or more acurately, highlights from our trip so far. We know that there will be sooooo many more unforgettable moments to come from our week with Johnie and Dee! But while they're on our minds now, we thought we'd share some of the top highlights from our trip thus far:
* celebrating our second anniversary in Italy
* lots and lots of gelato
* touring Tuscan hilltowns
* hanging out in the gardens at Versailles
* dinner with Matt and Becca in Florence
* ferry ride on Lake Como
* picnicking in Paris
* hanging out with our group from MU every night
* our taxi hitting a chicken in the street when we were going 110 km/hr
* making our own real Italian pizza here in Asolo at a pizzeria
* watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night
* Nutella crepes
* sneaking rolls and Nutella packets from the dining room every Thursday morning to snack on over the weekend
* relaxing on the beach in Barcelona
* playing ping pong with MU guys every free moment possible!
* for me, these past weeks have been like a spiritual retreat. I've been free to spend hours and hours with the Lord without interruptions - no homework, no class, no jobs, no TV, etc- and needless to say, it has been such sweet time. I am so thankful that my God has bigger plans than I ever imagine. I didn't plan to leave Italy being so much closer to God than I was when I came, but by his grace that has happened. I also didn't plan that the highlights of my days in Asolo would be spent at his feet; rather, I thought they'd be of me walking around the cobblestone streets and sitting at cafes. But again, by his grace, his plans were so much greater than my own!
We're not really sure if we'll be able to blog at all over the next week, but once we get home we'll definitely put up pics and all from our week! We'll also post the pics from last weekend, which was spent in Barcelona, Spain. And I do believe that we have random pics from our days in Asolo that have yet to be posted. So, basically, there's much more to come!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
can't wait for....
While our time here has been incredible, there are definitely some things we've missed. Most of all, our friends and family. We can't wait to get back and see everyone!!! But aside from the obvious, here's a list of what we're most excited to get home to:
* air conditioning
* salad dressing - it honestly is non-existent here. All you get is oil and vinegar!
* church
* our car
* peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
* washer and dryer - I will seriously be praising God as I do my first load of laundry when we get back!
* big showers
* grapenuts cereal
* sweatpants, for the few chilly nights we've had... some days its 90 and some nights its in the 50s!
* free public toilets
* CiCi's. This one is shameful, considering we're in Italy, the home of delicious pizza, but I can't help what Brad misses! :)
* air conditioning
* salad dressing - it honestly is non-existent here. All you get is oil and vinegar!
* church
* our car
* peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
* washer and dryer - I will seriously be praising God as I do my first load of laundry when we get back!
* big showers
* grapenuts cereal
* sweatpants, for the few chilly nights we've had... some days its 90 and some nights its in the 50s!
* free public toilets
* CiCi's. This one is shameful, considering we're in Italy, the home of delicious pizza, but I can't help what Brad misses! :)
how time flies....
After four very short weeks here, our time in Asolo is coming to a close. Tomorrow Brad and his class give their final presentations, class gets out at noon, and then we board a bus to the train station at one. We'll hop on a train down to Venice and will walk around the city for awhile and see St. Mark's Square and Basilica, and then we'll catch a night train from Venice to Rome a little before midnight.
When we arrive in Rome Friday morning, we'll head to the airport to pick up Johnie and Dee! We are so so so so excited to see them and spend a week backpacking through Italy with them!!! Here's what our itinerary will roughly resemble:
* Friday - pick them up at the airport in the morning, catch a train to Pompeii and see that for a few hours, then crash in a hotel in Sorrento
* Saturday - head up to Rome to see all the sights
* Sunday - continue sight-seeing in Rome
* Monday - in the morning head up to Pisa and then on up to Cinque Terre. Once there, relax, lay out, and swim in the Mediterranean
* Tuesday - hike along the coast to the various Cinque Terre towns
* Wednesday - head up to Lake Como, take a ferry to Menaggio, where we stayed our first weekend
* Thursday - sight-see around the lake; head that night to a hotel near Milan's airport
* Friday - fly home to reality!
When we arrive in Rome Friday morning, we'll head to the airport to pick up Johnie and Dee! We are so so so so excited to see them and spend a week backpacking through Italy with them!!! Here's what our itinerary will roughly resemble:
* Friday - pick them up at the airport in the morning, catch a train to Pompeii and see that for a few hours, then crash in a hotel in Sorrento
* Saturday - head up to Rome to see all the sights
* Sunday - continue sight-seeing in Rome
* Monday - in the morning head up to Pisa and then on up to Cinque Terre. Once there, relax, lay out, and swim in the Mediterranean
* Tuesday - hike along the coast to the various Cinque Terre towns
* Wednesday - head up to Lake Como, take a ferry to Menaggio, where we stayed our first weekend
* Thursday - sight-see around the lake; head that night to a hotel near Milan's airport
* Friday - fly home to reality!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
PARIS
We decided to do the blog for Paris a little differently this time. Once again, our pictures are all on Picasa, and the link is below. Feel free to leave comments on any pictures on Picasa, the same way you can with facebook. Thanks for all the comments so far... it is so great knowing that people are keeping up with us while we're here!
Alright, the top things from Paris:
* The Palace of Versailles and its gardens. We spent probably 5-6 hours just wandering around the place and could spend so many more.
* Nutella. Crepes. Amazing.
* So many free public gardens around Paris. They were all so charming and it was so cool to see so many people picnicking and reading, etc.
* There is a huge fountain in front of the Eiffel Tower, about the size of a football field, and anyone can get in it and play. So of course we kicked our shoes off and wadded around in it too for awhile, and then just sat back and relaxed, enjoying the view of the tower and all the people having a good time. It was the perfect break in the middle of our very busy day.
* Many, many pictures of the Eiffel Tower. I still don't think it's quite sunk in that we were in front of THE Eiffel Tower!
* Using the Metro line (subway) like Parisian pros. Except, of course, for the time we hopped off, realized it wasn't the stop we wanted, and then ran back on before its doors closed. Phew!
* Watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night was pretty incredible. We have a video of it, but not sure how/when we'll get it on here!
* Dinner picnic in the Luxembourg gardens. Actually, it wasn't too much of a picnic. We had 4 euro left in our allotted food budget for the day, and we were both pretty hungry. We walked by a bakery and bought a foot long baguette for a euro, and then, after hoping and literally praying for a McDonalds, we actually came across one on our way to the garden! So, with 3 euro left we got 3 hamburgers to go with our huge baguette! It was quite a wonderful dinner. :)
* Lunch picnic in the garden in front of the Louvre on our last day. This time we found a deli sandwich on a baguette and a drink to split for 5 euro total. That left us with just enough to where we could each actually get our own Nutella crepe for one last great experience. Aaaah, until next time.
* Gorgeous weather. Sunny and 70s the entire weekend.
* Getting to speak French. "Oui" and "merci" and "pardon" are so much fun to say! The only bad thing is we would get so confused and say "si" for yes (Italian) and "grazie" for thank you (Italian) while we were there, and now we keep saying merci here! After we spend this next weekend in Spain we'll be SUPER confused!
* Celebrating our second anniversary in the City of Love. Yes, we do have some mushy pictures in this bunch, thanks to the self-timer function on our camera. But come on, how many times are you in Paris??!
http://picasaweb.google.com/AldenAdventures/Paris?feat=directlink
Alright, the top things from Paris:
* The Palace of Versailles and its gardens. We spent probably 5-6 hours just wandering around the place and could spend so many more.
* Nutella. Crepes. Amazing.
* So many free public gardens around Paris. They were all so charming and it was so cool to see so many people picnicking and reading, etc.
* There is a huge fountain in front of the Eiffel Tower, about the size of a football field, and anyone can get in it and play. So of course we kicked our shoes off and wadded around in it too for awhile, and then just sat back and relaxed, enjoying the view of the tower and all the people having a good time. It was the perfect break in the middle of our very busy day.
* Many, many pictures of the Eiffel Tower. I still don't think it's quite sunk in that we were in front of THE Eiffel Tower!
* Using the Metro line (subway) like Parisian pros. Except, of course, for the time we hopped off, realized it wasn't the stop we wanted, and then ran back on before its doors closed. Phew!
* Watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night was pretty incredible. We have a video of it, but not sure how/when we'll get it on here!
* Dinner picnic in the Luxembourg gardens. Actually, it wasn't too much of a picnic. We had 4 euro left in our allotted food budget for the day, and we were both pretty hungry. We walked by a bakery and bought a foot long baguette for a euro, and then, after hoping and literally praying for a McDonalds, we actually came across one on our way to the garden! So, with 3 euro left we got 3 hamburgers to go with our huge baguette! It was quite a wonderful dinner. :)
* Lunch picnic in the garden in front of the Louvre on our last day. This time we found a deli sandwich on a baguette and a drink to split for 5 euro total. That left us with just enough to where we could each actually get our own Nutella crepe for one last great experience. Aaaah, until next time.
* Gorgeous weather. Sunny and 70s the entire weekend.
* Getting to speak French. "Oui" and "merci" and "pardon" are so much fun to say! The only bad thing is we would get so confused and say "si" for yes (Italian) and "grazie" for thank you (Italian) while we were there, and now we keep saying merci here! After we spend this next weekend in Spain we'll be SUPER confused!
* Celebrating our second anniversary in the City of Love. Yes, we do have some mushy pictures in this bunch, thanks to the self-timer function on our camera. But come on, how many times are you in Paris??!
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| Paris |
http://picasaweb.google.com/AldenAdventures/Paris?feat=directlink
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