Trains, planes, and a REALLY long walk

Day 2 begins with some extra sleep (till 10am) and a French language lesson for Kim - who apparently has a GIFT for picking up languages and accents (Kelly is writing :-)). Uncle Harold took us to the neighborhood restaurant, La Monia, a two minute walk from their home. Our lunch was delicious! Check out the pictures! Uh... including the wait time and conversation, our lunch was a 3-hour ordeal. Surely conducted in the true European fashion.

(Kim writing now... note that some details have been highlighted to increase your comedic reading enjoyment. All things below are TRUE in their entirety but some moments of brilliance have been left out so as not to distract from the comedic nature of some events.)

We spent the next several hours packing and trying to book a hotel in Paris near the airport (so we would be close for our early morning flight to Italy). Ever try packing only a backpack for 10 days in Italy - to be carried by..... your own personal pack mule?.... not. Uncle H took us to the train station and sent us on our way... his last words being "this is the train you get on.... I think."

Uncle H to Kelly: "This is the train you should get on.... I think."
Kelly's response: "That's GREAT! thanks for dropping us off!"
Kim: "Thanks Uncle Harold." but then hesitates, glances around for signs that this is indeed the right train, while scanning the surroundings for mafia and/or possible pickpocket thieves while calculating the risk of getting on a train that i THINK will take me where I want to go.

Needless to say, we got on.

Ten minutes into the train ride we did indeed confirm that we were heading south. the clouds cleared and I saw the sun was on the left - (west) so we knew we were going the right way. the train ride was quick, peaceful and only slightly creepy. check out the only Frenchman who makes eye contact with strangers. Funny how he sat behind us AND we got him on Camera!

After this train we got on another train and we KNEW this one was the right one... overcrowded beyond belief, hot, no windows, and never have we have experienced such cacophony of body and/or food odors all in one place!

Got off the train and then entered the coordinates for our "walking distance" to the hotel. an hour, several neighborhoods, eight round-abouts, and an interstate later, we are finally here. Six minutes on gps really refers to DRIVING time, not walking time and does not take into account all the wrong turns we made because gps is also the thorn in my flesh right now. Blast these tiny European streets! Approaching the sign for our hotel felt like crossing a marathon finish line because... remember, we are our own personal pack mules as well and we were both carrying like 50 pounds on our backs.

- sigh -

The Lord is indeed good to us and looking back on the events of today... not sure either of us should be alive or have all 4 appendages intact. BUT we have a Savior who watches over even the steps of these two tourists AND has blessed us abundantly on the way.

Now we just hope that our taxi to the airport will indeed show up in 6 hours (5:30am) because the nice gentleman at the hotel counter only spoke French and Dutch. We smiled and nodded a lot and willed ourselves to understand each other. So.... we will, Lord willing, be flying to Italy tomorrow.... we think :)

some pics

Our first Day in my Aunt and Uncle's Village was relaxing - complete with a 2 hour nap for me and a 4 hour nap for Kelly :) Once we woke from the dead, though... we had ourselves a little adventure. After catching up with my Aunt and Unlce we went on a walk around the village, bought some dinner at a local store and had a picnic in a park. After that we stopped by this 12th century church 50 yards from their house and my curiousity got the best of me. Next to the church there was this fenced in area in front of an old stone house - the front door was wide open. I couldn't resist. I was curious to see if someone lived there or if it was abandoned so I started walking up to it. A jolly old Frenchman with a white beard appeared as if out of nowhere and greeted me "bonjour!" I said one of the only French words I know in return - "bonjour!" I asked him if he spoke English, and sure enough, he did. Kelly and I told him that we were visiting some family and we were just taking a look at the beautiful church. He then offered to take us on a tour! Inside it was breath taking... a 900 year old church!?! I've never seen anything that's 900 years old! It was breathtaking... and a bit sad.... the church is very empty even for Saturday Mass every week. The spiritual climate here is discouraging to say the least... my aunt and uncle experience that first hand as they work to form a core group to launch a church here.

I must stop there... gotta catch the train into Paris. Spending the night in a hostile before catching a 7am flight to Rome in the morning! :) more to come... and pictures!

on our way!

After a slight scare when one of us (who shall remain nameless) couldn't find her passport 5 minutes before we were to leave the house, by God's help and guidance we found it! You know that dream that you have the night before you leave the country that you can't find your passport? Or that you just plain forgot to get one? I didn't think that it would actually happen to one of us (who shall remain nameless, still)... oh, but God is good and once again reminded us on our dependence upon HIM in ALL things! At the airport now getting ready to take off on our 8 hour flight to Paris! We stopped in Philadelphia to say hello to the city of brotherly love for a few hours and now we are ready to board! So glad i remembered my neck pillow and Tylenol PM.

at last...

There's a lot more to this story, but wanted you all to know that Kelly arrived safely in Chicago last night around midnight :) thanks for your prayers and hopefully Kelly will have a chance to tell you a bit about her 24 hours spent trying to get here.... ever see the movie "the terminal"? She didn't build a mosaic fountain (that I know of...) but she surely built a friendship with Kyrsten! hopefully more to come on this story....

flight schedules and fruit smoothies

The first leg of our adventure was getting Kelly from Phoenix to Chicago. Well, this has indeed turned out to be an adventure. Currently, she's been on one flight, spent a night in an airport and apparently has made a new BFF, Kyrstin (a high school girl) over Jamba Juice in the airport lounge and is STILL in Denver! AND I am yet Kelly-less! We are using a standby ticket from some dear and very generous friends so we knew this would be an adventure.... but let me ask this.... it's 60 degrees and cloudy in Chicago. WHY ARE ALL THESE CRAZY PEOPLE FLYING HERE?!? GO SOMEWHERE WARM AND SUNNY FOR PETE'S SAKE!

Really though, both Kelly and I are no strangers to delays - in airports and in life - Oh, the Lord knows! So.... we know that the Lord has purpose in even this. Times of delay are opportunities to practice faith - and living obediently to Christ. Maybe Kyrstin will get saved today! I invite you to join and pray to that end! So for now I wait and pray..... Even as I write this sitting at my computer in my cozy house; window open with the faint sound of a neighbor's lawn mower I'm reminded that our God is sovereign over even details like flight schedules and fruit smoothies.

let the packing begin :)

6 days and counting

Welcome to my blog everyone! I have started this for the purpose of documenting and sharing about my travels through Europe. I realize that this is the trip of a LIFETIME so I want to learn and experience everything I possibly can. Writing about it will be helpful for me, too, as I process everything! God has been so good to me in providing this opportunity. Since so many of you have asked if I could pack you in my suitcase, I thought the least I could do is to share about this trip as it unfolds. I hope to be able to write every day (or close to it) but will only post as I have internet access so posts may be a bit sporadic. Thanks for your patience...

All that said, let me just share that I believe this trip is a gift from the Lord. I never would have thought that I would be able to do something like this, but here I am! I'm so grateful for your prayers for safe travel and good health. Originally, I was going to take this trip on my own but in the Lord's providence he provided the best travel buddy EVER! My dear friend, former roommate and current "older sister I never had" Kelly is coming with me. I'm SO blessed to be able to share this journey with her. Given, she will be the one who insists on climbing every stair of the Eiffel Tower with ankle weights on and then will want to hop on bikes to tour the city while wearing a resistance parachutes on our backs and then finish the day with a dramatic re-enactment of the Tour de France. Needless to say, Kelly has a heart for adventure, too, and I'm just glad at least one of us has the energy and ambition of a normal human being :) - love you, Kell!

The great part about this trip - and possibly the thing that keeps me up at night these days - is that it's not all planned. We have some things laid out but a lot of it is going to just happen. This goes against my teacher-ish type A personality streak. BUT since I am also an adventure seeker, something about this makes me smile out the window when I'm driving down Randall road. So, we will see what happens and hopefully I'll get to write about it all!

Here's a basic itinerary for our trip.
June 29 arrive in Paris, spend a few days with my aunt and uncle
July 1 fly to Rome
July 3-9 travel by train through Italy with stops and adventure along the way.
July 10-12 Stay with friends in Switzerland
July 13 Return to Paris
July 14 Bastille Day in Paris! woot woot!
July 15-17 is all up in the air for possible adventures to London or maybe even Barcelona! :)
July 18 Return home

So... that's what I have so far! Thanks for following, and again, thanks for your prayers! We want to give glory to God through this trip and Kelly and I both feel like we are coming up to the Niagara Falls of God's goodness with a thimble in hand as we attempt to take in all he has for us. So excited to share this with you!