Sunday, November 13, 2011

Chevy Chase has nothing on us!

If only there hadn't already been a Chevy Chase European Vacation movie.......This wouldn't be a movie, but REAL LIFE..........going around, around, around, and around the round-abouts, having children stuck in a Murphy bed, children eating "sand and insects", trying to shield children's eyes from sexual connotations (EVERYWHERE), drinking too much wine and saying it's for our heart, desperately trying to keep the interest of 3 children when even we are bored so we break out in song and dance, sleeping like the Waltons, explaining the bidet, explaining the aroma coming off a man that you are standing right beside, riding in a French tow truck singing a French song, 2 rental cars with 2 dents........then again, the difference with this Hollywood movie would be..........laughing hysterically at dinner, kneeling together in a church and praying, praying together at night before bed, having intellectual conversation on the culture of Europe and the world in general (no, I didn't contribute much), grocery shopping and learning how to buy produce together, walking for hours, meeting wonderful people and realizing you can communicate with a smile, and most importantly, being grateful.  Grateful ....not because we have seen and done more things that most people will never see, but because we are a family that loves one another and hopefully now sees the world as a whole.  Todd and I have said, "have we shown them too much?  Can they really appreciate everything we've seen?"  Of course the answer is NO.  They're 10, 12, and 16!  But, our hope and goal is that we have planted a seed.  The seed of gratefulness, family, God, history, food, and life (no particular order there!).  A seed that hopefully they will figure out what it needs to grow!  We had a grateful speech (many actually) of what we are grateful for.  We had to name what each person said and then add something.  We as a family are grateful for:  our health, our family, this trip, parents that work hard and have the means and desire to spend good family time, and that Jesus Christ is our savior!

We ended our trip in Versailles, and it has been a great few days.  Laid back which is what we needed!  The children and I toured the chateau while Todd was in Amsterdam (he went for a day for business), but the most enjoyable part was biking all over the grounds.  We had a blast.  Our hotel has been fantastic!  Another great way to end. It is right beside the Versailles grounds.  The only reason we got to stay here was because it is where Todd's client has him staying. To give you an idea of how nice it is, Queen Elizabeth has stayed here!

It will be hard to go back to "normal" life and not because of why you think.  We'll get back and life will go back to normal for a little while.  What I'll miss the most:  dinners that last an eternity full of laughing and stories of the day, living in such close quarters that it takes 2 minutes to straighten up the home front, huddled around a tiny T.V. watching some of our favorite shows, truly being driven to tears daily by God's beauty, and being reminded how much bigger the world is than Germantown, TN.  What's crazy is that I didn't need to travel miles away from home to experience any of that!

Thank you for all your prayers and for checking in with us.  These blogs have been personal, and a window to our family.  The blogs were not only a way to let everyone know what was going on, but also a written memory for us.  How could we ever remember all that we have seen and done, things we've talked about, and all the funny things that have happened!  Thank you for being part of our adventure.  I can't believe that we have been gone for 7 weeks.  We are looking forward to getting home to see everyone especially Sam!  We're off to Minnesota for Thanksgiving.  The adventure starts back in January.  We head to Hawaii for a different adventure!  I'll keep you all posted when we leave.

Much love to you all! Aurevoir!

Callie and Todd

Thursday, November 10, 2011

We Survived Queen Rainey!


London! We survived Rainey, a.k.a. “Queen Elizabeth”! We all got along quite well, and it was nice to have English speaking people around! We took London easy…..I can tell our attention span has almost given out!
London is such a cool city that is full of wonderful history everywhere. Could it be because at one point the British empire controlled one fourth of the world and therefore took anything and everything they wanted……the Rosetta stone, the Cyprus cylinder, big stone Egyptian things that I’ve forgotten the names of….you get the point. Maybe London is so interesting because it’s a history that we know a little more about. Think of the movies: Elizabeth, The Queen, Robin Hood…..It was a fun place to visit that’s for sure.
The British museum is wonderful. And, the Tower of London is one of my favorite sights in all of Europe. Of course, the royal jewels are breathtaking. I picked out a thing or two in there and put it on my Christmas list! We went to the war bunkers of Winston Churchill and boy was that neat. They say the bunkers were closed after the war and left untouched and are now open to the public the way they were left. To hear them describe it, they turned the lights off and walked out, came back 60 years later and turned the lights on! Peyton really enjoyed it. We went to London’s “all seeing eye”, a huge Ferris wheel that moves very slowly…but think very huge. Westminster Abby was wonderful. Of course, the fact that the “royal wedding” took place there took precedence over all the REAL history……please! We ended our visit with, of course, seeing the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. The fanfare is awesome, but Todd and I couldn’t help but sing: oh, ee, oh….oooh. Which is from The Wizard of Oz. It’s what the guards of the wicked witch’s castle sing as they march! The Buckingham guards look just like the guard from The Wizard of Oz! We ended a great day and week with high tea at Harrod’s. How could we not! The boys were reluctant, but they even ended up enjoying it and impressed. Just riding up and down the escalator of Harrod’s is something!
I can’t believe this adventure is coming to an end. We’re off to Versailles to the end the trip. We’ll be there for 4 days and leave Todd there to work. I’m excited about getting back to Versialles. I love that little town, and I’m anxious for the kids to see it. Can’t believe I’ve only got one more blog to go for this leg of the trip. The timing seems to be perfect. We’re all about ready to be home for a little while. We’re anxious to see everyone and get ready for Christmas. London is already decked out for Christmas, so it got us all in the mood! By the way, I owe the British people and London and apology. I said they were boring and the food was bad…..wrong! We met some wonderful people (never mind that some of them were Australian), and we had some great food. We had the neatest little pub across the street called Union Tavern that felt like home to us. The children loved the food in England! Fish and chips like you’ve never had them! Shauny and Vince were the best!
See you all in a few days! Off to see the sun king’s castle!


Sunday, November 6, 2011

Ty Jones Turns 52

Time is accelerating on our trip and we can tell that our time is almost done. Speaking of time accelerating, and time almost done, I wanted to do another shout out to our great friend: Ty Jones.

TY JONES had his birthday on November 5th and even though we have already called him, i just wanted to be sure that everyone had the chance to share in his birthday joy!!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYRONE!!!!! YOU LOOK GREAT FOR 52!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE'LL SHARE SOME BEVERAGES SOON!!!!!!!!!!!! Todd

Saturday, November 5, 2011

The Shoe Dropped!

Well, the shoe finally dropped!  I've been telling the children that I'm waiting for the shoe to drop, something to happen.  A flight canceled, a severe delay, no reservations for hotel, something of the sorts.  The shoe that dropped wasn't exactly what I expected, but it did drop!  Remember the last night in Rome Chancellor got sick?  In Naples, Peyton got sick in a restaurant (on the floor) where they really didn't speak English.  Then there were 3.  Then I got sick.  Then there were 2.  Then Rainey got sick.  Then there was one.  Please Lord, don't let that one get sick!  The last shoe dropped, Todd got sick.  Lovely, lovely, lovely!  But somehow we managed to do everything that we intended to do and wanted to do in Naples.  Thank goodness we had a large apartment with 2 bathrooms!
Naples is the wild wild west except they ride scooters instead of horses, and their six shooters are cigarettes.  Their spurs are high heeled boots, and they would rather run you over than eat.  If you knew how many times I said "if one more scooter almost runs me down"!  Culturally, it was interesting to see Naples, but mostly we enjoyed the sights outside of Naples.
We went to Sorrento for a day, and it was beautiful.  Sorrento is the beginning of the Almafi coast line.  We ate lunch on the most gorgeous terrace overlooking the ocean.  It was incredible!  Another trip was Pompeii.  What an interesting place.  We had a great guide that was very passionate about the history there.  It's amazing how well preserved it is, and it's 2,000 years old.  It's clear that the people of Pompeii loved beauty and took great pride in making sure that their surroundings were beautiful.  And then there was Capri!  To let you know how anxious I was to get to Capri, I told everyone that even if we had to take a barf bag, we were going!  We got to Capri by boat and then got in another boat to go to the "blue grotto" which is a cave that's in the water.  We had to get in this tiny row boat and go through this tiny hole laying down in the boat to make it through.  Once we got in (never mind that I was almost decapitated and because of a wave, Chancellor almost crushed his head) it was the most beautiful blue you have ever seen.  The cave is dark, but some how the sunlight comes in under the rocks and reflects off the bottom which is white sand.  The water is so blue!  It was the coolest thing ever!  Then we went on a chairlift to the top of the island.  It was a single person chair lift, so we were all lined up.  You would know that the children sang "Mamamia, Poppapia, baby's got the diarrhea" all the way up the chair lift, which was true!  We had more Chinese people staring at us.  It was a great day!  And, sadly, Italy has come to an end.  I can't believe it.  Our last night, I realized that Italy has 5 letters, so we all took a letter and had to write something that reminded us of Italy.  I got "I" and my word was Intoxicating....and not why you think!  There is just an overwhelming rush of all the senses here.  Rainey got "T" for tortellini, Peyton had "A" for awesome, Chancellor "L" for loving, and Todd "Y" for the ying and the yang!
We're off to London tomorrow!  The children are so excited.  I think they would of thought it was a successful trip if we had only gone to England.  We've told them that they're boring and the food is bad, but they don't care!  Rainey thinks she is British, and to be honest, if you could hear her British accent, you would believe she is!  She said she doesn't want any of us to talk because they will know that we are Americans.  Only she can talk!  And, we have to change our names to English sounding names.  Todd is Harold.  I'm Catherine.  Chancellor is Johnathan, and Peyton is Jack, and of course, Rainey is Elizabeth....would it be anything else?  I'll let you know how we Americans do with "Queen Elizabeth" as our tour guide!  Actually, I'm thrilled to have a new tour guide.  My brain has gotten tired, and the last thing I want to do is learn a new map and metro system.  Thank goodness they speak English there.  But, leaving Italy, I've got that sad feeling which is good, and I'll be back soon that's a promise!
See you in London!!!  And, "God save the Queen" or maybe it should be "God save us"!!  Love you all.  We are in the 4th quarter.  Home in 10 days!

Callie and Todd

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Roma!!!!

Rome....I love the eternal city.  And, you know why they call it the eternal city?  It's called the eternal city because you can stand in one place and see structures that were built before Christ, after Christ and current day.  It's crazy!  Our week went way too fast.  There is way too much to see there, so you can only imagine how much I have to tell you.
The first day we did a tour of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.  We had the coolest guide that had lots of energy and was passionate about his history.  Outside of the Colosseum there are all these men dressed up like gladiators in hopes that you will take your picture with them and pay them money.  Of course we did!  How funny that Todd and I took our picture 3 years ago with this same group!  Anyway, we walk up, and the next thing we know they are putting helmets on Chancellor and Peyton and putting a robe on Rainey!  The funniest thing was they called Chancellor Maximus and Peyton Minimus.  It was hilarious.  Peyton's name of Minimus has stuck, but I don't think he likes it as much as we do!  Rainey was of course.....Queen Rainey.  The pictures were great.  I'll try to post some.  Remember, technically challenged!  After all the fun pictues our guide, Francesco, took us to his favorite lunch place.  He was ordering, we didn't know what he was ordering, and then we didn't know what we were eating!  That's when Peyton  had "sand and insects"!  It was a great time. 
The next day, we kicked back and went to the Pantheon.  The Pantheon is one of the oldest buildings in Rome, but more importantly, it still looks pretty much the same.  It supposedly has one of the best preserved interiors in Rome, and the reason is that it was quickly turned into a church to avoid having barbarians plunder it's riches (now I'm starting to sound like a historian!  Trust me, my only goal in life is still to play tennis and have fun!).  The coolest thing for us about the Pantheon was a "flash mob" starting singing in it while we were there.  Well, it wasn't exactly a flash mob, probably a church choir of old people from somewhere that didn't speak English!  Because the Pantheon is a church, you are suppose to be quiet and not speak inside, so you can imagine when this group starting singing how awesome it was.  They might as well have been angels!  They sounded incredible.  I was looking for my lighter to raise up for them, just kidding!  But, we were very disappointed that they only sang one song.  And then we sat and prayed!
On to day 3.  I told you that we were busy!  Wednesday, we went to the Vatican.  But before I get to that, I've got to tell you something.  You know the old saying...."Input equals output"?  That has applied to us so many times on this trip.  Just when we say, let's don't do that or when we can't find something give up, we keep going and the output was well worth it.  Effort really is important in life!  The Vatican was one of those occasions.  Every Wed. the Pope speaks to the masses and holds a mass for the crowd.  We had to get up early to get there, and we were all tired, and we got up to it raining, and don't forget that were are not Catholic.  It was definitely and input = output time.  Todd and I said let's do it!  Most people don't get a chance to see the Pope.  Off we went!  And, because it was raining, the Pope did not speak in St. Peter's Square.  I can't even imagine that venue.  It would be incredible.  He spoke in more or less a vatican style auditorium.  We had tickets and got a seat, but I can't begin to tell you the amount of people that were there.  Sitting, standing, standing in the rain, they were everywhere.  They still televised it in St. Peter's.  We are so glad we went.  It was like being at a soccer game, and I'm not kidding.  Before the Pope comes out, they announce all the religious groups that are there.  People were waving there country flag, yelling and clapping.  It was crazy!  We had several American groups, even one from Wisconsin!  We got into it too, just a clapping and yelling.  And the Pope came out....they went crazy!  It really was something to see.  And, he said 2 sentences in English (that's right, we only understood 2 sentences in a 2 hour service!) but those 2 sentences could be the most simple and well said sentences I've every heard.  He said, "always stay close to Christ and keep the joy of the gospel with you always".  I'll give you a minute on that one.........You know to this day, I can honestly say that the most dynamic church service I have ever sat through was a Catholic service in Lousianna.  It didn't hurt that the Priest's name could have been Father What-a-waste!  Get it?  I'm talking Thornbirds material for sure!  My point is that even though I'm not Catholic, even though we couldn't understand a word the Pope was saying, we are part of the Holy Catholic Church.  The Holy Catholic Church means that we as Christians are Christ's church.  Wow, sorry, didn't meant to get on that.  Back to The Vatican.  After the service, we met our guide for the museum, Vinni.  He was great.  The Vatican museum should be on everyone's bucket list.  The Sistine Chapel is something to see.  St. Peter's Basilica is breathtaking.  Michelangelo's Pieta sculpture of Mary holding Jesus after his crucifixion will bring you to your knees.  It was a long day, but again, input = output for sure.
Can you believe that was all in 3 days.  Then there was the Trevi fountain, Museum of Rome, the Borghese Gallery, and more.  If you ask the children what was the highlight, they would probably say ridding Segways through the park.  We ended Rome with seeing the jail where Peter and Paul were kept before their execution.  Another moment of tears for sure.
It was a great week.  Sadly we ended the week with Chancellor getting the stomach bug while we were all having to stay in 2 rooms.  Not pretty.  But, he did recover, so we're off to Naples which even the Italians say is the "wild wild west"!  Even we have gotten a little nervous!  Just keep us is your prayers.  Miss all of you.  Can't believe that we will be home in 2 weeks!

Callie and Todd

 

Friday, October 28, 2011

Not for Wimps

If you ever go to Florence, you might want to bypass the Galileo museum.  There are 4 floors in this museum and within that space there are really only 5 items from Galileo himself (but that isn't the reason to bypass this museum). The rest of the museum is dedicated to Galileo's peers and future scientists (but that isn't the reason to bypass this museum). The real reason is that you will feel overwhelmed about being mentally inadequate. Astrolab's, ptolemy's mechanical earth, archimedes water screw, geeez.  I can barely get my mental lightbulb lit let alone figure out how to tie my shoe.  

911 for Peyton!

Hey everyone!  Peyton has a funny survey on his blog that I think some of you will find amusing.  If you get a chance, go on Peyton's blog and answer his survey!

www.peytonzaugg.blogspot.com

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The Boring Stuff


Key Learning Objectives :Score card

Many parents have asked us: do you think that your kids are too young? what will they get out of this? Prior to the trip, and in fact 9 months prior to actually taking this trip, Callie and I discussed the possiblity that our kids might not get a lot out of this trip. We were convinced that they are too young to understand the nuances of art, the political underpinnings of art, or to be able to truly understand the great minds that catapulted our world from the dark ages into the Renaissance. However, because my parents had take me overseas as a young child, I knew what they could gain from this experience. So, there were some key things that we did want them to learn (and none of them are reciting historical dates and the "blurred line from impressionistic painters into water colors (no pun intended). 

  1. Prepare them for their independence ( we tell them "at 18, you are outta here!!)
  2. Situational awareness:  interpreting hand gestures, body language, traffic , how things work in the bathroom, at restaurants at train stations. Landmarks for finding your way in a big city. Scavenger hunt.
  3. Independent thought
  4. Pushing into Fabric of life: Anyting can be done. Closing the gap from dream to reality.  Courage to do something different. But more than words, what most people will never see (but our kids did) was the 12 months of Planning, sacrifice (money, time, friendships (between preparing my work schedule to make this happen and making this happen, my time for friends has been non-existent in 2011), commitment, flexibility to the plan. 
  5. The value of things (and then the price to pay for making that a reality) If you value family and education, what are your actions? Prove it by how you live!!  also, the monetary value of things: should we spend our money on this rstrnt that charges more or go back to the "cheap alley" rstrnts (Paris) to save money for next week. and, by the way, Mom and Dad will always be buying wine no matter what the budget!!!!
  6. Good citizens
  7. Productive citizens
  8. Global citizens (What do the Europeans value versus Americans
  9. Swiss people (even from one city or canton to the next: geneva versus lucerne)tolerate refuge for people being religiously and politically oppressed, but  they are intolerant of inefficiency; and the Swiss don not believe in celebrity idol worshipping (Federer).  Connecting with other cultures. Not bad, not good. Just is. There are nice people,  and rude people are everywhere (Chancellor had a Parisian lady take our chair at a Gelato place). Better way or another way of solving problems: electricity, plumbing, trains, taxis. Having other people in your space (close quarters everywhere and sitting next to strangers at rstrnts in which your elbow is touching a strangers in a cramped but incredible rstrnt). Struggling and exploring with different foods: ox tail, ox cheek, etc (we didn't explore)
  10. Learning about yourself (strengths and weaknesses). including How do you learn? I'm always prepping them before a historic site, downloading after the historic site (what did you get out of that?). i'm sure they will hate me for it. ......but repetition is the mother of education. 
  11. Do not take what you have for granted (seeing gypsy's, panhandlers, etc.)
  12. Don't be naive (gypsy scams) 
  13. Articulate your perceptions in a fun and logical process. (Peyton struggling with different foods (after sampling baby octupus, like calamari but smaller, he said "dad, if i wanted to mix sand with insects, then that i would want to eat that!!!!)
  14. How to have fun without technology 
  15. Anticipate and compensate (when life collides with plans)


yes, this seems like an exhaustive list. But it is being done. slowly and with focus. but if you don't plan for having   a "learning event", then you Plan to Fail. Boring but Important.

Love the One You're With!

Yes, Todd is the only one I love, and the only one I'm with!!  That's not what I am talking about.  I'm talking about the fact that I love each place we've been!  Each place I'm like, this is my favorite place.  Yes, yes this is my favorite city, my favorite apartment, my favorite restaurant.  I've said it for each city we have been in!  Of course, Italy is my favorite (happens to be where I am right now!).  What's not to love about Italy.  Surely, there is some part of my heritage that's Italian!

I love Florence, Italy!  It's a beautiful city that has art and architecture on every corner, literally.  To give you an example of a bad day in Florence, it was a rainy day, so we spent the morning in the apartment doing work and school work.  Finally at lunch we decided to get our umbrellas and head out.  The rain stopped during lunch, so we took a walk after lunch.  We ended up at Santa Croce church.  We went in the church, and it happens to be where Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Dante are all buried.  Crazy huh?  It was beautiful!

We ended a fantastic week in Florence with the kids taking an art class from a guy who actually used to work for Disney.  Of course the children didn't really want to do it, but I made them!  And they loved it!  It was a 3 hour class.  They walked and drew around the city. Kind of neat taking an art class in Florence, Italy!  They said the 3 hrs. flew by, and they weren't ready for it to be over.  This school work is killing me!

So, it's time to say good-bye Florence!  Good-bye David's buns of steel!  Good-bye Tuscany!  Good-bye to some of the best food I've ever had in my life!  I'm sure I'll have another list of good-byes after next week!

Off to Rome now!  Looking forward to an action packed week in the eternal city!  October is big birthday month for our family and friends!  Happy "big" birthday Dianne Wade!  Happy birthday Nanny, Patty, Brad (big one!), Bobo, and Fran!  And there are even more to come!

Miss all of you!  I'm having trouble putting pictures on the blog for some reason.  So, when I have a second, I'll try to figure it out! 

Hugs and kisses to all of you!

Callie and Todd

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Things that go "bump" in your trip


Shout Out: HAPPY BIRTHDAY Dianne Wade
Prayers to Patty and Scott Chaffin (Patty's Father is ill)

Planning and Chaos: Snapshots from The Trip
Things you can’t plan for……….things that go "bump" in your trip

Yes, Callie is the real writer in the house. I just thought I'd throw my amateur 2 cents into the mix:
The following names have not been changed to convict the guilty:


Peyton got stuck in a women’s bathroom and was pounding on the door for help (but it was in the basement of a non-busy ,classically small ,restaurant).  Meanwhile, his family was upstairs (we were one of the few tables sitting down…..because Americans eat early (6:45pm) compared to the Europeans (8pm)) and laughing about the day, completely unaware of his plight. Fortunately for Peyton, Chancellor came down to wash his hands and heard the pounding. Chancellor said “Peyton?”. After a second of silence, an emotionally exhausted voice responded almost in a whisper…..”yeeeeeees”. Together they freed Peyton from his personal hell. How did this happen? European restaurants have a unique and efficient set up. Both men and women use a common area for the sink and soap and then there is a door for the men’s commode and a separate door for the women’s commode.  How he mistook the women’s for the men’s is still under investigation.

Rainey.
This is one of the things we didn’t plan for……….being sensitive to the  R rated content of the sculptures and paintings (and I’m not talking about the violence or profanity).  With Rainey having two older brothers, we probably didn’t consider the impact of so many naked sculptures and paintings in the different museums. While the kids have been great with our dragging them to important museums, they finally had a break down one day (they told us that they were just going to sit on the bench after only  23 minutes inside the Musee D’Orsay). Later, when we were discussing the day, Chancellor informed us that Rainey had commented  to her brothers “thank goodness we get to sit, if I have to see one more “ding dong” I’m going to throw up”. I’m assuming I don’t need to translate that one for you.

Chancellor
It doesn’t matter what continent that you are on, the parenting dialogue is still the same. After a few weeks of looking at Chancellor’s attempt at letting his hair grow long, and after daily “get your hair cut” squabbles, Chancellor relented to getting a trim. We walked into a little side alley barber shop in Florence and I proceeded to explain to the barber exactly what we wanted. “Trim the sides, trim the back, keep it long on top but give the whole thing some structure”. Chancellor was clear that he didn’t want a buzz cut for the next couple of months. The barber didn’t understand a lick of English but kept nodding and was using hand gestures (on Chancellor’s head) to indicate that he knew what we were saying. At the end of my explanation, I stopped , and with a smile on my face said, “and, also, feel free to be Da Vinci and make this your masterpiece”. I now believe that this was where the wheels came off. Because it was only 4 minutes later, as I was speaking to another American that was waiting for their haircut, I heard a “buzz sound” from the groomer device and I looked up to see “half of Chancellor’s left side of his hair “ now on the ground and then looked up to see Chancellor’s wide eyes of terror in the mirror. At that point, nothing could be done to save him. Ultimately, it ended up being a great cut (although the first day was tenuous because the barber “gel coated” a tuff of hair at the top of his head that made him look like he was a rooster…….and matching 90% of the other Italian male haircuts (below the age of 21).

You learn from history that you can’t learn from history (Nietzsche)
Peyton needed a hair trim for his ears and the back of hairline. Because of the location, the fact that we now had a relationship with the barber, we decided to take Peyton into the same place (3 hours later after the initial event with Chancellor). This time I was VERY specific (pretending to hold the grooming machine in my hand) and showed the spots to be cut. Again, the same barber smiled, nodded, and was excited to get started.  AND, you guessed it, we now had 2 roosters in our nest.