Hey, I really like your arch...

Went to St. Louis to visit Stephanie (...and Trevor...) at the end of July! It was SO MUCH FUN! I can't wait to go back to St. Louis; it was so beautiful, and there was so much to do!

My first full day there we went to the free art museum, which had gorgeous grounds, very reminiscent of Versailles. I wish I could have taken a panoramic picture of it! Outside the main doors, overlooking the grounds is the Apotheosis of St. Louis, a statue of King Louis IX of France. It was quite huge and rather magnificent, which makes sense that this was the icon of St. Louis before the arch was built.

































Just because the museum was free does not mean that there was a lacking of high quality art. Below are some of my favorites from our tour...
"Interior of St. Peter's, Rome" 1731 - The detail was amazing, and I loved how Panini made the figures so small even on such a large painting to emphasis the grandeur of the basilica.














This painting cracked me up! Winslow Homer's "The Country School" from 1871. Perhaps it is because I had just finished my History of American Education class, but this painting struck me. Notice the little boy on the far right side, crying, because he was forced to sit with the boys as a form of punishment!














The pointillists intrigue me! I love getting really close and looking at the detail in their works. ...which is probably why I repeatedly set off the alarm for crossing the security line! Woops!!














In all the things I've ever read or studied about my fave, Monet, I have never seen this painting! I could tell it was one of his when I saw it, but it was a pleasant surprise that I was not familiar in the slightest with it. It is titled "The Promenade with the Railroad Bridge," and notice the juxtaposition of the agrarian foreground with the modern Paris background.














Who knew there would be a Rodin at a FREE museum?!? "John the Baptist"



















You know how I roll...taking a pic with Monet is a MUST at any museum I visit!














I felt like the stairwells were a form of modern art with the mirrored walls on each side.














This is from a German artist, Campendonk, who I was not familiar with at all, but his painting "Harlequin and Concubine" seemed really beautiful to me.














Classic Matisse.














Classic Picasso. (Some of my pics got rotated in blogger, and I can't figure out how to fix them.)














This Ackermann from 1996 made me think of Christopher with its psychedelic plan of an urban landscape.














Steven's going to build me one. :-)














Classic Chagall. "Temptation" - Again, can't rotate it back.














The art in this picture is titled "Placebo." Can you spot it? Stephanie and I agreed that it was one of the neatest things there.














After a great morning at the museum, we went to St. Louis' Union Station, which was incredible to me! The glass ceilings with all the restaurants, the paddleboats right outside, it was so beautiful!




























The next day we visited a local water park and spent most of the day lazing the lazy river. It was PERFECT! No pics, though. That night we went for a great dinner and visited the arch. Yes, THE arch! :-)

On your way to the itty bitty tram buckets, as I will call them, you walk through mini exhibits detailing the construction of the arch. This is the wall where you pretend to be a worker, and you have to stick your but out in a classic 1960s pose, at least that's what I was told. Everyone does it, no? ;-)













Itty bitty bucket, which Trevor is too tall for! They seat five, but I'm pretty sure they are accounting for everyone being under 150 pounds. Thank goodness we rode up with reasonably sized adults!













View from the top of the Missississississississippi. I learned a trick for spelling that in the third grade.


























Can you see the arch of the arch? It was way more visible when people weren't standing right in front of us...


























Itty bitty ride down.


























































I had a strange urge to look straight up the magnificent stainless steel structure, but in hindsight, you don't need a scientist to tell you that steel sitting in 100 degree weather and sun all day is going to be a little hot.



















After the arch, we went to grab dinner at a fantastic little Italian joint on The Hill. The food and service were both wonderful, and my dish was about two and a half inches deep, in case you can't see it!



















I was only there for a couple days to help Stephanie and Trevor move, which is a whole other story in itself! We had so much fun, and there is still so much left to do! I can't wait to go back and visit my sister wife and her husband! :-)