Thursday, June 28, 2007

Hello from Luzern!

Well we've had a wealth of unforgetable adventures that I cannot wait to tell, and TONS of pictures that will give you a far better feel for the experiences than I ever could with words, but unfortunately I can't go into detail at present because I'm using a computer shared by the entirety of our hotel's guests :)

I just wanted to drop in and say thanks for all of the prayers and messages! We have seen evidence of God's goodness - and His hand of guidance and protection - over every single leg of this trip, and when you hear the stories, you'll see it too!

Hopefully I will be able to do some serious updating either Sunday or more likely Monday. But until then, much love and molti baci!

Bekah

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Travel Week Here I Come!

Hello all!

Well papers, projects, and my near-novel of a travel journal are all turned in and I am now homework-free for a whole week! My biggest projects right now are finishing up all the food in my fridge, working on laundry, and packing up. But during my "week off" I will also be doing some serious traveling through Austria, Switzerland, and France on my way to England, and I wanted to fill you in on where I will be when since I'm not sure how much internet access will be feasible.

Early tomorrow we depart beautiful Lugano (sniff!) and will be saying goodbye to most of the half-program participants (double sniff!).

Crystal, Joy and I will then hop on a train and head west toward Salzburg, Austria - which is supposedly a nine-hour plane ride - where we are staying through Tuesday morning. From there we are riding back to Switzerland and staying in Lucerne for two nights which is especially exciting for me because so many people back home have told me how wonderful it is - I can't wait! Thursday morning Crystal will head to Zurich to meet up with the rest of the half-program students while Joy I will catch a train from Lucerne to Paris. That will be a difficult parting! Friday will be our day to see as much of Paris as we can, and then later in the afternoon we will head to Calais for the night. On Saturday Joy and I will catch a ferry and cross the channel to England (!!!!!!), arrive in Dover, then make our way to London and meet up with the London half participants.

The difficult part is going to be balancing sight-seeing and relaxation/sleep. We are soooooo tired, but who wants to sleep in when there are sights to be seen? My plan of action is to sleep as much as possible on the trains so I will be able to see as much of Europe as possible. Thankfully I can sleep just about anywhere ...

... even the cement platforms at train stations :) Hillary snapped this one when I fell asleep at the Arezzo station after our train ran 55 minutes late. I was out!

Anyway, I am not sure what kind of access I will have over the next week, but in London we will definitely have easy access so I will post pictures and share travel stories then if not before. Strangely enough, I am feeling quite good about all the traveling we'll be doing next week and have become quite comfortable with my newly obtained world traveler skills. I am certain it will be full of challenges and unexpected complications, but I know that I am in God's hands and look forward to the incredible corner of His creation that I am about to witness firsthand!

Love and baci!

Bekah