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
Sunday, November 13, 2011
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
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
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
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
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