- What is the main mode of transportation so far?
Turkey & Greece – Bus
Germany, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Austria – Trains
The Balkan countries – Bus
Thessaloniki to Berlin/ Brugge to Rome – Plane
Turkey to Greece - Ferries
In the city – tram, bus, subway, bikes
Mountains & Sites – by foot
- Have you worried about pick-pocketing yet? I had a small encounter in the city of Sofia when a guy ran by me and tripped and fell. Everyone around gasped and closed in to see if he was ok. It might have all been a staged act because that is common. Shortly after that I noticed a lady beside me shrugging her shoulders at another guy and pointing down to my water bottle carrier. I noticed that it was unzipped – too bad all I had was water in there. Other than that – everything has been okay.
- What has been your favorite food since you left Idaho? I really loved the pizza we had in Rome. It was just a simple shop near the Vatican. The crust was so tasty with lots of vegetables. YUM! (Sorry - forgot to take a picture)
I also loved our anniversary dinner a few days ago in Ladenberg, Germany. We went to an Italian restaurant and had pasta that was stuffed with meat and cheeses and covered with such a yummy sauce. We also had a salad with grilled salmon and shrimp that was amazing!
Anniversary Italian Dinner in Germany
Celebrating our 10th anniversary in Ladenburg, Germany
Rich remembers the fantastic meal that Achim cooked us in Oostebad Wustrow, Germany...rouladen & potato dumplings. It was to-die-for!
SEE DAY 35 on BLOG
Larissa in Rhodos served a delightful meal of chicken meatballs, roasted vegetables, palenta, home-made bread, and a yummy vegetable sauce.
SEE DAY 16 on BLOG
Then there was the Romanian Wedding meal that lasted all night and into the morning. We had so many courses and we were so full by 2 a.m. Everything was very tasty!
SEE DAY 89 on BLOG in about 2 weeks
First off, the tables had bowls of all kinds of fruit, rolls, nuts, and many kinds of drinks including lemonade and soft drinks. Then every hour beginning around 8:00 or so, each of us was brought a new plate of food. In between we would socialize and dance.
2nd Course - Soup ( so good, but I forgot to take a photo and I don't remember what kind of soup it was. :(
1st Course -Appetizer Plate
3rd Course - sausages, cabbage and dumplings
4th Course - Fresh Fish and Vegetables
5th Course -Grilled Chicken & a Potato Dish
Brock (from Idaho Falls) & Kristina (from Romania) cutting the Wedding Cake which I wish I had taken a photo of. ....raspberry filling and a layer of pudding-like whipped cream with a chocolate ganache frosting and both white and chocolate cakes with a chocolate mousse layer. YUM!
We've enjoyed many other meals, mostly by our couch surf hosts and not in restaurants. - What has been your favorite place for the 4th month? Rich and I both agree on this topic AGAIN...Swizerland and the Alps!
We decided to buy a Swiss Pass so for 4 days we took the opportunity to travel by train as much as we could seeing the Jungfrau, the Matterhorn, Heidi Haus, Lake Geneva, Lucerne, and more.
Rich taking pictures on the train through Switzerland
Taking a Ferry on Geneva Lake, Switzerland
We loved the beautiful and clean trains of Switzerland and riding along the countryside seeing the cows, the farmers working in their fields, the logs chopped and piled in neat stacks, the hay freshly cut and bundled perfectly, the darling Swiss huts and chalets painted in bright colors and flowers everywhere!
The Matterhorn...the REAL Matterhorn!
After this picture, he started to charge me - aughhh!
The hills are alive with the "Sound of Music"
The Swiss people are so industrious. There is no graffiti or trash. They re-cycle everything. They welcome visitors and are very friendly! All this is at a price for the tourists, however. Everything is very expensive...food, travel, clothes, and tickets for sites. - Have you been able to attend church much? I'm sad to say that we have not had many opportunities. We have sat in on a couple of Catholic masses both in Rome and in Prague. The music was beautiful, the organ playing majestic, and it was very interesting watching everyone recite things back in Latin, standing up and down, and crossing themselves several times. We went to a 90 minute Orthodox church service in Brceli Village, Macedonia at the Monastery there. (Everyone stood up the entire time).
Inside of the Monastery which is hundreds of years old.
The Padre invited us for tea the first day we were there. Our host was Balzenka from Brceli village - inhabitants of less than a dozen people
Brceli Monastery in the background where Blazenka & Sasha took Rich & I to church
The Padre invited us for tea and cookies afterwards to mingle with the other 15 congregation members. After that they had a gourmet meal prepared, but our host wanted to go back to her house, so we didn't stay.
We also went to an LDS Branch in Switzerland. Our host family was my daughter, Carlene's mission companion in Germany about 8 years ago. They only have 50 members, so they don't have a meetinghouse built yet. I ended up going to Primary and playing piano (the keyboard) for them because their pianist was out of town. Fun memories!
Yes, Rahel...I can be your 2nd MOM (She was Carlene's Missionary companion in Germany
Isn't Amelie, almost 3, cute in her church dress?
We visited Heidi Haus in the Alps where Patrick, Rahel, and Amelie live.
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