Mon petit chat rose

"Mon petit chat rose" means "my little pink cat" in French.

 

 

Yes, we went back to Paris.  We had to go back.

 

And Kieran had to jump again.

 

Because the Eiffel Tower is just so awesome that it deserves two jumping pictures.

 

An this is a cool funky weird footbridge near the Orsay Museum.

 

Now when you go to Paris, you can actually go to "Mini Paris" inside of Paris.

 

It's called Disneyland.  They just opened up a new "Ratatouille" section in Disney Studios.   

 

Complete with Bistrot Chez Remy, where you shrink to the size of a rat.  (So they have a giant cookbook there.)

 

The chandelier is an upside-down colander with Christmas lights.  The tables are made from jam jar caps and the seats are two bottle caps fitted together.  Check out the "drink" umbrellas the size of real umbrellas! 

 

This is what "Mini Paris" looks like right when the park opens.

 

This is what it looks like two minutes later.  (Lucky we have long legs and can walk faster than everyone else.) 

 

Ratatouille "Mini Paris" is only one of the unique things at Disneyland Paris.  They also have a ride called "Indiana Jones Tempel du Peril."  It's a rollercoaster through ancient ruins.

 

And in a cave behind a waterfall underneath the castle...

 

They have a real dragon!  He wakes up and snorts and waves his head and wings and tail around, clutching his sharp claws at you....and then goes back to sleep.  Super cool.

 

Kieran's favorite is Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. 

 

 

But it's different here, because it's in the middle of a lake.  The little train goes through a dark tunnel underneath the water to the island when you start and finish the ride.

 

 

And, of course, the BEST thing at Disneyland Paris EVER..........

 

SNORTOPOLIS!

 

He is our favorite horse on the carousel.  Horse number 61.

 

We had to plot and scheme to make sure we could ride on him before some little kids got there first.

 

So we had to wait in line twice...darn it....because even with our long legs, some little kid beat us to him.  So the second time around we did get to ride on Snorty.

 

Another "Mini Paris" in Paris can be found at the Small World ride.

 

Oh, La la! 

 

 

 

Au Revoir!

 

 

 

Ciao - Arrivederci

"Ciao" means "hello" and "arrivederci" means "goodbye" in Italian!

 

Welcome to Italy - Again!

 

 

This is the fancy glass ceiling of the Galeria Umberto in Naples.

 

Naples is famous for Pizza, the Mafia, and strange marble statues featuring Perry the Dragon-puss.

 

Naples also has all the famous mosaics from Pompeii in a museum.

 

(We'll go to Pompeii later...)

 

But for now, it's almost Christmas (well, it was) so...

 

It's time for some shopping!

 

Good-bye, Naples!

 

Hello, Pompeii!

 

In case you've never heard of it, Pompeii was a city in Italy. 

 

On August 24, AD 79 that mountain you see in the background (called Vesuvius) used to be much taller.

 

 

But, as you may know, it was not a mountain.  It was a volcano.

 

This guy found out about it the hard way.  (Archaeologists actually poured plaster casts into hollow spaces in the rock left there after people's bodies deteriorated.  So you can see exactly how the people were left.)

 

The entire city was covered in volcanic ash, which preserved the city.

 

There are streets and streets of preserved buildings.

 

These plants were not preserved.  They were grown after the fact. (Just FYI)

 

I wonder if anyone was in the theater when the volcano blew.

 

They used to flood the streets to keep them clean, and when they were flooded, they had special stepping stones so you could cross the street without getting your feet soaked.

 

Good-bye Pompeii. 

 

 

Hello Amalfi coast!

 

On Christmas Day, early in the morning, we went for a drive along the Amalfi Coast. 

 

Here's the view of Positano.

 

We walked on the beach in Amalfi.

 

We even saw a guy swimming out there!

 

Check out the old church on the top of the hill.

 

Dramatic picture of chains.

 

There was a funky yellow church half-way back from Amalfi.

 

It's called the church of St. Nicola in Vettica Maggiore.

 

Here we have a statue of people without...bodies.  Just hanging out...

 

We went down this super crazy windy road to get down to the beach in Positano.

 

All the houses are built right onto the mountain, which leaves not much room for a road.

 

Here we are on Christmas Day with my Uncle Chase, who flew to Italy to spend Christmas with us.

 

The beach at Positano.

Crazy view! 

Here's the view of the same beach from the top of the hill. 

 

Amalfi Kitteh says Merry Christmas!

 

 

Good-bye Amalfi.

 

 

Hello the road to our vacation home...We are lucky we got a car through this crazy skinny road!

 

And now...Rome!

 

In case you didn't get enough Rome last time, here we are again!

 

But this time we had an important mission.

 

To find the pope and.....

 

take a picture!

 

 

Uncle Chase searched high and low.

 

He wasn't hiding in the Coloseum. 

 

 

He wasn't hiding on top of the Coloseum.

 

We didn't find him in the archways.

 

 

Or in the shadows...

 

 

We finally left the Coloseum...thinking our mission was in vain.

 

But then we saw him*!  And we took...

 

A PICTURE!

 

*This is not the pope.  No actual popes were harmed in the making of this blog.