There's no place like home....

Hello all, we are finally home. Europe was an amazing experience. I enjoyed it thoroughly and am happy to be home. I thought I would post the things I love about being home and the things I will miss about Europe.

Things I love about being home:

1. My own bathroom
2. My own bed
3. Driving
4. Ice
5. Air Conditioning
6. Alone time
7. Fabric Softener
8. Dry shoes (it rained almost everyday of the vacation)
9. Diet coke is cheaper than beer
10. Spicy food

Things I miss about Europe

1. Blue sky
2. Beautiful buildings and art everywhere you go
3. Functional public transportation
4. Beer is cheaper than Diet Coke
5. Water conservation is everywhere.
6. Cars are small and fuel efficient
7. Rain
8. Everyone lives a slower pace of life
9. Self-cleaning toilets
10. People go out of their way to help strangers

I will have more reflections later on, but I am really happy to be home! Thanks for sharing in the journey.

Heather

Edelweiss Edelweiss

7/09/08

Munich, Germany

Today we spent the day right back where we started three weeks and a lifetime ago: Munich. How do you say goodbye? How do you end a trip that was so long in the making and whose memories will be with us forever?

Firstly, I can’t believe that its over. Secondly, I can’t believe that it even happened.

The trip had a variety of paces, and it all seemed surreal. Like the 10 p.m. sunsets we've been enjoying.

Today, we frolicked in the place where we felt most at home: Germany. The Germans were the people we felt most comfortable with. Them and the Austrians.

We enjoyed the Marian Platz which soundly put to shame the platz in Brussels (poor Brussels!) We strolled by the area near the Hofbrauhaus. Memories of 12% alcohol danced in my head. I’ll never forget trying to park the Beast with Rick that first Saturday night. There was just no room at the inn. Here she was chugging along in a city that didn’t realize that big girls need love too. We ended up parking 10 blocks away that night and walked to the Platz area.

Today, Zack was able to finally buy the backpack he had desperately been searching for as a souvenir. He was very patient, and a real trooper.

Laura and I finally found something we liked for our house: a Nutcracker. But this handmade “Cracker”, dressed in laderhosen, will be able to stay out year round and join the rest of Laura’s collection at Christmas.

What a jambalaya experience we all had on this trip: different languages, rich culture, subtle and grand differences; the people warm and some cool. (Some too cool: see Hasselhoff blog.) Travel is a most exciting teacher.

As we took our last family portrait, I wondered: are the Europeans really much different than we Americans? We all share the same nature, but have different nurture. In the end, I gained a respect for much of the European lifestyle: the long lunches where conversation is savored as much as the food. A slower pace of life. Art in the public square. The united commitment by a city for conservation. The commitment to use rapid transit or a BIKE. And a willingness to embrace and trust strangers in a strange land like us.

I gained a new level of appreciation for what I have in the U.S. While there is much I would love to see changed, it is still home, and I love America. She is still the greatest country in the world to me.

I have a few people I’d like to thank. I want to thank my sister-in-law Heather for setting up this blog which I at first shunned, and ultimately embraced. I want to thank Rick for driving the Beast and being a great tour guide in Bavaria. I want to thank YOU the fans. I have really enjoyed this time we’ve shared in cyberspace. I will never forget the frenzied pace of plugging in somewhere just to post a blog. And I want to recognize God’s protection over us this past 21 days. We have had more than a few close calls on the road that I know without Divine intervention we would not have made it through.

And so as I say goodbye, three families having lived through “Survivor: Europe", we walk into the next phase of our adventure: life after Europe and the return HOME. We return home a little wiser, a little more cultured, and the world seems a little smaller.

God bless you, God bless America, and God bless Europe. Those Euros aren’t so bad after all.

Signing off.


Gabe

Brussels: Somewhere In Between

7/07/08 Brussels, Belgium

Well, we have begun our downward swing back towards Munich by way of Brussels. We are all tired as we have basically peaked in Paris. So coming to Brussels after Paris really just wasn’t fair to Brussels. Plus, we only spent one full day there.

We made our way to the Grand Platz which is the hub of the city. The city in parts looks French, then in other parts appears German. It truly is a mix of new and old like Paris, but without the glory of Paris. That is Brussels: somewhere in between.

The girls went shopping at the Grand Platz center where their euros stretched much further than in Paris. The boys took a slower pace and made went to museum row in the southern part of town. There we saw a monument erected in honor of Belgium independence in the 1830’s. This structure held its own against French architecture in its beauty and majesty.

Here we visited the Auto Museum, where Rick saw his favorite car in the form of a 1969 Citron. It was part of a very nice collection which featured some pretty rare finds for car lovers.

The city is the birthplace of Art Nouveau, and that movement is featured prominently throughout many hotels and restaurants in the city.
We ate at one such establishment.




The restaurant was in a section we called Little Italy row, where there was nothing but Italian joints. Capitalism was alive and well as the owners each came out to court us for our business. “Kids eat free,” shouted one, “We are a FAMILY business.” You don’t have to ask us twice. Inside our restaurant was a pure European Union style mix: Italian restaurant, Spanish owner, Algerian waiters, a Gypsy King CD playing (incessantly I might add), and three languages spoken. We had a lovely time and a wonderful meal.

As we made our way out of the area looking for a grocery, we discovered that Little Italy was actually Little Red Light District. We spotted V.I.P. clubs, and found two guys checking out Le Val d’Amour Swingers Club.

Smile and wave boys, smile and wave!

The city was definitely more industrial than others we have visited. It was a European Melting Pot of all walks of life. Young things shopped for designer fashions while beggars awaited their scraps on the sidewalk. Street musicians sang songs deserving record contracts amidst graffiti painted walls.
And of course we found the Potty Boy statue. I’ll give you $50 bucks if you can name the artist! I can’t and I studied art in college. This statue is so small you can barely see him let alone his FAMOUS stream.

Tomorrow we arrive back in Munich stunned that we have made it full circle.
See you then!

Gabe

ADDENDUM TO BATHROOMS IN EUROPE

So due to internet being unavailable for most of France, this comes a little late......

We have arrived in France

Now here is my question, did the people of France not learn from the Black Plague? Not only are bathrooms rank holes in the ground, but there is no soap to be found. Again, I am happy to be prepared with abundant wet wipes. Never have I been so excited to use a gas station bathroom as when we arrived in Germany and I saw the self-cleaning toilet again.

Heather

MEIN CAMP

7/07/08

Many of you have begged for a blog on the infamous Beast, so I have decided to oblige. I firstly must apologize, however, if we have neglected any fan emails. We know you are out there, we feel your love and support. And we appreciate it. But being that this is our FIRST Family Vacation Blog, and our LAST family vacation, you will forgive the fact that, well, we suck at blogging. So the neglect is not intended.

Anyway, onto the blog.

Back in 2001, I traveled to the Amazon on a mission trip with my church. I liken The Beast to the Amazon. How you may ask? Well, its very easy.

The Amazon is the people’s mode for transportation, their drinking water, and their toilet. All in one. Well, its very much like that with The Beast.

It is our transportation, our living space, our sleeping space, our toilet, and our shelter.

It is a place of multitasking. Everyday we do a weird kind of dance when we have to eat, or clean dishes, or make beds. Quarters are tight, so its not uncommon to rub derrieres with a loved one on the way to the bunk or to the kitchen.

The Beast is really a Transformer: more than meets the eye. It transforms throughout the day.

Rick and Grace have the back bunks for sleeping, which are used for storage and play area for the kids while driving. It also serves as the kids movie house, when I play a DVD on my computer for them on a long stretch.

Moving onto the bathroom/ kitchen/ dinette area, we have a public space. It is our area for meals while parked, our sitting area while driving, and said table converts to a bed for Heather at night.

Laura and the kids have the bunk above the driving area. This area converts to a storage area and the “dry the wet towels” area during the driving time.

And lastly we have my area which, you guessed it, as the seventh member of the “sleeps six” Beast, is the front cab. This area is well, perfect for driving, with nice cushioned bucket seating. But the area is not so good for sleeping. We had to buy a piece of wood to stretch across the space between the seats to create some semblance of a bed. Being in the front seat does have its advantages:

I have my own personal space, my own breathing area, my own exit for those 3 am and 6 am bathroom breaks. I also have curtains to block the sun in the morning.

Recently, Rick and Laura came up with a great idea for me: why not try to sleep in the stow away at the back of The Beast? Since I sleep like an animal anyway, and the stow was FLAT, I decided to give it a try. Well, an hour into my sleep I awoke to EXTREME claustrophobia. That's right, I felt like I was in a coffin. Never before had I appreciated the front seat so much on this trip. While I calmed myself down that night, I decided to crawl back to my hole the very next night (“It puts the lotion in the basket!”).

All and all, the Beast has been a Highway Star. Especially now that we bought it a brain in the form of a TOM TOM. Yeah, we still almost hit the occasional bicyclist, lamp post, guard rail, and pedestrian BUT we don’t get lost anymore! (please refer to Munich blog 6/25/08)

With Diesel prices at $1.50 euro (about $6 bucks U.S.), the Beast has even been nice enough to at least give us about 18 miles to the gallon.

Things could always be worse: we could be in a VW camper bus. But truly in the end, like all animals we have adapted to the ways of the jungle and when we take care of the Beast, the Beast takes care of us!

Well, good night, I get to sleep in the tent tonight! Oh, yeah baby: I only have to take three ibuprofen in the morning!

Gabe

A Different Way of Living

Here are a few of my observations over the last 3 weeks:

EU Countries: small cars (and I mean really small!) small houses, small stores, small food portions, everyone is bi-lingual if not multi-lingual, scarves are very “in”, meat and cheese and bread are staples, veggies are not, public restrooms are clean.

US: big cars, big houses, big stores, big food portions, some people are bi-lingual but not many are multi-lingual, scarves are not so big, veggies and fruit are much more of a staple in our diet, public restrooms are rarely clean.

Not to say one is better or worse, just some differences I have noted between the 2 places.

** Note, one thing that is very wrong about the EU, however, is their lack of ice in drinks. Today we went to get a drink at the first fountain drink stand we’ve come across and there was no ice for the Diet Coke - AGHH!!!



Love, Laura

Lovers, Friends, and David Hasselhoff

7/4/08 Paris, France

Fairy tales can come true
It can happen to you
If you’re young at heart

For its hard you will find
To be narrow of mind
If you're young at heart

You can go to extremes
With impossible schemes
you can laugh when your dreams
fall apart at the seams

And life gets more exciting
with each passing day
And love is either in your heart
or on its way (Young at Heart, Frank Sinatra 1953)

Love was definitely in the hearts of some and in the hands of others. Today I’d like to blog about good old fashioned L-O-V-E Parisian style.

I mean its all over. And I mean all over. I thought Lucerne had it going on, but this is unique. Friends shared benches, along the Seine River, while lovers shared a French kiss against a wall. And voyeurism is okay. That's part of the scene: to be seen.

And if you didn’t have that special someone, don’t worry, let the city love you.

That’s what I saw in Paris today. People loving each other, loving themselves, and loving the city. This is the city where everybody is a celebrity. Whether you’re some cutie getting her picture taken on the steps of the Sacre Coure, or whether you’re David Hasselhoff being dropped off at same steps by private chauffeur.

That’s right: David Hasselhoff sighting!

Okay, so in this city where everybody is somebody, we actually saw somebody who is /was somebody. So steps out of his car, signs a few graphs, to let people know he’s arrived. Unfortunately, the crowd of about 150 gathered on the steps were busy giving money to a two-bit kid with a guitar playing Sweet Child O’ Mine. The former Bay Watch star scaled the steps with some young thing who I hope was his daughter.But anyway, you need not brush with greatness nor be great yourself to feel the love in this town. This was perfectly exemplified by five college boys playing 60’s Motown in an alley with empty beer bottles. Now, I don’t know if they were getting cash for the night’s bar tab or paying for their way home, but they loved the crowd and the crowd loved them.As we continued our passage through our stay in Paris, people of all walks were caught up in the romance of this city! Heck, there was so much love in the air, even the dogs were into into it.

So in the end whether you were young, old, human, or canine, everyone in Paris seemed young at heart!

Le Gabe

Versailles: The Bold and the Beautiful

7/3/08 Versailles, France

So Day Number Two in France we jaunted down to Versailles to check out the digs of "The Sun King" Louis XIV (1659-1715). The place is so opulent even the weather is rich. And what a beautiful day it was. Emerald blue skies were bespeckled with white puffy clouds.

The chateau is really a small city in itself. Statues of marble and bronze adorned the seemingly endless miles of the property. The grounds are opento the public, so you could easily spot a jogger or a picnic. We on the other hand decided to partake in the gardens which were neatly manicured. We also continued to partake in the ritual of expensive lunching. But hey, when in France.....

After a leisurely two hour lunch we walked over to Marie Antoinette’s chateau on the grounds, which were lovely but unfortunately 95% closed for renovation.

The main house of course was in a word: decadent . Everywhere you turned, there was gold and velvet, Rococo decor. It was simply a fabulous feast












for the eyes. I especially liked the Hall of Mirrors which were outside the royal living quarters.

My only thought was “It’s good to be the king!” But then there was that Bastille Day thing. But maybe it was worth it? I mean they couldn’t feel it right?

We finished the day with our family going to the Eiffel Tower. What an awesome structure. Built in three stages over the course of a year, the tower was completed in 1836, and currently sports four elevators to the top. Apparently, the tower is continually being painted. It takes 26 years to paint it, and by the time they are done, its time to get started again.

Our attempt to get to the top was interrupted by a slight hurricane.(no joke!) So we decided to duck into a cafe for a small dinner. By the time we left, the good weather had returned and we continued our quest. The view from top went well with how we are feeling on this whole trip: on top of the world.

Wish you were here!

-Gabe

Vive Le France!

7-02-08 Paris, France

Well, we have met Le French and I prefer Le Freak say CHIC! Well, I half-jest: we are all God’s children. But I must say that the Euros enthusiasm for us piddly Americans soured once we crossed into France. I mean we pulled something right out of Monty Python’s Holy Grail: “I fart in your general direction!” But we'll see how things progress....

So after a hot and sweaty Southern California night (90 degrees/ 80% humidity) we popped up the next morning and hit the subway for the Louvre. WOW! For those of you who know, having being an oil painter myself this was a mecca experience. I must admit that when I saw Gericault’s “Raft of the Medusa” I wept openly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raft_of_the_Medusa

Now the scene was only slightly dampered by the one thousand sightseers who joined us to appreciate le art. But hey, art is for everyone.

I also got to see my friend Venus De Milo, which was unexpected. She’s still the hottest armless woman out there.


I also enjoyed the Greek Nike statue discovered in the 1863. The place in at about 108 B.C. I place it at timeless classic. And yes, Nike’s gotta be the hottest headless babe out there!













The Louvre is a city in itself. I can’t explain it other than to say the open courtyard is about 1X4 football fields in size; or at least it felt like it.

We next enjoyed a classic bite to eat at a sidewalk cafe where a canopy sheltered us from a gentle rain. I must add that the French have a few things down: wine, lingerie, bread, rudeness, and dessert! We ordered a pie, and a tiramisu. Magnific! Later we visited the Musee d’ Orsay

which held its own against the luscious Louvre with its excellent representation of Impressionist, Rococo, sculpture, and Art Nouveau. In the end, my brain was fried by the wonderful artworks. But what a lovely slow-burn it was.

We ended our first jaunt into Paris with a chocolate/coconut crepe followed by a banana crepe.

Well, I better get to sleep. The Euros are going to be up till 2 a.m. and I need to rest up for Versailles!

Le Gabe

Hi From Grace

Hi from Grace,

A couple of months ago my daughter Laura bought me a book called I Love You, Mom. She personalized each page by adding notes. It was a real tear jerker.
Before we left for this trip I was rereading a wonderful poem called “What Is A Family?”. The second I stanza of the poem took on a whole new meaning. It reads:

A family is a blend of people and personalities who share A common path on their travels through this world. Under one roof and enfolded within one wonderful feeling, A family brings together a million memories Of yesterday and a dream that distant tomorrow’s Will keep them close No matter what

Those words and phrases stood out in our new reality. They are the following:
1) Under one roof - couldn't it have been a little bigger roof?
2) Close-Is 12 inches of personal space really enough?
3) No matter what- We’ve experienced some “no matter what’s”. And personally, I could do more without any MORE.

In all seriousness, God has blessed us indeed to be able to take this trip together and see the beauties of his creation. We are making lots of memories and adjusting to our small living space. Five minutes alone in the camper provides so many possibilities, one doesn’t know where to start. We’ve taught Rick the words “I’m sorry” in French. We figured since he sticks his foot in his mouth so often, he should say his name and "daysoley" (I’m sorry). We’re having lots of laugh and its a once in a lifetime opportunity.

See you soon,


Love Grace

INTERMISSION

Due to technical difficulties in not having a hot spot at our campground in France, our Blog will be down temporarily. We will return to posting our adventures as soon as possible.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

In the meantime enjoy the theme song from the movie Vacation, or some Clark Griswold sound bytes that might very well have been uttered on this trip.

4th of July on June 28th

OK, I am finally posting and have to say I have been a bit intimidated. Heather and Gabe write so well and have such a great sense of sarcasm and humor. But since Lucerne, was my favorite city, I wanted to let you know I might not be coming home. Lucerne was a fabulous city - a beautiful setting of a lake with the alps in the background. It was built in the 13th century and had beautiful old buildings downtown right on the lake with a river flowing out of it. As Gabe mentioned previously, the Yodeling contest was in town and our timing could not have been more perfect!

I have to make a correction here though. There were 12,ooo yodelers (that's right, I typed 12,000) and 200,ooo visitors in town (in a city of 60,000 people normally.) All the way from Canada and New Zealand. Each area had their own outfit/costume. Unfortunately, it was a bit warm and that led to a lot of BO with so many people. Why Europeans have not figured out the beauty of daily deodorant, I don't know.


Anyway, I got distracted - I need to move to Lucerne... They have great food, beautiful buildings, friendly people, fabulous chocolate, a lake with amazing fireworks that reminded me of our family tradition on Lake Arrowhead for several years. The echo was incredible (and unfortunately a little loud for the kids.) The fireworks did not get going until 10:30 though so we had lots of time to chat with the Suisse, since it does not get dark here in Europe until 10:00 at the earliest! How great is that! My only problem is the value of the euro so if you would like to donate to my cause, please feel free to donate to our family account (since I probably should stay with Gabe and the kids.) Call my dear friend Viv and she will happily take your $$. Hopefully she will even deposit it so we can stay.

Until France and more reasons to ditch the 951/909,
-Laura

Switzerland: Why Can’t We Be Friends?

6/28 - 6/29/2008 Luzerne, Switzerland

After a queasy drive through the Swiss Alps, we finally arrived in Luzerne. What a beautiful country! What an un-beautiful smell however: the cows made me wish for Chino, CA!

The people here are very friendly. And since Switzerland is the land of neutrality, why not? War (the band) had it right: Why Can't We Be Friends? And/ or lovers for that matter?

All around us love was in the air. This is a romantic and friendly city. I don’t know if its the chocolates, the semi-nude lake front, or something in the water: folks are loving it here and it shows.

My first taste of this new kind of friendship occurred in the Mens side of the public showers at our camp. There I was shaving and in walks a woman, who proceeds to knock on the shower door of her male friend and walks right in. She proceeded to do some humming, and well, I don;t know what was going on in there. Okay, then!

Every where you looked folks were sharing a kiss, sharing a bench, or as I just mentioned sharing a shower. Heck, event the kids stopped fighting and shared a dance.





We found a much needed change of pace here in Luzerne. We were able to leave the Beast at the campsite and walk to our festivities. And festivities we found in the Luzerne Yodeling Festival that was going on.

http://www.luzern.org/en/navpage-FestivalLU-MusicFestivalLU-202085.html

I think there was something like 2,000 yodelers, and 10,000 spectators over the weekend. But if you’re going to get serenaded, what better place than Luzerne? And we’re not talking "serenading a cow type" of yodeling either. These folks could sing like and angelic choir and often did in the streets as they practiced for their competitions.

In the end we had a wonderful two days here and finished Day Two with a day at the lake, followed by an authentic dinner in the old part of town.



Tomorrow we head for Dijon on our way to Paris, the true city of love!

Hugs and Kisses,

Gabe

More Germany & Austria photos go to my Flickr page.