Venezia, Italia

Venice, Italy is a beautiful city. We loved the architecture of the buildings along the narrow streets and the winding canals.

The part of the city we were staying in does not even allow cars. Everything is by foot or by water. Even the "bus" that we took around all day was actually a small ferry boat. The weather was cold and windy, but it was a beautiful day.

We had arrived at the train station at 7:30 am on a sleeper car from Munich. It was odd trying to sleep on the train, but was a unique experience. I don't think I want to do it again. It's worse than sleeping on an airplane because you have to change speeds and sometimes even stop as you go through the towns along the way.

Our hotel in Venice was less than a block away from the train station, so they let us check in and leave our bags there, even though our room wasn't ready yet. They gave us a map and directions to the big tourist things to see.

Side Note: All the hotels we stayed in until Switzerland were 4 star hotels that I booked at really good rates on www.hotwire.com.

So we bought a 12 hour bus pass for the ferry boats and set off to explore the city. We saw the big Piazza San Marco which has some amazing buildings. We saw the opera house, and just enjoyed walking around the city and looking in the shop windows. We wouldn't have dared go in the stores... they were all Gucci, Dulce and Gabbana, and other high end shops. Barry had fun throughout our trip looking at all the high end watches (Rolex, Tag Huer, Cartier, etc).

We ate pizza at a late lunch at a restaurant by the main canal. Then we went back to our hotel room for a much needed nap and shower. We went to a small restaurant for dinner that was recommended by our concierge.

Thankfully, we've been in Europe long enough that we weren't surprised by the menu layout or the prices. They always list:
Appetizers 6 - 10 Euros
First Course - soup or pasta - 8 - 12 Euros
Main Course - meat or fish and a side dish - 12 - 15 Euros
Cheese plate - 8 - 10 Euros
Dessert - 5 - 10 Euros

You can see how this would add up quickly as a 5 course meal for 2 people. Usually we would get a first course and a main course, and sometimes dessert. We only got an appetizer if they were cheap and we weren't doing a first course. We were so American! But the waiters never seemed too surprised at our orders. And everyone spoke English very well.

It was a long but beautiful day in Venice. We enjoyed the respite from having to dodge cars, and we enjoyed the small town feel of this big city.

Long Trip

We're back in the Netherlands after a long 11 day trip through Europe. We rode lots of trains, ate in lots of restaurants, and saw lots of really old stuff.

I'll blog more about each part of our trip later. Here was our itenerary:

Day 1 - Friday, Nov 16 - leave hotel for train station at 9:30 am for the train station.
Train ride to Munich, Germany (changing trains a couple times) - get to Munich around 6 pm.

Overnight Train from Munich to Venice in a 2 person sleeper compartment. It reminded Barry a little too much of being on the submarine.

Day 2 - Saturday - Arrive in Venice, Italy at 7:30 am.

Dropped our bags at the hotel, and toured Venice all day.

Day 3 - Sunday - Leave on late morning train to Florence, Italy

Day 4 - Monday - walked all over Florence

Day 5 - Tuesday - late morning train to Rome - dinner out in Rome and saw St. Peter's at night

Day 6 - Wednesday - walking tour of Rome - Colloseum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Roman ruins, and lots of cathedrals

Day 7 - Thursday - Happy Thanksgiving - toured St. Peter's Basillica at the Vatican, Castle of St. Angelo, Piazza di Popolo

Day 8 - Friday - Vatican museum which includes the Sistine Chapel, St. Paul's Basillica, more ruins

Day 9 - Saturday - late morning train to Interlaken, Switzerland - changed trains in Milan and got to Interlaken around 8 pm

Day 10 - Sunday - walked all over Interlaken and enjoyed the mountain views

Day 11 - Monday - took panoramic train rides to see different parts of Switzerland

Day 12 - Tuesday, Nov 27 - train ride back to Boekelo, Netherlands - Left Interlaken on train at 9 am, and arrived at our hotel in the netherlands at 9:30 pm. - very long day

It was a beautiful countryside to view from the train during the days. You could actually tell when you entered a new country because the architecture of the houses changed drastically. The people were all very friendly and most spoke English very well. The food was good, sometimes great. We have lots of pictures, and lots of memories.... and we'll never have to do it again. :)

Weekend in France - Part 2 - Paris

Walking may be good for you, but it's killer on the feet.

We arrived in Paris on the train at 12:30 am Monday morning, and took a taxi to the hotel. We made ourselves get up around 8:00 even though we got in late, because we had lots we wanted to do and see.

We left the hotel a little before 9 am, and headed toward the metro station 2 blocks away, stopping at a bakery for breakfast. The pastries we got were fabulous, and the woman behind the counter was smiling and friendly. The metro was fairly easy to navigate but when we got off, we ended up walking a quarter mile in the opposite direction from the Louvre before realizing it.

We got to the Louvre around 10, and saw the gardens and archway outside. Surprisingly, there was no line for tickets to the museum. Inside, I was often more taken by the painting of the ceilings and architecture of the rooms than with the displays of art themselves. The ceilings were so high, and the hallways were so long. Many of the ceilings had gold all over them, and were highly artistic themselves.

We saw the statue Venus, the Mona Lisa (smaller than you'd think), the club foot boy painting, many Roman and Greek statues, the display of Egyptian artifacts, Napolean's apartment recreated, medieval works, and renaissance works. We walked around for hours, finally having our fill at around 3 pm.

Our feet were already aching, but we walked about a mile (we think) to Notre Dame cathedral. It was quite impressive architecturally and artistically, but it brought to mind many sad things as well. As Christians it is hard to understand why people would elevate mere mortals to be worshiped along side Christ and God. It was also astounding to consider how much money it took to build such an ornate place of worship.







We then went back to the hotel for a while because we found out that none of the restaurants are open for dinner until 7 pm. It seems crazy to us as Americans, but I guess it's just culturally not beneficial for them to open earlier. So we made ourselves wait until 7, and then went to a small restaurant a couple blocks from the hotel. It had been recommended by our concierge, and we were not disappointed. We had the smoked salmon and toast as an appetizer, Barry had the rack of lamb, I had the roast duck in a honey sauce, and we each had creme brulee for dessert. It was all delicious, and expensive.

We then walked several more blocks to the Eiffel Tower. It was a beautiful site, and I was much more taken with it than I expected to be. It is lit up all the way up and down, and was quite a beautiful show against the black of the evening sky.

Then we walked back to the hotel to give our feet some much needed rest.



7 hours on 3 different trains got us back home on Tuesday, feeling wiped out. We had a good weekend overall, and learned some good lessons about the trains for our next trips.

P.S. We didn't encounter any rude people. Everyone seemed very helpful, but we were mainly in the tourist areas too.

Weekend in France - Part 1 - Lyon

Our long weekend in France seemed very long indeed.

We left our apartment at 7 am on Saturday morning and arrived by train in Lyon, France at 9 pm. We had to switch trains in Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris, before arriving in Lyon.

In Lyon, we stayed with Arlin and Pam Hendrix who are missionaries there. Arlin has been friends with my parents since college at Harding, and he actually performed my parents wedding ceremony. So I've heard about them and their work in France my entire life.

Their house is a little outside Lyon, which is the 2nd largest city in France. We went to church with them on Sunday morning. It was good to worship with believers, even if we couldn't pronounce the words in the songbooks, or understand all of the sermon. Pam sat next to us and wrote summaries of what Arlin was saying onto a notepad so that we knew what the lesson was about and what scriptures he was reading.

Then we ate a traditional French meal at their house. It was delicious, especially since we haven't had home cooking in over a month. We had bread and salad with breaded goat cheese for the first course. This is actually the first time I've ever had goat cheese and liked it. Then we got up and prepared the main course of the meal. The potatoes had already been boiling and the cobbler was in the oven. We also fixed the green beans, and cooked the pork chops and wild mushroom gravy. Then we sat down for the main course. The next course is cheese, and I tried only one kind because I knew dessert was still coming and was already getting full. Barry had a soft, spreadable cheese with herbs in it on a piece of French bread. Then we had a pear cobbler for dessert. We arrived home from church at 12:30 and were done eating at 3 pm.

Then Arlin and Pam took us on a 3 hour driving and walking tour of Lyon to see the historical sites. We saw ruins of an amphitheater where Christian martyrs were killed. We saw an overview of the beautiful city from a park on a hill. Then we went to the heart of the town and walked around. We went into several courtyards inside the buildings that have been there for centuries. Some of the courtyards still have the well structures. We saw the ruins of a Roman amphitheater that actually was a theater. It held around 11,000 people, and it was amazing to realize how old it was. Then we went to a huge Catholic basillica (meaning the pope has visited it) that sits on top of a hill overlooking all of Lyon.

It was a wonderful tour, and a beautiful city. We wish we could have spent more time there, but we had to catch a train that night back to Paris.

Click here to visit Arlin and Pam Hendrix's mission web site.