The Final Saga: Europe Party!

Day 5 – Sunday! Prior to us leaving we had looked up the address and basic directions on how to walk from our hotel to the Salzburg LDS Chapel. Fortunately, or unfortunately, we woke up a bit later than we had planned and realized that we might not be able to walk the four miles in time. After trying to figure out the trains we elected to just take a taxi there. The address didn’t make sense to the cab driver, but he was able to get us to the general area and then recalled seeing the church in the past and was able to take us right to the church in time for Sacrament meeting! The likelihood of us finding it on our own is pretty slim, so in a way it was a blessing that we had to call a cab. There were a few English speakers in the meeting, so they used headsets to translate for us. What was sort of funny about it was the man kept slowly getting the mike he was transmitting by further away from him so eventually none of us could hear what he was saying. Then someone in the audience would signal to him and he’d adjust the microphone, and then slowly it would fade away. Even with the not being able to catch the translation of the testimonies there was a great spirit there and we really enjoyed the chance to renew our covenants while in Europe!

After church Sue snagged a family that was dressed up in traditional clothing and asked them if there was a reason for the dresses. The mother responded that it was tradition to dress up in traditional clothing for May Day. Sue has more persuasive gumption than I due and persuaded the family to be in a picture with her.


We then chose to figure out our way back home. Using the big fortress Hohensalzburg as our bearing we headed out. We were able to walk by the Sound of Music mansion. In case you didn’t know, Salzburg was where the filming of The Sound of Music took place and there are tours to see all the filming sites if desired.


From there we continued to Old Town Salzburg and so the Dom Cathedral. It was absolutely gorgeous – all white and light inside, unlike many of the cathedrals found throughout Europe. We spent some time admiring the stained glass, vaulted ceilings and murals throughout the cathedral. It was surrounded by several squares and there was a festival/fair like event going on in the squares. A lot of musicians were there too. One man was playing a didgeridoo, and several percussion instruments simultaneously – quite the impressive one man band. Sue’s favorite was the harpist – not quite the typical street side musician you run across here in the states!
Salzburg is also the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, so one of the squares by the Dom was Mozart square with a big statue of Mozart in the center.

From there we explored the Maribell Castle Gardens. They were gorgeous with incredible flowers and hedges. It was fun to enter through the gated wall, leaving the bustling city behind and entering into the peaceful gardens. The smell changed instantly too – leaving the pollution behind and entering into the sweet fragrance of the flowers. Apparently the gardens were also home to the oldest shrub/labyrinth stage in Europe? Not quite sure what that means, but that is what the sign said. Next to the gardens we were able to find a playground to appease Sue’s childlike side. In the center was the largest playground slide either of us had ever seen. Of course Sue had to try it out.She patiently climbed the ladders to the top, keeping her skirt modest at all times, and slid down the slide. Unfortunately we don’t have the physics or engineering minds of others in the family, so we didn’t calculate the distance she would need to stop at the bottom. Apparently the slide wasn’t designed for the mass of Adults, especially not with slick skirts on. Sue came flying out of the end of the slide, and because she was trying to maintain modesty she was holding down her skirt. This prevented her from using her feet to slow herself down, and I was too far away to stop her – her momentum carried her pass the end of the slide, and she landed 4 feet away in the sand underneath it. Fortunately it wasn’t far below the slide, and she just ended up getting her skirt and jacket a bit dirty and scraping up her lower leg a bit. She jumped up and began laughing, and would have done it again if it hadn’t started to rain. You should have seen the faces of the people watching! I wish I had my camera out and could have documented the entire thing for you!

Being May first, it was fast Sunday and we broke our fast at a restaurant called the Acropolis. I can’t remember what we ate for sure, but we had again asked for water, specifically w/out gas but still managed to get the carbonated water. Don’t worry – we figured out how to overcome this by filling up our waterbottles at the hostels and in the restrooms around Europe – hopefully we don’t contract cholera or some other water born illness from doing so. Back to the dinner thought – we were also given a licorice-smelling drink to go with dinner. We kept watching others to see if they drank or how they drank it, but never could see. Another aspect about Europe is that the waiters don’t check on you during your meal, so we couldn’t ask them what the drink was either. I tasted it and it was pretty bitter and had a slight burn to it, so we elected to not drink it. The drink will remain a mystery to us.
Day 6-May 2 was a running day for us. We bought some Salzburg cards from the hotel in the morning to see the sights. These cards cover all public transportation around Salzburg, entrance too many museums, the fortress in the center of the city, a trip up a tram to see area from above, and discounts for other things. We bought breakfast foods at Hofer (Aldi) and congratulated ourselves for eating better and cheaper than we would have eating the breakfast at the hotel. We also purchased a kinder egg, a classic German treat, so I would have that experience.
From there, we jumped on a few different buses and went down to the tram up Untersberg Mountain. Though the top altitude was only 1279m or so, we could view the area all around. It was a perfectly picturesque experience in the Alps. We hiked around a bit up at the top, but didn’t have the time or gear to go explore the ice caves a longer ways away. Unfortunately, it’s one of those experiences that cannot be adequately portrayed in photos, but we took many anyway. Adam loves the mountains so much!
Waiting for the bus afterwards, I busted out my kinder egg.

Traditionally, this egg is a hollow chocolate shell with a wrapped toy inside. Mine was obviously different from the start, as it opened up to two halves.
Though the chocolate looked shady, it was amazing. We were shocked that such great quality chocolate was used for a common child’s treat. It was so smooth and yummy! I was not quite as excited about my little ninja toy, so I assembled it and left if for a child to find on a bench.

On the way back up to the city of Salzburg, we stopped at Hellbrunn Palace. It was built by the archbishop as a summer-fun palace, an escape from the stresses of life. It is surrounded by large, beautiful gardens and waters with swans. The interior is interesting for some of the art and history about the place and the archbishop, such as the paintings of albino pets he had. There are also interesting rooms with murals, and my favorite was the singing room. This room has great acoustics, murals of great singers on the walls, and a domed ceiling with a skylight. The real attraction of the palace is the trick fountains, though. This is the part lead by a tour guide. Apparently the archbishop would invite honored guests and surprise them at the outdoor dinner table by having a servant open the valve that would send fountains up all the guests’ backsides! There are beautiful mosaics out of rocks and shells, statues, grottos, and moving figurines depicting scenes from everyday life. The neat thing is that these fountains and the power to make the figurines move and “work” is all just the water pressure. There’s even a room where you will hear bird calls, and they are all made because of that water pressure. The archbishop would demonstrate the quick rise and fall of power with a crown on a fountain. All the while that you’re seeing these different rooms and demonstrations you must be on guard, or you will get very wet. We learned to observe where the ground was wet to recognize the squirt zones and we remained fairly dry. When some girls tried to stay behind and avoid getting wet, the guide raced back to the valve as the girls raced away. I think they were more soaked for their efforts. It was definitely a place built to make people laugh. We decided the guide must like his job after all.
Back in Salzburg, we discovered that it’s important to eat at Europe meal times, not anytime like at home. Restaurants will shut off the oven and you’re out of luck, unless you want more bread or ice cream. So after finishing off our ice cream, we went to Mozart’s birthplace, a little museum in the old part of town there. It was small, but informative.
Before it got too late, we went up the tram to the fortress, the major focal point of the city. This fortress has never been taken by force. It was turned over to Napolean’s forces without a fight, but that’s it. The religious/political leaders ruled there from their peak for centuries. It sure offered a great view of the city.
There was a quick audio tour, and then we were free to wander and discover other areas as we could. We found the fancy old quarters, the armory elements on display, the old musical instruments (my favorite was the serpent), a little marionette area, and much more. It wasn’t as exciting as we’d hoped, but it was still good.
For dinner, we ate meat and carbs, as salads or fruit are an extra 8 euro each. We had many such meals. Adam had a beef stew with a carb ball…I don’t remember what it was called. I had some meat with cranberry sauce and potatoes. From there, we took a bus back to the hotel. We’d checked out that morning, but left our things in a locked room. Knowing they just kept the lobby/bar/kitchen areas open all the time, we planned to stay there (for the sake of safety) until we needed to go catch our night train to Venice at 1:30am. We spent the hours watching some pool game on the television, reading and discussing scriptures, and I napped. Adam awakened me around midnight, obviously in a panic. He’d just rechecked our reservation tickets for that night train and realized they were booked on the wrong date-for the previous morning at 1:30am. So we rushed to the station and searched everywhere to confirm that no office was open to help us rectify the situation. Though most of our train fares were covered by our passes we paid for prior to leaving for Europe, some of the trains, including this one, cost more. We worried that we’d have to pay that decent amount of money (50 euros?) again, that we wouldn’t be allowed on the train because it would be full, and that we might be attacked on our walk to the station at that time of night. However, we were not jumped by thugs, and though we didn’t find a ticket office open, we didn’t have a problem. The train attendant identified it should have been a different date on our ticket, and simply found us an empty room! We were so relieved. We immediately got on our knees to thank God for helping that all to work out smoothly. Then, we lay down on our individual couchettes (they have them set up like bunk beds-4 or 5 can sleep in one little train room.) and slept the night away as we traveled down to Venice. It wasn’t the most comfortable sleep ever, but we were happy that it all turned out okay.
Day 7-Monday May2- We woke up on the train (which was a relief, since that’s where we fell asleep) and watched some of the countryside going by. We really were pleased that we’d elected to travel Europe by train so we could both sit back and enjoy the view, nap, read, etc., while we traveled. We arrived around 8am, so we just wandered around the city for a while. Well, we did have the goal of finding our hostel, but trying to find anything in Venice means you’ll be wandering a bit. We enjoyed seeing the shops, buildings, and streets. There’s one big parking area on the island where cars can be. I don’t know if you’re even allowed to drive in the city. We never saw a car on the street, and there would have been too many people for cars to get by anyway. Materials there are transported by dolly or cart or via boat along the canals. So if you’re planning on moving there, sell your car and buy a boat. After circling around an area for a while, we asked for some directions (in Spanish, which I figure is as close as I get to Italian). It was helpful to learn that the side streets had the same name of the main street from which they stemmed. It was also helpful to learn the street names…we found all too often (not just in Venice) that street signs aren’t at every intersection, so sometimes we just had to hope we were on the right street for a while.
Eventually, we found the hostel. Unfortunately, we discovered that the date confusion problem had not stopped with the train tickets. Maybe we based our reservation off the ticket as we looked at it. I don’t know. Whatever the case, we arrived to find they’d been expecting us because of our reservation the night before, so we would be charged the full price for that night we were on the train, too. Thankfully, this was the cheapest hostel of our trip. That may be surprising, as Venice itself is a very expensive city, but as we considered the tucked-away location, the missing door on the shower, and the door handle to our room that fell off when we walked in, it all made sense. We can’t say that made us feel it was the most secure of places to leave our backpacks, but we’d decided before that if someone really wanted our clothes and shampoo that bad, they could have it. (Our passports and such were always with us in our hidden pouches.) So, after dropping off our bags, we were off to the races.

With a better sense of direction, we went back to the train station to buy tickets at the tourist office. They were very helpful to us, telling us what the different tourist cards would cover and letting us know what would likely be worth our money, considering we only had 2 days. We opted for the museum passes, which would get us into most of places of interest we thought looked interesting from our reading. Purchasing ahead there saved us a good hour, since we got to skip the line at the Dodges (duke’s) Palace.
We were a little lost as we entered a huge, column-lined courtyard (museums there aren’t always clear about where you can go, or where to start, unless you have a guide), but persevered and found our way up the stairs to different state rooms. Words will not be sufficient to express the opulence of this place. Pretty much every room was covered with works by artists like Tintoretto and Titian. Not only were walls completely, but the ceilings, too. So in one room, there would be a good 30 pieces to read about, view and try to figure out. There were also rooms devoted to the armory, with different shields, swords, guns, spears and other weaponry on display. This palace was not only the dwelling place for the Duke, but the HQ for the leaders and judges actually in power (the duke was kept pretty locked away, and really seemed more of a figure-head). I think the biggest room was one of the court rooms. It must have been as long as a football field, and there were so many works, we didn’t even try to analyze them all at that point. Once in a while, we’d pick up a bit from the passing tour groups in their various languages, but mostly we read the informational signs in each room. We decided we were happy to have the time to spend to really look at it all, because we weren’t in a group. In all, we were there for four hours!
After grabbing some cannelloni and pizza for lunch, we went back to St. Mark’s Square to see the actual Cathedral (right by the Dodges Palace). It’s free to get in and see the basic church, but there are a couple inner rooms and treasure troves you can see if you pay. Being the frugal travelers we are, we were satisfied with seeing the main cathedral area. It was amazing! The ceiling is one HUGE mosaic. Most of it is tiny gold squares, so it’s not a dark cathedral. There are depictions of the life of Christ, the Apostles, saints, etc. which were all done by mosaic on the arching ceiling areas. Oh, and the whole floor was beautiful stone mosaic, just designs, but I thought it was beautiful, too. Outside, the front itself is pretty awe-inspiring, with all the stonework lions, the different-colored marble pillars, etc.
From there, we made are way through the square to the Museo Correr. It was another big museum of sculpture, paintings, armory, etc., mostly relating to the history of Venice, but it also connected into the museum of archaeology. Of course, there were sections with a lot of religious, Christian works, too. One funny thing about our visit there- we saw a sign that said something about pianos somewhere. So just before the place was closing, we remembered we wanted to see the piano exhibit, whatever that was, and asked a worker about it. She seemed confused (we were speaking English, I think), but we understood to go to the second floor. Well, we made our way up and wandered all over as fast as we could, but saw no pianos. It wasn’t until we were going down and saw the sign again that I realized the word “piano” must be “floor” in Italian. I still wished there had been some cool piano exhibit, but I guess I can’t accuse them of false advertising.
At that point, we were pretty much at art and touring overload. Plus, it was after 5pm, and other things would be closed. So we just sat on some steps in the square for a while. St. Mark’s Square is a pretty interesting place by itself. It’s this huge square surrounded by the cathedral and former palace area, so you have that pillars everywhere feel again. Since it’s the big tourist area, the square is hopping with people and therefore pigeons. Some people feed them and end up with a flock of 50 birds not just around, but on them. As much as I love cuddling, having the flying rats of the city on me just wasn’t appealing, so we didn’t feed the birds. Actually, the next day as I was about to take some people’s picture for them, I was almost whitewashed by a pigeon as it flew over. I was very grateful for that miss! Anyway, another cool aspect of the square is the fancy pants restaurants there. It’s common to see cafes and restaurants with their chairs and tables outside. There, though, a few restaurants had musicians out playing classical music live all day. It was pretty neat. I was slightly appalled to see that toast would be 9 euro there, but then realized “toast” is a club sandwich. So it would have been $13 for bread with meat and cheese, not just bread.  We instead opted for gelato (the server kept messing up everyone’s order, so we didn’t worry when she did the same for ours) and then enjoyed our cone while sitting out by the bay. There, we not only watched the gondoliers run their business, but we saw two big cruise ships come by. It was nice just sitting on the steps and enjoying the moments before sunset.
Later in the evening we had some dinner at a nice little restaurant close to our hostel. We had salad (we were craving vegetables) and lasagna. The seasonings are certainly different there. Nothing drastic, we just realized that we are accustomed to more intensely-flavored foods here. Meals also consist of carbs and meat. Any veges or fruit are another 8-9 euros and ordered separately.

Day 8-Tuesday May 3- We bought some water bus passes and went up to Murano to the glass museum. Since we arrived to the area 10 min before it opened, we wandered and found a cathedral. Some of the cathedrals have a dress code prohibiting shorts, which we both happened to be wearing. We had our backpacks since we’d already checked out of the hostel, so I pulled out my skirt and pulled them on over my shorts while Adam did the same with a pair of pants. Maybe I should note that the main entrance to this cathedral was around the back, so everyone going down the canal and street didn’t see us. I thought it would have been funny to see someone’s reaction had they seen us, though. I don’t remember anything too amazing about this cathedral, but I’ll just mention that every cathedral has spots where you can light your prayer candle for a euro. Pretty cheap compared to the rest of Venice, I guess.
Over at the Glass Museum, we learned about the process and history of glass-blowing and design. It was amazing to see a complete glass pot with a lid from the 1st Century AD. Uncracked. I don’t know where they found it or how it survived. There are plenty of other pieces from that time progressing up to modern glass art there. It was really interesting.
Afterward, we tried out the pistachio cookie we’d been seeing in all the bakery windows (kind of dry and disappointing) and had some lunch before getting on a train to Lucerne. I will mention that the ticket man at the station seemed like he hated us for getting tickets and explained nothing about our various train transfers we’d need to make in our journey. Maybe he needed some lunch, but we didn’t feel like his favorite customers. Oh well. We asked another lady and figured it out. The views as we traveled this portion of our journeys were the best of the trip. Green mountains, waterfalls, lakes, farms and small villages marked the way. Sometimes we’d be admiring a great view of the mountains just to have it cut off as we went through a tunnel. It was pretty funny, sometimes. This was the first time in the trip that we actually pulled out our books we’d brought to read (other than scriptures), together or separately. We really enjoyed reading Complications together.
After 9pm, we arrived in Lucerne. Crossing the bridge, we noticed swans swimming around and stopped to watch. Soon enough, we made our way to the hostel. This was the most expensive of all. We didn’t have to pay the extra to rent towels, since we’d come prepared. We only had to move the two double beds side by side and we were ready for bed.

Day 9- el cinco de mayo!-After scrounging up some chocolate (we thought it was Raisin when we bought it, but didn’t have regrets) bread and juice for breakfast, we went up to the Glacier Museum. There were some holes carved out of rock from the water pressure and movement. From there, the museum just covered all sorts of random info on the history of the area, geology, etc. They even had a tower to climb and see the surrounding area, not to mention a cave for gnomes on the way up. (Gnomes are so popular over there. We never did figure out why.) I think our favorite part was actually the labyrinth of mirrors. It’s funny what visual illusions you can make with mirrors.

After that, we went down to the boat for the ferry ride through Lake Lucerne. It was so beautiful. The lake is a huge glacial lake; the full ferry ride takes 5 hours. The water was turquoise, the mountains were either lush and green or snow-capped, and it was clear and sunny day.
We got off the ferry at one of the towns, Brunnen, to explore. We also hoped we would find food at a cheaper rate than 14 euro for a hot dog and a bratwurst. (Though they were the juiciest, fattest, and yummiest ones we’d ever had.) When we found a grocery store, our eyes gleamed like those of children in a candy store. We were actually giddy about buying fresh fruit. After wandering around the town, we decided people are very similar in some ways, no matter where in the world they live. I kept singing that song from Beauty and the Beast that starts, “little town, full of little people…” After some amazing gelato (I think this was the best) with our strawberries and bananas. We were in gustatory heaven as we downed the whole box of strawberries right there.
Back in Lucerne, we explored more to get to the old city wall. There was even a way to climb up into the tower and walk along the wall. From there, we stopped to watch a community soccer game as the sun set.
I don’t remember when, but at some point we used our coupon for a free sample of chocolate from Bachmann’s chocolate store (one of the upper-ends, we could tell). Expecting one little truffle, we were surprised to get a decent-sized package of the smoothest milk chocolate wafers ever. From then on, we were enjoying those chocolates only one or two at a time, for the remainder of our trip.
This was a view from the wall:

That night we thought about eating at this classic Swiss house restaurant, but balked at the 45 euro tag on meals. Luckily, there was a much more reasonably-priced pizzeria next door.





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Some of the gnomes from that day:
Day 10- May 6- We got up and on the train early heading to Bern. I (Sue) was really excited about this part, because my great grandparents Rosena and Jacob hailed from this area. After mentioning it a couple times in our planning, Adam insisted we needed to go there, because it was obviously important to me. I like him. Anyway, we got to Bern, figured out the local subway, and then wandered a bit until we saw Angel Moroni. Good thing, too… We got to the temple minutes before 10am, so we assumed we’d need to wait until the next session in an hour. We ran into a temple presidency member as we waited to rent clothes, though, and he assured us they wanted to wait and do the session in English. All the workers were so sweet, and very excited that we were from Utah. One man in particular asked if we were Jimmer fans and talked for a few minutes about what a fan he was. The temple workers and people were all so sweet to us. It was neat to feel that brotherly love, even though we were so far from home. One sister was even excited to tell us we could have all the water we wanted in the temple, “for free!” (It makes sense, though, since if you ask for water at a restaurant, it will be from a bottle and cost you. No free drinks there.) We had some trouble moving on from that point. I guess the workers though Adam was crazy when he said his pant size (of course he said it in inches, though) so they pulled out a bunch of pairs and eventually gave him some lovely pants that looked like clam diggers on him. Good thing we were in the temple.
It was a really neat experience there, especially thinking about great grandparents leaving that area to go be with the Saints, and thinking about the progression of the Kingdom of God on the Earth. It was also good to compare how we felt there, after having seen so many beautiful cathedrals. As much as we were awe-struck and very inspired by the obvious devotion of artisans and people as they built up such amazing churches, the feeling didn’t come close to the absolute peace and the Spirit we felt there in the Celestial room of the temple.
After the session, we went back to the Bern station and checked on things again only to find that the course we’d found online the night before to get us to Brussels didn’t really exist. Of course, we’d emailed Adam’s Uncle Ed and Aunt Brooke our ETA based on that online info. We tried to contact Stef to get Ed’s cell number from the pay phone several times, asked for info at a desk, then succeeded only to be cut off so quick that our relaying of new times was incomplete. That’s when we gave up and started using Adam’s cell. With information relayed, we started on our way only to have the second train never show up to transfer onto. So we re-routed again. Of course, we couldn’t figure out what the new ETA was since others weren’t going all the way to Brussels, and it wasn’t posted. This was probably the most stressful portion of our travels, as Adam absolutely abhors being an inconvenience or a burden to people. As it turned out, we got to Brussels about the time we’d initially said (11pm), and Ed and Brooke didn’t even hate us enough to leave us stranded there (even though they’d driven to the station twice for us)! They were so nice they still let us take over their son’s bedroom for a few days, too.

Day 11-May 7-In the morning we headed out with Ed, Brooke, and their three youngest (Colton 9, Anna 6 and Jess 6) to the town market. This market is held three times a week. Vendors come and set up their booths selling flowers, fruit, olives, pans, fresh baked goods, cheeses, clothes and more. We specifically went to sample some waffles they were raving about. Well, as it turns out, there is a family that has mastered the creation of the best waffles ever in Stockol, Belgium. These were warm and gooey on the inside, crisp and sweet on the outside. They were amazing. We each had one and were filled by it. Really, we were full from those for about 6 hours after those waffles. So Adam has another major goal in life; he wants to figure out how to make those waffles. Oh, they were made out of a dough more than a batter, and had chunks of sugar crystals in the middle.
We just spent some time playing with the kids and then headed off to Brussels for the afternoon. There, we saw the old palaces, a huge cathedral (and some smaller ones, too), and the old state/government buildings. Honestly, we were tired from all our touring and sight-seeing. Someday maybe we’ll appreciate the city more and be willing to spend time in its museums, but we just felt done with that for the week. We also saw the famous mannequin pis statue as well as the female counterpart, too. Apparently the Mannequin Pis has been stolen several times, so we weren’t sure if what we saw was the original. Actually, when we first saw it, we thought we must be at a fake one, since it was so small and in a costume. Really! This little guy has quite the wardrobe, which is changed from time to time. Later in the day, we hiked over to the European Union building. Brussels is “the heart of Europe” and the meeting place for the EU and NATO. We just saw the outside of buildings there, but it was neat to be at a place representing cooperation and pursuit of peace in Europe.
We did have our one crepe in Brussels, too. It was just a kiwi crepe. I may have thought Mom’s Swedish pancakes were better, but I didn’t tell them that.
While waiting for others to arrive at our designated meeting place in the central square in Brussels (on the left), I wandered into one of the chocolate shops. The worker offered me a sample, and I happened to select the yummiest hazelnut chocolate ever. Their chocolates are just so smooth. We found out later that there were actually laws passed that Belgian chocolates could not contain artificial substitutes for the real, good ingredients like cream and butter. Ed’s tour he provided of their house pointed out the bathroom and kitchen, then went straight to the stash of Belgian chocolates Brooke buys in bulk.
For dinner, we met up with Ed, Brooke, and their friends Dave and Beth Passey. (The men know each other from mission days, and work as brought both to Brussels and the same ward!) We found a seafood restaurant that had a table for six set up outside. After the waiter presented us with popular options, we took some time to look at the menu and realize the 50euro price was not for the whole meat/seafood tray for the table, but for two portions. We started getting up to leave, and the waiter (a manager, I think) said we could get the cheaper option we had seen on a sign (18euro per full meal per person, not just 2 pieces of meat) if we went inside the restaurant. I thought it was funny that the prices changed according to where you sat. We wondered about a bigger discount if we moved up a level to the inner balcony… Adam ordered rabbit and I tried out mussels for my first time. All of the food was really good, and we really enjoyed getting to know the Passeys and just chatting with everyone over the meal. Really good people.
Day 12 – May 8 - Back to Sunday! Additionally, Happy Mother’s Day! Getting to church involved us going with Brooke to pick up a student (Crystal) studying flower arranging in Brussels and around nearby Europe. She had gotten there earlier that week from Highland, Utah and had somehow contacted Brooke to see about getting to church. We made it a little late for Priesthood and Relief Society and poor Brooke rushed to play the piano for the Primary.

Their ward is an international ward, an half the members speak French and half speak English. In priesthood and relief society the teacher taught in whatever language they spoke best and another man or woman translated for the rest of the group to hear. It was pretty amazing to see how well the system worked. Even comments were given in a person’s native tongue and then translated for the others, enabling all to contribute. Sunday school was divided into English and French classes, but Sacrament meeting was back to having someone speak in their preferred language and a translator translating into a microphone so the audience, all of whom had headsets, could understand the message. It was pretty incredible to have that system set up so we could understand all that went on. There was a great spirit in the meetings and we really enjoyed the ward. The women all got Belgian truffles, which Sue was kind enough to share with me.

After church we headed home. The boys and Ed were in charge of dinner, and they sent us out with Brooke, Anna, Jess, and Crystal to a nearby park which had been the gardens for the princess long ago. We walked around for a while and Brooke showed us where Belgium had been rededicated to the Lord. It was a pretty crossroads in the middle of a forest where 12 paths intersected. Brooke said that initially the dedication was going to occur back in the park area, but the Area Authority had been prompted to go see if that location was all set for the dedication. When he arrived early in the morning he found that people were setting up for a big festival, so he wandered around until he found the cross roads. What a cool story, huh!

After exploring for a while we went back for a great dinner – mostly meat as you can imagine a meal cooked by the men of the family would be. The Passeys (who we mentioned going to dinner with the day before) came over and we had delicious meal. It was really fun seeing the relationship the Rowes and the Passeys have developed, making Sue and I excited for our future family to have similar relationships. After dinner was cleaned up we played a bit of capture the flag, amidst much animated discussion on what the exact rules were, and enjoyed the fun of being outside on such a beautiful day.

Day 13 – May 9 – Ed let us drive his Mercedes up to Holland to see Delft and the Keukenhof. Needless to say I thoroughly enjoyed the drive, and the sites weren’t too bad either ;-). Delft is a little town that has been used for centuries as the historical center for the Orange Family (which has become the ruling family of Holland). We were able to explore a cathedral that is where all that ruling family has been buried (Think Westminster Abbey, but in Holland). The coolest part, in my opinion, was the huge bell tower we were able to climb and look over the city. I thought those stairs were going to go on forever! It was an incredible view and fascinating to see the bells and the old clock and how they all worked.

Another cool thing about Delft is it has a bunch of canals that are utilized much like those in Venice. You can either walk or drive around Delft, or float on the canals throughout the city. Most people bike though, and bikers actually have the right-of-way where ever they go in Holland.

After exploring the Cathedral we had probably the most affordable lunch of our trip eating at a Panini shop in the square by the cathedral. From there we went to see the Royal Delftware Porcelain Factory (Koninkijke Porceleyne Fles). This is the famous white porcelain, painted blue typically. The porcelain we saw was gorgeous – when you are rich and famous, you’ll have to go visit Delft and get some – we just drooled when we saw it and then gasped at the price tags.

We then headed further north to the Keukenhof, which are the famous Gardens of Holland. We passed several of the famous windmills and found our way to the Keukenhof. Unfortunately the Tulips had just been harvested days before we got there, but most of the Keukenhof was still blooming with thousands of different flowers. I never thought of myself of much of a gardener, but I probably took more pictures of the flowers there then anything else during our trip. They were amazing! We wandered the garden for several hours, admiring the flowers and the way the garden was set up. In the Keukenhof was a player organ – it was a big trailer that played these books of music. The books had little holes punched out of it, giving the organ what to play. When I first heard it playing I thought they had an entire band playing.

With that we headed back to Ed’s and Brookes and crashed for the evening.

Day 14-May 10-According to our online source, we could have caught a train from Brussels to Frankfurt at 0830. However, upon arriving at the station, we learned that that was incorrect. We don’t know why these problems only arose when we had already made arrangements for people to pick us up at the final destination, but that’s how it played out. So, we found ourselves at the station with 2.5 more hours until our train would leave. Having already wandered around the city a lot two days before, we didn’t really set out on our wanderings that day with a specific destination in mind. (We just did not want to be sitting in the station that whole time.) It was rainy, but not too bad. I was excited about this big horn structure that we found. Through it, I let out my “YAWP!” to Brussels. Then, we saw a sign that we thought would lead us to the atomium, a huge molecule model. We continued in that direction for a while, probably through some of the shadiest areas we’d been in, until we decided it was a lie or just too far. On our way back, we found a nicer route where we wandered through at cathedral, window shopped, and even tested baked goods. (We felt that was one of our duties while in Europe-taste test the baked goods!)
On the train, we did our usual-read scriptures, watched the country go by, napped, and discussed whatever came to mind.
Weisbaden was sunny and beautiful when we arrived and Stef picked us up from the station. It was early enough that we had a chance to look at Joseph and Isaac’s artwork, check out all their new yearbooks, and play hide-and-seek. After a dinner of kebabs and pizza, we went out for our gelatos. It was funny that the worker there kept asking “anything else?” when there were obviously 8 of us, so of course we would each want a scoop. After ice cream, we went back by the Myers and had a nice walk with most of them around the fields that are close to their home. That night, we just sat up talking with Stef, Daylin, and Morgan for a while. It was a nice chance to get to know them better and really connect.
Day 15- May 11 – End of the line! We were up at 6 am German Time and Steph and the kids were kind enough to wake up early to take us to the Airport by 7:20 so we could catch our flight and the kids could still get to school. It was sad to say goodbye, but felt good to be heading home! We wish a thousand blessings on the Rowes and Myers for their help in our trip and providing us inspiration to head to Europe in the first place. Our lay over in New York was a bit shorter, so we just hung out on the grass outside of the airport and ate our first Hamburger of the trip – we decided it was again allowable to eat American food. We finally made it back to Salt Lake at 10:30 PM Utah time – making the day about 25 hours long by the time we made it back to sleep!

What an incredible experience – we saw so many incredible things. We are so grateful that we had this opportunity to see so much of the world God has created for us!