Our Next Step

On August 1, Nicholas and I arrived home in Minneapolis. The next couple days were full of preparing to embark on our next adventure; camping through eight National Parks in the western half of the United States before heading to Kansas for Rebekah (my third sibling) and Austin's wedding celebration. They married in a civil ceremony on August 4th, but had planned a "fancy" ceremony that all of the family would be able to attend on September 30th. On Saturday, August 5th Nicholas and I got a phone call from my dad: there had been an accident. Austin was gone and Rebekah was in critical condition. And so, we went home. By early Monday morning, Bekah was celebrating her marriage in our true home, alongside her husband and Savior. 

The next week is a blur for me. There are moments of clarity, where I remember sending texts, making calls, giving directions, doing interviews. Others are empty, where I literally have no idea what I filled my time with. Cleaning? Hosting? Preparing meals? Organizing? Making sure we had meals covered? Talking with family? I honestly don't know. Somehow, the week passed though, and the next one, and the next. I've become an expert at filling my time; there is always some chore to be done, text to be sent or area to be paced. I started to venture out after about a month, seeing friends here and there. Life keeps going, because even if you don't want it to, you really don't have a choice. There's only so much time that can be filled with tasks though, and then you are left with moments to sit.  

You know those moments where you sit and are quiet? Where you search for stillness but only find racing thoughts and noise? When the depths of your heart are longing for something you almost can't put to words? Maybe answers, maybe peace, maybe understanding, maybe heaven...maybe all of them at once. I've had a lot of moments like that lately. Moments where I sit because I can't move, or wander aimlessly because I can't sit still. Moments where you're left gasping for air, crushed by a sorrow that is beyond all words. Grief is a messy, painful process.

But then....

But then there are moments where you sit and are quiet and find stillness in your tears. You find a glimpse of peace, because you know that even though you feel like you're falling apart, He's holding you together. And then He whispers promises in your ear, and even if you can't understand His will, you can trust in Him. You can trust His promises, His Words, His love, and so you lay down your arms and just ask the Lord to direct you, because you trust Him and that's all you can do. 

I didn't really expect Him to send us anywhere...I didn't think I would be ready. But He is. He's sending us to South Africa, where we'll do mission work for three weeks and spend time with Austin's family for one week. At first, I fought it. I didn't want to leave Wichita. South Africa is the hardest place we could go; every step will be one of faith and every one will feel like I'm walking in a path Rebekah & Austin laid for us. It will be hard, but I also have hope that going on this trip will be healing. 

We decided to take a leap of faith and bought our tickets and then told one of the staffers at Global Challenge when we would be in South Africa. Louw is an amazing guy we were really blessed to meet at the funeral, so it'll be exciting to see where God directs him to put us. We know we'll be working with Global Challenge, which is the organization Austin worked with, and doing ministry with them. In between serving, we're hoping to visit some of Austin and Bekah's favorite places, like the coffee shop she skyped me from and told me about some of her conversations with Austin and his favorite surf spot. It's in incredible blessing that God has provided us with the means and time to go visit. After serving, we'll spend time with Austin's family, seeing where he grew up and visiting his favorite places at home. 

We leave on Wednesday. Yes, Wednesday of this week. We’ve already packed our bags and finished up odds and ends. As we get ready to leave, please pray for us. We'll travel from Dallas to Cape Town and return Nov. 14th. It'll be different than any of the other traveling we've done, but hopefully a time of truly digging into the Word of God and resting in His peace.

Love always,

N + K 

England & Iceland

Wow! Five months of traveling: two months in Asia and three in Europe. Seventeen countries visited, countless trains, planes, busses and subways, many wonderful people met. Hundreds of new foods tasted and thousands of learning experiences; it's crazy to believe that our time overseas is over. As they say though, it's always good to go out with a bang, and what better place to do it than an English-speaking country! Although I like to believe Nicholas and I have become pros at navigating countries where you can't read, write or speak the language, ending our trip in a little bit of comfort sounded pretty appealing to both of us, thus, we ended our adventures in England. 

We concluded our cruise, said our farewells to the Nygaard family and headed off to rent a car. England is not as simple to travel as other European countries; the train system is not as reliable and fairly expensive (comparatively speaking). We also wanted to visit 3 different areas, so decided it would be more affordable and effective to drive ourselves instead of navigating public transportation. This was quite exciting for Nicholas, because who doesn't want to experience driving a manual on the wrong side of the road?! The manual was much cheaper than an automatic, so that added a bit of excitement as well! Thankfully, my husband is an amazing driver (yes, I'll admit it, MUCH better than me) and he did a wonderful job! 

Our first stop in the U.K. was Salisbury. Why you ask? Well, my inner nerd came out and I decided that we needed to see the best-preserved Magna Carta. It is housed in the Salisbury Cathedral, which is a stunning and beautifully maintained cathedral a few hours from Southampton. The grounds are a lovely place to walk, sit and talk. Out of the many cathedrals we saw, this one was quite possibly our favorite. (Our second favorite being in Bayeux, France). Stonehenge is also located quite close to Salisbury, but it is close to $35/person a visit, so we decided some rocks weren't quite worth $70. 

After our day in Salisbury we headed to the Cotswolds. While in Guernsey, my cousin Laura helped us design an itinerary for our two weeks in England; we spent one day in Salisbury, three in the Cotswolds, three in the Lake District, and one week in London. It was the perfect amount of time in each area. 

The Cotswolds are full of beautiful little villages and sprawling countryside. We took one day to rest at our AirBnB, visited Oxford the next day and drove through four other classic villages the last day. Oxford is a fun college town, and one of the fun things we were able to see was the Great Hall that they used as inspiration for the Hogwarts Great Hall. We also had lunch at one of the oldest pubs in Oxford. Our meal was good, but more exciting was the drink I tried, called Pimm’s Cup. It was really tasty, and I’d like to take this one back to the states with me! The next day we visited Bibury, Upper and Lower Slaughter, Stow-on-the-Wold, and Bourton-on-the-Water, walking through old cemeteries and churches, along the little rivers and across fields. It was a peaceful place to visit, which was nice after being on a busy cruise ship. The only downside was that it was a little drizzly throughout the day, but still very enjoyable. I introduced Nicholas to traditional British tea, complete with clotted cream and scones. At first he was a little unsure of why I was so crazy about it, but the second he bit into a freshly baked scone with jam and cream, he understood. In my opinion, it’s a quintessential part of visiting Great Britain. 

Our next stop was Kendal, which is in the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England, near Lake Windermere. We hit a bit of a bump in the road with our accommodations the first night; the room I had booked flooded and we were placed in a "spare volunteer's room.” Let's just say it left a lot to be desired.  Nicholas and I even shared a twin bed that night.  It wasn't the cleanest or safest feeling place, so we moved the next day. The owner of the hostel was very kind though, and gave us a full refund. We managed to find a different AirBnB room just 10 minutes away and loved our host! After that hitch, we started to enjoy visiting the lakes and surrounding areas. We spent one day visiting Lowther Castle, which had a financially tumultuous history. In order to pay for the castle, they have now removed the roof and opened it to the public. It’s very pretty, however, and the grounds are beautiful. On our drive back to Kendal, we stopped for some tea and pastries in an old, cozy farm house that was, in fact, part of the castle grounds.   Also, we decided to take the scenic route, and drove around three fourths of Lake Ullswater. Our final day we decided take another driving tour, and this time plotted out stops along the way. We went the the highest point in the highlands (where Nicholas celebrated with a beer), stopped along several small trails, and a waterfall. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to finish our tour because a car accident closed the road, which forced us to turn around an hour after waiting, but it was still a nice day! 

By the end of the week, we were ready to head to London and return our car. After NOT driving ourselves around for 4 1/2 months we weren't quite used to it, and there is significantly less personal responsibility in taking public transportation, which is quite nice when traveling. We returned our rental at the Heathrow Airport and then took the tube into Kensington, where our accommodation was. It was SO nice to be able to read everything! You don't realize how much more comfortable you are when you can understand everything going on around you. We arrived in London safe and sound, settled into our accommodations for the week, and decided our first day in London would be spent relaxing and spending time together. It seems like a crazy thing to say when you've spent five straight months together, but we've realized that it is important to be intentional with our time and interaction together; just because you're in the same room as someone doesn't mean you're maintaining or building a relationship with them (but that's a topic for a different blog). Needless to say, we spent some nice quality time together and ventured out to Harrods in the evening. Anyone who visits London must go to Harrods simply for the experience! 

The next day we decided to visit the Parliament building, Big Ben, Westminster Abby, St. James Park and Trafalgar Square. Westminster is incredible; partly because of how many famous people are buried there. It's also huge and there are many examples of architecture and decor. After that we walked through St. James Park and had a late picnic lunch. We headed back to our home-for-the-week and got ready for date night! London has many different theaters, and I decided to surprise Nicholas with Les Mis tickets, which was really a gift from one of our church family members in Tulsa! We enjoyed our evening watching the show and had a late dinner afterwards. It was a full but fun second day in my favorite city!

The next day we went to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, visited the free British Museum for a couple hours and then attended another show; Aladdin! The changing of the guard was really interesting and much longer than I expected. We then headed to the Museum. While we were in London I really wanted to take advantage of how many free museums there are. The most interesting part was seeing the Rosetta Stone. This was somewhat like the Magna Carta for me; my inner nerd definitely came out. We figured we had learned enough for the day and needed some more entertainment, so were excited to see Aladdin. It was a fun show to watch, although we were struck by how the acting/singing was not quite up to American standards, but the sets were. Nicholas and I both agreed we would like to see it in the states to compare. 

Thursday we went to the Tower of London. Visiting the tower is a rather lengthy affair-there is so much to see! We bought an audio guide tour as well, which made it more enjoyable. Afterwards we took a bus to Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station. We had originally planned to go to Harry Potter World, but didn't buy tickets far enough in advance. That was extremely sad, because I thought I had bought them. Quite possibly the most tragic mistake I made during the entire trip. The platform was still fun for me to visit though. For dinner we decided to go to Borough Market since it was close by. I bought some Indian curry for dinner and Nicholas had a sandwich with a special kind of British salted beef. It was fun to see a market in Great Britian compared to the ones in Asia. 

Friday we visited Hyde Park and the National Gallery, a free art gallery in London. The museum is huge and full of beautiful works of art by artists across the world and ages. Afterwards we had tea at the Muffin Man Tea Room. One last round of tea and scones was a necessity before we headed home to the states, because let's be real, the U.S. just doesn't do tea and scones right and probably never will.

Saturday we headed off to the airport to head home to Minneapolis, MN. Our travels were done, or so we thought. We ended up spending about a day in Iceland due to flight delays, which turned out to be a lot of fun. The airline paid for our meals, transportation and accommodation and it gave us the opportunity to walk through Reykjavik, which is the capital of Iceland. 

Ultimately, going home was bittersweet for both of us; we were ready to be back in the states and somewhere familiar, but sad to realize that all of our exploring across the ocean was complete for now. I can honestly say that even though we've seen more of the world than a lot of people, there is always more to see. There are always more trails to walk, cities to visit, foods to try, people to meet and experiences to be had. I don't think that spirit of wanderlust will ever fully go away in either Nicholas or me; it's part of who we are, and we're just grateful God gave us the ability to satisfy some of that. Until next time, readers...until next time. 

N & K

Royal Carribean Cruise!

By the time our adventures in France had ended we were ready for some rest and relaxation!  However, that rest and relaxation didn’t start without a little fun to be had first.

Here’s our funny story, thought it’d be fun to share:  

We were headed for Guernsey, one of the channel islands between the coast of England and France.  To get to the island, we could either fly or take a ferry, we decided to go the economical ferry route, which will later prove to be the wrong move.  Our ferry was scheduled to leave at 12:15 in the afternoon and arrive at 13:10.  Upon arrival to the ferry dock, we find out that our Condor ferry is delayed an hour, due to engine failure on the left hand side of the ship…this delay eventually turned into 2 hours…finally, we had our passports stamped exiting France and boarded the ferry, cars and all were brought on…Once we found our seats, *DING* “Good afternoon…ladies and gentleman, this is your…captain speaking. I want to welcome you aboard Condor ferries in route to Jersey and Guernsey.  Our travel time from St. Malo to Guernsey will be about 4 hours, we’ll try and get you there are quickly as we can. I apologize for the delay as we have been experiencing engine failure on the starboard side of our ferry today, but…hopefully, we should be be okay to go on the 3 engines that are running. Our crew will continue working on the engine and will hopefully get it up and running again.  Meanwhile, please make yourselves comfortable, there are food menus in your pocket seats, enjoy the ride, we’ll be departing shortly”   Minutes later as people began laughing off some of the frustration, making jokes at Condor’s expense *DING* Hello again…this is your captain speaking, we have a variety of safety features on board this ferry, please take a moment to watch the screens spread throughout and listen carefully, thank you”  Finally, after about another hour of sitting, we finally began to pull away from the dock.  What seemed like no more than 200 meters away, the ferry began to slow down and upon looking around the room, people began to shake their heads snickering to themselves as this even was quickly becoming comical in every way…we all waited for what we knew was coming next…*DING* “This is your captain speaking…I can’t gain control on the starboard side engine, and we…um…unfortunately just received another advisory alert on our port side engine…so…we’ll…we’ll uh…we’ll just hold our position here until we find out more”  I do have to say, we had a nice view of St. Malo while we were in our “hold” position for 15 minutes.  *DING* “This is your captain speaking, I have some bad news unfortunately…our other engine has also stopped working, and we are going to, very slowly, make a turn around and have a slow, drawn out ride back to St. Malo port and see if we can fix the problem”.  Twenty-Five minutes into the slow sail back to port *DING* “This is your captain speaking, free drinks and biscuits are available at the cafe for the inconvenience”.  Ten minutes after that, *DING* “This is your captain speaking, we are going to ask you to disembark the ship upon arrival, vehicle drivers we’ll have you take your cars off, then walk on passengers to follow”.  After disembarking, we waited for another hour, only to find out that the trip for the day was cancelled until 7:30am the next morning.  Condor was kind enough to provide us with hotel accommodation, which was right in the middle of the old city.  Fast forward, in the morning, on the ride over to Guernsey, we learned that the ferry Condor uses was a “bargain ferry”.  No one else wanted to purchase this particular ferry because it had issues AND it sails so terribly most people become sea sick.  All in all, it was an adventure of a life time trying to get to Guernsey, but alas, we made it in the end! 

Lucky enough for us, one of Kaitlyn’s Aunt and Uncles as well as their son and his family live on the island, which means we were able to stay with her cousin, Nigel and his family.  All of the houses on Guernsey are extremely old and beautiful, typically remodeled farm homes. Kaitlyn’s Aunt's home is over 150 years old, which was pretty neat to see. We enjoyed the time with family, homemade dinners, sleeping in and a comfortable bed, which is refreshing when traveling as long as we have. One of the fun things we did was walk along the cliff with Laura, Kaitlyn’s cousin. The walk has beautiful scenery and is littered with old German bunkers, which were built in WW2. I really enjoyed climbing one of the bunker towers and getting to explore the inside of a couple of them. Interestingly, Guernsey was occupied by the Germans for almost the entire war, but the British never fought over the islands because they weren't strategically worth the effort, according to Winston Churchill. It was a wonderful two days, much too short, but very relaxing and fun.

After our time in Guernsey we flew to Southampton, England. What is the best part of Southampton? The cruise ships that leave out of the port!  Also, if you didn’t know, it is the same port that the Titanic left from on it’s first and last voyage.  If you ever find yourself in the area and are in need of an awesome AirBnB host, let us know, we know just the guy :)  I have to say, Kaitlyn and I were both very excited to arrive at this point in our journey.  Honestly, we always had it in the back of our minds as a motivator to keep going as it was going to be our escape from having to do anything for ourselves, plus it was going to be a fun trip with family!  Before we had even left on our trip, we had planned this out, unbeknown to my Mom.  We wanted to show up on the ship and give her a great surprise.  Although the surprise didn’t go quite the way we had wanted, due to some unforeseen events, it was still fun to see the reaction she gave when we showed up!  This brought nearly our whole family together again, but we certainly did miss the ones that were not able to attend due to baby and work responsibilities, so we are hoping for a next time!!

The cruise made 4 stops: Bruges, Belgium, Oslo, Norway, Hamburg, Germany and a port in France. Bruges is similar to Amsterdam in that it is a city built with many canals.  The architecture is extremely pretty, mainly medieval style and all the streets are cobblestone, making you feel like you've stepped back in time. We did not do an excursion in Bruges, so most of the day was spent exploring the city by foot.  Upon arrival of the city, we walked straight to the Market square, over which the beautiful Belfry Tower casts it’s shadow.  Not only is the Belfry Tower a telling piece of history, but you can also see Cloth Hall and the Provincial Palace from their as well.  If walking isn’t for you, in the square, you will find horse drawn carriages for hire to take you on a tour of beautiful Bruges. Like I said, we decided to walk so we could take the time to see the city on our own time.  Later in the day we returned to the square for a nice lunch at a restaurant called Meridian 3, allowing us to take in the beautiful views of the historic area.  During our walk around the city, we went to two different buildings for worship, the Church of Our Lady Bruges and St. Saviour’s Cathedral.  Unfortunately due to renovations of the church, we weren’t able to see much, but the cathedral was beautifully built and well maintained.  It is always amazing to see churches that were built so long ago, but today are so well preserved showing the unique design to their time period. After, we found ourselves wandering down some cobblestone back streets, passing Chocolateries, local shops, restaurants and more historical sites.  By the end, we came out one of the gates of the Provincial Palace, which gave us a look (from the outside) at the Basilica of the Holy Blood.  By then, it was time to head back to catch one of the last busses to the cruise ship.  Along the way, we  made a stop into a chocolate shop in order to pick up some yummy, Belgian sweets!

Oslo, Norway was very unique and my favorite port. Kaitlyn and I didn't have the opportunity to go to any Scandinavian countries while we traveled, so needless to say, we were very excited! The cruise ship docked right on the edge of the city in front of Akershus Fortress, providing spectacular views of the fort and city.  Before getting off the ship, we all made sure to have our rain jackets, as we were told it was going to be a dreary day.  We began by exploring the fortress on foot and later caught a sightseeing bus to the Viking Ship Museum.  The fortress (or castle) was very cool, built in 1290 to protect Oslo, which is the capital of Norway.  Since then, the castle has been restored and modernized.  After that, we headed to find a bus stopping zone, however, the pursuit ended up being a bit comical…every time we saw a bus, it was moving, not stopped, not picking up tourists, but in route.  Thus, this led to more on foot exploring of the city, passing the Royal Palace, until finally we were able to find a stopping location.  Inside the Viking museum, there are 3 old ships, well preserved for the most part and numerous viking artifacts.  This was by far one of the most interesting and intriguing museums on our trip. It was interesting to see such artifacts and imagine yourself living during their time, especially the Vikings, as they seemed to be fearless at sea.  One thing that stood out to me was the craftsmanship of the work during that time.  They made sleds and other wooden pieces more ornate than what you would find today, which is really amazing when you think of the tools they had back then.  If you ever head to Oslo, I would recommend putting this museum on your “must see list” as it truly is an awesome experience and one you’d only find in Scandinavia.  From the museum, we headed back to the city center, where we would find a bite to eat.  Along the way, we saw the Noble Peace Center, where the Noble Peace Prize was awarded.  The rain began as we neared our destination…and no light rain by any means…so we ducked inside a local restaurant called Egon Karl Johan to grab some grub.  However, 10 minutes later we got up and left cause of the crazy prices.  Just a hop and a skip down the road though, we found a convenience store with a little deli inside, so we ate hot dogs and calzones till we were stuffed to the brim.  Afterwards, we crossed the street to see the Parliament building and the park’s public ice rink, during the winter months of course.  From here, the girls headed back to the ship because it was still raining and the guys headed off to the Magic Ice Bar.  What cool experience sitting in the 18 degree room was…packed with ice art and sculptures, from ice benches to a complete ice bar, it will forever be a great memory. By the end of that, our fun in Oslo was coming to a close.  As we headed back to the ship, I made sure we stopped in a few gift shops for a tourist’s souvenir. Overall, Oslo was a fantastic place and I wish we had time to see more, because there was and is so much more, but that will have to wait till next time. If you are looking for a beautiful city, that is fairly modern with a bunch of activities, Oslo is for you.

At our next stop, Hamburg, Mom and Dad had signed us up for a guided city walk.  I honestly wish that through our travels, Kaitlyn and I would have done more guided tours like these.  They are full of information and a great way to learn more specifically on the history of the area.  Our guide was awesome, he was a young man from Poland who lived in Hamburg and loved studying the history of the area.  He taught us so much, that it is honestly hard to recall most of it.  We started our tour in front of the town hall, where we were given a pretty extensive history on the building itself and what particular parts of it had meaning.  From their, we moved on to St. Peter’s Church, which was built originally built in 1189.  However, due to the great fire of 1842, the church would have to be rebuilt and was in 1849.  If you look at the bricks of the church, you can see they were burned…the bricks were repurposed after the fire and in an effort to save money and resources, they were used to rebuild the church.   On one of the doors of the church, their is an old bronze lion, which is deemed the oldest lion in Hamburg…people believe that it is a source of good fortune, so you can see where many have rubbed the nose and polished the bronze.  As we walked throughout the city, we noticed little bronze plaques in the ground called stumbling stones, which were to commemorate the Jews that died during the war agains the germans.  Along the journey, we visited many more locations, including the Elbphilharmonie (concert hall), another church under renovation, the warehouse district and we even learned why the poodle became a symbol of a shipping company (love and respect for wife) and more.  Our tour guide was GREAT and we all learned a ton! There is so much you miss when you don't do a guided tour, so we were happy we got to experience Hamburg in this particular way.  After we departed from our guide, we went to find a tiny little hole in the wall restaurant that we were told was amazing and if we wanted to experience true Hamburg, this Fisch & Co was the place to do so.  I do have to say, it was pretty tasty and it was fun to see our family take up every bit of sitting space!  After eating, we headed back to the concert hall to see the inside of this newly renovated work of art!  The building was pretty neat and was different than anything we had ever seen.  We spent about an hour and a half inside, then headed back to the city center where we found a grocery store to buy some german chocolate…from there the girls would end up taking the bus back to the ship and the guys would depart to find some local beer. When in Germany, do as the germans do, right!?  We ended up at a brewery called “Brauhaus Joh. Albrecht”, which had a pretty neat atmosphere!  It was really nice to go out with my brothers and Dad and have some guy time and I’m sure it was nice for Mom, Halle and Kaitlyn to do the same! Our take away from Hamburg was this: Every city has little historical details that are easy to miss, so if possible, take a free walking tour because you can get a lot for little. Kaitlyn and I thought it was interesting how different Hamburg was from Berlin and Munich. Germany is one of the larger countries in Europe, and you can tell there is a huge amount of diversity across the country!

For our last stop we chose to do a cruise excursion. Kaitlyn and I chose to visit Mont Saint Michelle and the rest of the Nygaard family went to Omaha Beach.  Originally, we thought we would be able to make it to Omaha Beach while in France, so we booked the Mont Saint Michelle excursion instead. Unfortunately, we didn't make it while in France, but it was already too late to change our excursion booking. It worked out though, and we enjoyed seeing Mont Saint Michelle. Kaitlyn had visited when she was previously in France during high school and thought I would think it was beautiful. It truly is like no other place!  It is crazy to think that it was developed from a big boulder of an island to a castle and current home to about 44 people.  The landmark is so recognizable that it is on the UNESCO list of world heritage sites!

Our days on the ship were, of course, wonderful! The entertainment on Royal Caribbean cruise ship is always well done, there are plenty of activities and more than enough food, which is tasty and well presented.  While on the ship, we we went to most trivia nights and all the main shows…which included an ice show, a magician (which Kaitlyn was selected to participate in), a comedian, a musician, a few different musicals, a parade and a farewell show! It is amazing to see the many talents of these individuals, and the hard work they put in to make the experience great for so many!  Not only that, it was really nice for us to spend time with family, especially after we'd been traveling so long. Let's just say we can't wait for the next one! 

With that said, we’ll say Vaarwel, Ha det, Auf Wiedersehen, Au Revoir!

XOXO,

Nicholas and Kaitlyn

France

France, a country of wine, romance and walks along the Seine River. We spent 9 days in France, taking our time visiting Paris, Carentan and St. Malo. We traveled via bus from Amsterdam to Paris, which turned out to be much more economical than train. Travel tip: while in Europe, always take the time to research buses if you are looking for a budget friendly form of transportation. We used a company called Flixbus multiple times and, for the most part, were satisfied with our service. Our only bump in the road occurred on the way from Amsterdam to Paris (quite literally, as it turns out). It was a 8-9 hour drive and our poor bus driver didn't get much of a break; unfortunately he entered the through the wrong part of the terminal and drove the top of the bus into a sign at the Paris airport. He then had to back-up in a round-a-about, which is near impossible, and make a sharp right hand turn into a parking lot to receive his ticket from airport police. The bus was too large for the area he was in, thus he couldn't make the turn and scratched the entire side of the bus along a cement barrier. Needless to say, it wasn't his best day. Finally, after much swearing by the driver, we completed our journey to Paris and began our time in the City of Lights! 

Our Airbnb was different then most, but provided what we needed. It was at the very top of an old apartment building. To get there, we had to clime 6 flights of steep spiraling stairs at the back of the complex. The elevator did not reach that part of the building because it was previously a servants quarters. The room was without air conditioning, but had a fan, a shower, a sink and a full size bed stuffed into it…the bathroom was found just down the hall in a separate room. I would guess the room was between 80 to 100 square feet, so you can imagine it was pretty tight. Most nights, we slept with the window open in order to keep a little air circulation moving through the room.

Our first full day in Paris was Sunday, so we started our week in God's house, worshiping with other believers in the area.  Needless to say, Nicholas and I walk everywhere…while in route to church we noticed the Eiffel tower in the distance, we didn’t realize how close we actually would actually be to the famous monument.  The church we attended was right along the Seine River, which ended up providing a beautiful walk to the Eiffel Tower after church ended.  I do have to mention that Nicholas and I were quite tired at this point in the trip, so we didn’t have the same energy as we have had going to see other cool places in our travels.  On our walk to the tower, we realized that we wanted lunch, but not at a restaurant as we were still not enthused by the thought of prepared food.  Hence, we bought lunch at a grocery store (sandwiches and a salad kit), which unfortunately we had to hike back to where we started our venture out in the morning (as that was the only grocery store that the phone pulled up as open on a Sunday).  Lets be honest, already being tired and hungry, walking around trying to find a grocery store and then learning it is back where you started was rather frustrating and more tiring…not complaining, just sharing the reality of the situation.  Upon buying our cheap grocery store meal and arriving at the Eiffel tower to enjoy a picnic, we didn’t have the excitement that most probably have when arriving at such a beautiful infrastructure. In fact, my first comment was “I thought it was bigger than this”.  I share this as a funny memory for Nicholas and I because up until this point, we had been amazed by everything…not that this wasn’t amazing, because it was, more we just didn’t have the “go get ‘em” energy.  With that said, the Eiffel tower is surrounded by a beautiful green with benches spread throughout to enjoy sitting and taking in the spectacular site…I do have to say, sitting down to eat lunch right under the Eiffel tower was a pretty amazing experience and made for a perfect picnic spot!  If you haven’t noticed the theme through our blogs yet, food is IMPORTANT! It energizes and keeps you going, so don’t wait till you are starving to eat, because it certainly has an effect on how you feel before and then after.  Afterwards, we walked back along the river to the Pont Alexandre III, an art museum and Arc de Triomphe. It ended up being a wonderful first day in Paris!

Our second day we decided to finish some of our self-designed "walking tour" and walked from the Arc de Triomphe to the Louvre! The walk from one to the other was quite pretty; looking at all the architecture, historical buildings and the park by the Louvre made it very enjoyable. In the afternoon we decided to do some shopping! I was quite excited to do some shopping in one of the most fashionable cities in the world. The third day in Paris we visited Notre Dame, another old church and some government buildings. For lunch we decided to try some traditional crepes, both savory and sweet! Nicholas had one with cheese, ham and potatoes and I had one with tuna, spinach and goat cheese. For dessert we had a strawberry crepe with whipped cream. I can honestly say they taste quite different than any crepes I've ever had the U.S., Nicholas also agrees.

Wednesday was a day trip! We took a short train ride to the Palace of Versailles. This palace was by far one of the most opulent palaces we saw on our travels. The second most opulent--in my opinion-- was the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand. The Hall of Mirrors was very pretty, and it was impressive to learn how expensive mirrors were at that point in history.   It is incredible to see the fashion in which wealthy people lived in that day and age, how they dreamt and how they achieved (even if it was through selfish/foolish ways). During our time, we were able to wander the grounds of the palace, we even had time to walk to the Petit Trionon (where Marie Antoinette regularly took refuge). We then headed back to the train station; it had started to rain and I don't care for walking in the rain. We headed back to Paris for a good night's sleep before heading to the region of Normandy. 

Normandy is a beautiful area in France; the towns are quaint and lovely. We stayed in a small town called Carentan, which is right on a small inlet. Our Airbnb host put us in one of the upper rooms of his large home in the area. It was right behind the inlet, so the town was easily accessed from the area.  Carentan is small, thus, there isn’t more then a few hours of walking around to be done before you have experienced it all.  This led us to venture out and take a trip to the town of Bayeux and Sainte-Mere-Eglise.  Bayeux was a short 15 minute train ride away from out city and is known especially for the Tapestry that is in the city.  Although we failed to see the tapestry, we had an enjoyable time walking around the lovely city, becoming accustomed to what it had to offer.  In Bayeux lays a beautiful cathedral that was partially bombed out and later renovated and rebuilt.  The city also has many cute little local stores that line many of the streets for the many tourists that visit the area.  The following day, we decided we wanted to go a little further and head out to see Sainte-Mere-Eglise, which required taking a bus to the area.  In my opinion, this was the best day trip we took while in the area.  We were able to see a lot of WW2 history and learn a lot about D-Day, through the museum there dedicated to the 101st Airborne, which liberated the town. Even though the museum is small, we spent 4 hours inside it and enjoyed every minute. 

We ended our time in France in Saint Malo, a port town right on the ocean. We were there for 2 days before heading to the island of Guernsey. (We were suppose to only be there for 1 day, but our ferry to the island broke down.) The old city of Saint Malo is beautiful and we enjoyed walking around the walls, on the beach, having dinner together and being able to call family. I was able to facetime Rebekah for close to 3 hours, which was a lot of fun. 

All in all, France was a beautiful country and we had a lot of fun there. Our next trip I think I would like to add in the wine country and some southern beach towns, but it's always good to save something for the next time!

Holland, A Place like Home

The Netherlands, the country of my roots. Visiting this country is always special—I was here in 2009—and I was excited to show Nicholas where some of our family traditions had come from and for him to meet some of my European family. As always, we didn’t stay long enough, but I could easily rent a bike and spend a month exploring this beautiful country. 

Nicholas’s introduction to the country was not quite as pleasant as I was hoping; we missed our flight from Berlin (oops) and had to resort to taking an overnight bus, which is not the most enjoyable way to travel. The one thing I had attempted to avoid the entire trip was overnight busses. It’s basically the same as pulling an all-nighter, which I am decidedly too old for. Let’s be real, I’ve been too old for all-nighters since, well, the age of 1 year; I hate them! Even in college I only ever pulled one! Either way, it was our only option unless we wanted to spend 600 euros on a train, so off we were. We left at 10:30 p.m. on June 19th and arrived in Amsterdam on the 20th at 7:00 am. My sweet Tante (Aunt) Hinke made us breakfast and we proceeded to take a well-deserved three hour nap. Nicholas fell asleep in about 8 seconds! 

After napping for a few hours we got up and enjoyed afternoon coffee with Tante Hinke. Nicholas was able to meet her more fully and we enjoyed telling her about some of our travels thus far…not to mention coffee and treats is a Dutch tradition Nicholas and I both really appreciate; Nicholas loves the coffee and I love the treats! ;) We had planned to visit our friend, Joost (pronounced “Yost”), that day and didn’t want to miss our opportunity, so headed out in the afternoon after coffee. Here our story takes a turn for the worst. Those of you following this blog remember our train ordeal from Spain. Well, on the way to Rotterdam, guess what?! Another train broke down and blocked our train! We were in the unlucky 2% of people who end up NOT reaching their destination on a Dutch train. We asked a guy on the platform what was going on and he explained the situation and that the next 3 trains had been canceled. Kees (pronounced “Case”) was extremely kind though, and told us to just follow him; he had to get to Rotterdam as well. He led us to the bus, chatted with us the entire ride and made sure we knew where we were going once we arrived in Rotterdam. Dutchmen are so nice! 

Once we finally MADE it to Rotterdam, Joost met us and took us on a fast, but wonderful tour of his city! We originally met him in Cambodia and met up again in Vietnam, but travelers really become your family, and we had a blast getting to know him and hanging out. We had a delicious dinner, walked some of the city, saw some sights, took a water taxi to an old hotel in the harbor and had drinks before we had to head back to Amsterdam. It was great! Joost (and his girlfriend) are planning to visit the U.S. in about 2 years, so hopefully, we will see him again then! The train that had broken down earlier was still causing issues, so our train was late arriving in Amsterdam and we missed the last metro (it ends at 12:30 a.m. if you’re wondering). We met ANOTHER nice dutch guy though, and we shared a cab with him to get to our final destination. If nothing else, this trip has taught us a lot of flexibility and problem solving skills! Tante Hinke is a night owl, so she was up when we arrived back at home. We told her our story, enjoyed a beer and, finally, headed to bed. 

The next day we slept in until about 9 a.m. Breakfast was very Dutch and consisted of cheese, cold cuts, tea and some delicious, dark bread. I’ve never been much of a cereal eater, so it was perfect for me and a new experience for Nicholas! Then it was time for sightseeing, so decided to go to the Heineken Brewery first! Nicholas enjoys beer and you usually get a few free ones if you take a tour, so it sounded like a good idea. It was actually interesting and the company has done a great job with the tour. It’s technically self-guided, but there are a lot of videos, interactive spots and a few people who talk to you about what you’re looking at/trying. We really enjoyed it. Afterwards we took a boat tour through some of the canals. That we were somewhat disappointed in; we used a company called Stromma, which is well known, but the tour was cut 20 minutes short and our audio guides cut out as well. We think that because it was the last tour of the day the captain decided to skip some of it. It goes to show that even with research, sometimes you just get unlucky. Afterwards, we headed back to Tante Hinke’s for a nice homemade pasta meal, some good wine and conversation.

The next day we took a day trip to Fryslan, which is where all of my Dad’s family originally is from. Many of my distant relatives still live there and are dairy farmers. I’m honestly not sure what the people we visited technically are to me; maybe 3rd or 4th cousins? Either way, they showed us around the farm, made us a yummy lunch, played games, took us to the closest village and provided us with coffee TWICE! Let’s just say we ate really well that day. ;) We were planning to go to the beach as well, but the weather didn’t cooperate so we weren’t able to. Tante Hinke then took us to the village she grew up in and where my Great Beppe (grandma) is buried. It was a really special day! I loved that Nicholas could see where my family came from, why we do things a certain way, and what traditions came with my Dad from Holland. 

The 23rd we went to Anne Frank’s house, explored the city center of Amsterdam and enjoyed Indonesian food with Tante Hinke for dinner. The Anne Frank house is a very moving place to visit, especially if you’ve read the book. One word of advice; you MUST book tickets in advance if you want to visit. We were lucky and found some two days before, but there were less than 80 tickets left for that entire day!

The Netherlands was one of our most relaxing and enjoyable stops during this trip. Tante Hinke is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met; extremely generous and always willing to help, not to mention her mattresses were the most comfortable ones we’ve slept on in 4 months. We slept well, rested well, ate well, visited well and traveled well. It was so nice to be in a place that felt like home.