Tokyo in a Day

When we were mapping out our schedule, I truly thought we had four days planned for Tokyo. Somehow with transfers, and a planned day trip to Mt. Fuji, that has turned into a day and a half. Since yesterday was raining, and we had to leave by 3:30 for a baseball game, that left today to explore Tokyo. By the time we woke up, had breakfast and started our adventures, that left 12 hours. You get the idea. We just did not have a lot of time to fully explore Tokyo, so here are our adventures in a nutshell.

We gave up on the 2-day metro card I was proud of myself for buying at the Tokyo airport. It works on a bunch of lines, none of which were convenient to what we were doing until we broke down and bough the OTHER pass. Suddenly everything we wanted to do was on the first pass. Oy vey!

I designed a quick tour of Tokyo.

UENO PARK

This looked like the Central Park of Tokyo – great for walking around, lots of things to do. We kept seeing signs with pandas on them, so we followed them. This led us to the Ueno Zoo. My pre-trip research discouraged me from

going there. Our favorite zoo is the National Zoo where animal have wide open spaces. I was warned the animals would be in tiny cages. Yes, this was true. The cost was much less than anticipated (600 YEN for Don and I ($6.50), and Ashley was free). From the main gate we could see the panda area. The female panda is in seclusion as she is on a baby watch, but her mate was on display. The first time we saw him he was sleeping. We went back a couple of hours ago and he was putting on quite a show chomping on bamboo – stripping off the bad parts first, of course. The zoo also had a very cute red panda who we caught eating dinner, then saw him sleeping in a tree. The human benefit to the smaller cages is that the animals are up close. I’d still rather see them have space. The giraffe was reaching his neck into the okapi space to eat his bushes. Man do they have long necks! We saw a bearded dragon in the reptile area that made us think of Sandy, and other animals we tend to see at the Churchville Nature Center. Ashley found some cute chameleon earrings and a panda i-Pod case. We actually enjoyed it.

SENSO-JI TEMPLE

As previously stated, we were a bit templed-out by this point. The same feeling would have prevailed about churches in Italy or Paris. So when we stumbled upon this temple, we took a few pictures and kept walking. In hindsight, I should have stopped to visit the Nakamise-dori (street of traditional souvenirs). I love the vivid reds and bright colors. The blue sky (such a rarity on our trip) was a nice treat, too.

ASAKUSA 

We successfully walked down to Asakusa and an area that was not destroyed by earthquakes or WWII. Everything here is much older. Felt soothing. We planned to catch a boat cruise down the river, but our timing was off. Instead we caught a subway to GINZA. We enjoyed a stroll along the river that took us past the

building that looks like it has a turd coming out of it. It has been a lot of fun seeing things in person that before this we only saw in pictures. For Don seeing the landmarks used in the Panasonic camera owners’ manuals has been a treat.

GINZA

The Ginza district is like the Times Square of Tokyo, plus lots of department stores. Ashley loved the Sony Building. We saw a 200-inch 4K TV set showing images of World Heritage Sites that made you feel as if you were

visiting the sites yourself. We took lots of pictures of the area at dusk. I loved walking through Printemps Department Store and hearing a little bit of French. The price tags were enough to keep me from buying anything.

ROOPONGI

We wanted to explore Roopongi (where Hard Rock Café is located) when it wasn’t raining. Well, since it was nighttime, that also changed the atmosphere. We found  a cheap Italian place (dinner for the three of us for less than $20) and skeddadled back to the metro. We caught a train back to Shinjuku. This was our first experience with a super crowded train. Can’t say that any of us liked it! This was at 10PM, we dread seeing it at 7 AM tomorrow when we are heading to Mt. Fuji – the newest World Heritage Site.

It might not sound like much, but at the end of the day I had 32,000 steps on my pedometer. One day isn't enough.

Ashley was hoping for an early bedtime. We got her to bed by 11. That’s early, right? She did ask for 3 meals today instead of our usual 2. We managed that successfully. We also nearly made it through the day without ice cream being a meal. If only her lunch at the zoo (pancakes) did not also include a dollop of ice cream and a piece of chocolate shaped like a panda. We’ll do a better job about eating veggies once we get back to NJ. I promise! We’ll also sleep for more than 5 hours a night when we get home. (So far, jet lag has robbed us of that opportunity.)

More pictures of Tokyo

Americana Day in Tokyo

There comes a day on every international trip when we crave all things American. Today was that day.

I’m tired of pork. Tired of the rain. Tired of learning how to navigate a new city. Tired of new rules with a new transportation system. Tired of walking on the right when the rest of the people walk on the left. Tired of not understanding the most basic stuff. And tired of being tired.

Introducing Americana Day!

We slept in a little later and woke up around 8. We could have used more sleep, but we really did not want to miss the breakfast buffet. Once again,

the breakfast buffet was an odd assortment of Western and Japanese foods. Many of the Japanese food items looked good, but they are not what use westerners think of when we think of breakfast – rice, curried chicken, side dishes, green salad, etc. Tomorrow we are trying the Western Breakfast restaurant. We’re all hoping for waffles, pancakes, or (for me) French Toast. We’ll see what we get. (It was the same food, only served to the table rather than buffet-style.)

Being in a new city, and a very large one at that, means everything takes so much longer to navigate. We decided to start our day out on foot with some power shopping. First stop, back to the electronics super store to search for a new (bigger) lens for my new camera. Score one for B&H who works out to about $100 cheaper than the cheap Japanese electronics store for the same model. It is now on my birthday  / Christmas wish list.

We found a 100 Yen Shop (their answer to the Dollar Stores by us), but were almost out of yen, so we had to find an ATM. Next stop was the Disney Store (we forgot to buy souvenirs at Tokyo Disney). Struck out here as most items looked like things we could find back home. The only really unique item was chop sticks, but we are making out fine with the ones we bought from EPCOT a few years ago. In the same mall was a sporting goods store so Don continued the quest for a specific type of kick stand for his bicycle. Still no success.

We then spent a frustratingly long amount of time hunting around the Shinjuku Station for the right subway line to go 4 stops to find Hard Rock Café. It was at this point I was in tears. The Shinjuku Station is enormous. It has several different types of trains and subways coming into it, and each of them has several lines. Each type has their own entrance and their own ticketing system. The signs are mostly in Japanese, with just enough English tossed in to lull us into thinking there is a chance we’ll be able to do this without help.

We successfully made it to the right line going in the right direction. Got off and tried to ask for directions. We found some Americans trying to do the same thing. Somehow we were led to the exact wrong direction. 

Yes, it was still raining. The gentleman at a cell phone store gave us

directions and offered us an umbrella. I spent a year in Belgium without an umbrella, I never use one at home, but this trip is breaking me down to want to join the umbrella group. Tomorrow morning has a chance of rain, then the rest of our trip should be clear -- I hope! I’ve never encountered this much rain, even with living in Belgium.

We finally found Hard Rock Café Tokyo. It felt like a pilgrimage stop. We each enjoyed a nice, juicy burger. 

It was lunch time, so they tossed in a bowl of cream of corn soup. Since it was lunchtime, they were running a burger special – a 6 oz. plain burger for about $10. Ashley was set! We recently learned that Ashley's favorite soup is cream of corn. We didn't even know she liked ANY soup. This will help us with her quest to be a vegetarian.

The peach iced tea with unlimited refills was a whopping $6, but somehow the server forgot to charge us for it. At that point, it really didn’t matter. I wanted the iced tea that much! I was happy it came in a huge, American-sized glass. Don was thrilled to be able to read every word on the menu.

It wouldn’t be a trip for us to an international Hard Rock Café without a trip to the souvenir shop. Ashley left with a t-shirt, I left with a cotton shirt (similar to one I was eyeing up at Kohls a few weeks ago, but with a discreet Hard Rock Café Tokyo on it) and Don picked up a sweatshirt. With the non-stop rain, he left the store wearing the sweatshirt.

We had some time to kill and thought it would be fun to explore Tokyo on foot. How hard could it be? Well, the clerk at Hard Rock Café, who relocated to Tokyo from France, put us in the exact wrong direction. By this time it was 3:30 and we were meeting up with Hiroko at the baseball game at 5:30. What should be an hour-long ride we knew would take us twice as long so we found a station.

We were warned the trip to the baseball stadium would involve three transfers. Since we were not even at our starting location (Shinjuku Station), it would take four transfers. What we had not been told was that each transfer was to a completely different type of train, therefore each one required a different ticket and a different guess as to how much that ticket would cost and what platform to use to catch it. With a lot of help from ticket station guards (they do not have agents in Tokyo train stations) and by showing them our tickets to Seibo Stadium to see the Lions play, we made it to the right station 12 minutes before our agreed upon meeting point.

It was still raining when we got to the end of the line.

Fortunately the Seibo Stadium decided to put a dome across it about 10 years ago. For the most part we were dry. The dome covers the playing field, and the seats, but not the concourse with the food and souvenirs.

Everyone told us just how different Japanese baseball is to American baseball. We were just surprised by the similarities. It reminded us a lot of a Thunder game. The players were announced by position in English as they took the field. The mascot made some appearances. The first pitch was thrown out by a local celebrity (some actress/model). People cheered. Lots of food and souvenirs were for sale. Each player has an individual song that is played when he is at bat.

Some differences: this stadium had a blanket section for cheap seats in the deep outfield. This seemed to be the party section. There was a man in a kimono leading the cheering section, another one in the back beating a 6 foot wide drum, he was accompanied by a couple of other “musicians.” It was very festive. 

Beer was sold until the end of the game
(instead of until the middle of the 7^th inning, for you non-baseball fans). The 7^th inning stretch was replaced by a 7^th inning victory balloon release (hopefully we got a good picture of this).  At one point with two men on, the entire stadium seemed to say a prayer and bow. I didn’t quite catch what was happening. Many people wore Lions shirts over their office clothes. I found that amusing.

The crowd seemed to cheer distractingly loud whenever the situation got the most tense (like when there are two men on base, two outs and a full count). Maybe it’s just me, but this is when I tend to get the quietest. I must go back to a Thunder game to see how others react.

We bumped into someone wearing a Phillies shirt, which led to a conversation. He is stationed with the Air Force in Japan. He keeps asking to be sent to Maguire, but so far he has been sent to London, Seattle and now Japan.

In the bottom of the 8^th inning with two outs, the home team hit a home run. The crowd went wild and stayed that way. The Lions won! More blue victory balloons (available for purchase for 200 Yen (=$2) apiece, you supply the air) were released.

I feel like I’m supposed to say more about this experience, but truly it reminded me much more of a Thunder game than I would have expected. So many people told me I have to check out a Japanese baseball game that I feel as if I missed something. It was oddly a great way to spend a rainy night.

We were dreading coming out of the stadium and having to wait around for a train. They had this covered. There were four trains lined up designated as express trains to where we had to go. This eliminated a transfer for us and its terminus was where we had to go anyway. Hiroko’s friend bought us our train tickets (with our money) so he was able to purchase us tickets straight to the Shinjuko Station.

Only one transfer instead of three. There was only one choice of train at the start (many more at the switch, but Hiroko told us the key words to search for). We definitely made it back to the hotel in much less time.

Tomorrow we break out the all-day subway pass and try to explore as much as possible. This should be interesting. The subway pass I was so proud of purchasing at the start of our trip is only valid on some of the lines. I’d love a map that just shows what we CAN do with our pass, and not everything. I’d be just as overwhelmed in NYC, but at least there I can speak the language.

Here is to hoping for a better night’s sleep.

More pictures of Tokyo

Kyoto, Japan part 1

We arrived at Kyoto Station midday on Sunday. Unfortunately, due to lack of foresight, we did not find a church service in Osaka. Through a google search, I found a couple of services, but I couldn’t figure out where they were in relation to where we were.

Kyoto Station is very futuristic and modern, quite a contrast to the rest of the city. The station was completed in 1997 – only 16 years ago. It has lots of restaurants and stores, but seemed slight on non-Japanese take out. *sigh*

The hotel provided a free shuttle bus from the train station, so we loaded our luggage into it and checked in. The first highlight was that there was a parade piece in the lobby of a giant that never leaves Kiyomizu Temple . As Ashley has a bearded dragon, this reminded her of Sandy.

We were too early to check into our rooms, so we left our bags and started our adventures.

Our first stop was Nijo Castle. The claim to fame of this castle is it’s interiors. The walls were painted by various members of the Kano family and the Kano School of artists. The little we learned about them reminded us of the Peale family – Charles Willson Peale painted a very famous portrait of George Washington standing in front of Nassau Hall at Princeton University. Most (if not all) of his children became artists. The Kano family began as a low-ranking samurai family and became famous artists in the 15^th century.

The castle is most famous for its nightingale floors. No matter how quietly you walk, the floors creak in a way that sounds like music. This is so no one could sneak up on the ruler and kill him.

What stood out to me was the huge size of the rooms, and the lack of furniture. Unfortunately photography was strictly prohibited.

We walked around the gardens. The famous Karamon Gate, which looks beautiful in our tour book photo, is under construction until September 2013. Just seeing the sign made me think of Paris. It seemed every time I went to Paris (keep in mind, I spent 1987-88 as an exchange student in Belgium, spent fall 1990 as a exchange student in Paris, and honeymooned there in May 1993), I felt I’d have to keep returning in order to see every building without scaffolding at least once. There is always a reason to return someplace.

The entire complex started a massive renovation in 1972 to preserve the then-450 year old building. I'm impressed they thought about preservation as early as the 1970s.

We walked around the gardens. Unfortunately nothing seemed to be in bloom. We were too late for some flowering trees, and too early for others.

We hopped back on the bus to the Kyoto Station for lunch. We went to a

Ramen noodle shop. See, we can eat Japanese food. (Looking at my pictures later, the front of the restaurant said it was a Chinese Restaurant. We tried!)

Our travels took us to the Toji Temple, a 5-Story Pagoda, and Japan’s tallest wooden structure. At 55 m (180 feet) it seemed much taller than the one we saw the day before in Nara that is the second tallest wooden structure.

Within Toji Temple complex were a couple of other buildings. One had Buddha in it, which made it a Temple instead of a Shrine. It reminded me of being in Paris (I guess being in a foreign country, I have France on the brain). In Catholicism there is a difference between a basilica and a cathedral and other kinds of

churches. I’ll have to refresh my memory on that. The Buddha at Toji Temple was much smaller than the one in Nara, but still quite impressive. He was first built in 796, the building it currently resides in was built in 1603. This was the Buddha of healing, so I asked him to cure my cold. It must have worked, because my cold did go away later that day. Even so, I’m still a Christian at heart.

We decided to walk to the Gion District. Since we are all shutterbugs, the 30 minute walk took closer to an hour. Oh well. On the way we hung out by the Kamo River. Don stopped into a couple of bike shops. He is that much closer to finding something that will

work on his bike at home.

Gion District 

The tourbook said to go at dusk, however there was not much life on a Sunday night. We did see a couple of Geishas and dashed down Ishibe-Koji Lane – a street filled with tea houses and inns so discrete we didn’t notice them. We walked up to the Yasaka Shrine – a pretty red and white shrine that hosts a huge festival every July.

Ashley’s contact lenses started to bother her in the Gion District. Fortunately there was a Family Mart – a huge drugstore chain and Hiroko was able to find the perfect solution – a single use bottle of saline solution and a contact lens case for 100 yen ($1). She then crashed for the night. If it wasn’t that we had no idea where the hotel was located, we would not have been far behind her.

Sleep is for wimps, right?

More pictures of Kyoto Kyoto Part 2
Kyoto Part 3

University Creameries

Last weekend we drove to Newark, DE to visit our friends Jean and Bill. Jean and I first met in 1993 when she started to work for the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. We attended their 1994 wedding. About 5 years later Jean told me about a job opening in the development office at Rider University. We had the pleasure of working together for a couple of more years before I moved onto Princeton Day School's Alumni and Development Office.

Last fall Jean retired from Rider University. She and her husband sold their home and moved to Newark, DE, home to the University of Delaware. Jean and Bill invited us down to check out their new hometown.

Knowing us as well as she does, Jean immediately suggested we start our tour at the University of Delaware Creamery. Well...for the cause, you know. ;) 

As winter break was still in session, the campus was very quiet. We were able to stare at the menu and drool over choices such as Peppermint Bark (white chocolate ice cream with crushed candy canes and chocolate chunks), Peppermint Hot Chocolate ice cream (mint chocolate ice cream with crushed Andes Mint candies) and Not-tella (chocolate hazelnet ice cream with a hazelnut graham cracker swirl). Oh they also have traditional flavors, but those were the ones we put into a giant 3 scoop serving. The creamery is run by university students as a way to learn how to market and run a small business, as well as features the milk from the cows on the other side of the parking lot. We've already determined this is a must-do rest stop when traveling south on I-95. Done right, we'd even avoid a $4 toll, and use that money to buy some ice cream! If only they had public rest rooms.

This is the third creamery we have visited. The second one was the Dairy Store at Michigan State University. We visited that creamery while in Michigan visiting Ashley's friend, Emma, and her family. 

MSU learned a key lesson -- the name really matters! If you are an OSU fan, how could you pass up a Buckeye flavor? Most, if not all, of their flavors were named after competing school teams. 

The mecca of university creameries seems to be at Penn State University, reputed to be the largest university creamery in the nation. It certainly was the largest looking operation of the few we have seen.

Always up for recommendations of creameries to visit -- they don't have to be on university campuses to count.

As a a side bonus, the trip helped me with my top goal for the new year -- spending more time with friends, especially those who have recently moved. Hopefully we'll see Jean and Bill back up in Lawrenceville for Music in the Park, and we hope to go to Newark for some minor league baseball or other fun activities in the warmer weather.

For now, I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!

NYC - High Line

Welcome to New York City's High Line, the latest trend in taking something useless and falling apart and turning it into something beautiful and useful.

The High Line is a handicap-friendly, elevated park running along 10th Avenue from just below 14th Street to 30th Street, with plans to expand to 34th Street in the near future. It is built on old freight rail lines (think rails to trails) from the meat packing district to Chelsea and closer to Grand Central Station.

With wildflowers growing along the path, and pretty vistas of The Big Apple, the High Line is a great place for photo buffs. The scenes along the path are timeless and photogenic in all seasons. It also helps that one end is only a couple of blocks away from my favorite photo supply store -- B&H Photos.







For a more comical shot look for the bleachers facing a giant glass window that stretches across 10th Avenue. Here you can pretend, like Ashley, to be run over by cars. 



A highlight of the stroll was stopping for ice cream cookie sandwiches from a street vendor. They were gooood. Ashley and I split one with dark chocolate cookies with peppermint ice cream in the center. Don had nutmeg cookies with peanut butter ice cream. The other street vendors' fares looked just as delicious.


My biggest complaint about the High Line is that it is too crowded. I was envisioning a cut-through to get from Point A to Point B without having to deal with traffic lights and slow moving pedestrians. Unfortunately the entire path seemed filled with slow moving pedestrians, many (like me) wielding cameras and stopping to take "the best shot."

A couple of days after going on the High Line, the New York Times ran an opinion story about it. The writer has even stronger opinions about the downsides of the High Line, including the demise of local businesses in the wake of gentrification of the former working-class neighborhood. Sounds like a case of too much success is not necessarily a good thing for everyone.

The park is free and open from 7 AM-11 PM everyday. It is worth a visit, especially on a nice day. While there, visit the neighborhoods below it and support the local businesses.

Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm

With our day trip to Quiet Valley Living History Farm this week, I feel as if Ashley and I are back to day tripping our way through historical sites. Considering it is August already, it is about time.

This trip started out as a Facebook idea. My friend, Michelle, was lamenting that her daughter's field trip was too far away and would not get her home in time for her dance recital later that night. After looking at the place online, I suggested we postpone the trip until the summer and let the girls have a chance to visit together. Another friend, Karin, saw the "conversation" and asked to join the fun outing. 

Three moms, two preteen girls, and two kindergarten(ish) boys had a triple playdate in Stroudsburg, PA. It was nice because for many reasons. The weather cooperated (80, low humidity, and no rain). Plus the kids were all happy because they had a friend to play with, and the moms were thrilled to be able to hold conversations. Oh, we also snuck in a few lessons about farm life in the late 19th century.

The farm was started by the Depper family who escaped from feudal Germany in the late 18th century and settled in Stroudsburg, PA (about 100 miles from Philadelphia). 

Fast forward a number of years. In 1958 a family purchased the farm from the widow Hess with the intention of farming on the 100 acres. After purchasing the property, they recognized the historic value of the property (which I interpret to mean no one fixed anything in at least 100 years). Rather than farming, the family spent a few years fixing up the place and opened it up in 1963 as Quiet Valley Farm Museum. Changes were made over the years, including building a circa-1893 one-room school house, which was finished in 1994.

Tours are lead by "family members" who revel in telling guests about all of their "modern" conveniences. How much easier life is now (in the 1890s) than it was when "grandpa" began farming. It is cute and annoying at the same time. The discussion about the modern appliances in the kitchen came across as a Pampered Chef demonstration about how lucky the housewife is to have all of these gadgets that her husband, Harvey, kept buying for her. The stove in the picture was quite expensive -- $25 back in the late 19th century. Her husband brought it home for her in his wagon. 

The grandson was quite excited to have a modern-day "fiddle" to distribute seed rather than having to hand sow it like his grandfather. 

All of the presenters were enthusiastic. Each was excited to tell us about "their" lives.

On the day we went, there was a wool-dying presentation. Costumed re-enactors were using heavy pots to dye wool. Sometimes they added iron to change the color of the dye. The presenter became a bit too animated, though, when explaining the old-fashioned technique for making wool indigo-colored. Let's just say it includes everyone peeing in a pot and letting that sit for 6 weeks in the sun. Hard to look at the color again without thinking "ewww."

In addition to more staff than I normally see at small historical sites, there were also a bunch of animals. There were at least 6 goats, 5 pigs, 4 sheep, two horses, a mule, a bull and a foal. 

Our biggest challenge of the day way finding the place. It is tucked in the mountains only a few miles away from the Delaware Water Gap. A couple of signs would have helped. If three college-educated women with GPS units and website directions have troubles finding the place, it is not easy to find. Fortunately we also had children in the car saying (as we drive by) "is that it?" We were all glad that we were not the only ones dumb enough to drive past the unmarked parking lot. 

Thank you for the fun outing!

Updike Farmstead

In 2004 Princeton purchased Updike Farmstead, an historic farm located on Quaker Road. Thanks to a bunch of grants, the Princeton Historic Society renovated the late 18th century farm house in 2009/2010.



The renovations are stunning. In one hallway is a series of pictures documenting the transformation. 

http://www.princetonhistory.org/locations/updike-farmstead.cfm

What drew me to the farmstead was the exhibit on Ellen Axson Wilson's American Impressionist paintings. Mrs. Wilson was First Lady when Woodrow Wilson was President. Many of the paintings in the collection were created while Woodrow Wilson was Governor of New Jersey and they lived in Princeton.

http://www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org/index.asp?section=news&file=news&ID=144

Ashley's favorite part of the tour was the scavenger hunt. Many museums (at least the ones trying to encourage families) have scavenger hunts. Often they are "I Spy" games where the kids are asked to find something inside. This was the first time we played the game outside. On the list were easy items, such as an oak or maple leaf -- stationary items. Then there were things we should be able to find (an acorn, a pine cone). As a storm was about to hit, we struck out on the live creatures (ladybugs, worms, and birds). Ashley did manage to find a deer track, which was not easy in the rock solid ground, but we could not find a feather on the property. It was an interesting scavenger hunt since we had no control over finding it all. We gave up before the storm since Ashley is familiar with all of the objects.

The farmstead is only open on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons from 12-4. It costs $4 to visit. If you are not interested in American Impressionist art painted by a First Lady, I would recommend waiting until they have an exhibit that you would like better. It is "new." Hopefully it will grow and continue to get even better.

Gargoyles in Princeton -- oh my!

During a recent conversation with about moving out of expensive New Jersey to someplace cheaper, friends told us high on their priority list is living near a university. They want to continue to be able to enjoy the "town" part of the "Town and Gown" relationship. 

Their comment made me appreciate Lawrenceville in a new light. We live  within 10 miles of three universities (Princeton, Rider, Trenton State College), plus Mercer County Community College, and are walking distance to the Lawrenceville [Prep] School. Over the past couple of decades we have enjoyed activities at each of these institutions. I dare say if we were to move away from the area, we, too, would gravitate near a university town because we have come to appreciate the cultural activities and opportunities available at places of higher education.

While we have enjoyed activities at the other places, Princeton University is in a league of their own. When Ashley was a toddler we loved visiting Cotsen Children's Library inside Firestone Library. As she grew, we took her to Art for Families programs at the Princeton University Art Museum, here she would learn about the great masters.

I have taken Ashley to plays at the Princeton Summer Theater. The late Larry Beaber gave our church a private tour of the  sculptures. I've admired the flowers. We've been to women's hockey games and men's basketball games. With so much happening on campus, it is easy to forget that students actually go there to learn! 

A couple of weeks ago on a hot afternoon, Ashley and I went on a Gargoyle Tour, led by librarians from Princeton Public Library and Firestone Library. I have walked past these buildings over the years, but never stopped to admire the details in the architecture.

If he just keeps on running...he will score the winning goal! 













My favorite -- a monkey holding a camera, or as I like to think of it, Princeton University's first surveillance camera.










Ben Franklin is not a Princeton University alumnus. However, he did merit a gargoyle in one of the newer buildings on campus.

It was a hot day. Ashley convinced me to leave at the 45 minute mark, when we were halfway through the tour. Hopefully I will hear about it again and be able to catch the second half of the tour. It was quite a treat -- and free!

For more information about the gargoyles of Princeton University check out: http://www.princeton.edu/Mapfiles/gargoyles/

Quebec: Site Traditionnel Huron

On most Sundays, Ashley is a junior tour guide at the Lenape Village at the Churchville Nature Center. Her knowledge of their pre-Colonial lives is vast. I specifically sought a Native American site for Ashley to visit. in order that we could compare the Lenape Culture with the Hurons.

My search yielded the Site Traditionnel Huron, located on the Huron-Wendat Reservation just outside of Quebec City.

The tour began with a native dance. It included several buildings including a long house, explanation of smoking food, a sweat lodge and a tepee with ritual masks inside of it. 

We had a private tour. The guide was able to help us work through how the Lenape and Huron cultures were the same and how they were different. They were both matriarchal, and they both had clans. The languages were different. Lenapes were more nomadic, hence the structures built by the Huron were more permanent. 

The tour was fine. It ended with an incredible gift shop filled with crafts made by First Nation people from all over Canada. It lacked the charm of Churchville Nature Center. I felt rushed through the tour, even though they said we could go back to any site afterwards, I still felt in the way.

Unless you have a strong love of Native American culture, I would not spend the 30 minutes driving to Wendat to visit this site. We had thought we would spend all day. However, the restaurant with lots of Native American food did not open until noon, and we were done with our tour by 11 AM. If you do decide to go, aim for later in the day in order to also feast on their delicacies. 

Local friends, if you have a free Sunday afternoon between April and October, check out one of Miss Patti's tours at Churchville Nature Center. With any luck (or coordinating in advance) Ashley will be there helping Patti. The tour is only $5 and lasts at least 90 minutes. It is very interactive.

Quebec: Place Royale

Our time in Quebec City was limited. I had hoped to visit the Museum of Civilization, but ran out of time. Also in the Old Port section of town is the charming Center of Interpretation of Place Royale, a low-budget museum about the 400-year history of Quebec City. Instead of a glossy brochure, the museum hands out a photo copy sheet with all the necessary information. Their website is not nearly a glitzy as others.

The museum has three main exhibits, plus a 3-D movie called "Facing Champlain" about Samuel de Champlain -- the man who discovered Quebec. The exhibits are hands-on. They are fun to play with, as well as educational. Fortunately (for us) everything is in English, as well as in French. 

The real treat with this museum is the enormous dress-up area in the basement. There are costumes along all four walls in sizes ranging from toddlers to grown men. They also had hats and bonnets (which we skipped due to fear of lice). Our only issue was that Ashley's size did not seem to exist. They had dresses for little girls, and for teenage girls, but some were way too short and others dragged on the ground. We spied a group of teenagers hanging out in there and having a blast. 

We each put on a costume. Then moved into the enormous play area. This section was designed like a house of a middle-class person -- or someone even more affluent. There was a master bedroom, eating area, play area. and large spaces in-between. For a while we had the space to ourselves (the teens had moved on to another part of the museum). We had fun taking pictures of each other. Fortunately an older couple came and took a couple of family pictures for us. The husband was deaf, and could only read lips in French. that added a small challenge for me. 

 After all that playing, it was time to hop in the car and head towards Montreal.