Home Sweet Croatia

I can't express how good it was to finally get back to Croatia! We enjoyed the atmosphere of Zagrebacki getting ready for the match against Turkey - which unfortunately had a very disappointing end. We also got to spend some time with Greg, Amy, Emma, and Tessa Collard, which was fantastic! Then we headed down to Dubrovnik. It was pretty hot, but totally fun to be there. More on this later.

Salzburg - Edelweiss and Football??

We got to Salzburg during the Euro2008 Soccer tournament and there were lots of fans there for the Greece/Spain match. We toured the castle and the center and watched lots of soccer. More later.

Munich needs deserves more than a day!

We visisted Munich on our way between France and Austria. Munich is amazing! I wish we would have had longer there. But even in the short time we had I found some yummy potato salad and currywurst, we watched the glockenspiel, toured Dachau (what an experience), and enjoyed wandering around. We even made a new friend, and found a great coffee shop that sold "Frappiattos." I will be going back to Munich!

An addendum -
So, just to finish off about Paris, I wanted to include a couple more ways that Paris gave us headaches.

1. We had been in Lille for a day, when suddenly and inexplicably, my arms developed a hideous and super-itchy rash... the only thing we could think of is that it was a result of wearing clothes that had been sprayed with pesticide in that horrible room we were in our first night in Paris. In the past week, Bianca has also devloped a rash, and in the past couple days, Becca has some too. Will it ever end? I think now we have washed everything we own (for only 2.50 Euro at our hostel in Salzburg)so hopefully we will have no more of this!

2. Let's talk about how to get out of France. I don't even know if I can explain how frustrating this was. The only time I have ever been more frustrated with a country and more ready to leave was the first time I left South Africa. Anyway, suffice it to say that once we reached Orly (south Paris) in our rental car, it should have probably taken us 20 minutes - max - to get to our hotel. But it took 2 hours. With no street map, it being evening rush hour, having already driven for about 7 hours that day, and everyone tired. There is no explanation for how we finally found our hotel, except that God loves us and took pity on us. Really. This kind of traveling never ceases to increase my faith. There is absolutely no way we found this place on our own. We were joking about how the angels were probably all grouped around the big screen laughing at us until Jesus finally decided we'd had enough. (check out the map in the post titled "I Heard it Through the Glockenspiel" on Becca's blog: http://www.beccarrow.blogspot.com/. [All the driving around to find the rental car drop-off the next morning also cost us quite a bit in petrol since Paris in it's infinite wisdom does not see fit to put petrol stations near rental-car return points, so that the rental car companies can charge an arm and a leg to top off your tank... Ugh.] We were relieved to finally get out of Paris and out of France to Germany.

The rest of France is better than Paris!

At least that's true for the other parts of France that we went to, which were in the northern part of the country. We really, really liked Normandy and heartily recommend it to anyone interested in history and gorgeous beaches. We stopped in Honfleur and Deauville/Trouville on our way, and they were all beautiful. We ate dinner in a Cuban resturant there while watching the Euro2008 match between France and Romania. We spent the night in a beatiful place called Le Manoir d'Heroville. Sue and her husband were fantastic and made lovely breakfasts. I definitely recommend them if you plan to visit Normandy. I got a t-shirt tan the day we went to Omaha Beach, but it was totally worth it.

Lille:
We were so happy to depart Paris and arrive in Lille. We went to visit Ali, Francoise, Theo, Nathan, and Raphael on the recommendation of my friends the Luptons, who go to UPC. We had a great time with them, and enjoyed meeting the people they work with (even one from Seattle - Martin) and members of the church in Roubaix. We were treated so hospitably by everyone, including being invited to both lunch and dinner in people's homes. We felt truly blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people and to see God working in this part of the world. And it was really nice not to be sleeping in hotels and hostels for awhile! Thank you Ali, Francoise, Martin, Joy family, Attika, and everyone else!

D-Day:
We started in Arromanches, and went to Longues-sur-mer (old German bunkers), Omaha Beach, the American cemetery, and the Point du Hoc. (see map: http://www.thereareplaces.com/Guidebook/pdest/norm/dday1.htm)
I can't describe the feeling of walking around the decaying German bunkers or the crumbling concrete blocks that formed the false harbor in Arromanches. I can't imagine what it would have been like to be one of the Allied troops landing on those beaches. I can't imagine what it would have been like to be one of the Nazi soldiers who suddenly realized they were going to lose the war. I can't imagine what it would have been like to be one of the French civilians who were finally liberated. I can't imagine in any way what it is like to live through war. But I hope that by learning as much as I can, I can help make sure that nothing like that ever happens again. And I sincerely appreciate all of the veterans who fought to protect freedom and democracy in this world. Thank you.

Mont St. Michel:
Leaving Normandy, we drove southwest into Brittany heading for Mont St. Michel, an old monastery built on a island. It looked like something out of Walt Disney's imagination (which is why I definitely couldn't pass up a visit there!) and was surrounded by tide flats. It felt like driving into a movie. We climbed up to the top and wandered around the old church. Beautiful and fantastic views. Even though the island is crowded with tourists and shops catering to them, a visit to Mont St. Michel was absolutely worth it!

Loire Valley:
We continued south toward the Loire Valley, our destination Fontevraud L'Abbaye, for my dear friend Lauren's wedding! We stayed in the Abbey for 4 nights - the longest we have stayed anywhere, which was nice - and only had one run-in with a creepy, many-legged insect on the curtain, and one creepy spider in my backpack, which Becca bravely destroyed (merci beaucoup!) The Abbey grounds were lovely, as was the Abbey itself. We drove out to a chateau called Chennonceau, which was literally built over a river and was gorgeous. It was about a 2-hour drive each way, but was worth it. Unfortunately we didn't have time to visit any of the other chateaux in the area (there are probably hundreds!). We really enjoyed attending Lauren and Hugolin's wedding and the surrounding events, and we especially enjoyed meeting and getting to know their other friends who attended. It was an absolutely gorgeous wedding. Congratulations, Lauren and Hugolin!

Paris, je t'aime anyway

Well, you can tell from my previous post (and if you read Becca's blog - link in the right column) that we had quite the time in Paris. However, despite all of that, somehow I still can't shake a feeling of awe about this beautiful city and a feeling of gratitude that I was privileged to experience a few days there. I have to say that I've never been one for jumping pictures, but that half-hour we spent in front of the Eiffel Tower was seriously fun!



We also really enjoyed Versailles and all the fountains in the gardens there.



One of my favorite things about being in France in general was that quite a bit more of my high school French came back to me than I thought was possible. Tres bien!

I was glad to see the Eiffel Tower and explore the Louvre and the d'Orsay, and it was fun to eat so many baguettes. But I have to say I was pretty happy to get out of Paris and see some of Northern France.

I think Paris is trying to kill me...

It's official. I LOVE Paris!!! I thought I would like it, but it overwhelmed me because there is just so much to it - so much land, so much history, so much to do and see. I am used to Seattle and Zagreb, not Paris! I absolutely love it, but I have learned a few things. Mainly: Do not try to cheap-skate Paris. You may as well just wait until you can afford it (and with the dollar the way it is, that might be awhile...). We tried to stay at a budget hotel - BAD choice (details forthcoming but too long to write tonight. Suffice it to say you pay for what you get...). And then we saved money with the Museum Pass - which really is a good idea and is totally worth it. However, you should not try to do ALL of the museums in 2 days. Your feet will hate you... Especially if you injured one of them in Brussels and have not given it time to recover. Also, don't kid yourself that when you go to Disneyland Paris you won't buy anything. Of course you will buy things! That's half the fun of Disneyland! (How could I NOT buy the Disneyland Paris Pirates of the Caribbean T-shirt for 7 Euro??) And never - I repeat, NEVER - EVER - believe the hotel people when they tell you laundry is inexpensive or that they have a free shuttle to the train station. Umm, not all of this bill was mine - in fact most of it wasn't - but how can these people live with themselves charging $440 for a bag of laundry??? 5 Euro per pair of socks? Are you kidding me??? No, we discovered. They were not kidding. Ok, I'm done griping. In my next post, look forward to reading about the joys and amazing-ness that is Paris! (I still love it... Pray that I can afford the rest of this trip - still 3.5 months to go!)

Luxembourg!

I have always wanted to go to Luxembourg. I think it all stems from a project I did in high school French class and my mom let me use a train ticket and some other items from Luxembourg that she had from a trip to France in the 1960s. Anyway, Luxembourg turned out to be everything I hoped for and more! Seriously the cutest city. All built on hills with valleys and pretty trees that made the air smell really good. We also got to explore the cave-tunnels in the old fortress that was built in 936 A.D. It was so cool! We definitely got some great photos. Our hostel was pretty nice, and there was a whole bus of people from Serbia. :) I talked to one girl (who said I spoke Serbian well - I think she was just flattering me...), who said they were a church choir. Now we're waiting in the train station on our way to Paris. I've been surprised that I actually remember quite a bit of my high school French. But we'll see how that goes once we actually get to France...

Brussels, Belgium

Waffles. Chocolate. Pretty buildings. Susannah. What's not to love about Brussels?? We took a train from Amsterdam to Brussels and picked Bianca up at the airport. After waiting for a couple hours for Bianca's bag to arrive, we got back to our hostel (which was really nice) and then spent the evening wandering around. The Grand Place was beautiful and I seriously enjoyed the waffles! We took a train out to Bruges one day. Bruges is gorgeous. We climbed up to the top of the bell tower and the man who plays the bells was in there giving a concert while we were at the top. Pretty nice! We also enjoyed some fries with curry-ketchup (made me dream of the currywurst Paige and I ate in Berlin last fall!) In Brussels we were able to meet up with my friend Susannah, which was great. She gave a a little tour of the city, including Manneken Pis - I think it's required that tourists to Brussels see this statue, although I don't get the draw... - and she took us to her favorite cafe on the Grand Place. It was wonderful to see her and catch up.