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MUSEUMS AND ARTMy first exposure to fine art was the Art Institute of Chicago , and while we're in one of my favorite cities, the Field Museum has lots of neat mummies. The Louvre in Paris was enormous, and my mother and I got hopelessly lost. Perhaps my favorite museum is the British Museum , maybe because it's in my favorite city in the world, but I think it's because of the antiquities housed there. I love anything ancient -- the older, the better. Some of the oldest books known to civilization are housed there. While we are talking about London, maybe the greatest tourist experience I've ever had was at Westminster Abbey . Everywhere you look, so many famous historic people are buried in its floors and walls. Of course, the Tower of London is also very old, and has a fascinating history. Being a Sagittarius, I am a wanderer, and love to travel. Another travel experience that ranks right up there with Westminster Abbey, is one I had in Vienna. Yes, the city's beautiful, and there are palaces after palaces, ancient churches with catacombs (cool), and a great old monastery just outside of town along the river, but the best part of that trip for me was tucked high up in the steep terrain that banks the river. I spotted something interesting on a road sign, and asked our hostess, who lives in Vienna, if we could make a little detour. So we did, climbing higher and higher into the woods, which grew darker, and more enclosed in mist, the higher we went. There were no other cars but ours, and no other tourists. Finally, we broke through a small opening, and there it was, an ancient keep dating back to the 2nd or 3rd Century, almost completely covered in mist. The past spoke volumes to me there, of ancient people guarding their towns from marauders. Here is a photo I took. Click on the thumbnail to see a larger version. ![]() The background on this page is my own design, a tribute to Henri Matisse, and is not for use on other pages. I am currently working on some backgrounds for others to use, so please check back. |