Weekending in Bangkok

I took off for Bangkok over the Easter weekend and met Annemarie and her parents there. I LOVE Bangkok! Beautiful (if hot), very modern but with a beautiful old part. It is a city of huge constrasts--rich and poor, old and new. I was there for the lunar new year celebration, which in Thailand is celebrated by spraying water on anyone and everyone. I thought they meant a squirt gun or a little splash. But instead I got drenched several times with people armed with hoses and buckets. But it was all in good fun and I dried quickly!
This is the elephant (yes, a real elephant) I saw outside my hotel my second night. It's blurry, but I didn't want to cause a stampede by using flash:

The grand palace from the river:
Elephants are sacred in Thailand (and AWESOME):