Parting Thoughts………..

# of cities visited – 12
# of countries visited – 10
# of plane flights – 9
# of train rides – 6
# of boat rides – 6
# of total miles traveled – 9, 551
#of languages encountered – 8
# of steps climbed – 5,000+ (that could be conservative)
# of miles walked – 30+ (that could be conservative too!)
# of pounds lost – 0 (thank you Belgian waffles and gelato!)
# of dollars spent paying to pee – approx. $25.00
# of monetary currencies used – 4
# of times ripped off – 1 definite, possibly more
# of cathedrals visited – 35+
# of catacombs, crypts, or creepy underground places visited - 3
# of times we were clueless - too many to count
# of baby squid eaten – 11
# of TVs with no English-speaking channels – 2 (the rest only had CNN)
# of times bad weather affected our plans – 0 (thank You, Lord!)
# of suitcases lost – 1
# of suitcases found – 1
# of sick dogs back home needing surgery – 1
# of times Jerry kept us up with his snoring – (better question, # of times Jerry didn’t keep us up with his snoring
# of daughters needing counseling because they couldn’t come – 2
# of fortunate sons who did come – 1
# of wonderful memories – too many to count

TOTAL COST OF THE TRIP TO EUROPE: PRICELESS!!!

Thank you, Lord, for making this trip possible. Thank You for watching over us and keeping us safe in all that we did. Thank You for Your wonderful creation, and for inspiring men and women throughout the ages to build things that brought You honor and glory. We are thankful for this time we spent together and pray that all we did was honoring to You.

Venice……known for more than Venetian blinds!

With over 140 canals, 400 bridges, and 450 gondolas, Venice can be a really confusing place to find your way around in! I didn’t realize it before, but the city of Venice is made up of many islands. Centuries ago, in an effort to flee Barbarians, Venetians left dry land and floated out to a chain of uninhabitable islands. Though survival was difficult, they persisted, and are responsible for building one of the most unusual and beautiful cities in the world. There are NO roads in Venice – zero! Transportation is done by walking or by boat – period. We saw construction boats, police, boats, ambulance boats, laundry boats, water taxis, and water buses called vaporetto.
We weaved through wide and narrow streets and made our way to the San Marco Plaza which is the heart of Venice. St. Mark’s Cathedral is located here, one of the world’s greatest and most ornate churches. The inside was completely covered in gold plating and the altar (we couldn’t get near it) is set with hundreds of emeralds, sapphires, rubies, garnets, and pearls. It was just a bit understated for my liking!!!! : ) One of the main industries for Venice, past and present, is hand-blown glass. There are hundreds of little shops with gorgeous glass pieces offering affordable jewelry to $65,000 chandeliers. We took a vaporetto to the neighboring island of Murano where the actual furnaces are located and watched a demonstration of glass-blowing. It’s truly amazing how something so beautiful is made with such crude tools and common materials. Of course, you can’t be in Venice without a gondola ride, so at dusk on our second day, we boarded a beautiful, black gondola and cruised through a number of quiet canals. Our guide, a 5th generation gondolier, sang to us, though he didn’t think he had a very good voice. He showed us where Casanova had lived and shared quite a bit of interesting Venetian history. One more check off my Bucket List!
On the 2nd day, we took a side trip to Casarsa, a little town northeast of Venice. Missionary friends from our church, Tom and Maureen, serve there. Tom met us at the station and showed us around the area. We were able to see the school where he serves, as well as their apartment and “stomping grounds”. To top off our day, he took us to a home-made gelato shop, where we all agreed, served the BEST, MOST SCRUMPTUOUS gelato we’d ever tasted!
We all loved Venice, but the one big drawback was that so did thousands of other tourists!! It was very crowded! A little extra patience was required, but all in all, we loved it, crowds and all!

One more short stop in Dublin, and then we’re Quakertown-bound………..We are ready to be back home.

Vienna…..Mozart, the Danube, and Weiner Schnitzel!

Our choice of transportation to Vienna was a completely unique one – a boat ride down the Danube River. It took a little longer than a train ride, but was so relaxing and we experienced going through two river locks, which was very interesting to watch. We arrived in Vienna around 4:00 and immediately set out to explore the city. We strolled down the Karntnerstrasse, a pedestrian street filled with shops and bistros. It didn’t take long to realize that we were standing in the midst of a beautiful city! We saw the Spanish Imperial Riding School, which included the stables and the performance area. Every single building we walked by was picture-worthy, with exquisite, elegant details carved into every brick and stone. We had heard there was a “movie in the park” at one of the famous town squares and thought we might check it out. Once again, our expectation was completely exceeded by a mile! The city had set up a very large (40’ x 50’) screen right in front of one of the most beautiful buildings in Vienna. Spectacular spires and a huge clock rose above the screen, and if you took your eyes off the screen and gazed above it, the night view was simply breathtaking! To top it off, not only was there a HUGE screen, but to Jerry’s delight there were HUGE speakers to boot. And it wasn’t a movie we were viewing, but the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra performing Bruckner’s 7th Symphony. We honestly felt like we were in a symphony hall! Unfortunately, Vienna was one of our shortest stays, so we got up bright and early to pack in all that we could. We began by walking to the humungous outdoor market, nibbling a variety of breakfast treats along the way. I knew it was going to be a good day because the first bathroom we stopped at didn’t ask us to pay to pee! We strolled by lovely gardens, the museum district, the Opera House, Parliament, and numerous other REALLY LARGE statues and buildings. It seems our Austrian friends could build nothing on a small scale! We kept an eye open for any structure found in the “Sound of Music” movie, but alas, found none. (Jerry says he thinks it was all filmed somewhere in the mountains of West Virginia anyhow). We climbed 343 steps inside a continuous spiral staircase to the top of St. Stephen’s Cathedral and I’m thinking, “Who needs the Buns of Steel video when you’ve got cathedral spirals to ascend?” We decided that it wouldn’t be a complete experience in Vienna unless we took in a genuine, bonafide, guaranteed, warranteed classical performance somewhere. We had endless options to choose from. We opted for a concert which show-cased a variety of the Viennese arts. A chamber orchestra played some well-known sections composed by Mozart and Strauss, and some of the songs were accompanied by ballet, or opera singers. What made the experience even more memorable is that we were watching this all from the theatre in the Auersburg Palace where, at the age of 6, Mozart performed for the queen for the very first time. We enjoyed a much cooler walk back to the U-Bahn (subway), and spent the remainder of the evening packing for our next stop – Venice!

Budapest……..a City Recovered and Flourishing!

I have always loved history and am fascinated by the story of how a country/culture has evolved over the years. I knew very little about Hungary, but after being in its capital city, Budapest, for a few days, I have a new and genuine appreciation for what this country has gone through and how it has survived the atrocities of war. It was taken over by the Nazis in the early 1940’s and survived that cruelty, only to be “saved” by the Russians, and then forced into their communist way of life. Hungarians were treated just as brutally, if not worse, under Russian rule. The city was severely bombed and many of its beautiful buildings destroyed, but despite years of hardship, it has risen again to become a cultural European icon.
We began our exploration of Budapest by walking over one of the many bridges that crosses the Danube River. We took the funnicular (an incline) up a big hill to the Castle District and saw the Buda Palace, which has NOTHING to do with Buddha by the way. From that vantage point, we had a perfect view of the entire city. We explored the underground labyrinths that snaked underneath the castle and saw the Mattthias Cathedral, which was almost completely destroyed by Nazi bombings. We enjoyed a traditional Hungarian meal for dinner, and after dinner (and I don’t know where we got the energy from), we decided to hike around 500+ steps up to the highest point of Budapest called the Citadel. All I can say is that the view of the city at nighttime is SPECTACULAR! The second day we visited the “House of Terror”, now a museum but once a large building in Budapest that was the party headquarters for the Hungarian Nazis, and then for the notorious communist AVO terror organization. Budapest is built upon underground thermal springs, so the city boasts of numerous public “Turkish Baths”. We had done A LOT of walking, so we treated ourselves to an afternoon of soaking in the Szechenyi Bath pools. We thought we would be in something similar to a hot tub – HA!!! The facility is enormous and there were 15 – 18 different pools of varying sizes and temperatures, including a swimming pool in case you wanted to cool down. It was unlike anything we’ve ever experienced before, and we felt so relaxed after spending a couple of hours soaking and playing with all the different kinds of water jets, as well as a circular “whirl pool” pool which carried you round and round with no effort on your part. Next stop…….Vienna, Austria!

Prague…….a number of “firsts” for the Bigenhos!

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What famous Christmas carol uses the name of a former King of the Czech Republic?

We took a short, hour airplane ride early Sunday morning and arrived in Prague around 9:30. By the way, flights are CHEAP in Europe, usually cheaper than the train, unless you go over the luggage weight limit. That’s when they nail you and make up for the thrifty air fares. Our plan is to redistribute weight between all three of our suitcases and carry-on luggage evenly, so we won’t be charged any extra for baggage. In fact, Jerry and I packed so lightly, that our carry-on luggage was almost empty when we left, just in case we needed more room to reallocate items between us as we traveled.
Prague can be summed up in one word – GORGEOUS! I have never been in a more beautiful city. The architecture is a collection of Baroque, Gothic, Renaissance, and modern. You can’t turn a corner without viewing another spectacular structure and they are all so different. The highlight was Prague Castle. It sits high atop a hill, overlooking Prague and the River Vltava that bisects the city. We were able to explore it, along with the St. Vitus Cathedral located within the castle walls. There are numerous bridges crossing the river, the most beautiful being the 600 year old Charles Bridge.
We planned for three days here in Prague, so our second day we decided to leave the city and took a bus ride to the Terezin Concentration Camp, located about 25 miles north of the city. Jerry and I laughed when we heard what the bus driver was listening to – classic American rock-n-roll. It just goes to show that you are never really THAT far from home! The camp was initially built as a Hungarian imperial fortress in the 1700’s, but was turned into a Jewish ghetto and then a concentration camp in 1941. Although it was only used as a transit camp, more than half of the 140,000 men, women, and children who passed through its gates ended up transferring to Auschwitz or Treblinka in Poland, the majority of them losing their lives to the gas chambers. Most of the rest of the Terezin population died as well, due to diseases, starvation, or cruel treatment. It was a sobering trip, and after viewing the inhumane conditions in which the prisoners lived, I vowed to never again complain about my home, hunger pangs, or being too cold or too hot.
Our third day we took another trip out to the countryside to explore the second most popular destination in the Czech Republic – Karlstejn Castle. Charles the IV built this medieval castle from 1348 to 1357 to safe-guard the crown jewels and provide a “summer shack” for his family. It is a spectacular Disney-like castle, perched on a hill, surrounded by lush forests and vineyards. It’s hard to describe how beautiful it is…….think Cinderella’s castle from the 14th century! Our trip home should have been uneventful, but we found some unexpected entertainment from using the restroom. (Now give me a minute to explain here……) Picture our train: it was rickety, old, and graffiti-laden, looking like it had transported passengers since World War II. We hadn’t had a chance to use the restroom at the station before our train arrived, so Jerry checked out the bathroom on the train. He came back and announced that it was the first bathroom he’d ever used with a view. Thinking he meant that there was a nice window or something to look outside the train, I found that the “view” he was talking about was a totally different one. The interesting thing about the bathroom on our train was that you didn’t need to flush it……..gravity took care of it completely all on its own. Upon looking down into the toilet, we could view the train tracks passing underneath us. Definitely a first for the Bigenhos!! Next stop, Budapest and Hungarian goulash!

ANSWER: King Wenceslas

Copenhagen – Welcome to Scandinavia!!

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What is a busbie?
A. A hair cut, similar to an American “buzz cut”.
B. The Danish equivalent of an American quarter (25 cents)
C. The Danish national bird
D. A hat worn by the Danish National guards
We flew out of Amsterdam and arrived in Copenhagen around 11:00 PM. Thankfully, a nice Danish man helped us get out of the airport and onto the right train headed for our hotel. We checked in and fell into bed around 1:00 AM. Though we really wanted to sleep in, we were up bright and early, as we had a lot of ground to cover. We headed out to the royal Amalienborg Palace to view the changing of the Danish guard. With much pomp and circumstance, and bearskin busbies, they wowed us with their synchronized marching and dead-pan expressions. From there we viewed Frederikskirke, or the Marble Church, a huge copper-domed cathedral. We saw a bronze statue of the “Little Mermaid” located along the Baltic Sea and didn’t realize that the story of Disney’s Little Mermaid was an original Hans Christian Andersen story long before it ever hit the big screen. We enjoyed a leisure boat ride through the canals and out into the Baltic Sea. We climbed the Round Tower, a public observatory that is reached by hiking up a brick-laden spiral ramp, then opening up to a gorgeous panoramic view of Copenhagen. The second day we took a short train ride to Malmo, Sweden, crossing over a small stretch of Baltic Sea and visited the Malmo Hus Castle. It is a Renaissance strong-hold, dating back to the 15th century and today, holds five different museums, as well as the royal castle where the Swedish nobility once lived. Since I shop at IKEA, I was so proud of myself that I recognized some Swedish words!! Didn’t help much though, so we ate at Burger King for lunch where we knew what we were ordering. We did finally experience some traditional Danish cuisine for dinner, finding a reasonably –priced restaurant which served a Danish all-you-can-eat buffet. The culminating experience for us was witnessing the opening ceremonies for the World Out Games (Gay Olympics) being held in Copenhagen that week. There was an extravagant parade, similar to the opening parade for the Olympics we’re all familiar with, and almost 100 countries were represented. It was a major world event and was interesting and eye-opening to observe it. Next stop……..Prague.
ANSWER: A busbie is a tall, bearskin hat worn by the Royal Palace Guards.

The Netherlands………Land of Contrasts.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What is “wilde plussen”?
A. A Dutch men’s cologne
B. A type of wild berries only found in the Netherlands
C. The process by which males relieve themselves anywhere they feel like it
D. A rare Holland wild flower
Our next stop began with a train ride from Brussels to Rotterdam. We were very excited about this portion of our trip because we were being met at the train station by a Diana, a former Houghton College graduate living in the Netherlands now. Diana married a “Dutchie”, Arjan, and they had promised to show us around the area and treat us to a sampling of real Dutch cooking. They didn’t disappoint. We began with a trip to “Kinderdijk”, an area about 10 miles outside of Rotterdam. It is a region filled with canals and many original 18th century windmills. As a young girl I remembered reading the book, Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates, and after gazing upon this impressive Dutch scenery, it was even more beautiful than I’d imagined it would be. Diana took us to some other interesting sights in Rotterdam such as St. Laurenskerk, a beautiful cathedral, and Kubus woning, an interesting apartment complex downtown created out of rectangular cubes. We also took a short train ride to Dordrecht, a quaint, little seaport village. We all witnessed a miracle too……Jerry tried, ate, then asked for a second helping of mussels, a summer-time Dutch delicacy. He HATES sea food, however, Arjan changed his mind on this one. We drew the line at eating raw herring though…we both agreed we would try it, but after Arjan opened the package and the strong fishy smell wafted out, we just couldn’t do it. It was such a gift to spend time with our friends in Rotterdam and we learned a lot from them about Dutch culture and the “Nederlander” way of life. From there, we headed out by train to Amsterdam on our own where we were to meet up with Ben. He was finishing his last day of school, and before he arrived, Jerry and I spent the day wandering around Amsterdam, checking out all the sights. We took a canal boat ride and it was lovely. Most of the homes there are built right on the canals, no small feat of engineering. We visited the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank house. Seeing the room where Anne hid was both amazing and sobering, and we both felt instantly thankful for all the many blessings in our life. We were also introduced to the “stroop waffle”, a yummy Dutch treat, and spent the rest of the day looking for places to buy them. We ended our Amsterdam visit by taking a walk through the “Red Light District”, which we were assured was very safe and crawling with tourists, who like us, were curious as to what this infamous area looked like. It was crowded with tourists, and we did feel safe, but it definitely is an “anything goes” section of town, much like all of Europe. We met Ben at the train station, and the three of us headed out on the next leg of our journey……Copenhagen, Denmark.
ANSWER: C
“Wilde plussen” is a real problem in the Netherlands. Our friends Arjan and Diana explained that many men just don’t feel the need to find a bath room (probably since you have to pay for them), and will look for a corner or wall to relieve themselves. YUCK!!!!!

Bring on the Chocolate and Belgian Waffles!!

The next stop on our journey takes us to Brussels, Belgium. We took a Thalys Train out of Paris and enjoyed the scenery through the French countryside. Upon arriving in Brussels, we soon learned that not only did Belgians speak French, but some also spoke Dutch, so instead of trying to figure out just one language, we now had to try and figure out two!!! We figured out the necessary subway lines needed to get us to our hotel, and after a couple wrong turns, finally arrived at around 2:00 in the afternoon. Our hotel was located near the Grande Place, a bustling old town center. There were all kinds of little bistros and shops on cobblestone-lined streets. A string quartet was playing beautiful music out on the street. Taking the advice of our son Ben, who had all ready stopped in Brussels a few weeks earlier, we bought a genuine, bonafide, guaranteed, warranteed Belgian Waffle. It was topped with strawberries, real dark Belgium chocolate shavings, and whipped cream. Can you say scrumptious? The other Belgian delicacy (and don't laugh) we had to try was frites. They are basically a fancy type of french fries. What makes them soooo good is the topping. It is a sauce made from mayo, ketchup, and sauteed onions. I know, sounds ridiculous, but believe me, they were delicious.

We strolled through the streets of Brussels and camp upon a lovely section of the Grand Place that was the town center. It had lovely, old,
indescribably beautiful buildings surrounding it. I just wanted to stand and stare in awe. We came across numerous chocolate shops, and Jerry had to twist my arm to make me stop to sample. We visited a couple of gorgeous cathedrals, some fancy old parliament buildings, a palace, an outdoor market, and the "Atomium", or as Jerry called it the "Atom Thingie". The "Atomium" was built for the 1958 World's Fair which was held in Brussels. It is a giant replica of a metal atom, only 196 million times enlarged. We went to the top of it and watched some brave people riding a zip-line from the top of the display down to the bottom......and it was a LONG way down.

Before our two day stay was over, we'd eaten two more Belgian Waffles and were glad we weren't staying in Brussels much longer or we wouldn't have been able to fit into our clothes!

Do We Really Look like lost Americans?

Question of the Day: How many rivets/bolts are in the Eiffel Tower? ( answer below)

Our first day in Paris was.......hmmmmm.....interesting. The flight was thankfully uneventful and we landed at Charles de Gaulle airport. Now, was it the ¨I'm a lost American sign on our foreheads¨, the fact that we were in a huge airport trying to find how to get on the Paris subway system speaking very little French, or that we are just plain trusting people? Either way, I guess we looked like an easy target. An especially helpful English speaking man noticed we were having trouble figuring out where to go and offered his assistance in helping us to get our subway tickets. Sparing you all the details, let's just say that they ended up being VERY expensive subway tickets for a one way ride.



We finally found our hotel and were told by the front desk we'd been had by the ex-nice English-speaking man. We settled in and having had just about a half an hour sleep, headed out to begin exploring Paris. They say Paris is a small city..........I don't think so!!!! We finally figured out the subway system and saw sites like Notre Dame Cathedral, catacombs with literally millions of human bones all stacked neatly way underground, a relaxing boat ride down the Seine River, and to end the day we saw the Eiffel Tower at night-time.......SPECTACULAR!!!!! We ended the day enjoying our first (but not our last) official crepé and literally fell into bed. We slept really well that night.

The 2nd day found us up bright and early and heading off to a cathedral called Sàcre Coéur. It sits atop a hillside overlooking the entire city. It took around 100 steps JUST to get to the cathedral, and then it took another 300 up to get to the dome at the top. The view was breathtaking!!! (or was it the fact that we were completely out of breath after 700 steps?) We saw the Louvré Museum but did not get to meet the Mona Lisa. We climbed the Eiffel Tower to the first level and strolled the Chàmps d'Ellysé looking for bargains. We did remember our sweet daughters back home and purchased a couple of items of ¨haute couture.¨ We viewed the Arc de Triumphe and it is huge! We dragged outselves back again to the hotel and figured we'd climbed over 1,000 steps that day. Though we saw many things, we sure could've used another day in Paris. We would have loved to see inside the Louvre and I really wanted to make a trip to the palace in Versaille. Next trip?

ANSWER: 2,500,000 bolts/rivets

Leavin' On a Jet Plane.....

The day that seemed to very far away has arrived! I woke up singing, "Leavin' on a jet plane" in my head. Jerry's first words this morning were, "Rats! I should've watched more Looney Tunes Cartoons. Pepe le Pew would've really helped me with my french!" He would say that.....

We are all packed and miraculously, both suitcases are just over 35 lbs. Ben told us to pack light, and we do what the boy says! Weight restrictions are different in Europe, so we wanted to err on the lighter side so we wouldn't be charged a huge fine. The doggies are packed and ready to head off on their vacation with Auntie Nancy and Uncle John. They have two daschaunds as well, so there's going to be a weiner dog free-for-all at their house.

I have been going over my liimited french vocab. I only took 3 years of it, and that was a REALLY long time ago. Just want to make sure we can ask where a bathroom is located, and be able to ask where to get original Parisienne "french fries".

We won't have access to a computer for a week or so, unless we pay for usage at an internet cafe. After that, we'll be with Ben and he's got his computer with him.

We won't be around total strangers our entire trip. We're meeting a former classmate from college who lives in the Netherlands now and has offered to be our tour guide while we're there. We're hoping to see missionary friends who live near Budapest, as well as another missionary friend who lives close to Venice.

"Au revoir and adieu" for now........Aren't you impressed all ready?

Countdown, T minus 2 days......

Well, we are down to the last two days before take-off on our European galavanting. Everything has been bought, as small as possible, and I'm beginning to pack it all in. I want to try and keep our carry-on luggage empty, just in case we need to shuffle weight around, and especially to make room for ALL the goodies we plan on bringing back to our kids!! ( Hope you're reading this guys!)

Made a final swipe of all our reservations last night and realized we'd booked our hotel in Brussels and Paris for the same days!! Thankfully, we were able to change the dates in Brussels, at the same hotel, with no problem. Glad we caught that ahead of time!

Skyped with Ben and he reminded us of everything we should see in Paris, as well as what we should eat. He is the resident expert now.....you know since he's been there 6 weeks now. He did mention that if we want to drink water we need to request "still water", otherwise we will be brought some type of seltzer water, or something with bubbles.

Said good-bye to Bethany as she headed off for her missions trip to Philly yesterday. We both were a little teary.....won't see each other for about 4 weeks. I promised to bring her back high-fashion couture from Paris!!! (or maybe an Eiffel Tower key chain!) Bekah almost had a ride home so we could visit before we left, but it didn't work out. Everyone will be back home for a couple of weeks though after we return and I am looking forward to that maybe more than anything.

Well, lots to do and little time to do it........

Jerry and Cheryl's European Travels

Well, it's two weeks and counting until we leave for our big European vacation and get to meet up with Ben. There is sooooo much to do before then, although I am trying to pick away little by little every day. I'm putting together a folder for each destination, with directions from the airport to our hotel, as well as gathering ideas for sight-seeing attractions at each stop.

Still can't believe we're actually going. I'm thankful for the opportunity to visit places I've always dreamed of seeeing, and getting to enjoy God's beautiful creation all along the way. The only thing better would have been if all five of us could've gone together as a family. I guess that's for another time and place.......