Hello World

Sorry about the lack of posts for this week... Nothing too terribly exciting...

The kids are definitely getting used to me which is a welcome change :) We are finally into a rhythm and routine.  Yesterday I wasn't feeling well at all and it was hard, but I am constantly reminded of God's faithfulness!  I have been so blessed by the people in my life since I've been away from packages, to notes of encouragement, or a phone call on skype.  I am learning to enjoy the slow paced life of Europe and to take things one day at a time.  I am slowly learning to love running (NEVER thought I would EVER say that!). I still find it hard to believe sometimes that I'm here that I'm really doing this.  Over a third of my trip is over and as much as I can't wait to be back in the States to see all of you, I have a lot more to accomplish before I come home ;)  This weekend I'm spending time with my two new friends, Sabina and Anna and really looking forward to it. We are going to do some local things and just enjoy time together.  Sunday is the annual Nut Festival in Luxembourg.  That should be quite interesting!

I made a pancetta and parmesan torte for dinner the other night.  I made a homemade crust for it.  Wish I would have baked the crust some before putting it in the oven. Oh well it still tasted good! Today I made a banana nut cake (recipe courtesy my Grandma) and I'm making eggplant parmesan... I'll let you know how it goes!

** Dinner was a success! Turns out eggplant parmesan is amazing! I had actually never eaten or fixed the dish before. HA. Turned out great! I combined two recipes that I found online. And I'm getting pretty good at making all this homemade ingredients that I would normally get out of a can at home... like tomato sauce :)

To go along with this random blog... I thought I would let you know the books that I've read since I've been here.  I love reading :) And am thankful for the extra time to do it! I would have been able to bring a lot more clothes had I not brought so many books! And even so I think I will run out sooner than later!

First book I read while here... very strange book, not my favorite.

Book #2: Elisabeth Elliot is one of my favorite authors! She is so full of wisdom! Great book.

3rd book: I have a few chapter left but this is an amazing book! It is novel about  civil rights in the 60's.

Ok enough of the random post... hope you enjoyed the bits and pieces of my brain today :) Time to sleep! Have a great weekend everyone!

Cologne Germany

This past weekend I traveled to Cologne, Germany with a new friend Sabina from Sweden.

We took the train Saturday morning to Colgone, about a 3 hour ride.  When we arrived in Cologne and were met with one of the oldest and largest Cathedrals in Germany... the Dom Cathedral.  Amazing.

Ok this unfortunately is not my picture... It was virtually impossible to fit the whole thing in one picture, but I wanted you to see the whole thing before you saw my pics... 

It was incredible.  We walked around for a bit, just getting the lay of the land.  Then we checked in to our hostel.  (Definitely more on that later).  After dropping off our bags we ate a pretzel (very German right?).  The pretzels are so good! Laugenbrezel is the soft salty ones and the sweet ones Nussbrezel.  

After our pretzels we decided to go inside the Dom cathedral.  It is amazing to me how they could have built such structures without cranes or modern tools.  

While we were walking around the inside we decided it would be a good idea to climb the southern most spire of the cathedral.  Rumor had it there was a great view.  Upwards we went.  Some 533 steps later up a tight spiral staircase barely big enough for 2 people we made it to the top.  If you are at all claustrophobic I do not recommend this at all. The view from the top made it worth it (I think).  

 

After a few pictures we make our way down... another 533 steps.  OH man.  And at this point all we've had to eat is a pastry in town this morning and a pretzel in Germany.  We decided it was time for dinner. We went on a search for real German food!  There were many brewhaus restaurants that served authentic local food.  I had weinerschnitzel (a breaded fried pork chop) and French fries... yum! 

After dinner most things had closed down so we walked along the Rhein river.  We also decided some ice cream would be a good way to end the night.  After walking for many hours we were tired but not quite ready to go to bed.  So since all we had in the hostel room was a bed we decided to sit in the lobby area and talk for awhile.  We heard this popping noise coming from outside... FIREWORKS! Yay! What a great way to end the night.  Sunday was Germany's independence day.  We went up to the room... yum aka six beds in a room and two random guys sleeping.  Very strange.  I'm so glad I was with someone else.  Overall the hostel wasn't horrible but it's definitely not my first choice.  

We woke up the next morning and went to STARBUCKS.  Yes I know I'm crazy but it made me feel better and a little closer to home.  They also had Dunkin Donuts which made me a really happy camper! Love me some American doughnuts! After breakfast we went to the chocolate museum!  What's better than that? 

After the chocolate museum we went on the search for lunch.  Even though the German cuisine isn't bad... it's not exactly the best thing ever.  Plus figuring out what you are actually eating when all the words are in German is next to impossible.  Wanting to know what we were eating for lunch we decided on Subway.... yes good ol' Subway.  After Lunch we walked around, watched the Koln (Cologne) marathon that was going on throughout the city, and bought some souvenirs! Great end to a weekend.  We bought one last pretzel and hopped on the train home.  I was very glad to be back in the "familiar" Luxembourg.  It's not home but it's the best I've got for now.  All in all it was a very memorable weekend to say the least... now on to another week with hopefully another exciting weekend just around the corner! Missing home but thankful for the experiences.