These are a few of my favorite places..

I have recently been going through all of my pictures taken in the last five years (pre-blog). In this process, I have been reminded of how much I love New Zealand. Back in February of 2003, I had the opportunity to spend 3.5 weeks there as part of my 10-week sabbatical trip. While I could post so many pictures, these are three of my favorites - all from the south island of New Zealand.
Southern Alps

Punikaki

Kaikoura coast

Sunsets

Sunsets are among my favorite things to photograph. Below are some of my personal favorites from my travels all over the world. They remind me of how blessed I have been to see so many stunningly beautiful parts of God's creation!
Sunset over Manly (Sydney), Australia

Sunset over the west coast of the south island of New Zealand

Sunset over Honolulu, Hawaii

Sunset over Queenstown, New Zealand

Sunset over Athens, Greece

Sunset over Gull Lake, Minnesota

This sunset over Manila, Philippines is so stunning mostly because of the smog!

Life

Since my travels ended this summer, I have spent a lot of time at home, cleaning, purging stuff that I don't use/need (including 4,500 emails!), changing a few things (painting a couple walls, new lamp, etc.) and generally trying to free myself of accumulated piles..some of this is ongoing for me, but it has taken on a new energy in the last six weeks.. I also pre-planned and have started pre-paying my funeral..I'm feeling fine, but I just felt like this was a good and stewardly thing to do and I had the time and opportunity to get it done. I have been struck by how our lives can change in a moment - a couple long-time friends - my age and younger - passed away this summer, other friends have had health and other kinds of challenges and I am more aware than ever how life is so unpredictable and completely out of our control. This is not a new realization, but this renewed awareness has caused me to think how important it is to be anchored in God. How could we manage without our trust in Jesus' saving grace?

As I look back on my European trip

I have noticed an interesting phenomenon since I returned from Europe…I feel content and am at peace! What a gift this is to me…I know it will fade at some point (probably when school starts), but I want to hold on to it as long as I can…so for the time being, I am very thankful for the blessing of this gift.

So where has this come from? Well, I think God allows us these moments, but I also believe in this particular moment, my contentment is a result of a very fulfilling vacation spent with dear friends. I have often traveled alone – sometimes to exotic, exciting places. In these cases, I have met people along the way with whom I can share my experiences. But this trip was a refreshing change: intentionally traveling and living in community. Sharing living spaces, sharing space in the car, sharing the magnificence of many glorious corners of God’s creation, sharing the amazing taste of the food and so much more. Sharing brings with it its own challenges at times, but it also increases the joys and expands one’s perspective on life. By myself, I am limited to seeing things the ways I’m used to seeing them. Sharing the experience helps me to see someone else’s perspective. This, of course, is quite obvious, but it is made clearer when you travel with others… to notice all the colors of the wild flowers along a mountain path… to see the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) differences in the interior of a magnificent cathedral; to observe the patience of another which increases your own patience; to have multiple pairs of eyes to find a landmark or sign so you end up on the right road… all of this enhances the experience of travel and the experience of community.

Actually, I think many of us seek after community… and it is something that is often elusive. Sometimes, we attempt to create community using artificial means in our desperate search to feel connected. Sometimes it works; in my experience, often it doesn’t. Part of my lack of community comes because I am just way too busy! The more I think about our trip, even though we traveled many miles and saw many beautiful places; we were not busy to the point that our schedule controlled us. Yes, we had our moments of trying to get all five of us going in the morning, but in the end, it happened when it happened and it was fine…. That is definitely not the way my life normally runs when I am in school! This is a good lesson to absorb! The more I consider this, the more I think my current sense of well-being, contentment and peace are a result of the wonderful communal experience we had; it filled my soul. I am very grateful….

Bruges

Bruges is often referred to as the "Venice of the North," a label easily seen in all the canals that are present in the city. We were there on a gorgeous day, making the charm of the city even more obvious.


I just loved these distinctive roofs of the buildings in Bruges

These photos show one of the few remaining "beguines" in Belgium. The beguine movement began in the 12th century by the widows of the Crusaders who committed themselves to a pious life upon the death of their husbands. These women chose a secluded life devoted to charitable deeds. This beguine in Bruges was a lovely setting; the church in the first picture is a part of the beguine; in the second picture, the homes around the trees are where the women live.

From Austria back to Belgium

After 4.5 days in Austria, we made our way back to Belgium....We drove through the scenic Bavarian region of Germany, spending the night in Fussen. That night the Germans were playing the Russians in the semi-final game of Euro2008. It was a crazy night in Fussen as the Germans beat the Russians...you could hear the crowds in this small town screaming each time Germany scored and at the end of the game, cars honking and people yelling continued long into the night! (Our hotel was right on the main street so we heard it all!). The next day we stopped in Heidelberg to visit some former students (thanks Amy and Ryan!) and then made it back to Leuven (just outside of Brussels) just after the second semi-final game started. It was so exciting to be in Europe during this sports event - they take their football (read soccer in the US) very seriously!

Salzburg - the view from the top

This is the wonderful little cable car that got us up to the castle! What a great invention!

A stunning view of Salzburg!

This is a view of the castle itself from it's highest point

Salzburg from the ground

The main street of the old city (with some very new stores)

The view of the castle from the bridge on the Salzbach River

A closer look at the castle from below

For all you music lovers, this is the Mozarteum

The castle is always looking over the city!

Some of the gorgeous gardens of Salzburg.

The Austrian Alps

Once in Austria, we were blessed to stay in a home of some good friends. This beautiful mountain home was at the top of where the homes are located in the Austrian Alps...you drive less than a mile and you reach the end of the road and then you start hiking at the base of the tallest mountains. Spectacular! Breathtaking! So these are a few of our "neighborhood" views


This is Zell am See - a very scenic and relaxing spot!

We had a picnic here...

This is a view of Mittersill from the Schloss high above the city...

The Price to Pee!

If you have traveled internationally, this does not come as a surprise to you, but in many of the places on our trip we had to shell out some significant cash in order to pee! The most we spent was one euro – that, my dear readers is $1.50 on a good day – usually it was $1.60 (depending on the value of the dollar that day)! That is a pretty hefty price to pay for a mundane, yet necessary and certainly repetitive activity every day! Granted, one euro was not the norm; the lowest cost was around 20 euro cents which in the 1.5-1.6 conversion was 30 American cents… Typically it was 50 euro cents, which is at least 75 American cents… Now I don’t know about your perspective, but that is pretty pricey in my book. If I had the foresight and realized the overall impact of these costs, I would have kept track so that I could know the total dollar amount of what it cost to pee in Europe! Maybe someone has already written a book on this subject….

Venice

We had perfect weather for our day in Venice, as is clearly shown in the following pictures. We spent about equal time walking around (and up and down the stairs that go over the canals) and on the water. Here are some of the sites seen from the large and small waterways of Venice.

Burano is one of the most colorful and charming islands surrounding Venice. Given my love for bright colors, I so enjoyed walking around this cute island. And it was less crowded than Venice!

Igor Stravinsky's grave... For those who care, Serge Diagelev is buried nearby. Venice's cemetary is an island of its own...

Basilica di San Marco/St. Mark's - a spectacular sight

Leaving Venice at the end of a wonderful day....

Cinque Terra

At the end of our trip, we all took turns trying to identify our favorite place/experience of the trip. As you can imagine, that was pretty difficult, but for me our day in the Cinque Terra stood out for its breath-taking, unusual beauty. The name, Cinque Terra refers to the five, self-contained villages, all of which hover (some seemingly precariously) on the rocky cliffs overlooking the Ligurian Sea. The order of the villages from southeast to northwest (from La Spezia) is Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare. These villages can be approached either by train or foot...we took the train, but Michael and Julianne hiked between several of the villages and as a result had some spectacular views.

We decided to stop at Corniglia first because the walk up the hill, via road or steps was supposedly the most challenging (the train is below; if you want to see the city you walk - or take a bumpy bus ride; because we were at the beginning of our day we challenged ourselves with the walk up the road). After looking around the city, we took the bus back down and proceeded to Vernazza, where we spent quite a bit of time enjoying this very quaint village, then took the train to Monterosso. We then took the train back to Riomaggiore in time to catch the train to Manarola, which was a wonderful ending to an incredible day. After dinner and another walk to the coast, we took the train back to La Spezia and returned to our farmhouse in Vinci. As you can tell from the pictures, we had incredible weather which added to the enjoyment of the day. Enjoy the photos below - in the order of our visit.

Corniglia

Instead of walking up the steep steps to get to Corniglia, we walked on the road, which twisted back and forth. it was hot, tiring, but definitely worth it. We took the little bus back down to catch the train when we left the village...

A view from the top looking at the beautiful sea.

Another spectacular view from the top - note the gardens on the right side.

Looking back to the previous village...

Another view of Corniglia

Vernazza

This was my second most favorite village of the five - I loved the narrow, colorful streets, beautiful rocks, gorgeous mountainside and so much more. And we sat down, relaxed and had some amazing gelato and people-watched, all while enjoying a gorgeous afternoon!

The main street...

How cool is this! A unique glimpse of the Ligurian Sea!

I love the laundry hanging out on this beautiful day!

The varied colors of these rocks really captivated me.

We were eating gelato when these two cute kids and their moms came into our view. I couldn't resist!

I love how the train disappears into the mountain!

Vernazza from the hiking path high above the city (thank you Michael & Julianne for taking that hike!)