European update 7/20

Hey All,

Today we got up really early at 6am to be able leave at 7am to catch the
metro by 8am and hop on our train at 9am. Of course we got to the train
station at 7:30am and had to wait around until 8:45am. Sigh. Dad always
likes to have LOTS of spare time.

We had lots of fun during the tour of Normandy Beach. We saw the Pointe du
Hoc Monument and bunkers, Omaha Beach, US cemetery, and a little fishing
town near there. All of us also touched water from the Atlantic Ocean. So we
have now touched the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Sweet!

I wish I could say that my knee is doing better today, but alas no. It was
fine this morning, but NOT now. It is stiff, a little swollen and somewhat
sore. That fact that there are stairs everywhere (monuments, museums, train
station, metro station, and of course the apartment) does not help. We are
taking it easy tomorrow so that should be nice. :)

We will attempt to go up on top the Arc de Triomphe and then go on a short
night walk near the Eiffel Tower. Then we will see how long the line FOR THE
ELEVATOR is to go up. We really want to see Paris at night with all the
lights. We shall see.

A funny fact: we spend our first half of the day busily touring the cities
and then come back to the hotel or apartment and fight over who gets to read
what book next. Haha. MerryK and Dad were both wanting to read my book that
I just finished ( Angels and Demons) and Mitchell and I were fighting over
who got to read Doodle's book when she was done ( Ender's Game). Ah, too
much fun. FYI: Dad and Mitchell won the first round. Boys: 1, Girls: 0

Tah tah.

Ladybug

European update 7/19

Hello all,

Today we ventured off to the Eiffel Tower to look out at Paris. When we got
there we saw an enormous line that was not moving and only a few elevators
going up and down. The top was also temporarily closed. Sigh. Not what we
wanted to see.

We decided to bite the bullet and walk up to the 1st and 2nd levels since
there was practically no line for those. We walked up 650 (approx) stairs.
Way too many for me because we had to walk back down too. So it ended up
being around 1300. Yuck.

Some of you know this already, but I have a bad knee from an injury several
years back. Man, did it come back to haunt me. My knee is killing me now.
MerryK's knee is acting up too. I will most definitely be taking some Advil
tonight to help with the aching pain.

While we were getting hot dogs for lunch, we saw one of the street vendors
get arrested for apparently not having a license. Whenever you see a cop
walking around those vendors run and hide. After a minute or two they come
back out with their rings of Eiffel Tower key chains and little gadgets.
Today dad got hit in the head with one of their flying bird toys. That was
pretty funny. Dad got a kick out of it, too.

In the afternoon we headed over to the Army Museum and Napoleon's tomb. It
was okay. Dad and Mitchell seemed to have the most fun. Towards the end, us
girls were walking fast through the exhibits to find a seat. We would then
sit down and read our books until dad and Mitchell caught up. :)

The last thing we did museum wise was the Rodin Museum. We just popped in to
see the Thinker statue and also The Kiss statue and then left. The nice
thing is that we have Paris museum passes. With these we paid a one time fee
and now we get in to almost all the major sights for free AND we get to skip
the lines. So just going in the Rodin Museum for two things was no problem.
Yay!

Now we are back at the apartment reading our books, emailing, or checking
the blogs that we follow (MerryK).

Tomorrow is Normandy Beach. Sweet!

TTFN! Tah tah for now!

Ladybug

______________________________________


Mitchell lay dead on the floor, with what looked like a stab wound in his
chest. We have a motive, we have a weapon, but can we be sure? Ahem, so
maybe Ladybug's murder mystery that she's reading affected us all a little
too much... ( Mitchell's fine, see later for the explanation of the joke)

Today we finally made it to the Eiffel Tower. Not the highlight of our trip,
given that the top level was closed, and we decided to skip the 3 hour lines
and walk up the 650 steps to the next-to-top level. *wheeze wheeze* Ladybug
and I both have iffy knees, and they were trembling by the time we got down.
That being said, it's an amazing structure and the view was worth it. Though
the elevator mechanism sounds exactly like the TARDIS powering up, which was
rather disconcerting.

We then went to Napoleon's tomb, and after that, the Army Museum nearby.
That was a bit of a boy's museum. ;) Though, I did purchase a very cool
pistol replica, and Doodle got a dagger letter opener. While walking out,
though, we commented on how our weapons couldn't go in our carry-on baggage
at the airport, and someone made a joking comment about having weapons and
"knowing who to blame if we find Mitchell dead. Doodle, in the apartment,
with the letter opener." This joke makes more sense if you know that those
two have been getting on each others' nerves, but especially the last few
days. It's fun to laugh it off in good humor, though.

After that, we made a quick stop at the Rodin Museum to see "The Thinker"
and "The Kiss", but then skipped the rest. By this time, we've figured out
that all European museums and famous buildings have 1 exit and 1 entrance.
To get to that 1 exit, the only way is by walking through every single room
and corridor in the maze they've set up to make security details easy.
Sadly, there are never any maps of how far you've gone, so you never have a
clue when you'll find the end and the exit, especially since there are
dozens of exit signs along the way. We went into the Louvre, for example,
wanting to see two things...we ended up having to go through two whole
floors to reach the exit after we saw what we wanted. Not because we got
lost, but because there was only 1 exit and no shortcuts, and all we could
do was follow the exit signs through room after room. We will certainly
enjoy getting back to America and "You are here" type building maps when
this trip is done.

Now we are back at our apartment, reading before it's dinner time.

MerryK

European update 7/18

Hello everyone,

Sorry I have been out of touch. We only have Merry K's IPOD to write emails, but I just remembered that I have my phone, too. I can write a lot faster on my phone. More practice I guess. ;)

Anyways, yesterday we all headed out to the Arc de Triomphe and waited in line for an hour. We finally realized that it was closed that day due to a celebration. Sigh. Oh, well we at least got to see the outside.

Next we headed on down to the Louvre. Wow, what a huge building!! At least four floors of great things to look at. Of course we only ended up looking at two floors, but still walked about 3 1/2 miles in the building. We decided to see two things: the Egyptian exhibits and the Mona Lisa. It took us at least three hours to see just that. :) Yes, we only spent three hours at the Louvre, looked at two floors and then left. I know some of you would spend days in there, but not me.

On the way back to the metro I decided to play Marilyn Monroe on the sidewalk. Actually I was minding my own business and just happened to walk over a pretty strong gust of wind coming from the vent on the ground. Up went my skirt...oh dear. At least I was wearing a pair of shorts underneath and was still decent. All of us girls were laughing quite hard after this. Yet, the boys missed the whole thing. Not that I am complaining. Haha

Today we took a day trip to Versailles to see a beautiful palace. The weather here has been wonderful. It reminds me of home. :) Today was cool and a little windy. We enjoyed looking in all the colorful rooms and walking along the green gardens. We had lunch that we had packed in the gardens while listening to some classical music being played on some speakers for all to enjoy.

Later for dinner we went to the Hard Rock Cafe. This is number three on our list. The first HRC was in Rome, second in Venice, third just now in Paris and the fourth will be in London.

One thing that has been annoying here are all the posters for the new Harry Potter movie. They are everywhere, especially in the subway. We have to wait till next week to see it. Only a week away!

My fingers are getting tired from typing this all on a Blackberry, so goodnight all!

Ladybug

________________________

Today we took the train up to Versailles and spent a few hours there. You can definitely tell what kind of group we are when we're all sitting on the train with our nose in a fat book. The palace itself was certainly lovely, especially the Hall of Mirrors, but it was Marie Antoinette's chateau that made the biggest impression. Unlike the palace, it was light and big without being overwhelming, and the pink and green marble and white stone was much nicer than the dark fold and heavy fabrics of Versailles. The gardens were huge but not noteworthy.

That was all we did today. As the trip goes on, we're taking our days more and more easily.

It's quite a challenge to cook in this apartment. We did finally find a grocery store with food other than rice and beans and milk and canned veggies, but our supplies are a bit limited. No sugar or honey for the tea, but teacups, and I had to use the bottom of one to crush the egg salad. We also can't have pancakes because none of us can figure out what "baking soda" is in French. Oh, the things they don't mention in guidebooks.

For a couple days now, there have been an extraordinary amount of street musicians...but in the subways. They are surprisingly talented, though, even if it's not the most fun for one's ears when they're performing in your subway car. We've also noticed that almost all the beggars here are handicapped, instead of just poor. We'll definitely enjoy being able to walk down most streets unsolicited when we get home.

(Oh, and last note: we did end up watching Twilight in French on TV. It's at least a little less cheesy when dubbed, but we were laughing at it anyway, for some of the intonation of the dubbing, but mostly the translation. Edward calling Bella "parfait" was cute enough, but at one point it sounded like he called her his "croissant" and we were chortling madly over that.)

Love to all,
Merry K

European update 7/17

Life in Paris is pretty good. Despite the thunderstorm last night, which
counteracted the nice quiet homemade dinner at our apartment. We had
breakfast here this morning, and may learn more French from early morning
cartoons than the actual French populace. After that, we went and waited
outside the Arc di Triomphe, only to be told 45 minutes later that it was
closed for holiday. So instead we went down the Rue de Champs Elysses, which
was almost like an outdoor mall.

The other big thing today was the Louvre, but I don't have actual gushing
over it. ;) I'm not an art person, so even seeing Mona Lisa and Venus de
Milo and Victoire de Samothrace didn't have me in awe. The Egyptian exhibit
had some remarkable things, and I got shivers looking at the Code of
Hammurabi, but I enjoyed the outside gardens most.

We bought more groceries in the afternoon, and Ladybug was Marilyn Monroed
by a street vent, which was rather funny. Tonight we're going to make a nice
homemade dinner (baked fish and grilled vegetables) and hopefully watch
Twilight in French. The weather has been exactly like weather at home:
partly cloudy and windy. Not bad, though I kind of wanted to escape home on
my vacation. ;)

Love to all,
Merry K

________________________________

Hey y'all

Well, it is our second full day in Paris. Yesterday, we had to figure out
the metro system, but today we mastered it. Mostly. <_< >_> (shifty look).
And trying to figure out how to use the washing machine here...what fun. Arc
di Troimphe was a hoot. We wait in line for an hour just to find out it was
closed for a celebration. Hehe. From someone who had translated what another
guy said. See what I mean by "a hoot". The Louvre was another story. We
spent 3 hours in there most of the time looking for the exit. Though I could
have spent all of today there and most of the trip for that matter, if it
wasn't for my feet hurting. We also lost Mitchell there. Or rather he lost
us. ^_^. And Ladybug, so inspired by the French, decided to have a Marilyn
Monroe moment. Well, that is all for now.

Hugs to all,
Doodle

We the People Stimulus Package

While I don't agree with everything in this video, he definitely has some good ideas and I thought that it was good enough to pass on to others. H/T to Ace of Spades HQ.



If you give a man time to post to his blog, you never know what you're going to get ;)

Health Rations and You

I saw this funny video on Ace of Spades HQ. Preview of things to come via Obamacare?

European update 7/16

Hey all,

We're now in Paris and finally able to write again. Or, sadly, only me so far. The Wi-Fi is nice, though.

Let's see, our last day in Venice was lovely, and we walked all over St. Marks Square at a slow pace, ending our day with sitting on the edge of the pier and dipping our feet in the Mediterranean. The breeze was warm, and so was the water, and we didn't want to leave.

But travel called, and so at 5:45am next day, we trudged with our huge backpacks down to the Venice train station. One odd thing about this one was that every time a train came in, it sounded exactly like a Wraith attack. But that wasn't the most interesting piece of travel...let me give you the brief summary of the next two days:

We caught a water taxi from our hotel to Venezia S.L. Station, a short train to Venezia Mestre Station, a long train to Interlocken (Switzerland), a short train to Lauterbrunnen, a bus up to Stechelberg, and then a cable car up to Gimmelwald.

Second day was: a cable car up to Murren, a cable car up and then back down from Schilthorn, back down to Gimmelwald, another cable car to Stechelberg, a bus to Lauterbrunnen, a train to Interlocken, a train to Bern, and then a train to Paris.

Needless to say, we know Swiss transit really well now. But as for what that transit meant...

Switzerland was a bit uncomfortable after getting used to Italy. I hadn't realized until then how much I'd absorbed Italian culture and didn't like it being wrenched from me. But it was neater and more organized, and the landscape was a different kind of gorgeous. Need I say the Alps are magnificent? You ride the train up and up, and they're still taller than the Rockies. And then you go up even further on cable cars (which didn't feel secure for the first couple times) and they're still huge, even at 4700 feet.

And there's nothing like looking out your hotel window and seeing nothing but ginormous mountains. Except in the morning, when you can see only white and the ground under your window. Our hotel people were extremely helpful and nice, and the food was delicious. (Oh, and for the record: I've had two sips of wine in Italy, the red tasted awful, but the white was not bad. And I had a sip of light beer in Switzerland and actually enjoyed that taste straight off.)

The Schilthorn was beyond words, just as amazing as all the pictures, though we had no time to eat in the restaurant. It was about 45 degrees F, though, which was not pleasant.

I was surprisingly not tired of train trips when we got to the 5 1/2 hour one to get to Paris. I finished my second book (First, Speaker For the Dead, a reread that was just as powerful as the first read-through, and then Dune, where the writing was not too fantastic but the story became fascinating by the end.) and slept a little and wrote a little and the time seemed to fly past.

And then we were in Paris, and I was so glad to see euros being used again; trying to calculate Swiss Franks and their conversion was a problem, and I liked going back to a familiar currency. Someone picked us up in a taxi from the Paris train station and took us to our apartment. The owner was wonderful; nice, and also hilarious. The place has three levels, and it's nice to have all the space. Not sure what Paris itself will be like, but we're looking at maps now and about ready to start they day.

Love to all,
Merry K

____________________________________

Switzerland was amazing! The Alps were so beautiful and the air was clean and fresh. The best part was going up to Schilthourn which is sitting right up in the Alps. I have never been so scared in my life while riding up in the cable car. Haha.

We are now all in Paris in our nice little apartment. (It suddenly just started to pour down rain and hail. I am now back from running around to shut all the windows.) when the owner said that they had unpredictable weather....who knew?!

Today we went to the Notre Dame church, Sainte Chapelle, little shops, and a water cruise. It was nice and hot out (unlike the rain now), but it is not muggy here. Yay!!!

Back in Venice we did send off a package back home. I believe we sent it to the Nowlin's house. We stuck the cd of pictures in there, too. Of course we did not think about how long it would take it to get there. We might beat it back home. Let us know when it arrives. Also let us know if you get postcards, we are curious to know how many are actually getting to their destinations.

Tomorrow we will be going to the Arc de Triomphe, shopping and the Louvre.

Miss you all,

Ladybug

__________________________________

Our first day in Paris was not bad at all. The atmosphere here is very different. Italy was relaxed, even while moving fast, and there was a sense of history in a nonchalant manner. Switzerland was very exact and serious, but didn't go for more than simplicity. France on the other hand...I get the distinct impression that they think very highly of their history and accomplishments, and think that everyone else should, too.

However, Paris is a very beautiful city. The weather is unsurprisingly more like Seattle when hot--I really do miss the mugginess. We visited Notre Dame today, but the outside was more grand than the inside. The winner of the interior award would definitely be the Sainte Chapelle church with nearly all the walls being stained glass. I may get tired of seeing gorgeous churches eventually, but these ones are still amazing. We even heard part of a French mass at Notre Dame.

Our feet are still not recovered, so the boat tour on the Seine with its seats was a nice break from all the walking. You can see almost all the landmarks from the river, and it was here that we learned that the Louvre has 13 kilometers of exhibits. Ack! We'll be limiting our visit to a few choice items, we think.

Ordering food in Paris is much more difficult; Italian cuisine all had familiar words, but we needed several translations of the French menu. So it was nice that we could buy groceries and use the kitchen in our apartment for dinner. After all the traveling, quiet homely evenings are to be cherished.

Random note: Apparently the French think Americans are loud and obnoxious, so we were all trying to be quiet. So it was quite funny when the apartment owner said on giving us the tour last night that we were "silent--like ninjas"

The last little cultural thing we picked up was from watching early morning French cartoons and commercials. Words cannot describe how familiar, and yet how alien, that experience was. We laughed until tears came.

It'll be easier to like Paris than Rome, I think. Once we get a grip on the atmosphere and a little of the language barrier. Still, I think Italy will be my favorite.

Love to all,
Merry K

European update 7/15

Just wanted to let everyone know that there haven't been any emails yet.
They left Italy, stayed in Switzerland and should have arrived in Paris
today. We are hoping that they will have internet access now. I'll post
updates when they are available! Please keep everyone in your prayers.

European update 7/13

I'm currently at an internet cafe in Venice, but this will probably be the last email before Thursday, since internet is sketchy.

First, our last day in Rome. We were all tired, but it was quite nice. We visited the Castel San Angelo, and then vegged out at the apartment to rest our feet, which were still not recovered from the previous days of walking. A couple more notes about Rome in general: it's very odd to hear American music on the radio stations here. So far, we've recognized Coldplay, P!nk, Dido, Avril Lavigne, and lots and lots of Michael Jackson. Also, Rome will be remembered by me as the place I learned to appreciate mushrooms. I've never really liked either their flavor or texture, but I had linguine with mushrooms here and they were absolutely delicious. Flavorful, and the texture didn't bother me; I'm not sure if it was the type (small, buttony, but not like American button mushrooms) or the cooking method, but I loved them. Now I want to try more mushrooms back home.

The train ride up to Venice wasn't anything special. Venice, on the other hand...wow. This is one of the most perfect places on Earth, I'm certain. You just want to walk around forever just looking at things. Beautiful! The atmosphere is not as hectic as in Rome, since all the non-foot traffic is on the water. We don't really have any sightseeing to do today, but we're all fine with that, since it's amazing just to walk around and wander for hours. Knowing what I do now, I'd love to come back to Rome and Venice for a couple days of relaxation.

Our hotel here is nice, and we'll go in a gondola tonight before leaving really early tomorrow for Switzerland. I'll probably email next from Paris.

Love,
Merry K

_________________________________

Hello everyone,

We were able to find an internet cafe in Venice. Yippee! Yesterday we traveled on the train for the first time and it went pretty smoothly. A few glitches here and there because we have never experienced it before. 1. Our train number on the first train was correct, but the location was not. That is because the train makes multiple stops and it only lists the last stop. We were getting off on the first one so it did not list our city.

We arrived in Florence and found the museum where the statue of David is very easily. Once we arrived we saw the huge line coming from the building. Thank goodness my dad thought ahead and bought reservations because we got to skip the entire line and go right on in. The statue was amazing and way bigger than I thought it was. I was at least 8 times as tall as me. Wow! I even got to see about 4 cellos, 4 violins, 4 violas, and 2 double bass string instruments from the 1600's. How cool is that?!

We had fun walking through the market area and buying a few things. I bought a nice wallet and a bracelet and then we had lunch. The food here is amazing! Everything that we try is delicious. :)

We hopped back on another train up to Venice. One odd thing about the train is that when you go through the tunnels (and there are quite a few) the air pressure changes. Ugh, it was awful on my ears and everyone else's from what I heard. In about three hours we arrived in Venice. It took us a while to figure some things out at the station, but soon we were off to our hotel.

In order to get to our hotel we had to take a water taxi. It is a big boat that about 100+ people can get on and off of around Venice. There are absolutely no cars here. Just boats and streets for people to walk on. This is definitely my favorite place thus far. I love the buildings, the environment, people, water, everything.

Last night Doodle tried an interesting dish of food that was quite good. Spaghetti with Cuttlefish sauce. The sauce was black and looked odd, but it tasted really good. :)

Today we have been walking around down by the water (which is the Mediterranean Sea, how cool is that?!) shopping and just enjoying the walk. We just went to see the Rialto bridge and will probably go see Dodge's Palace and some other Basilica that is really cool looking.

Tomorrow we are off to Switzerland and we have no idea whether we will have internet there or not. We hope we will. Us girls feel lost without it! Haha.

We found out that we can burn a CD of our pictures, so we are doing that and sending it back to our families back home. Be looking for that little package. :)

Lots of love,

Ladybug

________________________

Hey Y'all

Well now we're in Venice and we will be leaving tomorrow. We lucked out on the fact that we managed to find an internet cafe. It's pretty cool here with water ways and old buildings around every corner.

Masquerade masks are everywhere we go; they are in shop, around shops, and not even in shops. The walk ways are small and it's fun just to walk around and just hope you can find you way back. And it smells like home. We'll see if we have internet later.

Doodle

European update 7/12

No emails today. We don't know how much internet they will have over the
next few days. Don't forget to check out Ladybug's blog to see some of the
pictures of the places they have been going to. Here is the site:
http://christianlifeinthe21century.blogspot.com/

Here is her last post:

Rome is over and off we go to another place

Well, yesterday was the last day in Rome. We are now heading off to a few
hours in Florence to see the statue of David and then onto Venice for a day
and a half. We have no idea how the internet will be, but we can hope for
the best. :)

After Venice we will head up to Gimmelwald/Schlithourn Switzerland for a day
to see the Alps. I cannot wait for that day!!

Then it will be a nice ride on a bullet train up to Paris. We will be
staying in another apartment there for a week.

Ciao!

European update 7/11

Didn't have time to write last night, so this is technically Saturday
morning. A few notes I forgot to mention before-did I mention the water
system here? It's been a little difficult to use the faucets and showers,
because the hot is really hot and the cold is cool, and there's hardly a way
to get in between. The water itself, I'm not sure about; it's not
chlorinated, which was odd at first but I now like, but it may be doing
strange things to my hair. Or it may be the climate itself. Either way, my
hair's getting rather dry and brittle. Which reminds me, I remember reading
about culture shock a while back, and about how the first stage is the most
violent and tends to manifest in "well, at least in my home country we ____"
to everything new. I think we had that the first couple days. Now we're in
the "everything's different, but we'll survive" stage.

We had gelato a couple days ago, which was not as different as it's
sometimes made out to be, but definitely an improvement over American ice
cream. Despite that, it's struck me as humorous how our vacation is making
us all lead healthier lifestyles; we're eating good Mediterranean food and
no junk, drinking water all day long, walking many miles a day including
stairs (cardio), and getting mostly good nights of sleep. Europe is not only
amazing, it's also good for us. ;-) Also, a note from yesterday, all three
girls purchased rosaries at the Vatican...it just seemed like a souvenir one
should get, you know?

Now on to yesterday (Friday). That was quite a packed day, though it didn't
seem like it would be at the start. We found out that not only is Michelle
Obama in Rome (and visiting landmarks right after we do), but apparently
Barack Obama met the Pope. Which means that this whole time, we've been
within a few miles of both of them. Yesterday morning, our first stop was
the National Museum of Rome. I wasn't the most fond of this; the marble
statues and mosaics got repetitive after the first two floors, though some
were gorgeous, and the giant Roman coin collection was not as interesting as
the stained glass in the same area. After this, we only had two more things
in our day, and both were in the same area and a long way off, so we took
the short walk back to our apartment to wait an hour.

After that hour, we took the subway a few stops, and then walked up to the
Roman Hard Rock Cafe. Since there are branches of those also in Venice,
Paris, and London, we're going to make a stop there at each point along the
trip just to have a neat little theme. We were supposed to catch a bus for
the last couple miles up to the Pantheon, but buses here are not as obvious
as the trains and subways, so we missed ours twice and got frustrated and
decided to just walk it. That was a good decision in hindsight, though, as
we discovered the wonders of walking through Rome. The area near the
Pantheon/Trevi Fountain/Spanish Steps is the Rome you think about when you
think of Rome, not the gritty utilitarian slummy side that we've been in for
the past few days. It's neat and well designed, and everywhere you look
there are "old rocks", as Doodle coined them-a building with columns and
amazing architecture that's at least a few hundred years old. We took a few
detours on this walk, and discovered some ruins that now serve as a cat
hospice (we counted twelve), and also Il Vittoriani. The latter is a massive
palace with amazing statues. It also holds the Italian Tomb of the Unknown
Soldier, a spectacularly carved sarcophagus surrounded by eternal flames and
guards. Definitely a good random find, since Rick Steves didn't mention it
anywhere.

But finally we made it to the Pantheon itself and...wow. We were all awed
for a few minutes just coming up to the rear of it, because there's no way
pictures could ever capture the size and grandeur of it. The back looks like
it's from the first century or so; very old brick, not so much design. But
it is probably large enough to hold the DC Capitol dome inside it. Then we
walked around to the front, and again, stood in awe of it. The columns are
simply massive, more so than any others we've seen, and then you walk past
into the interior, and it's almost as good as the Sistine Chapel in both
size and decoration. We saw the tomb of Raphael, and also the one of the
first king of Italy.

After the Pantheon, which was at about 5:30pm, the only thing we had left in
the day was Rick Steves self-guided nightwalk. Since it started around the
Pantheon, though, we couldn't go anywhere until 8:30pm. So we just sat
around the fountain for a couple hours, mostly bored, though I brought a
book. We did hear some lovely street music, though. Then we ate at the
nearby McDonalds, partly for fun and partly (at least for me) to eat
something that wasn't Italian food for the first time in four days. Finally,
finally, we started walking towards the beginning of the nightwalk. We made
a slight detour at an internet cafe (very cool idea, very cool in reality)
and then started on the nightwalk itself.

Rome is a great place at night. We paused to watch a magician, some mimes,
an artist, all in one of the piazzas. There were some monuments, and some
fountains that don't look very large on postcards but are incredibly large
in person. Trevi Fountain, especially. The whole place must be the size of
the Capitol Building in Olympia...and it's just a fountain! This is the part
of Rome that says "I'm old, I'm bold, I'm beautiful, and I'm huge: stand in
wonder." And we did. Only in Europe. (On a minor note, it's also only in
Europe that you can see a sign that points to a McDonalds...and then in
smaller print below mentions that, oh yeah, there's also this Pantheon thing
thataway.)

By the end of that, though, we were glad to find a subway stop and take a
ride back to our apartment's area instead of having to walk it. These first
days haven't necessarily had lots of activities per day, but each one has
been wearing on us. Especially on the feet. By the end of the day, we can
all barely walk. We've been trying to spread out our breaks more, but even
so, we've decided that our last day before the train to Venice (Saturday)
will only have one activity and then we'll probably just relax for a while.

Love to all,
Merry K

__________________________________

Hello all,

Wow, what a day. I think this was the best day yet. Here are the highlights:

We visited the National Museum of Rome and had a relaxing morning. There
were lots of cool old statues, mosaics, sarcophagus' and a great coin
collection.

We headed on over to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. It was odd to have a menu
in English. :) All of us agreed to try and go to all the Hard Rock Cafes in
each place we go to. There are ones in Venice, Paris, and London. We will
have more meals cooked by our dear MerryK with supplies that we can buy at
the market for dirt cheap. Yum yum.

After lunch we missed our bus...twice. I know, but it worked out for the
better. We decided to give up on the bus and walk down to the Pantheon
instead. Out of nowhere we see all these cool buildings and take little
detours. It was amazing. We were in a completely different part of town.
Where our apartment is seems to be the slum area, but this place was where
you would want to go on your honeymoon. Some of the buildings were HUGE!

During our long and enjoyable walk, us girls realized that we were finally
getting over our culture shock. I really have never understood culture shock
until now. Frankly, I believe you must experience it before you can fully
understand what it is like. The first day when we got here I did NOT like it
at all. I had no idea it was going to be this different. But then I slowly
got used to it as time went by. Yesterday was the first day that I actually
LOVED this area and we all believed that the culture shock time was over.

The Pantheon was a great place! That building is huge! They don't build
things like that anymore. It fit the phrase, "Do not judge a book by its
cover" perfectly. Outside the building was all run down and the inside was
spectacular to see. Huge and decorated with the most beautiful marble walls
and columns. We sat out in the square for a long time, ate at McDonald's
(saving money since we went to the Hard Rock), attempted to upload pictures
at the Internet cafe....ugh, still no luck, and then headed out for our
night tour.

Man, does the city come to life when it is dark out! There were clowns,
sword eaters, singers, accordion players, beautifully lit fountains, and
many more wonderful sites.

We were all extremely exhausted when we got back to the apartment. So much
so that today all we are doing is going to the train station to validate our
tickets and go see the castle.

What a day!

Hugs to all,

Ladybug

European Update 7/10

Hey y'all,

We are now on day three of our trip. And we still haven't killed each
other...{shifty look} Yet.

Getting use to the culture here has been the most interesting experience
thus far. Talk about culture shock. Today we visited Vatican City and all
the wonder that lay inside. Saint Peter's Basilica was really cool and big.
I mean really big. Really, really big. Breath-takingly big. Quite literally.
It seemed we were climbing steps all day, Oh.. wait we where. ^_^ there
where 551 steps up to the cupola (dome) and 551 down, a few hundred steps
that seemed unneeded in the Vatican itself and probable another 300 in
various other places.

Underneath Saint Peter's Basilica there are some catacombs. Not the skulls
lined up against the wall kind of catacombs, but the kind where there are
popes buried in their coffins. No skulls involved at all. The coffins
themselves were decorated usually having a depiction of the pope inside. The
only exceptions to this was the two most recent, which look just like big
grave stones.

The Vatican was filled with paintings on the ceiling, the walls, everywhere.
There was no escape. It was so cooooooool. You were allowed to take pictures
everywhere but the Sistine Chapel. But that did not stop a single soul from
taking at least one. People were quickly pulling out their cameras, snapping
the shot, then putting it back in just as fast. And listen to this. There
was NO LAYING ON THE GROUND!!!! To my disappointment. But the rule breaker I
am, I did it anyway. ;) Though only for a split second. Oh good times.

Hugs to all,
Doodle

European update 7/9

This one is coming to you a little early, since we're already done for the
day. ;-)

Today we spent all our time in Vatican City, and once again I was stunned by
how much more there was than I expected. St. Peter's Basilica was vast
beyond anything I had guessed, even given the size of the courtyard that
appears so often in films. We didn't have to wait the 2 hours in line like
we were "supposed" to; it only took an hour to get in. Everywhere were
statues and paintings and ornate carvings that were very large compared to
what you see in fancy buildings like the Capitol over in the U.S. They
definitely went for grandeur, but when you were in the building it didn't
feel overlarge.

What did feel overlarge, in a sense, was the trek up to the top of the
cupola (dome). Supposedly it was only 550 steps, but I'm not so sure about
that. Regardless, they were intensely dangerous steps. The first half was
decent, if steep, but the second half was set after set of increasingly more
difficult steps (as we got more and more tired). They started spiraling,
with no handrail, which was bad enough, but the spiral grew tighter and the
steps grew shorter the higher you went. At one point the steps were only
about 15 inches wide, and the spiral about 3 feet across altogether. But
making it to the top was worth it. The view was magnificent, and that part
of Italy (a half hour's travel from our apartment) looked much more upscale
and "traditionally European". Getting down however...the tight, steep
spirals, all without handrails, made descending a nightmare. I'm surprised
no one fell, especially given how we were all slightly dizzy from our trip
up.

After that, we went to the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum. The signage
there was deceitful, IMO. (for reference, the museum is a large square
building with a courtyard hollowing out the middle; it's extremely large
though) A few feet after we entered the building, there were two signs: one
pointing towards Etruscan and Roman art, and the other pointing towards the
Sistine Chapel and religious art. Naturally we went to the latter first. So
we walked, and we walked, and there was some amazing art. I'm not fond of
art at the museums we've been to before, but everything here was worth it.
The sculptures of various Roman mythological figures and emperors were
stunning in person, and almost every wall and ceiling was painted and
engraved in complex and ornate paintings. But we were walking, and walking,
and walking, and no Sistine Chapel. Every few hundred yards there'd be a
sign indicating the direction we should go to reach it, but we never did. We
must have walked two or three miles in that museum, at least, and up and
down more flights of stairs (by this time we were sick of them), before
finally getting to it. It was more amazing added on top of what we'd already
seen; the biggest surprise was how small a part the most famous piece of it
is, and how it almost fades into the magnificence of the whole.

We decided to leave after this, but here is another point where signage in
the Vatican Museum was deceitful. Every so often was a sign pointing to
"exit" ("uscita", actually), but we had to walk around the entire rest of
the building (the Sistine Chapel was about halfway around the courtyard from
where we started) to find just a door to get out. *sigh* And we were already
pretty worn by that time, so we were exhausted by the time we got back to
the subway (more stairs, ugh) to get to our station and a place to eat. One
of the really nice things about Rome is their outdoor shady seating in most
restaurants; very refreshing after a long day's walk.

We didn't get back here until 5:30, and we're probably going to crash here
until dinner, and then go to bed. So far, it seems like everyone is getting
tired and worn out (and hungry, for that matter) at about the same time. Not
much debate about anything else, either, but I'm glad I don't have worry
about wearing myself out before everyone else. We were all discussing
things, and we think that by tomorrow we'll be fully used to the climate and
time schedule. It's almost feeling normal, although most of the culture
shock stuff is still confusing.

Oh, did I ever mention that our apartment is four floors up? Most of the
time we've taken the stairs (I'm not sure I'll ever want to see stairs again
after the thousands we must have walked on today), but there's also this
itty bitty elevator that barely holds 3 people, and even then it has to be 3
people who are comfortable in each others' space. It looks a bit unstable,
since the motor is very simple, but seems to work just fine and is quite
cute. And better than using the stairs.

Love to all,
MerryK


_______________________________________________________


Hello everyone,

Day 2 in Rome is almost over and we are all exhausted. We went over to the
Vatican City to see the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, and the
Vatican Museum. It was quite a trip. Here is how it went:

1. Find breakfast. This was our first time ever ordering from someone who
only spoke Italian. It was difficult, but we got things done. (Dad did most
of the talking...ok..all of the talking.)

2. Hopped on the metro (subway) and took a nice short ride over to the city.
When we got off there were tons of English speaking people trying to
persuade all the tourists to buy tours of the Vatican in English. That was
too funny because they would follow you around and continue to talk to you
even though you already said no.

3. Vatican City: waited in line for an hour to enter the Basilica and all I
can say is, "wow." That place is huge and beautifully made. Our group did
decide to venture on up the stairs to the top of the dome to get the great
view. Yep, all 551 steps. Let me say that again. 551 STEPS. We were huffing
and puffing by the time we got to the top. To be honest, I even felt sick
and had to sit down and eat a little bit of a power bar and drink some
water. Doing all that in the heat was not my cup of tea. But the view made
up for all of it and we can now say we have been to the top.

SIDENOTE: Let me give you an estimate on how many stairs we walked today.
Approx. 80 steps in the morning, 551 going up to the dome, 551 coming down,
and another 200 or so at the Sistine Chapel and on the way back. No more
steps today please.

4. Sistine Chapel: Next we headed over to the Vatican Museum. There are so
many neat statues and paintings. Almost every wall in that place is covered
in a painting. Everywhere you looked had something that was an amazing
creation. There were some beautiful statues of the Roman God's. Then of
course was the Sistine Chapel. No picture that I have ever seen in a book
could explain that painting. That room is covered from ceiling to floor. It
was breath taking. Of course, you are not allowed to take any pictures in
there. sigh. Yet, like I said just being able to see it in person was
wonderful.

5. We finished off the day with some gelato and then lunch near the train
station. We did our usual ceremony of the switching of the foods while
everyone tried the different meals. That way we each order something
different, but get to taste 5 foods. Delicious!

Now we are hanging around the apartment either: taking naps, reading,
laundry, writing stories, or on the computer. This has been the perfect
vacation thus far. :)

Lots of love,

Ladybug

European update 7/8

Hello everyone!

Well, I will admit that I am a little tired from the trip, but all in all I
am glad to be here. Yesterday's flights were a little long and tiring, but
from my experience they were not bad at all. I thought the little TV's were
great to get your mind off of the time.

I will say the best thing was the homeopathic "jetlag" stuff that we took
every two hours. It is supposed to help you get over the jetlag quickly so
you can move on with your life or vacation. For me, it definitely worked,
although my clock is still a little off. And I am not the only one. All use
girls woke up around 6am when we were suppose to sleep until 8am. Maybe
being excited has something to do with that too. :)

Today's plan is to take it easy and walk around Rome and see the Colosseum,
the Forum other ruins. Our roommates have been sightseeing for the last 2
days and gave us some good tips. They said. "Take your time! Rome is a lot
smaller than you think. They did almost all the sightseeing in one day and
are now going back for more in depth looks at things."

It is about 7:30am now and all of us girls are now ready to go. MerryK is
reading some papers, Doodle is looking at herself in the mirror, I am on the
computer and they boys are still in bed.

That is all for now.

Chow!

Ladybug

NOTE: Ladybug has uploaded some pictures to her blog, so you can go there
and see some of the places they have been here:
http://christianlifeinthe21century.blogspot.com/
______________________________________________________________


Hello,

All is well here in Rome. We went to the Colosseum today and it was amazing.
To see such old buildings with so much history behind them was great. It
was also hot and muggy. This made it very tiring and we were dead by lunch.
We ended up coming back to the apartment once we had finished lunch by way
of a market close to us. They had some of the weirdest fish in the market.
There was definitely squid and something else that looked like a crayfish
but was big like a lobster, yuck. I figured out how to keep children from
being so wild. Take them on a long exhausting hike in hot, muggy weather
and they are sleeping by 6 pm. I shouldn't say too much; I died at 3 pm and
took an hour nap! We think we are still getting over some of the jet lag.

Rome is an interesting place. It is definitely expanding everyone's view of
the world and how it is different from home. Most of the streets are small
and everything is packed together. It reminds me of New York city also.
The graffiti and how everything just seems to be dirty even though there is
not much trash laying around. Mitchell got a big kick out of the sirens.
They sound different from the ones at home and they sound just like the ones
in the movies (like in the Pink Panther). Getting around by walking and the
metro (subway) is not too bad. We have not gotten lost, yet! It is so
funny to try counting out money. It is very similar to American money, but
just because they say euros your mind goes all a flutter and gets it mixed
up.

No one is getting on anyone's nerves yet. We still seem to be one, big
happy family. The language barrier over here is not too bad. Most people
speak English, especially those dealing with tourists. Although, it is
still uncomfortable trying to talk to someone. I get very self conscious
when they are having trouble understanding me. But, you just keep going and
eventually they figure out what you are trying to pantomime. Time to go
check on the sleeping children. Ciao!

Waldo Pepper

_______________________________________________________________

Mom, Dad, and all,

Jet lag hit everyone today. We were all up at around 6/7, even after going
to bed at around midnight, and so we got an early start on the day. We
walked to the Colloseum, but ended up going to the Roman Forum first. The
reason for this? Michelle Obama is in Rome and was touring the Roman Forum
at 11am, so we had to be out of there by then. She wouldn't be at the
Colloseum until 3pm. Even in Rome you can't escape Obamamania. ;-) However,
the Roman Forum was far more amazing than I thought it would be. It's not
something someone can describe to you and make sound cool, I think; there's
just a feel about it that's old and majestic, and you can walk right up to
it and through it. And up on one of the hills, you could look out over many
of the older buildings in that part of Rome, domes and columns and statues
everywhere. That was worth even the long hike up the steep stairs.

By the time we got to the Colloseum, though, I at least was starting to feel
a little worn, both from jet lag and from not having a large breakfast (it
being about 11:30 by then, too). It was a lot how I had pictured it, though
not the museum section. We were all worn by then, and needing lunch, and
after that we didn't want to walk anywhere else so we went back to our
apartment. However, we made a stop at the market a couple blocks away, and
found that the produce here is amazingly inexpensive. We bought a lot of
fruit and a few vegetables to take as snacks for the next couple days. Once
we got back to the apartment, though, we all crashed for a couple hour nap.
By the time everyone was up, it was after 7pm and time for dinner and now
we're back and it's almost 11pm. We'll go to the Vatican tomorrow.

Apart from the jet lag, today was a really great day. And in fact, getting a
few hours of 'siesta' was nice too, despite the reason for it; the pace is
really easygoing and we're enjoying ourselves. The food here is excellent,
especially any dishes with cheese. Everything here has a rich, fresh flavor.
Though it's strange to walk down the streets and see as many pizzerias and
gelatterias as the teriyaki/Chinese/Pho noodle restaurants in the Seattle
area combined. Almost no ethnic variety in restaurants at all, and for that
matter, not so much among the people either.

That's not the only thing that's markedly different. Culture shock has also
hit; it's impossible to feel at home here. People aren't rude or anything,
but everything is different everywhere you go. I think the best word to
describe Rome is chaos. We have to jaywalk for 95% of the time, the cars and
motorbikes go every which way they want to (I'm not sure they have traffic
laws other than don't crash and don't hit pedestrians), the streets are not
in a neat grid-like shape, and the roads and sidewalks themselves require
all your attention not to trip. Almost nothing is labeled; hardly any signs,
and what ones there are aren't easy to find or read (stone engraving, not
letters on a background). No billboards either, for the most part. Also,
we've seen some pretty scandalous commercials on the public TVs in the
Metro. And speaking of that, the subway is one of the best things about
Rome&lsqauo;I really enjoy it as a way to travel, simple and fast. It's not bad,
just disconcerting; I'm glad that we're finishing up our trip in England,
which should be much less a culture shock (and minus the language barrier)

The weather was the same as yesterday, hot and muggy. Most of the time I
enjoyed it, actually, but when I was really worn and had low blood sugar,
the shade was most welcome. The worst thing about it was that your water
bottle only stayed cool for about an hour. There are public water fountains
everywhere, so we could refill often, but even after an hour it was more
warm than lukewarm.

It's only our second day but we get along really nicely as a group.
Especially at meals, where we ended up rotating our plates pretty frequently
so we all got to eat a little off many plates. I'm finally starting to get a
handle on the conversion of euros and kilograms, I think, and it's hard to
think in Washington time at all.

Love to all,
MerryK

_____________________________________________________

Hello,

It looks like we all love to write emails. So, here is another. :P

Today we went to the Forum and say tons of ancient ruins. It was a huge
place! I had no idea it was going to be so big. It was pretty hot today, but
I didn't start feeling it until around 11am. One thing I have to say is
those powder Gatorade packs that you can pour into your water bottles are
life savers!! We need to find more of those and stock up on them.

One odd thing about today was the fact that the Forum and Colosseum were
closing early for the afternoon. After a few helicopters flying around and
some chatter, we found out that the First Lady (yes, Michelle Obama) was
planning to visit those locations. Ha, so we go half way around the world
and our President's wife follows us.

Us girls and my brother also had some fun with the ancient rocks. Doodle has
been upset about not being able to touch the Stonehenge when we go there. So
we all decided to get a picture with us all touching some ancient rocks that
we COULD touch. Fun. :)

The second place we went to was the Colosseum. That was really neat and big.
The best part about our Roma Pass was we got to skip the ticket line and go
straight to the entrance. Sweet.

Later in the day we all got hit with nap attacks and realized that we had
not avoided jetlag completely. Some of us slept for an hour and others slept
for a couple more. I will not name who (cough...Doodle)

The day was then finished off by having dinner at an outdoor cafe near a
neat old looking church.

All in all it was a great day.

Ladybug

European update 7/7 PM

Here is the first update we received from the travelers! I will send all updates, no matter who wrote them, so it may not be MerryK each day, but you should be getting info about the trip regardless of who typed it in. Hope you enjoy them!

This one is from MerryK:

We finally got to our hotel, 10pm Rome time. Not only was our first flight
delayed an hour, but so was the second. And there's a story to go with that.
747s suck. They're huge, sure, but their seats are the most terrible ever.
Technically they're wide enough for people with broad hips/shoulders, but
the pattern of the curve and cushioning makes it almost impossible to fit
comfortably. Despite the individual television screens, which granted
distracted us quite a bit, that part of the trip was awful. I stayed awake
to watch a movie and a half, then dozed a couple hours and watched another
movie before we landed in Heathrow. Sadly, there was a thunderstorm over
Heathrow (rain? over England? how strange!) which caused horrific
turbulence. Our landing felt like riding a wooden rollercoaster that was a
little too old, except you couldn't see the tracks to know what was coming.
Definitely kept us awake. It was about at that point that I started to feel
the jet lag.

Then the weather delayed our flight to Rome an hour, but only after we were
loaded on the plane. This plane, though smaller, had very comfortable seats.
And oh, British Airlines serves great food, and *lots* of it. Arriving in
Rome, it was pretty hot and muggy, though I think it's about perfect
weather. The toilets here have no toilet seats, and two flush handles,
though we couldn't figure out the difference between the two. Downtown Rome
is rather frightening. Drivers behave like pedestrians here; vaguely staying
on one side of the road, but dodging in and out of lanes as they choose.
There are technically sidewalks, but a lot of time there's just jaywalking.
Graffiti is everywhere, but I'm not sure how culturally significant that is
here. Everything is old and worn down too, and all the streets are an
ankle-twisting mixture of cobblestones and asphalt at varying heights. And
people here hug and kiss *everyone*, though not us thankfully.

It's night here now, and given all the jet lag and the varying small naps I
took on our flights, I'm ready for it. I think my internal clock is entirely
messed up and grasping on to this time as just something steady. But I'm
definitely feeling drained.

Love from everyone,
MerryK

P.S. British bathrooms have portion controlled toilet paper, basically
folded like individual napkins. Odd, but not too odd.

European update - July 7th

For those who do not know, our MerryK left for a European holiday yesterday along with some dear friends. We are hoping to post updates from the group, as they become available.

Our cast of travelers are:

Waldo Pepper - Loving father and mastermind of the trip. You should see the amazingly organized binders he left us with all the trip info, schedules, contacts, and itineraries. Amazing!

Ladybug - 21, daughter of Waldo Pepper and co-organizer of the trip

Mitchell - 12, son of Waldo Pepper

Doodle - 17, daughter from another family

MerryK - 20, our dear daughter

The group left last night on British Airways around 8pm. The flight was delayed 1 hour. They made a connection in London and are now in Rome! Please keep them all in your daily prayers for the next 3 weeks.

Star Trek and Optimism

Currently, one of the biggest movies at the box office is the new Star Trek movie. This is a surprise to many, given that mentioning the TV show usually results in eye-rolling from people, or at least conjures up pictures of uncomfortably overgeeky fans. The original show, or rather franchise, was the cheesy idealistic product of its time—something that needed to be 'rebooted' to be tolerable in our times.

That was what this movie was supposed to be, as evidenced by the tagline for trailers: "This is not your father's Star Trek"

But I don't think that that is the reason why this Star Trek movie is a hit among vast numbers of both fans and non-fans. Drama is king today. Dark, gritty realism is in fashion. As audiences, we're supposed to have moved on from that childish view of a universe where all alien races could live in harmony in a lovely socialistic society.

Yet...for all that I didn't vote for him, look who the vast majority in this country just elected president. An idealistic dreamer, someone who (whether it's true or not) is supposed to symbolize hope. We pretend that we know that the world is tough and dark, especially post 9/11. But as a society, we secretly long for something happier.

That's what Star Trek brings to today's audiences. The 'reboot' to the franchise is not to make the tone darker, more gritty. Instead, it's only slightly adjusted for today's times. There's a major event in the movie, clearly meant to symbolize what happened on 9/11, but it doesn't cloud over the rest of the story. The characters mourn and grieve, and then they move on and make things better, not forgetting the brightness and goodness that can be found in humanity even after crises.

It's this that appeals to audiences, I believe. Sure, the visual effects are stunning, the action breathtaking and the soundtrack stunning—but plenty of movies have offered that in recent years. What Star Trek has that they didn't, though, is that sense of hope and triumph. Optimism. It's almost completely lacking in "grown-up" movies these days outside dumb comedies and "based on a true story" films, and it's what's so utterly refreshing about Star Trek as an epic good vs. evil film. Star Trek has trials, but Star Trek has characters who love and tease and make friends during them. And in the end, it tells us that good people who work together will overcome even the darkest of odds.

Star Trek doesn't forget that there will be evil and terrible things in the future—but it doesn't forget either that people rise to the challenge, and optimism and humor are not out of place even when the world may be at stake.

Our family is walking in the Walk 4 Water in Tacoma, WA this weekend. This organization works to raise funds to provide clean water for millions through building wells.
18% of the world gets their water from rivers, ponds and puddles. Can you imagine what that would like?

Watch the videos HERE and you will see for yourself.

Here are some stats:
* Gathering water takes on average 3 hours a day.
* The average distance to get water is 4 miles.
* Women and children are responsible to gather water.
* Children often forgo schooling due to the time spent getting water.
* 4 people die EVERY MINUTE from water related diseases.
* 3,300 people are served with just 1 well.

I often feel helpless to make a difference. What can my few dollars do to save these people? Together, my few dollars, plus your few dollars, plus your friends few dollars all add up to enough to make a difference. Please consider supporting this great cause today. Go HERE to donate. Thank you!

UPDATE: The group in Tacoma raised enough to build 1 entire well! Thank you to all who donated!