WANDERINGS
Wow! Did we really
pull this trip off? When Karen and I
started thinking about our trip to Europe, we had these fantastical ideas of
what we would like to see and do with our boys.
The amazing thing, thanks to Karen’s masterful planning, is that
our boys were able to see everything we had hoped they would see. One caveat for those hoping to read about the
Louvre and other boring museums: This
trip was for the boys to see and do things they know and will remember. Karen and I will one day stroll down the
Champs-Elysees, drinking good wine and peruse fine museums. This was not that trip.
MOSCOW
Our visit to Moscow happened by pure chance. We had already planned the bulk of our trip
when the vagaries of Russian state holidays provided us with a opportunity to
extend our vacation. I have given up
trying to figure out the reasoning behind the holiday system over here. They get days off and then have to work “make
up” Saturdays and I just cannot wrap my head around the whole system. Regardless
of my systemic understanding, the system provided us a golden opportunity to see Moscow for
a couple of days and we took it.
We traveled to Moscow on May 9, which Americans call VE
(Victory in Europe) Day and the Russian
‘s just call it Victory Day. Those
readers that remember my post about Saratov’s Victory Park will understand how
big a day this is for the Russians and we found ourselves staring at the
Kremlin and the entrance to Red Square on their highest national holiday. This day turned out to be not the best for
tourists, but it allowed us to see the Russians showing their patriotism on a
level that parallels our Fourth of July celebrations. It was particularly cool to see the aged
warriors who won their war walking around in their finest uniforms dripping
with medals. It was just a cool day to
be in Moscow.
The following days were spent looking at Christ the
Redeemer, St. Basil’s and soaking up the scene inside Red Square. Christ the Redeemer is a spectacular church
that was lost to fire in 1931 and rebuilt only after the fall of the Soviet
Union; the collection of bejeweled religious
iconography found inside the church are some of the most beautiful pieces of
art I have ever seen. St. Basil’s is 500 years old and a majestically
beautiful church that has watched over the Kremlin for all of those 500 years. St. Basil’s was the most moving thing I saw
on our trip; it is magnificent in its grandeur, but I could not help but think what a
counterpoint to communism the elegant church must have made. We would have loved to see more of Moscow,
but time was short and it was off to England.
Before we leave Moscow, there is one memory of Zac that Karen and I will never forget. Zac loves
puzzles and he had completed puzzles of St. Basil’s and of Christ the
Redeemer. To see that little boy’s eyes
widen when he saw his puzzles come to life and to see him bounce on the balls
of his feet as he excitedly said “MOMMMY, LOOOOKKK..” are memories that I will
cherish for my lifetime.
LONDON
English!!! Glorious English!!! When we had talked about our vacation, I had
pulled for Greece and Karen flatly stated we are going to a place that speaks
ENGLISH! Man , is it a good thing I
married such a smart woman, because we were all desperate to communicate in our
native tongue after three months of Russian. It actually shocked me the first couple of times I heard English; I had been preparing to say "excuse me" in Russian and then I would realize the person was speaking English. Just GLORIOUS!
We stayed in London for a couple of days, zipping around on
the Tube. The first day we went to the
London Zoo, excuse me, the Zoological Society of London. It is the oldest zoo in the world and, as one
might expect, it is magnificent. I will
save the reader an animal by animal description and will opt for one story: One of the lions, a young one, had decided
that a duck in its watering hole looked really tasty and put on quite a show of
stalking for us. Unfortunately for the
lion, the lion did not really know how to hunt and the duck saw it and just
swam away. Anyways, we were not able to see everything in the zoo even though
we arrived when it opened and did not leave until they started ushering people
out. 
The following day, we went to the London Eye, a huge Ferris
Wheel that the boys know from an episode of Phineas and Ferb, and took a boat
tour on the Thames. While the Eye and
the tour were cool, I could not help but notice how new London looked in
comparison to other European cities.
London has been around since the Romans, but there is little evidence of
this claim to antiquity in the city. It
was not until we made it to ancient Edinburgh, after a day in historic Paris, that I realized
that the newness is due to the German Luftwaffe having obliterated the city in
the Battle of Britain. As much as London
has to offer, it is not the type of city that one walks about with eyes up to
look at the architecture.
PARIS
I must admit that I am the one who advocated for a quick
trip to Paris and the Eiffel Tower. I
wanted to insert this trip into the itinerary, because I was too dumb to go up
the Eiffel Tower when I had been to Paris twenty years ago. I was twenty and thought it was cool that I
took a Ferris Wheel equal in height to the tower.
I thought it was great that I spent less money on the Ferris Wheel than it cost to climb the tower and I figured
I would be back soon enough (again, I was twenty when I came to this
conclusion). Anyways, we planned a day
trip to Paris from London and booked the tickets to the Eiffel Tower before I
could channel my inner-Sweeney and come up with any more reasons not to pay to
climb it.
The day trip to Paris was made possible by the bullet train
that runs from London to Paris; one way takes two hours or so and it is really
painless by international travel standards.
We took a bus tour around Paris, went up the Eiffel Tower and saw Paris
on a crystal clear day in May. We
thought we were going to have time for a stroll in the Tuilleries or to do some
other sightseeing, but by the time we got up the tower it was time to head back
to our train for London.
Outside of getting the boys up the Eiffel Tower, I was
agnostic, at best, about going to Paris.
The last time I had been there, I had found the city to be dirty, rude
and completely overrated in comparison to the other European cities I had
visited. This trip, I found Paris to be
just spectacularly beautiful. It was so
nice, that I hope Karen and I do make it to the Champs-Elysees for a glass of
wine and some quality museum time.
EDINBURGH
The reason for our trip to Edinburgh was to visit family,
because my Aunt Lucy (dad’s sister), her husband, Todd, and daughter, Emily,
all live there. While we were looking
forward to some quality family time, we really had no idea what to expect of
the city itself. What we found, at least
what I found, is the place I want to live if I ever become independently
wealthy. Until Edinburgh, I had never
been to a city and thought it was the place for me. The city is just beautiful and has a nice
mixture culture, history and, you guessed it, pubs.
While we were in Edinburgh, I turned forty and my Dad came
over to share the day. While it was
great fun having a pint on my birthday, we went to Edinburgh Castle the
following day and the sun was actually shining. As a result of the sun making a rare appearance in Scotland, we were treated
to spectacular views from the walls of a castle that had been around as long as
the town. My dad even got treated to
Zac climbing just a little too far out on one of the cannons defending the
castle (when I saw Dad’s look as Zac did his thing, I could not help a “Welcome
my world” comment”). All in all, spending
a sunny day climbing around an ancient castle in Scotland is not bad to mark
forty years.
One final thought on my desire to live in Edinburgh should I
win the lottery and Karen agrees. After the glorious
sunshine of our trip to the castle, we were treated to two days of weather even
the Scots were complaining about. While
it was truly miserable weather, I still thought the place was just cool.
Free Family Advertising:
Lucy has a new book, titled Mimi,
coming out in February. It should be
available most anywhere books are bought.
HEARTBREAK
I do not think there is anything Karen and I could do to
prepare ourselves for the heartbreak we felt when Zac asked if we were in
America when we landed back in Russia.
All of us had really enjoyed being out and about, but Zac had really
loved hearing English and had engaged in more random conversations than we had
ever seen him engage in before. I do
not think I need to explain how Karen and I felt when we saw the look on Zac’s
face as his hopes for being in America were dashed. The young man will get his wish in six short
weeks, but Mommy and Daddy felt so bad for him on that day.
Random Observation of the Week
Four of the world’s finest cities in nine days with two boys
and a guy turning forty? No problem if Karen Ellmann is setting the schedule.
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