Every year in September the Riverwoods outdoor mall in Provo, UT hosts one of my favorite events, Chalk the Block. Artists from around the area come to do their best drawings in parking stalls at the Riverwoods in support of…
The LDS Priesthood Restoration Site
A place becomes sacred because of what happens there. Gettysburg which I wrote about last week, became a hallowed place because of the sacrifice men made while there. It became sacred because of what was lost, in contrast the area…
Visiting Gettysburg National Military Park
Since we just returned from a whirlwind trip to Pennsylvania we are going to take a quick break from Europe posts here at the blog to tell you about some of things we saw in that great state. The entire…
Eddie Bauer Travel Pillow Review
Pillows are a big deal when you travel. At least they are to me, because I have a lot of trouble sleeping while in transit. Knowing that we would be on long flights on our trip to Europe this summer…
The Frari Church in Venice
One of the great artistic secrets of Venice is the Frari church, formerly known as Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. It really is hidden and we wouldn’t have known about it at all if it didn’t have a dedicated track…
The Doge’s Palace and Venetian Prisons
St. Mark’s Basilica is arguably the most famous site in Venice, but right next to it, actually connected to it, is the Doge’s palace, and just across from the palace via the Bridge of Sighs are the historic prisons of…
Rick Steves Audio Europe App Review
I am a big fan of using audio for learning experiences. As an instructional designer I understand the efficacy of this approach and as a tourist I appreciate its convenience. So when our friends, who were with us for part…
Getting Around Venice
Venice is a crowded, ancient city built in a lagoon on top of hundreds of individual islands. It is this very nature that makes Venice one of the most charming places on the planet and probably why you want to…
The Archeological Crypt at Notre Dame
Notre Dame is an old building, older if you count its life from the beginning of construction rather than from its completion 200 years later. But even so the history of buildings on that spot, on the Cite island, is…
The Towers of Notre Dame
While I did write a couple weeks ago about the Notre Dame Cathedral, I did not go into detail about the tower tour that is available there. This is because there is an extra cost and considerable extra effort involved…