Kindness

Over the past few days the importance of kindness has been a reoccurring theme.  I try to find some time each week to go hiking at some point, and this week it happened to be on a Thursday after school since the temple was closed. (I started this post in January.) Admittedly, I'm not the best hiker, but I enjoy it.  I love that hiking in a strange way brings people together.  Everybody is trying to reach the same objective, but we all approach it a little differently and at different speeds.  I love that for the most part there is a generally accepted norm of at least saying hello to other hikers as you pass by them on the trail.  It is a simple kindness that people will still say hello when I look like this. (Considering how red my face is most of the time, they are probably just verifying that I am in fact still breathing.  I assure you that I normally look worse than I actually feel.)

I have reflected on several examples of simple kindness over the past year and how grateful I am for them in my life.  Each one of these examples makes me want to be better, to be kinder.  Undoubtedly the impact of kindness is more profound then sometimes we imagine.  So I'd hope that I can be a bit kinder. Not nearly all of the examples of kindness that I have experienced have come to mind, but a few to share.

 A student brought me cookies to say thank you, and mind you I had been CRAVING chocolate chip cookies that whole week. This small kindness was so very much appreciated, especially because it was so unexpected.  I will not mention how many cookies were on that plate before I took the picture. :)

Last year while I was in Chile, I took to bus to visit Vina del Mar for a day.  I met Maria Teresa when she sat next to me on the bus from Santiago.  We had an enjoyable conversation about her children and Chile in general.  She was so sweet to walk with me after we got off the bus and she invited me into her home.  Once again her simple kindness to show me where to go and to invite me in for a while was very much appreciated.

In the middle of January a friend brought me lunch in this adorable thermos! It was so incredibly thoughtful, and such a sweet surprise.  I wish I had a picture of the delicious soup that was made for me as well.  Again, a simple kindness for somebody to go out of their way.

My sister inviting me to be a part of her family trip to Disneyland.  It seems silly but this was a kindness to let me spend time with my adorable nieces.

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to help a few people in wheelchairs through the Gilbert temple open house.  It was a sweet experience and the temple is a prime example of the Lord's kindness. (In addition, a lady commented on my calves.  Compliments are always an appreciated kindness.  I need to be better about giving out more compliments.)

I'm grateful for the goodness of people. I think it is when I take time to appreciate some of these simple things that I am the happiest.  Here's to finding ways to reciprocate the kindness that I've been shown. :)

It only took me six months....

Day 4 - Wolfsburg

The one requirement from my friend Nathan to go on the trip was that we stop in Wolfsburg, Germany to visit the Volkswagen museum and factory. (He is a bit of a Volkswagen enthusiast.)   While I would have never made the trip on my own, it turned out to be a great day seeing many Volkswagen cars, enjoying the Autostadt a sort of car theme park, and the Volkswagen factory.  
After our day in Wolfsburg we drove to Koningstein to stop for the night, our hotel was off the road a little ways and it took a while to find. In fact we are lucky that we were able to reach reception, and avoided sleeping in the car.

Day 5 - 
Before taking off for the many activities of the day we got breakfast at this little bakery just down from our hotel. (Surprise surprise when would you not get breakfast at a bakery in Europe?) I loved sitting outside observing people coming and going along the street.  I realize it was just their everyday routine to go and buy bread and be about whatever it was they had to do, but I found it charming to be an outside observer.

This was a day of many emotions. We faced some difficulty getting to our first destination due to a glitch in the GPS and an unexpected road closure in the middle of nowhere. Even with these little setbacks we made it to Dachau mid morning.  I'm not sure why I have always wanted my own personal witness to a WWII concentration camp, but ever since reading Anne Frank, Number the Stars, and Night and other literature about what happened I have felt inclined to go see for myself.  To say the least Dachau and its bleak remains sobered me to the core. I felt numb from the time we walked in the gates, through the exhibits, the barracks, the yard, and finally when we arrived at the crematorium I lost it.  Those awful terrible things that I had seen in textbooks or documentaries were right in front of me. I couldn't help but sob.  That trip served its purpose for me in that I'll never forget.

The second half of the day we spent at the Neuschwanstein castle. It seemed right out of a storybook, this castle in the mountains. I had a short debate with Nathan about it being a castle versus just a palace.  While it is with hesitancy that I admit it, I was wrong, it is not a castle.  It is a fancy little palace even though it is what everybody thinks of when they think of a castle.  We took a carriage ride to the top from the small town below, took in the spectacular views from around the castle, and enjoyed a great little walking tour of crazy King Ludwig's home.  Before taking off we enjoyed this lovely very original German dinner in the restaurant of a little hotel sitting in the middle of a cow pasture.  The simplest things make me happy including the fact that the cows had bells. 

We had to be on the road again, but this was one of the more spectacular parts of the drives as we drove through Austria into Italy.  It is as beautiful as any postcard you've ever seen.  Once again we arrived very late at night to an empty reception and locked door.  We rang the bell and a very groggy man came on the intercom.  Michelle spoke to him there was silence and then I tried speaking to him in Spanish. He responded in Italian and then hung up.  I said if I understood right he said he needed to get dressed and he'd be down in five minutes.  Sure enough five minutes later he showed up.  

Day 6 - Seeing as we got in late, we had no idea the amazing views that greeted us in the morning.  They were inspiring.  I can only imagine what it'd be like to wake up to those mountains everyday. Day 6 took us to Venice.  Here are the highlights:
Campanile bell tower 
Gelato
Paying 9 dollar bottle of water and not knowing until we got the bill.  Blah.
Gondola ride
I have always wanted to kick a pigeon but haven't been able to bring myself to do it. But while in St. Mark's Square Nathan actually kicking a pigeon or two.
Just wandering around in and out of the small alleys and canals that make up Venice.  

Day 7 - Rome

Great visits to the Vatican museum including seeing the Sistine Chapel.
St. Peter's Basilica never ceases to impress me with how grandiose it is yet so intricate with the amount of mosaic work that is found throughout.  (Sidenote: Don't you just love the new Pope? I'm so impressed.)

Incredible at night roaming around Rome. There seemed to be something around every corner including an incredible amount of gelato: there was no self control there. We continued to wander as we tried to find some fountains that Michelle and Kelson sworn they had seen in some different movies .  I love that the city is still alive late at night and has this dim glow about it.  I loved the occasional accordion player; it added to the magic of the night. This was one of my favorite nights of the trip, and if I could have ended our stay in Rome then, I probably would have.

  
Day 8 - Rome again...and heading north.

As I said I would have ended Rome the night before.  We spent the morning walking to the Colosseum in ridiculous heat while a barrage of Harley Davidson motorcycles took to the streets.  Have I mentioned how much I hate the sound of motorcycles?  I do.  So it probably just added to my annoyance.  We saw some great ruins and ate some awful pizza and then took off.

We drove up the Italian coast to Pisa.  We caught the leaning tower at what seemed to be a perfect time.  Everything seemed to glow.  Not a whole lot to see, but nice to say I've been.  

Once again we found ourselves on a twisted back road in search of our hotel.  Tucked away in the mountains was Lunezia resort not exactly a resort, but the surrounding mountains and vineyards were beautiful.  We were greeted by a sweaty man that reminded me of Joe Fusco on While You Were Sleeping.  He had a very minimalist reception area, but was kind enough to call down to a local restaurant in town to help reserve a table. 

That restaurant was fantastic.  We were the only tourists there, and it was nice to get a feel for what an average little Italian restaurant would be like. I loved people watching.  At one point we were waiting in the reception and there were these kid cooing over a baby and then one girl seemed to take the lead with this small pack of children and then read them a story.  For whatever reason, it is refreshing and humbling to see so many of the similarities that no matter our culture we're human.  Completing the experience, our waitress was a doll and had patience with the language barrier.  Later that night at the hotel I saw fireflies, again is silly, but made me so happy.

Day 9 - Switzerland

We drove to Lugano Switzerland in the morning.  We took the funicular up the side of a mountain then had a very humid hike down the other side.  Michelle and I took some time to frolic in the meadows, how could we not? On the other side we had a slight problem as the boat that was to take us back to the other side had already left and there were no more boats leaving the rest of the day.  In addition the buses were to have made there final run, but by some small miracle a bus was running late and we caught it back to the other side.

We spent the night in Lucerne, Switzerland and woke up to our last day in Europe with a spectacular view of the mountains.  It was a wonderful way to cap off the trip.  

OTHER PICTURES

Oh there's more....

DAY 3 - Oh my this is going to take forever, so this may result in some bullet points. :)

We headed to Amsterdam for the day.  On the way to the train station we passed adorable school children on their way to school and we enjoyed croissants from this great little bakery right by our hotel. We rode the train into Amsterdam, and I loved it.  I always enjoy trains and public transportation in general due to the people watching.  As far as Amsterdam goes, these would be the main points.

•  BIKES EVERYWHERE! :)

• Lots of pot. It was everywhere.

• A walk around Amsterdam on our way to Ann Frank's house.

• Surprises in the window (naked women of all shapes and sizes). Yes they do exist and can take you by surprise when you're not expecting them even after reading about them in every guidebook.  

• A visit to Ann Frank's house, which beautiful and very sobering. 

• Who knew there were such varieties of pancakes as we ate at the Pancake house for lunch

• Wandered to the Dam square, the architecture and movement of people was intriguing.  
• Flower market. I loved all of the Tulip bulbs
• Red light district. 
• Fell asleep on the boat tour of the city.

• A lovely exit at the beautiful train station. 

Before we could leave the Netherlands behind I HAD to see a windmill.  And luckily due to a misguided GPS we ended up on a back road and sure enough found a few windmills.  I could leave happy. 

Beyond Paris

Every time that I sit down to try and write about the rest of this trip I feel extremely overwhelmed. The same applies to the majority of my trips.  I really want to capture what the trip was in detail but yet it seems to always be a little boring and overwhelming.  I just wish I could bring everybody along so you'd know firsthand. :)

Here are some highlights:

Day 2
Morning in Paris...

We rode the subway to church and we got there a little early. It was posted online to start at 9 and actually started at 9:30.  Also as we came to find out later they started with Relief Society and Priesthood rather than Sacrament meeting.  While I probably only understood 40% of the meeting I still appreciated being there.  I absolutely LOVE hearing the gospel in other languages, it is a continual testament that God loves all of his children.  Plus I just love the warmth that other people share despite the language barrier, including kisses on the cheek (which I think caught Michelle and Kelson off guard).

                     

After church we stopped in a bakery quickly for breakfast (shrimp quiche not my favorite) then made our way back to the hotel to head off to the Netherlands.  The drive there was beautiful.  We made an unplanned stop in Rotterdam on our way to Amsterdam, and it was well worth it.  The city boasts one of the largest ports in the world, and is a gateway from the North Sea to the rest of Europe.  Most of the city had been demolished in WWII, therefore the majority of the city had to be rebuilt resulting in an array of design and architecture.

Check out those windows! :)

 I loved walking around enjoying the sunset on the port. Overall people we just genuinely nice; a lady running stopped to take our picture, the waitress at the restaurant was polite, they were extremely patient with our inability to speak dutch, and they laughed at us dancing in the street.  Plus I don't know if it was due to the fact that I was hungry, but I think the best meal of the trip was in Rotterdam.  The flavors were simply fantastic.

Then we made it to an ADORABLE little town, Abcour just outside of Amsterdam, where we stayed the night.  It was exactly how I would have pictured Holland.  The houses were quaint and there was a small canal that ran through the middle of the town.  Once again the receptionist was very kind, and might I add VERY tall.  The boys settled in for the night, but Michelle and I went on a little walk to explore this very quiet town at night.  

11 cities 10 Days 7 Countries and 4 Friends traipsing around Europe

At the beginning of the year Michelle (a dear friend of 10 years and former roommate) and I decided that it was time for another adventure (previous adventures included but are not limited to Australia and India).  Seeing as Michelle had not yet been to Europe that was our decided destination.  Soon Kelson (the pharmacist), a friend from our freshman year at BYU and who now lives near Michelle, joined the planning.  Then with some convincing Nathan (the laundry king of White Pine county) joined the plans for the trip as well.  So after a few months of Google hangouts discussing our plans for this crazy adventure we were off!

We all met up in Seattle on June 6^th to fly on an airline that none of us had heard of before and could only hope at the cheap price we got our flight would take us to our destination.   

June 7th – Much to the misery of Kelson and Nathan, Michelle and I chatted for nearly 5 straight hours of our 10 hour flight over catching up on the little details in our lives and laughing at old memories.   Arriving in Frankfurt, Germany we picked up the car and hit the ground running in a Ford Kuga much to the disappointment of our dear friend Nathan who would have much preferred if we sported a more local car.  After some minor struggles with the GPS we were on our way to Paris.  We made a quick stop in this quaint German town for some lunch/dinner.  We enjoyed the bakery and a little jaunt around town to stretch our legs.  This German bakery was my first of many painful realizations that I should have taken the time to learn the language even just a little bit.  It was quite embarrassing, and if I were to go back I would have been studying the basics for the months beforehand.  All the same,  I love the cozy feeling of Europe

.  The detail in the architecture in both simple and significant buildings always fascinates me.  After a long drive and a bit of circling around figuring out the insanity of the parking garage, we managed to check into the hotel.  The hotel was hotter than hades and the windows could not be opened for our security.  I’m not sure they took into consideration that our sanity would be at risk but none the less we slept in preparation for the next day of our adventure.

June 8^th—I love public transportation! As gross and creepy as it may be at times, I love it!  Perhaps it goes back to taking buses and the subway for the first time when we moved to Chile but I feel as it has always been associated with some amusing memories.  So our day in Paris started with a 20 minute ride into the city on the subway.  Our first destination of the day was breakfast.  We popped out of the metro close to the Louvre, as our intention was to be there when it opened.  We walked around a little bit searching for the perfect café for breakfast, in the midst of the search I just tried to breath in the city.  I love city centers, especially in the morning as they start to wake up.  I love standing on the streets in Paris and knowing that that is precisely where you are: Paris. I believe we were initially looking for some place that served crepes for Miss Michelle, and luckily found this café with a kind waiter.  Between the crepes and omelets and the waiter’s sincere “Voila and Bon Apatite” our adventure seem to have an official start.    

Now since I had already been to the Louvre I was kind of just along for the ride, it seemed that nobody really had any expectations once we were actually there which made it easier I guess.  We made it to some of the more famous paintings the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, and Napoleon’s apartment amongst other things.   One of my favorites is The Wedding at Cana by Veronese simply it’s sheer size is impressive in addition to the depth of the scenes in the painting.  Perhaps the most amusing part of the museum was when some idiot tourist decided to step up Winged Victory, which did not amuse the security guard in the least.  It was hard to hold back audible laughter at the stupidity of the tourist as the guard yelled “Get off! This is not Disneyland! It is a museum!”

Following our stroll through the Louvre we headed to Notre Dame and had a look outside.  The line to go in went down the street so we decided we were satisfied with a view from the outside and headed to the Sainte Chapelle to see the stain glass.  The room was impressive but the price was a little steep just to see one room, but still beautiful all the same. 

Waiting in line for the catacombs

After Sainte Chapelle we headed to the catacombs, which I was strangely excited about wandering around underground Paris.  On the way I had my second incidence in which I desperately wished I had studied the language even just a little before I left on the trip.  I had purchased a day subway pass which decided to stop working so I approached several different booths in attempt to explain my predicament.  Without the ability to change it for several stops it led to some awkward squeezing and crawling to get on the subway.  I was not trying to cheat the system I had paid but had noway of explaining my situation. All the same I made it to the stop of the catacombs.

We waited in line holding our breath that they would not cut us off as the last group was let in at 4pm, and we were still in line at 3:50.  Luck was in our favor and we headed down into the depths of the catacombs.  I personally would never want to be down there alone and I was for a brief moment as I stayed to read something and everyone else moved on.  There was a slight moment of panic but took a deep breath and finally caught up to the rest of the group.  So I’m nearly 30 and still a little afraid of the dark, but it didn’t help that I was underground wandering through what seemed like endless tunnels.  Nearly 6 million bones are in the catacombs which they have arranged in some interesting configurations including hearts and crosses.  Nathan accidentally brushed up against some of the bones and slightly frantic shared some of the death dust with me. When we finished we seemed to emerge in the middle of nowhere on this quaint street in Paris.

Our next destination was the Eiffel Tower, what would a trip to Paris be without a visit? The last time in Paris I did not go up in the tower so that was a must do on my list this time around.  While it was a bit of a wait in line it was worth it.  A few times an announcement came over the loud speaker, “There are pickpockets in the tower.  Please watch your personal belongings.” That’s really comforting, but I appreciated the warning none the less.  There are a few things in life that are simply iconic and being at the Eiffel Tower is one of those that just makes you smile to be there taking it in.

We enjoyed delicious crepes across the bridge from Eiffel tower, which I mistakenly thought was a great dinner but later to be informed that other people in our group were left starved by the end of the night.  We continued our jaunt through Paris walking along the river Seine seeing what we believed was a bridge/walkway featured in Inception.  Then as the night was growing long we took some quick photo ops at the Arc de Triumph, Moulin Rouge, and the Sacre de Coeur.  Around Sacre de Coeur I was informed of the desperation for food at this point, and we stopped and I enjoyed some delicious French onion soup.  I was kindly informed by the gentlemen of the group that in the future 3 meals a day would be necessary.  Considering my normal travel habits this would prove difficult for me, not because I did not want to but it simply did not cross my mind or my stomach to stop as much.

As busy as the start of the trip was, I was impressed with the dynamics of our group and would gladly travel with them again.  I particularly loved Kelson’s excitement for everything.  He made everything seem new and exciting, and Michelle likewise.  Nathan’s ridiculous humor along the way was also much appreciated.     We took the subway back to our hotel at nearly midnight and despite the overwhelming heat of our rooms, we concluded the first real day of our trip. 

Favorite Pictures of the First Day

A Walk Around Phoenix

So no guarantees about when other updates are coming but here are some pictures I took on a walk of downtown Phoenix tonight. :)