Free Things To Do

Minnesota Institute of Arts

Como Conservatory

This week I am pet sitting in Minneapolis. With time on my hands I looked for things to do besides walking around the neighborhood or visiting the library. There is so much available in this area. 

 

 

Top Notch Food

 Today was the final day of the nature convention in Saint Peter, Minnesota. I was up early. I checked out of my hotel and was the first one ready for bird watching. We saw blue birds. We saw a blue bird chasing a squirrel that approached his nest box. That squirrel was running away lickety split. We saw a hummingbird perched on a branch. We saw wood ducks, mallards, and great blue herons flying. We saw robins, field sparrows, chipping sparrows, and clay colored sparrows. We saw downy wood peckers and Tennessee warblers. In total we saw 24 species of birds. Later we had classes. I took one on harvesting fiddle head ferns (ostrich ferns). I took another on plant pressing. I made a greeting card and a book mark. I also made my own small plant press into which I put lilac flowers and fern leaves. Those should be dry in about 3 weeks. My last class was incorporating Indigenous culture into presentations. After that we had lunch and a wrap up session. Food at Gustavus Adolphus College was top notch. One of the servers knew I was a vegetarian and went out of her way to make sure I had enough to eat. Next year the conference will be at the arboretum at Saint John's University.

Nest Construction

This morning I went on a bird hike at the Gustavus Adolphus arboretum. We saw a Swainson's thrush, a black and white warbler, robins, downy woodpeckers, gold finches, Tennessee warblers, yellow warbler, Harris sparrow and a great blue  heron. But the best thing we saw was super tiny and far away from the path. One young woman spotted a hummingbird nest on an oak tree. We watched as the hummingbird came in and out of the nest. She was building a nest for her young ones. This was astonishing. A group of ten of us watched for at least ten minutes. I had other classes today. One was on nature journaling and sketching. One was on moths. That guy had thousands of pictures of moths. I had another class on plant medicine. The teacher is Native and she has a store in Mankato. She studied plant medicine from her grandparents on both sides. She studied at the Rosebud reservation and the Pine Ridge reservation. She made each of us a bag of tea. I chose the sleeping/calming tea. Any day where I can learn something is a good day.

 

Saint Peter

This weekend the MN Master Naturalist conference is at Gustavus Adolphus College. The campus is very attractive. I enjoyed seeing people that I usually see once a year. Dinner was great. We had caeser salad, wild rice, green beans, bread and butter. For protein they had steak and salmon. I had a Gardien patty that looked and tasted like chicken. I even brought it back to the kitchen to ask and they assured me it was vegetarian. I thought it tasted like chicken. But what do I know? I haven't had chicken for 40 years. For dessert they had chocolate cake, cheese cake and carrot cake. Tomorrow I am scheduled to go bird watching at 7 a.m. I hope I can get up that early.

 

 

Mistletoe

 On our trip to the Netherlands, Belgium and France spring appeared in various stages. In the Netherlands the forsythia was in bloom and the trees were barely beginning to leaf out. Twas the same in Belgium. In Paris the trees were halfway leafed out and the lilacs were in bloom. I stopped to smell every lilac I could reach in Paris. In Normandy the forsythia was back in bloom and the trees were beginning to leaf out. Along the journey we saw trees infested with mistletoe. Some trees had 30 plus globes of mistletoe hanging from their branches. Others had one or two globes. Mistletoe is a parasitic growth. Too much mistletoe can kill a tree. Mistletoe spreads via birds eating the seeds and excreting the seeds on tree branches. One bird likes mistletoe berries so much it is named the Mistle thrush. Once the mistletoe seeds pass through a bird's gut they become very sticky and will adhere to the branches. Normandy has an abundance of mistletoe and exports it during the holiday season. Mistletoe threatens the apple trees that Normandy has in apple orchards. If humans eat the mistletoe berries or drink a tea infused with mistletoe the results can be deadly. The mistletoe we did see was mainly in hedgerows which are rows of hedges with a few trees mixed in between fields. I didn't see any mistletoe in forests nor areas where trees were close together. Years ago I saw mistletoe in Poland but it wasn't nearly as common as in Normandy. As we traveled by bus and train we saw miles and miles of European countryside. Not once did we see a raptor. We saw no eagles, no vultures, no buzzards, no hawks, and no kestrels. We saw several gray herons, lots of gulls and several sparrows. Also, just in case you are wondering where the milk is in a grocery store, don't bother looking in the refrigerated section. You can find cream in the refrigerated section but the shelf stable milk is kept on the shelves.

 

Mistletoe

 

Etretat

We took a train and a local bus to travel from Bayeax to Etretat. Etretat is famous for the tall chalk bluffs and stony beach. We got to the top of this bluff by taking the hop on/hop off mini train. The beach was crowded with people. I can't imagine the crowds in the summer. We watch two motorized boats help sailing students navigate the English channel.

This is a beautiful section of northern France.

Here is the view from the top of the bluff.

Also at the top of the bluff are the Etretat gardens. They had a dozen faces stuck in the bushes. Each section of the gardens had a sensory theme. We heard music.. We heard the word "art" spoken in 30 languages. We left Etretat on a Friday morning. As soon as I awoke I could see the farmer's market setting up in the town square. Besides vegetables and fruit they had flowers, leather goods, striped long sleeved shirts, scarves, scents, shoes, dresses, clothes in every size, food and pastries. I was able to successfully navigate a Americano coffee by myself and come back to our apartment without getting lost.

The author Maurice Leblanche lived in Etretat. We visited his house and saw where he wrote his mystery stories. His famous character is Lupin who was known as the gentleman burglar. For example he stole a necklace from the Queen when he was six. As an adult he returned the necklace and won accolades for finding it for her. The character Lupin has a series on Netflix which I plan to watch once I get home.

 

Mont Saint Michael

Today we took another tour about 45 minutes away via van to Mont Saint Michael. This church, Abby, fortress, former prison is on the coast of the English Channel. We came at low tide. During high tide the structure can be completely surrounded by sea water. We walked up about a thousand steps to get to a balcony. We saw great views of the English Channel and the Normandy countryside.

 

John Steele

On D-Day a paratrooper named John Steele got tangled on the steeple on the church in Sainte-Mere-Eglise. That night there was a fire in the town. The townspeople broke the curfew imposed by the Nazi's to fight the fire. The fire illuminated John Steele so he played dead. He actually survived this ordeal and lived into his 70's in North Carolina. He was awarded the Bronze star for valor and a purple heart. This town has an American Airborne museum that was very interesting.

 

Utah Beach

We also visited Utah beach which had better success on D-Day. The beach is straight and shorter in length than Omaha beach. The hills behind the beach are not as tall.

 

American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer

Next to Omaha beach is the American cemetery. The United States was the only ally that gave the families of service men and women the choice to leave their loved one in France or have their body shipped home. Sixty per cent of families had the bodies shipped home. All the white crosses are made out of marble from Italy which is the whitest marble in the world. The cemetery is very well kept up by the ABMC (American Battle Monuments Commission). Although these are government employees they do not have their salary withheld during government shutdowns. Years ago some veterans came to visit this cemetery and could not get in due to the shutdown. Congress approved a bipartisan bill to prevent that from happening in the future.

 

Omaha Beach

We took a tour with a Normandy World War II outfit. We drove in a van to Omaha Beach. The curved shape of the beach and the cliffs behind it made it more dangerous for Allied troops. Nazi's could shoot guns from either end of the beach and mow down people as they got off the boats. This was a sad place to visit.

 

Bayeux

We traveled by train from Paris to Bayeux. We passed through the countrysides. Lots of the farms have hedge rows to protect the fields from the west winds over the English channel. We saw fields of wheat and flax. Most beautiful of all are the fields of canola (also called rapeseed). Picture the brightest yellow in your box of 64 Crayola crayons. Canola is brighter than that. Once we got off the train we walked through town to our lodging. The lodging was a bit tricky to find. Then we couldn't get the door open. We went to an establishment next door that sold wine, beer, soda, tobacco, and horse racing tickets. We eventually got in and have a really nice place. As we walked around a round about we came upon a garden with three topiary horses with knights mounted on them. This town is famous for a 68 meter tapestry that tells a medieval story. Unfortunately that museum is under renovation. The tapestry won't be available until 2027.

 

 

Versailles

We took the train out of Paris towards Versailles. The palace is a 5 minute walk from the train station. We waited in line with our tickets in hand. We spent a few hours walking through the palace admiring the artwork, the paintings, the sculptures, the wall paper and the furniture. We had lunch there and then proceeded to the gardens.

The gardens are massive and beautiful. We thought about renting a golf cart but the hop on/hop off mini train was more affordable. We stopped at two other palaces on the grounds. One was for Marie Antoinette. There was a lake where you could rent rowboats. Bicycles were available for rent as well.

The trees are trimmed in Versailles.

 

Pere LaChaise Cemetery

Frederic Chopin's grave at the cemetery in Paris.

Jim Morrison's (The Doors) grave.

Louvre

We spent quite a few hours at the Louvre looking at the artwork. This is a Degas painting of ballerinas.

The crowd around the Mona Lisa was most unpleasant.

The inverted pyramid in the foyer of the Louvre.

Saint John the Baptiste

Venus de Milo was purposely carved without arms because arms are prone to breaking off.

 

Montmatre

We had a walking tour of Montmatre. We got there early enough to have breakfast at Cafe Richard's. I had cafe Americano and a croissant sitting on the sidewalk watching the foot traffic, the bike traffic and the vehicle traffic. Later we saw an accident between a bicyclist and a taxi. Both were yelling at each other and the taxi driver started to chase the bicyclist. Our guide said both parties were at fault.

Apartment were once cheap in Montmatre which is why many artists, especially impressionistic artists, lived there. This is where Van Goth lived with his brother. This is a very hilly and unique neighborhood. We had lunch at a sidewalk cafe. The waiters were energetic and entertaining.

This is the Basilica du Sacre-Coeur de Montmatre. We waited in line for 30 minutes before we could get inside.

View from the front of the basilica. Statue of St. Michael on the left and Joan of Arc on the right.

A beautiful basilica.

 

 

 

I Love Paris In The Springtime

 We are staying in a Paris apartment. Out the window of our apartment we can see the very tippy top of the Eiffel tower. Our apartment is on the 5th floor. The bathroom appears to be in a broom closet. To flush the toilet you pull a chain on the overhead water tank. To wash your hands you have to walk to the shower room or the kitchen. We share the bathroom and the kitchen with others. The stairs to our aprtment are curving and have those triangle shaped steps as we ascent 88 steps. We walked to the Eiffel tower where we joined a tour which meant we didn't have long to wait in line. We took an elevator to the second floor and learned some history of the tower. From there we continued to the top without our guide. We saw Eiffel's office where they had a replica of Thomas Edison meeting with Alexander Gustave Eiffel. We walked around the top and ate some pistachio macaroons. We saw the landmarks of the places we wanted to visit. On the third floor is a net bridge that you can walk across the opening but we said  no thanks. After our tour of the Eiffel tour we took a boat trip on the Seine and learned more about Paris. For dinner we ate at a sidewalk cafe watching all the people stroll by. One thing I like about Paris is that some men wear classy leather shoes that really look nice. 

Our view from the top of the Eiffel tower.

Our view from the bottom of the Eiffel tower. That blue diagonal line is the mesh bridge you can pay extra to walk across. We passed on that.

Private Tour

Today we had a private WWII tour given by Bob. Bob picked us up at 8:30 a.m. and we didn't get back until 5 p.m. The tour was personalized regarding my uncle. We started at the railway station in Saint Vith. The American forces protected this railway for three days against the Germans which gave time for American forces to join them.

The railway has been removed so now it is a bike path.

Bob has been studying world war two for 19 years.

He gives a great tour. Part of our tour was spent in Germany.

This is the Our river. Getting troops across was important in world war two because it is too deep to ford without a bridge. We think my uncle may have detonated several bridges. He also might have been involved in fixing up some rubber boats and laying wooden boards on top so American forces could get across.

We stopped at another town to visit a church. There was a woman in there mopping floors. Bob and the woman started talking. She was a young girl when the town was bombed. She and her family hid in the church basement for protection. Her father was taken as a prisoner of war by the Americans. When Christmas came they celebrated together. Only her father knew how to play the organ so he played holiday music on the organ for Americans and prisoners of war.

A beautiful red and gold banner, important to the church, was stolen during world war two. Forty years later, the cloth was returned to the church by the son of the man who stole it. The church goers were happy to see it back.

These are knee high or higher sturdy cement structures called dragon's teeth. Germany installed 5K of dragon's teeth to prevent tanks from entering Germany. The teeth are connected under the grass in both directions. They can be removed with dynamite but that gets expensive. The eventual solution was to pour tons of sand on top of them and drive over the sand.

This is an American tank pointed at the medieval town near Bastogne.

We had a fine day with Bob.

Annelies Frank

This houseboat comes with a pet coot. Here the coot is next to the dock between the house and the road.

We visited the Rek Museum to see the art work on display. The place was crowded with tourists and school groups. After that we had lunch at a cafe in the subway system.

At 2 p.m. we had an Anne Frank walking tour. We walked around the Jewish Quarter. Anne's read name was Annelies. This is at the memorial for the Jews and Roma who died in World War II.

This memorial is for the deaf people murdered by the Nazis. The location is outside the deaf school. The deaf school is now an art school.

As the Nazis took away more and more civil liberties the dock workers had enough and had a strike. All those involved in the strike were killed. More civil liberties were taken away. And the Dutch resistance grew.

There is a part of town called Dam Square. This was the original center of town and where they first dam was built. This is a war memorial. The chained people in the center of the statue represent the downtrodden. The men with barking dogs on the sides represents the fight against oppression. The woman above holding a child represents a peaceful future. Then we toured the Anne Frank house. Getting a ticket to tour the house is very difficult. When I was here ten years ago we couldn't get a ticket so I was happy to have one now. When we got to the part of the building where the family was actually hiding, people got very quiet and respectful. This was a moving experience that not everyone gets to enjoy.

We got home and our houseboat was warm from all the sunshine today. I left the door open so the hot air could escape. Our coot came by for a look see.