ShittingGlitter

The Louvre is of course the big grandma of all art museums, deserves every inch of it’s reputation, but when I went there it was just too overwhelming. I ended up strolling through a lot of it much faster than I probably should have and just stopping to see the Winged Victory of Samothrace and of course Mona. She’s behind such a thick layer of bulletproof plexiglass that it’s hard to even see her. Oh, and why does everyone INSIST on doing a photo shoot with her when they can buy a much better representation on a card in the freakin’ gift shop?
For my money the Musee d’Orsay not far away is more interesting, loved it there! d’Orsay is all about quality, not quantity, AND it’s housed in an amazing former train station.

We used to go here a lot for rock climbing in the 90’s when we were into that. Very fun, rock climbers mecca, basically. And when you camp out at night the stars are amazing, a billion more than you could ever see in L.A. (Obviously) I know everybody says this, but it can often feel like a lunar landscape, mostly during the twilight hours before dawn or sunset.
There’s a great mexican restaurant I don’t remember the name of, but if you just ask somebody in the town about the great mexican restaurant, they’ll know which one you mean.

Bodie is rad and super creepy, the only ghost town I’ve ever been to. It almost looks faked, but it’s not, it’s totally real. Nobody knows why everyone just up and disappeared, but there are a few theories. Check this place out.

This is a pretty typical small town church but it’s pretty and has a nice, spiritual feeling inside.

OMG, the Colosseum is awesome! Take the tour, it really is worth it, because if you can understand the guide’s accent, you learn so much. For example, they tell you about all the little tunnels under the floor of the arena which were used to pop tigers, lions and other maneaters through. Now the place is filled with felines of a different size: stray cats stroll through the ruins where the tourists can’t go. It’s fun and frightening to imagine what went on at this amazing place.

The Tiki Room is one of my old faves at Disneyland, although it’s almost painfully dated. Once I took my lttle nieces, and I could tell they were like “Huh?” But still, it’s a good place to rest after a long afternoon standing in lines, and I hope people will keep going to it so they don’t tear it down. The only thing that would make it perfect is if you could get a Mai Tai in there.

I went here with my dad when I was in high school, and I was very impresssed. It’s even nicer and more tasteful than George Washington’s home Mt. Vernon in Virginia, which we visited on the same trip. Don’t remember if they explained the name though; if anyone knows please post. I loved visiting all these old homes in the South, you can just feel the old ghosts when you walk around there.

Yeahhhh!!!! Parrrrty in TJ!

I went here in 2000 when I was in Rome. By coincidence ‘00 was the “Jubilee Year, ” which meant thousands of pilgrims from around the world were crowding it up. So it was crazy in and around St. Peter’s Basilica, but the Vatican Museum was quieter. The museum is of course spectacular, too much to see in one day. It’s literally crammed with treasures from all eras, a vast hoard of loot, much of it pinched from other countries and cultures over the centuries. The biggest rival the Vatican had in this department was Napoleon (check out the Louvre.) To their credit though, they’ve taken great care of all these masterepieces, and they charge a pretty hefty price to view them as well, even with student ID. It’s worth every penny if you love art, especially the Sistine Chapel.

We go here a lot for camping. It’s so beautiful and peaceful. At night there’s tons of stars. It’s not foresty, it’s deserty, but there’s so much more than the eponymous Joshua Tree. Such as, if you’re a big U2 fan you can recreate the famous album cover. There’s also awesome rock climbing and hiking. And the towns of J-Tree and 29 Palms nearby are cute.