quick update

london is amazing! we are having so much fun. We got to the hostel last night around 11 p.m. and then Mandy and i got food from the cafe in the hostel and ended up talking until 1 a.m. We went straight up stairs to go to bed but i found a nice shock when my bed (assigned by the front desk) had a person in it. i reached on the side to get something and someone's foot moved - yikes! i rand to Mandy to tell her because it freaked me out (the room is dark because we didn't turn on the light considering the time.
All was fine though and we made it to sleep fast. we got up early (a little too early because i didn't change my alarm clock from France time to English time) but went to breakfast before the crouds and then took showers. Mandy's towel is in the bag that the airline lost (though coming tomorrow) so she had to use paper towels to dry off - pretty bad but a good story now.
We then went to a church, the one that hillsong music is from, and then met up with the boys after to walk London and see the sights. we took a break for dinner then off for some great night shots.
tomorrow is Oxford and then a play at night!!
Tuesday is more london and shane comes in!!!
Wednesday is Scotland, can't wait!
times up so love to all,
nat

Day 22...three weeks in and 6 countries down

so again i have to be quick and excuse the typos because being quick on a German keyboard is tuff!
we had so much fun today. We went down the Rhine (which is North) on the train to a town called St. Goar. We hiked up to their castle ruins and did the RS (Rick Steve's) tour. It was so cool. Their old prisons where these dark dungeons that they would drop people into from the top - so horrible! The bathroom was also worth mentioning (i don't have an obsession but they are so different here). so for the guys the urinal flush was a guillotine so you had to be sure to be done before you flush. for the girls, there is a window right behind the toilet and you pull down on this thing to flush it - ps i checked and you could see into the bathroom from outside but you would have to know to look because it was somewhat stain-glass looking. then the water for the sink you have to pump the water - super fun! there is pics of the toilet and i think josh got some of the guys.

so after the tour we went out down the hill a little to a lookout with benches where we ate our picnic - the famous peanut butter and bread - and then read for a bit. we walked down the hill to the town to the local store and into their small church. the town had so much history it was fun. we were searching for this mermaid statue the whole time though so we went back to the TI and she told us it was on the other side of the river further South (we would have gone North). We decided to skip it because it was far past the town and walking on the highway with their driving skills isn't worth the risk. But we splurged on the boat ride back - so much better than the train - and we were able to read more out of RS book about the different sights. We got 5 euros off for being students so it was onlz 2 euros more than the train would have been (too bad we didn't know this morning but i guess we got to see it from two different ways). on the boat we found the story of the mermaid - sarah u will love it! it is so funny but i don't have time to tell it now.

We took pics on the boat and laughed as we froze. Josh got a good pic of me power-walkng to get a picture and also with my tourbook and camera (staple for the trip). i got a good one of him "on a boat" - with a castle in the back - it's a good one.

I got ice-cream at the local shop and it was so good - i will also be having some for dessert. we are eating out tonight and we are both so happy about that! I am getting the famous beef with potato dumplings (not sure but RS said to try it and it is better than peanut butter and bread which was last nights dinner) and josh is having the Schnitzel (german dish). then more ice-cream and then packing for our departure tomorrow.

time is up so my love to all and my whole-hearted thanks to God for these three weeks in Europe - the experiences and lessons - and for being able to talk to Courtney on FB today - great timing and much needed.
ciao!
nat

Thursday on the Rhine

I have to be quick because i am on a timed internet and spent most of my time reading about Courtney's Uganda trip, looking at her pictures and checking my emails.
On Tuesday we went to Strasbourg in France for the night. It was a cute little French town - Josh doesn't like the French but I love them! I got some tea-towels for 3 euros (one for you and me, mom). We found some pretty great historic sights and took great photos.
Yesterday we came to Bacharach on the Rhine and are staying at a cute B&B. It is really relaxing and we saw the whole city in about 2 hours today. Tomorrow we'll go up the Rhine on a day trip to St. Goar and then across the River to see a statue of a mermaid (that's all we know about it - sarah, i'm sending you a postcard about it :)). that should take most of the day, then back here for dinner out and to sleep.
Friday we will fly out to London to meet Josh's Dad, his mom is sick and can't come, and Mandy! Then we have four days in London (shane comes in on Tuesday) then we all go to Scotland for 3 nights. That will end our travels and we will be off to school to learn about God's word!
We've had fun but i think we are both tired of traveling. my rolling suitcase no longer rolls because the wheel broke, so that has been a bummer!
The place we are staying in is owned by Mrs. Doubtfire - she is so nice and very welcoming. She makes great home-made jam too!
That's about all i have time for.
miss and love you all,
Nat

Easter round two

Today:
We woke up at our leisure which was so nice! It was about 9:30 I think and we came out and had breakfast with the family. Then we got ready quickly to go visit a famous town, Tubingen, with Sarah's cousin as our tour guide. She brought her German to English book so she could give us all the details and check on the words she didn't know - but she did an impressive job and was so nice to take us around. The town is where her school (University) is. So we walked the town, took pictures, learned about it and then finished with dessert in a local shop. Then we went to the Ritter Sport chocolate factory but couldn't go in because they were closed for Easter Monday. In Germany they celebrate Easter on Sunday and Monday. Then we left and went home to celebrate Easter with Anita's (Sarah's mom) family. We had dessert and coffee, then played games inside and outside and then enoyed another great meal with their family. I learned a few German phrases to be able to introduce myself to their family and to wish their cousin a happy birthday. That was pretty fun and David, Sarah's little brother, is super patient with me:)

We left around 8:30 and came back to their house where we are staying one more night because the train to our next destination wouldn't have arrived until 9 p.m. and it was a little too late to go into the town so Anita encouraged us to stay - and we are so happy to be here again.

Tomorrow we will have brunch with Sarah and a few of her friends at 9:30 then leave for the train at 11. I am very glad to have one more night in the most comfortable bed, warm house, and sweet family. The Lord, again and again, provides for us as we go along this trip.

Recap:
Quick recap on the days I missed. Friday we went to Rothenburg (because Salzburg was full) and we both loved it. It was so quaint and we had the best pizza in Europe so far! I had mushroom and onion, Josh stayed consistant with Salami.
The town was closed down mostly for Holy Friday (good friday) but we got up early Saturday to do a little shopping :)
We had seperate rooms and were both so excited about that. It may seem silly but after sharing rooms with people in hostels and even just being together so much having our own space was a nice break.

I can't remember if I gave info for Saturday but basically Sarah met us at the station and then we went shopping with her and her friend and brother. we went to her house and found towels, soap and lotion on our beds and water bottles with glasses by them at night. we had an amaying meal and talked with her family at dinner for 2.5 hours. Rebecca, her sister, made cookies so we walked in to the smell of "home" and have just been loving it ever since.

I'm really tired now so goodnight and hope to blog from Strasbourg tomorrow.
my love to all :)
N

Day 17...Stuttgards and an Easter to remember

Happy Easter - not for bunnies but time with family to remember that on the 3rd day Jesus rose, providing the way for us to be saved. He is so good!
This was an Easter I will never forget. Not because I wasn't at home but because God used a family in Germany to shower blessings beyond explanation or words on me and Josh. They not only opened up their house to us, giving up their beds (the two sisters are sleeping in the attic/game room for us), but they took us in and made us feel like we were part of their family. They spoke English for us (because we don't speak German - but the brother, David, is trying to teach me though I'm pretty sure he's having me say weird things because he laughs every time I repeat after him).
Thanks be to the Lord for paving the way for us to share in celebration of his Son in a different culture and different way.

The day...
So we woke up early, 5:00 a.m., to get ready and be at the "Youth Service" - Sunrise service as we'd call it - but we were late and had to stand outside. It was a little bit cold but kind of a neat experience in itself. We made it inside about half way through to stand in the back (in front of people) and share in some worship songs (some were in English, most in German) and then take communion. We also heard the Lord's Prayer in German (I mouthed it in English as everyone else said it out-loud in German together).

We left and came back "home" to crawl into bed and sleep for another 3 hours (we were up until 12 the first night we got in so after only 5 hours of sleep the extra 3 was much appreciated!). We woke to breakfast made by Sarah, her sister and brother - it was delicious and included yogurt, fruit, bread and jams, juice and tea, and salami (which Josh ate - shocked?).

Then we showered and got ready for the day. It's traditional for families to eat a big lunch on Sundays after church so we ate what tasted like a pot-roast - but better - with noodles and some kind of purple vegi that was good too. the whole mean was incredible and it was followed by a latte and chocolate (usually dessert but for Easter they eat dessert with their big family).

(I have to be quick because they are watching a movie so here are the fast hightlights to hopefully expand on later):
Bike-ride through the town, dessert and coffee with their family, present hunt for the kids (they showered Josh and I with gifts of chocolate and other fun things), tossing football outside (monkey in the middle), then games inside, grandma gave me a tea-towel of Easter because she knew I collected them, dinner (toast, ham, pineapple and cheese), more card and board games, good-byes to the family and telling them how amazing the day was for us and how blessed we felt.
Back at the house to enjoy coffee/tea and cookies (I'm sure to have gained all my weight back after this trip - in cookies alone:)). Then talked to my grammy and family on their phone because they have free international calls.

Great day and now off to watch a movie with the girls, their friends and Josh :)

Dinner in Salzburg #2

Quick update on dinner

After last night's vegi pizza I wanted to try something different. There was spaghetti with meat sauce (and we all know how I feel about that) or fried things with fries. So I debated between a different pizza and the pasta which sounded great but the meat situation was holding me back. So, at the encouragement of Josh, I picked pasta. It was really good actually. I didn't eat any of the big meat chunks and there was so much sause left over I could have had seconds on the pasta but all together it was good. It came with a salad too - lettuce (whole pieces, not many were broken up), corn, carrot shavings and black beans (odd how excited I was about black beans and how good they tasted). I'm so used to Mexican food that the slightest bit of that tastes so good to me (e.g. the black beans). the two dressing options were yogurt or 1000 Island so take a guess which one i chose.

Josh had the salami Pizza - looks like pepperoni and he said it was really good. There was something green on it - looked like peppers at first and then like green beans. He said he couldn't tell what it was but ate it anyway - he's good about that.

I splurged on tea from the machine in the computer room but turns out it comes sweet with a little lemon flavor in it. Not bad just different from how I usually drink it - plain, no sugar.

Looking forward to big breakfast tomorrow before our train.

Off to sleep now...Night

Day 14...Salzburg

Today was fun and mellow. We woke early and enjoyed our buffet breakfast at the hostel for 3 euros (Hot Tea was my favorite part!). We then got ready and prepared for Rick Steve's walking tour of Salzburg. Since our room was warm and stuffy (our roommates don't like the windows open - they close them when we leave them open) we thought we'd be fine without jackets. So I had on pants, a tank and sweater along with my Toms (slip on shoes) and josh had a t-shirt and jeans. We made it about 45 minutes before we headed back for jackets (and scarf, hat and boots for me). Off we were again to continue our journey. We made it to all the sites - climbing the castle (but didn't go in), visiting the old main street and all the plazas. We went into the bakery by the old watermill and both had two fresh, warm rolls (so good!). I bought a t-shirt and tea-towel to count as a souvenir and then continued our walk. Josh tried a sausage from a little place Rick Steve's book recommended; I had a slice of pizza - much better today! It had prosciutto, mushrooms, olives and peppers (it was pretty good). Josh also tried the supposed best ice-cream shop - he said it was good. We ended our walk at Mozart's birthplace but decided not to go in.

We headed back to the hostel as it began to rain. We walked through the famous garden where part of "Sound of Music" was filmed. We didn't take the movie tour but maybe one day I will. I think it would have been really fun but I do have to leave some things for when I come back and travel Europe again.

We watched two episodes of "Curb" and then went to the train station to get our plan set for Rothenburg tomorrow. We couldn't tell if the guy helping us spoke english or liked us because he kept correcting us and staring at us but not typing anything into the computer. We were so confused until I showed him the book and then he printed out our itinerary for tomorrow. Most places we'd ask if they speak English but everyone here does so usually I just ask my question and see what happens. Maybe he was insulted. Regardless, we got our plan for tomorrow and also our train into Stuttgard for Saturday so we're all set on that.

Back at the hostel we dried off from our train walk in the rain. We booked our flight to London and the hotel leaving just the Rhine as our only unbooked plans (we need Sarah to help us on Saturday because she speaks German). After that was all done, Josh stayed to be on the computer and I re-packed now that all my clean laundry was done. We were able to skype Mandy and talk to her for a bit (she leaves in a week!).

Now we're off to dinner at the hostel again and Josh will be watching the Soccer game at 8 p.m. (so we better jam on dinner). I might watch the Sound of Music because I'm in Slazburg and that's what they do here at the Hostel :).

Tomorrow Rothenburg, Saturday and Sunday Stuttgard, then Rhine River and London - it's going by fast.

Keep us in prayer for easy travels tomorrow.

My love to all,
Nat