, though the people are much more posh. The food is also wonderful.

Kristina rented an apartment for us to stay in east of town. It was between the
center of town and “UN City” located on a small island on theDonau River. The area where we were felt a lot like the Balkans. The buildings looked like the ones Frank and I have become familiar with through evidence video showed in court. The trams were even the same as used in Sarajevo. The first time we got on, there was a slight urge to duck because these trams were a favorite target of snipers during the
war.

There is much to see and do. On Saturday night we had a Schnitzel dinner that was excellent. The schnitzel had to be a foot in diameter. After that we walked through town past the Oprah house and everyone we saw was dressed up. In front of the Oprah house we caught tram #1 which is one of two trams called “the ring trams”. These trams follow the old city wall footprint that use to ring the old part of the
city and gives you a ride past all the major sites.

Sunday was museum day and we got to see several Klemts’ and other Vienna greats. We wandered through the Hapsburg Places grounds and had coffee and cake at an amazing place called Demel. After our sugar overload, we toured the Hapsburg crypt and saw the resting place of Franz Ferdinand whose assassination started WWI.

Monday morning Kristina and I got up early and headed out to the open air food
market. Then we headed back to the apartment and picked Frank up for an
afternoon at “UN City”. We all meet the staff union president for lunch
and had a tour of the facility. Walking in you feel like you are at
“Federation Headquarters” and almost expect a Vulcan or Klingon to
round the corner at any moment. It is really strange. The facility is
like a mini city. There is a bank, travel agency, hair salon,kindergarden and duty free shopping available on sit for all staff member employed there.

Then after our UN day was over we all wandered around the old town center
for a few hours, then it was back to The Hague for Frank and me. I have
to say, Vienna is a place I could live.

As most of you know I will be seeing you all in a little more then a week. I will be back in Portland for a week from the 18th of May until the 28th.

Cheers,

Kim