Greece

Guess what I did today....I jumped off this bridge. NO JOKE!! We were on our way for a day trip to Corinth. We stopped at the Corinth Canal, built thousands of years ago, connecting the 2 seas. There was a bungee-jumping place (featured on the Amazing Race last season!) and some of us really wanted to do it! I really wanted to do it....so 5 guys from our team and myself signed up to jump. Our whole group got to come out onto the bridge to watch and take pictures. It was AWESOME! I loved it. The initial jumping off part was scary but such a great feeling. I have some sweet pictures of me with a really scared look on my face!! I'll have to get some of those pics up soon.

Work here in Athens has been really good so far. I'm tired, but I've been learning so much and been challenged. These refugees really have an impact on my life. It's hard to sum it up in a few words right now, but God is really working on me as I think about my future ministry and loving people, and serving them, and building friendships with people. It's really cool.

We've done a feeding ministry, English classes, home visits, a kids program, a prayer walk, and a worship service so far. Tomorrow we are taking free family or individual portraits for anybody that wants one. I hope lots of people will show up.

p.s. I love Greek food. Tzatziki sauce, fried cheese, souvlaki, feta cheese, pita bread. yum!

Paris

Susannah, Grace, and I had quite the adventures in Paris...

The first night we went on a cruise on the Seine River, to the Eiffel Tower at night (which is gorgeous), and walked around the Arc de Triomphe, and down the Champs Elysees.

The second day we all split up and did different things. I walked to Notre Dame because I heard there were free English tours at 12pm. This little old lady was the tour guide...a British lady who has lived in Paris for 30 years. Her name was Marita Kern and she was just so cute. There were only 3 of us in the group. It was really neat to talk with her and learn so many things about this amazing Church. I stayed there for 2 1/2 hours...she talked alot but it was interesting (not about Notre Dame the whole time, but about life and faith and theology etc.) I'm very glad I went. I strolled through the streets, ate a croissant (yumm!) and had a really nice afternoon.

That night Susannah and I hung around the hotel, went to buy some groceries and found a local Parisian restaurant for supper. (totally out of the touristy areas). I used my limited French and ordered some supper. It was lots of fun.

On our last day in Paris, we went out to see the Palace of Versailles. It is a 40 minute train ride outside Paris. We navigated the Metro pretty well and the Palace and gardens were beautiful!! We split up for a bit and were supposed to meet at 5pm to go back. I waited for Grace and she didn't show up....we were getting worried and waited for a couple hours. Finally we decided that we should just go back and she would find her way. We had to take a bunch of different metro lines to get back to our hotel. Later that night we found Grace, she had decided to stay longer and thought that we wouldn't wait for her...she was going to find her own way back! We were very happy to see her though!!

Susannah and I got up at 3am to get to the airport to fly to Greece. We had kind of a creepy, too-friendly, taxi driver. We were happy to get to the airport. He offered to take us for coffee at 3:30am....NO THANK YOU!

I liked Paris...there is lots to see and I really liked the architecture and river area. Definitely a place I'd like to explore some more. (and brush up on my French)

More Pictures

Venice

Prague

Grace in Venice

On the Grand Canal in Venice
Lunch in Prague

A yummy coffee in Prague

Switzerland--my "almost" adventure

We just spent 2 days in Switzerland (which is a beautiful country). I was really looking forward to going paragliding. There is an adventure company near Luzern where I was going to do this. Susannah even drew a picture on my hand because I was so excited.

I called the company in the morning and the weather was pretty nice, but they said it was too windy to go up! I was really disappointed...I've always wanted to jump off a cliff. Susannah was a little bit relieved that I wasn't going :) ...because if I was, she was so torn whether or not to come with me! Anyway, I'm glad to report that I'm still alive. I'll just have to go paragliding sometime at home. Anybody want to come with me????

This is what I COULD've looked like (above)

This is as close as I came to paragliding in Switzerland! (below)

p.s. You may wonder who "Muffy" is....well Susannah has given me that nickname on this trip and we have had numerous laughs about it. It started with me making a comment that my hair looked like a poodle...how come I always get nicknames from my hair? :)

Along the lake in Lugano

"The Old Chapel Bridge" in Luzern

We went to a Swiss Alpine show in Luzern. It was quite fun....they had all types of Swiss music (I even learned how to yodel--ask me for a demonstration sometime!). There was the big "ricola" horns, bells, bottles, accordians, etc. It also included a traditional cheese fondue which was delicious! It was a fun night.

"Yvonne passes out trying to maintain a tradition of holding her breath through a tunnel"

Yes, the other day we drove through the Gotthard tunnel is Switzerland, which is 17 km long!!! No, I didn't actually try and hold my breath but I tell you, that would have been quite the feat. The tunnel goes through a mountain and you can imagine that often the weather can be quite different entering the tunnel than exiting it.

Venice the magical city

Venice

the beautiful Grand Canal

taking a water taxi

For the last few days, I`ve been in Italy, enjoying their delicious coffee, and trying not to get pooped on by the hoards of pigeons. It`s been quite hot, which is nice for a change...to be out in the sunshine!!! yahoo. From Germany we drove through the Austrian Alps down into Italy.
We stayed in Venice, which is a beautiful city. The city is built on wooden piles in the middle of a lagoon. Quite amazing actually. Walking through some of the backstreets, I was reminded of India (some of the smells). We took a gondola ride...which was even serenaded by this funky Italian guy. All the streets are water, so we also took water taxis down the Grand Canal, passing water buses, private boats, and also some cruise ships.

"Yvonne`s Gelato marathon in Italy"... it was my goal in Italy to try as many types of gelato as I could. I won`t tell you how many it ended up being. ha ha But if you guess the right number, I`ll take you out for a gelato sometime, ok?

We are staying in the small town of Lugano, Switzerland. It is in the Italian lake district and they still speak Italian here. It is a beautiful town...looks similar to Harrison Hot Springs. Tonight we walked around the town, it is quite pleasant.

Happy Mother`s Day Mom (and Heather and Grandma too!) I was thinking about you....hope you have a nice day! Love you

Prague, Czech Republic

Did you know that Prague is the world's 6th most visited city?

1. London 2. Paris

3. New York City 4. Rome

5. Florence 6. Prague

A view of the city of Prague. We are looking down from Prague Castle and a monastery that is on the hill.

The city was amazingly not destroyed during the World Wars and so most historic buildings remain intact. Last night we took a night tour of the city. It was absolutely beautiful. We walked across Charles Bridge, their famous pedestrian bridge. It is 650 years old and still holding up thousands of people each day! I love learning about the history of this country...all the way from Roman times, through the wars, through communism, and how the country is changing today.

Prague at night (in the main square of the Lesser Quarter). During the day, this square is packed with people! This night is was quiet. These horses are waiting to take people for carriage rides through the cobblestone streets.

The beautiful downtown square (daytime and nighttime views). Today in this square we had lunch--a traditional Czech meal of goulash, dumplings, and green beans.


We were on our feet for almost 6 hours today! In addition to walking everywhere, Susannah and I got a good workout from laughing. We got the giggles at the hotel and couldn't stop. We were running up the stairs to our 8th floor room and oh my, we just about didn't make it. Grace, Susannah, and I have been having a lot of fun together. They are great travel partners.

Rhine Cruise

The other day (I can't remember when...my days seem to all blend together!), on our way from Amsterdam to Frankfurt, we stopped and took a 2-hr cruise on the Rhine River. Vineyards, small villages, and castles line the banks of the river. By the end of the cruise it started raining and blowing quite hard...all the chairs on the top deck were blowing everywhere.

Cruising the Rhine

A castle up on the hilltop

We stopped in Nuremberg (in the Bavaria region of Germany) on our way from Frankfurt to Prague. This city was quite significant during the time of Nazi Germany. The Nazi party held many rallies here and eventally the war tribunals were held here as well. This is Nuremberg Castle behind me. We were here for lunch...down in the main square they had this cute market with flowers, vegetables, fruit, and fresh gingerbread. I ate pastries for lunch. (don't worry mom, I don't do this everyday! ha ha)

flowers in the market

Throughout most of Europe there are open borders between countries (many countries are part of the European Union and use the Euro as currency.) The Czech Republic has just recently joined the European Union but still has border patrol (we had to stop and show our passports) and they use Czech Crowns for currency.

We had a picnic at the border (we've been doing that a lot...picnicing that is.) We usually take some extra fruit/bread from breakfast and eat it during the day. We've been pretty good and scrimping and saving our money! But not so much that we don't enjoy ourselves. It's one of those balance things....it's nice to travel and enjoy a vacation, but at the same time I want to spend my money wisely. I realize that being able to travel and experience these things is a blessing from God.

Krista, I know what you mean about wearing the same coat all the time while travelling. :) I think the reoccuring theme in all my pictures is going to be my red jacket!