Paris

Julie and Ken arrived in our second day in Paris and had a nice lunch before heading out to explore. We caught the subway to the Arc de Triomphe and walked down the Champs a l'Elysses which is a fancy street where we enjoyed window shopping and even enjoyed some of the showrooms of Toyota, Renault, and Mercedes.

Afterwards, we made our way to the gardens just shy of the Louvre and grabbed some crepes along the way too!

On the next day we did our time in line for the Eiffel Tower. One of the lifts was down so the just had one working. So we waited for several hours, listening to Rick Steves audio guides, before beginning our trip up the tower to the very top. To views are quite impressive and worth the wait. That was a full day if waiting and we grabbed some quick meals. Unfortunately, this was also the evening I got sick with headache and stomach and by the following morning I was worn out and tired but feeling much better!

On our last Paris day we did Notre Dame and the Louvre. I caught my top picks: the Raft of Medusa and The Lacemaker (paintings) and Nate saw his top pick: the painting on Coldplay's album cover... Viva la revolution(?) by Delacroix, and Julie and Ken's pick: The Mona Lusa.

The next day we packed up and headed to pick up the car rental. We had a problem with the 12 volt outlets not working on the car which was resolved by putting us in a brand new Volkswagen Passat. Diesel. Manual. So we've been driving for 2 days and haven't stopped yet for gas. Nate is in heaven. :)

I will leave the last two days for Nate to update since they coincide with. Canadian history.

More of Rome

Well, yesterday was more exciting than usual. It was Saturday and we took an easy morning before catching the bus into Rome. Except instead of catching the bus that normally runs every 20 minutes, we waited and waited and waited. After an hour and a half the bus finally came but was standing room only. So we rode into town in less than desirable circumstances, but finally made it! We tried to see Michelangelo's "Moses" sculpture but for some reason the church was closed. We had downloaded several free audio tours from Rick Steves and toured the inside of the Colesseum and the Roman Forum. Both were spectacular and headed back on the metro and bus to the area we are staying. We met some Aussies on the bus and exchanged some stories and traveling tips before parting ways. For dinner we had some authentic Roman pizza that you get only in the evenings because that's the only time they fire up the very hot wood burning ovens. It was so very tasty! The only hang up was when we went to pay with our card they gestured that we couldn't pay with it., even though they had it posted on the door they accepted Visa. Our server kindly pointed out the sign posted near the register written in Italian apparently notifying patrons that ...maybe the card machine was down? We are not sure but we didn't have enough money which meant Nate walked back home to get more money while I stayed at the table holding down the fort. After 30 minutes Nate made it back and we were able to pay and leave without washing dishes to work off our dinner!

Sunday, Nate preached at the church in Ostia and then we shard a delicious family meal at Bea Santonocito's granddaughter's house (vegetable lasagna) and then back home for afternoon naps. In the evening we attended the surprise birthday party for Daniele, the pastor of the church. It was fun to visit with the people from the church and hear more of Bea's stories from her life.

We had a travel day yesterday. Daniele drove us the the airport and we flew to Paris on a short 2 hour flight, which also brought much cooler temps. I am back in jeans and layers but it's nice to have the variety!

Our first day in Paris has been blissfully low key: sleeping in, reading, crepes and coffee/hot chocolate at a cafe, and shopping at a market. We did a little walking to see Notre Dame (from the outside) but are saving the big sightseeing for when Nate's parents arrive tomorrow.

This marks the halfway point of our trip! It's been all we hoped and more!

Venice to Rome

Venice, of all the places we've seen has been our favorite. It was raining when we arrived to the island but we put on our rain jackets and with Nate's expert navigation, found our way quickly to our hostel. We were off the main hostel location and our check in guy, David took us to our room wich was located in a residential area. There were supposed to be 4 others staying the second night but it ended up being our place the whole time which was great! It had a wonderful terrace and we enjoyed several meals there with a fantastic view.

Our first full day we were at St. Mark's square morning and night. And other than the rain when we arrived, the weather was beautiful so morning hours were spent taking photos before the square filled up with tourists... Like us ;) which meant we were up and out the door before 7am...but well worth it. We road the water bus up the Grand Canal in the early morning light watching the locals begin their day of delivering laundry, food, and merchandise all by boat. It was fun to see. We were also early in line to go in and see the basilica. The afternoon found us back home, napping as most things shut down from 1 to 4pm. We toured the Frari Church and saw some amazing artwork there from one of the paritioners: Titian. Perhaps you have heard if this painter! And then we went back to St. Mark's Square to see it at night, which was beautiful in a whole different way. Live music flows from all the restaurants in the square.

On the. 2nd day we ventured over to the Doges Palace excited to take the Secret Itineraries tour which was recommended several times in the guides we had, along with purchasing at a nearby museum to skip the lines at the palace. We did this just to find out they only sold general tickets, not the one we wanted. So we got in the long line at the palace just to get to the ticket booth and find out that tour is sold out until the following week and we were faced with a quick decision to pass or get the general admission ticket...disappointed, we bought the general tickets and after the 3rd room straight full of columns that looked pretty much identical I began falling into a depression that just grew worse as the 4th room was full of more columns and so was the 5th and the 6th. I couldn't believe we just spent money on such a lame place. However, (and thankfully) things started looking up and after so many rooms of columns. We also saw were court was held, the bridge that connected the palace to the prison (The Bridge of Sighs) and other really interesting things. It was quite comprehensive after all and worth the price of admission.

We had lunch and then collected our bags and then headed to the airport to catch our flight to Rome. We arrived late at night and the pastor at the church in the area, Daniele picked us up and delivered us to the home of his mother who is hosting us during our time in Rome. In our first day we rode into the city with Bea, our host who helped us find our way. We spent the day on foot seeing for the first time so many of the famous Rome sights. One of my personal favorites was the Fountain of Four Rivers, which doesn't rank high on the tourist lists but was incredible. Nate found the Vittoriano awe inspiring.

Today, we tackled The Vatican City. We saw St. Peter's Cathedral and square, the Vatican Museum, which includes The Sistine Chapel (twice... you can ask us about that sometime) and The Castel Sant'Angelo.

We are certainly worn out at the end of our days but it is the best kind of tired.

The City of Music: Vienna

We arrived in Vienna (or Wien) after a 5 hour bus ride from Prague. The ride was uneventful and it was raining as we pulled in to the Praterstern station. We saw the famous Ferris wheel and a giant circle swing at the amusement park nearby. We hopped on a trail to Huttledorf stn and got picked up by our hosts who we connected with through Mennonite Your Way. Erwin and Christine had a separate little apt. in their basement and we enjoyed breakfasts with them each morning.
That first night was the night of churches, an event in Vienna and Prague (perhaps beyond) wherein all the churches are open through the night with various music and programs. We joined our hosts in attending a choir concert at a local church designed by Otto Wagner, an "Art Nouveau" architect who designed many of the public spaces in Vienna around 1900. It was a super neat church located on the property of a sanatorium, and the design catered to the patients who were in the hospital.

The next day we went on a brief audio tour of the Schonnbrun palace where the last of the Hapsburgs lived and spent their time amongst lavish surroundings. We proceeded to find our way to a little sausage stand to eat with the locals before making our way to St. Stephan's cathedral, napping in the park and enjoying a wonderful dinner. For dinner we shared a Wienerschnitzel, which is tenderized veal that is breaded and fried. My mom made this when I was growing up, but it was only after being in Vienna (Wien in German) that I realized that wiener meant that it came from Vienna. After that tasty tidbit we returned to the church for the English mass.

On our second full day we headed to the tourist info center by the opera house and found that all the Vienna museums were free that very day! We went to the museum near St. Charles church (which was also spectacular) and saw the first couple floors about Austrian history and an exhibit on Gustav Klimt. After that, lunch in the subway stn, and a drink in the historic Landtman cafe. We ran into a cheeky British family who were friendly towards us, though dissatisfied with their server. The nearby Volksgarten was filled with roses and people enjoying the day. After the roses we traveled over to, and walked down the blue Danube on our way to get Italian gelato from a store that's served since 1886. We finished our day by heading over to the big ferris wheel, but opted for the swing instead as it was a greater adrenaline rush.

As of this morning we headed out on a train to Villach, in southern Austria, caught a bus, and are now in Venice!!!

Paris of the East: Prague

Today finds us on a bus making our way to Vienna. A perfectly rainy and cloudy day for travel, I for one would much rather this weather for travel than the days we are on foot walking the cities!

We found Prague amazing.

Day 1
Nate and I found ourselves arriving within 30 min of each other. One by bus, the other by plane. Our host Lucie picked us both up and we headed to her house, before going back out for a quick orientation of the city and metro and then dinner full of local options.

Nate and I had some different variations of dumplings and meat. And Nate even sampled some of Lucie's dish (Steak Tartar) which was raw ground beef, raw egg cracked in the middle of the meat, and a variety of spices and ketchup you then mix all together and spread on top of fried bread rubbed with garlic.

Kudos.

Day 2
We spent the first whole day with Lucie, who took the day off work and took us off the beaten tourist path to a country-side castle. We drove most of the way and parked near some very old and beautiful country homes and hiked the rest of the way to the castle. We took a tour and then grabbed lunch together. Fried cheese, cheese and sausage and potatoes, French fries with tarter sauce.

Day 3

Nate and I tackled Prague on our own. We started with a 3 hour city tour that covered old town, new town, and the Jewish corridor which was so great to get a better sense of the historical context that has shaped the city. Then we did the grounds of the Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge. We worked up a serious appetite and found a pub for dinner before heading home.


Day 4
We filled in some gaps from the day before and encountered a mostly unplanned day. We stumbled across a gypsy parade, a local market, went to the grocery store, and had dessert and coffee at an "Art Nouveau" restaurant.

Now we are only minutes away from our next destination: Vienna! Who knows what adventures we have in store...