Friends and Family

We recently had the joy of having our first two sets of visitors come and visit us. We first had our friends, the Mitchells, come from North Carolina. We met Sharmyn and Jon just prior to us moving to Germany. We had the opportunity to get to know them briefly as we crossed paths a few times. We really liked them, and felt they had seen and done things in life that we wanted to do, and therefore looked to them as a mentor for us on our travels. We received an email out of the blue that they were coming in a month and were very excited to have them, but not knowing them too well, we were a little nervous if our young friendship would last the four days they would be here. Sharma picked them up at the Kaiserslautern train station on a Friday. They had flown into Paris and took the ICE train from Paris to K-town. They arrived at our house very tired but very excited to be here. They were just like little kids on Christmas morning just oooh-ing and aah-ing over everything in our house. Just so excited about everything we were doing and seeing. We spent a good hour giving a tour of our place and showing them all of our trinkets and goodies that we had collected. Jon sat at my desk and thumbed through my little book of things that I have collected. I got a sense of how an artist feels when somebody gushes over one of their works of art as Jon sat there talking excitedly about everything I had collected. The first night we decided to give them a tour of Ramstein AFB and grab a Doner Kabop. We got them checked on base, interestingly enough the pass to get them on base was never collected at the inspection point. We thought momentarily about keeping it and adding it to Jon's collection, but we decided against it. After a nice dinner and tour of the base we drove back home and talked for quite some time. The one thing I love about the Mitchells is their interest in everything, they are always asking questions...to everybody in the family, and we loved it. Through questions you become introspective and find out a lot about yourself. They shared some gifts for our kids from their friends back in NC and then we had family prayers and turned in for the night. The next day we set out for Frankfurt. It was raining a little as we left our home but within an hour it was almost perfectly clear and beautiful. First, we found our way to the Frankfurt temple and spent a hour touring the grounds. We also found a LDS store with CTR rings in German and French, I bought a Book of Mormon in French, German and Spanish for our collection. Sharmyn bought a bunch of German CTR rings for the young women back in her ward. Next we walked down to a local square that had a local market set up. We purchased a big red pepper, baguettes, cheeses, olives and heart-shaped salami and sat in the middle of the square and watched as German life just swirled around us. It was fantastic! After the temple we went to a museum in Frankfurt that the Mitchells wanted to see. They appreciate art and know much about it so we felt it an honor to go to a art museum with them and learn about the art we were seeing. I must admit at this point in the story, although one can think art to be boring, my children have never expressed that sentiment as we have toured numerous art/museum exhibits. They do very well and try to appreciate what they are seeing, I know they are going to be much more cultured than I ever turned out, thank goodness. From the museum we walked across a bridge into the main part of Frankfurt. We made it to the Goethe museum (he wrote Faust, among many other literary works). We walked to a very large cathedral and toured the inside of that, and again were educated by the Mitchells about some of the meanings, architecture etc. We stopped in a little square and did some trinket shopping. The highlight was having McKay buy some stamps, using only German (Jon speaks some German and he was telling McKay what to say), McKay was definitely a good sport and we all had a good time and a nice memory. Thanks to you, Jon and Sharmyn, for making small moments like that the highlight of your visit. The next day was Sunday and we went to church. We have a German branch that overlaps their time with ours, so Jon and Sharmyn went to Sacrament with them and I think they really enjoyed it. We came home, changed clothes and drove to Idar Oberstein to see the church in the rock. We enjoyed a nice drive on a sunny day and arrived at our destination with only two wrong turns...not too bad when you consider who was driving. We hiked up to this church...in the rock. Literally looks like a giant scooped a piece out of the side of the mountain and then just placed this little church inside of it. We toured the tiny church but the highlight was looking at the paintings and getting an education by Jon about the symbolism and the content of the pictures. Then we took pieces of paper placed them over carved names on the wall and took a pencil and shaded the paper to leave the impression of the names...very cool. After the church, we decided to keep hiking up the hill to the castle. What a hike, pretty long and steep, but good company makes the time go fast. Rocks, leaves and paper were collected throughout our travels...anything can be a souvenir, many times it is the free things that are the most valuable. Jon and McKay (Jon started calling McKay 'enfant' while he was here) got lost from the group and ended up calling for Eddie (our dog) to help. Eddie wasn't much help and they had to find their way back to the group themselves. We drove home and munched on some food. We then had family home evening, and evening of songs around the piano and looked at a bunch of our photos on the tv. We have truly been blessed. The next day I had to work, so Sharma brought Jon and Sharmyn up to the hospital so they could see me in action, actually I just gave them a tour of the place, but I think they appreciated it. Sharma then took them to France (we love France) and went to Cora, a great French grocery store. I think they may have bought the place out of yogurt and cheese. Sharma then had to take the kids to piano lessons and Jon and Sharmyn stayed at our place packing and just winding down. I came home and had a lovely talk with them. Our last night together came too quickly, but our time together will always be remembered. We have truly strengthened a friendship and now often ask ourselves, 'why didn't we get to know them better when we lived in NC?'

That very same day Carey, Chantel and their kids joined us. Sharma picked them up from the train station. They were tired as they had already been to London and Paris for three days each. Their kids were doing remarkably well and ready to play with our kids. We also gave them the tour of the base and basically just let them relax the first day. They rented a car and from that point on, they were go, go, go. They decided to drive to Prague, Munich and Neuschwanstein castle in a matter of two days. A very long trip but they really seemed to like it quite a bit. Our kids continued to play and entertain each other. It is great when cousins can get a long so well and entertain each other and play. They also went to Trier, Germany (one of our favorite, little cities in Germany) and then kept going to Luxembourg city. They did that on a Sunday afternoon, which just goes to show how close many places are to us. It seemed like they had a great time and would fancy a return to Europe again...maybe Italy this time. It is so nice to have friends and family come and visit, to renew ties and catch up.

Rome can't be seen in a day

We left early to take our flight to Rome. We got off to a later start than I wanted and then realized that my GPS had indicated that the trip would be 20 min longer than I had anticipated. We got to the ticket counter, no line thank goodness. Next we stood in line for the security check and again relatively short lines. What we didn't realize is that we were racing against time, in fact as we made it to the terminal there was nobody else in line...that was because everybody else was on the plane settling in. They immediately closed off the gate as we walked through. We were the last ones on and needed to find a place to deposit our luggage, which is never an easy thing to do on a Ryan air flight. We made it to Rome a little early, got in line to use the restroom and then walked out to catch our bus to Rome. Unfortunately, our little detour to the restroom delayed us just enough to miss the bus, we were the first people for the next bus. Our bus took us to station Termini, the main bus, metro and train station. What we didn't know was that our bus dropped us literally 50 yards from our hotel. Our hotel consisted of one medium sized room with 2 beds, a bunk bed and a very small bathroom that had an intermittently working toilet. The location of the hotel was fantastic, next to the metro station, a stones throw from the hotel and within walking distance to the Colosseum. It was beautiful weather, completely sunny and 60 degrees. We made it to the Colosseum and had a great view of it as we approached it. Now I had Rick Steve's guide to Rome and had read it multiple times and did my due diligence in researching what to do and how to do it. But I went against his advice and stood in line at the Colosseum, I could have stood in line at Palatine hill and probably saved a half and hour. We stood in line for 30 minutes and gained access to the immense structure. You walk through and just can't imagine how old this structure is and even more unbelievable is what went on here. The precursor to our stadiums today. There were a lot of people at the Colosseum but only a fraction of what would be here during the summer, that plus the fact that it wasn't hot made it a very nice experience. From here we walked over to Palatine hill and walked through the ruins and made our way across to the Roman forum area. Again, many ruins and structures, it just keeps you in awe of what they were able to achieve so many centuries ago. After walking along cobblestones paths for several hours and almost twisting...nay, breaking a couple of ankles it was time to move on. After leaving the Roman Forum area we walked to the Pantheon past many old churches and buildings. The Pantheon is interesting because it has an oculus in the center which allows the only light into the building (at least at the time it was built, now it has some mood lighting at night). The artist Rafael is also buried here. From here we walked several small streets until we reached the Trevi fountain. The steps were filled with people, many people sat on the steps while others were lining the edge of the fountain and casting coins over their shoulders into the fountain. I must admit, each one of us jettisoned a coin into the water to ensure that we will return to Rome...I think that is a good investment. There were many vendors selling all sorts of trinkets. We took the metro home at that point, because we were all tired and still needed to officially check into the hotel. We made it back to the hotel and crashed. Our toilet wasn't working so I called the desk and they had a guy named Bruno come and fight with it, only to get it working temporarily.

The original plan was to get up very early the next day and stand in line at the Vatican. We decided not to get up so early and just make our way to the Vatican at a decent hour. We finally made it to the Vatican by 9:30am and stood in the line. We were hounded by "tour groups" wanting to get us to join with the promise that we could skip the line. We were not swayed, we stuck to our guns and stood in line for 30 minutes. We were herded like cattle into the Vatican museum. Man, so much to see in this tiny country. We made our way through the museum and saw all sorts of classic works by Michelangelo, Bernini and Rafael. The opulence was remarkable, there was definitely an air of "look what we own". The Vatican museum was long, with the final destination leading to Sistine chapel. The chapel was really an amazing site, I can't imagine Michelangelo putting together a scaffolding and lying on his back for several years, meticulously painting this huge ceiling. Amazing. The best part was listening to the security guards yell out "No photo!" over, and over and over again. You could tell they were definitely tired of saying it. I must say we did break the rules and take some photos, I think we were only busted one time. I mean really, how can you stand in this amazing room without stealing a few photos? We left the country of the Vatican temporarily after seeing the Sistine chapel. We stopped at a little outside cafe and ordered three pizzas. After filling our bellies, we walked over to St Peter's square and snapped a bunch of pictures and then got in line for St Peter's Basilica. Upon passing through the metal detector we entered into the church itself. A huge, cavernous church that is believed to house the remains of Peter, the apostle of Christ. After the basilica we decided to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine, 60 degrees should not be wasted. We pulled up a couple of steps, leaned up against a pillar and just lounged about. There were a lot of pigeons in the area waiting for people to discard their food. As we sat there, one of these birds decided to relieve himself on my wife's camera. It was a direct hit, I mean it couldn't have been more accurate. The good thing is that it landed squarely on outside of the lens and only caused cosmetic damage. I don't think anybody else around us was even aware that we were had just become casualties and that soon they would too. Now I could make up some old fable at this point and say it is good luck to have a pigeon relieve itself on you on a sunny Saturday in St Peters Basilica...but I don't recall that ever being talked about in Rick Steve's book, and after all, if Rick didn't say it, it can't be true. After sitting there for an hour we walked to Piazza Navona. On the way we stopped by a grocery store and purchased baguettes, chesse, chips, red pepper and some water. We parked ourselves at one of the many benches in the piazza and watched life go by. There were many people milling around just taking in the night, enjoying the atmosphere. There were many artist stands selling their wares, with many artists drawing seated tourists. The kids were amazed at their talent and would have stayed there all evening watching them if we would've let them. We left the piazza and meandered over to the Pantheon. Each piazza we went to was alive with people. Onward we kept moving, to the Trevi fountain. The fountain was surrounded with people sitting on the steps, vendors selling their goods, snapshots going off and coins being tossed over shoulders. We purchased all of the kids this cool little toy, basically a very heavy balloon material filled with a flour like substance. When you molded it, it would stay in that position. It had yarn for hair and two little eyes, it was really a neat souvenir and funny to play with. Next we walked to the Spanish steps and again mingled with the crowd and took some pictures. From there we caught the Metro home.

The next day we started out by going to piazza del Popolo. We bought muffins from a girl scout stand outside of a church. After eating the muffins we went into the church and sat for 20 minutes of mass. After listening to the sermon in Italian and appreciating the religious fervor, we decided to move on. We walked down to the Spanish steps and took copious pictures all the while maneuvering through the crowd toward the steps themselves. We climbed the steps, took some more pictures and took in a view of the city. At the top there was a church that we took a break in. We walked over to Borghese Gardens, which overlooked the city. We stumbled upon a few young men showing off their rollerblading ability, they were doing tricks, weaving in and out of evenly spaced cones and doing "rubber legs"...thats the best way I can describe it. We rented two pedal powered go-carts for Maddi and McKay. 10 Euro for an hour for the both of them...a small price to pay for some fun times. Next we all had pinini sandwiches and kept moving toward the Borghese museum. We couldn't go into the museum, not only does it cost but you have to reserve a time to visit it. We walked further through the park and found several old men playing Bocce ball. Classic. We walked back into the city, past the US embassy. Our last destination was the Capuchin crypt. When we got there it wasn't going to be open for another 10 minutes, so we decided to find some Gelato...since I had been promising Maddi for three days. We all purchased two scoops and stood by one of the many running water fountains (ones that you can fill your water bottles from. They are throughout the city). Once finished we walked to the crypt and paid a small donation to see the remains of 4,000 Capuchin friars arranged in an artistic fashion. Sharma was a little freaked out and decided to take Maddi out, while Hailey, McKay and I finished up. After we finished we caught the metro back to the hotel. It was a great call as we were tired and the kids were ready to just sit and relax, plus it started to downpour about 2 hours after we got back to the hotel. The next day we caught our bus back to the airport only to find our plane delayed 1.5 hours because of snow on the ground back in Germany....great, do we really have to go home? Info Transportation to city: Ryan Air (10 Euro/person, roundtrip); Ciampino to Rome 8 Euro/person Transportation in city: Metro Lodging: Viennese due BB (near Termini station) Sites: Colosseum, Roman Forum, Trevi fountain, Spanish steps, Borghese park, Pantheon

Barthelona

Here is the thing about flying Ryan air, yes, it is inexpensive, but because of that many times you don't land directly at your intended destination. In this example, we wanted to go to Barcelona but had to fly into the Girona airport, 1 hour north of Barcelona. So what you gain in cost, you lose in proximity and time. But who is complaining when the tickets to Barcelona cost us 50 Euro (70 USD) for the whole family to fly roundtrip. Ryan air does usually provide a corresponding bus service into the destination town, Barcelona was no exception. We purchased tickets for the bus and loaded on. It was an hour drive from the Girona airport to the bus station in Barcelona. After trying to sleep for an hour on the bus we arrived at the bus station and gathered as much intelligence as we could before we set out on our adventure. Our first task was to get to the Metro and buy tickets for us and our friends (Rock and Kailey Jaster, who were with us). After 20 minutes of trying to figure out which ticket option would be the best and least expensive we were on our way. I had reserved an apartment-type lodging for us and told them that I would meet them at a certain time to get the keys. As a side note, it makes it a little more difficult to find lodging for five people, where most places only accommodate four. We made it to our destination and realized that the door to the apartment complex was locked. I called the number on the outside of the building and arranged to get the keys. We unloaded our things at the apartment and headed out for the day...first stop Park Güell. We walked for quite some time toward the park, along the way we passed this little store selling vegetables with humongous red bell peppers displayed next to the street. Rock was compelled to buy one and we all laughed at his purchase. We continued our walk to the park, which was at the top of a very steep hill...so steep in fact that we had to take three escalators to get there. The pay off, however, was a beautiful view of the city. Hunger had set in and we decided it was time to eat our lunch. We had bought some baguettes, cheese, water and chips...while Rock had his red bell pepper. But Rock had the last laugh as the bell pepper tasted excellent and we were all a bit jealous of him. The park was very large, with many different areas to explore. The uppermost part had a lookout of the city with a large cross at the top. There was a courtyard area with performers, black-market souvenirs and bustling tourist activity. We watched a guy make bubbles with a long piece of rope and soapy water, another lady performed a Flamenco dance, one guy wore stilts and was dressed up as a matador. Then, not to be outdone, were the people selling souvenirs, illegally. They had all their souvenirs lined up on sheets for everybody to see, one after the other. The best part was when word came that the police were coming, you suddenly saw 30 vendors take the edges of their sheet and sling it over their shoulders and off they ran...it was amazing to have this rush of wind as all of these people ran off into the hillside. We continued walking through the park admiring the uniqueness of it. It was a park designed by Gaudi, an artist known for his modernistic approach. The word gaudy came from Gaudi the artist, so think of something over the top and you have pictured Gaudi's works. We left the park and went to Las Ramblas area, a very famous street. We noticed a Hard Rock Cafe near Las Ramblas, and we being hungry, seemed like a match made in heaven. After eating our meal we roamed down Las Ramblas. Las Ramblas is like a circus, alive with action, never quite knowing what you are going to see next. We passed newspaper stands, ice cream/crepe stands, pet kiosks, souvenir shops and street performers like the man in a toilet, elvis, a princess, a tribute to the band KISS, a man in a suped up vehicle and a golden devil-man floating in the air being balanced by a cane...yep, just your ordinary stroll down the boulevard. We decided to head back to our apartment, it had been a long day that started at 3am, we were tired. The next day I had the whole day planned out, our first stop was the church, La Sagrada Familia. A huge church that was started by Gaudi around 1884 and continues to be worked on until this day...as a matter of fact they don't expect to finish it for another 30 years. We ate a McDonalds for breakfast, which sat across the street from this large church. A couple of notes about American fast food places here in europe, the food tastes of better quality and they have some very interesting menu choices. I once had a shrimp burger at McDonalds, verdict? Not too bad. After having breakfast we walked around the outside of the church and spent a good hour taking pictures, examining all of the intricate designs and interesting stonework on this church. From a distance the church looks like it is melting, I can't explain it, it just does. Have you ever seen a picture of something close up and can't figure out what it is until you back away and take a broader perspective? Well this church is just the opposite, it doesn't look very pretty from afar, but as you get closer you suddenly notice all of the hand-carved detail and rich design that truly make this a wonderful church. We didn't go inside in the interest of time, but someday when we return we'll grace her entrance. We walked down several streets on our way to another of Guadi's creations, La Pedrera. A housing unit with a curved facade and unique items built into it's construction. From there we kept walking toward Las Ramblas again, passing several unique building, graffitied rolladens (european window and shop covers), stenciled sidewalks and statues. We made it back to Las Ramblas again and finished walking the length of the street, which led to a large statue of Christopher Columbus near the waterfront. We walked to the beach and enjoyed our first touch of sand in almost a year. The beach was beautiful, the sun was setting and people were playing...to bad it was too cool to really enjoy ourselves. As it was dinner time we decided to find someplace to eat. I wanted to eat paella, a traditional spanish dish. We found two places next door to each other, one was busy and a little more expensive, the other was empty and a bit cheaper. So Rock said, "let's eat at the empty one, we don't have much to lose"...wrong Rock. Only one table at the restaurant had people at it, so we figured we should have excellent service and food quickly. The waitress greeted us with nothing near a smile and it felt like I had just ran over her cat with the way her demeanor was. We said we weren't ready to order yet and you could just see the steam starting to come out of her ears. We ordered...we got a pizza and a large dish of seafood paella. Rock and Kailey ordered a ham and pineapple pizza. We waited...and waited...and waited. 30 minutes later we had our pizzas and 60 min later we had our paella. The funny part of this was Rock's pizza was not ham and pineapple like he wanted, it was bluecheese...the stinkiest, most potent bluecheese you have ever smelled. And they don't like bluecheese. He even went over to our ornery waitress and said this isn't ham and pineapple and she promised up and down that it was. Lesson here? Ham and pineapple in spanish translates as bluecheese. Kailey and Rock wanted to go to a Dominoes across from La Sagrada Familia, since they were still hungry. While they were eating, Sharma and I decided to walk around the perimeter of the church, it being night and the stained glass being lit up, it was spectacular. The next day I decided to use the pedometer on my phone to see how far we walked. We started off the day going to a park near the Olympic village. The park had a few statues in it and very large fountain, that I am sure in the warmer weather is very nice. However, on this cool morning no water was running. From here we walked to the Arc de Triomf, a very similar, but lesser known version of the one in Paris. Next we walked to the main cathedral in Barcelona. We got there just in time to walk through and then they ushered everybody out. Rock had seen some ties the day before that he wanted on Las Ramblas, so we headed back to get the ties. With Rock's new purchases, he was happy and it was now time to move on to a new area of the city. We walked to Park de Montjuic, a destination at the top of a very large hill. After walking, for what seemed like an eternity we reached the top of the hill. It opened up to a wonderful panorama of the city. Then we realized we weren't at our destination yet...final destination was the Olympic stadium. So on we trudged, with no complaints other than we all needed a restroom. In Europe, we have learned, sometimes at great expense, bathrooms are hard to find when you need them. Near the Olympic stadium, we found a park with a WC (watercloset) in it, and we all found relief. The Olympic stadium was very cool, just the way I remembered seeing it on tv back in 1992. After spending a few minutes at the stadium taking pictures and realizing they weren't going to let me run on the track, we walked over to National Art Museum. It overlooked the city and had a glorious view. We descended many steps to get back down to the street level, we were quite tired by this point. One last item on our agenda, I wanted to take McKay to the stadium where FC Barcelona (famous soccer team) played. We rode the metro for quite a distance, which was nice because it gave us a chance to rest. We walked to the stadium never realizing how big it actually was. We walked around 3/4 of it until we finally found the entrance to the souvenir shop. The tickets to take a tour of the stadium were quite expensive, just for us to take a few pictures, so I decided to spend some money on getting McKay a souvenir instead. It was getting dark out and decided it was time to wrap up our time touring Barcelona, especially since we had an early flight back to Germany. Pedometer grand total for day three 7.5 miles. Our second day, we actually walked more and our first day we walked a little less. So I would guess that, in all, we walked around 20 miles total for three days...not too bad and not one complaint from any of our children that they were tired, needed to stop or their feet hurt. Another successful journey. Info Transportation to city: Ryan Air- 10 Euro/person, roundtrip; Shuttle from Girona to Barcelona- 'Barcelona Bus', 20 Euro/person, roundtrip Transportation in city: Metro- 3day pass, 13.20 Euro/person Lodging: Apartamentos Park Guell Sites: Park Guell, Las Ramblas, Barcelonetta (beach), La Sagrada Familia, La Pedrera (Casa Mila), Olympic stadium, FC Barcelona stadium

Romeo, Romeo...

When our ship docked the plan was to spend the day in Venice and then stay at Aviano AFB that evening. Our last day on the ship we checked the weather coming through the pass and it was going to be clear, however the next day there was a good chance of snow. Our choice was made, we needed to go through the Alps today and not take a chance tomorrow. We got off of the ship and schlepped our luggage to the van. We decided to alter our path home by going through Verona, Italy and then swing through Munich. The drive to Verona was uneventful, pretty, but uneventful. We reached Verona only knowing that we wanted to visit Juliet's house. We drove around Verona looking for a parking lot. The Europeans make parking as convenient as possible by having electronic signs posted around the city with directions to different parking garages and showing how many 'free spaces' are available. Now this is agreat idea in concept, as long as you can find the parking garage. In Verona, however, we were trying to find a 'stealth' garage, the same technology employed by the military to hide their jets...at least that is how it felt. At one point I was going the wrong way down a one way street and sitting at an intersection going the wrong way. After getting honked, waved and yelled at we finally got turned around (and us in our van, they had to know we were Americans...I'll just say it now 'Dumb Americans'). We found the garage and parked our big van into an itsy-bitsy, tiny little spot. We walked to the coliseum, which is the second largest outside of Rome. As we approached there were guys dressed up in gladiator costumes wielding swords. If you know me, I never pass up an opportunity for photo, so I got my picture taken. Then the kids got their picture taken and then Sharma got her picture taken...then he wanted money. If he didn't have a sword I would have run but I ponied up a couple of Euro and off we went. We bought tickets to the coliseum, which were kind of expensive, but I am trying to take this eternal perspective about my travels here. Yeah sure, sometimes the things we see are expensive but at the end of the day do I want to look back with regrets about not seeing something because it was a few too many Euro? In most cases I end up buying the ticket. We strolled around the coliseum on this rather cold day, walked up and down and around and around the steps. After circumnavigating the coliseum and looking over Verona we decided to depart for Juliet's house. We didn't really know where we were going, but that had never stopped us before. We meandered off in a direction that looked the most crowded. After walking several blocks without any indication that we were going in the right direction I decided to stop in a hotel and ask the concierge for directions. Now, if you have ever traveled with us and ended up getting lost (which is very likely) you would soon realize that Sharma won't ask for directions to save her life, not that she doesn't find merit in it, she just won't do it. So I have assumed the lofty title of "the asker of directions" for the Shumate household, not something that I have aspired to, I guarantee you. He was very kind and gave us directions and amazingly enough we were actually pretty close to her house. We arrived at this narrow street with cement homes and businesses all along its length. The entrance to Juliet's home was bordered by a little archway with a gate and tiny informational plaque. As you entered the first thing you noticed was the writing, scribbling and graffiti...not from people trying to deface the property, but from people writing to Juliet or professing their love to another. There was no exposed brick, that I could see. Once through the entrance you came to the courtyard, a very humble space with a small store selling souvenirs. There was a statue of Juliet at one end and high up on the wall of the building, a balcony. The tradition says that you are supposed to touch the statue's breast for good luck... the next thing I know Sharma is up there "touching" Juliet...so I got a picture to prove it. Man, I hope we get some good luck off of that. We bought a few souvenirs and took several pictures and then decided it was time to move on. On our way back to the car we hit a small Christmas market and took some more pictures. We climbed back in the car and proceeded on. We had a non-eventful drive, passing through Innsbruck, Austria on our way to Munich. We decided to stop in Munich and hit their Christmas market as well. Again, we really did not know where we were going to find this market, and Munich is no small town. We did happen upon the market, however, as luck would have it. Again, we had some difficulty finding the parking garage, but the real trouble came once I found the garage. This must have won the award for the smallest, narrowest and most claustrophobic garage yet. The worst came when I was trying to maneuver our van around a tight corner with cars parked on both sides. I didn't hit any cars, but I did scrape a pole, which left a nice dent in the side of our van. Normally I would be upset over this, but our van is pretty old and it's not a looker any more so I figure a dent here or there just adds character...I mean who else can say "Oh that dent? I got that while driving in Munich, Germany." How cool is that? We found our way to the Christmas market and the festivities were in full swing. There was a lot of alcohol there and, as a non-drinker, I can give an unbiased assessment that the Europeans don't drink to excess. There were crowds of people and many booths selling their wares. There was a lot of food for sale and musicians playing music. The atmosphere was very festive and you couldn't help but feel excited for Christmas. We ended up buying an authentic German nutcracker...now if we only had some nuts. Since it was a very cold night and we were getting tired, we decided it was time to get on the road. All in all, it was a very nice day...but we were happy to crawl into our own beds that evening. Info: Transportation to city: Drove car, parked in city parking structure Sites: Juliet's house-free for courtyard; Colosseum- 4 Euro/person

Dubrovnik

Our last port was Dubrovnik, Croatia. Many of our friends told us how much they liked Croatia so I was pretty excited about this stop. The harbor was very neat, you actually had to pass by several small islands just to get to the main harbor. In between all of the islands there was a area of water just big enough for the ship to swing a 180 degree turn, and that is exactly what it did. On the horizon, however, storm clouds were brewing. We got off of the ship and caught a taxi just in time to avoid the rain. By the time we got to the old town portion of Dubrovnik the rain had started. It rained pretty steady, the wind blew and it was cold...we were ready to go back to the ship, but we got out our umbrellas and kept walking. The old town is a walled city and you can purchase tickets to walk the old wall. Because of the weather we opted against it, but I am sure the views would be spectacular. The old town itself was not very large, basically a main street with several shops, a couple of churches and a few statues. We walked along looking at the shops, statues and churches, all the while fighting with our umbrellas against the stiff wind. We ducked into several shops and churches, not only to see what was inside but to dry off and warm up. As we were leaving the old town we passed a walkway that lead to a little inlet, where the sea was raging. We took some great pictures and then decided since we were there we should go down to the beach below and find some sand and shells to add to our collection. We sent McKay down first to do this task, then Sharma wanted to go and then Maddi and Hailey followed suit. I was the only one to stay up top taking pictures. All I can say about the water in that inlet was "the sea was angry that day my friends, like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli" (Seinfeld quote). So in all honesty after looking back on this port, I am not sure what I was missing to make people think this port was so great. I guess we will just have to come back, when it is sunny, and re-evaluate Dubrovnik. Until next time... Info Transportation to city: cruise ship (MSC Magnifica) Transportation from port to old town: Taxi 10 Euro/person, one way Sites: Walk on the walled portion of the city 70 HRK (Kune, need local currency)

Istanbul, not Constantinople

The destination of Istanbul was the main reason we choose this cruise to begin with. Istanbul, in my mind, seemed like such a distant land, filled with mystery and intrigue, and me not knowing anything about it. When the opportunity came to us to go on this cruise, we just had to do it. We arose very early in the morning and, as always, we gathered the troops and headed to the breakfast buffet. After getting our food we were able to find a seat next to a window that overlooked the water and off in the distance the Hagia Sophia loomed, painted against a dusky morning sky. We disembarked the ship with much anticipation. Through my reading I knew that I needed to change some of my money into Turkish Liras. There was a bank across the street from the port, just down from where we needed to catch the tram, very convenient. After getting my money we headed toward the tram area, a 100 meters away. Since I wasn't sure how to purchase the tickets, I waited and observed. When you are in a foreign country this is one of the best tools of the trade, waiting, watching and learning. So after observing a few people purchase I felt confident enough to try. No problem, money inserted, button pushed and token given. We caught the tram and headed on our way up the hill to the Hagia Sophia. At this point of the story, I need to explain that at some point in my schooling, I am sure during a history or social studies class, the name Hagia Sophia was talked about. I remember thinking to myself this important structure seemed such a world away and realizing that I would never probably get there. Well, here I was, about to walk through it. I was very excited. We got off the tram and there it was the Hagia Sophia, just towering above the people walking around her. This was not to be outdone by the Blue Mosque, a huge mosque with minarets shooting toward the sky. We purchased tickets to get into the Hagia Sophia and walked through these towering doors and entered her sanctuary. The inside was this marvelous empty space surrounded by pillars, chandeliers and walls covered in frescoes. We spent quite a long time taking it all in. There were so many pictures to be taken, we just couldn't get it all. The edifice was old, that you knew for sure, but she had grandeur and you knew that in her day she was the place to be. After spending quite a bit of time on the first floor we hiked the stairs to the second floor and then had a great view from above, looking down on everybody else. The walls were tatooed with frescoes of Christ and his mother and other depictions of Christ and Apostles. Although, the walls were in a state of disrepair and the frescoes were crumbling you could still make out the picture. Considering this building was built in 6 AD, that is not too shabby. At this point it was time to move on, so much to see in Istanbul in just one day. We walked over to the Blue Mosque next, and like any mosque the ladies had to cover their head and we had to remove our shoes. The outside and inside were gorgeous. The blue tiles covered the inside and outside. Inside, we needed to be reverent because there were still people worshipping, praying on their hands and knees. We probably spent 10 minutes in there and then were ushered out because the Mosque needed to close. We all needed to use the restroom so we found a watercloset (restroom) next to the Blue Mosque. Well McKay and I had no trouble going, but for the ladies it was a different story all together. Instead of toilets the girls just had a hole, nothing to sit on. So the next thing I know as McKay and I waited, they show up with toilet paper in hand and no bladder relief. They couldn't do it. So I basically paid 2 Euro for 3 pieces of toilet paper...I guess that will go in their scrapbooks. Next on the agenda was the Grand Bazaar. Again, one of those things you hear about growing up, but never really believe that you will ever make it. We wandered from the Hagia Sophia area, through little winding streets following the street signs directing us. When we reached the bazaar, it wasn't what we expected. The building was partially hidden by kiosks and vendors selling their wares. A little alley led to the entrance. What I didn't realize was that it wasn't a bunch of tents bound together, it was actually a building...never knew that. The place was busy, but no so busy that you couldn't move or negotiate. We really didn't have any specific souvenirs that we needed, just whatever caught our eye. I decided I wanted an Aladdin's lamp. So I found one I liked and negotiated with the shop keeper. He reluctantly agreed but said he will sell it to me for 10 Euro but I had to go a few stores up and visit his cousin. His cousin's store had rugs, rugs, more rugs...oh and some rugs. We talked for several minutes and then as is customary he offered us some tea. We explained that we couldn't have the tea and the reason why. He said he knew all about our religion, in fact he had many friends in both Utah and Idaho and was very familiar with the LDS faith. He even pulled out his address book to show me the people he knew in Utah, almost like he was wondering if I knew them as well. He went on to explain that this tea was okay because it was an herbal cherry or apple tea which was safe for us to drink. And just for the record, it was the best cherry tea. Needless to say by this time he had made a sale. Sharma bought a table runner which was very nice. We continued to walk through the Bazaar and bought trinkets along the way. One guy saw Maddi and gave her a bracelet for free, just because. Sharma bought a handful of old buttons and I got a fez. The day before, when we were with Ali in Ephesus, he had prayer beads that we found very interesting. Prayer beads are divided into three sections with 7 beads in each section. So we were all able to find prayer beads to buy as souvenirs, which I thought really expressed our reverence for this country and it's religion. That is the thing about souvenirs, you buy (or find) the ones that have a special meaning to you, there should always be a connection. Our next, and last, stop was the spice market. It was back toward the ship so we started heading that way. We wound our way through the streets, passing a myriad of people. I must say at this point, the Turkish people were very friendly, never did I feel like I, or my family, were in harms way in this country. I think we were both a little concerned about Turkey due to our preconceived notions (based on nothing substantial), but those concerns were soon laid to rest. The spice market was a tornado of colors. Every stand had the rainbow on display, first time in my life I could smell the rainbow (no offense Skittles). The aroma of all the spices blended together so much, you couldn't tell which specific spice was tickling your nose. On our way out we decided we should buy something, so we entered a shop and talked with the shopkeeper and then we purchased some of his colorful bounty. We then finished up the day heading back to the ship. It was a long walk but what better way to see Istanbul. We had to cross a large bridge to get back to the ship. The bridge looked like it had sprouted a thousand antennae from all of the fishermen hanging their poles off of the bridge in hopes of landing 'the big one'. Once back on the ship, I just couldn't sit still knowing that we were still in Istanbul. I tried to lie in our cabin next to Sharma, who was asleep at this point, but I couldn't. I just needed to take more of Istanbul in. The ship was getting close to it's departure time and dusk was settling in, so I decided to go to the front of the ship on the highest deck possible and just watch and listen. I found myself gazing across the horizon at all of the buildings, especially the mosques with the minarets giving away their positions. And then the call to prayer happened...I just had this overwhelming feeling of respect for the Muslim religion. Realizing that they pray 5 times a day and the dedication they have to what they believe...do I have that same dedication? As the sun set, I overheard the couple talking next to me, they mentioned something about the LDS faith. I mustered my courage to ask them if they were LDS as well, they were and we talked for 30 minutes outside on the deck as Istanbul faded off in the horizon. What a great time we had here. Transportation to city: cruise ship (MSC Magnifica) Transportation in city: Tram-To Hagia Sophia 1.80 TL/person, token received; Walked from Hagia Sophia to Grand Bazaar to Spice Market and back to ship Sites: Hagia Sophia 20 TL/person; Blue Mosque-free, head covering for women; Grand Bazaar, Spice Market

Ephesus

We arrived at Izmir, Turkey without a plan. I had read enough to know that the main destination was Ephesus about an hour away. I also knew that it was pretty expensive for the family to take the excursion to Ephesus. Ephesus is important to Christians because the apostle Paul was assigned to preach to the people there. While there he was imprisoned and wrote Ephesians. So to bring the bible to life, we wanted to go and visit. We got off the ship and the first person to speak to us in English asked what we wanted. I explained that we wanted to go to Ephesus. He gave us a very good price, much better than I could have gotten from the ship. We negotiated the price and then he went to find a driver who spoke English because he was just a facilitator. After a few minutes he came back and stated that he couldn't find any body that spoke English and that he would drive us. This was actually good for us because apparently he is one of the best english tour guides at the port but he doesn't do much guiding anymore.We got into his car and drove out of Izmir and into the Turkish countryside. His name was Ali and he was very nice and explained much about his country. He obviously was very proud of his country and wanted to show it off. We drove in the car for an hour and I was wide-eyed the whole way, just taking in as much as I could. Originally I had just wanted to make it to Ephesus, but then decided it would be nice to also go to the reputed house of Mary (the mother of Jesus). Supposedly she was taken to Ephesus by the Apostle John. On the way, Ali said we should pay the entrance fees with our credit card...I suddenly realized I didn't bring my credit card, it was sitting back on the safe on the ship. Thankfully, Ali offered to pay our entrance fees into Ephesus up front and we would pay him back. I figured out that by the time I paid him for the tours and for the entrance fees I wouldn't have much cash left to purchase souvenirs (the rest of the money was left in our cabin on the ship as well). Well it was the best I could do and so I took him up on his offer. We first went to Mary's house because it was furthest away and it was small, so if we got trapped behind tourist buses we would be there for a long time. It was definitely a tourist destination now, complete with kiosks selling souvenirs and a cafe. We walked up to this humble house and got in line. The house consisted of two rooms of modest dimensions. No personality, no decorations, no flair but I could imagine her living there. Now, whether she actually lived there or not, I don't know, but she could have, and that was good enough for me. The most interesting site was the wall of letters that people leave for Mary. People leave letters for Mary to answer or leave their troubles for her to work out. It was literally a wall of paper, many of which have been seasoned by the elements. I wondered how often this wall gets pared back. Next to the wall were a few fountains with water, supposedly with special healing power. Since I felt good, I opted against imbibing. We loaded up the car and the next stop was Ephesus. Tickets were purchased and we bought a nice book that showed the way it used to look and compared to how it looked today. Hailey commandeered the book and explained to us about each place, she did a nice job as a tour guide. We walked through the ruins with an eye of amazement. Feeling the surreal nature of this place and trying to come to grips with the history that had taken place here. We walked the main street past all of the old facades, down to the library. This edifice looks like it will topple over at any minute, a tall thin structure tacked up against another building. We then walked down to the open air stadium. A large half-circle structure with a platform at the front. At the exit of Ephesus there were a lot souvenir shops. We bought a few items to remind us of our time there and then hopped back into the taxi. During the car ride I asked several questions to Ali about his faith, as he was Muslim. He offered to take us to a Mosque before we went back to the ship. We excitedly agreed, what better way to get a feel for somebody's religion than have them take you on a personal guided tour. We got off at an exit that wound us through Izmir city. It was very crowded with traffic and I started to become a little nervous because we only had a little over an hour before we needed to be back on the ship. The city of Izmir has dozens of Mosques (maybe hundreds), easily identifiable by the minarets that shoot into the sky. We pulled up to a light blue mosque on the top of a hill that overlooked the harbor, off in the distance we could see our ship docked in the harbor. Ali spent several minutes talking about his faith, the importance of the mosque. He explained the importance of taking off your shoes before entering, covering the heads of the girls with scarves. He took time to tie each scarf on each of my girls...and they looked great. We really felt a great deal of reverence and respect for this religion. Although I am not a believer in the Muslim faith, I couldn't help but feel a great deal of respect for Ali and his religion. We walked into the Mosque and it was covered wall to wall in tiles, all beautiful colors. We took pictures and marveled at the beauty. He allowed us to take several pictures, which we appreciated. Our time came to a quick end at the mosque and it was time to ride back to the ship, trying to take in all that Izmir had to offer. Reluctantly, it was time to leave this wonderful day behind. Info Transportation to city: cruise ship (MSC Magnifica) Transportation to Ephesus: taxi 20 Euro/person, roundtrip. Sites: Ephesus 20 Turkish Lira/person; Mary's house - 12.50 Turkish Lira/person