Buns of Steel

Today we got to go on our first European train ride. This was Katie`s first ever train ride! So exciting. We went to Bern, the capital of Switzerland and where Einstein came up with the theory of relativity (if you cared, i didn`t). We walked around just trying to get ourselves lost for fun, we did a good job and went in the opposite direction we wanted to. We found the church we wanted to see and walked up 354 stairs to the top of the steepel. After that our butts were sore and our legs were jello, it was time to stop at a cafe. Man, I love the cafes here, just tables out on the sidewalk, great for people watching. Katie and Rita had heaven in a cup!!!! Cappaccino ice-cream with espresso and whip cream. Man it was SO GOOD!!! Me and my tummy could only survive a taste. I will be having one a day in Italy along with tiramisu every day. Tomorrow we have an 8 hour train ride to Venice Italy. I am SO excited to learn some italian, I`m sure I will do better at it than I have been doing pronouncing German words. Katie says when I don`t have a spanish sound to every German word, I sound like a wookie (the fuzzy guys from StarWars).
Don`t know what the internet access will be like in Italy, we`ve been spoilt having it in our room the last few days. Noldi and Pia were WONDERFUL hosts and it was such a blessing to have a free place to stay four nights.
We love Switzerland and were so blessed to have Simon as a tour guide and to get a real cultural experience with the people. We will miss it here.
Auf wiedersehen (so long)

Running off a Mountain

Yes, today Katie and I ran off of a mountain!!! We drove an hour to Innterlaken, where we were in the heart of the Swiss Alps, and what better thing to do than to run off of one!!! We were 1000 meters so about 3,300 feet above the town of Innterlaken when we entrusted our lives into the hands of a stanger and his parachute. We ran down a steep hill until our feet came off the ground, this was the wierdest sensation, you really couldn`t tell that you had left the ground. The view was nothing short of amazing, again words would not do it justice. The flight down was about 20 mins and at the end we got our rollercoaster ride...... we both got to do a few super fast spins, I have a really good video that shows abit of it. It was a relaxing ride to the ground but of course ended way too soon. The drive to and from Lucerne was so beautiful, nothing but Alps, cows and quaint little towns. Once we got back to Lucerne Simon met us at the train station again and took us to his grandparents house where they had CHEESE FONDUE, we have had experienced every traditional swiss tradition now. So they say that cheese fondue doesn`t sit right... well, when you`re kind of lactose intolerant (as I am) it really doesn`t sit right....so they told us to drink black tea with it and then afterwards gave us some schnapps....hello it was more like Granny`s moonshine!!! His grandma gave me less than a shot of this stuff and i just wet my lips with it and it burned.... I drank about half of what she gave me and the room was spinning abit! that was some powerful stuff. They said it was farmers schnapps so it`s always stronger. Tomorrow we have our last day in Switzerland and drop off our cute little car....then we are 100% reliant on buses and trains as we leave for Italy on Sunday. For those who are following our intinerary, we are changing it once again.... we will be going to Venice on Sunday and then to Mulan. Shopping is the big attraction in Mulan and most stores will be closed on Sunday so that just isn`t good!!!!!

As you may of noticed... we got to download some pics....scroll down and take a look at some more!!!!!! Hope you enjoy them.

Nein Danka (No thank-you)

Thursday was yet another amazing day! We got to sleep in, first time on the trip. And Simon skipped German school to be our tour guide. We went into the old town of Lucerne and saw the Chapel bridge ect. Then we went up the mountain!! This tour was maybe 10 more dollars than the gondola up to Grouse Mountain and SO much better!!! We took three gondolas up to 7000 feet and got the most breathtaking view ever. In the distance all you are seeing are the Swiss Alps and we were above the clouds to it looked like heaven with mountain peaks poking through the clouds. We ran into one of the men that was playing the Alp horn for us on Wednesday night. He was in traditional dress and played a couple of songs for us in the mountains and we got to take some great pictures with him. We hiked around the mountains for a bit and then took a cog train down. This is apperently one of the steepest trains in the world....it goes down the mountain at a 48 degree angel, it was pretty cool. Then we took a 90 min boat ride on Lake Lucerne back to downtown Lucerne. For the evening this is where the "Nein Danka" (no thank you) came in handy. We went to Hans` house where 14 Alp Horn players where meeting to play. It was amazing to hear. And afterwards was appitizers and drinks, and more drinks and more drinks......that`s where we used nien danka alot!!!!! Boy does the alcohol flow freely here!!! With our cokes and water we learnt "cheers" in Swiss German and just got to hang out with the locals. This is the best kind of travel. We were surronded by people we couldn`t understand but had the greatest time eating bread, cheese and wierd dried meats. I`m going to attempt to attach some pictures to the blog.....here`s hoping it works :)

WOW Switzerland

We have made it to our third country, we are now in Switzerland. The drive from Salzburg to Lucerne was about 6 or 7 hours, it was such an amazing drive. The mountains are indiscribable. We went through a tunnel (through a mountain) that was 14kms long!!! THEN we drove through a COUNTRY that is only 12 miles long and 4 miles wide!! Crazy!! We made it to the train station in Lucerne where we met Katie`s friend Simon. He is our tour guide for the next few days and we have had an amazing time so far!!! Last night right away we went with him to hear him and two others play the ALP HORN!!! It sounds so cool! And we each got to try them out too. It`s a bit hard to get a sound out of, very difficult to actually get the right sound out of it. Then the guys took us out for coffee and then Simon took us to the place he arranged for us to stay at. We are staying at a family friends house. This is the travel that I love!!! Getting to know the culture and the people. Today we are going up a gondola in the ALPS and tonight we are going to a guys house to hear 14 people playing the Alp horn!! We haven`t even been in Switzerland for 24 hours and we already totally love it! It`s so much fun getting to know the people and the culture, we are getting an experience that we never would staying in hotels and being on our own.
We`re so greatful for the hospitality from Simon and his friends. There is so much for us to do in just a few days, we head to Italy Saturday or Sunday, guess it depends on how much fun we`re having.

Sound of Music and Mozzart

On our way to Salzburg from Vienna we stopped at Mauthausen, a German Concentration camp. This was, needless to say, a very heavy experience. It was incredible to see the small areas that they forced hundreds upon thousands to sleep. This a camp mostly for prisoners of war, and most of the jews held here were Hungarian, but they were the minority but still treated the worst. The audio tour had passages from peoples personal diaries while at the camp, which made it very depressing but very impactful. I will spare the rest of the details, it's too sad.
Salzburg is all about the Sound of Music and Mozzart, this is Mozzarts birthplace and where he grew up. We toured his house, it was interesting but it was a house. The sound of music tour was fun. Our group was a good group that enjoyed singing along to the music. In the evening we got really touristy and went to a dinner show. The show was "Sounds of Salzburg" they sang some Operetta and some Austrian folk songs that the VonTrapp family singers sung on their tours. AND of course they sang ALL the songs from Sound of Music, it was so much fun to sing along and see everyone else sing a long too. It was very corny and very touristy but so much fun.
Now we are off to Switzerland, and just found out we have a free place to stay!!!! Man, God is taking such good care of us, we have some pretty amazing stories of how we've found some places to stay and how we've gotten "unlost" getting places. thank you all for your prayers we definetly see the evidence of them every day!!!!!

Music in Vienna

We spent the day in Vienna today and had quite the amazing experiences. We started off by going to mass in the morning to see the Vienna Boys Choir! I have some amazing videos to share when we get home. You pay big bucks at home for what we got to see today and it was free!!!!! We didn't stay for the entire mass (tourists get to stand), so we took the trolley around the outer ring of the old city for a short overall sightseeing trip. The transit here is amazing with all the trollies and subways, we've had a lot of fun figuring out how to get places and haven't gotten lost!!!!! We visited Schronnburn Palace in the afternoon and spent over 2 hours there! This was the "summer" residence for the Emperors AND the place where Mozart had his first public appearance in 1816 at the age of 6. Yes Mozart stuff is everywhere, especially since this is the 250th anniversary since his first public appearance. The palace itself was spectacular. We got to tour some of the inside, the queen had 1,500 in her enterage so the place is massive to say the least. It was shoulder to shoulder tourists inside, a little overwhelming. But we got to tour the grounds as well, a beautiful garden, a lookout over the city and palace property, and best of all a maze! that was so much fun, and I think we made pretty good time.
I got schintzel for lunch again today, SO YUMMY, I'd like to eat it everyday!
This evening I think was the best experience of the day. We got to see an OPERA at the Vienna Opera House!!!!! Tourists can get "standing room" tickets for just €2 (About $4)!!!!! We got there JUST before curtain call and had to RUN up three flights of stairs, if your late you don't get it. We made it just in time and took 2 steps at a time. We were out of breath and sweaty but we were there! And oh my goodness, it is breathtaking! The Orpheum is nothing! This Opera house was lined with boxes from floor to ceiling. To hear the orchresta start up and see the singers come out on stage....it was seriel (sp?, i love not having spell check). I couldn't believe I was watching an opera in Vienna! The singers where amazing, I think the best thing was hearing the clapping and people actually yelling bravo!!!! Yes, I yelled it once, I couldn't help myself, gotta do it. Of course the singing was in Italian, and it was fun that I actually understood some of it! Then we discovered little screens infront of us that showed the words in English! It was of course a tragic love story of some sort. We only stayed till intermission as we were standing and we had a side view and were straining our necks. If you get there early some of the standing tickets had quite an amazing view.

I forgot to share a story about our trip through the Medivel cities..... Dad you will LOVE this one!!!! We were in Dinkelsbruhl (love the name, eh), and walked around and came back to our car.....we had a parking ticket!!!! Apperently we missed the sign OUTSIDE the city that said you had to have a pass of some sort..... well we found out that you pay the ticket at city hall, we found city hall and Rita went in to pay for it, and yes Dad we sure did get out of it!!!!! I can get away with warnings even in Europe!!!! It's awesome! I know one day my luck will run out and I'll get a really big one to make up for all the warnings I've collected.

Time for bed...... we've got a day of driving ahead of us tomorrow.....of toSalzburg for the Sound of Music!!!!!!!!

Oktoberfest...nothing like you would think

Well, after the last time I wrote we went over into a small town in Austria (just for a few hours) looking for traditional festivals that they sometimes have, we apperently missed it just by a few days. But we met up with a couple, Lindsey and Ryan, from Colorado that we had met earlier on our tour of the castles. So we went out for coffee with them, and just sat and chatted. They're a really nice couple and Lindsey is very excited that I'm going to email her a recipe for Nanimo bars!!!! Then we headed back to Germany..... it just seems so strange how we can go back and forth so easily between countries....like take a wrong turn and end up in France!
Friday we were at Oktoberfest.... this was nothing like I had ever imagined it. The best way to describe it is the PNE minus the cows and add ALOT of beer. It's at a huge fairground with rides, carnival games and food stands. I think the rule is if you are German you wear your leiderhosen or durndle, people were wearing them everywhere, it was great! And we rode what might possibly be the best rollercoaster I have ever been on!!! (Taya you have to come to Germany) It's the Olympic rings, so you have five huge loops and some crazy hills! It was 5 Euros (about $7) but worth it. When you take away the barns and the cows from the PNE you add beer and lots of it. There are six beer tents, each representing a different local brew, and inside these tents is udder craziness, in the middle on a raised stage is a band playing traditional German music and EACH of the six tents hold 5,000 to 6,000 people!!!! Yes that is thousands, we were there at 11am and they were FULL! The beer only comes in one size, a litre beer stein! Since it was so early and I have had my German beer experience we did not have one. I couldn't even drink my one little glass of beer with my brastworth so I wasn't going to waste more on a litre. We spent our afternoon wandering around downtown Munich being entertained by street performers, then it was off to AUSTRIA! We got stuck on the Autobahn..... traffic came to a complete stop for over 10 mins, so in true tourist style we entertained ourselves with taking pictures and playing some games. We had planned on staying in Salzburg our first night but who would have thought there would be an International Cycling tour there. So we carried on... and were going to stay in Linz....but we quickly nicknamed that city Slinz sister city to Surrey. So it was off to Melk which was another 2 1/2 hour drive! We got there late and again we had troubles finding a hotel with rooms available. But God is always faithful and provides for us and we always get something super nice in these situations. And for really good deals.
This morning we toured a huge abbey in Melk that had one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. Rita said wait till we see St. Peter's in the Vatican, it's even more amazing. I can't imagine what would be more amazing than what we saw today.
Now we are in Vienna and have once again found a very nice place to stay in. It's a huge city but with a great subway and trams it is so easy to get around! We've taken it easy today and did laundry for the first time in Europe.... that was an adventure trying to figure out the machines...they have a very wierd paying system here. So we don't stink anymore and we are ready to visit the palace tomorrow and pop in to see a bit of an Opera. Monday morning we will be visiting a concentration camp on our way back to Salzburg and then on Tuesday is the highlight of the trip for me.... THE SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR!!!! I have heard amazing reviews of this tour and am SO excited for it.
Our trip has been so much fun so far. I can't believe we still have over 2 weeks to go!

Castles...Castles....and more Castles

So I don't have too much time to type, we found FREE internet.
We spent an entire day in Rothenburg, which is a medival city. Very quaint and very beautiful! Dad you would have loved it!!!! The BIGGEST Christmas store in the world!!!! We spent well over an hour in there looking around. We went on a Night-Watchman's tour which taught us alot of history of what life was like in the medival times. We left Rothenburg yesterday and heading on a drive called the Romantic Road which connects a dozen or so medival cities. We of course got lost due to a few detours and had to stop for directions....well we met a FABULOUS little lady Charlotte, she was trying to tell us how to get out of the city but couldn't quite explain it.....so she came with us. It was about a 20 minute drive and she was just such a sweet lady. She was so excited to see three young ladies exploring her country and commented that travel is good for you because it changes your heart. When we got to the place to drop her off, we took a quick picture with her so we wouldn't forget her kindness. She was so excited when I gave her the Canada flag pin from my bag. I got a big hug and kiss on the cheek. We went to an old Boroque church which was very ornate, but I always have such a heavy feeling in these churchs, seeing and hearing about all the people that come from so far for healing from a statue... it breaks my heart and I'm sure it breaks God's heart even more.
Thankfully we arrived in our next town early...in Fussen we had booked a hostel on the internet, not so good. It was dirty and the owner was creepy!!!! We polietly told him that we didn't want to stay and left as quickly as possible! We have found a great >B&B just minutes away, it's a typical German home with clean comfy bed, and SAFE!!!
Today we got to tour the most beautiful castles... Hoenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. The later is the castle that Walt Disney used to design Cinderella's castle. It is a breathtaking view! What we got to see of the inside was impressive, hard to imagine the money and time that went into it. Anyways, we are having a wonderful time, thank you everyone for your comments and prayers. Miss you and love you.

1000kms in

Hello Everyone!!!

The search for internet has finally ended. We have driven 1000kms in Germany so far and it has been an amazing adventure. Our flights went really well, and seemed quite fast! BA is a great airline to fly. Once we arrived in Frankfurt we picked up our adorable little car, a Corsa Opel, and started driving. I got to be the first to drive and OH SO FUN! The autobans are crazy, we'll be going about 120km (the suggested speed) and people will FLY past us! Literally fly. You barely see them pass you. Our first night we had a hard time trying to find a place to stay and ended up paying about $200 for a room, yuck! Driving around though we were excited to see the views in the day time, we could see castles litt up everywhere. Sunday morning we got up early and headed to St. Goar for a cruise down the Rhine River. Castles everywhere you look! It's beautiful. The cruise was fun, some interesting folk tales. We cruised to Bacharach and back, then drove to Bacharach to look around afterwards, that is the picture attached. In St. Goar we toured Rheinfels Castle. My first castle experience. SO COOL! I felt like I was in Lord of the Rings or something, peering out the look out tours, seeing real canon balls and the spots where crossbow snippers would sit and wait. We walked through some dark passage ways and when I say dark I mean you could not see your hand infront of your face. I kept taking pictures to see our next step with the flash, gotta love deleting pics from a digital camera. That night we drove to Baden-Baden. Our following the maps has been pretty good but we do stop for directions. Rita's German is really good (and I'm losing my Spanish accent with my few German words). People are really friendly and more than willing to help us out. Determined to get us there and help us understand their directions. In Baden-Baden a couple of ladies actually let us follow them right to the hostel we were staying at. Yesterday we drove south to take a drive through the Black Forest....with a small detour to France.....yes we took a wrong turn or missed a turn and ended up in France! Nothing out of the ordinary. The Black Forest was beautiful!!!! We drove to Kandle for a beautiful view overlooking the forest..... yeah the fog was really pretty, we didn't get to see anything. And driving through the Black Forest i found my COO-COO CLOCK!!!!! I bought it right from the man that made it! It is beautiful, i fell in love with it right away. It even came with a certificate as an authentic Black Forest clock, coo-coo clocks originated there. And don't worry Charlie and Dave the Coo-coo can be turned off :)
We were going to go back to Baden-Baden to look around (there are theraptic hot springs there) but we wanted to get to Rothenburg by 8pm for a Night-Watchman's tour..... but we needed to be in RoTHenburg with a "TH" not Rottenburg with a "TT"... we went to the wrong city!!! It ended up ok though. We have decided to stay in Rothenburg an extra day and NOT get in the car today. Rothenburg is AMAZING!!!! It's a gated city with cobble stone streets and quaint buildings, flowers everywhere. Dad you would love it here!!!! Christmas shops everywhere. I wish I had a bigger budget and a bigger bag cause boy would you get alot of stuff!!!! The hostel we are staying in here is amazing, we have the coziest room and the people that own it are super nice, breakfast was delicious and lots of food. An American couple we met there gave us a calling card to use in Switzerland, gotta love travellers. The plan for today is to go into every store in Rothenburg, they are all different and have some pretty cool stuff, Christmas decorations, beer stines, coo-coo clocks..... lots and lots to just look at. And today for lunch I am going to have brotsworth (sp) and beer. Gotta do it once in Germany..... you can even get a McBeer at McD's.

Hola a todos!!!!

Estoy en Alemania ahorita... y lo es incredible... no tengo el tiempo a escribir todo en espanol ahorita.... bueno....voy a tratar un poquito. Rentemos un carro y a manejar aca es muy divertido...no hay un maximo por el autopista. Tienes que ir 120km y los otros se pasan! Manejan muy rapido aca, es incredible y divertido. Estoy aprendiendo un poquito de aleman, es divertido. Vimos muchos castillos! y pasemos por un tour de uno. Son muy divertidos. Fuemos al Black Forest (bosque negro) lo es famoso por los relojs, compre uno!!!! Es muy bonito. Hoy estamos en Rothenburg cual es un pueblo dentro de paredes, es lindisimo!!!!! vamos a pasar el dia aca solo para mirar en todo de las tiendas, se venden todo tipco de Aleman. Los edificios son viejos y muy bonitos. Bueno amigos perdon que no prodria escribir mucho.... posible pueden practicar ingles y leerlo de arriba :) Es dificil a encontrar internet en Alemania espero que otro paises esta mas facil

Sorry... can't attach pictures here.... will try again next time......

The weekend flew by with TAYA'S WEDDING!

I can’t believe that it is only four more sleeps and I will be off on a plane!
This weekend flew by as I got to celebrate and be part of my friend Taya’s wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony and they started their marriage right by celebrating it not only with family and friends but with God as well. They have dedicated their marriage to each other to bring glory to God and to serve him together. It is always amazing to see people united together in a true holy matrimony. Their day was beautiful, Taya and Denny both looked amazing and were both glowing. Their love for each other is undeniable and I’m so excited for them as they start their lives together as husband and wife. So my next post will be from EUROPE!!!!! Thanks everyone that have left comments and have sent me emails, they have been really fun to read. Thank you for your prayers of safety and fun as well, they are greatly appreciated by all three of us.

No puedo creer que solo tengo cuatro dias y voy a estar en un avion!!!
Este fin de semana fue muy rapdio! Yo celebre y estuve parte de la boda de mi amiga Taya. Fue un cerimonia tan bonita y comezeron su matrimonio perfecto, no solo celebrando con amigos y familia pero tambien con Dios. Dedicaron su matrimino a la gloria de Dios y a servirle juntos. Simpre esta incredible a ver un pareja a dedicar sus vidas juntos a Dios. Su dia fue hermosa, Taya y Denny miran incredibles, brillando de su amor. Estoy muy emocionada por los dos a comenzar sus vidas juntos como esposos.Asi la proxima vez que escribo……voy a estar en europa!!!! Gracias a todos quienen dejaron sus mensajes y sus emails, son muy divertidos a leer. Y gracias por sus oraciones para la seguridad de las tres de nosotras. Muchas gracias y espero a verles cuando regreso de viaje.

11 Sleeps and Counting.......

On September 15th, 2006 I am leaving for Europe with two friends, Katie and Rita. We will be flying into Frankfurt, Germany and hoping into a car to drive around Germany, Austria, Switzerland and finally flying out of Rome, Italy for our journey back on October 9th, in time for some turkey at my parents house.
This is a fully packed 24 day adventure. We will be visiting castles, the black forest, a concentration camp, going on a luge, paragliding in the Swiss Alps, gondola rides in Venice, hiking through the Cinque Terre and wandering through the Vatican and the coliseum in Rome. I'm sure there won't be a dull moment on this trip!
I am very excited to be getting on a plane once again and can't wait to see what lies ahead. The unexpected in travel is always exciting and the only one sure guarantee. I'm looking forward to experiencing driving in another country, trying to read road signs in another language and trying to communicate through hand signals. It has been a long time since I have travelled and have had a language barrier, as most of my travel has been in South America and I speak fluent Spanish. I'm sure I am in for yet another fun ride and look forward to learning about these amazing countries, learning about Katie and Rita as we have 24 days of each other, learning about myself and learning about God. It never ceases to amaze me how much I can learn about God when I'm travelling, seeing His creativity in diffferent parts of the world just really brings me closer to Him, I always look forward to what He'll teach me on each new adventure.

El 15 de spetembre voy a europa con dos amigas Katie y Rita. Vamos a llegar en Frankfurt, Alemania y rentamos un carro para manejar a Alemania, Swiza, Austria y Italia. Por el fin tomamos el 9 de octobre con un vuelo de Roma, Italia por el regresa a Canada. Y vamos a llegar justo por el dia de gracias y vamos a comer pavo en la casa de mis padres.

Este 24 dias de viaje esta llena de adventura! Vamos a visitar catillos, el bosque negro de alemania, un campo de los judios de la guierra mundial, paracaidismo en swiza, vamos por los rios de Venice, caminando del Cinque terre en italia, y vamos a pasar por la cuidad de Vatican y las ruinas de Roma. Estoy cierta que no vamos a tener ni un momento aborrido!
Estoy muy emocionada a tomar un avion otra vez y no puedo esperar a ver que Dios tiene para nosotros en europa. Quiero manejar en una otra pais y tratar a entender las signales en un otra idioma y a comunicarnos con las manos porque no hablamos, aleman, swisa o frances. Estoy emocionada a aprender de estas paises a a prender mas de Rita y Katie porque vamos a estar juntos por 24 dias, a aprender mas de mi mismo y a aprender mas de Dios. Dios me asombra en su creatividad que veo cuando estoy viajando y viendo las partes diferencte del mundo, siempre me cerca mas a El, voy a ver que El va a ensenarme en cada adventura nueva!