natalie’s blog

So I guess I let January in the blog world slip by me. Oops. At least I have a good excuse. I was traveling the world. Well, Europe anyway. My time overseas was wonderful! Thanks to all who shared in my excitement and offered helpful travel tips. It was an unforgettable experience. I’ve attempted to capture the highlights in the following pictures.

I arrived in Germany just before 8:00 on Christmas morning. Kyle and Jynae arrived a little while later to pick me up. We chatted for most of the 2-hour drive back to Wels, Austria and then spent an hour or so opening Christmas gifts. I was the courier for a bundle of Christmas gifts from Jynae’s family and friends.

We were all exhausted, me from my 15+ hour sleepless journey and they from getting up early to come and get me. After this group shot (with me adorned in the beautiful scarf Jynae got me for Christmas) we all voted in favor of nap time.

My bedroom for the next two and half weeks, lovingly prepared by Jynae and complete with a delicious assortment of fruit!

After our much-needed rest, we were ready to fix Christmas dinner. Kyle and Jynae had planned to stop by the grocery store on our way back into town that morning to pick up a turkey and some other food, but we discovered that everything was closed. So we made do with Turkey Cordon Bleu. Since we had no milk either, we also had to improvise with the mashed potatoes…I don’t think you even want to know what we put in them! Corn, stuffing and a pasta dish completed our scrumptious feast.

We spent most of the first week in Wels adjusting to the time change (they are 7 hours ahead of us). I enjoyed meeting the trainer for Kyle’s team, also named Natalie (pictured above). We had fun hanging out with her and were especially glad for her willingness to accompany us on our trip to the Linz Marcusplatz and translate as needed. On that outing, we enjoyed lunch at a Greek restaurant.

We enjoyed watching Kyle’s team play a couple of games during my visit. They narrowly won this one, with a final score of 77-76, thanks to Kyle’s game-winning free throw.

The day before New Year’s Eve, we left Wels early in the morning and made our way to Vienna - a little less than two hours away. We arrived in time for the morning mass at Die Burgkapelle (pictured behind us through the pillared entryway) where the Vienna Boys’ Choir was singing. Rather than purchase tickets, we waited in line for the free standing room. We didn’t mind standing and left shortly after they finished singing since we didn’t care to stay through the whole service.

At Jynae’s insistence, we took a quick break at the Starbuck’s across the street and then made our way to Augustinerkirche, a church with a fascinating history - it served as home to the weddings of many notable people, namely, Maria Theresa, Marie Antoinette, Napoleon Bonaparte (by proxy apparently…), and others. The interior was pristine!

The choir in the loft, along with several guest soloists and the organist were providing prelude music prior to the morning mass. The sound was glorious and I could have sat and listened all day!

From there we were off to Stephansdom, one of the most famous Vienna landmarks. The marks of war were evident in its facade, but its imposing structure was nonetheless a magnificent sight to behold.

Once again, mass was in service and admittance into the inner sanctuary required payment, so we contented ourselves with standing at the back to admire the architectural excellence and intricate design work throughout the building.

It was a bitter cold day, so we were glad for a brief respite while we ate lunch at a wonderful little Viennese restaurant. The goulash soup was delicious!

Our next and final stop in Vienna was the Schönbrunn Palace. The 1,441 room palace was massive. We spent over an hour walking the grounds and hiking up to Glorietta for a panoramic view of the palace and surrounding area.

Glorietta. We never could figure out what the original purpose of the structure was, but it now houses a small cafe.

The fountains were frozen solid, so Jynae and I slipped and slid our way across the ice just for fun…and to get a picture.

A view of the palace with the city of Vienna in the background. It was overcast and snowy, which made for poor visibility. I’m sure the view would be incredible on a clear day!

The three of us pose in front of Glorietta, quite a large structure in its own right.

Jynae puts on her serious face to assume the role of guard in this concrete guard post. Thus was concluded our time in Vienna.

For New Year’s Eve, Jynae charged me with the responsibility of planning a fun activity. So, I wrote up 12 clues - one for each month of 2007 - highlighting an event that took place that month. I called it, “Journey Through 2007 - Significant, Semi-Significant and Not-So-Significant-At-All Events.” (My inspiration for the game came from Psalm 77:11-15.) Kyle and Jynae had to decipher the clue to figure out what the event was. If they knew it, they could immediately write down the answer in the blanks provided for each letter of the word(s). If they didn’t know the answer, they had the option of using one of 7 lifelines: Google, Wikipedia, Favorite News Site, Dictionary, Call-A-Friend, Call-A-Family-Member or Repeat (where they could reuse one of their lifelines).

I tried to anticipate which ones they would get right away and which ones they would need help figuring out so that I knew how many lifelines to give them. After they figured out each event, they had to stage a picture representing the event, using whatever props or other materials they wanted. That made for some pretty funny pictures! (Perhaps I’ll post the whole set of clues with pictures in a forthcoming post…)

We took a break after the June clue to fix dinner. Kyle thinks he gets to eat all of it…which isn’t that far from the truth.

We welcomed in the New Year from their apartment balcony by watching the random fireworks displays being shot off around the city.

Jynae and I had planned to go to Germany for a visit and since Paris was only four hours further West, we decided to make a road trip of it. We had quite a fiasco with the rental car company, but finally got on the way a little after 9:00 on Thursday morning. When we arrived in Schwarzen, Germany we discovered that the reverse on the manual transmission car apparently did not work. I’ve driven some pretty finicky manual cars before, but try as we might, neither of us could get the gear to shift into reverse. Finally, Jynae had to brave the cold, snowy day to push the car while I steered. (We learned once we got to Trier that there was a special mechanism on the gear shift that had to be raised in order to place the vehicle in reverse…)

Here I am in front of the house where I grew up in Schwarzen, Germany. I was disappointed to see that the current owners have really let it get junky and run-down.

Just for fun I thought I’d scan in a picture of the last time I stood in front of our house…20+ years ago!

Although we missed being able to connect with several of our other neighbors, I was excited to see Daniela and spend some time visiting with her over a cup of hot tea.

Later that night we wound our way into Trier where we unloaded our bags at Dan and Anna’s apartment (our lodging for the next two nights) and walked down to the Trier Zentrum for a tasty German dinner at Zum Domstein. What a treat!

One of the things on my “to do” list on the trip was to eat wiener schnitzel (breaded veal). It was one of my favorites when I was little and I had never had it since we moved back to the States.

The next day Jynae and Anna and I walked around Trier, incidentally the oldest city in Germany. Here’s a shot of the bustling Zentrum.

We visited Dom St. Peter (the Trier Cathedral), built in the 300’s by Constantine the Great. This is a picture looking up from inside the courtyard.

Next stop was this beautiful Baroque Palace, built adjacent to the Trier Basilica.

Just before dark we made it to the famous Porta Nigra (Black Gate). Erected in about 180 A.D., when Trier was still a Roman colony (known as the “Second Rome”), the gate is the oldest defensive structure in Germany. It is truly incredible to see first-hand these structures that were built close to 2,000 years ago!

That night the four of us enjoyed another delicious feast, this time at a hole-in-the-wall authentic Italian restaurant that is one of Dan and Anna’s favorites.

We were up well before dawn the next morning so that we could make it to Paris before noon. We found a great parking place right along the Seine River and this picture does a good job capturing the mood of the day.

Just around the corner was the towering structure of the well-known Notre Dame. This was where we picked up the bus tour - a hop-on-hop-off deal that turned out to be an excellent way to see all the sights of the city and well worth the price! We each received a set of ear buds when we boarded the bus so that we could listen to the running commentary as we passed by historic sites. We sat on the top level of a double-decker bus and had a great view. We could get off at any of the stops along the way to tour or take pictures and then pick up the next bus on the route; the buses ran at about 10-15 minute intervals.

There was so much to see and learn, it was impossible to capture and absorb it all! Here is the famous Arc de Triomphe right before we drove under it.

The Eiffel Tower, of course, was a must-see (not like you can miss it anyway!).

After walking around the Eiffel Tower, we walked down a side street looking for a place to eat lunch and ended up at this cozy French Cafe.

While there we shared a jam-filled crepe - something Nicole had instructed me that I must do for her if I went to France. Even though she was only four the last time we went to France, she still clearly remembers eating and loving crepes!

After we hopped back on the tour bus, we passed many more amazing sites, among them the acclaimed Paris Opera House, designed by Charles Garnier. Seated on three acres of land, the House is 17 stories and seats 2,000. I would have loved to have seen the inside, but time constraints didn’t allow us that opportunity. Perhaps some day…

A trip to Paris would be incomplete without a stop at musee du Louvre, one of the most magnificent buildings I’ve ever seen!

On our way out of Paris, we made one last stop at the Eiffel Tower so that we could see it all lit up. We continued East from Paris about 2 hours to a little town called Beaune, where we had reserved a room at a nice little hotel for the night. After a very short night of sleep, we were off again in the morning by a little after 5:00 so that we would make it back to Linz by 3:00 that afternoon. Our path led us through Bern and then Zurich, Switzerland (we were so intent on making good time that we forgot to take pictures!) before crossing the border into Germany and finally back into Austria. It was an exhausting, but exhilarating few days!

Our final excursion took place the next day, with a trip to Salzburg - home of the Sound of Music and birthplace of Mozart. It rained most of the day, but we had fun anyway.

After a considerable amount of searching and asking for directions, we finally wound our way through the narrow streets to the Mozart Geburtshaus (Mozart’s birthplace).

Here is a shot of the whole house. In spite of the rain, the place was crowded - Europeans are used to walking a lot and the weather doesn’t seem to phase them a bit.

The Mozart Wohnhaus was a lot easier to find and we spent some time perusing the variety of music and Mozart-themed items in the gift shop. We finished off our time in Salzburg with a late lunch at Hotel Sacher Torte where I finally got to try the Austrian culinary specialty, Tafelspitz.

The next couple of days we took it easy (especially since I contracted a cold and really didn’t want to be miserable for the long flight home!) and stayed either in Wels or Linz. We did manage to squeeze in a trip to IKEA - one of my favorite stores (I just wish there was one closer back home here) - to pick up a few last minute gifts. Thursday morning, Natalie and Jynae drove me back to Munich for the flight home. Here we are at the airport for one last picture before I go through security.

As wonderful as my time in Europe was, I was ready to be back on American soil and overjoyed to see my family again. I found numerous signs and welcome home greetings awaiting my return, including this cuddly pair of teddy bears. I am grateful for this incredible and unexpected opportunity that the Lord gave me and for the doors he opened along the way and while there to share the gospel with a couple of people. May I always have a spirit of availability and willingness to go wherever the Lord calls me so that His name is glorified through me.

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