Monday, June 29, 2009

The Food

All right, the post you've been waiting for... To put it in context, I can get lots of wonderful food here in Nairobi- delicious Indian food, fresh organic produce. What I can't get is good bread, cheese, and chocolate. And that's what central Europe excels at, and it would be a shame to not eat the local food, right? Let's call my post-trip padding "pastry pounds."

I may be in love.
Beth and her mousse
Did I mention I can't get berries here? So the wealth of raspberries, blackberries, cherries, and strawberries were terribly tempting. Especially in a crepe.
Good Bavarian food- pretzel, bratwurst, sauerkraut, mustard. Mmm.
Schnitzel and spatzle- who cares if it looks like little maggots? It tastes good.
Fondue in Switzerland, naturally!
And of course, French Onion Soup in France. It deserves the capital letters.

Traveling "Alone"

I left Eric and April's and continued my train journey west, making a brief stopover at Schaffhausen to see the Rhysfalls. I ate an ice cream bar and enjoyed the rushing water, then hiked back up the hill to the train station. I spent the night at a hostel in Zurich and ended up eating at McDonald's because nothing else was open by the time I got around to wanting to eat. Switzerland is SO expensive- a "value" meal was about $15. Oof. Upon returning to the hostel, I had good conversation with one of the many engineers I met on the trip, and we walked around town and drank hot chocolate by the lake.

The next morning I headed towards Interlaken/Murren/Gimmelwald, the part of the trip I've been most excited about since decided to wander around Central Europe. I even thought ahead and reserved a bed at a hostel. Indeed, it was a beautiful place. That night there was a little rain that evening, but a beautiful rainbow!However, the next morning the fog rolled in. And while I was planning to hike all day long, I soon realized it would be both treacherous and stupid to wander around slippery, unfamiliar landscape with little visibility and sudden dropoffs all over the place. So I sat around aimlessly, having finished all my books. I quickly tired of the typical hostel conversation: "Yeah, I was in that city... I was so drunk that I barely remember..." I wasn't impressed. And it was kind of hard to break into conversations- most people were traveling with others, and you didn't want to interrupt their vacations. All in all, it was an extremely frustrating day. I considered staying in Gimmelwald another night, hoping the weather would clear, but I had researched an English speaking church in Geneva and knew I needed some Christian fellowship. So I hopped on the gondola Saturday morning, the mountains still invisible in the fog.

But God kindly provided for me- I struck up a conversation with 2 Americans who were also heading down the mountain, and it turns out they're Christians and were excited to hear about what I get to do in Kenya and to talk about all sorts of things. It was so good to run into them! God encouraged each of us through that "chance" meeting. We visited a nearby waterfall together, and decided to continue traveling together for part of the day- we got off the train in Bern, ate fondue (not a one-person meal), and saw some of the weird sights of the city, including a fountain of a giant that eats children.
Chris and Becky, my fondue friends (fondue friends forever? FFF?)
I arrived in Geneva in the evening, uncertain of where I would stay that night- the only hostel I knew about was full according to the internet. I went there anyway, hoping for a cancellation, but there was a music festival in town and all their beds were taken. They pointed me down the street to a more institutional hostel- all tile, everything locked with a keycard, but showers and breakfast included. I fell into bed and got the first good night of sleep in a while.

The next day held another "chance" meeting with a Korean woman named Grace, and we explored Geneva, especially its rich and varied statuelife (it's like wildlife, but more, um, solid). I really like this duck-billed dragon.
After a good visit to the Evangelical Baptist Church of Geneva, we visited the Red Cross Museum and the UN headquarters- this is an anti-mine statue. Can you see the missing leg?
And of course in Switzlerland, timekeeping is important enough to make a clock out of flowers.
The rest of the day was spent eating more good food (still trying to run that off...), hanging out at the music festival, and generally enjoying Geneva. I like that city. I wouldn't complain if that were my next international school posting, though it was GOOD to head home to Nairobi over the next day or so.

So there's the trip! Fear not; food post yet to come.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Germany visiting friends

Beth got on a plane back to the US, and I couldn't help but be a little jealous that she would soon be in the land of Target and hamburgers. However, I was starting the next phase of my adventures, so I wasn't too sad. In Munich, Ann-Kristine met me at the train station. She was our family's exchange student when I was in high school, and I hadn't seen her in a dozen years. We were both a bit nervous about spending time together again since it had been so long, but as soon as we saw each other, we knew it would be easy. She said to me, "You look just the same!" Aw. It was great to connect with her, see a bit of her life, and spend some time getting to know each other again.
We headed to Regensburg, where her parents live- a delightful city that escaped the bombing during World War II. So it had lots of old walls and bridges and buildings- this church was visible from her parents' balcony.
We visited several other chapels, and after the more minimalist, Gothic style of Paris, I was kind of overwhelmed by the gold and pink and cherubs.
The Kreusers took great care of me, and it was wonderful to see her Dad again (he had visited while Anna lived with us) and to meet her mom.
They of course fed me all sorts of tasty German food; I have another blog post in mind dedicated entirely to the food I got to eat in Europe.
Anna continued to take me to all sorts of lovely places- a monastery on a hill near the Danube,
a castle in Munich.
It was a treat to spend some time with her and her boyfriend Sergio; I passed the report along to my dad that he's a good guy, but unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of them together.

From Munich I headed up to Ulm, where my college friend Eric and his wife April live. April was a terrific tour guide, and we climbed the tower of the tallest church in the world.
We had a good ol' American time together- ate chili, went to see the Terminator movie (really deep, I tell you), and caught up a bit from the past decade or so. They also took me out for schnitzel, which will show up in the food post, and they helped me get my train tickets into Switzerland. I sure appreciate their hospitality. From there, I and my big blue backpack hopped on the train and began the Wandering Around Switzerland part of the trip.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Paris

This has definitely been a year full of traveling; who knew that choosing to stay in Los Alamos, buying a house, and eventually selling that house would mean that I would get to go to amazing places like Cairo, Paris, Munich, Albuquerque?

The birth of this trip is a fun story- my good friend Beth and I met at Wheaton and maintained our friendship through the angst of our early 20s: Are we doing what we're called to do? Are we really adults? Is this what I should do for the rest of my life? She was beginning her actuarial exams; I was experiencing my first few years of teaching. We would talk on the phone for hours and wrestle through adulthood-formation.

Beth and I are similar in lots of ways- math majors, brown hair, similar sense of humor, involved in youth ministry. But we're pretty far apart on the risk-taking scale. So when I suggested we plan a Big Trip as something to look forward to in the next decade, our definitions were pretty different. My idea of a Big Trip was, "Let's get one of those around-the-world tickets, and just see what happens!" Her idea of a Big Trip was, "Let's go to Disney World!"

Each of us looked at the other and realized, "Your trip will NOT work for me." Eventually, we compromised- what if we went to Disney, but in another country? That would be familiar enough for her to be comfortable, but different enough for me to be interested. Beth agreed that maybe that could work, possibly to get me to drop the subject, and it stayed buried for half a decade.

But then she passed all her actuarial exams (woohoo!), we each turned 30, and I was itching to find out if this would really happen. So after a many emails and skype conversations, we settled on EuroDisney with some sightseeing in Paris.

And we had a wonderful time! Museums, subways, quirky shops- I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Saint Denis- the headless one. He has a lovely tribute in Notre Dame's facade.
Churches in general were kinda bloody- note the realistically pink tinted heads in this scene of massacre on the bottom pane.

Beth and I "collect" science museums and children's museums- it's our corporate hobby, and this was a good one.
Beth drew a lovely picture at one of the interactive exhibits. Or was this at the modern art museum...? We did see a LOT of museums.
An equally realistic creature, though of course not as lovely.
Of course we explored quirky bookstores on the Left Bank.
Maybe I can be a winged messenger for my next summer job.
I discovered I like sculpture, especially marble, and this was an impressive lion.
But after about 400 idealized Greek bodies, I was especially charmed by this skinny, balding man with a nice smile.
Dudes in kilts are good too.
And when we were all museumed out, we headed to Disney. Did I mention that it was freezing and poured 80% of the time? This was a rare dry moment.
When I was a very small child, my parents took us to Disney in Florida, and I was scared out of my mind by the witch in the Snow White ride. (I believe I proceeded to rebuke her in the name of Jesus).
You can still see the terror in my eyes.
But we survived both the witch and the evil Small World ride, and soon returned for a last event in Paris- climbing the Eiffel Tower.
Beth left the next morning for her home in Connecticut, and I headed to Germany for the next phase of my adventure.