Back is the good old USA!

We are home…safe and sound. The flight home was ten hours long, and after a very busy three weeks, that seemed like a very long flight. We were glad to see our children, grandchildren, Olen’s parents, and our friends again, but this was such a wonderful trip that we wished it could go on and on. However, of course that is not possible.

We have so many memories that we will cherish always. Some are serious, some comical. We will never forget the views we had from the tops of towers or from the tops of mountains, or the thrill of seeing edelweiss growing on a hillside. We will remember staying three nights in a 600-year old residence and spending nights beside a castle or beside an ancient city wall. Our “surprise sandwiches” make us laugh, along with the umbrellas we bought at the “Euro Shop” (European version of our Dollar Store). We loved walking on the ramparts in Rothenburg and we can’t forget the “Nightwatchman”. We appreciated the open markets and the fresh fruit we devoured, and our good fortune to arrive in a German village in time for a local festival.

We will remember the bizarre experiences like eating Italian pizza in a German restaurant owned by a Turkish man, and discussing the Spanish language with girls from Taiwan while traveling on a bus in Germany.

Hiking in the Alps was probably one of our most favorite memories along with our delightful happenstance encounter with the alphorn players. It was wonderful to meet Christians in three different countries and being able to worship God with them. Special memories.

We learned so much while we were gone. We learned that hikes always take longer if you carry a camera, and European trains are always on time, and they definitely wait for no one. We learned that picnic-brownies can be forgotten and left at home in any country, and the Czech language is one we will never even attempt to conquer. We learned that street-side cafes are great for people-watching; that flowers are just prettier in Europe; and senior citizens can ride bicycles and still be able to get out of bed the next morning after a liberal dose of Tylenol PM.

I could go on and on, but that is unnecessary. Travel is a blessing…a gift of great value. It makes you understand people in other countries so much better, and makes history come alive. Traveling in areas where people speak a different language and have different customs gives you confidence in your ability to survive in circumstances other than the ones immediately around you. It gives you more tolerance for the differences in people and more appreciation for the accomplishments of others who lived in earlier times. Travel is a college education with no tests to cram for. (My, that sounds good, doesn’t it, students??)

Thanks to those of you who took this journey with us. You honor us by reading our daily adventures. We do not know when our next “journey” will take place. We are always reading, studying and dreaming about some far-away place we would love to see, but right now we have no definite plans.

Maybe it is time for you to plan a “journey” of your own!