My home and native land.

I am home. I am happy. It is strange. Can't wait to see you all.

Rachel

Seeeeee Zouuuuuuu Sooooon!

I know it seems like I hate travelling and can onlz think of returning home....but I am still having a good time. Croatia is beautiful. It has lived up to every expectation I have had of it. The coast is spectacular and Dubrovnik is captivating. But zes....I am pumped to come home and see zou all. Till then...

Rachel

A Little Update

Well...the depth of thought may be lacking from this post. Mostly because I am tired, frustrated with the computer and very sunburned. Only on the backs of my legs though...didnt anticipate falling asleep on the beach. Hopefully I will be able to give a little idea of the things Ive been up to since last time.


Jacqui and Rachel learning how to eat Gelato....Czech style in Prague

Rafting/Lazing on the Vlatva river in Cesky Krumlov (yes that may be an entire bachelor party behind me....please do ask for an explanation of this one)

The hills showing their aliveness in Salzburg

The spectacular architecuture of the Budapest parliament building.

Caving with other Budapest hostel friends. (lots of crawling, tight spaces, sliding on bottoms and tons of laughs).


Till next time...if there is one before I return home...

Rachel

This blog thing...

Well....it seems to be more trouble than its worth right now. I really want to post pics and let everyone know whats up....but it is more difficult than i thought it would be. Trying to find free internet where people aren't waiting or finding somewhere that will allow me to download pics, is not always possible.

SO......for now, i will just let you know what's been happening.

Since Kaley left me, I met my friend jacqui in Prague. We spent two nights there before moving on to a place south of Prague called Ceske Krumlov, or as we like to call it "zesty crumb cutlets". This was by far better than Prague. The weather is getting warmer...hot in fact. We spent an entire day rafting on the river meeting tons of people as we paddled by. Ask me later about the bachelor party we encountered.

We then went on to Salzburg where we discovered that the hills are indeed alive with music. it was a beautiful place, and fairly calm compaered to the other cities i've been to. We are now in Vienna, but both leaving. jacqui is going to Spain, and I am getting on a train to Budapest. I'll be there for 3 nights then off to Croatia. It is hot....I am loving it...it has been a while since I have felt the heat.

Rachel

Waiting it Out...

Well...although the original intention was to travel 5 weeks almost entirely on my own...it is going to be a struggle after having a good friend with me for over 2 weeks. I have just arrived in Prague and am finding it wierd being alone, even though I meet Jacqui in a few hours. It has reallz been a blessing having Kalez travelling with me. She is now slowlz making her way home...via train, plane, her new car...etc. In a way, I am a bit jealous. I have been planning the places I have yet to see, but also have this great big lump in my stomach, just aching for home. Kaley going home hasnt helped. This crazy feeling of wanting to be home AND wanting to see more of Europe is present almost every day. But, of course has made me think about what home really is....

I have thought about why i am so excited to return home. There is something about being close, and making tighter bonds with those I love most and who love me most. It has been hitting me that this is the way I should feel about my eternal home, where I am MEANT to be one day. I struggle to understand why I am so eager to see my friends and family and be back where I belong in Niagara, yet I often do not feel this way about heaven. If I love Christ the most, and He loves me more than anyone, why do I not feel a hunger, an ache, and long for heaven every single day? The cop out answer is that heaven is not tangible, its not here and now, its hard to grasp in this world, each day. But as I think more...I realize that it is probably more than that. I am convinced that the more I know God, the closer I get, the more I understand His love for me...and my purpose in living for Him...the more I will have a hunger for heaven....and constant yearning to be with the one I love.

Here, in Europe, I've got email, phone calls (expensive ones), and of course facebook, messenger, myspace, etc.....but it's not good enough. I want to BE WITH my friends, my family, in my HOME. My prayer is that we might all feel that way about Christ. We have church, we have prayer, we have fellowship, we have the Holy Spirit, we have scripture. And one day....we will BE WITH Him! We will see His glory, we will share in it...we will see Him face to face, and will be rid of this world that just isn't good enough. I have to remember that I am not of this world. I am a foreigner, an alien. I also think that in a way, my heart often 'forgets' to long for heaven because I am too preoccupied and distracted by the things I love so much in this world. I want to set my sights, my heart on things above, because, again, this world seems to have everything, yet has nothing, in the scheme of things, in light of eternity. Any thouhts, corrections, prayers are welcome!!!!

ps. Kaley and I spent our last days in Dresden after leaving Poland. I'm in prague for a couple of days then on to munich and maybe salzburg then vienna.

Sooo...since the last post, Kaley and I have found ourselves impressed with Poland. Although harder to understand the language, I think we both agree this country has more of a 'feel' or character to it, not to mention great food! We spent two days in Krakow, which was spectacular. We visited an underground salt mine, as well as Auschwitz. To say the least, travelling in this part of the world, tracing history and following in the footsteps of those who were murdered in the exact spots we were....was exteremely intense. It was moving, strange, and ultimately made us think. It was great to learn so much about the war, the holocaust and the Jews in Germ/Pol from both perspectives...something we don't really learn in Canada. We left Krakow for Zakopane, where we are now...nestled in the Tatras mountians bordering Slovakia. In fact today, we took a rafting trip down a river that goes into Slovakia. It is truly an amazing thought to ponder the beauty of creation and of course our creator who made all of this to work together and for us to enjoy. Hopefully I can post some pics from here later. Till then, this is all I've got, in no particular order.


We have no clue what this says...which is pretty much the case with every sign we've seen so far. Dan...or anyone...feel free to help!

Sorry about the sideways....this is a really big donut/pastry thing bought at a market along the Baltic sea North of Hamburg.

Same place...just different food.

At the Wernigrode castle overlooking the Harz mountains.

Again, sorry for the sideways-ness, we just had to show you a common sight for us as we tried to make our way thru the trails on a hike in the Harz mountains.

If pictures are all you were waiting for, you may stop reading now. If you would like some more facts to enlighten you about this part of the world, carry on....

Fact: Kaley would rather walk up 900 stairs in a salt mine than take the lift built for 4, with 8 others packed in like cattle.

Fact: All Irish men are still considered leprachauns and hilarious.

Fact: Some Irish men giggle uncontrolably in their sleep.

Fact: The Irish national anthem cannot be sung properly without some sort of accompanying percussion instruments (ie. drum, pencil, fingers on the table...)

Fact: Polish trains may seem to be booked full, but given the correct amount of $, exceptions can be made.

Fact: J and K are the most common consonants in Polish and are best used in within a heap of z's and c's.

Fact: The Tatras mountains are absolutely spectacular...(pics to come hopefully)

Fact: Sometimes what you think is a one hour bus ride turns into a 6 hour bus tour....who knew?

Miss you all very much...I am having a blast, but having someone from home with me certainly makes me long for home! We leave for Wroclaw tomorrow and are then on to some crazy natural rock formations in Czech.

Rachel for both of us

FYI...

On behalf of Kaley and myself, I would like to share some interesting facts that we have observed about Germanz thus far.

Disclaimer: Facts do not appear in order of importance, significance, level of stress/trauma, level of humour....not do they appear chronologicallz.

Fact: In Germanz, the z and the y are switched on the kezboard. We refuse to change our kezboarding skills.

Fact: There is a bike lane on everz German street which is prettz much indistinguishable from the pedestrian walk until zou hear a big loud bell and almost get run over. Zou must alwazs remember to check zour blindspot before crossing from the sidewalk to the bike lane.

Fact: It is easier and much more natural to say 'Hamburger' than 'Hamburg'.

Fact: It takes 509 steps to reach the top of the Dom in Koln.

Fact: Approximately 1 in 3 males in Germany looks like Dan Janzen and may quite possibly be a relative.

Fact: Lubeck, contrary to popular belief is not on the coast.....but the lovelz town of Travemund is.

Fact: It is next to impossible for both Kalez and Rachel to staz awake on a train or bus.

Fact: The train ride from Frankfurt to Koln is beautiful.

Fact: Irish men are insane and may actually be leprachauns.

Fact: Every German town does NOT in fact have a street named EinbahnstaBe, but in fact has 'one way streets' marked very well.

Fact: We are currentlz in Hamburg and leave tomorrow for the Harz Mountains then on to Berlin.

Fact: We miss zou all. If zou don't know who zou are, zou will soon find out.


Feel free to email for anz further details or clarifications cause weäd love to hear from zou!!

Rachel and Kaley

ps. zou will have to wait for pics. hopefullz coming soon.