Attraction Review – Page 14

Architecture, ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, International, Road Trips, TRAVEL

Self-led Shore Excursion in Vienna

August 3, 2016July 16, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: OUR DAY IN VIENNA, AUSTRIA

From the moment we booked our Viking River Cruise, I knew Vienna would be the highlight of the trip for me and a challenge for Bill. He loves to get on a bus, take in the major sites and be done with it. If we can get off the boat, see a few things and get some pictures without much hassle, as we could in Budapest, he likes that, too. Negotiating subways, taking in multiple museums and figuring out someplace to eat is not on his list of must-do’s. I confess, I was in heaven.

The Viking Shore Excursion in Vienna we are glad we weren't on! — The Viking Shore Excursion in Vienna we are glad we weren’t on!

Been There, Done That

Vienna is a city I am familiar with. I know my way around the Ringstrasse. I’ve been on the underground. I know the Stephanplatz. I’ve been to Schönbrunn Palace and the Belvedere. What I wanted to see was the Hofburg.

Sitting at my desk in Dallas I planned out the perfect day in Vienna. We would start with a museum in the Hofburg, hang out in gardens and see where the day led us. I imagined finishing the evening at some romantic sidewalk cafe with shopping bags spread around my feet, each bag holding a perfect gift for a special friend. Do I have to tell you that it didn’t exactly go this way?

It Rained on My Parade

The Viking Tor docked in Vienna around six. Had this been a girl’s trip with my bestie, we would have been standing in the foyer as they extended the gangplank. Kudos to Bill however, we were up and out, with breakfast under our belt, by 9ish. To our dismay it was a gray, chilly day with intermittent rain. More kudos to Bill, he intrepidly strode along the dock, determined to give me my day in Vienna.

Though I love an adventure, as I’ve confessed before, I have arrival anxiety. It’s one thing to read up on a destination and a whole ‘nother thing to actually get there and execute the necessary logistics to complete your plan. If I screw up getting us started, I can ruin the whole day. Talk about over-planning, just in case I didn’t get the underground details right, I had a map of taxi-stands and bicycle rentals waiting in my backpack.

Fortunately, finding the underground and grabbing our ride was a breeze. We stepped out of the Stephenplatz station like we knew what we were doing. The Graben Strasse pedestrian plaza was well marked and we took off in the right direction. So far so good. We delighted in the atmosphere and the architecture. Bill had his camera out and I had my map. I was looking for Kohlmarkt.

Just about the time I thought, “We should just about be there,” Bill shouted, “WOW, look at that.” He’d seen the Hofburg at the end of Kohlmarkt. It was so exciting that tears actually came to my eyes. Dreams really do come true. I was a little damper than I’d imagined, but my day in Vienna was going well.

Come back next week and join us at the Imperial Apartments.

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, Music, Performing Arts, TRAVEL

Shore Excursion to Bratislava, Slovakia

July 27, 2016July 27, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: NOT EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED IN BRATISLAVA

Bratislava is a lovely little town with the oldest surviving town gate in Continental Europe. However, I ran into several complications in my efforts to enjoy this stop on our cruise. The video includes the highlights of the shore excursion and I’ll tell you about my difficulties behind the scenes.

The Walking Tour That Wasn’t the Walking Tour

I had carefully studied the available shore excursions back in Dallas and after a careful examination, decided the Bratislava Walking Tour was superior to the Bratislava City Tour. Both involved walking around the Old City, but one included a bus trip to what I call Faux Castle.

See there once was a real castle up on Castle Hill. However, it was nothing but a ruin when the Communists showed up. They decided they needed to replace the castle, but all they did was build a modern building and call it a castle. I had no desire to see their modern day monstrosity.

However, when I showed up on the dock, we were ushered to a bus and I got the distinct feeling I wasn’t going to be happy about it. In Viking’s defense, I didn’t say anything to anybody once I feared I was on the wrong tour. I guess the jet lag or something had finally hit me, because I wasn’t feeling completely up to par and I just didn’t have the desire to rock the boat – or the bus. My bad.

I have no idea who this guy was, but he has pride of place on Castle Hill.

The bus took us up Castle Hill and dumped us out at the Faux Castle for an orgy of picture taking. The scenery was great, but there’s nothing that makes you feel more like a tourist than being dumped off for a photo opportunity when you don’t really understand why you are there in the first place. The guide never even pretended the castle had any historical or architectural significance. She just said we had ten minutes to take pictures and abandoned us.

On cue, we filed back on the bus after taking our photos and rode down the hill. Then we went on a walking tour which was somewhat interesting, but not compelling. That might have been because the grumblings in my stomach were getting most of my attention, but I was also wondering how the tour sans the Faux Castle would have differed. My new friends assured me they had a great time on the real walking tour, but since Deb was the sort to have fun whatever she was doing, I don’t know if she can be trusted.

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda

Andrew Petcher (a fellow travel blogger I highly recommend), suggested free-style wandering was the best way to see the town, but with Mr. Bill in tow, free-style can be problematic. I think Andrew was probably right. With my Rick Steves’ tour book in hand and no tour guide to keep up with, I think I would have thoroughly enjoyed the capital of Slovakia. The architecture was charming and the quirky sculpture sprinkled throughout the town made for some great snickering.

I think it would be a great place to spend a quiet weekend, but it’s a little far from Dallas for me to check out that theory. My greatest regret was not getting to the UFO Restaurant atop a bridge, another gift of the Communists. After the walking tour we were given some free time, but by then I desperately needed a little private time in my cabin.

A Slovakian Evening

By 6:45 I had gotten myself back into cruise mode and was front and center for the Daily Briefing. We had dinner with our cruise buddies and then made our way back to Lounge for “A Slovakian Evening.”

The entertainment was delightful. Those great big ocean liners can provide productions to rival Broadway and Hollywood, but you have to share them with your 3000 new friends. I’m sort of over that. I much preferred the intimate setting of the Lounge, where we gathered comfortably with 178 (give or take a few) other passengers. The show was marvelous. In fact, after some expensive entertainment in Vienna, our friends told us the onboard entertainment had much better performers than the Viennese show. We thoroughly enjoyed the Slovakian Evening, because the songs were familiar, the costumes were beautiful and performers were gifted.

Below I have included some photos of the entertainment. I hope you’ll come back next week for Vienna – the highlight of the cruise.

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, TRAVEL

Sail-Away on Viking Tor

July 13, 2016June 2, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: DRAMATIC DEPARTURE FROM BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

After our shore excursion to the Szchenyi Thermal Baths we were transported back to the Viking Tor on one of Viking’s buses. Transforming myself from a well-pruned spa goer to an elegant river cruiser was somewhat of a challenge, but I made it.

6:15, Time to Party

Each day the Viking Daily would let us know the day’s schedule. Cocktail Hour always began at 5:30, but since they served us more wine than we should’ve been drinking at dinner, we didn’t join the die-hards ordering martinis and whiskey neat. However, on the night of the Budapest Sail-Away, the Viking Daily announced “A Toast to Our Guests” and since that usually means champagne, we made sure to be there. I love champagne.

We found our new cruise buddies in the Lounge. They’d also been to the baths that afternoon. We settled into a section with enough seats for six of us and then helped ourselves to the flutes of champagne passing by us on trays. Our Captain was from Bratislava and while he could speak English, none of us could understand it. I bet he hates having to do that.

Soon the Welcome Toast was over, but fresh flutes kept coming around. Next on the agenda was the Daily Briefing. Program Director Daniel was fluent in English and excellent at charging up the crowd for rave reviews about the day’s activities. Then he’d fill us in on what the next day would hold, along with any logistical details we needed to know. By seven we were released to the Restaurant.

Sail-Away on the Sun-Deck

On the evening before, Bill and I had taken a stroll along and across the Danube. We’d seen just how dramatic the landscape looked with the major buildings all lit up and we were excited to see what it would look like from the middle of the Danube aboard our longship. Theoretically, there was commentary being given, but what I remember was a lot of laughter and a good dose of exclamations as the dramatic vista passed before us.

We’d started the evening with a champagne toast, drank our fill of wine at dinner and then were given shots of schnapps up on the Sundeck to celebrate the Sail Away. Definitely a case of alcoholic overload.

I assure you there was plenty to oooh and aaah about. Budapest is a lovely city and after dark it is an absolute wonder. With perhaps the exception of a light show at Luxor, Budapest gleaming in the night is one of the most spectacular evening scenes I’ve ever viewed. If you decide to take this cruise, be sure to start in Budapest. Viking runs it both ways, but there is no way a Sail Away in Passau could compare with Budapest.

I’ll leave you with some photos of the Sail Away. Plan on coming back next week for Bratislava.

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Cruising, Decorative Arts, DESTINATIONS, International, TRAVEL

Across the River, Thru the Tunnel and Up Castle Hill

June 29, 2016May 26, 2016 Jane Sadek

Enjoying the sights on Buda's Castle Hill — Enjoying the sights on Buda’s Castle Hill

TRAVEL THERE: THE BUDA PART OF THE BUDAPEST CITY TOUR

With Heroes Square and Andrassy Boulevard under our travel belt, next on the must-see list was Castle Hill. A couple hours before lunch is not enough time to see it, but that’s what we had, so we went with it. Castle Hill is every much as touristy as Heroes Square, but the visitors seem a lot more European and there were no sweater ladies.

Matthias Church

The bus parked and we were led to the top of the hill by our apologetic guide. We waited a few minutes outside Matthias Church while tickets were procured by our underdog tour leader and then made our way into the church.

WOW, just WOW!

The outside of the church was glorious and the deep blue sky didn’t hurt one iota, but once we walked inside the church, we were awestruck.

While the actual church building has only been around for about 800 years, a lot of history has happened up there. Last week I mentioned the Magyars. Well, they were basically marauding barbarians who made Budapest their winter camp around around 867. Somewhere in the late 900’s the old Magyar king, Geza, noticed Christian forces were taking over Europe. Never one to miss a trick, he decided his son, Vajk, should join the up-and-coming religion.

And here’s where the legends start. At about the same time Geza was planning the strategic step of turning Vajk into St. Stephen, Hungary’s first Christian king, the pope dreamed the Magyars were about to convert and had a gold and silver crown tricked out with the popular gemstones of the day and sent it to Budapest with his blessings. However, reliefs on the statue outside the church illustrate the pope showing up with the crown himself for the coronation, so you get to choose what you think happened.

And speaking of the Hapsburgs, there are some very dingy banners hanging from the columns of the church. I was all for replacing them, until I heard they’d been up there since old Konig und Kaiser Franz Joseph’s coronation in 1867. So much for my idea of improvement!

Perhaps the banners wouldn’t look quite so dingy if they weren’t surrounded by blazing color in every direction. Every inch (and I mean every inch) of this beautiful interior is either gold or painted in intricate patterns. It’s like a sampler of bargello needlepoint on steroids.

Life in the Matthias Church has not been all crowns and banners. For awhile some of the various armies passing through used it as a barracks and stable. I’m sure that endeared them to the population. Then the Communists found out they could make some coin by opening it up as a tourist attraction, so they allowed the Hungarians to return it to its former and current glory – and it is glorious.

After the official tour was over we wandered around the church. Even at the risk of sounding redundant, I’d like to repeat that this church is spectacular and you should check out every nook and cranny they will allow you into.

St. Istvan and Fisherman’s Bastion

St. Stephen's Monument and The Fisherman's Bastion — St. Stephen’s Monument and The Fisherman’s Bastion

1896 is an important year in Hungary. Budapest was in its glory days and someone noticed it was the 1000th anniversary of the Magyar’s arrival, so the city went on a campaign of “Magyarization” and self-aggrandizement. Not only did they virtually rebuild the city in grand style, but Hungarian became the official language and many other Magyar-honoring endeavors were undertaken. Part of this was a fluffing up of St. Matthias Church, but they also built Heroes Square, the Fisherman’s Bastion and they erected the St. Istvan (Stephen) monument.

Since Istvan was the first Christian King of Hungary, the whole St. Stephen thing is easy to understand. The Fisherman’s Bastion requires a little more explanation. In Magyar times, when someone decided to attack Buda and/or Pest, the people of the area were pressed into military service. It so happens that what eventually became Castle Hill was in the district where the local fishermen docked their boats. So while the people of Budapest were honoring their Magyar ancestors, they built a double-decker rampart with seven pointy towers (one tower for each of the Magyar tribes) and dubbed it in honor of those fisherman of the past.

Fisherman’s Bastion is, by far, the best vantage point from which to admire the spectacular Parliament Building, along with the rest of the Pest portion of the two-part city. We took lots of pictures, so please enjoy them and come back next week for a dip in the Szechenyi Baths.

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Cruising, DESTINATIONS, International, TRAVEL

Let the Shore Excursions Begin

June 22, 2016May 26, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL HERE: THE PEST PART OF OUR BUDAPEST CITY TOUR

Budapest, Hungary deserves several days on any itinerary, but Viking only gave me the better part of two days, so I had to make the most of every minute. While I wanted to don my walking shoes and start exploring the city, I dutifully boarded the Viking bus and went on the City Tour included in my cruise. I can tell you this, if I can ever manage to do it, I am going back to Budapest!

Andrassy Ut

Our guide for this tour was overly humble about his city. He found it appalling that while a city as grand as Budapest was virtually bereft of victories, they chose to call one of their primary tourist attractions Heroes Square. My research had given me a little different view of it.

The seven Magyars tribes had shown up in Budapest about 896 and terrorized Europe for over a hundred years. Then they protected the Holy Roman Empire from the Tatars and Turks for several centuries, until in 1867 the Hapsburgs created the Austro-Hungarian Empire, acknowledging they needed the Hungarians in order to keep their empire intact. During the second half of the 19th Century, Hungary came into its own and for a while was the rock star of Europe. When the World Wars came along, Hungary was dealt a difficult hand, but I really didn’t understand our guides underdog attitude.

Still, as we made our way along Andrassy ut, the main boulevard of Pest (pronounced Pescht), our underdog-leaning guide apologized his way past a number of spectacular sites. Rick Steves calls Andrassy ut “the Champs-Elysees and Broadway rolled into one.”

My favorite sight along Andrassy ut was the Opera House. During the Austro-Hungarian portion of Budapest’s history, the Holy Roman Emperor might have been Emperor everywhere else, but he was only the King of Hungary. Good old Koing und Kaiser Franz Joseph agreed the city needed an Opera House (What else was he supposed to do for fun when he was in Budapest?), so he provided half the funds needed for the building of the theater, with one teeny tiny stipulation. The opera house in Budapest had to be smaller than his opera house at home in Vienna. The architect followed the letter of this stipulation, if not the spirit of it. In every way except size, the Hungarian State Opera House is supposed to be very much grander than its sister theater in Vienna. Bully for Budapest!

Hosok Tere (Heroes’s Square)

At the end of Andrassy ut is Heroes Square. Though I had never heard of him before this trip, György Zala became one of my favorite sculptors. The 14 sculptures populating Heroes Square were created by him and I think they are gorgeous. In fact, the whole thing is gorgeous. It certainly deserves to be seen by one and all, but I wish we’d had time to see more of the city park which surrounds the square, especially Szepmuveszeti Muzeum (Museum of Fine Arts). It’s probably a good thing the museum has been closed since last year for renovation or I might have slipped away from the tour for a peek and never been heard from again.

While the Square is very beautiful and quite impressive it is very much a tourist trap. You will see millions tour buses and you need to plan on being harassed by bevy of Hungarian ladies hawking sweaters that very much look as if they were made in China. As you stroll around gaping at the impressive monuments, you will most likely bump into the other ten billion tourists (mostly American) who have also been dumped on the Square out of the tour buses.

While I didn’t get enough to time wander off from the tour, we were given plenty of time to explore the square. Then we were herded back to the bus, shown a smidgen of the park and then whisked away to Castle Hill over in Buda. I’ll be back next week to tell you about that, but in the meantime, enjoy the work of my new favorite sculptor.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Keeper of the Plains in Wichita KS

January 6, 2016January 8, 2016 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: THE RING OF FIRE CEREMONY FOR THE KEEPER OF THE PLAINS

I’d just like to complain a little bit. This particular attraction was the sum total of things available to me in Wichita KS. It’s not that they don’t have museums and gardens. It’s that the museums and gardens were all against me. They closed about the time I got there Friday. They opened back up when I went into the Ministry Event, but closed when I got out. Then they waited until I left town to open up again. Thank you Keeper of the Plains for lighting your firepots for me.

Dramatic Positioning

Our waitress at Taste and See gave us great directions to the site of the Keeper of the Plains. We found parking and saw the pedestrian bridge before we could see the Keeper. Once the Keeper came into sight, it was clear he’s in a very dramatic position. He stands at the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers and looks down towards the modern city.

The Keeper himself is a work of modern art, but he makes me think of the popular Kokopelli figure. While Kokopelli is hunched forward, the Keeper stands erect with his face lifted to the Great Spirit.

As we approached the pedestrian bridge, with its bow and arrow motif, the arch of the bridge framed the Keeper. Each perspective seems to add to the mystery of the great figure atop a stone outcropping.

Once across the bridge, we entered an open-air interpretive center explaining the spiritual significance of the Keeper to Native Americans. From this position you are below the stone out-cropping, looking up at the Keeper. Soft tribal music fills the air in the interpretive area making it feel like a sacred place.

There are paths below the outcropping that allow you to walk all the way around the statue. The area is dark, so it was quite popular with couples. Deb and I were a little out of place.

Having seen the statue up close, we decided to wander back across the bridge and enjoy the Ring of Fire ceremony from afar.

I Anticipated the Wrong Ring

Across the river along the esplanade was several tiers of seating and a different type of tribal music was playing, “Happy” by Pharrell Williams. Deb and I climbed to one of the upper tiers and watched a couple of little boys dance to the trippy little tune. As we enjoyed the boys I tried out the panoramic feature on my phone I had discovered at Myriad Botanical Gardens. The light wasn’t right, but I will share the results anyway.

Finally the moment came and flames erupted in the firepots at the Keeper’s feet, but that wasn’t what I was expecting. I wanted fire to blaze between the hands of the Keeper. Careful reading of the information I found revealed they’d had all the prepositions right, I’d just decided I didn’t want it that way, so I ignored them. My purposeful ignorance did not change a thing. The magic light did not appear for me.

I grabbed a final shot for you and we went back to the car. This was Friday night. We spent Saturday in the arena and enjoyed the seafood buffet at the hotel that evening. The next morning we headed home. We experienced the worst service I’d ever had at a McDonald’s somewhere along the way in Oklahoma. Then we were home.

I took this trip in mid-September. When I got home there were still several articles about the San Antonio Stroll on my blog waiting for posting. I went ahead and wrote all the items on the Wichita trip as soon as I got home, knowing the series would not start until late October, but not wanting to miss the details. You are reading this in the new year, but I am writing them on a beautiful September afternoon in Dallas. I wonder what will be going on in the New Year of 2016.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Museums, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Chihuly at the OKCMOA

December 2, 2015December 2, 2015 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: CHIHULY IS ALIVE AND WELL AT THE OKLAHOMA CITY MUSEUM OF ART

We were in Oklahoma City to see Chihulys. You might say Deb and I are Chihuly Groupies. It doesn’t bother us to go a little out of our way to add a piece to our collection of Chihuly sightings. We know we are not alone.

My Love Affair with Chihuly

Though Chihuly was not unknown to me, I really didn’t pay that much attention to him until 1995 when one of his creations was added to the Dallas Museum of Art. All of Dallas became Chihuly crazy and we just haven’t gotten over it. That love affair was renewed when the Dallas Arboretum featured him throughout the garden in 2012. In my opinion, the garden has never looked as good. Were I one of those mega-rich people, I would have just bought the whole collection so it could stay here.

In my wanderings I’ve seen Chihulys in the Bellagio in Las Vegas and in the Casino at Atlantis in the Bahamas. He’s graced gardens from San Antonio TX to St. Louis MO. I saw him in a museum in Portland OR and in Flint MI. Once in California Bill and I were taking a little vacation in Palm Desert where he played one of their golf courses. While he signed up for his game, I stood awestruck looking at the chandelier. I asked just to be sure I wasn’t mistaken, but yes, a Chihuly graced the clubhouse.

OKCMOA’s Chihuly Collection

Bill and I made a pilgrimage to OKCMOA back in 2011-12, while the museum was celebrating the re-installation of their Chihulys. It’s one of our favorite shared memories. I’d raved so long and so hard about it that Deb was dying to go. The Trip With No Name gave us a reason to satisfy her longing.

Chihuly takes up most of the third floor of the museum. In the exhibit area, the ambient lighting has been turned way down and bright spotlights on the art makes it seem to reach out and grab you.

If you haven’t seen Chihuly in OK City, then you haven’t seen Chihuly at all – and since I’ve seen a lot of Chihulys, I know whereof I speak. At the gift shop I bought a package of cards decorated with photos of his pieces at the museum. I told myself I was getting them to share with you and then I could use them for correspondence. Well, here I am, sharing them with you, but I somehow doubt they will ever make it to the mailbox. I’m thinking they will make spectacular pages in my scrapbooks.

So enjoy these wonderful postcards and then come back next week. We’re going to have a fabulous meal at the Museum Cafe before we head off to Wichita.

ART, Attractions, Decorative Arts, DESTINATIONS, Museums, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Oklahoma City Museum of Art

November 25, 2015November 25, 2015 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: OKCMOA, FABERGE AND CHIHULY, WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE?

OK, I’ll admit a lot of things didn’t go very well as I planned this trip, but one thing went very right. I discovered a collection of Faberge artifacts were on special exhibition at the OKMOA. We would have gone to the museum anyway, because they have wonderful, marvelous Chihulys, but to also see Faberge Imperial Easter Eggs? We were in heaven. I don’t want to go all nanny-nanny-poo-poo on you, but the exhibit ended back in September.

Faberge Eggs I Have Seen and Loved

The story of the Romanffs and their Easter Eggs are not exactly a hidden gem of the art world. I can’t remember not knowing about them. However, my first opportunity to get up close and personal with them was at the Kimbell Art Museum in 1982. Sometime around that time I also saw some Faberge items in New Orleans, but back in those days I had no idea I’d be a blogger one day and I can’t find a shred of evidence to prove I was there or exactly where I found them. I’m guessing they were a few items on loan to the New Orleans Museum of Art from the famous Hodge collection which were later featured in a full blown exhibition of the collection back in 2008.

I do however cherish the book I got at the Kimbell exhibit. I have read so many books and watched so many movies about the Romanoffs that I can’t tell you what I’ve actually seen in person and what was delivered to me via various media.

The OKCMOA Exhihibition

The signature item of the OKCMOA Exhibition, featured on banners throughout the city, was a lapis lazuli egg decorated with gold filigree. I made the mistake of assuming the entire exhibition would be eggs, which was not true, but we were in no way disappointed, because the exhibit was full of spectacular, awe-inducing items collected by an avid American fan of Faberge.

The first egg displayed in the galleries was this darling piece with the pelican on top. It was a gift from Nicholas II to his mother the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. Pelicans are not exactly my favorite birds, but according to the information provided by the museum, they symbolize motherly love and care, so that makes it more charming. It was displayed as it is shown on this postcard, but a video showed how it opened up into a series of frames holding pictures of members of the royal family. Quite a remarkable feat.

Along a wall, magnificent religious icons dripping in jewels and precious metals filled a case. The lighting was low to preserve the artwork, but it also made it difficult to appreciate all the details. However, you didn’t need much light to tell you they were spectacular.

The next case had a grove of gold, tree-like arms holding miniature eggs exquisitely decorated by Faberge. The Pelican Egg, the icons and the miniature eggs filled the first room of the exhibition, but there were four other rooms full of treasures to enjoy. There was everything from furniture, to serving pieces, to animals, to lots and lots of frames, to cigarette cases, to…well pretty much whatever you can imagine. Photography was a new fad in those days, so a frame from your sovereign with a family photo was a real treat. Pre-rolled cigarettes were newly fashionable at the time too, so cigarette cases are well represented. I think the items which sparked the most interest for me were parasol handles. Fashion demanded the well-put-together woman complete her ensemble with a parasol and woe to the woman who didn’t have an assortment of parasols to chose from. Similarly, men carried canes with handles to rival the women.

The Technology

Audio tours were available on your smartphone and the museum provided earphones to cut down on the noise. The information available, some of which I have shared here, is quite interesting. However, the Kimbell has spoiled me. Their acousti-guides are a little more user-friendly, because you don’t have to go in order. You just input the number of the item you’ve happened upon and listen to what is said. You really had to follow the order of audio guide on your phone at the OKCMOA, because there was no way to select a specific item. You also used up a lot of phone juice. I had to charge up after I left.

I also felt like they were stingy with their information. There were so many wonderful items in the show and only a fraction were touched upon in the audio guide. I know they can’t tell us everything about every single item, but the guide only explained 14 of the 230 items. That’s not even a tithe of the objects.

Upstairs was a hands-on craft area for families to enjoy. Many people had designed plans for their own Faberge Eggs using colored pencils and glued on rhinestones. There was also a timeline with photos of all the Romanoff Easter Eggs. The rest of the floor held the bulk of what was being displayed from their permanent collection. We strolled through, but we were getting antsy to see the Chihuly’s

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so I hope each and every one of you has a marvelous day. I hope you come back next week and check out the Chihulys.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Gardens, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Myriad Botanical Gardens, Oklahoma City OK

November 18, 2015November 18, 2015 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: MYRIAD BOTANICAL GARDENS, A GLORIOUS OASIS IN DOWNTOWN OKC

Warning! Downtown OKC is under construction. Your GPS won’t like it. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go. It just means you need to be ready for it. We found parking close to the art museum and walked the few short blocks to Myriad Botanical Gardens.

An entire city block, being prepared for implosion.

There’s a Conversion Happening

Five or six years ago Bill and I took a few days in OKC in the days before blogging. Much of what I planned for this stopover with Deb came from my memories of the trip with Bill. I remembered OKC having a decidedly turn-of-the-century Western charm, but it was the turn from the 19th century to the 20th. OKC is moving into the 21st century whether I approve of it or not.

The two buildings above may deserve the makeover, but there were others we were sorry to see included in the “improvement”. They sported signs of architectural interest that will be lost when antiquity is replaced with skyscrapers.

The inscrpition says we are what we do. What has someone done? — The inscription says, “We are what we do.” I wondered “What has someone done?”

At least the city is trying to incorporate natural beauty in between it’s glass boxes, but Deb didn’t think much of it. This small architectural feature was carved with a platitude and accented with a large stone. In Deb’s opinion, it looked as if someone had failed to clean up after their pet dinosaur. When Bill saw this picture, he felt the same way.

The Myriad Botanical Gardens had also changed. I remembered them as having more green grass and less hardscape. Not that they haven’t created a beautiful place. It’s just not as botanical as I remembered.

The Conservatory

The gardens outside were different and I was still trying to decide how I felt about that when we arrived at the entrance to The Conservatory. The last time I’d visited there had been a festival going on and the entry area was congested with small costumed entertainers. This time everything was serene.

We made our way to the garden area and entered a wonderland. It was amazing. I won’t bother you with my ecstatic ramblings. Instead I’ll just share my pictures.

Come back next week and I’ll share another downtown treat with you. The Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

Architecture, ART, Attractions, Gardens, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

On the Mission Trail

October 14, 2015October 15, 2015 Jane Sadek

TRAVEL THERE: SAN ANTONIO’S MISSION TRAIL

Mission Concepcion

Deb and I both had been on San Antonio’s Mission Trail before, so our visit was just a refresher course. We started at Mission Concepcion and arrived during a break between services.

Very modern families shared the latest news on the mission lawn. White-frocked priests chatted with parishioners. A large black dog wove among pants legs and teased children, earning a pat or two along the way. Some version of this scene has played out, right there, for several centuries. I found it heart-warming.

Espada Mission

We stayed a few minutes and then passed by San Jose Mission, because we would be returning shortly for Mariachi Mass. With only 45 minutes to spare, we chose to see Espada over San Juan. Deb couldn’t remember which was which, but I knew Espada was my favorite.

When we pulled into the parking lot Deb knew I had chosen correctly. It’s her favorite mission too, even though she couldn’t remember the name. She recalled it from a previous visit, long ago when her boys were young. We sauntered among ruins and enjoyed the rustic feel of the old church.

Big News for the Mission Trail

As we chatted with each other about the lovely place a gentleman overheard our appreciative comments and shared some news. Mission Espada has been chosen as a World Heritage site. Since the official announcement didn’t come out until July 5th, finding this out in early June was a big deal.

On the surface this sounds like a good thing, but I really don’t know whether I want UNESCO messing with my favorite mission or not. All five missions are included in the designation, but Espada has been singled out as the site of the interpretive center.

Deb and I both feel a very spiritual connection to this particular mission, because it seems to be the least modernized. We feel as if there is still a link to the men who originally suffered and sacrificed to bring the Good News to the New World. We know that not every priest who came to the Americas had the best interest of the natives as their goal, but something about Espada makes us believe the men who came there did.

What we really don’t want is a bunch of people in costume making like they’re historical figures and signs all over the place explaining how abusive us Europeans were to the natives. Sure there were abuses, but we’re afraid new abuses are about to be perpetrated on the beautiful Espada Mission. It is a church first and it should stay that way.

After hearing the news we entered the chapel and spent some time in prayer. It was a holy moment for us, touching both our hearts. We hope we can have that experience the next time we visit Espada.

Time for San Jose

Mission San Jose, Mission Trail, San Antonio,TX — Mission San Jose

A peek at our watches told us we had lingered too long. We made a mad dash back to San Jose. Of course, we parked in the boonies and raced around wildly trying to find the worship center. A woman took us in hand and found us a seat.

The Mariachi Mass

I have bad news. The Mariachi Mass isn’t what it used to be. The last time I was at San Jose, parishioners were excited about the renovation about to occur. I’m afraid they did to San Jose exactly what I don’t want them to do to Espada. They improved it above and beyond my recognition.

Not The Way It Used to Be

I have memories of a small dark sanctuary filled with the exhilarating music of mariachis laced with the intoxicating smell of incense. The new sanctuary is big, bold, bright and completely out of touch with my memories.

Back in the old days, the mariachis wore incredible costumes sparkling with silver conchos. The new uniforms have stamped metal conchos, but only the color is silver, not the metal. The old mariachis wore the complete costume. Sombereos atop their heads, heavily embroidered suits with silver conchos and heavy black leather boots. The new mariachis wear white shirts with mariachi bowties, but it’s not the same. Someone once told me the same family had performed as a part of the mass for many generations. I don’t think any of them are still there. One of the violins was so off key that I actually thought I was going to have to leave. It was like nails scraping a chalkboard.

Here’s how bad it was. One of the choir members recognized us as strangers and apologized to us. That’s pretty sad.

It was time for us to head towards Dallas, but one more adventure awaits. Come back next week for lunch at Gruene’s Gristmill. In the meantime, enjoy the Mission Trail photos below.