Corkscrewed

Thanks! It's a shame about the camera thing, so I guess I'll just play it by ear... or eye. And as for the trains, if all else fails, I'll just ask the people at the ticket booth when I get my train tickets. Thanks!

Oh my effing goodness, that was hilarious! All of it! You can have your own website with this. It's like Homestarrunner meets TPR! Fantastic comics, and Stationman's Dark Ride was classic. Great voice acting, btw. Your skills are truly amazing. Keep up the awesome work!

Thanks! There's supposed to be a train station directly at Port Aventura. It doesn't show up on the RENFE search, but clicking on a direct timetable does show it. And I've already got housing covered. This is like a day trip, so there's no real need to stay at a hotel at PA. Thanks for the advice on the rides, though! Oh, does anyone have any idea about the camera policy? Do they allow camcorders on board coasters, or are they like Cedar Fair (i.e. they're camera Nazis)?

VOLUME 7: PARIS... AGAIN Thursday, October 12, 2006 After another overnight train, we were in Paris for a couple of days. We arrived around 9:30 in the morning, went to our hotel, the Hotel Royal Bastille, left our luggage, and set out for a short field study day. Our first stop was the Cartier Center, by Jean Nouvel (yep, yet another Nouvel building). Unfortunately, it was closed. The exhibit that our professor had wanted us to see was being taken down. Needless to say, Selwyn was quite disappointed. The building itself was sort of interesting, though. It's glass, glass, and more glass. Unfortunately, the rain prevented a more glamorous photo of the project. After that... class was done! However, some of us decided to take an excursion to the infamous underground catacombs of Paris. Now this was quite an experience! Imagine a long series of damp, winding, sometimes claustrophobic corridors a good 60 feet underground or more. Now imagine that they're filled with bones... lots and lots of bones. Skulls, femurs, ribs. All piled and arranged in artistic patterns. All dimly lit. Well, you have the Paris Catacombs. Delightfully creepy! You enter by going down a very long spiralling stair. And I mean long. And dizzying. Because you're just going round and round and round.... down, down, down into the bowels of the city. You finally arrive at a little "lobby" that has several poster exhibits detailing the history of the catacombs. Basically, in the late 18th century, city officials decided to exhume thousands of corpses from mass graves that had been haphazardly made because disease was rampant at the time. The problem was that bodies were often carelessly buried, and besides creating a space shortage, it also worsened sanitary conditions. To fix this problem, the remains were moved to underground quarries that had previously been used to get the limestone that makes up much of the city's buildings. In a gruesome, massive undertaking, thousands of bodies and bones were moved and effectively dumped underground. It took another couple of decades before someone decided that the catacombs could be used to illustrate part of the city's history. Eventually, one of the city officials reorganized the system and had the bones "repositioned," to create patterns, walls, and just a whole variety of things. The result was an eeriely beautiful display of human art. Literally. Anyway, after the "lobby, you enter a long corridor. It looks something like this. Except it turns a few times. Eventually, you reach the bones. On either side, bones are piled up to form walls. Indeed, it's not for the faint of heart. You might very easily become scrrr'd. (scared) But if you're... um... me... you find it pretty cool. All around, there are thousands of remains placed artistically. It's really quite incredible. And surprisingly, it's not really smelly or anything. The remains are so old that any odor of rot has long since vanished. Going through the catacombs is like going through a dank cave. It's musky and damp, but it's not fetid. And the interesting thing is that even though we walked through a 5 kilometer section of the catacombs, there are actually hundreds of kilometers worth of corridors. These tunnels literall stretch throughout the city. Paris literally stands on hundreds of thousands of bones. I find that utterly fascinating. And you might find me weird for finding that fascinating, but hey, it fit the Halloween mood of the time. We returned back to the hotel and rested for the afternoon. In the evening, we re-emerged from slumber for a night out on the town. I caught this moment of the Place Bastille at sunset time. We went to Sacre Couer first. A beautiful church on a large hill overlooking the city, Sacre Couer has been a top tourist spot for decades. And it's certainly beautiful at night... We approached the church from the rear. The lighting is quite dramatic and showcases the clean white marble stone of the building. The front is pretty nice too. And looking across the great stepped lawn, you can see the beautiful city of Paris unfold in front of you. You'd see more if it was daytime, but unfortunately, we did not have a chance to visit during sunlit hours. Afterwards, we decided to walk over to the Moulin Rouge. To get there, we had to go through Paris' red light district. I wasn't aware Paris had a red light district, but apparently it does. Sex related attractions everywhere!! The Moulin Rouge was pretty nice. I *think* this is not the original one, but it still holds shows inside. We'll close with a nifty long exposure shot I took without the aid of an LCD screen, since my camera decided to go low on batteries right as we reached our destination. Fortunately, this was our last stop for the night. Friday, October 13, 2006 Today was a fuller day. In the morning, we visited Parc Andre Citroen (named after the car manufacturer and built on the former grounds of a Citroen factory). This is a pretty cool example of an urban park. For one thing, it's huge. And for another, it's got some great spaces carved by landscaping. And thirdly, it was a nice sunny day, which is always a good thing when visiting a park. So here's a sunken garden. It's part of what's called the Black Garden, which features sectional changes with landscape on either side forming some really cool spaces. Here's what I mean by landscape on either side forming cool spaces. There's a couple of big glass greenhouses that double as exhibition spaces in the middle of the park. In the foreground is part of a massive lawn. The parks's got some nifty fountains... and a giant balloon you can ride to get some aerial views of Paris if you're willing to overpay. After lunch, we headed toward Maison La Roche, a Corbusier building. Did I mention I love the streetscape of Paris? Inside Maison La Roche, which features Corb's five points (piloti column support structure, free plan, free facade, ribbon windows, and a roof garden). The interior reflects the elegant, pure style of the Modernist era. And heck, it's nice to finally visit a building designed by the architect that every instructor has been shoving down our throats since first year. The house has a nice central atrium space with bridges that connect the two halves. It's actually more of a double house. Corb's brother also lived there, I think, and today, it's home to the Corbusier Foundation. This is the nice roof garden, which we were not allowed to access (the photo is taken thruogh a glass door). The official school day was over at this point, but a few of us decided to visit Parc de la Villette, another modern urban park--on the other side of the city. No worries, the Paris Metro system is superb (as I've touted multiple times before), and we were there in less than 45 minutes. Try getting across Los Angeles in 45 minutes during rush hour. Not possible. So the park is situated next to the Cité Museum. We didn't go in, but I hear it's got some interesting exhibits on science, industrial design, and the like. The park has a LOT of sculptures and sculptural bridges and structures. It was originally intended to be completely hardscaped--no trees or grass or anything. Just pure urban materials. But that was a tad too extreme. After exploring part of the park, we decided to hold our own Long Jump competition. Here's my friend, Amar, jumping over an imaginary river while we watch in amazement. That concludes Friday the 13th, a day that didn't turn out to be so cursed. Tomorrow would be a free day in Paris. And that meant taking a pilgrimage to the holy shrine of architecture, Villa Savoye. Or at least you'd think it was a holy shrine, given how much every architecture professor at USC raves about it. Would it live up to the hype? Find out soon! Saturday, October 14, 2006 Half of this update is pretty much dedicated to the architecture people on this mailing list. The rest of you will probably just nod politely as you read and remark, "Oh, I suppse that's a nice house." Anyway, Saturday. Free day. We can go anywhere in Paris we want. Well, I'd already gone to Disneyland Paris last time, so this time, I decided to be more scholarly and visit what is only the most famous house in all of architecture. Well, at least most famous European house. Yes, indeed, it was time to finally visit Villa Savoye, Le Corbusier's masterpiece of modern design. This is the building that everyone has touted since first year. It was practically built up as the shangri-la of architecture, the greatest creation of the greatest architect in the world. Or at least that was the hype. Was Villa Savoye that good? In a word, yes. Despite my high expectations, this building was incredible. And it wasn't just the pure exterior and diagrammatic layout and execution of the design that impressed me. It was the fantastic nature of the interior spaces, the quality of light in every room, the roof garden, the terraces, the flow of space that was truly impressive. And the gorgeous weather didn't hurt either! The entrance takes visitors to the back of the building first. The house isn't actually set in a field in the middle of nowhere; Poissy is actually a pretty dense suburban town. But it is set in a field shielded from its surroundings by thick trees and foliage, so it does have the effect of looking like a jeweled ship anchored on a verdant green lawn. You come around the lawn to arrive at the front, where you behold the money shot--one of the most famous photos in all of architecture! "OH MY GOSH! I'M STANDING IN FRONT OF VILLA FREAKIN' SAVOYE!!!!!!" Here is the main vertical circulation: a ramp that connects all three floors of the building. There's also a set of stairs to the side, but the main mode of circulation is obviously meant to be the path. It's also something that Corb-worshipper Richard Meier uses in his buildings. Here, you can see the incredible quality of light already. The interior practically glows with natural light, and it is truly wonderful. On the second level, a living room opens up to an outdoor terrace to the left. It still has the original furniture Corbusier designed for the house (as he did for practically all of his buildings). How is a Corb chair like? Well, it's comfortable, at least. This is the master bathroom. It's actually pretty elegant, and is accessible directly from the master bedroom. There's not really a door on this side of the bathroom. The ribbon windows allow plenty of light to flood each room with plenty of sun. This is perhaps the most amazing thing about the house. Books constantly talk about the theory behind it, with the aforementioned Five Points, but it's also quite an experience as well. The natural lighting is my favorite thing about Villa Savoye, because it makes the quality of the spaces so much more incredible and enjoyable. A shot of the outdoor terrace. The ramp moves outside at this level and continues to the roof garden. We were so overwhelmed that we actually voluntarily sketched, even though this was not an official class trip, nor was there any assignment required here! The roof garden is pretty nice. The crush gravel you see in the foreground is actually very common throughout parks and gardens in France. I think it'd be really cool to use this in the U.S., because it's a simple and neat way of giving an outdoor space a nice ground layer that's not too hard or too soft. The stair is to the left, the ramp is to the right. And again, I emphasize how amazing the light is throughout this building. Nothing like relaxing on a Corbusier reclining chair. Finally, after a couple of hours, it was time to leave. But not before giving a hug to a dear friend. Yup. I hugged a piloti. "Villa Savoye, I've read about you for years, and it's been a great pleasure to finally meet after all this time. I hope I can visit you again. Signed, Albert." On the way back, I decided to take a side stop and visit La Defense, a "second downtown" business sector on the outskirts of the city. I liken this area to Downtown LA... except better. This whole complex started as a result of Parisians being outraged by a skyscraper being erected in the city by Montparnasse Station. They vowed/voted to have no more skyscrapers in the city ever again, so when the time came to build a new business district to handle city growth, La Defense was placed on the northwest side. The development was basically office buildings and some retail at first, and for years, the area stagnated becaused no one really used it outside of business hours (sound familiar? the exact same thing happens in Downtown LA; that's why it's freaky to be there after dark) However, Parisians were quick to learn the lesson, and housing was added to give afterhour usage (also familiar; that's what they're trying to do in Downtown LA now). And now, it's actually a really cool place. Skyscrapers soar over a main esplanade. Buildings are glassy and modern, and the whole area feels like a modern U.S. metropolis than rich, historical Paris. But it's still really nice. The centerpiece of La Defense is La Grande Arche. It is built at the end of a long urban axis extended from the Champes Elysses, through the Arc de Triomphe, all the way out to La Defense. The main esplanade is organized along this axis, which terminates at the Grand Arch. And it IS grand! Some massive stairs take you up to the entry level. This, coupled with the previous photo, gives you an idea of how effing huge this thing is. Here's a view back on the development. Everything is actually raised up on a plinth. The esplanade branches back, but underneath, there is parking and vehicular circulation. There's actually a main arterial road that leads straight to La Defense, but when it reaches the area, it branches out, bypassing it on either side. Thus, the main central linear space is devoted to pedestrian activity, which has also helped to liven up the area. Very smart, in my opinion. If you go through to the other side of the Arch, you see this. So I guess you can say the axis continues, but it just leads out of the city. For 6 euros (student price), I took a trip to the top of the Arch. There was an art exhibit as well, but obviously, I was here for the view. And it was certainly a nice one. See the Arc de Triomphe far in the distance? The Grand Arch was intended to symbolically face it, thus connecting La Defense to the heart of Paris. Back on ground level, there are pools and fountains in addition to the modern buildings. This one features interesting blinking lights. Here's a view of the road that leads to La Defense. Metro line 1 is in the middle (that's what we took coming out and going back to the hotel). It's quite a nice view, I must say. Paris rocks. Sunday, October 15, 2006 Alas, the following day, it was time to leave. Two official trips to Paris totalling a good two weeks and I didn't feel like I'd even begun to explore the surface of the city. Paris is so rich, and there's so much to see. It remains my favorite city of the trip, even if things are a bit expensive! One last look at Place Bastille and our hotel around the corner. You were a cozy hotel, Hotel Royal Bastille. And me on the train back to Saintes. *sigh* What a trip!

VOLUME 6: BERLIN Saturday, October 7, 2006 The trip actually started with an overnight train on Friday. We left Saintes at noontime, got to Paris before the evening, spent about two hours, then boarded an overnight sleeper train around 8 or 9 in the evening, bound for Berlin. Sleeping in the train was kind of tough, mostly because I wasn't used to it, and because each car room has six beds, in cramped quarters. Still, when we arrived in Berlin, we were all excited for what would prove to be a great time. After checking into the CityStay Hostel (HIGHLY recommended if you're ever in Berlin; they have free wireless internet if you have a laptop!), we set out on our first day in the city. Our hostel is located near a lively area called Hackescher Market, which features numerous shops, restaurants, and at night, clubs and bars. It was a nice place. Most of our day was spent on Museum Island, home to a wonderful collection of museums (obviously). First up was passing by the Altes Museum, which defined the museum building type with its central layout of rooms from gallery to gallery. We didn't go in, but it was nice to see another building I once studied. The Berliner Dome is the biggest Protestant church in Germany, apparently. It's extremely ornate as far as these types of churches go, but it was certainly beautiful. It was cloudy when we went in the morning, but I took a quick visit back later in the afternoon when the sun came out. Here's another view. You can go up to the top of the dome, where you get some great panoramic views of the city. Here's me. The TV Tower can be seen in the background. Next was I.M. Pei's German History Museum. He actually came out of retirement to design this building after the city chose him to do the project. An iconic spiraling stair enclosed in glass marks the entrance to the building, which also connects underground to an old armory building next door that now serves as a gallery or exhibition space. Looking up the spiraling stair. Our final official stop was the Pergamon Museum, which features a variety of rebuilt architectural artifacts made from actual ruins transplanted from various places like Rome, Sparta, and Babylon. The interior entrance greets visitors with the Pergamon, a large market and public plaza from the ancient days of Greece. It's pretty cool that the structures are authentic--transplanted from wherever they were plundered and moved, then rebuilt. Which means there really are parts of the museum that are thousands of years old. Here's my friend, Sol, taking a picture of me taking a picture of him while everyone sits on the steps. We had dinner at a tapas restaurant in Hackescher Market. It was pretty nice. Here's a pic of my friends, Sarah and Danli, as well as myself. Short report for this day... the next one is humongous. Sunday, October 8, 2006 Man, what a busy and compacted day! Gorgeous weather greeted us in the morning as we started our day in Potsdamer Platz, the new city center which, less than two decades ago, was split in half by the Berlin Wall. Today, it's home to several districts full of vibrant, flashy architecture and a pretty nice social spaces. Most of the day was a walking tour with Hans, a city urban planner who could tell us a lot about the area from an architect's and urbanist's point of view. Here's a shot of the Daimler Chrystler District, with a couple of towers jutting out toward the intersection of the main streets. On one side, there are three Richard Rogers mixed use office/commercial buildings that front a central garden lawn. Renzo Piano has some residential/office buildings further down the "street." They're pretty neat, featuring a terra cotta colored facing that Piano placed on many of the buildings he designed in this complex. Comically, his good friend Rogers jokingly mimicks this architectural play in some of his buildings in the complex too. I guess that's how famous architects playfully joust in design. And in the middle of the central green space, there are some GIANT see-saws. Our own giant of a professor, Gerald, demonstrats how to gleefully operate one. Here's a view back at the buildings we passed. More apartments in the area. Venturing deeper into the neighborhood block reveals some interesting office and institutional buildings. This area is essentially one big business park. It's pretty lively on weekdays, but much more dead on weekends when the people who work here aren't here to use it. Across the street is the famous Sony Center, a "CityWalk" sort of complex with a centralized plan and a huge glass roof that reminds me of Space Mountain. It is supported entirely by tension. To build it, workers first erected a huge column (no dirty jokes, please) in the center to support the span. Next came the structure on top, where the glass was laid, and then the tension cables below it, hooking into part of the column. When the cables were stressed to pull the forces outward, most of the column was sawn off, leaving an open central space. It's a pretty amazing construction from a structural point of view. Some restaurants and shops inside the complex. A second level leads to more shops, cafes, and clubs, and the rest is actual residential, which makes this one interesting mixed use project. Afterwards, our walking tour with Hans took us to Peter Eisenmann's Memorial for the Murdered Jews, which opened last year. It is a very simple but powerful series of monolithic black blocks protruding to various heights out of an undulating ground plane. As such, in some places, you can sit on the blocks, where in other places, they rise up well over your head. I didn't think too much of it when I first saw it in Architectural Record, but I must say that going through it was pretty cool, and my opinion is a lot higher now than before. It promotes contemplation and exploration, mingling a physical and mental exercise into one. Just goes to show you shouldn't judge architecture completely until you've experienced it. Funny... the same thing applies to roller coasters... Cool artistic shot of the sky from within the memorial. Next was the government district. Here's the Reichstag, complete with Norman Foster's famous dome. This area has a lot of new monumental architecture. The architect of this building (whose name escapes me at the moment) was heavily influenced by Louis Kahn, hence the geometric blocks and shapes that dominate the building. Here's another view. It's a nice building. Calatrava built a pedestrian bridge here. It was the first thing built on this redeveloped government zone, an honor given to him after he lost out on the Reichstag dome competition even though he was the one who came up with the glass dome idea in the first place. The bridge is nothing special compared with Calatrava's other works, but it's nice. Here's the new Berlin Central train station, which opened only a few months ago. It's new, glass, and steel. Modern and high tech interior space. Oooooooooh... We went back to the hostel in the afternoon for a break before coming back out late afternoon to visit the Reichstag. On our way there, we past by Brandenberg Gate, one of Berlin's central icons. It's sort of like the Arc de Triumph of this city in the way it serves as a landmark and gathering space. We got to the Reichstag in time for magic hour, which yielded this very vivid but interesting photo of the building under the soft light. It looks extremely odd on stone in my opinion, but was still strikingly beautiful. Speaking of strikingly beautiful, magic hour produced this amazing swath of light over the lawn across from the Reichstag. After an hour in line, we finally entered the building and went up to the roof. Here's me. It's very nice and sleek inside. Two curving ramps spiral up to the top viewing deck (one goes up, the other goes down). A viewing window allows people to look down into Parliament itself, expressing the openness of Germany's democracy. Kinda reminds me of Star Wars and the Old Republic... yeah, I'm a nerd... Had to include this really neat picture of light as it shines through a rotating sunshade device that prevents direct light from entering the Parliament chambers. It creates an incredible effect on the ramp above. Me and my friend, KT, on the ramp. The dome at night. After dinner, we went to some architect's bar and studio place. Basically, these guys are artists, and they tag the building and decorate it and do a whole bunch of weird things artistically. It's actually pretty cool, to be frank. Just thought I'd include that to close the evening off. Monday, October 9, 2006 After a very compacted day of seeing a lot of things in little time yesterday, today was much more relaxed. Class got out at... 12:30. Wow, that was a surprise. Our first stop was the Berlin Philharmonic building, by Hans Scharoun. This Expressionist building could pass for a primitive version of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, which makes sense, since Gehry is essentially an Expressionist. Scharoun, however, outdates him by nearly half a century, and this building features some wonderful moments of light, section, detail, and sound. The interior is pretty convoluted but very cool. I was actually surprised by how "small" it is. I'd somewhat studied this building before and had thought it to be larger in scale, but it's actually rather intimate. And the acoustics are superb as well. Balconies spill over each other, clouds hang everywhere, and the ceiling undulates with a dynamic energy that makes this a wonderful space. Next was the New National Gallery, by Mies Van Der Rohe, master of the minimalist style. And minimalist this is! Basically, it's a huge metal waffle slab supported on 8 columns along the perimeter of the building, with glass enclosing the space. That's it. Scharoun also designed a library across the street that resembled his philharmonic hall from the exterior. Inside, there's a similar sense of dynamic space, with textured beams and columns, bridges, stairs breaking through, and the structure being clearly expressed. In the afternoon, I returned to the government district for some more photographs, this time with the sun out! Same thing. The Reichstag was gorgeous in the afternoon sun. And here's Berlin Central Station again. I forgot to mention, last time, that it is the new central hub of every train system, with connections to the Berlin metro system, inter-city trains, regional trains, and international trains to other countries. Definitely a great hub. And here's a shot inside the top level of the station, showing off that sexy tension-arch structure. Tuesday, October 10, 2006 Our final class day in Berlin began with us getting lost in West Berlin for about five minutes. Once that was done, we made our way to the Jewish History Museum, by Daniel Liebeskin. This building is perhaps most famous for its exterior building skin, which features metal panels being cut by small, slitted windows. Cut is the appropriate word here, since the building as a whole represents the torn history of the Jewish people. It's kind of a hit or miss building in my opinion, but must people seem to love it. You can see the Garden of Exile to the right. This area is interestingly similar to Eisenmann's Holocaust memorial, except it has willow trees literally buried in the huge concrete planters. It would be interesting to see if Eisenmann was thinking of Liebeskin's garden when he was designing his own project. The interior twists and winds its way around, offering several paths through its exhibits. The result is a very penetrated space that's also convoluted. Without navigational arrows on the ground, it might actually be pretty easy to get lost. I would normally find this annoying, but I think it's appropriate in this museum, which focuses on the tension of the Jewish history. Later, we walked the streets of Berlin, where old mixes with new and a major building boom has been ongoing for a good decade or more now. In fact, the amount of new construction here is unparalleled anywhere else in the world--except in China. We passed by the GSW Headquarters building by Sauerbruch Hutton. Another building I studied (two semesters ago, in fact) in studio. We ended the official day at Checkpoint Charlie, famous site of many flights from East Berlin to West Berlin. The Wall has long since been torn down, but there's a museum nearby that we were forced to visit. Its convoluted layout made me quite frustrated. Plus it was extremely stuffy in there. Wednesday, October 11, 2006 Free day! With no field studies or official tour to take in, we were free to do whatever we wanted... until 8 in the evening, when we would be leaving on an overnight train to Paris. So what did we do? Sleep in of course. C'mon. We're college students. Work hard. Play hard. Party hard. Sleep.... when we can. So after a surprisingly fantastic lunch of Vietnamese food (HOORAY VIETNAMESE FOOD!!!) at a restaurant called Monsieur Vuong's, where we had some great spring rolls among other things (see first picture), we went to Berlin's Olympic Stadium for the afternoon. This thing's old. It was built for the 1936 Berlin Olympics. You know, the one where Jessie Owens stunned Hitler by outrunning all of his "superior" German athletes? Yeah. A big F-U to the Nazis there. Anyway, while the Nazis were eventually demolished, this stadium wasn't. Mostly because it was and is a pretty nice stadium, reminiscent to me of the Coliseum in LA. The outside is a very monumental but simple stone and concrete facade that also supports the arena. Here's me. Inside, there's a track and a soccer field. The same one they played the World Cup finals on this past summer. They've also got a new roofing system that provides shade to pretty much every seat and is somehow held up by twenty very thin columns that ring the middle of the upper deck. Very cool. We decided to sit down and watch an invisible game. And once sunset came around, the soft light gave the stadium a beautiful glow. By the evening, it was time to leave Berlin and head to Paris for a second trip. Overall, Berlin was a pretty fun place and a fantasic city. It moved in front of Amsterdam as my second favorite city in Europe, but couldn't quite nip out Paris (which holds a special place in my heart... um... just because). However, shopping is fantastic in Berlin, and I highly recommend it. You can get some good stuff for pretty cheap prices!

I'm heading to Barcelona starting this Friday as part of my study abroad curriculum. We'll be in Spain for ten days, and we'll have the entire second weekend (18th and 19th) free. Since Port Aventural is only about an hour from Barcelona, I figure I should visit. I've looked some some timetables on RENFE, and it looks like there's a regional and intercity train that can take me from Barcelona to the park directly (Catalunya Express). However, I can't seem to find where the Barcelona station is exactly. Is there anyone who lives in Barcelona or has been there who can point me toward a general location? It's more of a matter of familiarizing myself with the city. Of course, if there's only one main train station, then I guess I don't really need help. Also, while I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to do and in what order, I think it's always good to get advice. So does anyone have any advice on how to tackle the park? Who knows... there might be some good ride that I should do first because it's low capacity or something and gets long lines later, even if it's not the best ride in the park. Also, according to my research, the park opens at 9:30 am, with the lands opening at 10. However, it doesn't give a closing time for the park for the month of November. Does anyone have any idea when the park will close? Any other general advice would be appreciated. And heck, if anyone wants to [randomly] meet up with me, I'm always down for meeting new people. Chances are that my classmates won't come along, since they're not coaster nerds like I am. So I'd be taking the trip alone, which I still find strange, even if it is to a theme park. I'm down for either day, although I'd probably go on the Saturday, unless that's much more crowded than Sunday. Actually, yeah, how should crowds be this time of year? People said Disneyland Paris should be empty when I went in September, and it ended up being packed. Nevertheless, it's always good to ask to get an idea. Thanks in advance!

BUAHAHAH!!! "It wasn't me!" Priceless! :rofl:

VOLUME 5: NETHERLANDS Rotterdam We arrived in Rotterdam on Sunday afternoon and immediately checked into our hotel. We'd have to be quick, because we actually had a field study scheduled today! Here the view from the balcony outside our hotel room. I think it would have been a LOT nicer if the weather was better. But it's not a bad view. So we went to the National Architecture Institute (I think that's what it translates to) and saw an exhibit of Dutch urban planning projects for a competition. Then we went back to our hotel, napped, then had dinner, then had a roof party, since we'd taken over all the rooms on the top floor. One thing I noticed: Rotterdam was rather dead at night. Well, it was sort of dead during the day too. I'm not sure if it was the dreary weather, the days we were there, actual lack of city life, or some combination, but this relative emptiness (absolutely drastic compared to Paris) made Rotterdam our least favorite of the three Netherlands cities we actually visited. The next day we took a walking tour of the city. One thing that's great about Rotterdamn, however: they're not afraid to experiment on architecture. The city has a lot of bold, sometimes wacky buildings. Skyscrapers that are almost sculptural. Like this one. Here's the Erasmus Bridge, a landmark of the city. This would look about 4982 times better in front of a blue sky, but the Dutch weather once again was not cooperating. It's a nice cable stayed bridge though. I tend to think these types of bridges are more elegant than most other suspension type structures. Tend to. But you can thank Antonio Calatrava for that. There's some docks on the other side of the river, so here's a picture of me. This side was much nicer, with a waterfront full of character and ambiance. Here's what traditional Dutch architecture looks like. Lots of bricks. We went to the Kunstaal Museum. Well, we went around it. It was closed, so we just "studied" it from the outside. And finally, we found actual life! At the city center! This is a sunken retail development designed by the Jerde Partnership. It's pretty nice, but highly "Americanized" in its faux cladding and repetitive nature. I liked it, but it wasn't amazing. We left Rotterdam on Monday afternoon, en route to Amsterdam. The short stay might be why I don't have much to say about this city. Disappointing while we were there, but I think I might enjoy it a lot more on a sunny day. Amsterdam This would prove to be everyone's favorite city of Holland, and all for various reasons, I suppose! We arrived late Monday afternoon and checked into our hotel. The following day, we took a trip to a large residential development called Borneo Sporenburg. One part that I liked was this area where each unit was given to a different architect to design. The buildings were essentially row houses, and they all had requirements about how much void space they needed to cut away from the building envelope to let light and air into the building, but other than that, the architects could go wild. This created a huge variety of facades that were really cool to look at when placed next to each other. See? Very cool, I think! I love these elevations! They've got a funky bridge that connects a large waterway that splits part of the development. This photo glances inside the courtyard of a large apartment building nicknamed "The Whale." Borneo Sporenburg features a nice mix of low rise developments with some big, taller buildings sprinkled in to act as local landmarks. A nice urban mix, methinks. Across the waterway, there are more developments, showing of Amsterdam's more contemporary architecture. Another high rise that acts as a landmark. You can tell where you are in relation to what unique building is nearby, and there are enough of them to enable you to get around relatively easily just by identifying icons. My friend, Sarah, and I sitting on a nifty little "retaining wall" made out of rocks enclosed by metal wire tubes. Next to this was a playground. I liked the low wall (that we're sitting on). I guess it's because I'm an archi-nerd. Next to Borneo Sporenburg was another residential development. I forget its name, but it was pretty cool too. I mean, check out that funky architecture! Looking out over the waterway again. That night, we (and by "we" I mean almost the whole class, including one of our professors) strolled through the Red Light District. No pictures from there, both because I didn't bring my camera and because this e-mail IS going out to my parents and younger brother, among other people, but it was very interesting. Prostitution is legal in Holland, so everywhere, you'd see hookers in windows basically posing and trying to be enticing. They had black light shining on them, and most wore white lingerie and that sort of stuff, so they sort of glowed in a really weird way. Puts a new spin into window shopping... but that's essentially what it was. Window shopping for sex. 50 euros gets you the basic deal. So if you're into that sort of thing... yeah... To be honest, half of the girls weren't very attractive at all, in my opinion. Not that I was intently looking or anything... yeah... not at all... Actually, that whole area was pretty funny, just because of the sheer number of sex-related stores and businesses. And I can't tell you how many Japanese businessmen I saw. It was downright hilarious in how stereotypical that was... Anyway, onto the next day. This is the NEMO museum, designed by Renzo Piano. It's got a nifty roof deck, and it's basically a ship rising out of the ground. It's a concept that hundreds of architects have tried before, but Renzo made this one literal. Amsterdam has some beautiful canals and waterways. Just so darn pretty! We went to the Heineken Experience on Wednesday, our free day, and had some beer. What I learned: Heineken is really good straight from the tap! And I don't even normally like beer! HOORAY... BEER!! (photo taken by my friend Amar) In the afternoon, I explored Amsterdam by myself. Lo and behold, I found H.P. Berlage's Amsterdam Stock Exchange! Well, actually, a friend had pointed it out to me the night before, but still, this was pretty cool, finding a building I'd studied in school! More specifically, we'd built a large light study model in first year. Ah, the memories. More nice waterway action. Amsterdam (and really, the Netherlands as a whole, it seems), is HUGE on bikes. Everyone uses bikes. Bikes are everywhere. Bike lanes are very plentiful, and it's actually cheaper to get around on bikes because parking is so expensive. And this picture is proof that Amsterdam loves its bikes. I'm a sucker for waterside living. Canals rule! Here's a farther view of the NEMO again. Along the waterfront, I randomly found a swan. Yup. A swan. Here's a night shot of Amsterdam. So that night, we went out to an ice bar. Meaning a bar made entirely out of ice. I've never been to one of those things, so it was pretty cool. Well, actually, it was downright freezing, but pun intended. Here I am realizing someone's taking a picture of us. So I look like an idiot. It was pretty awesome, though, because we basically took over the bar after most of the other people left after an hour. The temperature inside? -6* C. Pretty cold indeed! And here's a blurry photo of how it looks like to a camera when you don't use flash. Tomorrow would be onto Utrecht! I certainly wish I could have spent more time in Amsterdam, though. In retrospect, we didn't even really get to a lot of the architecture. And it's just an absolutely splended city! Utrecht We arrived in Utrecht Thursday morning. Our purpose in this city (which really does smell like cows... everywhere) was to tour a few buildings at Utrecht University. The city is pretty nice. I prefer it over Rotterdam, easily. Our first building was the Minnaert Building, which has an indoor pool that collects rainwater. The lobby (shown here) is pretty nice with the pool. It's a cool example of taking something "outdoors" and putting it indoors. Next was the Educatorium, by Rem Koolhaas. It reminded me of several friends' library projects from second year, where they folded the floor plane around. Rem is very big into stairs and ramps that take people on a circulation journey. You explore this building; it's not like everything is revealed openly. I'm convinced there either was or will be some extreme sport special done here someday. It's a natural halfpipe... tilted on its side! The university has a lot of interesting architecture, like this building. I wish USC was this daring. It'd certainly make the campus more interesting than an Ivy School lookalike, but then again, I guess we wouldn't get the movie filming deals. This is inside the University Central Library, by Weil Arets. It's an interesting space, with a soaring atrium over the lobby, lots of bridges, and different paths for going up. I love the dynamic space and the verticality and all the bridging. Just my cup of tea! "Ground" level. Our last building was the Faculty for Economics and Management building. It's more like three buildings combined into one: a long bar controls circulation and access into each wing on one side, and each wing encloses a courtyard with a different theme. This one is the zen patio. Here's the water patio, which you can't actually get to. You just look at it. And finally the jungle patio, which has a cool elevated pathway level that takes you "through the trees." There are sitting areas, and it's another tranquil place to relax and meditate. We found out that some Dutch mobsters killed Spongebob Squarepants and dumped him into the water patio. Utrecht has canals too, and that's what really won it over for me. So much charm and character... I love it! More canals. So pretty. And finally, we visited the Schroder House, a pinnacle of modern architecture. We weren't allowed to take photos inside, but everything in there is flexible and has multiple purposes. Rooms have moveable walls, shelves double as ventilation gaps, and even beds can be reconfigured and positioned with a few folds of wood. Very cool. Another view of Gerrit Reitveld's famous house. Our tourguide took us to another house Reitveld designed for Madame Schroder some years later. It was nice, but not as amazing as the first. This picture is here because I thought it captured the light very, very well. And finally, on our way back to Paris, we stopped in Belgium (for three minutes). I got out of the train. Technically, that means I've stepped foot on Belgium soil, which means I've been to Belgium. Yup, it's a credit! =D

VOLUME 4: DISNEYLAND PARIS If you know me well, you know I couldn't possibly pass up a chance to visit one of the most beautiful Disney (or theme) parks in the world. So when I first heard that we would have a free Saturday in Paris, I immediately began making plans and researching how to get from our hotel to Marne-la-Vallee, etc... etc... I embarked in the morning with my friend KT (i.e. Katie, i.e. Kathleen). We got on the Metro around 8:45 in the morning and transferred over to the RER route A at the Nation station about ten minutes later. Since our week passes didn't cover the zone we were going to, we'd need tickets ( 6.25 euros apiece). Fortunately, I'd bought a pair the night before to save time. Forty five minutes later, we were at Disneyland Paris! Too bad the weather wasn't as cooperative as I'd hoped. Rather than bright, blazing, blue sky sunshine (as my last... oh... twelve theme park visits--in California--have gone), it was foggy. REALLY FOGGY. Like "can't see more than 20 meters ahead of you" foggy. I was a bit bummed. Having been spoiled by California, I'd expected and wanted it to be a beautiful day, so I could take pictures, of course. Disappointment #2: Big Thunder Mountain, one of my highly anticipated rides, was closed for rehab. Big Thunder closed AND not so cool weather? Well, that was enough to put a damper in my day. One I could take, but both? Darn. There'd be a silver lining later though. Nonetheless, after buying tickets (43 euros for one park, which converts to being cheaper than Disneyland!), we headed up Main Street right as the park opened. It was 10:00. Since it was so foggy, I suggested turning a negative into a positive and heading toward Phantom Manor, which I knew would look amazingly sinister and creepy in the gloomy fog. Sure enough, Disneyland Paris's (DLP) version of the Haunted Mansion did not disappoint. We waited a mere ten minutes before riding. What a unique ride! The first half is pretty similar to the Anaheim version, with scenes through the house, Madame Leota's parlor, and the ballroom. But then you go outside into what looks like a cave, complete with gory looking skeletons lunging toward you. Riders are then dumped into a ghost town (no, literally). Several times, you see the scary (to kids) laughing figure of The Phantom. There's a graveyard scene too, and the Phantom pops up in a hologram behind the car near the exit, but the tone overall was a lot more sinister and spooky than the Anaheim Haunted Mansion. Needless to say, I loved it. The darker feel was utterly delicious! Following Phantom Manor, we headed up Frontierland and into Adventureland, which formed the northern half of the western side of the park. Located to the left of Adventure Isle (a big play area), DLP's Indiana Jones was an actual roller coaster, not a dark ride like at Disneyland. The wait time said five minutes, but it was more like 15. Still, the ride itself was actually quite fun! I was surprised to see it running forwards (I guess I forgot that they changed it; it used to run backwards). And while there was some head banging, it wasn't that bad at all. Nothing like the nightmare reports I'd heard in the past that compared Indy to Six Flags Magic Mountain's Flashback. It's a fun little compact ride, sort of like a looping wild mouse coaster, and KT and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We wanted to reride, but the line had gotten pretty large when we got off. Instead, we went by Peter Pan to get a Fastpass for a ride I knew would be packed. Sure enough, despite it not being noon yet, the line was already a full 60 minute wait. Yeah, FastPass definitely. We explored Fantasyland and the castle, then paid a visit to the underground "dungeon" to visit the dragon. At DLP, underneath Sleeping Beauty's Castle, there's a walkthrough attraction that features an animatronic dragon that wakes up from its sleep every few minutes to snarl and breathe smoke. Very cool little exhibit. Pirates of the Caribbean was next. Located in Adventureland, it proved to be a nice ride, although strange, at least to a person used to the Disneyland California version. After a 45 minute wait (this day was proving to be much busier than I expected), we got on the boat. The ride basically is the same as Disneyland's... except backwards, with some of the slower sections in the first half of Disneyland's version cut off. So you go up the waterfall, sail around the burning village, see jailed pirates trying to get the key from the dog, immediately go down a waterfall (great trick; the animatronic distraction made the drop a surprise to me), see the pirate ship battle, and end with the gold room. The order might not be exact, but basically, the town and battle scenes were first, while the cave scenes were last. Fun ride, though. They cut enough excess out to make the ride not drag, but it's still long enough to be a great people eater (lots of people can ride per hour). We headed over to Discoveryland (what they call Tomorrowland), which was as gorgeous as advertised (even with a gray sky as a backdrop). This area was retro-futuristic. That is, they looked to how past visionaries like Jules Vernes, H.G. Wells, and Leonardo DaVinci pictured the future and drew off of that. A smart move, since a future based on fantasy can never become outdated. We got a FastPass for Space Mountain: Mission 2 (sporting a nice 100 minute wait) then decided to do lunch. Here's where my first major complaint occurs. We went into the Cafe Hyperion, waited 15 minutes, and DID NOT MOVE ONE BIT. I was appalled at how slow a fast food place serving burgers and fries could be. Literally. We didn't even take a step. Frustrated, I decided to hit another restaurant in Frontierland, figuring that side might be less busy because Big Thunder was closed. Well, first try was Last Chance Cafe. Not even open. Why would you not open a restaurant on a busy Saturday? We found a concession stand selling hot dogs, so I ordered one. They were out. Argh. Passed by a Mexican looking restaurant. Also closed (this one seemed to be on long term rehab or something; there's no reference of it in the map). Finally, I found food at the Cowboy Cookout BBQ. That was way too much trouble. Anyway, we grabbed lunch and ate on the run. Autopia was next, since our Peter Pan Fastpasses wouldn't be ready till after 2:00. The line was an hour, but we were making good time anyway. It's a fun ride that I seem to enjoy more than most other people. Nostalgia, I guess. Peter Pan was next. Even with the FastPass, the line was still 20 minutes. C'est la vie, I suppose. Peter Pan is absurdly popular, but putting a FastPass on a short ride like this DOES extend the regular line a lot. But the regular line is always full, so it's a ride that would warrant a FastPass. Catch-22 at its finest, I guess. At least they learned on this ride and made each boat two rows, rather than one at Disneyland. Still, the crowds were huge for this ride, which turned out to be the exact same thing as the Disneyland Version. So did Pinnocchio and Snow White, which provided much better waits of 20-30 minutes. It was now time to use our FastPasses for Space Mountain. After grabbing more FastPasses for Star Tours, we got in line and waited a mere 20 minutes. And after getting off the ride, the verditct was in: THIS COASTER IS AWESOME! Apparently, the Mission 2 storyline takes riders further than ever before, "to the edge of the universe." The original had simply taken them to the moon, if I'm not mistaken. Anyway, like Disneyland California's Space, this had recently been redone. But that's where the similarities end, because this remodel was MUCH better. Now I have nothing against Disneyland's version. Actually, I think it's quite fun and a nice remodel. But compared to Mission 2, Disneyland's Space is a carnival ride. The effects at DLP are crisp and BRIGHT. Stars, light tubes, comets.. they all come off very clean and clear. Light is focused where it needs to be, so that while the effects are bright, the ride remains dark. And the launch into the three inversions was very fun. Overall, a very fun ride with fantastic special effects. It's hard for me to describe it... you have to ride it for yourself. We headed back to Fantasyland to ride more rides. We did their version of the Storybook Canals, and wouldn't you know, FINALLY, at 4:30 in the afternoon, the sun came out!! My spirits raised considerably. We had a lot of fun through Alice's Labyrinth. Then I promptly dragged KT around the park again getting pictures I'd already taken before... only this time in the sun, with a blue sky as a backdrop. We did ride Phantom Manor again, though, because it was so fun the first time. Towards the end of this jaunt, we found ourselves at Adventure Isle again. We had fun jumping on the rope bridge and exploring the area, then went up the Swiss Family Treehouse, which was pretty neat. Indy was bypassed due to an hour-long line and no FastPasses. It was time to ride Star Tours... in French! Now, my French isn't really that good. I took a semester of it because we had to, but that was hardly enough to even begin to be fluent. That said, being able to know what goes on on Star Tours and then hearing it in French made my day. Most of the dialogue is dubbed in French, except for random Rebel transmissions. But hearing our pilot droid say "SCHUETTE" (sorry, drawing a mind blank on how to spell the French word used to say "SUPER!!") just before diving into the trenches of the Death Star (in English, it's the part where he goes "Alright! I've always wanted to do this!") was icing on the cake. KT and I could not stop laughing. Anyway, I'd highly recommened Star Tours in French to any person familiar with the ride who's not too familiar with the French language, because you can figure out what they're saying. It was well into the evening, around sunset, when we got out. I had initially thought the park was closing at 8 (according to the web site), but it turns out it was 9. And there was a fireworks show! What a pleasant surprise! We were going to get some food and wander aroudn when we passed Space Mountain--and noticed it had a mere 35 minute way. No way could we pass this up! And sure enough, we got on about 35 minutes later. And this time, we even got a train with the soundtrack on! Mission 2 was fantastic again, and the music was a nice touch. It's drastically different from the orchestral first version. It's more of a techno beat, similar in rhythm to Disneyland Space Mountain's new soundtrack, but it fit very well. I have no idea where to find it, but I'd like a copy of that track if possible. It was really too late to get a quick dinner, so we settled down and camped for fireworks at around 8:50. The show turned out to be at 9:15, rather than 9, but it was still wildly enjoyable. In fact, had it been longer, I might have a tough decision on whether I enjoyed it or Remember... better. Fortunately, it was only five minutes long--but those five minutes were one big fat orgy of firework finale pyros! Basically, the music started, and about a dozen shells exploded. Cue the spraying "sprinkler" fireworks that basically never turned off, and a whole bunch of shells going off (multiple shells per shot, at a good shot per one or two seconds). It was a grand finale for five straight minutes. Very cool. Everyone loves to see things blow up. Upon the conclusion of the show, Mr. Announcer Guy said the park was closed. Everyone started going toward the exit. I fought my way in the opposite direction and got some night shots of the castle and Discoveryland, then did some shopping (souvenirs for friends). The Main Street shops are open at least an hour past closing time here too, which was cool. We got out of the park a little bit after 10. We headed over to the Disney Village complex to grab a quick bite. Unfortunately, the restaurant we chose (Annette's Diner, a Johnny Rockets type restaurant), had a super understaffed take out line, so a line of ten people turned into one hour for food. Yikes. Finally, we took the RER A back to Paris proper, arriving back at the hotel around midnight. All in all, it had been a fantastic day, although I definitely want to go back before my study abroad ends to ride Big Thunder Mountain. It might be in December, just before Christmas. That should be fun. Photos How thick was the fog? Well, there's supposed to be a castle back there. You can't see it. It's like you're in Anaheim or something... (joking) Here I am in Frontierland in the morning, by the Mark Twain (funny, I thought DLP had the Molly Brown, but oh well). Heartbroken that Big Thunder was closed. Here's me by the castle. I seem to do a lot of things with my hands in photos. In Discoveryland. So beautiful, even when the sky doesn't cooperate. In Alice's Curious Labyrinth. That's the closest I'll ever come to smoking hookah. Finally, here's me on a high point somehwere on Adventure Isle. I said Phantom Manor is amazing in the fog. Look at the picture. Told ya. The castle with a beautiful blue sky behind it. Nice underground dragon... The Plaza Gardens Restaurant. I thought this was a nice photo, with the fountain in the foreground. Space Mountain Mission 2! Main Street is gorgeous. It's similar to Disneyland's Main Street, but a little taller and a lot more detailed. The Disneyland Hotel, with views into the park. Main Street moneyshot... the castle is visible now that there's no fog! Thunder Mesa Landing. I love the composition of this photo. Phantom Manor is gorgeous in the sun too. Looking back at the themed land from the entrance of Phantom Manor. I love this silhouette shot of Indiana Jones. There's this cool elegance to it. And the picture almost happened by accident. I just took it without really thinking, then realized it was nice later. Space Mountain at night. And we end with a parting shot of arguably the most beautiful Magic Kingdom of the five.

DISNEYLAND PARIS If you know me well, you know I couldn't possibly pass up a chance to visit one of the most beautiful Disney (or theme) parks in the world. So when I first heard that we would have a free Saturday in Paris, I immediately began making plans and researching how to get from our hotel to Marne-la-Vallee, etc... etc... I embarked in the morning with my friend KT (i.e. Katie, i.e. Kathleen). We got on the Metro around 8:45 in the morning and transferred over to the RER route A at the Nation station about ten minutes later. Since our week passes didn't cover the zone we were going to, we'd need tickets ( 6.25 euros apiece). Fortunately, I'd bought a pair the night before to save time. Forty five minutes later, we were at Disneyland Paris! Too bad the weather wasn't as cooperative as I'd hoped. Rather than bright, blazing, blue sky sunshine (as my last... oh... twelve theme park visits--in California--have gone), it was foggy. REALLY FOGGY. Like "can't see more than 20 meters ahead of you" foggy. I was a bit bummed. Having been spoiled by California, I'd expected and wanted it to be a beautiful day, so I could take pictures, of course. Disappointment #2: Big Thunder Mountain, one of my highly anticipated rides, was closed for rehab. Big Thunder closed AND not so cool weather? Well, that was enough to put a damper in my day. One I could take, but both? Darn. There'd be a silver lining later though. Nonetheless, after buying tickets (43 euros for one park, which converts to being cheaper than Disneyland!), we headed up Main Street right as the park opened. It was 10:00. Since it was so foggy, I suggested turning a negative into a positive and heading toward Phantom Manor, which I knew would look amazingly sinister and creepy in the gloomy fog. Sure enough, Disneyland Paris's (DLP) version of the Haunted Mansion did not disappoint. We waited a mere ten minutes before riding. What a unique ride! The first half is pretty similar to the Anaheim version, with scenes through the house, Madame Leota's parlor, and the ballroom. But then you go outside into what looks like a cave, complete with gory looking skeletons lunging toward you. Riders are then dumped into a ghost town (no, literally). Several times, you see the scary (to kids) laughing figure of The Phantom. There's a graveyard scene too, and the Phantom pops up in a hologram behind the car near the exit, but the tone overall was a lot more sinister and spooky than the Anaheim Haunted Mansion. Needless to say, I loved it. The darker feel was utterly delicious! Following Phantom Manor, we headed up Frontierland and into Adventureland, which formed the northern half of the western side of the park. Located to the left of Adventure Isle (a big play area), DLP's Indiana Jones was an actual roller coaster, not a dark ride like at Disneyland. The wait time said five minutes, but it was more like 15. Still, the ride itself was actually quite fun! I was surprised to see it running forwards (I guess I forgot that they changed it; it used to run backwards). And while there was some head banging, it wasn't that bad at all. Nothing like the nightmare reports I'd heard in the past that compared Indy to Six Flags Magic Mountain's Flashback. It's a fun little compact ride, sort of like a looping wild mouse coaster, and KT and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We wanted to reride, but the line had gotten pretty large when we got off. Instead, we went by Peter Pan to get a Fastpass for a ride I knew would be packed. Sure enough, despite it not being noon yet, the line was already a full 60 minute wait. Yeah, FastPass definitely. We explored Fantasyland and the castle, then paid a visit to the underground "dungeon" to visit the dragon. At DLP, underneath Sleeping Beauty's Castle, there's a walkthrough attraction that features an animatronic dragon that wakes up from its sleep every few minutes to snarl and breathe smoke. Very cool little exhibit. Pirates of the Caribbean was next. Located in Adventureland, it proved to be a nice ride, although strange, at least to a person used to the Disneyland California version. After a 45 minute wait (this day was proving to be much busier than I expected), we got on the boat. The ride basically is the same as Disneyland's... except backwards, with some of the slower sections in the first half of Disneyland's version cut off. So you go up the waterfall, sail around the burning village, see jailed pirates trying to get the key from the dog, immediately go down a waterfall (great trick; the animatronic distraction made the drop a surprise to me), see the pirate ship battle, and end with the gold room. The order might not be exact, but basically, the town and battle scenes were first, while the cave scenes were last. Fun ride, though. They cut enough excess out to make the ride not drag, but it's still long enough to be a great people eater (lots of people can ride per hour). We headed over to Discoveryland (what they call Tomorrowland), which was as gorgeous as advertised (even with a gray sky as a backdrop). This area was retro-futuristic. That is, they looked to how past visionaries like Jules Vernes, H.G. Wells, and Leonardo DaVinci pictured the future and drew off of that. A smart move, since a future based on fantasy can never become outdated. We got a FastPass for Space Mountain: Mission 2 (sporting a nice 100 minute wait) then decided to do lunch. Here's where my first major complaint occurs. We went into the Cafe Hyperion, waited 15 minutes, and DID NOT MOVE ONE BIT. I was appalled at how slow a fast food place serving burgers and fries could be. Literally. We didn't even take a step. Frustrated, I decided to hit another restaurant in Frontierland, figuring that side might be less busy because Big Thunder was closed. Well, first try was Last Chance Cafe. Not even open. Why would you not open a restaurant on a busy Saturday? We found a concession stand selling hot dogs, so I ordered one. They were out. Argh. Passed by a Mexican looking restaurant. Also closed (this one seemed to be on long term rehab or something; there's no reference of it in the map). Finally, I found food at the Cowboy Cookout BBQ. That was way too much trouble. Anyway, we grabbed lunch and ate on the run. Autopia was next, since our Peter Pan Fastpasses wouldn't be ready till after 2:00. The line was an hour, but we were making good time anyway. It's a fun ride that I seem to enjoy more than most other people. Nostalgia, I guess. Peter Pan was next. Even with the FastPass, the line was still 20 minutes. C'est la vie, I suppose. Peter Pan is absurdly popular, but putting a FastPass on a short ride like this DOES extend the regular line a lot. But the regular line is always full, so it's a ride that would warrant a FastPass. Catch-22 at its finest, I guess. At least they learned on this ride and made each boat two rows, rather than one at Disneyland. Still, the crowds were huge for this ride, which turned out to be the exact same thing as the Disneyland Version. So did Pinnocchio and Snow White, which provided much better waits of 20-30 minutes. It was now time to use our FastPasses for Space Mountain. After grabbing more FastPasses for Star Tours, we got in line and waited a mere 20 minutes. And after getting off the ride, the verditct was in: THIS COASTER IS AWESOME! Apparently, the Mission 2 storyline takes riders further than ever before, "to the edge of the universe." The original had simply taken them to the moon, if I'm not mistaken. Anyway, like Disneyland California's Space, this had recently been redone. But that's where the similarities end, because this remodel was MUCH better. Now I have nothing against Disneyland's version. Actually, I think it's quite fun and a nice remodel. But compared to Mission 2, Disneyland's Space is a carnival ride. The effects at DLP are crisp and BRIGHT. Stars, light tubes, comets.. they all come off very clean and clear. Light is focused where it needs to be, so that while the effects are bright, the ride remains dark. And the launch into the three inversions was very fun. Overall, a very fun ride with fantastic special effects. It's hard for me to describe it... you have to ride it for yourself. We headed back to Fantasyland to ride more rides. We did their version of the Storybook Canals, and wouldn't you know, FINALLY, at 4:30 in the afternoon, the sun came out!! My spirits raised considerably. We had a lot of fun through Alice's Labyrinth. Then I promptly dragged KT around the park again getting pictures I'd already taken before... only this time in the sun, with a blue sky as a backdrop. We did ride Phantom Manor again, though, because it was so fun the first time. Towards the end of this jaunt, we found ourselves at Adventure Isle again. We had fun jumping on the rope bridge and exploring the area, then went up the Swiss Family Treehouse, which was pretty neat. Indy was bypassed due to an hour-long line and no FastPasses. It was time to ride Star Tours... in French! Now, my French isn't really that good. I took a semester of it because we had to, but that was hardly enough to even begin to be fluent. That said, being able to know what goes on on Star Tours and then hearing it in French made my day. Most of the dialogue is dubbed in French, except for random Rebel transmissions. But hearing our pilot droid say "SCHUETTE" (sorry, drawing a mind blank on how to spell the French word used to say "SUPER!!") just before diving into the trenches of the Death Star (in English, it's the part where he goes "Alright! I've always wanted to do this!") was icing on the cake. KT and I could not stop laughing. Anyway, I'd highly recommened Star Tours in French to any person familiar with the ride who's not too familiar with the French language, because you can figure out what they're saying. It was well into the evening, around sunset, when we got out. I had initially thought the park was closing at 8 (according to the web site), but it turns out it was 9. And there was a fireworks show! What a pleasant surprise! We were going to get some food and wander aroudn when we passed Space Mountain--and noticed it had a mere 35 minute way. No way could we pass this up! And sure enough, we got on about 35 minutes later. And this time, we even got a train with the soundtrack on! Mission 2 was fantastic again, and the music was a nice touch. It's drastically different from the orchestral first version. It's more of a techno beat, similar in rhythm to Disneyland Space Mountain's new soundtrack, but it fit very well. I have no idea where to find it, but I'd like a copy of that track if possible. It was really too late to get a quick dinner, so we settled down and camped for fireworks at around 8:50. The show turned out to be at 9:15, rather than 9, but it was still wildly enjoyable. In fact, had it been longer, I might have a tough decision on whether I enjoyed it or Remember... better. Fortunately, it was only five minutes long--but those five minutes were one big fat orgy of firework finale pyros! Basically, the music started, and about a dozen shells exploded. Cue the spraying "sprinkler" fireworks that basically never turned off, and a whole bunch of shells going off (multiple shells per shot, at a good shot per one or two seconds). It was a grand finale for five straight minutes. Very cool. Everyone loves to see things blow up. Upon the conclusion of the show, Mr. Announcer Guy said the park was closed. Everyone started going toward the exit. I fought my way in the opposite direction and got some night shots of the castle and Discoveryland, then did some shopping (souvenirs for friends). The Main Street shops are open at least an hour past closing time here too, which was cool. We got out of the park a little bit after 10. We headed over to the Disney Village complex to grab a quick bite. Unfortunately, the restaurant we chose (Annette's Diner, a Johnny Rockets type restaurant), had a super understaffed take out line, so a line of ten people turned into one hour for food. Yikes. Finally, we took the RER A back to Paris proper, arriving back at the hotel around midnight. All in all, it had been a fantastic day, although I definitely want to go back before my study abroad ends to ride Big Thunder Mountain. It might be in December, just before Christmas. That should be fun. Photos How thick was the fog? Well, there's supposed to be a castle back there. You can't see it. It's like you're in Anaheim or something... (joking) Here I am in Frontierland in the morning, by the Mark Twain (funny, I thought DLP had the Molly Brown, but oh well). Heartbroken that Big Thunder was closed. Here's me by the castle. I seem to do a lot of things with my hands in photos. In Discoveryland. So beautiful, even when the sky doesn't cooperate. In Alice's Curious Labyrinth. That's the closest I'll ever come to smoking hookah. Finally, here's me on a high point somehwere on Adventure Isle. I said Phantom Manor is amazing in the fog. Look at the picture. Told ya. The castle with a beautiful blue sky behind it. Nice underground dragon... The Plaza Gardens Restaurant. I thought this was a nice photo, with the fountain in the foreground. Space Mountain Mission 2! Main Street is gorgeous. It's similar to Disneyland's Main Street, but a little taller and a lot more detailed. The Disneyland Hotel, with views into the park. Main Street moneyshot... the castle is visible now that there's no fog! Thunder Mesa Landing. I love the composition of this photo. Phantom Manor is gorgeous in the sun too. Looking back at the themed land from the entrance of Phantom Manor. I love this silhouette shot of Indiana Jones. There's this cool elegance to it. And the picture almost happened by accident. I just took it without really thinking, then realized it was nice later. Space Mountain at night. And we end with a parting shot of arguably the most beautiful Magic Kingdom of the five.

I can say hi to him for you and pass along some tidbit of information that might remind him of you. LOL

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/files/h0637_203.jpg ROFLMAO, that's my friend Jason! We worked Supreme Scream three years ago (he came in a couple of months after I did. And we all called him Will Ferrell, due to the moderate resemblance. Plus he spieled with a Mr. Moviefone voice. Awesome TR, Guy! So sad I can't make it this year, but oh well. I'll get my fix through great TR's like these. Fantastic photos, and that backstage tour seems really cool. Haunt sounds like an overall winner again, and this year seems to be better than past years overall. And sexy dead girls are indeed delish.

Crap, I'm blind. I looked for a "report post" link one time and totally missed it!

ROFL! Perfect punchline!

Ow. My jaw hurts from DisneySea.

Hehe, did you have Gerald when you were there? Because that man is hilariously AWESOME. Definitely everyone's best friend.

This might answer your question: Just haven't gotten around to organizing my photos for a TR for that yet. I've got a ton of work to do this weekend for our field study assignments, which are due on Monday. JIMMY!!! Long time no chat. If it helps, I'm jealous you're going to HHN. I can't go to Haunt this year (yeah I know it's not HHN, but close enough). Will have to satisfy my Haunt/Halloween fix in other ways. Hehe.

Then again, there was Hamlet...

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2006 Our last field study day in Paris. Talk about a lot of sketching! Saturday would be a free day off, and Sunday would be a travel day to the Netherlands. So this was the end of the first spurt. It was also our first bad-weather day in France. But you can't have everything, I suppose. Most of day was spent on a new development by the 13th Arrondisement (district) of the city, "ZAC River Seine," located on a long trapezoidal patch of land by Gare Austerlitz. Home to the Bibliotheque National (National Library), this area was divided into three zones and meant as a large scale residential, retail, and office development meant to link two sides of the city that had been split by the rail lines running from the Austerlitz station. They basically buried the rails and built on top of it. I wish we could do cool stuff like that in the U.S. So here's the first parcel of ZAC on a gloomy day. Not as vibrant as the other areas of Paris, but then again, it's still under development technically. The national library. There's a foresty courtyard below that you can't actually enter, and the four trademark towers of the library store a kabazillion books. A nice thing about the ZAC project is that they have different areas, each with their own rules for design, that set a guideline on general features buildings should have but still allow for variety. Another nice thing is that many of the buildings try to be sustainable or keep landscaping into mind. Like this pleasant little private courtyard with a playground and park. The newest bridge to cross the Seine is this sexy footbridge. It's got sexy curves. Indeed, my USC structures professor Goetz Schierle would love this (he says "sexy curves" a lot). On the other side was Parc de Bercy, which features a really cool cascading fountain water feature thing (how eloquent was that jarble?) leading down to the entrance of the park. At the far end is the relatively new Cinematheque Francaise, which reminds me of what Frank Gehry originally wanted to do with the Disney Concert Hall (back in the late 1980s): create crazy shapes like the one that was built, except wrap it in stone. Later that day, we went to the Pantheon. No, not the one in Rome, the one in Paris. Which is giant and classical and similarly shaped (thought a lot bigger). This is where some of France's greatest figures are buried in crypts underground. Inside, they had some massive art exhibit with lots of hanging orbs. Insert your own testicles joke here. Great Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire is buried here. So's Rousseau. Here's a set of tombs in the crypt. Other famous bodies here include Marie and Pierre Curie, Victor Hugo, and Alexander Dumas. Balls. Or as the British would say... bollucks. We took a tour to the top of the Pantheon, which offers great views of the city. Too bad it was gray and drizzling. And here's me. I look like I'm 12 in this pic, geez... At the end of the day, we decided to visit the Louvre Museum. As I mentioned in the last email, it's free on Fridays after 6 (until 9, when the museum closes). So there's no way we were going to pass this up! Our main goal was to hit the big three exhibits (Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory of Samothrace), then see what other exhibits we could stroll through. Yup, three weeks worth of artwork in three hours. Or as much as we could do. Here's the Venus de Milo. An interior shot of the museum. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the Mona Lisa, so the four of us used a group effort to sneak a pic (I distracted, two others blocked, one took the photo). When we emerged from the Louvre just before 9, it was dark. But still beautiful. Lastly, a picture of me with Sarah and KT (left and right respectively). Tomorrow... Disneyland Paris! Yup. No way would I miss a perfect chance to visit one of my favorite parks of all time--favorite even though I'd never been there before.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2006 This would be a day devoted to places (plazas). To get a sense of the urban network of the city, we'd visit several places to study the manner in which they brought people and cars together, and how buildings and programs were organized around them. But first, we had to pay a visit to the Archeology Museum that we missed on Monday. Here's a shot inside the museum. Basically, some number of years ago, they wanted to build a parking lot under the plaza in front of the Notre Dame cathedral. And then they found Roman ruins dating back to the origins of the city. Well, this being France and not the U.S., they simply moved the parking structure deeper into the ground and make a museum around the ruins. Problem solved! The result was the Archeology museum, which has Roman ruins on display in an underground building. Next was Place de Vendome, featuring Napoleon's big column tribute to... himself. Yeah, I don't think it's a mystery that he was a very insecure man. We arrived at Place de Marché around lunchtime. This was a different style, organized more like a street than a central plaza. The middle is a pedestrian route, and cars navigate around the perimeter. There are a host of nice restaurants with outdoor dining spots as well. It's quite nice, really, although I'm not too much of a fan of the all glass building. Sketching "inside" the central path. That's my friend, Yusheen. Did I mention I *love* the streets of Paris? So full of historic character. You don't find this in LA. Or if you do, it's deserted. At the Palais Royal, there is a sculpture exhibit with a bunch of highly reflective chrome spheres. Beyond that is a courtyard with a bunch of columns. Oddly enough, despite initial criticism, it's proven very popular. Probably because it invokes people's natural desire to climb things. Example: Greg, who scaled this taller column. He's so high up!!! Eventually, all of us got on a row of columns, and our instructor took a photo. This was before I got up. And finally, our day ended at the world-famous Louvre Museum. Here's the trademark glass pyramid that marks the entrance. Designed by I.M. Pei, it ingeniously reconciles the old palace with the need for something that looked modern. Like all new things Parisian, it caused an outcry at the time ("It doesn't look like the palace! It clashes! It's hideous!") but has become accepted over time. Lets not forget that the Louvre used to be a royal palace. As such, it's sprawling and exquisite. Close up of the pyramid juxtaposed in front of the Richileiu Wing of the museum (I believe). And there's me. And there's me recognizing there's a glass pyramid. We didn't go into the exhibits on this evening, since we got to the museum with only a hour to spare, and 11 euros for an hour at the Louvre really doesn't seem worth it--especially since it's free on Friday nights after 6. So we went through the free parts of the Louvre instead... Here's the pyramid inversee, an inverted glass pyramid on the west end of the complex. Could I really be standing on the final resting place of Mary Magdeline??? (Da Vinci Code allusion). It's crazy how I can hold the whole pyramid up, eh? Once we emerged outside, we decided to take a stroll through the Tuileries Gardens, a sprawling park that connects the Louvre to the Champs Elysses. Here's a view back toward the museum at the Arc de Carrousel. Small tidbit: a carousel used to be a place where horses were parked after being unhitched from carriages during parties and such. They circled around the carousel until the party was over and were then rehitched to their carriage to be driven to the main entrance to pick up their passengers. Later on, makers of amusement park rides used the same term for what is now commonly referred to as a merry-go-round. Well, it's still a carousel, but only when it has horses and no other animals, of course. The Tuileries Gardens. Very, very beautiful. Ducks at a fountain. Cuz ducks are awesome. Place de Concorde, at the other end of the park. You can see the Eiffel Tower from here, obviously... As well as the start of the Champs Elysses. Paris rules.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2006 This was a museum day. We went around to various museums and institutes to study things. This is the Pavilion d'Arsenal, a museum devoted to the architectural and urban development of Paris. The main lobby has a nice arched truss space and is pretty neat. There's a giant model of Paris featured front and center. Projections shine on it showing development of the city through the centuries, green space, places, and other city icons. This is La Defense, the "business downtown" located on the outskirts of town, on its northwest edge. Its style is totally different from that of Paris proper, and many people decried it as a Los Angelesfication of the city. However, they seem to have straightened things out by adding residential towers and retail to keep the district active at day and night. Keeping the main plinth of the development pedestrian (all streets pass underneath) helps too. This is the Institute of the Arab World, by Jean Nouvel. It's best known for its light-controlling irises that open and close to control the amount of light that enters this center. Another view. You get screened when you go in. My [Jewish] friend Jason joked, "What are they checking US for? We're not the ones blowing things up!" Yeah... terrible. lol On the roof deck, you get a really nice view of the city. Here's Notre Dame. And here's me in front of Notre Dame. Sort of. Here's an example of the irises that I mentioned earlier. They open and close to allow more or less light into the interior of the building and form the building skin for the entire south facade, creating an abstract pattern not unlike that of Islamic art. And the interior light is pretty nice as a result. The panels were also a lot bigger than I expected. They're basically taller than a person! Walking to our next destination, we passed by the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Again. I keep on taking pictures of it because it keeps on being gorgeous. This is the Musee Quai Branly (literally, the Branly Street Museum, I guess). It opened only a few months ago and is also designed by Jean Nouvel. The museum is devoted to primitive art and features exhibits on art and crafts of old civilizations around the world. We were here, however, to study how the architect engaged the site. We were encouraged to think about our own site, which is similar in size and scale. I found a lot of great architectural "moments" while strolling around. In addition to lifting up the building so that the landscape flows underneath, Nouvel also utilized a lot of sun shading devices, cutting into the space around the buildings. Did I mention it's like right next to the Eiffel Tower? I like the louvers. And the garden that flows underneath. Now, normally, when you put a building above something, the space below it seems dead and dark. Not so here. The roof above you when you're underneath is undulated and sculpted to look like a different facade. The building is also at least 20 feet up, so there's plenty of light to come through, since the only support structures in the way are a group of pretty sturdy columns spaced 60 or more feet apart (I'm estimating based on visual memory). So after we were let out, my friend KT (short for Katie, short for Kathleen) and I decided to go to the Eiffel Tower and take pictures. Here's me acting like an idiot. The whole group (well, nearly) went back later that night to take pictures and go up the tower. This shot shows the tower during its light show, which occurs once every half hour. As I discovered after uploading the pics to my computer, these pictures were harder to take, because the rapidly blinking white lights made it hard to focus on anything. Quirk of the camera, basically. Here's the tower again, looking normal. Going up the tower provides some nice aerial views of the city. The Arc de Triomphe from the top of the tower. And here's the Musee Quai Branly from the air. It glows. Quite pretty. I liked it alot. I heard this from a person we chatted with briefly that day: In a country whose history is dominated by short men with massive (overcompensating) egos (Napoleon comes to mind), it's appropriate that Paris' crowning icon is a 1000 foot phallus."

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2006 This was a day spent studying the "hotel" building type in Paris... and a night spent exploring the city. The hotel type, as our instructor explained to us, refers not to places where visitors now stay en masse, but rather the style that aristocratic homes used to be made. Often, these places were composed of the actual house surrounding multiple courtyards. One would serve as an entrance off the street and allow carriages to pull in and maneuver around before exitting. Others often became gardens or private gathering spaces. Our first visit was to Hotel de Sully. A garden greeted us in the back. Exiting through a door in the building shown above took us to Place de Vosges, a square park surrounded by buildings following the same layout all around (with subtle differences). This park was built for Louis XVI, I believe. Famous people like Victor Hugo have also lived in the houses around. I think. Our last stop of the day was at the Musee Carnavalet, which featured a wealth of historical art depicting France from medieval times through post-Revolution and even to the 20th century. The building's courtyards, however, were lovely. Yup, lovely. I also love the stone and detail used on the building articulation. Later that night, I decided to take a little expedition of my own and visit the Arc de Triumphe. I didn't feel I was getting the most out of my week-long Metro pass. We'd been walking more than taking the subway! In any case, I made my way to the Charles de Gaulle / Etoile stop and emerged at Napoleon's greatest monument (I mean that in a literal size sense). The Arc de Triumphe was big, all right, and the roundabout that surrounded it was massive, but after a while, it was simply an arch. I guess I say that because I didn't have a chance to go up to the top, so there's only so much one can do standing around it. Definitely big though. Then I walked down the Champs Elysses. Here, for the first time, I saw real traffic in Paris. This thing's as clogged as the Las Vegas Strip! Cars everywhere despite the wide boulevard, and plenty of life on the sides. The Metro closes at 12 nightly (meaning the last train leaves its first stop at 12), and though it was nearing midnight, I decided to get off and make a detour at nearby Notre Dame and see it at night, then walk back to the hotel. After getting off at the Hotel de Ville stop, I promptly got myself lost for five minutes until I found a well lit, relatively populated spot and whipped out my map. After figuring out where I was, it was time to visit Notre Dame... after dark! I think it was worth it. The cathedral is gorgeous at night. This picture shows the east side of the building. I did a longer exposure, and though the full sized version is a little blurred (you can probably tell here as well), I thought the lighting that came out looked very ethereal. The building positively glowed, almost in a heavenly way. Much clearer this time, here's a zoomed out view of the cathedral, with the moon to the right. And here's a really nice shot (one of my personal favorites) of the cathdral across the Seine River. Finally, as I was walking home, I noticed some police boats searching for something or someone in the Seine. There were ambulances on the bridge over the water, and while I'm not sure what really happened, I can only guess they were looking for some bloke who fell or jumped in. That covers Tuesday. A very fun night, personally. And I walked a LOT!

Hello, everyone! Well, I'm back from a 13 day trip to Paris and the Netherlands. And that was certainly something. A whirlwind of walking, sketching, photographing, filming, analyzing, presenting, touring, travelling, and more made this quite an exhausting, but extremely fun trip. I feel like my worldview has been drastically enlarged in only a couple of short weeks. In short, Europe is still amazing. I will be posting this Paris report in segments. It spans five days and an absurd number of photographs and will be about 13.4 megs of photos when all is said and done, and that'll only be half of my trip! Yes, I do indeed take way too many photos, but that's what makes me... me! MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2006 We boarded a TGV train to Paris midmorning and arrived at the capital of France around 2:00 in the afternoon. After checking into our hotel (the Hotel Royal Bastille again), we set out on our way for our first [half] day of field exercises. We got off the metro stop at Hotel de Ville and emerged to a spectacularly massive stone building towering over a plaza. This used to be an aristocratic estate, but now I'm told it's a museum that isn't always open. We didn't actually visit Hotel de Ville, so unfortunately I don't know much about it. However, we continued on our way to our first stop: the museum of archeology, which was supposed to show us the Roman origins of Paris and explain the historic growth of the city. Imagine our professor's dismay when we walk to the plaza at Notre Dame and descend the stairs to the museum entrance (the museum is actually located under the plaza and extends slightly under the cathedral), only to find that the museum is closed on Mondays. Our professor's face went from exhuberant anticipation to squashed disappointment in an instant. The look of dispair on his face was comically agonizing, like the look of a child who opens up his Christmas present only to find a pair of socks, or perhaps the look of George W. Bush when he's trying to do a Sudoku. In any case, he claimed that the web site and his tour book had said the museum was supposed to be closed on Tuesdays, not Mondays. Not to fear. We did have arguably the world's most famous cathedral a hundred yards next to us. Here is the Cathedral of Notre Dame. In all her majestic glory. And here is a closer look using my patented "diagonally framed photo shot." Okay, not really "my patented" shot. But it looks nice, eh? Inside, a long central nave is filled with ethereal light. The cathedral was crowded with tourists, but it still commanded the silencing awe that all such buildings do. And so, even though were were mobs of people sightseeing, the volume level was still relatively low. Here's a look at the nave wall, which emphasizes the verticality found in cathedrals of this time. The quality of light here is exquisite. The stainted glass windows playing on the rib vaulting and arching show just how beautifully immaculate the Gothic Style could be. Outside, there is a little park behind Notre Dame with gardens and a fountain. You can see the flying buttresses projecting out from this side. Our second and final stop of the day was the Pompidou Center, a very controversial building (when it opened in 1977) that has become Paris' most popular tourist destination and a jewel of the city, even to the Parisians! (The French, it seems, have a long and repeated history of despising anything new, modern, and drastically different that is built, then warming up to it over time, and then eventually loving it so much that they could not imagine the city without it.) The Pomidou Center features a completely open interior plan on five levels, each supported by 14 ong trusses that rest on columns on either side. Architects Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano also turned the building inside out, placing all the electrical, plumbing, mechanical, circulation, and ventilation systems on the outside. They even color coded them to communicate the systems to the public, although most people simply felt that the building had "vomited its innards." This is all to reinforce the idea of a totally free plan, meaning everything inside the building could be rearranged in any manner. Walls could be moved, removed, or added in any way, without worring about structure and loads. There's also the exterior planning. This design was one of the few submitted entries to the contest that did not use the entire site. Instead, Rogers and Piano crafted large, public squares that encouraged people to congregate and infuse the surrounding area with life. The Center is located in The Halles, and area that had been derilect after World War II. So this project certainly revitalized things, and we saw firsthand how popular it was. Children frolicked around (and sometimes in) the fountains, sat on the hardscape, chatted, and just generally hung out. It was quite wonderful to see such liveliness in the city, especially since I'm from Los Angeles, and our Downtown absolutely sucks. From atop the Pompidou Center, guests could see great views of the Paris skyline. This view shows La Defense in the distance. La Defense was planned as a new business/commercial downtown, only it was placed at the edge of the city. In a way, it began life like what L.A.'s downtown is today: people went to work there in the day, and at night it was deserted. But then they got smart and added residential areas, retail, and honed the plan, so that now, it's a pretty nice (and ultra-modern-looking) place. Notice what looks like part of a cube with a hole in it in the center of that cluster of buildings. That's the Grand Arch, which is meant to call back to the Arc de Triumphe. La Defense lies on a perfect axis off the Champs Elysses, so if you draw a line extending that boulevard outward, it goes right through the Arc de Triumphe and later, right through the Grand Arch. And, um, you can see the Eiffel Tower too. Like I said, magnificent views. One note about the Paris Metro system: it is WONDERFUL! The Metro system is basically light rail, mostly underground (ala a subway) but sometimes above ground as well. It is incredibly efficient (you're never supposed to be more than 500 meters from a station) and pretty fast (I've never seen trains more than 7 minutes apart, and they're usually more like 2-4 minutes apart). And they take you everywhere in the city. I asked a bit about the history, and apparently, the Metro system was began at the beginning of the 20th century. Paris had the foresight to build mass transit for its citizens. I wish LA had kept with their's. *sigh* Anyway, the Metro system is great, and I'm becoming more and more convinced that light rail is indeed the only possible way LA may ever have a successful mass transit system. So that's Monday. We finished up around 7:00 after going into the Pompidou Center and looking at the modern art exhibits (perhaps I'll throw up photos of those later if anyone's interested) and had dinner. And then we might have gone out for drinks... I don't remember. The next reply will cover Tuesday, which was a day spent covering the "hotel" type. And back then, "hotel" did not mean what it does today... more on that later. P.S. I mentioned in my first trip report that after three days, I had "only" taken like between 100 and 200 pictures, and how that was very efficient of me. Well, yeah, so much for that. A week in Saintes added to the pictures drastically, and the week in Paris, followed by a near-week in the Netherlands pretty much eliminated any hope that I might not take a bajillion pictures this semester. The current photo count stands at: 3388 photos, totalling 1.91 GB. That doesn't include the panoramas I've stitched together from series of regular photos. I anticipate a slowdown in the rate of picture taking for the next two weeks, since I'll be in Saintes and I've already photographed a lot, but it's still going to be tricky keeping the entire set under the size of a DVD. =D

Wow, these are amazing! And it looks like Kim Possible will be getting some competition from other cartoon characters in the realm of "fanboys of female cartoon characters." This is amazing stuff you're doing, Cora. Keep up the fantastic work!

Ah yes, that one. I remember it on AFV too. There's another vid that was shown on Max X before, similar to this. Pretty funny (only because no one got hurt) where a man's wife pretty much nearly slid out, and the man totally didn't realize it. The announcer goes something like "And Ralph comes to the rescue!!!" Guy enjoys the ride. "Um, and Ralph comes to the rescue!" Guy continues to enjoy the ride. "Ralph? Hey, you're wife's slipping. Guy continues to enjoy the ride. It was quite amusing. Amazingly, his wife did not divorce him.