Things I have realized that I love:
- · Leaning out of the window in a big city to feel the cool wind on my face as I watch the people pass below.
- · The smallness and inspiration I feel in the face of gargantuan, snow-capped mountains, not to mention a renewed wish for wings to soar amongst them with (I hope we can fly in heaven!! Is that too much to ask?).
- · The Stone Mountain Laser Show J
- · German pancakes. It’s an actual cake. In a pan. It’s huge, and it has blueberries in it and ice cream on top. And it is probably one of the most delicious things on this planet.
- · The innocence and endearing absurdity of small town life.
- · The shade of tall trees leaning over a dirt path after miles of smoldering pavement.
- · Discussing Lord of the Rings with someone who knows eons more about it than I do (*cough* Trey’s a nerd *cough*).
- · Speaking and being understood in a language that is not my own. Human connections that span the language gap are often the sweetest, albeit the subtlest.
- · Associating familiar and well-loved music with the various and new landscapes that unfold beyond a train window.
- · Seeing the image of God displayed in more cultures and people than I could ever imagine or comprehend.
I feel overwhelmed with the idea of approaching all that I’ve experienced since the last time I wrote. Therefore, I regretfully beg your pardon for the gaps and confusion that will follow. If you’re really that curious, we can get coffee some time and I’ll tell you all about it. This whole experience (Oxford and Europe and the whole deal) has been the longest, most overwhelming and most exciting adventure of my life to date. ;)
Paris, I will explain in fewer words than it deserves (not necessarily because of the merit of the city itself, but because of the joy, exasperation, refreshment and general hilarity we found being there together as a family). The sights of Paris are endless, and we saw many beautiful and meaningful things, but overall I think I will treasure the hysterical laughter we shared during and after the Sewer tour, and the triumph and awe we received atop Notre Dame, and the transport and wonder we discovered at the Garnier Opera above and beyond the tourist destinations themselves. Paris was beautiful, but being there with my family made it even more so! (One might presume that I missed them quite a bit the past few months at Oxford…)
Trey and I said our farewells to Mom, Dad and Paris on June 21st and set out on our grand adventure. Since then we have traveled Paris to Strasbourg, Strasbourg to Geneva, Geneva to Gimmelwald, Gimmelwald back to Geneva, Geneva to Munich, and tomorrow we leave Munich for Vienna. Phew… It makes me tired just remembering it all. Every city we’ve been to or traveled through has had something beautiful or endearing about it that I will carry around in my pocket; years from now, I will pull them back out and unfold each memory with a smile and a longing.
Strasbourg is near the border of France in Bavaria. It was a friendly, smaller town that gave us the rest and welcome we needed to recover from the frantic, rude nature of Paris. The city itself was picturesque with it’s Bavarian wood beamed buildings, lazy waterways and charming Cathedral (not to mention that the people were warm and more than willing to engage and communicate with two very clueless American kids). We bummed around the city for a day, seeing the Cathedral and taking a boat tour, which had an adorably strange multi-lingual commentary. On our second day we saw the decorative arts museum (which was extremely nice, and extremely empty, and altogether odd. In other words, we loved it!), and then rented bikes to venture further out and picnic beside the water, and see Strasbourg’s two lovely public gardens.
I feel as though I were writing a tourist guide, but nonetheless… Strasbourg was really nice because they are seeking to become a bigger tourist destination, but are not there quite yet. This means that they were thrilled to see us, and were still friendly in a smaller town sort of way, but at the same time, they had really good tourist deals, and the place just isn’t that crowded. Trey and I spent 11 Euros on a tourism pass that got us the bikes, the boat ride, up to the top of the Cathedral platform, in to see the astronomical clock at the Cathedral, and into the decorative arts museum. In other words, it got us everything we did for two full days for completely free, and we didn’t even take advantage of all its perks. So, in other words, if you’re planning a trip to France, Strasbourg might be nice! And they would adore me for saying that… :)
Another highlight of Strasbourg was a tiny little Kebab store we discovered. The night we arrived, Trey and I stumbled into this place because it smelled like food and we were starving. While awaiting our tasty brochette sandwich, he noticed that everyone in the place was speaking Arabic, and when we went back the next day (it was so good we had to get some more) Trey spoke some Arabic with the guy that served us. Turns out he is from Morocco, and it was so cool to see the way his face lit up when he heard Arabic (and specifically Moroccan words and phrases) coming out of Trey’s mouth. The last thing he expected from a big pasty American kid (no offense bro!) was to hear his own language. It was so awesome.
Geneva came next and threatened to dampen our spirits, but charmed us in the end. The part of town we stayed in was overwhelmingly large and… well… ugly. However, thanks to the kindness and enthusiasm of an American we met in the Co-op, we discovered that we could jump on a tram (I incurably referred to them as trolleys—often accompanying the reference with a rendition from “Meet Me in St. Louis”—much to Trey’s chagrin) and find ourselves in some very cool places. We went to the UN building and listened to the joyful shrieks of little children as they played in the fountains while we admired a very very large, three-legged chair (a sculpture in honor of victims of land mines). Then we rode to the other side of town and sauntered through the old city, where we saw the Reformers Wall, picnicked in a park and providentially stumbled upon the Reformation museum, as well as the Auditoire De Calvin which is A Scottish Presbyterian church that was founded by Calvin as a haven for protestant refugees of all languages to meet, worship and receive the teaching of John Knox. In the words of John Holberg: Oh Yeah.
Geneva ended up having a lot to offer and it rests in my mind as a very lovely city where families are thriving. Everywhere we went we ran into some kind of park where parents were watching their children mingle and play: everyone’s urban ideal. It was a bit sad to see that the general populace, as well as the tourist crowd was not hugely interested in all the Reformation history laying at their feet, especially considering that Calvin was basically responsible for putting the place on the map (the population doubled when he encouraged it as a haven for protestant refugees). However, we were able to appreciate it for its historical impact, as well as its general niceness as a European city, and as a melting pot today just as much as it was during the reformation.
**To be continued**
