Family Vacay VIII--Day 7: The Field and Hamilton

I went to the Field Museum of Natural History a couple of times when we lived in Chicago. What I remembered most was the extensive taxidermy representing a vast array of animals, which I was fascinated by.

The Quetzalcoatlus, a Pterosaur, was the largest flying animal in history (they are not dinosaurs, technically). On the ground, it walked on all fours.
 
This T-Rex was named for Sue Hendrickson, who discovered its skelton in 1990 during a commercial excavation trip north of Faith, South Dakota. It made its debut at the Field in 2000. Out of the more than 30 T-rex specimens that have been found, it is the largest. It is also 90 percent complete--making it the most complete of them all.


Pablo directed this photo of me with Mr. Neaderthal, who died 30,000 years ago (after emerging in Europe 400,000 years ago). Pablo noted a resemblance.


This map was in the taxidermy section. I'd never seen the world divided in this way--linking Morocco with Siberia (Palearctic) but not sub-Saharan Africa (Afro-Tropical); and linking northern China with England (Palearctic) but not Southern China (Oriental); and linking western Borneo with Nepal (Oriental) but not eastern Borneo (Australian); and linking Texas with Alaska (Neoarctic) but not Mexico (Neotropical).


On this visit to the Field, I found a lot more that was interesting than I did on my previous visits. We stayed until closing at 5, but I wished that we'd arrived earlier than we did.


But the highlight of day was our 8 p.m. appointment at the CIBC theatre adjacent to our hotel.


We got the kids these tickets for their birthdays last November.


Our seats on the front row of the mezzanine were great.
 
During the interval, we compared notes. Pablo dug Aaron Burr.

br/> Nina dug Hamilton (played by Miguel Cervantes--yes, that is his name).
No one was disappointed.

Day 5: Disneyland!

Disneyland was not on our itinerary when we started planning our Great Western adventure. The Grand Canyon was our primary destination, and we later decided to extend the trip to L.A. to visit Jennifer and Morgan and Sam, to see the art museums, and to let the kids get wet in the Pacific. Plus, it's way more expensive than our budget would allow, and Pablo doesn't enjoy rides. But when I talked to Jennifer about the trip, Disneyland was the first thing she mentioned, which is highly appropriate since amusement parks--specifically, Six Flags--was our thing growing up. As it turns out, Jennifer knows actors who work at Disneyland, and she was confident that she could get us tickets that were discounted or even free. I told her we probably couldn't turn down free, and the next time we talked, she had, in fact, scored three free tickets. And just like that, Disneyland was on our schedule.

Since Jennifer had made this happen, we decided to wait to tell the kids until she was with us. When we got to L.A., I told her she ought to tell the kids that we have three possible options for the following day's activities. The first two would be really boring. Only after she'd mentioned them would she mention that option #3 was Disneyland.  Option #1 was visiting a basket-weaving center, where they could actually learn to make baskets themselves using palm fronds.  My encouraging comment at the time was--"Hey, Pablo, arts and crafts!"  Option #2 was walking around Jennifer's campus to see where she took classes and to check out the botanical garden there. The kids politely nodded their way through both of these ideas.

Jennifer only lives about 20 minutes away from Disneyland, which was very convenient.  We started the day by taking the train to "New Orleans," where we visited the Haunted Mansion. Morgan and Sam--who are Disneyland frequent flyers--met us when we came out.  Pablo dug the Mansion and requested that the Indiana Jones Adventure ride be our next stop. He was less pleased with it, and was pretty much done with the park's "challenging" rides after that. The Jungle Cruise was next (I wasn't a fan.)

We had a delicious vegetarian lunch at the Bengal barbecue.

After riding Peter Pan's flight, Jennifer, Mari, Pablo and Nina headed to an adjacent Disney park--California Adventure--where Jennifer's friend who scored the free tickets for us was performing in an hour-long production of "Frozen." The free tickets Jen had acquired were good for both parks. The tickets Emi, Morgan, Sam and I paid for were just good for Disneyland, though, so we took on some of the more adventurous rides--Big Thunder Mountain, Matterhorn Bobsleds, and Space Mountain (with a tame "Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage" in the mix as well)--while Pablo and Co. were musicaling.
All who saw "Frozen" were well-satisfied with their choice, as were the ones who stayed behind to ride roller coasters.

When we all got back together, those willing to get wet headed to Splash Mountain, and Jennifer volunteered to accompany Pablo on the nearby Winnie the Pooh ride instead.

I believe Nina got the worst of the wet.

After a turn on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and a walk through Sleeping Beauty's castle, Morgan and Sam invited all of us to an expensive dinner at The Blue Bayou, where they'd made reservations earlier in the afternoon.

We ended the evening with Main Street Ice Creams, Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters (Sam and Pablo were the best marksmen in our crew; Nina and I were the worst), and we concluded the night with Star Tours, a simulated Star Wars journey that was the first "scary" ride that Pablo enjoyed.

We couldn't have asked for better weather, better company, or more generous friends.

Grand Tour, Day 2: Madrid Tuesday

On Tuesday, Jaime and I headed back to Atocha to reserve our tickets from Madrid to Hendaye, Barcelona to Malaga, and Malaga to Madrid. This time I brought our passports. And this time they didn't ask for them!

Turns out there are no second class seats on the train from Barcelona to Malaga, so we had to pay for first class. The good news was that we could take a direct train from Barcelona to Malaga instead of having to change trains in Madrid. The tickets we got from Madrid to Hendaye were not together. And--as it turns out--they didn't actually go to Hendaye, but to Irun, which is still in Spain. But we didn't figure that out for a few days.

After our return from Atocha, the kids were up, and we headedto the Pirámides Metro station, for our first subway ride.
The Madrid Metro is first class: well-lighted and easy to navigate.

Wait times are short.

We got out at the Plaza de Callao on the Gran Via. The Hotel Florida used to be here until it was demolished in 1964 and replaced by El Corte Ingles department store. I'd been reading the book Hotel Florida: Truth, Love, and Death in the Spanish Civil War (2014) by Amanda Vaill which is about the writers and foreign correspondents stationed in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War who used the hotel as their base, among them: Ernest Hemingway.

Also among them: American novelist John Dos Passos who described the shells that struck the building and the nearby Gran Via in an article called "Room and Bath at the Hotel Florida," published by Esquire in January 1938.  It began"I wake up suddenly with my throat stiff" and ends "It's a city without sleep."

I would not call the Hotel Florida an important lost monument, but I've always thought it curious that there are few historical markers or museums in Spain that commemorate the Civil War.

When I talk to people in Spain about this, I am always told that the wounds of the eighty-year-old Civil War are still too fresh.

It was a short walk from la Plaza de Callao to la Puerta del Sol. This is the center of the network of Spanish roads:  Kilometer Zero. The New Year's celebrations held here each year (when all the grapes get eaten) have been nationally televised since 1962.

La Puerta del Sol was one of the eight gates in the walls that surrounded the city in the 15th century. The gate and the walls are no more.  In the picture below, we were standing in front of a statue representing El Oso y el Madroño--the heraldic symbol of the city. It was erected here in 1967.

Moments after I took this picture, Pablo got a bloody nose. We were afraid that it might be a sign of things to come. Fortunately, it was NOT the first of many on the trip.

The Tio Pepe sign is also national landmark. When I lived in Madrid, it was on the eastern end of the plaza, but in 2011 it was taken down and in 2014 put up again on the north side. I had a lot of fun taking pictures of Tio Pepe with the equestrian statue of Carlos III and a giant advertisement for the new Spanish-language Netflix series "Las chicas del cable."

The statue of Carlos III is an enlarged replica of a smaller, 18th century bronze. The replica was erected in 1994--after we had already left Madrid--to honor the man who is fondly remembered as the "Mayor King" because of the contributions he made to the city's development during his reign (1759-1788). Among many other things, he ordered the construction of El Prado museum.
When we left la Puerta del Sol, we walked up the Calle de Postas, heading toward the Plaza Mayor. Along the way, we looked in the window of this small store in the picture above that sells Catholic trinkets. Elsewhere on this street is a store that sells the fabrics that various religious orders use for their ceremonial garments.

When we got to La Plaza Mayor, I was surprised to see the giant head in the photo below. I don't know whose it is. I think it was made of plaster. When we came back in June, it was no longer there. I suspect that it was an adornment for a concert or some other special event that was held there in May.

The redesigned Plaza Mayor was built in 1790 during the reign of Carlos IV (1788-1808) after fires destroyed the existing plaza (Carlos IV was known as "The Hunter" because he allegedly showed more interest in sports than he did in affairs of state).  He eventually abdicated.
The statue of Felipe IV (1598-1621; see photo above) was created in 1616, but it was not placed in the Plaza until Isabella II requested the move in 1848. Bullfights, autos da fe and public executions were held in the plaza throughout the 17th century, but I've never found it to have a diabolical air.

After giving a couple of Euros to someone dressed in a multicolored goat costume, we ordered ice cream and a pincho de tortilla at Restaurante Eboli (see photo below).

Below is a picture of Nina in el Arco de Cuchilleros. Behind her in the distance you can see the wood paneling on the exterior of the Botin restaurant, founded in 1732.

El Museo de Jamon (the Ham Museum) has been a Madrid franchise since 1978. It features cured Serrano Ham on the hoof, hanging on hooks from the ceiling. I think it is supposed to appeal to tourists who feel compelled to visit other kinds of museums, though their hearts are not in it. Mari took the kids in for the shock value.


I didn't remember how colorful Madrid buildings are.

Pablo in the renovated Mercado de San Miguel. Throughout the trip, potato chips and french fries became Pablo's obsession.

La Calle de Santiago took us to la Plaza Ramales, where we listened to a guitarist playing outside a cluster of cafes.
On la Plaza de Oriente in front of the Royal Palace twenty statues honor some of the ancient kings of Spain. The king on the left in the photo above is Pelayo of Asturias (d. 737), who is credited with launching a 774-year campaign to end Muslim control of Spain, following the Muslim Conquest of the peninsula that began in 711. The mountain Battle of Covadonga in the Picos de Europa in 718 was the first defeat suffered by the Muslims after they had taken control of Hispania. It allowed Pelayo to establish the Kingdom of Asturias in the north. Descriptions of the Battle of Covadonga make it sound a lot like the Battle of Helm's Deep, described in Tolkien's The Two Towers.

The king on the right in the photo above is Wamba, whose reign ended in 680. Crowned in Toledo, Wamba is considered by some to be the last great king of the Visigoths, though he had several successors before the Muslim conquest. During his reign, the Visigoths controlled all of Spain, and Wamba spent much of his time as king suppressing rebellions, so I'm not sure his designation as "great" is warranted. Wamba surrendered his crown eight years before his death in 688. Some say he was tricked, drugged, shaved, put in a monk's habit, and forced to renounce his throne. He spent the last eight years of his life in a monastery in Pampliega, near Burgos, where his remains are currently buried.

After leaving la Plaza de Oriente, we walked back to Jaime and Maria Rosa's. Mari and the kids later went with Maria Rosa to pick their cousin Uxue up from school (Rita had stayed home from school that day because she was feeling sick). My back was hurting me, so I did not join them. At this point in the trip, Mari and I were both worried that my back problems might present a serious obstacle to our travel plans, but some internet research convinced me that I needed to remain active, rest flat on my back on a solid mattress, and take Ibuprofen three times a day--even when my back didn't hurt. When I committed to this regime, I was able to walk as much as I needed to--and we ended up averaging 10 miles of walking per day throughout the month of June.

After a brief rest, Jaime and I went to Casa de Campo, the park where the rest of the gang was playing. While we were there, I took the photos below. Pablo and Uxue were playing keep-away at first. Then Nina and Uxue splashed each other with water from the fountain, and then Emilio joined in the keep-away game. All the cousins enjoyed each other.


Jaime and I went back to the house while Maria Rosa, Mari and the kids took Uxue home, where they met their aunt Gimena and their other cousin Rita. They enjoyed potato chips and rice cracker snacks and played together for a long while before coming home for supper.